Danton Sihombing | Founding Partner
Most people only have limited time to listen to the advantages communicated by various brands. Consumer expectations of brands continue to rise. They actively curate the brands that become their preferences, build conversations around them, provide opinions and testimonials, and express feelings of satisfaction and disappointment that can spread instantly through social media, smartphone applications, or YouTube channels. The role of the brand becomes very valuable when it can provide effective signals about the reputation of a product, including reducing the risk of purchasing goods or services.
Brands and the concept of branding are constantly being challenged to adapt to the ever-faster pace of consumer life, where technological progress is rolling forward rapidly, the battle of innovations and disruption appears every year rather than in decades, the outcome of product development moves in line with or even exceeds the needs that have not yet been detected in its time. The term Minimum Viable Product (MVP), introduced by Eric Ries, author of the book "The Lean Startup," is now a product development technique widely adopted by startup companies.
Through this development technique, a product is introduced to the market through its basic features only, not as a finished product, considering that the prototype is sufficient to attract potential consumers' attention. The final product is launched to the market after receiving feedback from early consumers who can complete the perfection of the product. This technique helps producers detect a product's shortcomings and advantages earlier to meet the needs and expectations of their target consumers.
Considering the rapid movement of time and hundreds or even thousands of advertising messages that continue to appear daily, consumers must make the right rational considerations. However, there are times when purchasing decisions are made based on the statements and experiences told by influencers, also known as Key Opinion Leaders (KOL). The brand's destiny is in the hands of consumers today, company owners are beginning to lose the potential to control the messages of the brands they own, people trust each other more than trusting a company. The presence of social media pushes business practices to be transparent, and trust is built by social forces. All of this comes back to the brand's ability to remain relevant to consumers' unique needs, wants, demands, expectations, and aspirations.