A confusing time for mass brands

The Rebooting Show

On this week’s episode of The Rebooting Show, I was joined by Ana Andjelic, a veteran brand executive and writer of the Sociology of Business newsletter. I wanted to try an episode with Ana because we focus on different ends of the media ecosystem. Among the issues we discuss:

• The internet’s impact on brands. “It forces you to compete on everything other than on brand. You compete on price, convenience, product recognizability, speed of your supply chain."​
• Product-led branding. “It’s starting with that iconic original product, using different wear stories, wear scenarios, different subcultures, to give it identity."
• Why DTC brands were really performance marketing companies. “A lot of brands, especially in the DTC era when money was free, thought they would build demand by buying Facebook ads, Instagram ads, search and so on."
• The limits of performance marketing. "Performance marketing is not going to build your demand. There needs to be something else that tells people to search for it or click on the ad.”