I was only a child, but I still remember the movies from “Back to t the Future”; especially the one where Doc’s car is flying around and as it did, its wheels would turn inward to fly freely above the city. Then there was this other movie in the 90’s with Bruce Willis “The Fifth Element” where it seemed that cities no longer knew the lower atmosphere on Earth. Everything was held up in the sky. Hollywood has always heavily invested in our imaginations, bringing us fantastical possibilities of the future. Kind of makes you wonder whether scientists inspire Hollywood or the other way around.
Today, so many things in those movies are true and even better in their real versions. Who would have thought we would live to see real cars functioning on electricity rather than fuel? Personally I always thought, if I ever had the chance to see it, I’d be a very old woman. But now it’s true. Finally! The battle for ecological and economic betterment of cars has begun to end. At least two very fashionable models of cars that run or partly run on electricity are the cases of the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf.
The comical part is though, now that they have them out there ready to be sold, manufacturers and government have no idea how to market these items! http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/15/business/energy-environment/15auto.html?_r=1&hp <– In this article they don’t even know what kind of information to put on the labels.
Perhaps an opportunity to ask for help from the masses? Just like Gap’s response to their new logo (a new logo rejected by the whole of the planet I should say). Gap immediately, not knowing how to better replace the newly conceived idea, asked fans to get involved. Should the fantastical vehicles now come true do the same? The issue here would be that the masses aren’t at all familiarized with these items. They’re innovation at its fullest! So how to ask for help from the masses?
Differentiation, Ansoff would put it. Something extremely new that neither seller nor customer know what to do with it. Now that’s new! But there’s always a way to market things so revolutionary. Just ask Mr. Jobs.