Who hasn’t — at some time or another — fantasized about going on a coast-to-coast road trip with a handful of good friends? I’d guess very few of us. 
Just a week or two ago, this fantasy became a reality for two friends when they traveled from New York to Los Angeles by way of Las Vegas. Only thing is that rather than drive themselves, they chose to take a yellow taxi. Time spent on the road? 6 days. Final fare owed to the cabbie? $5,000 (less a $12,000 discount)!
This was, obviously, an adventure they believed was worth it. But something, I’m sure, many around them felt didn’t quite make sense, especially considering that a JFK-LAX return flight currently goes for as little as about a tenth of that fare price.
In marketing, it’s easy when dealing with real dollars and budgets that we’re personally accountable for to fear doing anything outside the so-called safety zone. But if we don’t take any chances, we run the risk of missing out on creating some great products, services, and ideas.
Just think how different things would be now if no one had dared to create a mobile operating system to rival Apple’s iOS (Google’s Android), a digital device that fell somewhere in between a MacBook Air and an iTouch (Apple’s iPad), or a social network game centered around virtual farming (Zynga’s FarmVille).
Reminds me of a TV commercial a couple of years ago in which a man is trying to sell the idea of a new breakfast cereal made from pulverized corn to a room of businessmen. They wait politely for him to finish, but then immediately burst out laughing with one man asking, “What’s next? Bottled water?”
Photo credit: Daniel Flower
