I recently bought a Philips Sonicare toothbrush from Amazon.  I love these products and have spent a lot of money on them.  Naturally, I have started receiving emails from Amazon telling me about other toothbrushes I might be interested in, but I only have one mouth and a finite number of teeth and so these communications are wasted on me.

However, this is an opportunity for Philips, the brand, to start a relationship with me, rather than leave me to Amazon and its partners.  At present the margin and customer insight goes to the retailer but Philips could use these themselves and invest it in greater product development, offer free upgrades, provide replacement heads etc so that my loyalty is to the brand and not to a network of retailers who might be offering a particular promotion at one moment in time.

The transition from brand to retailer is something Apple has achieved with aplomb.  So much of what Apple does is so breathtakingly good.  The products are wonderful, the communications are great, and the store staff are fantastic.  It is just a beautifully executed, vertically integrated brand-cum-retailer, and that for me is the benchmark for which other brand owners and retailers need to aspire.

It is clear that the process has begun; rather than leaving their customer relationships to retailers and other third parties, brands are starting to go direct, recognising that the Internet offers an ideal and affordable channel through which to trade and engage. I hope soon to be referencing other beacon examples in addition to the mighty Apple.