It's Real. It's Scary. But It Doesn't Have To Be Real Scary. Here's How to Cope.
Commoditization? What??
You may not fully understand the term but it's probably already happened to your business. Check to see if you are experiencing these telltale symptoms: -Your client apologizes that they're now going to use stock on the project you normally shoot every year. -Your clients are now asking for 'all rights' on assignments that will become part of their client's 'image library.' -You've just been underbid by someone you have never even heard of. -And it's the third time it's happened this month.
Commoditization is what happens to a product or service that is no longer unique or distinguishable. It's what happens when supply exceeds demand. It happens when an industry's means of production radically and rapidly evolve.
Technological evolution drives the move to commoditization. When the means of production become so simple and so inexpensive then almost anyone can become a producer. Production migrates from the hands of the highly-skilled few to the hands of the untrained masses. Supply increases and at the same time the 'magic and mystery' of the industry's craft disappears.
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