There are more brands than ever.But they're taking a beating-or even worse,being ignored. Who's to blame? A new breed of hyperinformed superconsumers.

Decline in Brands.

The last sentence best summed up the article.
"The aristocracy of brand is dead. Long live the meritocracy of product."

It has never occured to me that brandings have a declining influence on us consumers today, that is until i chanced upon this article.
There were a few convincing points brought up by the article.
1) In the past, the consumer-goods markets were very stable. You can also depend on your "regular customers" to come back to ur shop.
2) Today, we consumers have become more promiscuous and fickle than ever. This means the so-called "popular brands" can no longer attract customers thru their brandname alone. The product has to prove for itself it is indeed worthy of our purchases!
3) Indeed one main contributin factor for such a change is the availability and easy access to information. the internet, especially, has enabled consumers to read up more on the various brands of the same product and this allows them to compare and contrast. Whose product they choose eventually will no longer be swayed by brand loyalty, but product meritocracy!!

As we strive to be more entreprenurial and technopreneurial, I feel that this quote from the article is a good point to rem:
"Brands have become nothing more than shadows. You wouldn't expect your shadow to protect you or show you the way. It only goes wherever you go."

-tee-