Learning Business from Kate Walsh!!

Kate Walsh recently did an advertisement for Cadillac CTS in which she says something which goes like this:
"In today's luxury game, the question is not whether your car has available features like 40 GB hard drive..pop up nav screens or any other little things...the real question is: When you turn the car on, does it return the favor?"

When you turn the car on, does it return the favor!!!

I must have seen this ad tons of times in recent days and I don't think anything captures business reality of modern day world better than this. The fact of the matter is that things which you thought were super hi-tech yesterday are becoming a commodity today. Think about Intel and how the core memory business they were in got commoditized in the flash of an eye. What about Apple's products? Electronics is flush with examples of commoditization. Manufacturing for normal conventional goods is already a commodity activity. Don't Google and Cisco shell out commodities? Aren't airplanes commodities? And aren't cars commodities?

It is a matter of time, or I think it has already happened to some extent, that a basic level of human brain could also be thought to be a commodity. If your kid dropped out after high school and he learnt math as per what his teacher taught and nothing beyond, your kid might be a commodity produced by the school mass production system( at least for someone who is looking to hire for math skills)

So in this age of pervasive commoditization, where is the hope?

Let us go back to the car example. Mercedes Benz has gone through some massive onslaught in last two years for its poor quality. JD Power hammered it consistently. None the less, that star in front of the car still has its shine amongst all of us who grew up thinking of owning a Benz one day. The brand had such strong image and such strong desirability that the shine of the star has withstood the quality problems. Sales haven't plummeted the way they would have for a lesser known brand. So one way to escape the vicious magnet of commoditization in car industry is to develop a brand. There could be other ways as well.

So when Kate Walsh says:"The real question is: When you turn the car on, does it return the favor?", she is so right. All the luxury that you get in a car is commodity....it doesn't really turn you on. A Honda can have everything that is there in a Benz but it will never be a Benz....and for sure, you will never feel that IT RETURNED THE FAVOR!!!