Relevance.

There are many buzz words you hear in business school - beta, competitive advantage, scale, synergistic cost efficiencies. You get the picture! Relevance is often among those overused words, as most brands see relevance as the proverbial pot of gold, and yet many will argue that it is the hardest objective to achieve. There are entire jobs built around ensuring a brand remains relevant in the eyes of its consumers because if it doesn't, its sales will suffer and a private equity company flush with cash will look to buy low and sell high. Adding to this challenge is the fact that we've reached the age of fast, cheap information so consumers are more knowledgeable and have more options than ever before. So what is a brand to do? How can a brand stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant when consumers are more demanding then ever? This article gives a few examples of how properly utilizing proprietary customer data from website usage can help in this more sophisticated and challenging retail environment.