It has been scientifically proven that increasing choice beyond a certain point leads to confusion, indecisiveness and consumers opting out by buying the same old, familiar products. For example, in retail, it is a well-known fact that most new product launches fail. One of the primary reasons for this is the lack of differentiation; in a world where everything starts to look more and more alike, what real choice is there ? When was the last time you really looked at which detergent to buy ? What hair gel ? What brand of soap ?

With rapid advances in technology, it has become increasingly possible to cater to niche audiences and develop products that would have never “gotten to market” even five years ago. As described by Chris Anderson in “The Long Tail”, there is a mass of niche consumers out there waiting for uniquely targeted products that appeal only to them. Wanna make music by drumming on empty bottles ? Sell heavy-duty vandal-resistant mailboxes ? Or how about 43 minutes of the world’s best fly fishing action ? Perhaps the world’s most expensive soapbar, containing pure gold ?

The point is: increasing choice can lead to consumer confusion, or it may lead to a world where consumers increasingly opt out of the mainstream, and buy products that are catered to their unique individual needs. What do you offer that is unique ? Which of your products or services have the potential of attracting a crowd of loyal followers ? How do your people feel about your products ?

Marketers tend to spend most of their time thinking about how they can get their products to stand out in the marketplace. In a postmodern consumer society, this is proving to be increasingly difficult. Perhaps we should spend more time thinking about how we can develop products that stand out in the first place ?

On October 21 2008, I launched Branding Through People – a blog to express my thoughts on how important “the human element” is when it comes to building successful brands. Today, I feel as strongly as ever that people are the most important element that determine how we feel about an organisation, and how it lives up to its brand promise.

In the past year, a lot of (good) things have happened, and I feel it is time to take things to the next level.

Where this blog started as a way of expressing my thoughts and sharing them with the world, I was surprised to find exactly how much my thinking resonated with people – lots of you responded and shared stories or personal experiences, which made me feel I was onto something, and encouraged me to continue blogging and share my views.

Today, I want to ask you for your help. I am planning a major redesign for Branding Through People, and I want to ask you to take five minutes of your time and give me your opinion on where things should go. To help you do that, I have set up a short survey.

Five minutes of your time, that’s all it will take. In return, I promise to take your feedback to heart – by giving you better and more targeted content, more added value, sharper analysis and thinking and more practical tips on how you can help build a stronger brand for your company.

Please click here to take the survey.

In a few weeks’ time, I will share the results of the survey on Branding Through People, and tell you a little bit more about the future developments I have planned.

As Andrew Sullivan said, “A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation.” Thank you so much for your support, your comments and the stories you shared with me over the past year.

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PS. If you like, please share or forward the survey link to others you think might be interested, so they too can help Branding Through People get to the next level.