There was an interesting article in The Times today written by Jacquie Myburgh (in the interests of full disclosure I must unashamedly admit that I was reading the paper version of the newspaper). Marks and Spencer in the UK have until now apparently priced their larger sized bras at a premium to regular sized bras. For example a double D cost something like GBP2 more than a smaller size. There is undoubtedly a good reason for this in that it costs more to produce the bigger size, not just in the fabric used but more importantly in the required materials to support the heavier size.

The interesting part is that two women who were unhappy with paying more took their grievances online by creating a “Busts 4 Justice” campaign on Facebook. Soon they were joined by thousands of other voices calling for Marks and Spencer to revise their policy. To avoid the bad publicity and to keep their customers happy Marks and Spencer eventually gave in and announced last week that they would start charging the same price for all bra sizes.

The above is just one example of a growing number of cases where a small number of people can quickly gather massive support for a cause and force large companies to their knees. Social Networks are the platform that makes this possible, and they are clearly shifting the balance of power away from companies and into the hands of consumers.