The slogan was catchy and the car became a hit. When Daimler-Chrysler introduced the „Smart“, everybody was curious to see what „Reduce to the max“ would mean.
And they liked what they saw: A cute looking city hopper that was stripped off all unnecessary outfits while boosting the fun factor at the same time.
The idea of reducing complexity and thereby focusing on a better result became a guideline for many product lines in different fields and the motto also entered the realm of psychotherapy.
What's the perfect minimum?
It’s fascinating what a good slogan can do. „Reduce to the max“ was created by a Swiss marketing agency and is a great example for how to put a fresh idea into magnetic words.
I wish something like that would come to my mind, especially when I think about marketing for the online business I want to start.
But even more than the words I like the principle behind it.
I like to travel light.
Big Paul is a vehicle that nudges my partner and me to do exactly this: Reduce the equipment and the luggage to the inevitable and make it most efficient and practical.
We don’t want to waste time and energy by taking care of too much stuff.
Getting to the essentials
Stuff. It’s nice to have as long as it’s in use and low in maintenance and not blocking anything important.
On the road, stuff can become a nuisance fast and the sooner you get rid of it the better. I learned this lesson well when I embarked on my first backpack trip to Scotland in my teens.
Packed like a mule, I dragged myself to the train station where I met my friend.
Heaving all the stuff aboard the train that we thought was necessary didn’t spoil the party in the first place. But when we arrived at the final train station on the coast in Belgium and had to walk to the ferry with all that luggage, we realized …
On our arrival in London our first stop was the central post office. I don’t remember how much postage we paid for the big, fat parcel to home, but it was worth every single British Pound.
From that day on, I never put more weight on my back than 13 kilos plus camera and lens when traveling.
This was good enough for trips that took us half around the globe for two or three months.
We had to improvise and find extraordinary solutions often. So, we were getting to places and had awesome encounters you would never experience when traveling the „well-stuffed“ and comfortable way.
Actually, life is very fresh and amusing with very little stuff. It’s amazing how far you can go with just a pair of Jeans, a T-shirt and an open mind.
