The challenge, from a marketing point of view, is to stretch the brand's perception to match its offerings. Although Jeff Bezos, the company's charismatic founder, decides what businesses Amazon should be in, managing the perception of the brand is up to Jaleh Bisharat. She is unabashedly critical of the reliance on advertising shown by many Internet start-ups. No amount of smart advertising can make up for the fact that the brand is inextricably linked to what people get when they order. At Amazon, the brand is centered around the customer experience.
Most people think of marketing as inalterably linked to advertising.
But Amazon is not like those products. As a brand, it closely resembles Starbucks, the coffee chain that has succeeded based on the experience it delivers to customers. Amazon wants to copy that model. On the Internet, every customer is one click away from your site. Your brand is indistinguishable from the customer experience.