It's been a while since I've commented on just how consistently excellent, informative and well-thought out Grant McCracken's writing is. His blog, "This Blog Sits At..." is a must-read for anyone interested in...well, in today and tomorrow.
Today he once again taps into an idea that's been rattling around in my head: the middle. Read the post, which is about how Johnny Depp saved Disney's bacon with creative courage; it's a good one.
Given our fascination with what Grant calls "niche hits and blockbusters" (see, Chris Anderson's fine work on The Long Tail), and the long-standing admonition against getting stuck in the "dreaded middle" market position, the place on the curve with the most people (and the most money) often goes oddly begging. Oh, of course it's the territory served by Wal*Mart, Target, Kohl's, and all those other boring places (well, Target manages to make people believe it's different; good for them, they're smart). But the fact is lots of talented people flee from serving the middle market.
Why? Boring. No innovative opportunity. Too constraining.
Bunk. Look at how Karl Lagerfeld worked the H&M crowd. H&M in the middle? You bet. Everything there has been vetted and found certifiably hot by the company's smart designers and merchants. No couture howlers there. Only salable merchandise. It's like Meryl Streep's Anna Wintour-inspired character said about middle-brow Ann Hathaway's cerulean blue sweater in The Devil Wears Prada: "everything you wear has been chosen by the people in this room."
As Grant points out, Johnny Depp's over the top performance saves Pirates. Now, how can an "over the top performance" resonate with "the middle?" Well, I think it's because the middle is often underestimated, especially today.
In an era in which sophistication is stealthily sneaking into the living rooms of Americans in the form of The Sopranos, Deadwood, 24, and so on; in which the word latte is no longer cause for alarm west of the Hudson; in which goat cheese, for crying out loud, is available in Alabama; something is happening.
The paradox of choice is that, stressful or not, we love it. And those in the middle love it as much as those on the edges. Fact is, we're all in the middle on some curve or other.
While fashionistas might be able to make arcane distinctions between Jimmy's and Manolo's leathers, they don't know nothin' about Digg.
Middle.
And while real baseball fans can spot a four-seamer from 450 feet, most couldn't tell you the lead character's name in La Traviata for $50 million.
Middle.
The Disney executives who kvetched about Depp's hinky-kinky performance were misreading the appetite of the middle for new things. That's dumb. 'Cause while the middle's appetite requires some assurances that a new thing really is OK (this is where brands like, "Johnny Depp" come in handy), they're pretty much game today.
So, serve the middle properly and they'll (we'll) buy just about anything.
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