Might not sound sexy. But it just might be the formula to your future success.
In a world that’s getting more complex, more complicated and more unpredictable, Fast, Simple and Consistent offers an oasis to the harried consumer. It removes anxiety, adds reassurance and becomes something he can “count on.”
Let’s face facts. Consumers today don’t have the time or temperment to learn one more set of instructions. Or spend any more minutes navigating a phone tree. Or learn the intracacies of a new version of software. Or figure out why, if something is “new and improved,” it doesn’t do some things as well as the version you just killed off. Yet often, all this becomes the price for innovation.
As much as consumers prefer fast-simple-consistent now, it will be even more important in the near future. The Millennial generation (born between 1982 and 2001) is poised to become the marketing “sweet spot” for a lot of marketers. They are projected to surpass Boomers as the dominant consumer market (64 million U.S. households by 2020). And guess what their number one driver is? If you said “fast-simple-consistent,” then make your way to the head of the class.
As marketers, it’s in our nature to approach problems with a mindset of “more.” More features, more colors, more sizes, more niche variations, more uses, more brand spin-offs, more capabilities. We think we’re doing it as a way to give the consumer what she’s been asking for and what will keep her satisfied. But in a lot of cases, what we’re really doing is making it harder for her to work with us.
We need to break free of the “more mentality” and filter new initiatives and decisions by asking “Is this making life easier for our customers?” We need to start equating “innovation” with “simplicity.” And most of all, we need to live life in our customers’ shoes so we can experience what she experiences, pain points and all.
In fact, if you defined your brand personality right now as “the company that’s easiest to work with,” you’d be on the path to success.
