Consumers need brands too

As marketers, advertisers and brand owners, we are pretty weird. We talk of brands as lovable and significant entities: adored by consumers, playing an important role in their lives, making a difference in the world, and so on.

And at the same time, we also talk of marketing as mostly 'interruptive' - things that stop consumers from going about their daily lives and pitch sales stories to them. From this lens, brands are seen as desparate entities fighting for survival. When consumers notice our brand, and recall it from our ad campaigns, we celebrate. When consumers recommend our brand, and talk about it through their social media profiles, we earn the title of industry experts.

But how can an entity worry about relevance, and talk about affinity at the same time? Perhaps, it is led by our perception we aren't too willing to admit - Brands need consumers, consumers don't need brands. "We" need "them" because they buy our products, prefer dealing with us, pay more for our services, etc.

But we never think that consumers need brands too.
We don't discuss from this perspective. We don't have conferences or conclaves from this point of view. We are busy proving advertising effectiveness, calculating social media ROI using grand metrics, even creating new metrics, all in an effort to justify the existence of our brands.

Of course, we are taught all the right theories on how to tap into consumer needs, and building great brands. But the perspective is always that of a survivor. Books and speakers address their audience as people struggling with identity crisis.


Perhaps it's time to change this point of view.
Perhaps it's time to treat brands on an equal platform with consumers.
And perhaps, with that stance, brands will truly make a difference in the world.

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Crossposted on LinkedIn