Will there be superbrands also in the future?
Will we see “Facebooks”, “Amazons”, “Apples”, or “Googles” in a future where the total brand experience will be more personal and digital than ever before?
The scope of the horizontal conversations and the speed of group formation are unprecedented in human history. Everything becomes individualized, personalized, diversified, distributed, and disrupted.
At the same time, we look upon the giants. Honestly, do we see Apple or Google participating in the online conversation? Well, we don’t.
One might argue that conversational marketing is nothing but cosmetics, and when push comes to shove, it’s all about the products and the services provided.
Others might argue that these supernova brands don’t have to state their case – their ambassadors are doing it for them.
I would argue that it comes naturally for us humans to state our independence and uniqueness as individuals, but when it comes to our everyday lives and day-to-day existence, we’re just creatures of habit.
Google is a fantastic company and superbrand, but what would they be without the millions of people using their search engine? Every innovation and long-tail line extension of the Google brand is part of a continuous forward motion, mainly because it reinforces our habitual usage.
Tell me, how often do you google something?
You and I and everyone – we are creatures of habit, mainly so since not everything can be a rational decision. And that’s also why we’ll have superbrands in the future. They might not be participating in the conversation because of the Cluetrain Manifesto. Instead, they provide arenas, digital habitats, for talks between online citizens.
Or put another way: Our mental bandwidth has a limit, so there will still be a small number of brands we can relate to.
Future superbrands will gain and maintain such privileged positions by transforming into virtual town squares.
