Seth Godin has a nice post about foodie, a perfect example of doing things to the hilt. Joe DeSalazar’s foodie is to a fancy dinner what Steve Moal’s Zausner Torpedo is to a standard luxury car: same fundamental offering, but implemented with a point of view obsessed with total quality and epicurean delight.
Granted, you’re not going to get to the mass market by doing stuff to the hilt, but there is an audience out there. And they’re hungry.
Why not do it to the hilt?