Boon n' Bane in Vertically Challenged

Being 'vertically challenged' has at times been a problem. But at other times its such a blessing. Like when I was young, some girls thought it cute. But now that there's 'greying at the temples', and 'perking up at the sides', cute's out.

Hold on. Comfort's in.

Travelling out of Cochin by train last night saw us huddled on what's known as the 'side' seats. The ones reserved for us was Side-Lower and Side-Upper in the compartment. Now I guess the railways didn't have any basketball players in mind when they came up with these seats. 'Cause they wouldn't fit. But Alphy and me did. Barely. Thanks to the 'vertically challenged' state I was talking about.

So much for 'short' perks.

What's interesting is, at times for brands too, not 'standing tall' (read, minimal marketing communiques) stands in good stead. Here's how. One, it keeps the attention of the biggies in the market, off you. And two, you are left to your own consumer audience that could turn loyal. They may even stick by you, should the going get rough. Take the magazine, Reader's Digest for example. Compact in its look and presentation, RD remains strong in its circulation figures worldwide. Though I must add, in the US, its filed for bankruptcy. But according to Walter Beyleveldt, the managing director of Reader's Digest Australia, "The filing is a balance sheet adjustment. It's a financial transaction rather than something that relates to the core running of the business. The actual health of the business is strong. The magazines and ad revenues continue to be strong. Overall the company actually posted only a 2 per cent decline in total revenues year on year."

The scene's grim for most print publications, at least in the US. Amidst such impending ruin, the likes of RD, though hit, will continue on. Goodness as they say, comes in li'l packages. And I say, such goodness must find ways to hang on. After all, we'd be better off with it, than without.

Comments

Unknown said…
'standing tall' has one more disadvantage - post purchase dissonance will be high in case of high involvement product if the product doesn't meet the expectation.

best example is movies trailer's before the release.
if the movie doesn't meet the expectation of people's who prefer to see in 2-3 days of release.
bad world of mouth will surely happen.
Unknown said…
trailer's here i mean all the publicity and marketing of the movie as well, before the release.
Ray Titus said…
Agree...under-promise, over-deliver's better than...
Unknown said…
true thing that... i've had the same experience with The Indian Railways.. works well for me though! =)

Being vertically challenged in the business world also worked well for small companies because, they chose to rather be conservative with their spending even though the overall business health looked good than crumble during crisis due to over-confident expenditures, and that psyche is the reason why they survived the Big Hit.

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