I just recently returned from a brief trip to Cancun, Mexico with my wife and our best friends, Cancun veterans. It was my first time and it was great fun. It seems Cancun is the hot spot to go right now. Everyone I talk to has been there. One thing that I started thinking about is; why Cancun? I remember being a kid and watching game shows, people would win trips to Acapulco or Puerto Vallarta. I haven’t heard about those places in years. I guess nobody wants to go there anymore. I think I know why. They reached their Point of Saturation.
The point of saturation is the point of maximum concentration. Why is this a problem? It’s a problem because people want to be exclusive. People want things that aren’t common, things that are special. Everybody wants to be special. Nobody wants to be looked at as just a commoner. Women want big diamonds because not everyone has them. Men want big…trucks. People join country clubs because not everyone can get in. Exclusivity is cool. When is that point when things become common? Acapulco got crowded and polluted. Acapulco became common. Lots of hotels and lots of flights: prices went down. Many more people could afford to go to Acapulco. Non-exclusive. Seeing all the construction continuing in the Cancun area among the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Hard Rock Cafe and other common touristy places, I had to wonder; when will Cancun reach it’s point of saturation?…and what will be the next exclusive vacation spot.
Coach purses were all the rage in the ’90s. They were very expensive. They were very exclusive. Women wanted a Coach purse because it made them feel special, part of a small group. Blame it on knock-offs or the fact that more and more women had them, Coach is no longer exclusive. Coach reached it’s point of saturation. The point of saturation is more obvious in fashion as styles and the “in” designers change. Vera Wang anybody? Vera’s wedding dresses were all the rage. When I could buy a Vera Wang mattress at the Mattress Warehouse, exclusive was over.
It’s hard to call the point of saturation sometimes. Do you have a product or service that is exclusive? What will you do to keep it that way? Selling to the masses is one way to become non-exclusive. But, I see a trade off here. If you go after the market and sell as much as you can at the risk of becoming common, hang on to your money as much as you can. The gravy train will eventually come to the end of it’s tracks…in commonville.
