ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the new tenets of the consumer contract as ideas that can inform the activities of an ongoing organizational culture. The old brand-consumer contract has been predicated on an ‘us and them’ mindset that still persists in many traditional brand-marketing organizations. The brand recognizes that it is embedded within an interconnected and diverse community that includes employees, consumers, and interest groups. The brand marketing industry is in no shortage of talent that can rebuild the consumer contract and have a positive impact – indeed it continues to attract creative and ambitious minds in droves. The tendency of the big brand complex can be to confuse semantics with substance. A consistent theme in successful initiatives has been the presence of brave brand owners and managers with the backbone to resist short-cuts, the vision to build brands beyond quarterly targets, the genuine empathy for their brand community, and the deep felt trust that no good action goes unrewarded.
