Category: entrepreneurship

We are currently seeing a massive shift in pricing in many consumer markets. Anecdotally it feels as though product and service categories which typically operated in the middle of the market are either being pushed either into a premium pricing space, or into heavy price competition.

And so what is emerging are two larger markets of pricing extremes. Some categories which one would expect prices to rise, such as air travel with rising fuel infrastructure costs, prices are actually falling. And categories where we’d expect to see prices to decline (ice cream) we are witnessing inflation. Granted much of the premium pricing that is occuring is caused by consumers upgrading and the move to gourmet versions of the product. But the fact remains that consumers are gravitating to markets of extremes.

In order to illustrate:

Deflationary items: Air travel, hotel rooms, computers, internet access, computer programming, digital design, televisions.

While on the inflationary side we have the gourmification (if you can call it that) of products and services where people are paying an ultra premium for bottled water, gourmet ice cream, gourmet yoghurt, gourmet coffee, spa treatments et al…

The implications for startups are many. But the primary consideration should be how this paradigm influences which categories we want to get into, and which ones we believe there is an opportunity to shake up at launching in one end of the pricing extreme.

Satisfaction is boring.

Satisfaction is forgettable.

Satisfaction is corporate yester-world.

Satisfaction is cost focused.

Satisfaction in short, says that we aim for the minimum viable product that people will find acceptable. Satisfaction was a valid strategy when our knowledge of the available options was limited to what we would see in our local geography and what we were told in main stream media. Satisfaction was a valid strategy when we operated in oligopoly markets with homogenius consumers.

Satisfaction is not enough when we market to tribes of people (not consumers) who like to spread the awesome things they find in a fully supplied, fragmented market place.

Startups which aim for satisfied customers, are living in an era which is quickly evaporating. Instead we must aim for inspired evangelists.

Recently I was helping a colleague who works in the design area. We were discussing the merits of blogs, photo sharing and other social forums which can be used well for business purposes. Although he’s not a luddite, he is not so keep on self promoting. He tends to let his work do his talking, rather than lead people to his own output. When I suggested he get busy with a a design blog or twitter account, he was hesitant.

I told him that some of my favourite blogs and tweeters aren’t the domains of original content, but finding and directing me to the great stuff that I am interested in. They become become a personal curator for me. And althought we might think that this is all very altruistic, there are benefits for the so called ‘curators’ too. What they share says a lot about who they are. What they value. Their taste in things and their industry knowledge and experience. It can show they really get it. The point is this:

Showing what we value often translates into what we are capable of. Displaying what we have already done, may only display the limited opportunities we’ve had so far. When collaborating in industry we should be far more concerned what people can do, that what they did do.

Startup Blog says: The social web no longer just requires content creators, but content curators.

The simple idea of displaying support is important. It says who we are, what we value and very importantly why we are different and or better. It plays to the ego. This occurs in all facets of life, real and digital. If  your brand represents a movement or counter culture, then it only makes sense that we give our audience some tools to celebrate it publicly.

A simple idea for cool startups is to distribute stickers. Not just any crappy old sticker, but one that is awesome in design, and limited in distribution. They can’t be bought, but need to be earned – the free prize inside.  Over the last 30 years many brands have used stickers as a tool to promote themselves. The two best industry examples are in the fashion and social space. Here’s a visual collage of examples.

Before you hit the print button on getting some logo stickers done up – make sure it fits the brand. There’s some good clues above from a design and brand proposition perspetive for those who it could work for. It’s also vital that the stickers are high quality – and not a boring block. There has got to be a level of cache. It can be a cool way to promote your startup, but remember Decalology only works when bone fide members of the tribe can access them.