T-shirts, BMW and why less is more
I have concluded that the single greatest motivator of employees is a t-shirt. Specifically, a t-shirt that identifies said employee as part of a special group, one which has launched a new product. Don’t believe me? Hear me out.
I came across this article the other day about how excessive choice amongst luxury car manufacturers was making it harder for them to keep ahold of their customers. It seems that in the mad rush to attract more customers, companies like Mercedes, Lexus and, most notoriously, BMW have filled every available nook and cranny with cars, SUVs, SAVS, CUVs, and any other not-quite-a-car-but-not-quite-a-truck you can imagine. The resulting product lineup, rather than helping customers find vehicles that fit their specific needs exactly, ends up confusing everyone but the most egg headed car buffs.
BMW's product lineup has gotten out of control, not just confusing customers but alienating them too
For years, companies have expanded their offerings, explored opportunities, stretched themselves to the point that the simple act of buying milk is not so simple. It’s not just that one needs to choose between whole, 2%, 1% or skim. It’s about deciding if you want your milk to be natural, organic, BHT-free. Raised on a family farm, an industrial farm, free range or floating in space? You can have high-protein, low lactose, ultra high pasteurized. Plastic jug, paper carton or glass bottle? Even then you still need to decide if you want it to be store brand, regional brand or national brand. When something so basic is so complicated, how are we supposed to make sense of it all?
CHOICE IS ONLY GOOD INSOFAR AS IT MAKES THINGS EASIER. AT SOME POINT CHOICE, AND THE COMPLEXITY THAT COMES WITH IT, SHIFTS FROM BEING AN ENABLING AGENT TO ONE THAT PREVENTS PEOPLE MOVING FORWARD.
In practice, choice is only good insofar as it makes things easier. At some point choice, and the complexity that comes with it, shifts from being an enabling agent to one that prevents people moving forward. Years ago, when the Mini Cooper (re)launched, there was a lot of hoopla made over the fact the various options available would allow a buyer to choose from over a million configurations of the car. It made sense. The Mini wasn’t a practical choice, it was a statement piece, and personalization of the car was key to drivers being able to express their unique identity. Clearly, choice in such a context make sense. If, on the other hand, you were in the market for a Toyota Camry, then that much choice would probably been viewed as excessive, you’d roll down the street to the Honda dealer. Different brands, different buyers, different views on choice.
THERE’S A REASON THAT WE NEED A MASSIVE ALGORITHM TO NAVIGATE AMAZON’S OFFERINGS. IT’S BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS WEREN’T DESIGNED TO DEAL WITH THIS LEVEL OF DECISION-MAKING.
It’s not just the luxury car brands that are in trouble either. Computers, TVs, lightbulbs. Stores are filled with aisle after aisle of too much choice. There’s a reason that we need a massive algorithm to navigate Amazon’s offerings. It’s because human beings weren’t designed to deal with this level of decision-making.
Too much of a good thing: You can get 13 different kinds of Jeep Wranglers. Gatorade comes in 30 different flavors. Asus sells 71 chromebooks on Amazon
And that’s the problem. With so much choice, consumers become overwhelmed, unable to move forward. Instead, they take a pass on your brand, make a different choice, an easier choice. The research on the topic – most notably Professor Sheena Iyengar of Columbia Business School and her study of fruit jam sampling in the 90s – supports the idea that too much choice is leads to decreases in sales. Sometimes, less is more.
THE RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC SUPPORTS THE IDEA THAT TOO MUCH CHOICE IS LEADS TO DECREASES IN SALES. SOMETIMES, LESS IS MORE.
How did we get here? How is it that so many companies end up creating so many brands, and so many brands create so many products? Simple: companies focused on their own needs, rather than those of their customers.
In many companies, developing and launching a new product is a t-shirt moment. You know, something where the team involved is celebrated for the achievement of having done something at all. Sometimes, what they’ve achieved is a good thing, but all too often goodness is beside the point. Beneficial to consumers? Meets an actual need? Nope. When people an organization are rewarded for the act of growing, they make decisions that help them make the claim. Management rewards them for their achievement, retailers given them shelf space, and analysts use it to justify price targets. With such a distorted process is it really any wonder that 95% of new product launches fail?
So, where does that leave us, the stewards of brands, the advisors of marketers? If we ask the right questions – How does this product decision help our consumers? How might we make it help them more? – we can prevent bad decisions from being pushed through while redirecting effort in directions that lead to good decisions.
Which brings us back to t-shirts. If, instead of focusing on creating more options, more models within the lineup, we car companies sought to strike a balance between simplicity of choice and flexibility within existing models, perhaps they would make choice easier for everyone. Growth without having to take on the risk of launching yet another product?
Now that’s something worthy of a t-shirt.