Michael Bruno, United States

The rise of the information age has transformed consumers from passive observers to brand scholars who sometimes know even more about the brands they’re interested in than the brands know about themselves.

As social hierarchies are democratized and no longer based on traditional status indicators, like age and wealth, but rather on merit and understanding, consumers are finding a renewed sense of place.

We’re seeing the rise of consumers who, more than ever before, are aware of their values, what they want from their lives and where they’d like to fit in with society. These are the consumers who are filling their lives, their social circles and their consumption habits with likeminded entities. Be they friends, brands, causes, sports, music or anything else, the relevance of the people and things to each consumer’s life reigns supreme. And the market has adapted; from customization earlier this decade, to the fracturing of, well, everything:

In short, there’s something for everyone and increasingly, something very specific for someone very specific.

PR and marketing continues to adapt the products we’re offering, ways we’re engaging with consumers and the tactics we bring to the fore (from social media programs to blogger engagement to media relations to digital communities). To be sure, there’s an infinite opportunity to keep growing in this area. Consumers will keep getting smarter, keep getting savvier and will keep demanding more from brands. Particularly, they will demand more synergies with what interests them … and they’ll be able to get it.

This brings us to today – an interesting time with a singularly huge opportunity.

Relevance is that opportunity.