The Dance of Market Demand

For a good 6 years of my life, I dedicated time, mental capacity and energy towards becoming the best street dancer in New Zealand.

Moments in the studio were for creative exploration, physicality, extrapolating information, thoughts and emotions that have either been fed or arisen within me over the last few weeks.

Right throughout, one thing was glaringly obvious - despite the following and influence I was able to generate, no matter how authentic or transparent my output, not everyone was going to like my work. For starters, I don’t know many baby boomers (for lack of a better term) who would sit through a live performance to the sweet sounds of boom baps and 808s.

However, it was far better to refrain from creating work that an older generation MIGHT like, at the cost of becoming a watered-down, vanilla Mickey Mouse version of myself. Sticking to my guns and staying true to the movement and sonic aesthetics I loved sat well with my soul.

Like art, brand preference and market demand can be subjective. Sitting on the judging panel of New Zealand’s prestigious national street dance competition, I was very much aware of the differing tastes, styles and opinions of my fellow judges, let alone the packed-out crowd. Which crew would this market demand?

If teams had done their homework, and criteria ticked off, they could cater for the common denominator and contend for a majority vote while staying true to their knitting, winning over their prospective tribes who would later support their fundraising efforts. To do so successfully requires knowing your audience and what makes you different.

Rick Rubin said, “the best art divides the audience”. There’s no way you can please everyone and in fact, your business, products or services AIN’T for everybody. And the sooner you're able to give up the need to try, the sooner you will find the empowerment that comes with the release of the fear that someone out there doesn’t like you.

The alternative is to continue chasing 2, 3, or 10 chickens at the same time. Take it from Sly - it’s hard enough chasing 1, and this is where many businesses are led astray by the fluffy feathers of this new market trend, that piece of emerging tech or the “I could do that” new range of unnecessary products.

The laws of line extension and singularity from the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing suggest less is more, and that success can be achieved by narrowing your focus instead of getting into everything.

This strategy worked well for LEGO when they slowly returned to their roots after admittedly chasing too many chickens across software, lifestyle products and theme parks, cashing in a loss of $2.5 billion Danish Krona in 2003.

Under the leadership of soon-to-be CEO (in 2004), Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, the company went back to basics and focused on core products and initiatives over a 9-year action plan, resulting in sales revenues of $4.5 billion and $1.5 billion in profit.

Less is certainly more.

So zero in on your tribe and focus on what you do best, granted there's a validated market for it.

It’s not worth vying for the attention of those who aren’t dancing to the same tune. Because the ones that are, deserve your undivided attention and finite energy, and when we switch our focus to them, delight, reciprocity in the form of cash money and beaming smiles occur.