The Invention Trap
The Art and Science of Business Storytelling
Posted by Chris Sissons on Aug 28, 2024
Stories in Business ยป Chris Sissons
Invention is not always good news for business. But let’s define terms. By invention I mean a new physical product or procedure that can be marketed as a service. This rules out innovative approaches to business or marketing, which I would describe as innovation.
Inventions appear on the market as products or services. They can be handled or experienced. The distinction is that I buy the product or service. I do not buy marketing or other business investments, although I am likely to pay for them.
I make this distinction because the marketing of a product or service bears little relationship to the actual value of the product or service.
I invent a new quality product and market in a niche market. I sell enough to make a living and build a small market of satisfied customers who remain loyal to my product. One of these customers decides to market my product to the mass market. They gain my consent and develop a simplified version of the product that can be mass-produced. They make a fortune selling a sub-standard version of my product.
Let’s reflect on this scenario:
- The circumstances are likely to be less benign than my scenario. I may be able to protect myself with patents but sooner or later someone will work out how to circumnavigate my offers and put something similar and cheaper on the market.
- My focus is on quality, whereas for the mass market, the focus is on quantity.
- Mass production is likely to lower both value and costs. If customers value this product, reducing costs may mean more people experience it although it is of lower quality.
- We now have two products on the market. One is high quality and high cost. The other is lower quality and costs less. Which is going to do best?
- The original business owner will need to market their better quality offer with their own story. In a niche market, the business owner must be trusted so their personal story is important. Whilst their story might be used to market the mass-produced version, mass-market marketing will focus on the product or service (see post 9).
A famous example of this is video machines. VHS won out over Betamax even though the latter was a better product. There are many reasons for this happening, eg lower costs, better marketing, faster business building, and compatibility with other people’s machines.
The story may be one of competition between two versions of a product or service. There is no necessary correlation between quality and success in the marketplace. Marketing trumps quality most of the time.
Is this good news or bad for business owners and their customers?
This is the sixth in a sequence of posts about business storytelling. The first post was Marketing: Art or Science? The last post was What Business Am I In? and the seventh post will be AI Does Not Tell Stories.
To try out one of your business-related stories and receive feedback from me plus a few other business owners, please comment below to arrange an informal conversation. I run these sessions free of charge on the second and fourth Thursdays. Visit my website to find out about the Telling Stories Autumn meetings.
Minerva claims to be a brilliant inventor. She sat down with her owl and together they came up with a device for breaking eggs. Minerva is convinced there is a market for this contraption. I have my doubts.
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