Long tales and other good reads

So things have been good. Been reading a lot of good reads lately. Few of the really good ones for your perusal & consumption below:

Chris Anderson's Book - The Long Tail
I know, I know i'm behind the curve on this one. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More (2006) by Chris Anderson, the Editor-in-chief of wired magazine (the favourite read of this blog) is a stellar book and must be read by everyone who is remotely interested in economics. Yes Economics and not just the internet. Anderson in this book talks about the remarkable manner in which the internet has re-written traditional retail that focussed solely on "hits" due to the constraints of supply chain and inventory costs. The main focus is on how, due to the internet, the market is moving towards the "non hits" as people are moving from mass consumer products to more customized niche products.

I knew about the Long Tail theory pretty much when the book released but this book has given me an insight on Search Engines that I never noticed before. The sieving quality of search engines to negotiate all the clutter on the net.That, methinks, is the saviour of the long tail. Yes there is significant choice out there thanks to the internet and the availability of information. But choice is useless unless you can get to it. Search Engines sift through the internet to get you what you want. That's why a Search Engine on the web portal is crucial.

Most companies do not pay attention to the search engines on their own web portal because they think their own portal is a small universe and people will get to the content any way. But regardless, navigating any portal can sometimes be overwhelming. I personally hate it when search queries within a site don't work and give out odd results. Especially when its at odds with Google. The big takeway for me personally from this book was that marketing to the long tail because of its niche drive preference is going to be difficult and sometimes not feasible but if one has an elaborate website, investing in good search engine technology and a recommendation alogorithm will ease things up significantly.

One of my favourite lines in the book tho, is when he describes Fiona Apple as "Delightfully Unhinged". I'd like to wear a T-shirt that says that! More on the book here. Also read the Long Tail blog here

There's a blogging exchange of words going on in Harvard Business Review between Chris Anderson and Anita Elberse, a harvard prof. Elberse is arguing on if one should take the long tail seriously and invest in it. Its an extremely good read and besides its greatly stimulating to see two intellectuals argue. Register on the HBR site and you'll get access to it. Can't link to it unfortunately :(

More shameless Wired Plug Alert
Yes well, what can I say I'm like a wired groupie these days. Wired is celebrating its 15th anniverssary this year and because of that one is able to access a lot of past gems. I chanced upon a wired article on the landmark US Vs Microsoft anitrust case. Th article, all of 45 pages, was published after the judgement to break up Microsoft was delivered in 1998. The article brilliantly narrates the events leading up to the case and gives inside scoop on all the players involved especially the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Microsoft.

The article reads like a salacious saga and is completely absorbing. Besides that it gives one valuable insights on US anti trust laws. By the end of this article, one gets to know the Sherman Act better than one's right hand. You also get know the ugly side of Microsoft. I'm not sure if the article was particularly biased against Microsoft but its not flaterring in anyway. I don't really get why people in tech hate microsoft so much. It may be vehemently dominating and they may not make the best of products but hey nobody out there has an OS that matches Microsoft. I use MS products evryday and I don't think I should crib particularly when I have not seen a better product to rival it. Read the article here

This made me wonder if India has Antitrust laws? Anyone know? Also I don't particularly think its a good idea, not right now any way. We've just become a free economy, what we don't need right now is a regulatory law. Besides, the ambanis and tatas of this country would never allow it

*end shameless plug*

More bounty
The Economic times recently had a great article on Leadership. In an article called "Four fundamental laws for CEOs racing against time" the author, with good examples, illustrates the 4 guiding principles that CEOs, who are pressed for immediate results, should adopt.

Another article in ET talks about the importance of customer advocacy. The author makes the case about why one should always invest in building a loyal community of users as the latter could come to the rescue during bad times. Read the Article here

Internet and E-Commerce in India

Being the data junkie that I am, I'm extremely thrilled with the Internet and Mobile Association of India's (IAMAI) reports on the state of Internet in india. It is an exteemely useful website filled with reports and events on the internet and mobile scene in India



As an e-marketer it is important to learn how the internet penetration is unfolding in India. You all all will be happy to know that the internet is growing at a rate of 40%. The internet break up as per the I-Cube 2007: Internet in India report is as follows:








The report also gives more facts and figures for internet penetration in Non metros and the pattern of internet usage.



The Ecommerce report too is pretty fascinating, considering companies in India are struggling to get their E-commerce acts together due to strict funds transfer policy in India. It offers a great insight on industry size, existing barriers for further growth and improvements needed.



Detailed de-brief once i analyze these reports. In the meanwhile, trip on it here

Book Review: It Happened In India - The story of Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Central and the great Indian consumer

Think of Indian malls and the first mental image to come to mind is frenzy. Of frenzied buying and frenetic consumption by hordes of masses that just don’t seem to be satiated. Think a little more and you’ll see images of things flying from the shelves; you’ll even start to hear the mad whirr of credit card machines working overtime. Yet, funnily enough, it wasn’t quite so crazy even in the late nineties. What has changed is India. The booming economy has ushered in an era of confidence and of course unprecedented consumption.

On first glance, “It Happened in India”, by Kishore Biyani, Managing Director, Future Group, seems to be nothing but an amalgamation of milestones of this self confessed “maverick” entrepreneur – On how he rose from selling stone washed fabrics to being the czar of Indian retail. But this book is not about rags-to-riches, it is about vision. This book is about a man who had the gall to envision a confident India and his foresight in ensuring that when this India consumed, it consumed from him.

The book fittingly begins with Biyani’s recollection of the first ever Sabse Sasta Din or Maha Savings Day at Big Bazaar on 26th January 2006. The deals were apparently so good that not only did it attract the masses in droves, but also riot police had to be called in various cities to control the chaos. What is revealing about this chapter is Biyani’s assessment of this response:

“But more than the quantum of sales, what seemed significant to me was that this incident marked the arrival of a new set of customers into the modern retail stores in India”.

Biyani, goes on to categorize the Indian consuming into India one and India two segments. India one constituted the upper and lower middle class, while India two constituted the serving class – the drivers, household helps etc, a class that was vary of modern retail stores and perceived them as “expensive and exclusive”. In Biyani’s own words,

“What was exceptional about 26th January 2006 at Big Bazaar was that for the first time it had attracted India Two and that too in very large numbers.”

There in lies the vision - The vision of not being exclusivist but catering instead to the masses with dirt cheap prices as a result of which their inhibitions are overcome.

A major aspect of the book is that the narrative is not solely of Biyani’s. The narrative is peppered by anecdotal incidents of people who have been closely associated with Biyani in his journey to the top. These include former colleagues, family members, friends and academicians. Although the constant shift in the narrative takes some getting used to, these anecdotes provide a wholesome picture of the man that is Biyani.

The book traces Biyani’s early years as a rebellious youngster growing up in Mumbai’s Malabar Hills. Biyani’s rebellion manifests itself in not only opposing the family’s social customs but in also the way it did business. Frustrated by the inward thinking of his family’s business and its penchant for maintaining the status quo, Biyani sets off on his own entrepreneurial journey by selling stone washed fabrics. After attaining moderate success selling fabric, Biyani decided to go one step ahead and set up a shop that sold ready made trousers called patloon, the Urdu word for trousers. This became the precursor to what would lead to Pantaloon Shoppes and ultimately to Pantaloon Retail

Apart from Biyani’s own meteoric journey, the book is also an interesting factoid of Indian retail in its early years. Apparently Mumbai’s first shopping mall only allowed visitors who had a credit card or a mobile phone! Another interesting fact was that the inspiration for Big Bazaar was not a foreign mall but instead was a 25 year old family owned retail chain called Sarvana, located in Chennai. Biyani’s team would meticulously study the Sarvana store for days and months before arriving at the format for Big Bazaar. Rajan Malhotra, Head Big Bazaar, has this to say about that:

“People may say that we are inspired by the Wal-Marts of the world, but it was at Sarvana that Big Bazaar was born. Everyone who joined the company during those days had to visit Chennai, seek homage at Sarvana and then start working”

What comes out through this book, from every page literally, is Biyani’s obsession with the Indian consumer. Biyani admits to manically studying consumers wherever he goes. Having conquered the Indian retail market, his sights are on to bigger things – That of conquering the entire consumption space. From selling insurance to dabbling in financial services, health & fitness and even stationery – Biyani seems to be after everything that the consumer spends her money on. Infact Biyani has even produced two Bollywood movies in order to extend the Pantaloon brand.

Although the triumphs and successes are well articulated, sadly the failures are not. This is a serious drawback and makes the book seem (sometimes) like one big ode to Biyani’s vision and charisma. But that’s minor nitpicking. This book should be read by all would be entrepreneurs and all those interested in the Indian Retail phenomenon. True to Biyani’s bias towards thrift, this book is economically priced at Rs. 99, making this a really good deal. Value for money indeed!

Wired & Logos

I must happily confess that these days I have a new obsession- Wired.com. From the very funny "MicroHoo" stories to the headlines today - The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know. Its really great source for whats the latest technology and next big thing on the net

Wired also had this great story on how the Google Logo evolved. Ruth Kedar, the artist responsible for creating this now eponymous logo, takes one through all the prototypes and her rationale, her client's - Larry page & Sergei Brin's brief and a lot more. Read all at - How Google Got Its Colourfull Logo