The Law of Linear Commerce was an original theory and basis of the first member brief: a short study of Kylie Jenner’s powerful use of commerce tools to monetize her audience. It has since become the basis of a commerce strategy by NBCUniversal.
The food industry has done more than service pizza, nuggets, and burgers. It’s served as a leading indicator for how commerce will evolve. Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line but the McDonald brothers designed systems practical enough to facilitate their systems within every neighborhood in the United States. Today’s tech pundits discuss the discovery of last-mile delivery as though pizza parlors hadn’t employed the strategy since the early 1960s. And before the majority of Americans began hailing cars or groceries by mobile app, fast food pizza companies like Domino’s or Pizza Hut maintained working mobile applications in 2009. Consider this fascinating excerpt from a 1994 Los Angeles Times article by Michael Schrage:
The dryer isn’t working! These are the words that set off a chain of events that would conclude with 19 hours on the phone with Lowe’s and countless more companies researching why their processes were so far behind today’s standards. The entire ordeal reminded me of a scene from the 90’s sitcom Home Improvement, starring Tim Allen as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor. As a dad that tried to fix home issues on his own, he’d occasionally run into dangerous scenarios and electrical wiring often took center stage. Here’s but one example.
