Research has found that consumer beliefs about human personality also translate to their beliefs about brand personality. Unfortunately this means there will be a subset of consumers who hold conflicting opinions about parent brands extending into new products or services. So what should brand managers do about it? 

Research with consumers is a process designed to help brand managers reduce confusion, indecision and subjectivity in managing their brand. But as it turns out, there's a group of consumers destined to keep brand managers perplexed (or tearing out their hair) over their conflicting opinions toward brands.

We are seeing an unprecedented trend amongst consumers toward goods and services they can enjoy with a clear conscience. It’s happening across all categories, even in fast food. Consumers have been expressing more preferences for quality, wholesome ingredients, ethical farm practices and 

Back in October 2013 I published an article about the potential for brands to showcase product origins as digital stories. This is becoming more and more important as consumers are demanding increased transparency from brands about their product supply chains. Brands who show consumers where their product was sourced and how it is made will earn their trust. Brands who tell these same stories digitally to consumers in engaging ways to enhance the experience of the product will also earn their loyalty. 

I recently came across an Aussie brand called five:am yoghurt. An ad for them turned up in my Facebook Newsfeed and I was curious as 

Who doesn’t love a celebrity sex scandal? In our celebrity obsessed culture, sex scandals don’t just make the news they are newsworthy in their own right. Images, interviews and social commentary about these events play out on all channels, including the most permanent one – the Internet.  With easy access to volumes of information, people immerse themselves in playing both judge and jury. 

I’ll tell you who isn’t such a fan of the celebrity sex scandal. The Brand Manager whose celebrity just 

I have recently had my nose in a great book called Digilogue by Anders Sorman-Nilsson. Fantastic read. Highly recommended for any business or brand  wanting to identify ways and means of engaging with consumers in the digital age. Anders believes the most successful brands in the future will be those who manage to integrate a brand experience across online and offline channels - integrating 'digital' with 'analogue'. I would have to agree.

Even when it comes to relatively quick and inexpensive purchases, consumers still show their capacity to enhance their experience by layering online and offline channels on top of one another. For example, customers at Starbucks can track where the beans were sourced that 

I learned about Black Milk Clothing when I first moved to Brisbane. I heard people talking about the brand as a bit of an internet phenomenon and then overheard girls recommending the brand to each other, in of all places, a night club toilet. Now, if your brand is being talked about in the loos you can pat yourself on the back for having achieved an important milestone.