Shouldn’t Innovation produce Beauty?

Alexander Pope once said, “Beauty draws us with a single hair.”

There is a simple, but self-evident, dichotomy in this world.

Beauty vs. utility!

We have found creative and surprising ways to keep both in their lanes and have created a world of utility at the expense of beauty. Sadly, the business world has followed this lead and done little to challenge this notion.

?The truth is that we are drawn to beauty and engage with it in ways we never do with utility. In our worlds, we seek to maximize "utility" - from every customer and every interaction. In financial services, we often follow two paths: maximize spend per transaction and maximize the number of transactions - hoping that an increased number keeps the credit card “top-of-wallet”.

?In a quest to increase utility value, we throw money at rewards and create incentives that, frankly, need to be recreated regularly. But this is the problem of utility- we need to treat customers like toddlers seeking the next object of their attention. That is exhausting, and far from memorable.

So, we, in the financial services industry, create cards - different value propositions, with varying rewards, and different partners hoping that they capture the toddler-like attention we have sadly ascribed to customers, forgetting that customers are not toddlers. they seek meaning, and frankly, they aspire to beauty.

Beauty acknowledges and respects their identities and individuality; beauty that respects their need for connection and relationships; beauty that engages and simplifies the process by which brands and customers can draw close to, and engage with, each other.

People are drawn to, and engage with, beautiful things. This is greater than a sense of attraction, which can often be limited to a transactional interaction. Beauty creates a relationship, even if it is with an inanimate object like a pairing, or a living thing like a flower. There is a difference between what we are attracted by and what we are drawn to. Beauty is what we are drawn to. The magnetism of beauty is something that has often been ignored in the world of business, but something that has the potential to create an enduring relationship between brand and customer. While we seek to personalize, beauty builds a personal relationship between the brand and the customer.

?This is what financial services companies need to aspire to. The question is how we begin that evolutionary transition. It will not begin until momentarily shelve our disposition to utility and allow our human and creative wings to unfold.

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