Everything in the world is created for a specific reason. The reason is the real question, and the quest for the reason can become a life long pursuit. The design of all items has always intrigued us as there appears to be good design, bad design, functional design, irrelevant design, emotional design, irrational design, and design just for the sake of design. To seek, find and admire new design is one of the noblest quests in life. And so it is that on March 30th we renewed our annual quest of design with our trek to that Bastian of new design...

...The International Auto Show in New York City. There one finds all of the new, current, and worn designs of all of the world's automobile manufacturers, under one roof. Concept cars, the imaginative ideas of engineers of what the future car can be and sometimes slowly becomes, are center stage for all to worship. The cars are generally on rotating platforms, with beautiful models explaining features about the concept car's design. These people know presentation is everything, and sexy sells.

Power, prestige, and emotion still drive the marketplace in the automobile industry.  But times, they may be a'changin'. In opposition to the golden marketing messages of the past are the quiet rumblings of the future. Here are three themes we noticed on the floor of the show. Perhaps they can be utilized in your business.

Alternative Fuel Sources: The internal combustion engine is under attack. Oil is getting just too expensive to continue using in powering automobiles. What are the answers? Electric cars have been around for more than a decade but they lack the ingenuity of providing sustained acceleration, or power. Great for around town but on the open road? Green is in and water, hydrogen, vegetable sourced ethanol, are all sharing the stage with the electric option. Hybrid is the now term which will save you money while providing the power you have come to expect. Why not have it both? Find a way to make your business message echo in the now concept of GREEN.

Personalization of the User experience: The optimal number of down loadable tunes to your automobile's on board computer should be 2900 songs. This allows more freedom in not having to load up a trunk load of Cd's for enhancing the driving experience. Besides, with the trunk space now available without the Cd's, more and bigger speakers can be installed to further enhance the personal driving experience. The question begs to be answered, what is your business doing to enhance your customer's personal use experience? Are you doing as much as the auto industry?

Emerging World Markets: The Buick name has always had a place in our family as the car to buy if a Cadillac was out of reach. Dad said to strive for a Cadillac, settle for a Buick. Buick had a Riviera concept car on display, sleek, contoured, eye catching light metallic blue, reminiscent of early versions of the car. But as it rotated around, the name "Riviera" was on the left hand side of the back of the car, and quietly on the right hand side were five characters spelling "Buick", in Chinese. Are we to believe this will be the car to dominate the China market, or are we to believe it is time to learn a second language so we will be able to afford this product? Is your business sending a mixed message to appeal to the emerging world market?

And as always, we welcome your comments.

The Plain Page Prophets