Shape of Things

Target is doing a remarkably effective advertising campaign based on a simple premise: Expect more, pay less.  The ads list examples of the diversity of products available at Target and how easy it is to shop in one stop.  Seems obvious, but they are the only retail store I’ve seen promoting this message really well.

My local wine retailer, Great Grapes, gets it.  They have more than doubled their selections in the $8 to $12 range, and increased the quality of wines in that price range by cutting deals with desperate distributors.  They are offering their normal case discount for 6 bottles and highlighting weekly two-for-one deals.  This isn’t window-dressing, but real value for money.

Three of my clients — Geomagic, Red Gate and Blue Ridge Numerics — do well in tough financial times because their technologies enable customers to do more for less.

Red Gate has the best “try before you buy” policy in the IT business.  Geomagic has just added a Geomagic Labs website where customers can test out new technologies under development.  Blue Ridge has a new HPC module that can generate 100x speed increases for upfront CFD simulation.

I don’t have any official “more for less” policy.  I’m just trying to make it business as usual to go beyond what is required for clients, friends and colleagues. At certain times, this is called value-added.  In today’s economy, I call it essential.