Not value but meaning that counts
In Tokyo last year opened a unique restaurant according to the article of Forbes (see the above image). The name is “Restaurant of Mistaken Orders.” What features the restaurant is all the servers working there are people living with dementia. According to their website, the servers may or may not get your order right. Customers are supposed to accept mistaken orders, considering “This may be good, too.” with a big heart. When I heard the news, I was so impressed. It’s not because I’m a good guy full of humanity but because it proves my marketing theory: People choose something not for its value but for its meaning.
Differentiation doesn’t work any more
Many marketers say differentiation is the key to success in business, but the question is “how?” Now that the world is filled up with a lot of things, information, and services, it’s almost impossible to clearly differentiate something from others. Even if you can make it, the similar or better ones would come up the next day in the market. In addition, most people can no longer tell such a small difference in quality and design. In the first place, as the Jam theory proves, people become overloaded with too many choices. I’m sure the quality and price of our products (furniture) are excellent, but they’re not enough to differentiate us from others, because our competitors surviving in this difficult time must be as good as us.
What matters is meaning rather than quality
Let me give you another example. A picture book was sold at two prices. The one at the higher price includes a donation for kids in need. Without saying, it sold much more than the cheaper one. Differentiation is no longer a determinant factor because it’s not value but meaning that many people want when buying something.
Why do your customers choose your service? I think it’s mainly because of your personality, as it may sound like going against the times (diluting relations between people). Your customers want to pay not to goods or services but to you. I didn’t mean to appeal myself here but just hope you like the character or personality of our company: artisan-spirited, faithful, and eco-friendly.
Source: https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/16640
Shungo Ijima
He is travelling around the world. His passion is to explain Japan to the world, from the unique viewpoint accumulated through his career: overseas posting, MBA holder, former official of the Ministry of Finance.