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I love coffe. I get a coffee twice a day. And every other month, I switch coffee shops.

It’s not that I don’t like these coffee shops, or I don’t like the atmosphere, I just don’t want another relationship in my life. I don’t want to commit to a coffee shop. I don’t need the ‘Cheers’ moment where everybody knows my name, knows my order, has it ready for me when I stand in line. My coffee is not important enough to me for me to have a relationship that revolves around it.

Many marketers find that odd.  Because a lot of marketers act as if the end all and be all of their existence and their brands is a relationship.

Sure, there are maybe masses of people so lonely that they need to converse with toilet paper or beer or cleaning supplies. Maybe relationship marketing works with these people.

There are masses out there who want to be left alone. They don’t want anybody to know their name. They are the ones at the self-checkout counters at airports and stores.

Sometimes the best you can do for customers is just to leave them alone.