Creativity as changing tool

Robin Good: If you are looking for an alternative way to look at how your online publishing business could thrive in the future, you may want to take into consideration your local art museum. At east, this is what Assistant Professor Ray Weaver suggests.

Here's why:

From the original article: "...what Groupon is up to is much more sophisticated than just offering 50 percent-off coupons.

Groupon, along with companies like Apple, Facebook, and Progressive Insurance, is a leading example of firms that are thinking about customers in a new way—much like how a museum curator orchestrates the experience of patrons.

Weaver, an assistant professor in the Marketing Unitat HBS, believes that part of Groupon's success is borne of the careful way the company presents wares to its customers: providing a very limited amount of choices at a time, along with a brief, engaging description of each offering.

To that end, Weaver is exploring the idea that many consumer-centric web-based businesses would benefit from acting more like museum curators.

....

Curators don't just put the stuff out there.

They make choices about which pieces to put next to other pieces, and put little plaques next to them explaining why you should care," he explains. "They educate their 'customers' about what they're looking at. And that is the missed opportunity in many for-profit businesses today."

Good reading. Truthful. 8/10

Full article: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6770.html

(Image credit: AllArtNews.com)