Idea: 25
Sunday, 25 January 2015
By. Francis Pedraza
Marco Polo
Travel far and wide, find craftsmen, tell their stories, sell their unique products online.
What if there was a startup, styling itself after the great merchant-explorers of old, criss-crossing the globe in search for incredible craftsmanship, for products you can’t find anywhere else?
Whenever I travel, I keep my eye out for craftsmen. Making products by hand, in small workshops. Passing down their trade to apprentices, just as they received it from their masters. Craftsmen may be an endangered species, but they still exist. Around the world, there are still people left who take pride in their craft. Almost by definition, their production is hard to scale. But the reverse is also true — a mass-produced product usually can’t compete with a craftsman’s product — and this protects them, as a niche luxury. The thing about craftsmen, however, is that most are behind on technology. They don’t have websites, tell their story online, or an online audience. They often rely on tourism, foot traffic, and word-of-mouth to bring them customers.
Imagine a large online audience watching episode after episode, like a TV show. Every two weeks, a new episode is released. After watching, viewers browse the products featured in that episode. Because these craftsmen can’t handle large volume, there is a rush to order fast, in order to be at the front of the queue. These products are available for order for a limited-time-only, and once the order limit is reached, they are no longer available. Some people wait for months in anticipation to receive their product. Craftsmen use their orders, like Kickstarter, to semi-scale their operations. Marco Polo takes care of marketing, distribution, and customer experience. Customers pay for taste, quality, authenticity, story, trust and experience. Win-win-win.
P.S. When I first presented this idea for a project in college, my professor’s reaction was “I don’t get it.” Let’s see if it makes sense now, to you!
