The Long Tail

www.thelongtail.com
Fascinating blog by Chris Anderson of Wired, actually the blog will become a book. The Long Tail of the marketplace or the curve leading from high volume "hits" with little variety to lower volume but greater variety is the province of a multitude of niches. The Long Tail has been enabled in recent years by the internet, advances in design and manufacturing technology and of course passionate users who can now get the word out.

These factors have given products infinite shelf space and the ability to rapidly morph. The contention is that this rapidly evolving commercial space is growing, with many small niches gradually increasing the overall volume of the tail. Important implications for start-ups who must realize that their niche may never become a huge, classic hit and for larger players who must now continually offer fast moving innovation, mass customization. and/or spend mightly on marketing and traditional shelf space-or see their volume continue to shrink.

Clearly The Long Tail is evident in categories such as download music and other products stored and sold entirely in a digital realm as here essentially the most traditionally obscure tune is just as likely to be bought as a hit from a major artist as they both share virtual shelf space equally and fans can direct friends to the product easily via the internet. This said The Long Tail and its implications is just as applicable to niche products of all sorts including those more physical in nature.

reveries - marketing insights and ideas

reveries - marketing insights and ideas

I have been getting the Reveries Cool News of the Day free newsletter for years. 3 quick stories from the world of marketing, often culled first thing in the morning from leading newspapers. Quick read and always informative.

Classic XC Ski Race, aging athletes, and the power of the Internet to remove some of the mysteries of waxing

This past Sunday I raced a cross country ski race for the first time in about 20 years.
The race was the 50km Great Glen to Bretton Woods Nordic Adventure http://www.greatglentobrettonwoods.com/. Spectacular course which included 2 climbs of 500 and 1500 vertical feet with fast smooth downhills and some great views of Mount Washington before the snow started to fall. The Ibex Breakawy jacket (see my winter gear reviews below) was fantastic as with temperatures in the mid 20's, with long long sweaty climbs followed by very long fast downhills. I was always comfortable.

XC skiing is a great sport for aging athletes and particularily runners whose knees etc... can't take the pounding. I was amazed at the performance of the over 40 athletes including some of my old Dartmouth friends who out raced most of the youngsters!

Now to the waxing... XC ski waxing and particularily kick waxing has always been a mystery and a challenge. It still is but there is now lots of help. Internet weather sites and online wax wizards such as www.swixschool.no which will, with easy simple videos, show you how to prepare skis as well as another another swix page http://www.swixsport.com/waxwizard.asp?Lang=ENG&Sport=1 which will, based on the temperatures and humidity you found on the weather sites, give you specific instructions on which glide and kick waxes to use.

Harris Farm-A great place to XC ski between Portsmouth NH and Portland ME

Harris Farm www.harrisfarm.com is a family farm near Biddeford ME with not only 40K of great XC ski trails but large dairy herd, farm store with milk and meat from the farm for sale. The whole family is involved on the farm and at the touring center demonstrating that with the right approach and creativity family farms can thrive. Of course Harris is blessed with great terrain for trails and farming and a location near populations.

Springwise.com

World's leading source for promising new business ideas, concepts and innovations.

Related to trendwatching.com in that springwise presents concrete new business opportunities and actual businesses around the world related to the trends from trendwatching. Springwise site and their monthly newsletter (easy read and very well put together) focuses on business to consumer and emerging retail concepts. Ideas are collected from a worldwide network of trend spotters. In particular I find the world view of the site fascinating.

TRENDWATCHING.COM Newsletter | Global Consumer and Marketing Trends

http://www.trendwatching.com/newsletter/

This is a most useful newsletter. Based on insights and material contributed by a large network of trend spotters around the world trendwatching synthesizes these threads into well documented (examples, pictures, etc..) categories and even suggests approaches and other opportunities to ride these trends.

First Run in the Pearl Izumi Seek Trail Shoe

To much snow here in NH for the trails. Ran with the Seek on the roads. Superb upper fit,like a slipper. I can feel what the front of my foot is up to over the terrain, yet I am very well supported in the midfoot. I am a heavy heel striker and found the combination of the crash pad and frame supported firmly yet with great cushioning, unusual as most with most shoes it is either firm support or pillow cushion. Felt like the shoe was guiding me forward, faster, and with some sense of actually having feet, instead of the usual feeling of a cushionned board on my feet.

The Float is the road cousin of the Seek.
Info at: www.pearlizumi.com

Gizmodo

Gizmodo
This is one of my favorite websites/blogs. Not only all the latest electronic gadgets but innovative products of all sorts. The go to site for new stuff.

My Running Gear Winter 2005

I have been running, hiking, and skiing for over 30 years in all seasons and over all kinds of terrain: rugged White Mountains of NH, Idaho, Swiss Alps, cities. I am crazy about gear!

Jacket: Wool nylon blend Ibex Breakaway. www.ibexwear.com
Truly remarkable stuff. Front doesn't even look like wool as the nylon and wool are woven together so the wool is on the inside. Very windproof. The back where the sweat is greatest is a lighter all wool. Beautifully made and can be worn for many, many days without...stink! Performance wool is coming back strong, especially where it is blended with synthetic fibers.

Long underwear: Craft www.craft-usa.com
Have worn Patagonia capilene and Pearl Izumi Xstatic for years but this year trying Craft Scandanvia which I am finding superior as its slightly furry surface seems to wick and dry remarkably fast.

Shoes: Pearl Izumi Vis IQ www.pearlizumi.com
Pearl Izumi is new to running shoes (3d season) but their offerings are highly innovative. Uppers are essentially seamless and without all the extra trim and stitching. The material is woven differentially to support where it needs to. and the claim of fewer blisters is true. Great styling with clean lines.
I can't wait to try their 2005 shoes and especially the Seek, their new trail shoe. Pearl Izumi is demonstrating that a newcomer with a clean sheet of paper and a thirst to innovate can differentiate themselves in what is largely a me too, after Nike is done, industry heavily relying on a few sources of production shared by many competitors.

Apple-#1 Brand, Product, and Execution Champ, with some help from FedEx

Why was Apple voted just recently the #1 Global Brand by 2000 marketing professionals? Well we all know about the cool products. Customer satisfaction and strong financial results don't just depend on cool products. Apple learned the hard way that to truly succeed you have to excel in logistics, bold new channel choices (retail-Apple Store), and the "wow- that's cool" factor.

My recent Apple story is a demonstration they are truly firing on all cylinders.

Dec 16th I ordered an iPod mini for my son from the Apple web site. The first wow: they offered free engraving and free shipping. Making a mass produced product personal builds an even stronger bond between customer and brand.
Dec 19th Nathan's iPod shipped from...Shanghai, China via FedEx
Dec 23d iPod arrives in NH. The tracking shows a trip through the Phillipines, Anchorage, Indianapolis, and Boston. A huge wow, I have told friends the story over and over again.

My take: as Xmas drew near there wasn't enough time to ship into distribution for last orders so they were ready with direct from production line to my door in a week...from China. Truly remarkable logistics and coordination via the web. I am sure these last orders were the surprise in Apple's results and very profitable. And, by partnering with FedEx they compressed time to my door dramatically to capture all the remaining sales momentum in the key season.

Finally, when we took a look at the mini fine print on the clip we noted the very clever "Designed in California USA, Assembled in China", a succinct snapshot of current reality.

A farvorite place-Fort Rock Exeter Newfields NH

While more commonly used for mountain biking I enjoy running in these 2 interconnected town forests. Beautiful single track trails complete with sturdy bridges over swamps. I have been able to go for a 2 hour run without seeing a house. Well, that was 2 years ago and now there is some development encroaching. The good thing is that as so many enjoy these "unofficial" trails a bypass trail was cut before any houses were started and much of the land put into conservation. When people know about a place they speak out and compromises are worked out.

The busted spoke site is a good source of basic directions.
http://www.bustedspoke.com/trail.php?tk=1003

A favorites place- Mt A. York ME

Mt. Agamenticus, Maine is a vast, near wilderness area a few miles from the busy beaches of York Maine and Rte 1. Sensational trails for running, walking, snowshoeing and mountain biking. ATV's etc.. are by permit only as I understand it. Land is made up of water reservoir ponds, conservation, and private lands.

A major effort is underway to conserve thousands of acres of this the largest contiguous forest near the ocean in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. http://www.yorklandtrust.org/mta2c.html.
My mother is heavily involved in this incredible effort

Trails at the summit of Mt. A are well marked with maps available. Busted spoke has a good description of the trails in the immediate area of the summit. http://www.bustedspoke.com/trail.php?tk=1006

More expansive and wild and in my view better running are the outlying areas of Mt A between the peak and the York River, in the water district lands. Trails in these outlying are not marked but easy to follow. Best bet is to use the following 1956 topo map: http://docs.unh.edu/ME/york56nw.jpg

Turn onto 91 at the Ford dealership on Rte 1 in York. I access the trails from the road just before Payneton on the map. Turn on the dirt road at the white sign Wild Iris Farm and park about 400 yards up on the left. Walk up the dirt road and look for the woods road at the top of the hill, turn right and you are on your way. Note that these trails are not marked and it is very easy to get lost. Have fun exploring!

First Posting

Up here in my home office on the Seacoast of NH. Out the window it is a beautiful sunny day and after last week's storms and cold the landscape is brilliantly white. The cardinals are darting in and out of the bushes, bright red against the snow.

I hope this blog will be a window out to the world and into my world.