Numero 2

Customers most certainly affect the branding process, and if a company denies this then they should rethink their way of branding. Consumers like to be in control, especially during these economic times. People are working very hard for their money and spending it wisely. If a company does not make the customer feel safe then they are going to loose business. Branding now a days should be all about the customer.

A few years ago the economy was at its peak. Consumers were pretty much free to spend their money on whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. People didn’t have to put thought into how they were going to spend their money and spending became more about status then anything else. At this time companies just had to focus on making their brand be hip and trendy and their focus was not on longevity.

During this time however, customers did develop brand loyalty. They were able to weed out what they liked and were of good quality form what they were not so fond of. Now when a person goes out to purchase something, especially something with a large price tag, they know exactly what they want. The best example of this is cars. This industry is one with extreme brand loyalty, one that develops customers often for life. When a person gets their first car that was their siblings cars prior to it being theirs and it lasts them forever—they are often going to stick with what they trust. As far as customers being able to choose what they want most car companies have a feature online that lets you pick and choose exactly what they want. VW does a very good job of this and even lets you take a full tour of your car after you finish building it. http://www.vw.com/vwfeatures/gti/en/us/ Many other companies do this as well. Like the NikeID that we studied and Apple, which lets you custom build your computer piece by piece. http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB535LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc3NjI

Companies are constantly coming up with new ways for the consumer to have exactly what they want, and I believe this correlates to happiness. When a consumer gets exactly what they want with positive experiences and no disappointments then they are happy. In our materialistic society brands can produce happiness.