etailology

A friend recently put me onto David Armano’s blog (Logic+Emotion) and I enjoy it a great deal. David works for Critical Mass, which is among the very best of web development companies in the world (we’ve done a bit of work with that firm, so I’m talking both from reputation and first-hand experience). His recent post on LifeStreaming is a good description of the emerging centricity which “webby” people (and, in a generation, everyone) long for in their social and daily computing habits.

Simply put, it’s a way to envision how online and offline activities flow together into a single lifestyle. It reminded me very much of a notable but very brief post from Dynamist.com on “Conspicuous Consumption in an Intangible Economy.”

LifeStreams, in my own interpretation of Armano’s parlance, are a way of viewing that intangible consumption which often characterizes participation in and affiliation with brands — be they individuals, products, corporations, religions, or whatnot. While David was focused (I think) a bit more on online lifestyle, I’ll try to extend the idea to brands both online and off.

LifeStreaming = Non-Commercial Consumption Space?

On the subject of consumption, I often use the idea of “consumption space” to describe how brands and users/customers interact in an ideal fashion.

The idea of Consumption Space comes from the assumption that customers know best when it comes to how brands and products are – or are not – a part of their daily lives. Rather than imposing ad hoc segmentation on target audiences, consumption space analysis respects customers’ unique approach to brands.

A Consumption Space is defined by re-envisioning product categories by basing product and brand associations on measurable and observable consumer thoughts and activities. That is, a consumption space is how an individual consumer organizes the consumption of brands and products (and, hence, the brands) within a particular area of their lives.

Guidelines for Consumption Spaces:

• Every single customer will have a unique consumption space for your product or brand. (A particular brand – yours – may not be in that space at all.)
• Customers have no concept of “category,” so this descriptor of product and brand associations has no relevance when pursuing a customer-centric approach.
• There is not necessarily only one Consumption Space per traditional category. Consumption spaces can overlap, contain, or exclude, other consumption spaces and product categories.
• Consumers may have hundreds of Consumption Spaces that they do not recognize or which they do not innately feel are organized. (Which, therefore, represent big opportunities for Brands to become organizing influences in those spaces.)
• Consumption Spaces are experienced by consumers in their daily lives. They cannot be “imagined” by marketers – rather they should be measured, observed (and respected).

How is Brand Membership related to the Consumption Space?

• Consumers may have hundreds of disorganized (therefore, to them, non-existent) consumption spaces.
• When a customer is a true member of a brand, it is likely that they will choose to organize their consumption space around that brand.
• Building Brand Membership in customers is a method for placing your brand at the center of that consumer’s relevant consumption space.
• A customer’s Brand Memberships are often reason enough for them to reorganize their consumption spaces around specific brands.

Is there a Conclusion to this Post/Concept Coming?

Not really. These are loosely formed thoughts worth exploring. What I do know is that the power of brands is increasingly in how they relate to other brands — and, therefore — in the way that customers organize their consumption spaces.

Etailers would do well to consider the increasing complexity consumers deal with when organizing their online lives — and to position their etail brands at the center of user consumption spaces by forming connections and relationships with other brands. A good place to start? Facebook. Get familiar with our the app/plugin architecture links consumption/lifestyle activities/brands to each other and to the social graph.

Last but not least, thanks for the Tweet link David.

[techtags: etail, customer+behavior, branding, online+branding, lifestreams]