The oft-cited Theodore Levitt marketing axiom goes like this: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.” Said another way, consumers don’t buy features, they buy benefits.

I was reminded of this when I saw a recent study by Chadwick Martin Bailey that found Americans are more excited about “the prospect of content delivery than they are about the devices the content may be carried on.”

A real world example: The World Cup discussion at our office last week focused as much around the fact that @laughjon watched the game in the backseat of a car on the drive up from Chicago as it did around Donovan’s goal.

These are our OnDemand Lives.

There is an important lesson here for marketers – one that goes beyond “focus on the benefit.” In an age where brands win by providing utility, how the utility is delivered makes a big difference. Is it simple? Intuitive? Noteworthy? Memorable?

For content creators – and we’re all content creators – the days of people beating a path to your door for the better mousetrap are over. Great content will always be an essential. But now its context and delivery are competing for attention.

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