Drowning in Abundance

When everything is available, what becomes valuable?

The future looked different when I was a child.

Beaming from place to place seemed easy, understanding and speaking any language, not a problem – well, we have basically already solved that one.

I did not imagine that there would be AI girlfriends, virtual Gucci handbags and people spending real money to decorate avatars and befriend people they will never actually meet.

This is simply my observation, no judgement intended.

Meanwhile, we are trying to work out whether the article we just read, the image we just saw or the person we are talking to was created by a human, an AI or a combination of both – it’s becoming harder to tell.

What is easy to see is that we’re drowning in abundance.

If I want entertainment, advice, validation, companionship, distraction or a lesson on ancient Rome delivered by a man dressed as a pirate, I can probably find it.

For decades, retail has been built on the idea that people want more. More choice, more products, and more experiences.

But what if the next generation grows up feeling they already have access to almost everything?

Maybe not physically, but emotionally and psychologically. Need excitement? Open an app. Need connection? Open another one. Need a new identity? There are entire digital worlds built around that idea.

The question isn’t whether people stop consuming. Human beings are exceptionally talented consumers.

The question is whether they start valuing different things.

If everything is available, all the time, then scarcity moves elsewhere.

Not into products or information, but into decisions. The harder problem is no longer finding an answer. The harder problem is knowing which answer to act on.

Which brings me to B2B.

People often talk about B2B and B2C as though they involve different species.

They don’t.

The person signing off a software purchase, selecting an asset manager or choosing a consulting partner is dealing with exactly the same digital overload as everyone else. They go home and scroll. They get targeted. They feel overwhelmed by too much information and not enough certainty.

The more I think about it, the less convinced I am that future B2B marketing is about creating more content.

There is already more than enough

The opportunity may be helping people make sense of things again, helping them focus and decide.

In the past, value came from access to information.

If you knew something others didn’t know, you had an advantage. A consultant, journalist, analyst, marketer or asset manager could create value simply by having expertise, data or insights that were difficult to obtain.

AI changes that equation.

Information is becoming cheap. Analysis is becoming cheap. Content is becoming almost free. You can ask ChatGPT for a market overview, a positioning framework, a SWOT analysis or a first draft of a strategy document in seconds.

The scarcity is no longer information. The scarcity becomes judgement: knowing what is relevant, what deserves action and what only sounds or looks like it does. The more information becomes abundant, the more valuable clarity becomes.