The speaker identifies a common mistake in marketing: focusing on what marketers *do* rather than how they *think*. Using the example of electric cars and "range anxiety," the speaker breaks down the problem into two components: the physical range of the car and the psychological anxiety associated with it. While engineers can improve the physical range, the speaker argues that for countries with smaller geographical sizes like the UK, Denmark, or Belgium, range anxiety is largely a psychological issue. This is supported by the fact that most people drive less than 50 miles on all but seven days of the year. The speaker proposes that a small investment in understanding and reducing this psychological anxiety could be as valuable as the significant investment in increasing the car's physical range.

Marketing Brilliance

All marketers make a terrible mistake. They justify themselves on the basis of what they do. What people are really interested in is how they think.

I talk about that with electric cars. Range anxiety, two components, range, anxiety. One of them's the product of physics. For that, you need engineers to make the range bigger.

But equally, in a country like the UK or Denmark or [music] Belgium or somewhere, which isn't very big anyway, range anxiety's more a psychological problem than it is a practical problem. All but 7 days of the year, people don't drive more than 50 miles.

And I said, "Look, wouldn't it be a good idea if we, as well as spending a few billion on increasing range, we just spend a few million investigating how to reduce anxiety?"

Electric Car Range Anxiety Is A Big Lie

All marketers make a terrible mistake.
They justify themselves on the basis of
what they do. What people are really
interested in is how they think. I talk
about that with electric cars. Range
anxiety, two components, range, anxiety.
One of them's the product of physics.
For that, you need engineers to make the
range bigger. But equally, in a country
like the UK or Denmark or [music]
Belgium or somewhere, which isn't very
big anyway, range anxiety's more a
psychological problem than it is a
practical problem. All but 7 days of the
year, people don't drive more than 50
miles. And I said, "Look, wouldn't it be
a good idea if we, as well as spending a
few billion on increasing range, we just
spend a few million investigating how to
reduce anxiety?"

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Electric Car Range Anxiety Is A Big Lie

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