The Only Two Ways To Add Value

Rory Sutherland’s presentation at the 2021 Festival of Marketing had this nugget:

When you think about it, there are two ways of adding value in the world. You can either work out what people want and find a really clever way to make it, or you can work out what you can make and find a really clever way to make people want it. The money you make is no different regardless of the direction of travel. In reality, most things are a mixture of the two.

It’s up to us to apply it to our own work.

If we know what they want now, how are we going to deliver it?

If we know what they will want later, how are we going to convince them of it?

Remember that whatever we’re doing exists over time. It’s either now or later. And, we’d better be clever in our approach because there’s an awful lot of noise to rise above.

Add value. Deliver what they want now or figure out how to make them want it for later.