Ducrocq said that the findings supported the idea of a “bottom up” approach to marketing, remembering to trust both staff and customers, offering demonstration and co-creation and being prepared for “radical transparency”, as he cited one company which discloses all the costs of the components in its fashions.

The theme was picked up by Laurie Ann Goodman, PE board director and advisor at Joe and the Juice. Advocating reciprocal trust, she said that customers who “choose to try the brand often have the biggest loyalty. Whenever you insist, people resist.”

Daniel Bobroff, founder at Coded Futures, added: “What we are seeing is the demise of the gatekeeper. The brand and the customer are in the same place; in fact often millennial customers see themselves as the brand.”