2021 - 08 - 01
The Tower of Pisa
The industry we currently run has been dominated by marketing for decades. The market is saturated with high quality items that are all rather similar. Eyeliner, mascara, jeans, hoodies, the only differentiation is price level. The only deciding factor on price was the brand. This means marketing took the lead and determined our markets.
Corona lockdowns have turned us into stubborn consumers, and the game of marketing has now changed. Consumers have found their own peace and autonomy. Consumers are no longer as easy to guide into buying expensive products because of the brand, they are their own entity.
The lockdowns have pushed us into solitude. It develops a new habit in people, an attitude of autonomy where no one can tell anyone what to do anymore. We don’t have to conform ourselves to labels to impress others in the street or in the office. The brand logo no longer impacts our shopping habits. When paying a higher price for a product, there must now be a reason behind it other than status.
The industry’s trick was marketing, the safe journey labels would take to push their non-outstanding high-price products. Now that the trick has no meaning, it falls apart. The stubborn consumer wants an inherent value to their product, something that makes it valuable other than the label. The industry has to rethink their strategies as the value of a product will no longer be decided by the status it gives you, but by the product itself.
The Tower of Pisa is the classic story of failure turned to success. A critical mistake that should have doomed the tower turns out to be the only reason it has reached success today. The unique quality of the tower is the only reason it has any notoriety at all. Compared to other historical bell towers it is by far the most well known.
The story of the tower is the story of being unique. Sometimes being unique can be the deciding factor between fame or obscurity. In a time of the stubborn consumer, the industry should dare to break the decade-long stalemate of marketing. Become the new Tower of Pisa that stands out from the crowd. In an industry filled with straight towers, the leaning one will get all the attention.