I am reading a lot lately about the rise of niche marketing and demise of brands. Now, I don’t know if that is coincidence having to do with the blogs I am selecting (lots of economists and marketers) or not, but it is beginning to ring true with me, particularly since I follow a lot of security product vendors in the space.

Here is a "brand is dead" article by James Surowiecki, who wrote the Wisdom of Crowds: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.11/brands.html.