I’ve got a bit of love/envy thing going with Scott Galloway, but i LOVE this interview with Kara Swisher on Decode/Recode. One of the dozens of provocative points he makes here is that brands are becoming less relevant in an era of endless discovery. You can feel confident choosing a new product, because its easier than ever to find out whether the thing is good or not.
Brand has effectively served as shorthand for getting you from the unknown to the known faster than you could on your own, because you couldn’t do the diligence.
There’s a ton in this interview, but i love the concept of “tools of diligence” that he just touches on lightly. That is, Google, Amazon reviews, Instagram, Twitter and the other things you use to check out things to buy and do.
Obvious point: As a marketer, you must consider the full user experience from finding out about your thing – perhaps on instagram – through to the reviews on Amazon and Twitter, etc.
Jim Cuene 