Give them what they want!
I think it is sometimes easy to confuse what consumers want vs. what they will put up with.
A funny example of this occurred on a panel that I participated on the other day. One of the panelists was arguing that consumers want shorter and shorter snippets of video to watch. To support the argument he pointed to broadcast television and noted that 30 minute shows used to have 27 minutes of content, then 26, now we’re down to 22!
Um, I don’t think that consumers were begging for more advertisements and shorter shows. By and large, they have been willling to put up with it, though time-shifting is showing that perhaps a wall has been hit there.
The main thing that I took away from this is that big mistakes can be made with products and services if there isn’t some serious pragmatism and honesty about which direction you are pushing towards. And here’s a hint: consumers are willing to put up with much less today.
1 year ago