He learned how to find the spaces between the fielders.

it is just possible that today’s range of choices may so confuse the buyer that he or she will put up with the old model rather than decide which is the best of the 23 varieties advertised.”

“follow your bliss”

What stops most companies from zagging is the cloud of uncertainty that follows innovation.

the advertising industry is fighting back with even more intrusiveness. This is the first reason for advertising’s death spiral.

The Real Competition Is Clutter

In a marketplace of me-too offerings, people don’t seek features and benefits so much as tribal identity.

Using ethnographic research in which researchers move in with consumers to observe their habits firsthand, they uncover need states

successful zags usually test poorly with consumers before they’re launched. They fare pretty well on the “good” axis, but then attract so many negative comments on the “different” axis that their companies get nervous and reject them.