Consumer Voice; Consumer Choice

Gone are the days when all landline phones were black.

Gone are the days when all refrigerators were white.

Gone are the days when some product and service brands in certain categories had a monopoly, leaving the consumer with no choice and no voice.

Today, the consumer has a voice and a choice. So, what should brand marketers do?

In earlier times, consumers who had complaints, grievances, or even positive suggestions found it difficult to express themselves. Their voice rarely reached the company. This lack of communication led to losses for both the company and the consumer.

• The company’s loss: Missed feedback, lost opportunities for product improvement, innovation, and upgradation.
• The consumer’s frustration: Problems remained unresolved, and valuable product and service ideas were ignored.

With no way to connect, both parties suffered. Companies lost the chance to correct and innovate, while consumers felt unheard and suffocated.

Today, the consumer has a voice and is able to express that voice through media. It could be direct interaction with the company or its representatives, or it could be through social media and various other platforms. Not only the company, even other consumers are able to hear the voice and agree or disagree with these opinions.

The best examples are reviews, which consumers post on social media or on various sites. Most consumers want to have a look at reviews before purchasing a book, deciding to watch a movie, or even choosing a restaurant to dine in or order from. This is truly ‘brand marketing democracy’.

This helps both the consumer and the company:

• The company can prove and improve.
• The consumer can express satisfaction with the product or service.

This genuinely helps the standards of brands of products and services to go up, the quality to improve, and consumer satisfaction to move to a higher level.

Brand marketing democracy is wonderful. It allows for an open expression between brands and consumers, helping to elevate the quality of life and the standards of products and services to a world-class level.

• Transparency thrives because nothing is hidden.
• Consumer comments can either motivate and excite companies or hurt and anger them.

This is a healthy process. Brand marketing democracy brings about a positive transformation. Consumer voice is extremely useful for brands to evolve and grow in a constructive manner.

To be clear, this does not refer to protests or ulterior motive negative campaigns. It refers to genuine consumer voice—a voice that drives brands to continuously improve and innovate.

The feedback from a senior citizen, a housewife, a young boy or girl, a working woman, a middle-aged man, or a teenager is genuine consumer voice. That is what truly matters.

This brand marketing democracy, driven by consumer voice, leads to a major transformation—consumer choice.

Because of reviews, views, and previews, consumers are empowered to make informed choices. This fosters healthy competition, encourages the launch of more brands in each category, and develops the market.

Brand marketing democracy is a powerful way to cultivate a marketplace where consumers not only have a voice but also a choice.

All brands and consumers must respect, introspect, and improve to prove their value.

Long live consumer voice! Long live consumer choice!