Brands
(24 February 1998)

The web is just starting to take us beyond brands... in the old days you went to Tiffany to get an impressive gift and knew that the one stop was all you would need for recipient satisfaction (and seller profit). Now you ask an intelligent assistant to compare alternatives for a gift for a person with such and such characteristics... personalized comparison shopping including little blue, white, yellow boxes if that is the part of the satisfaction mix.

Most retailers and manufacturers have not gotten this idea yet... that the web uses brands to convey satisfaction but allows easy competitive comparisons.

Dean LeBaron
New London, NH
February 24, 1998