The “cool” factor plays to our ego. It plays to our emotions. It appeals to our desire to be accepted. It focuses on image.

Selling image or cool is great when the “thing” being sold is a commodity, not when there is still decided measurable value on the table.

Verizon thinks selling “cool” is the way to go for its new HTC Droid Incredible

I’m not so sure.

When your product is better, selling cool is a waste.

If the industry isn’t commoditized, sell Wow.

Apple sells Wow!

Wow tackles more than emotion. It plays to our logic as well.

Wow, makes me say; “Wow!” I could use that. Wow! That can make my life easier. Wow! I didn’t know that was possible. Wow! this could make my life, my job, my world better.

Cool is shallow, and it’s all you have once all the feature value has been squeezed out. Once all the products look the same, cool is what you have to go with.

Wow is deep. It’s what you push when your product is decidedly better. It’s how you take position at the head of the pack.

Apple get this, Verizon doesn’t.

OR

Verizon already sees the Droid and smart phones as a commodity and want to take the lead in the cool game.

That would be a mistake.