1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
In "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More," by Chris Anderson, Anderson argues that there is a Long Tail of demand for the least popular products that equals the demand for the popular products in a world where sites like iTunes, Rhapsody and Spotify create an endless inventory for endless genres of products. The Long Tail is all of the niche markets that are often wrongly considered the 80% to fail in popular stores that supply physical products. These niche markets are now available digitally, which proves that the demand for popularity has been misguided all along. The only reason certain books, songs, movies, etc. are so highly demanded is because they are the ones that are so widely marketed and pushed in front of us. When we have the availability to choose for ourselves and look across over 735,000 songs on Rhapsody (Anderson), the Long Tail becomes just as profitable. Anderson's argument is clearly stated in the title of his work, and it basically concludes that working in a market that provides the sales of unpopular demand such as Amazon, Netflix, eBay, etc. will earn a profit that will total a greater amount than the sales of popular products. His overall rules include: Cover all of the market (even unpopular), cut prices, and help people reach those unpopular products.
In "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More," by Chris Anderson, Anderson argues that there is a Long Tail of demand for the least popular products that equals the demand for the popular products in a world where sites like iTunes, Rhapsody and Spotify create an endless inventory for endless genres of products. The Long Tail is all of the niche markets that are often wrongly considered the 80% to fail in popular stores that supply physical products. These niche markets are now available digitally, which proves that the demand for popularity has been misguided all along. The only reason certain books, songs, movies, etc. are so highly demanded is because they are the ones that are so widely marketed and pushed in front of us. When we have the availability to choose for ourselves and look across over 735,000 songs on Rhapsody (Anderson), the Long Tail becomes just as profitable. Anderson's argument is clearly stated in the title of his work, and it basically concludes that working in a market that provides the sales of unpopular demand such as Amazon, Netflix, eBay, etc. will earn a profit that will total a greater amount than the sales of popular products. His overall rules include: Cover all of the market (even unpopular), cut prices, and help people reach those unpopular products.
2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
Overall, I have to say that Anderson did a really great job at explaining his idea. However, not only was it explained, it reinforced the idea that in order to succeed, you need to clearly identify your market. Early on in the class, we were asked to do an assignment that was solely interviewing potential target markets. Here, Anderson suggests that you take this idea even further. Don't just create something that limits your audience, create something for everyone. This was also encouraged in one of our assignments where we were asked to interview people who would not fit into our target market, and figure out how we would apply this to our good/service. I was able to see from feedback that my medical device would only be for one type of person. However, because I saw its innovative design as an opportunity, I can potentially make the medicine part interchangeable with different medications. Now I reach all markets of health!
Overall, I have to say that Anderson did a really great job at explaining his idea. However, not only was it explained, it reinforced the idea that in order to succeed, you need to clearly identify your market. Early on in the class, we were asked to do an assignment that was solely interviewing potential target markets. Here, Anderson suggests that you take this idea even further. Don't just create something that limits your audience, create something for everyone. This was also encouraged in one of our assignments where we were asked to interview people who would not fit into our target market, and figure out how we would apply this to our good/service. I was able to see from feedback that my medical device would only be for one type of person. However, because I saw its innovative design as an opportunity, I can potentially make the medicine part interchangeable with different medications. Now I reach all markets of health!
3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
If I had to design an exercise based on this book, I would challenge students to find an opportunity that has a small market and make them find a way to expand their consumer market. In this way, they are covering an entirely new market, and it also allows for people to really reach out of their comfort zone and expand their ideas/viewpoints.
4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
The biggest surprise for me was actually about a topic that I am learning in Macroeconomics. It is called Pareto's Principle, and suggests that only 20% of popular films, books, songs, etc. will successfully return a profit. The other 80% will fail. What I learned from Anderson, however, was that this is only true of a popularly demanded products. Anderson explains that this is because popular movies, for example, will only be physically available in theaters if the theater expects a large enough audience in two weeks. The rest of the movies aren't even available to us in physical form or marketed to our knowledge for years. With streaming technology however, this availability proves that there is demand everywhere, and they will return just as great a profit as the recent Oscar-winner.
4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
The biggest surprise for me was actually about a topic that I am learning in Macroeconomics. It is called Pareto's Principle, and suggests that only 20% of popular films, books, songs, etc. will successfully return a profit. The other 80% will fail. What I learned from Anderson, however, was that this is only true of a popularly demanded products. Anderson explains that this is because popular movies, for example, will only be physically available in theaters if the theater expects a large enough audience in two weeks. The rest of the movies aren't even available to us in physical form or marketed to our knowledge for years. With streaming technology however, this availability proves that there is demand everywhere, and they will return just as great a profit as the recent Oscar-winner.
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