Inside our consumer-brand relationships, how much do we value history over the new?

TrendWatching today shared “newer, better, faster, cleaner, more open and responsive; consumers are rushing to CLEAN SLATE BRANDS and are now lavishing love, attention and trust on brands without heritage and history.”

Of course, being one of those clean slate brands, it will be to our advantage if this is true but, through the debate that just evolved inside our office, we wonder if consumers are rushing to spend their hard earned disposable income on products/services delivered by organizations that haven’t been proven to them.

Brands today need to relate to their consumers and the marketplace without the “baggage” TrendWatching calls out.

Supporting TrendWatching’s POV are three buying characteristics: Lust for the new; Instant trust, and; Open Operation, with a host of interesting & compelling examples of brands around the world that showcase these attributes.

Lust for the New and Open Operations were two that resonated with our group. However, Instant Trust – not so much. Our little focus group was a mix of millennial and gen-X’ers, and even the youngest of the group conceded that when it comes to handing over our money, we’re still looking for brands who have tenure to give us the confidence we need to buy.
The one thing we did all agree on was that regardless of new or historic, brands today need to relate to their consumers and the marketplace without the “baggage” TrendWatching’s article calls out. It may also be one of the leading indicators of cult-brands: Those who have learned how to keep it fresh without losing their history and what has made them great.