‘Long Tail’ May be Great for Publishing, but Not for Printing. . .Unless Printers Act to Make It Otherwise
In a recent interview in Folio:, Anderson, still an editor at Wired, responded to a question about the “long tail” concept as it applies to publishing with “. . .I don’t look to the publishing industry for guidance. I look at what the readers are doing. Once upon a time I used to compete with magazines and newspapers. Now I compete with magazines and newspapers and 20 million blogs. Readers have choices out there—some of them professional, some of them amateur. The name of the game is attention and I’m fighting for attention share with a vast, increasing number of competitors.” The lesson is one that marketers have known for a while, and one that I have used many times in presentations: ignore your competitors, stay ahead of your customers. It’s hard to implement in a market that is so reliant on its “big iron” investments in presses. The press you buy, its size and capabilities, is an expression of where a print owner believes opportunities will be for the next ten years. To ask printers to be willing to walk away from their hard-won purchase in an attempt to satisfy every twist and turn in a fickle marketplace is certainly asking a lot.
- People:
- Christopher Anderson