NPR

From Campbell's To Kellogg's, Classic Brands Are Feeling The Crunch

Big mainstream consumer brands, which have owned our cupboards and closets, face a turning point: a time to evolve or wither. The Internet and the echoes of the recession have changed us as shoppers.
The world of mainstream consumer brands is in a major slow-motion transformation.

Think about the last time you went to the supermarket. You probably spent no more than a few seconds choosing from all the different brands of toothpaste, frozen peas or oatmeal.

Those few seconds used to be the Holy Grail for brands, the moment you would get hooked forever on that Tide detergent or Heinz ketchup — an event referred to as "the first moment of truth." But lately, the moment of truth has moved to the Internet. What's more, ripples from the 2008 recession have changed us as shoppers.

More and more people have started saying: "I'm not a

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