Commodity Logic

I first heard the phrase months ago from a friend and colleague in the same industry. A client of his wanted to busy up a magazine ad with the logic, "Hey, if we're paying for paper and ink, we might as well use it."

I shrugged it off as an isolated incident. Surely this is only the mindset of less-experienced marketing professionals at smaller organizations. Right?

Wrong. The same thing happened on another one of his projects--this one funded by a rather well-known, highly successful Twin Cities entrepreneur. The product: a catalog. The comment: "As long as we're paying for paper and ink, we might as well use it."

I won't get into the details of what was being discussed, but suffice it to say, if you've seen the brilliant Stop Sign Video, it was about adding more to the stop sign (and making it half blue, half pink).

The Commodity Mindset is so wrong on so many levels, the riffing analogies are almost too numerous to fathom:

"Excuse me, Senor Picasso, but as long as I'm paying for canvas and oils, could you add something more to that painting... something besides cubes?"

"Sorry, Herr Mozart, but as long as I'm paying for the 20 violinists, could you please add a movement?"

"Yes, Albert, it's very clever. But as long as I'm paying for your research, could you add another letter to e=mc2?"

Don't obsess on the individual commodities of your marketing. Think about the final product from the perspective of the audience. In a crowded world, "less is more" is usually the way to go.