Made to measure up to professional standards (extension of the DIY concept to consumers using new self-service brands)

Citation

(2012), "Made to measure up to professional standards (extension of the DIY concept to consumers using new self-service brands)", Strategic Direction, Vol. 28 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2012.05628aaa.010

Made to measure up to professional standards (extension of the DIY concept to consumers using new self-service brands)

Article type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 28, Issue 1

Costa M. Marketing Week, July 2011, Vol. 34 No. 28, Start page: 16, No. of pages: 5

Describes the extension of the DIY concept, once limited to all forms of home improvement, to consumers using new self-service brands to achieve and create professional-quality products, goods or services. Records that brands from an ever-increasing variety of sectors are buying into the self-service trend by giving consumers the opportunity to create high quality personalized products or services. Illustrates this trend with the examples of: Crushpad Wine which lets anyone create their own wine and launch their own label for commercial distribution; online retailer Asos’s Marketplace section that allows people to start their own fashion boutique online; New Zealand-based WilliamsWarn’s in-home brewery; California-based TechShop, which runs a chain of mechanical workshops where users can work on their own car projects; and Collabracam, which allows its users to shoot and edit professional video footage through iPhone/iPad software. Illustrates the points made in the article with particular reference to a brief case study involving the Blurb creative writing platform, and a question and answer (Q&A) session with Eileen Gittins, founder and chief executive of Blurb. ISSN: 0141-9285 Article type: Viewpoint Reference: 40AP375

Keywords: Brand Management, Marketing management, Marketing models, Marketing philosophy, Marketing planning, Marketing strategy, Marketing theory, Organizations, Sales campaigns, Self-service, Strategic marketing, United Kingdom