LONG AGO I READ THAT women of past centuries who wove oriental rugs often invested their lives, and even their eyesight, in creating them, and that despite that, when a rug changed hands—in a long tea ritual undertaken by a male of the family—its artistic or intrinsic nonmaterial value was not a critical factor in the transaction.
As John B. Gregorian notes in his book Oriental Rugs of the Silk Route,* in the early nineteenth century “native weavers placed no significant monetary value on their rugs; they were simply fashioned into utilitarian objects.” Astonishingly, these beautiful hand-knotted carpets “were originally a commercially insignificant trade item for Europeans” precisely because they were not plentiful! They were regarded merely as a potential commodity. From the point I first encountered this idea of unreckoned value, I began to look for and consider more and more the material value of intangibles. That is, I came to see how often it is that the abstract components of things get translated into commodities of exchange—today highly abstract themselves.**
One intangible commodity I can think of that frequently fetches a surprisingly high price is certainty. When people walk into an attorney’s office, for example, they pay not just for legal advice but also for its expected companion, certainty—at a premium. If the attorney’s tone of voice and quality of delivery happen to convey any subtext of doubt, that doubt devalues the advice to the degree the client feels the guidance is unreliable and therefore cannot be acted upon.***
Other “marketable intangibles” include:
• Qualities of being, like kindness, patience, caring, “coolness,” authenticity, edginess, and so on. They go right to the heart of reputation and brand identity.
• Abstract ideas. Although terms like free and new are abstract, they are also highly subjective to the individual consumer because it is really the consumer who, in a sense, defines these terms. Clearly, such terms have worked for eons in the advertising world.
• Shifts in perspective, or reframing. I remember hearing a story about a company that had trouble selling its canned salmon because it was whitish rather than pink. They brought in a consultant, and, soon after, their product was flying off the shelves. All they did was add a phrase to the label—“Guaranteed not to turn pink in the can.” Although the story is apocryphal, the principle holds.
• Drawing on common assumptions. One common assumption is that things must be worth more if they cost more. My art studio partner of seven years always said to “add zeros”—that is, as an artist, if you planned to price a piece of art at $40, price it at $400 instead; if you’re thinking it should go for $400, make it $4,000. This isn’t entirely facetious. The higher amount serves to increase the work’s perceived value and probably will be closer to the truth over time. In fact, raising the price of something may be doing buyers a service—they actually do get more value from something for which they pay more—a value they add themselves!
• A good story to tell “at the party” (the promise of social esteem). A really good story is a kind of social currency. Two examples:
—A painting’s provenance, a chronology that tags along with the work of art to establish its chain of ownership or custody, is a story of sorts; it “rounds out” the purchase and gives the buyer the added personal value of having something interesting to tell others.
—When my Canadian cousin and her husband were touring California, they decided to visit Yosemite on their very last vacation day here. At one point, a man up the trail started yelling loudly to get their attention, warning them of a huge bear rushing for them at full speed. At the last moment, for whatever reason, the bear swerved off the trail just as it reached them, into the bushes. My cousin recounted with uneasiness their close call with disaster. She lightened up when I reminded her that they got what everyone wishes they could take home with them from a vacation—a really good story.
• Your own unique attributes. Whatever a person spends time doing is what he or she will get good at, so pursue your interests directly and learn through immersion. Develop good qualities of character and skills and own the world you are forming. That ownership will give you certainty and authority with regard to that realm. There’s nowhere else people can get the you that you have to offer.
* * *
The secret to marketing an intangible is first to be able to identify it as such—either by recognizing something that’s been unnoticed in plain view or by pulling something out of the ether and giving it a name or a frame.
In a sense, identifying or creating intangibles and “bringing them to market” is a little like being able to print your own money. Or making your own magic carpets on incomparable looms.
_______
*A jacketed hardcover version of Oriental Rugs of the Silk Route: Culture, Process, and Selection by John B. Gregorian was published in 2000 by Rizzioli International Publications, New York, ISBN 0-8478-2221-8.
**Even though things like paper currency or clad coins have physical properties and we consider them tangible, they are nevertheless symbols, backed only by agreement, no longer even proxies for things of substance like precious metals.
***A pitfall regarding certainty, of course, is making the mistake of believing people who are wacked or dishonest but come across as congruent—who either sincerely believe what they are saying or are good at dissembling. Their “certainty” can work to others’ disadvantage.
コメント