Branding in the Online Space: The Emerging Frontier of New-Age Marketing

Technology is proving to be both an enabler and a disabler as far as meaningful and effective brand experience is concerned. As humankind continues to march towards an elusive and illusive utopia of technological advancement, the personal touch of the brand experience is fast becoming a thing of the past. While it cannot be denied that the modern methods of marketing are leaving no stone unturned in ‘connecting’ with the customer, but, ironically enough, it is the ‘customer connect’ itself, which is getting lost in the process. Modern marketing, in general, and its digital avatar, in particular, are creating what can be called an ‘imaginary intimacy’ with the customer. The poor Alice-like customer is being led into a Wonderland of false promises. The clueless customer is being hoodwinked into believing that the gadget on his palm or his lap or his desk is the repository of remedies for all maladies. The biggest demerit of the digital revolution in marketing is that it has reduced consumer behaviour to a set of split-second reflex actions. The ‘thinking consumer’ is an endangered species now. This is a casualty of phenomenal proportions, which the marketer will realize to his detriment in the long run.