With the recent snowstorms where I live, I broke out a new pair of heated gloves.
I love them already. How did I ever do without them?
Of course, this got me thinking again about how our “needs” evolve.
These days, you can get heated anything.
My father-in-law practically lives in his battery-powered vest. My neighbor who works construction has an entire heated outfit — jacket, pants, socks, probably even undies. (We’re in Canada. He needs it.)
But I remember visiting my grandmother’s farmhouse, where water pans would freeze solid overnight. They didn’t even feel they needed indoor plumbing ‘til the early 1980s!
Yet somehow I need my vehicle seats both heated AND cooled.
In I Need That, I talk about how needs aren’t fixed — they evolve based on what becomes possible. Once we experience a new level of comfort or convenience, our entire baseline moves up. The dog brain says “yes please!” (“Rress, rrease,” in Scooby-Doo talk) while the tank brain forgets how we managed before.
Think about it:
- Heated car seats were a luxury feature in the 1990s
- Now they’re standard on many models
- And apparently, they’re not enough — we need cooling too
- Plus memory settings for multiple drivers
- And lumbar support adjustment
- And massage functions
I can visualize my grandmother laughing at all this. Her farmhouse kitchen had a wood stove and a window that could open.
It looked out on the well with hand pump, and a wooden outhouse where toilet paper was a recent extravagance.
Today’s “essentials” would seem absurdly luxurious to previous generations. Yet tomorrow’s consumers will probably think we roughed it.
Action for today: Look at your product category. What features have shifted from “luxury” to “standard” in the past decade? What’s making that transition now?
What will your customers consider “essential” next year?
Laurier
P.S. Those new gloves I have are a far cry from the first heated gloves patented in 1927 — which needed to be plugged in directly to your car’s electrical system. Mine use lightweight lithium batteries that last for up to 6 hours. Idiot strings optional.