Posts Tagged ‘Choice’

and delivered sure things in the process

September 6, 2011 – #17

Last week’s New York Times was full of examples of editing – of course, every newspaper is, every day. But the stories themselves were about editing, simplifying, paring down to essentials… to sure things. The top fashion headline: “The 5 Things You Need for Fall.”  The home section piece on trimming belongings for a down-size: “A 20^th-century collection in a smaller space: what stays and what goes?” Choices, choices.

And then there was this quote in one of the many stories about Steve Jobs stepping aside as CEO of Apple. “His design decisions were shaped by his understanding of both technology and popular culture…his own study and intuition were his guide. ‘It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want,’ he explained.” [Source: NYT]

What a relief. We’re all exhausted by the multivariate analysis that seems necessary for every choice from coffee to paint color. Our SCAN findings show that since the Great Recession, Americans are hungrier than ever for simplicity, for the lightness of fewer (but better, pre-edited) choices.

• Only 45% of adults agree that more choice is better:  “I really believe that the more choices a person has…the better off they are” (down 5 points since 2007)
• Surprisingly, younger consumers are even less enamored with more choice:

Gen Y:  42% (down 7 points since 2007)

Gen X:  40% (down 6 points since 2007)

Simplicity as an approach to life is on the upswing with 58% of all adults now saying they are “taking action to simplify my life.”  [Source: DYG SCAN® 2011]

So here’s to Steve Jobs for giving us what we do know we want: elegantly simple, intuitively functional things that make our lives better or at least more fun. We trust that complexity and a multitude of choices are built into every Apple product, and we happily pay more for the privilege of seeing only the simplicity.

Business Implications: The lessons of Apple are many, of course, and some dwell in the magical house of creativity. But one is certainly that if you build a sure thing not only will they come, they will wait in line and pay a premium price for it. Even in the era of the Great Recession and daily deals, a sure thing still trumps a low price.

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