My 3-year old son loves vanilla yogurt. Give him mango yogurt and that sh** is in the bin like 1991 Jordan over Ewing at Madison Square Garden.
Vanilla is an easy flavor to decide to make. It’s safe. It says, yeah we can do that too.
It’ll be popular. Popular to consume and therefore popular to make.
Vanilla is also inexpensive and commands almost no loyalty. Opinionated 3-year olds aside, I’m not sure that one brand of vanilla beats any other brand of regular vanilla. It’s a commodity.
Ben & Jerry’s or noosa delights on the other hand, make opinionated deserts. Sure they both make vanilla, but it’s not the vanilla that gets people lining up for a taste.
It’s noosa’s Coconut Cream Pie Yoghurt and Ben & Jerry’s Half-Baked that make people go “mmhmm” while handing over silly amounts of money for sweet treats.
This whole opinionated thing came about for me from recent conversations with businesses working hard to appeal to very broad tastes and use cases.
It’s also because I found myself, after reflecting on these other conversations, writing about how our product is great for almost every team in a company… “Damn,” I said when I realized what I was doing. “Damn.”
Signs that we’re being a bit too vanilla and not enough Coconut Creme:
Messaging that tries to talk to “all teams” at a company
“Horizontal” products meant to bring “siloed” teams together
Building more than one Ideal Customer Profile for a new product
The analogy here is that being vanilla is like having no opinion. Creating Coconut Creme is a sign of a strong opinion.
It’s easier to sell Coconut Creme because when someone who either loves to be a bit daring or who just loves Coconut Creme comes along, they buy the Coconut Creme.
Someone who wants vanilla shops around and looks for the best flavor for the least cost.
The market for opinionated products is likely smaller. It’s also like to be easier to find and easier to sell into. That’s the kind of market I want for you and me.
Peter
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