Does “being average” work in business?

Every once in a while, you come a cross a blog that just resonates with you. A friend of mine sent me a blog post from Seth Godin the other day that did just that. The title was, “The one that makes things worse” and it talked specifically about that person in the group that wants to make things more average.

I thought Seth was right on point. In today’s market, we are starting to see a bigger split between those that differentiate and those that remain status quo. This is seen in technology, in TV and even in retail package design. There are those companies that want to play it safe, make decisions fast, and appeal to the masses- in other words; they don’t want to rock the boat. Then there are others that are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They want to stand out, have a personality, and if it alienates someone in the process, well that is just the way it will be!

Now you could argue both sides of this coin and probably win the short-term argument with each position. But it is the long term I want to focus on.

Take the new Cadillac car commercials that play incessantly every morning. Their tagline is, “Those that dare, drive the world forward.”#DareGreatly. It’s an interesting tagline and right on target.

So how would we apply this to retail products? We could apply it in product development, pushing our R&D teams to come up with better formulations, healthier formulations that will change the way we eat and our long-term health.

We could apply it to how we market – what if we took the time to market to specific demographic areas? A different targeted campaign, assortment and promotions for urban areas versus rural? What if we dared to really hear what our customers are saying through social media and actually engage them in the conversation?

What if we decided to actually push the boundaries on package design and take a stand? Not cue off the national brand, but build our own brand with personality, meaning and conviction?

It can all be done. It just takes the 5 C’s – courage, conviction, confrontation, cash and commitment.

Let us know what you think about “average”. Does it work for you and your business? Are you willing to put yourself out there? We’d love to hear from you. And if you are one of the people that as Cadillac says “Dare Greatly” – call us! We’d love to work with you.