“The fundamental assumptions we make about consumers don’t apply anymore.” That’s the contention of Michael Solomon, industry consultant and professor of marketing in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He is the author of Marketers, Tear Down These Walls! Liberating the Postmodern Consumer. The book describes a consumer who has become increasingly unpredictable, crossing all lines of taste and preference. This individual strives to construct a unique self that’s made up of “the lifestyle raw materials” offered by marketers, Solomon says. So do all labels and categories get thrown out the window? It’s more complicated than that. Product sellers need to look beyond the old confining walls without obliterating the traditional tenets of market research. They must seek to create “markets of one,” even as they acknowledge the power of “the hive mind” to shape cultural taste. Grab a sledgehammer. Hosted by Bob Bowman, Managing Editor of SupplyChainBrain.

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Show notes:

Solomon’s book, Marketers, Tear Down These Walls! Liberating the Postmodern Consumer.