Big Brands Are Too Inflexible - HBR's The Daily Idea

June 25, 2013 In the past, we looked to big brands as paradigms of value, quality, and consistency. But things are different now. Sure, big brands from the likes of Procter & Gamble — Crest, Gillette, Tide — still dominate the market, but trends are changing fast, and if large corporations don't become more flexible, they may face trouble in the future. One reason is consumers are smarter and less impressionable than ever before. We don't want to be shouted at with the same old hard-sell marketing tricks; we want to be seduced. If you don't put in the work and surprise us, we'll look elsewhere. So the question is: are big brands too bulky and stubborn to give us what we want? The answer, so far, is yes. SOURCE: The Black Swans Circling P&G by Grant McCracken