Is Your Business Like Rock or Classical Music?

Last week, the little munchkins re-watched the newest Star Trek flick that came out a year or two ago.  I ultimately viewed it again, and for whatever reason, I enjoyed it the second time around.

During the special features, the producer J.J. Abrams was comparing Star Trek and Star Wars.  He definitely wanted to grab younger audiences for the new Star Trek movie, the demographic that generally watched Star Wars.

He noted that Star Wars was like rock music, whereas Star Trek was like classical music.  His goal was to keep the classical music, but add rock to the film.  Resounding metaphor.  And not only that, he nailed it.

For us 50-somethings, we appreciated the classical undertones to the film who grew up watching Kirk and Spock in the 60′s.  Yet, the younger kids appreciated the rock sprinkled throughout the film — lots of action, fast-paced, youthful cast.

And the same metaphor applies to business, right?  Amazon, rock music.  Borders, classical.  The Sony Walkman, classical.  The iPod, rock.  Google Docs, rock.  Excel, classical.

But I’m not saying rock is good or even desirable.  Law firms are classical, so strategically, they need to operate accordingly.  But online services selling legal content are rock stars and have to operate, market, and find the right people for their fast-paced environment.

So which are you?  Classical or rock?  The worst thing you can do is try to be rock when you are really classical.  Each genre has their place and their own operating strategies.  So if your business is classical, then operate like one.  If rock, keep rockin.