TRUTH Inc.
By NG KHAI LEE
Yup, I remember the day I discovered a product to cure life’s worries and achieve world peace. It was a Tuesday, I think.
And I called the product TRUTH.
It didn’t matter how TRUTH fell into my hands. I had to share TRUTH with the masses.
The task wasn’t going to be easy, as I wanted the entire world to use it, for many, many generations. Given my limited resources, I focused on building a system that would perpetually sell itself.
In my initial research, I identified the market segment most likely to adopt my product. I wanted a segment that was the easiest to capture. Product design immediately took off, as I dived deep into consumer behaviour, uncovering the market segment’s inner-most needs. I was mindful of the market’s norms and taboos, as I catered TRUTH to those needs.
But toiling for TRUTH to work in the long term involved tweaking my formula to include massive switching costs for users, encouragement of group consumption, and incentives to “Tell a Friend.”
And with that, KABOOM! The prototype was out of the lab.
My team of convinced sales-people got busy. You could have TRUTH for free, as long as you signed a spiritual contract to use no competing products, and abide by terms and conditions accompanying the user-guide.
In the face of indirect competition, my frontline staff fought hard.
As our numbers grew, what started as a small following grew into direct selling, network marketing, and a structured franchise system. We were growing.
But what really brought TRUTH to the tipping point was when celebrities and higher authorities bought into it, advocating its use. The last I checked, there were millions of happy customers!
One might say I was successful. But beneath the hype, I saw that things were beginning to fall apart…
- As the market segments became more different, TRUTH evolved in diferent directions.
- More and more users abused TRUTH for their selfish desires.
- Layered bureaucracies developed, worsening the situation.
- Crappy TRUTH bootlegs appeared everywhere!
- Armed with their personal brand of TRUTH, some did good, while others seriously gave TRUTH a bad name.
- Some consumers developed negative associations with TRUTH, across all product lines.
- Those who had designed systems allowing mass-customisation noticed that TRUTH was losing meaning in the process.
What was TRUTH suppose to be in the first place? Did it matter now? Was the market even ready for TRUTH?
I acknowledge that my initial roll-out might have played a part in the current havoc. Although I never intended to monopolise TRUTH, the control needed to do good with TRUTH was no longer in my hands.
I hereby resign from my position as founder and CEO of TRUTH Inc., with this message:
If you do not use your TRUTH (or whatever you call it) to make everyone’s stay on earth more pleasant, chuck it.
For as long as we share this planet, we are in this business together.
—
NG KHAI LEE is the Cofounder of theCICAK, and the founder of Bunch Out. Visit his site.
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