Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Clorox and Toyota are just four of the growing number of companies with brands gathering momentum in this area and that will, I believe, continue to set the standard for others.
With potential customers, your goal may involve making initial contact, establishing a brand presence, gathering competitive intelligence, or getting follow-up calls with relevant prospects.
And why would you simply leave a brand new flat gathering dust when you can profit from letting it?
These corsets are not, it must be stressed, shiny items which speak tackily of Valentine's, nor a relic of the Posh Spice brand, which is gathering dust somewhere in the noughties.
The period of mall "massification" was enabled by the construction of 54,000 miles of the interstate highway system in the mid-1950s, which also catered to the shopping desires of highly mobile and "motorized" families, eager to hop in the car and spend entire days shopping in these brand new social gathering spots.
This cycle continues in perpetuity so that brands are constantly gathering research, processing that research, and taking action on the findings.
Post-Ross-and-Brand, there are forces gathering that might soon make us pine for the spiky comedy of old, however.
BA's experience neatly illustrates one of the problems brand owners face when gathering and acting on behavioural insights.
Such tasks are complex because the risk is high (significant financial commitment), and the large differences between brands or products require gathering a substantial amount of information prior to purchase.
With a few notable single-product exceptions -- like VanillaCoke.com and the M&M's site (mms.com) -- the top food and beverage makers have migrated to what Ms. Brozek termed a "cohort" strategy, gathering several brands under one umbrella.
