I F**KING LOVE THAT COMPANY: How a New Generation of Brand Builders Is Defining the Post-Amazon World

takeaway? Business today really is personal.

These companies offer more than a shopping destination. They’ve created, at breathtaking speeds, the kinds of long-lasting customer relationships that define great brands.

It’s making a bet that, if it delivers a product built according to values that customers support (for example, American jobs), customers will spread the word virally through their social networks.

Paying lip service to ethical labor practices or cleaner manufacturing processes won’t work anymore. When brands talk about the values they stand for, they have to mean it. And they have to deliver on it.

We hear the refrain “They don’t make ’em like they used to” because, well, they really don’t make ’em like they used to.

For brands in a post-Amazon world, the goal isn’t just about rediscovering the quality of a bygone era. It’s about inventing a new product altogether.

Empowered by more dynamic cost structures, these brands focus on specific product categories, often control manufacturing from start to finish, create unbelievable customer experiences, and invite consumers to participate in shaping the business.

Social media is marketing, product innovation, and customer service rolled into one.

Global supply chains force retailers to gamble on inventory far in advance and to spend too much time and money overseeing the entire process.