The Platformization of Brands

Digital platforms that aggregate products and services, such as Google Shopping or Amazon, have emerged as powerful intermediaries to brand offerings, challenging traditional product brands that have largely lost direct access to consumers. As a countermeasure, several long-established brands have built their own flagship platforms to resume control and foster consumer loyalty. For example, sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, or Asics launched tracking and training platforms that allow for ongoing versatile interactions among participants beyond product purchase. The authors analyze these emerging platform offerings, whose potential brands struggle to exploit, and provide guidance for brands that aim to platformize their business. This guidance comprises the conceptualization of digital platforms as places of consumer crowdsourcing (i.e., consumers drawing value from platform participants such as the brand, other consumers, or third-party businesses) and crowdsending (i.e., consumers providing value to platform participants) of products, services, and content along with a well-defined framework that brands can apply to assemble different types of flagship platforms. Evaluating the consequences of crowdsourcing and crowdsending for consumer-platform relationships, the authors derive a typology of archetypical relationship states and develop a set of propositions to help offline-born product brands thrive through platformization.

Automated summary

Digital platforms like Google Shopping and Amazon have emerged as powerful intermediaries, challenging traditional product brands' direct access to consumers. Some long-established brands have built their own flagship platforms to regain control and foster consumer loyalty, with sports brands launching tracking and training platforms for versatile interactions beyond product purchases. The authors analyze these emerging platform offerings, providing guidance for brands looking to platformize their business.