Sketchplanations

Explaining one thing a week in a sketch

Sexy value illustration: the Venn diagram overlap of better and cheaper

Sexy value

Sexy Value is what you get when someone can launch something that is not only cheaper but also better. It’s a near irresistible proposition.

Most new things that are better don’t tend to also be cheaper—increased quality usually has a corresponding increase in cost. So Sexy Value is often made possible through a new technology or approach. It’s like when the first taxi apps started appearing. To me, the first experience was just so much better than what I was used to—no trying to catch a taxi in the rain, seeing when the cab would arrive and simple, non-awkward, no swinging by the ATM payments—and yet at the same time, it was also cheaper.

Sexy Value is not the only way to compete. If you make something better, people will pay for the value it provides them. But you’re on to a winner if you can also do it cheaper.

Sexy Value is a name, I believe, from Ogilvy and Mather.

You might also like another model of theirs: The Big Ideal

Keep exploring

Rubberducking explanation: a developer talks their problem through with the therapist duck on the table only to reveal the insight they need. Often useful for debugging.
Comparison of typical goods selling by the box load at a retailer, and veblen goods — that have greater demand the more expensive they are — with people on a fancy yacht
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