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MARKETING | Noah Brier

Elegance Through Back to Basics

Why finding your core idea will help you be more elegant in 2007.

January 10, 2007 | RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | 8 COMMENTS

I don't mean to trot out old themes, but with yesterday's iPhone announcement on the brain I can't help but think about elegance.

Simplicity was a big theme in 2006, but as Piers astutely notes, it's not really what everyone desires. As Don Norman wrote, "Features win over simplicity, even when people realize that it is accompanied by more complexity." It's not that people prefer complexity, but they want a product that does everything they might ever want to do (even though most likely they'll never use the vast majority of those features). I'd argue that what people are really looking for is elegance: The intersection of simplicity and complexity.

Unlike simplicity ('less is more'), elegance doesn't have an ideology. It just is. It's about delivering the best possible feature set in the best possible way. It's about making each and every one of those features easy to use. Not surprisingly, the most elegant is also often the most innovative (and, as Scott points out, the most obvious).

The problem with elegance is it's not easy. It requires a company to really know who they are and who their audience is. They need to get back to basics, which just happens to be the point of this whole piece. (Apologies for taking four paragraphs to get there).

Today Gareth asked "What will [marketing in] 2007 be about?" I posited a guess that was built both on Gareth's and Mark Earls' responses: "I think 2007 is about back to basics. With the influx of user generated content and the realization that consumers can be great co-marketers, it's time for brands to dig deep within themselves and figure out who they are and what they want to be when they grow up. Companies need to identify core beliefs and assets and focus on them."

From there anything is possible.

So what do you all think about this? What will 2007 be about?

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COMMENTS

1nate archer

Very interesting proposition Noah. I was just reading an article for school called “Delivering Profitable Value�. In this article it states that successful businesses have value propositions at the forefront of their decision-making. These are a set of experiences that they hope to deliver to their users. Without this value proposition businesses tend to lose focus.

I think the elegance you are discussing is an understanding of ones value proposition. Apple is a great example of this. As Don Norman stated in his article the iPod isn’t really a beacon of simplicity, however it is elegant. It offers users a simple point of entry and complex depth to expand into. At its heart it is a tangible representation of Apple.

January 10, 2007

2Alex Becker

When speaking in relation to consumer products I always prefer elegance.
However in general for me (I live in the US) 2007 will focus on our situation with the war.

January 11, 2007

3Noah Brier

Nate, I think I might have stuffed two ideas into one post . . . not sure if it works or not. I think you're right, part of what I'm talking about is understanding one's value proposition, though I think my connection to elegance might be a bit tenuous. Thanks for the comment, though, I think you're right on. (And thanks for the article.)

Alex, I'm starting to suspect you might be a robot. Please let me know that you're not.

January 11, 2007

4Noah Brier

Also, one quick addition, check out this entry on simplicity from Scott Berkun.

January 11, 2007

5liz

I picked a theme for myself to focus on in 2007 - simplicity - and then along came your post and a few other articles that people sent me. Love the synchronicity.

Once again, it's not an either/or simplicity/complexity duality. And, I haven't really been thinking about it in terms of products.

My exploration of the word has been more about getting to the core, the essence of something - and that's complex and you need to go thru a kind of chaos/foraging/ to get there. I often use it when I work with clients as we reflect and strategise. What's the core? What's really important to you and your customers (and I work in the nonprofit/homeless sector)? What's essential for you to survive and thrive? The simplest question I ask every client/organisation is - if you didn't exist would you create yourself now - what difference would you make?

I'm also having fun with the word - playing with a range of meanings. Made a soup with one vegetable - simple. Didn't spend any money for 4 days - not as simple but certainly focused on the essentials.

And elegance, design and beauty have a place in simplicity - because they are essential to my simple contentment.

January 11, 2007

6Alex Becker

A robot? hahaha why do you say that?

January 11, 2007

7nate archer

I have given it some more thought and It sounds even more scattered, but hear goes.

The back to basics you discuss is about distilling complexity down to its essence. As liz stated, "What's the core?" When you have this it is essential to explore the complexity of its simplicity. (Stay with me!) Then deliver this complexity in the simplest way possible. I think this process is a portion of the elegance you described. Taking something complex and delivering it in full in the simplest way possible.

hope that makes sense!

January 12, 2007

8David Carlson

I think 2007 will be a lot about good kharma. Just see all the good citizens that have popped up lately. The consumers will demand a transparent agenda, and if you would like to play the game, you have accept it. Because if we hold the Ries words as true (a brand is a perception in the mind of the consumer) you will be nothing without your dear customers...
So, in reaction to this, we will see a lot of companies trying to be carbon neutral, producing fashion with ecological cotton and so on and so forth.

January 12, 2007