The change is 'buy' not 'sell' (not the internet specifically)

Started reading a new book (22 laws of branding) and he concludes, and I agree, that the world is changing for a 'sell' to a 'buy' arrangement.
Walk into 90% of the stores out there and you can't get sales help. at all. There are no 'salesman' anymore. Even upper market stores like macys have 'order takers' not salespeople in most departments.
Furniture and shoe stores are more self serve than ever before.
Consumers 'buy' rather than being 'sold'. The internet is part of this 'revolution' of course. If I don't need sales 'help' then I just need to find the cheapest way to get what I want - since I already know what I want.
Where the book's author says things are changing is that now brand is everything. Walk down a aisle at a grocery store and there's nobody to help you choose (aka sell you) pepsi over coke or tylenol over bayer - you buy what you buy becaue of the brand.  Never heard of X? Then you're very unlikely to buy X 'brand'.
Want to buy a camera or a car? Google it...but if you don't know what you're looking for how do you find it? Ever google 'new car'? or 'new camera'?  How about 'stereo' or 'mp3'? OOOH, 'computer'? "photo editing software'?
Of course not. You google 'camry' or 'ipod' or 'photoshop' or the like, right?

So you've already been sold on a brand before you even begin to shop for an item.
Have to read the rest of the book to see what all he recomends to get one's brand recognized. So far he's a big big big fan of 'do one thing' but IMO he's not proven his case super well. But i'll keep reading.

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My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me of course)