Of making a difference and differences

On the cover of People magazine recently were "The 25 Most Intriguing People in 2001," such as George W. Bush, Nicole Kidman, baseball player Barry Bonds, Julia Roberts, New York Mayor Rudy Giulliani and the firefighters at Ground Zero. Then, I got to Intriguing Person No. 12 – Diana Krall, the jazz singer.

Hmmm...Diana Krall? Sure, you can hear her on Joey 92.3 and other jazz stations and enjoy her albums like When I Look In Your Eyes. She sings so amazingly well and looks and dresses like a Vogue model. It was only until I read the article that I found out why she’s so great.

Maybe we haven’t noticed it or maybe we’ve just become so jaded with the pop music scene that we no longer care, but all we hear on the radio and see on TV nowadays is a bunch of electronic, computer-generated, repetitive music that goes "toonk tootoonk, toonk tootoonk." If not that, it’s young boys singing of juvenile love in true teeny-bopper fashion. Hey, don’t get me wrong – I’m not trying to knock them down. If that’s what sells nowadays, who am I to whine, right?

All this makes Diana Krall even more intriguing. You see, in the music business, just like any other business, the success of an act is often determined by its freshness – in looks, style, sound, techniques and dance steps. The artist has to be different in order to stand out. So when a new act is introduced, the usual question by media is "Ok, what makes you different and deserving of our attention?"

Diana Krall sings pop standards, which are not really that standard anymore. They are now considered "classics" – those composed by the Bacharachs, Gershwins, Kerns, Berlins, Porters, Hammersteins and a dozen other composers who have become musical legends.

Diana Krall is playing their songs. And by doing that, she has set herself apart from all the other acts that are dominating the charts. In a world dominated by belly button-baring teen girl sensations such as Britney Spears, Mandy Moore, and Christina Paner, er, I mean, Aguilera, Diana Krall miraculously managed to get into the top 9 of the Billboard pop charts. Note: that’s the pop charts, not the jazz charts.

That’s a big deal. Imagine doing a survey among teenagers on what car they would want for their birthday and No. 9 came out as the classic 1969 Volkswagen Beetle. A nice car, but one that current trends-hungry teens would never choose unless it was loaded with a killer sound system.

That’s what Diana Krall is – a classic that’s "souped up" with modern amenities. She is in a league of her own. She’s a jazz artist in the top 20 of the Billboard pop charts.

What makes her even more special is the way she is uniquely marketed. Her being a jazz singer doesn’t make her any different from all the other jazz singers out there. But as People magazine put it, she is a jazz singer that is "made up like a supermodel and marketed like Madonna."

What is the bottom line here? Difference and differences. In business, the common factor in all success stories is that a new product or service is different, it creates such a positive difference that it is noticed by the consumer.

In today’s world, there’s so much information overload. It’s nuts out there, I am telling you. Coffee shops, for example, try to make a big difference by giving you so much choices for one stupid cup of coffee. Tall, grande or pail size? Decaf or eyes-wide-open-for-24 hours-formula? Whipped cream or freshly-spewed spit gargle? It’s crazy! Sometimes you just wanna say, "Hey, lady, I just want a cup of coffee!" but then they might come back to me and say, "Would that be the regular cup, paper cup, clear plastic cup or the titanium-lining cup?" Try buying a cell phone. You want a cellphone with a TV camera? Or a deodorant stick? Or a compartment where you can put your M&Ms?

Why all these options? Again, everybody’s trying to be different by offering you that "extra thing" the competition doesn’t have.

But sometimes in order to be different, you just have to go back to the basics – making your primary product line or service as best as possible. Sometimes, it only means making your service faster, making your establishment cleaner, or making your product nicer. It doesn’t have to be life-changing, 22nd century, confusion-causing differences – just differences that improve the basic things that people need.

McDonald’s is a classic example. Sure, they have promotional menus every so often. But they have basically been constant with their products.

Coke is another matter. They tried coming up with a new formula, but it bombed. So they went back to the classic Coke formula.

So the next time you are having a product / service development meeting, think about Diana Krall.

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By the way, you might want to catch Diana Krall live. I heard from my boss, Francis Lumen, that Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN Foundation is bringing Diana Krall for a private fund-raising dinner-concert for the benefit of Bantay Kalikasan-La Mesa Watershed Project. For inquiries, call Bantay Kalikasan at 415-2227.

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E-mail me at nepomucenor@mtv-asia.com. Thanks for your letters!