The short, easy road to mediocrity

I have long preferred small brands with purpose, buying less of better, and the provenance of what I buy. I have been doing it long enough to see a distinct pattern emerging as these brands grow between scale and relationship.

Whether it has been the wine merchant sponsoring small wine growers who grew until they were acquired by a corporate, the razor manufacturer the same, or the jeans manufacturer who has been an inspiration, there is a clear path. They start of small, and clunky making products into which they pour their heart and soul, and grow to a point where they are confident, profitable and personable. Brands that are attractive and authentic and embody a relationship.

And then. Where they get acquired, the transition is smooth and fast. The products get optimised – razor blades that don’t last quite as long, and the marketing gets slick as the relationship turns into a data set, and the messages clearly designed by algorithms arrive in closer, carefully choregraphed formation…