EPISODE 04
One, Ten, a Hundred… Too Many?
Growth is a mantra for brands. The most obvious way to do it seems to be broaden the offering. Sometimes it works. But only up to a point.
Growth has become something of a mantra for brands. Grow, expand, multiply. And the most obvious way to do it seems to be the same every time: broaden the offering. Add a product. Then a variant. A new format, a new flavour, a new occasion. Sometimes it works. But only up to a point.
Because growth does not necessarily mean adding more. Sometimes it means making choices. And, above all, taking things away.
Growing through subtraction rather than multiplication is not a contradiction. In a market that naturally tends towards proliferation, it may be one of the healthiest and most meaningful forms of growth. It means removing the superfluous to make the essential visible. Focusing on the products that truly make a difference. Giving up what disperses attention, resources and identity in order to strengthen what really matters. It is an exercise in discipline before it is an exercise in strategy. And it forces companies to ask a question that is as simple as it is difficult: where does our real difference lie?
The question matters even more today. Developing a new product and bringing it to market requires ever greater investment: industrial, commercial and creative. And yet we continue to assume that growth must necessarily come from something new.
But what if, instead of asking what can we add, we asked what can we make stronger?
Rationalising the offering can mean concentrating resources on the products capable of creating real value, rather than spreading them across things that add little or nothing. It can mean giving new life to what already exists, amplifying its relevance instead of multiplying the alternatives. It is not about giving up on growth. It is about choosing where growth should happen. Because a brand does not necessarily become stronger by offering more. It can become stronger when what it offers acquires greater meaning.
There is another advantage, too: subtraction can help a brand remain true to itself. Preserve its soul as it evolves. Strengthen, rather than dilute, the relationship with the people who choose it. In a world that constantly pushes us to add, multiply and expand, perhaps the real challenge is no longer to ask how much more we can add, but what we are willing to give up in order to become stronger.
Because sometimes, it is by taking things away that we create the space to grow.
02:13
04
EPISODE
One, Ten, a Hundred… Too Many?
Growth is a mantra for brands. The most obvious way to do it seems to be broaden the offering. Sometimes it works. But only up to a point.
Growth has become something of a mantra for brands. Grow, expand, multiply. And the most obvious way to do it seems to be the same every time: broaden the offering. Add a product. Then a variant. A new format, a new flavour, a new occasion. Sometimes it works. But only up to a point.
Because growth does not necessarily mean adding more. Sometimes it means making choices. And, above all, taking things away.
Growing through subtraction rather than multiplication is not a contradiction. In a market that naturally tends towards proliferation, it may be one of the healthiest and most meaningful forms of growth. It means removing the superfluous to make the essential visible. Focusing on the products that truly make a difference. Giving up what disperses attention, resources and identity in order to strengthen what really matters. It is an exercise in discipline before it is an exercise in strategy. And it forces companies to ask a question that is as simple as it is difficult: where does our real difference lie?
The question matters even more today. Developing a new product and bringing it to market requires ever greater investment: industrial, commercial and creative. And yet we continue to assume that growth must necessarily come from something new.
But what if, instead of asking what can we add, we asked what can we make stronger?
Rationalising the offering can mean concentrating resources on the products capable of creating real value, rather than spreading them across things that add little or nothing. It can mean giving new life to what already exists, amplifying its relevance instead of multiplying the alternatives. It is not about giving up on growth. It is about choosing where growth should happen. Because a brand does not necessarily become stronger by offering more. It can become stronger when what it offers acquires greater meaning.
There is another advantage, too: subtraction can help a brand remain true to itself. Preserve its soul as it evolves. Strengthen, rather than dilute, the relationship with the people who choose it. In a world that constantly pushes us to add, multiply and expand, perhaps the real challenge is no longer to ask how much more we can add, but what we are willing to give up in order to become stronger.
Because sometimes, it is by taking things away that we create the space to grow.