Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce

It’s hard to believe that 20 years ago there was just one type of spaghetti sauce when there are dozens to choose from today. Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, speaks about one food consultants passionate drive to get companies to see that there was no perfect product; only a perfect set of products. This is why today we have chunky spaghetti sauce, extra chunky peanut butter, and 11 different kinds of iced tea.There are at least two BtoB lessons to be gleaned from Gladwell’s talk.

First, to be successful in a product category you don’t have to dominate; you have to find a market need that is not being fulfilled. This may sound obvious, but often these needs don’t reveal themselves easily. In surveys people often ask for one thing but actually choose another. But the rewards for satisfying these niches or even just identifying them could be huge. Gladwell points out that customers are more satisfied with products developed for their niche than with products developed for the masses. So you will have a happier set of customers ultimately if you focus on their niche needs.

The second BtoB lesson from this talk has to do with the relationship with the consumer market which is inherently conservative. Often BtoB innovations are stifled because consumer brands really want to hold the line on the status quo by cutting prices. The spaghetti sauce example shows that one can only go so far with products that are minutely different. If your BtoB innovation help identify a niche in consumer markets, this may be your best argument in selling it.

(Link) (Link to Macolm Gladwell’s Bio)