Demetri: On Staying Relevant

Last Updated on 1 March 2017

New York based comedian Demetri Martin has a new show called “Important Things With Demetri Martin.” It airs on Comedy Central at 10:30 pm. (I’ve included Demetri’s flyer here to the right.)

In each half-hour episode, Demetri explores a single topic… Brains, Power, Timing, Coolness. He fills the time with clever stand up bits, sketch comedy, and word play.

In his recent “Timing” episode about… well… timing… one of the visual bits featured the series of images below.

While these images are very clever, they also speak the truth.

One Hour PhotoBefore digital cameras, there was the One-Hour Photo place. This was great. Because way back in the olden’ days you had to wait for days and days to get your photos developed. The One-Hour photo allowed us near immediate results.

59-Minute PhotoThen someone figures out how to tweak the technology and increase the speed to only fifty-nine minutes. The 59-Minute Photo place becomes the obvious choice. It opens right next door to the One-Hour Photo.

No More PhotoThis is the punchline of Demetri’s joke. But, not so funny if you were One-Hour Photo. However, if your company stands still, this scene is inevitable. One-Hour Photo boarded up, and out of business.

How do you avoid this situation?

You need to Reinvent to Stay Relevant. The secret is to be ahead of the curve. You need to be one step ahead of what 59-Minute Photo is thinking.

I don’t mean open a 58-Minute Photo, either.

Go Higher-Tech – If you were in the photo developing business, and you know things have all gone digital, perhaps you should consider the Print-From-Digital-Card business? Customers could come in and – using ANY format digital photo card – have any sized prints output.

Sell The End Product – Perhaps you sell the frames and picture arrangement service and the customer gets their photo output for free? I know I could use some help getting photos off of my hard drive and onto the walls above my sofa. On the wall is where the images can be appreciated.

Go “Old School” – Perhaps provide dark room services for those who prefer the quality of film. There is a shortage of traditional chemical film developing locations.

Long story short you have to think a few steps ahead.

Images © Demetri Martin