Amazon.com boasted one of the best-known brand names on the Internet almost from the time it opened its virtual doors nine years ago. But slowing growth and mounting losses as the dot-com wave crested in 2000 tarnished its reputation as a business. Chief Executive Jeffrey P. Bezos, however, never stopped pushing his obsession to please customers. Now, that persistence has paid off -- not only in recent profitable quarters and recharged growth but also in the value of Amazon's (AMZN
) brand.
According to the latest BusinessWeek/Interbrand survey, Amazon's brand ranking rose 22% last year. Bezos spoke recently with Robert D. Hof, BusinessWeek's Silicon Valley bureau chief, about what explains Amazon's brand resurgence. Following are edited excerpts from their conversation:
