In the days before self-service shopping and before every home had a fridge, the responsibility for daily grocery shopping fell to women. The consumer was someone who came to passively buy what was on offer. While a 1955 focus group could persuade Birdseye to make fish fingers from cod rather than herring—that was where the partnership ended, until housewives voted with their shillings and cents. Their purchases were dictated by availability and trends, their choices heavily influenced by advertising and restricted by weekly budgets.

Today though, our customers have become more than just consumers of our products and services. They are partners, co-creators, patrons, advocates, evangelists, collaborators and community members. People no longer just want to buy things from us without thinking, they want to become invested in the businesses and brands that they choose to support.

This is a shift we can and should nurture, not to mention an opportunity we can leverage.
How is your business doing that?

Image by Paul Townsend.