The Internet Broke Brand Loyalty (Published 2021)

Historically, the relationship between consumers and companies was more transactional and direct. You would seek out an item you needed in a store. You might be put on a mailing list and sent promotional catalogs or coupons every few months, but communication remained relatively sparse. Today, the age of passive consumerism seems to be over. The ex... See more

The direct-to-consumer wave began in the twenty-tens as a new generation of startups promising to “disrupt” traditional industries for consumer goods. Instead of leaving the market to century-old stalwarts like Gillette, for example, a company like Dollar Shave Club, founded in 2011, would set up its own supply chains to manufacture razors; add cle... See more

High differentiation, low durability. There’s a lot of fashion, luxury, travel and entertainment brands and the entire genre of DTC brands that are very much talked about for a moment, only to fade into obscurity/low consumer preference once the negative effects of their fractured internal cultures, lack of new funding/revenue, lack of brand-buildi... See more

Like everything else, this concept is being tested brutally by the Covid-19 pandemic. Rent the Runway, the fashion rental service, has had to rethink its plans as fewer Americans commute to offices or attend fancy events. Joymode, which rented out thousands of products, from electronics to margarita machines, closed. Uber rides — which were suppose... See more