If advertising is fueling hyper-consumption does that mean that not advertising would fuel collaborative consumption? Dave Llorens, CEO of One Block Off The Grid, seems to think so. His company, One Block Off the Grid, is a buying club for people who want to get solar panels on their home. The companies ultimate goal is take solar power for homes mainstream.
In Llorens article, “Pioneers and Protagonists”, he discusses the idea that advertising is ineffective at fueling collaborative consumption. Llorens mentions that a group purchase model is the only way his company will be successful. If hundreds of others are going solar with customer and the customer has heard rave reviews from hundreds others, the decision to purchase through One Block Off the Grid becomes much easier. Llorens uses a great metaphor later in his article as an example. Do you go to see a movie because you have heard awesome reviews from countless friends or do you go to see a movie because the movie poster was really good. This new idea associated with collaborative consumption is a completely different view to advertising than our culture is used to. The idea sounds great on paper but can someone really put it to practice? Dave Llorens thinks he can.
