Great to read that Mark Ritson shares my cynicism about brands that think they can build a strategy, simply on the basis of giving consumers what they want. Consumer empowerment may be a big deal (we wrote a book about it, so we obviously think so), but collaboration (with customers) does not mean abdication.
Vodafone, in particular, appears to have come up with a strategy that makes a previously bland and hollow brand even more dull and meaningless.