In a recent MSNBC.com article, James McQuivey, principal analyst for Forrester Research, says, “I don’t believe for a second that we’re ‘meh’ on new technology. Instead, we’re very sophisticated in what is going to get our attention. A fancy new device that doesn’t improve on the devices we already have, or a promised service that we can’t go out and buy yet, won’t be able to get our attention.”
[ipad, google buzz, 3D-TV: 'meh'? (Feb. 12th, 2010) by Suzanne Choney]
I couldn’t agree more. In fact, McQuivey is saying that new things entering a market have to be truly new – and not just new, but very useful – and not just very useful, but exciting.
Of course, that’s another way of describing an “I3 value proposition”. I3 means not just clever words spinning a tale, but meaningful words describing a true-truth about your product or service. In increasingly crowded, hyper competitive, and fast-moving markets, you have to think in terms of how your target customer will process your offering in a sea of similar (or similar enough) offerings. Your consumer is probably not as much a student of your market as you are (or should be).
They may see the nuances that excite you as relatively minor feature changes. 
Wow! 10% more efficient! – let’s have a parade! >>> your engineers. Ho hum – whatever >>> your customers.
Are there other ways to compete? Certainly there are! Being the low cost provider and having a radically different approach to a problem are competitive levers that companies must consider as they go to the market.
But, the bottom line is, if these distinctions are buried in minutia and are things that mean your customer has to study, or get a new degree, in order to understand the significance of it all – then you’re missing the real opportunity. And that opportunity is to think of something that is not being addressed in some way or something that is not being addressed in the mind, the eye, or the heart of your target customer.
This is true, whether that target customer is a housewife in Peoria, a college student in New York or a corporate executive at the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago.
Find the sweet-spot of frustration – address it – and gain fans, not just customers.
