thoughts after PLMA

In the beginning the world was divided into people who made things and people who bought them, and the people who made the things that other people bought put their names on them so that the people who bought the things that the other people made could see who made them. In this new era of brand stretch, the people who buy things get the people who make things to put the names of the people who buy things on the things that get made so that the people who buy things can benefit from any loyalty from customers and any profit from intellectual property that might accrue if the things that are made are any good.

At the Private Label Manufacturing Associations shingdig, called horrifically 'the world of private label' manufacturers sit on pale anonymous booths surrounded by products with a display stand announcing 'your brand here', like some fairground attraction. In this dystopian view of the future, all products are the same - only the labels change....