Brands should be Ahead of their Customers in an Era of Technological Determinism

We all belong to the technological determinism era. Our primary social, cultural, political, and psychological scenarios are all driven by technology. According to DATAREPORTAL, there are 5.56 billion people around the world who are using the internet in 2025, constituting 67.9 % of the global population. This increased usage of the internet can easily grant access to a profound knowledge system.

Saurabh Sharma, the director of marketing at ASICS India stated, “People are more informed today.” The same media platform is utilized by both the customers and the brand for studying the patterns and behavior of the brand and vice versa. Therefore, the customers at present are far more educated and informed about products than before. This has provided brands the ability to build a stable connection with the customers through showcasing their authenticity by being transparent, leading to the creation of brand loyalty.

For many sports enthusiasts, the brand ASICS is not unfamiliar. ASICS is a multinational sportswear brand from Japan, which has been operating in India since 2010 by partnering with Reliance Retail. Since 2015, the brand has been operating independently. Saurabh Sharma highlights the change in customer behavior over time. When they started operations independently, the customer’s queries were limited to diet, nutrition, different types of shoes, and race distances. But at present the customers are more aware of the industry standards. They are going into the stores with questions regarding the standard analytical tool in mind.

ASICS has been trying to integrate innovative technologies into their brand. In a recent marathon conducted in Bangalore, the brand tried to capture the video footage of different branded shoes worn by the participants. This analysis was done to determine the brand's shoes usage against their rival’s brand. This was done in partnership with Procam, a sports management company. With the help of AI, the shoe brands were determined. Previously, ASICS has taken the initiative of personalizing the shoes for its customers, according to their comfortability and physical nature, with Dassault Systèmes helping them to bring it to life.

For a brand to sustain itself in the competitive market, it has to tap into different resources and utilize different channels. According to Sharma, the brand wants to become the number one shoe in India by being the most visible among their competitors and with a goal of opening 200 stores by next year. The company has been investing a lot of money in Google and Meta for online ads. This can help the brand to reach out to its target customers more easily. The brand also has expos held prior to the marathon, which helps with customer attraction and access to more secluded customers.