So I’m selling a hotdog, and you’re selling a hotdog. To get a competitive edge, I brand my hotdog—I give it an effective name, a sexy new look and tailor it to a specific market. It’s effective and it’s selling.
So sales are up and people are buying. But are they buying because hotdog A is better than hotdog B? Or are they buying because they think that hotdog A is better than hotdog B?
I once read in Jim Aitchison’s book, “Cutting-edge Advertising,” that brands should not look for a unique selling proposition(USP) because there’s no such thing—products are mostly all the same. Instead, we should look for an emotional selling proposition (ESP) which is mainly what Nike is doing to Adidas—selling the positive emotions people derive from Nike (the Just do it spirit.) rather than the products themselves.
But isn’t that simply trickery? Or is that deception a positive one that adds value to people’s lives?
James and Rose have been running a family convenience store for twenty years. They’re not rich, but they’ve been able to feed themselves properly through the small business. Then comes in a few billion-dollar corporate bullies who shamelessly erect a supermall beside their place. James and Rose lose their business.
My heart goes out to James and Rose; but in the end, it’s no surprise they died since they’re not providing enough value to their customers. Apparently, corporate bullies innovate more and give people a better reason to patronize them.
That’s just the way the the rest of the non-design world works—the one who is most valuable, survives.
It happens everyday to people who’ve stopped pushing themselves forward and looking at people’s needs. It happens people who’re too obstinate and self-obsessed with pushing their own ideas and telling others they’re so special and that corporate giants shouldn’t be bullying them because they claim to be providing more value.
Yes, the Amazon Kindle will be killing some designers. It will hurt the design industry. But let’s try to stop being spoiled brats and try looking at what the rest of the book-reading world sees.
The Kindle is an amazingly convenient device that will save millions of people time and money. And if the Kindle sells, it simply means that this convenience is more valuable than a fancy book cover or well-set type in a book. If the Kindle sells, designers will lose opportunities; but there will be newer ones that will sprout because of the new need created by Amazon’s flagship reader.
It’s really as simple as Amazon providing more value than book designers.
Why is it that we whine and complain so much about being bullied by Crowdspring or Amazon (who’re “destroying” the industry) when we don’t give a shit about a million other small businesses who’ve also been dying because they’re being “bullied by corporate giants?”
Why do we go to McDonalds and not some obscure Mom and Pop eatery down the road? Why do we hang-out in Starbucks when it’s bullying some small coffeeshop next door.
Don’t we behave in the same way that book-readers are when they’re planning to buy a Kindle?
The graphic design industry is simply one of many that makes the world go round. We’re not that special, so let’s not act like spoiled brats.
If you’re a designer, you probably know what’s wrong with this picture.
To the rest of the world, here is the problem: When you tell people to “Drive Safely” tell them only that and nothing else.
Because when you’re distracting drivers who have a three-second attention span with ineffective text-heavy ads, inflated breasts, or celebrities flashing their pearly whites while they should be focused on the wheel, you’re hypocritically telling them to drive safely while also inviting road accidents and unintended deaths.
Drive safely means drive safely. Stop barraging people with messages they don’t want and need to hear.
On a side note, here’s a really cool video (although I’m doubting its real effectivity) of a bleeding road safety ad:
They were down almost 30 points in the fourth quarter, a shameful and embarassing situation which will be remembered in NBA Finals’ History.
The Orlando Magic definitely knew that they had absolutely no chance in the world to win that game and they could’ve just quit. They could’ve just let their bench play, slack off and watch the Lakers smash them into the ground. But they didn’t.
You saw the coach still screaming and persisting. You saw the players try their best struggle with their shots. You saw them running back and forth chasing down and defending themselves against the enemy—even if they knew that all those would be pointless.
Hopefully Bad Bullfrog doesn’t wither and die like my older blogs. If you’re reading this, whoever you are, I urge you to follow me through this blogging business.
I leave with this hilarious quote on the truth of getting motivated:
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.
—Zig Ziglar
They were down almost 30 points in the fourth quarter, a shameful and embarassing situation which will be remembered in NBA Finals’ History.
