Author: Today’s consumers are ‘walking billboards’ for the brands they love

Companies need to focus on becoming “passion brands” instead of just flooding consumers with advertisements, author Jeff Rosenblum said on Thursday’s “The Glenn Beck Radio Program.”

The latest generation of consumers is comfortable with social media and loves to interact, so they are the best advocates for the brands they like.

In his book “Friction: Passion Brands in the Age of Disruption,” Rosenblum explored this phenomenon of "passion brands," or companies and products that people love enough to share with everyone by tweeting, wearing a T-shirt and telling friends through word of mouth.

“They’re like walking billboards, and they’re actively proselytizing for brands,” Rosenblum said, describing this key type of consumer.

One of his favorite examples is the brand Yeti Coolers, which sells a particularly rugged type of cooler intended for camping, fishing and other outdoor trips. Instead of traditional ads, Yeti focuses on creating short videos about people going on incredible adventures; it’s more about image than anything else. Even if people don’t really need a cooler that can weather the elements, they’ll be drawn to the vision of adventure.

“They tell these stories about people who are going on bigger and bolder adventures than most people ever will,” Rosenblum said.

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