Bespoke is the new new

As a consultant I work solely in the business-to-business sector. For this reason I have never delivered a 'new' programme.

Whereas individual consumers often love the idea of something 'new', companies usually hate it

Compare the adverts in a business magazine like The Economist with those in GQ. Businesses buy solidity and reputation ('the past'), whereas individual consumers want The Next Big Thing ('the future').*

For individuals 'new' means exciting, cutting-edge and state-of-the-art; and you'll pay more. Conversely to a company, 'new' can mean a gamble, uncharted waters or flying by the seat of your pants; so you want a discount.

Where the perceptions of individuals and companies converge is at 'tailored'. Both groups are happy to pay over the odds for custom-made or bespoke. Even though by definition 'bespoke' is also 'new', for a corporate buyer there is the sense that as a supplier I will pay even more attention to your specific issues than usual. And that's worth paying for.

I don't charge a premium for bespoke/new programmes but this sort of rebadging means I don't have to offer a discount either.

* This is a generalisation I know. Still, consider the old business cliche No one ever got fired for buying IBM. Businesses rarely reward genuine risk-taking and even when they do, that risk is often passed onto smaller externals like me for the reasons I'm discussing here