We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” What that means is, substance can be present without us realizing it.

Or maybe there’s another interpretation, that goes “Some things that are pretty on the outside just aren’t worth it.”

Now, from experience, we all know that there are a lot of different products out there that this can also be applied to: movies, video games and music albums are all products where a lot of attention is paid to the cover art.

What about the famous scene in Spinal Tap where Fran Drescher’s character admonishes the band about their cover artwork, explaining that The Beatles didn’t need anything special or unique to sell The White Album?

In an ideal situation, a product would contain both style and substance. A lack of presentation doesn’t hurt the reality of what is inside, but perception itself has a way of shaping reality: Take the example of certain luxury brands that are able to price themselves higher simply based on reputation.

It really is a constant challenge to meet the escalating expectations that people have. We really should spend most of our focus working on creating the best products or services and also reserve some time to think about presentation.

These two can and do work together, and there are many more examples of this from highly functional and beautiful furniture to powerful, stylish vehicles. This also reminds me to mention that substance itself could have a bunch of subgroups for any product or service depending on who the ultimate consumer will be.

This really could be an endless debate if we are asking “Which is more important?”. They work together and the things with an ideal combination tend to dominate the marketplace.