Continuing my read of 'No Logo' and it rues the fact about how the business has changed over the years and how it is changing in the new economy. After the manufacturing age, where product was everything, the new business mantra is 'we are in the business of building brands'.
However, for some industries, there is another angle, which I want to explain here.
Emphasis on branding might look overkill and a misplaced business strategy and against the consumer's interests, but for software companies and many other businesses and their customers, this philosophy has done more good than harm. Branding has prompted organizations to think beyond selling the product and emphasise on the post sales relationship with their customers. A satisfied customer is pre-requisite to their branding efforts.
Think about the time when 'churn baby churn' was the only business strategy in software sector where the only aim was to release next version with more features ASAP, no matter how much testing has been done, no matter how much supportability has been built into the organization.
After the bubble burst in year 2000, things have changed. And the power has shifted from product to service. Because in their quest to build a better brand, companies are investing heavily in the service side of their business. So much so that product has been almost made redundant. Popularity of Linux and other open source as well as SaaS (Software as a Service)indicates a clear shift taking place from product to services. In fact SaaS makes the product irrelevant and the only thing a customer expects is service. And some business pundits are even forecasting that in few years time, software will be free of cost, it will only be the service that will earn revenue.
So it is not surprising that companies are aware of increasing importance of service in building their brands and hence branding is not that bad for either business or customers.
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