The "Apple" Of The Consumer's Eye
Steve Jobs is one smart man.
The New York Post is reporting that the music industry "may be on the verge of waving the white flag" to Jobs on his demand to keep iTunes songs at 99 cents.
The whole article is interesting reading, but here's why I bring it up on Unquixotic:
Mr. Jobs controls an internet portal.
With that internet portal comes a huge subscriber base, the iTunes consumers.
Music execs since Edison's days have wanted to control every facet of their product in their own interests over (and sometimes in spite of) the interest of their paying consumer. Today, they are still fighting for that same control.
But in this case, Jobs holds the cards... Why? Because his internet portal has the subscriber base. Those subscribers are attracted to the price point and delivery method that Jobs offers via iTunes.
Therefore, if the music execs want the business of Jobs' huge subscriber base, they must do things under the consumers' terms.
This quote shows an obvious lack of understanding that life, with the new economy, has changed.
When does the retailer set the price? Uh, let's see... When a "retailer" is an internet portal that pulls as many as 20.7 million monthly visitors to it?
Or in the case of Wal-Mart, when their buying scale allows them to call the shots, to name their price, not the manufacturer. Again, because they have mastered the ability to pull in a subscriber base whose purchasing clout allows them to do so.
Strategic Marketing:
What does all this have to do with Quixtar?
Oh, you mean Quixtar, the internet portal with a subscriber base that brings 3 times the revenue to Circuit City than any other of some 9,000+ affiliate partners? The same Quixtar that attracted Barnes & Nobles to seek out their partnership, only to become the online book store's top affiliate partner out of some hundreds of others? The Quixtar that had the bargaining power to trade up from Office Max to the larger partner Office Depot at twice the PV/BV kickback percentage? You mean the Quixtar that lets mere consumers become prosumers, earning a kickback on purchases of brands, products and stores that they would have made anyway? (How's that for empowered and connected?) That Quixtar?
Uh, yeah. That one.
Paul Zane Pilzer frequently describes the transition that has been seen for methods of wealth acquisition: from "resource millionaires" to "manufacturing millionaires" to the current trend of "distribution millionaires" as we are seeing with mere "retailers" like iTunes, Walmart, Amazon and yes, even Quixtar.
So what's next? Enhancing distribution to the next level: One-to-one Marketing, or what Pilzer calls "intellectual distribution." The pull that iTunes, Walmart, Amazon have on their subscriber base is almost completely reliant upon price and convenience-- with products that they already know they want.
What about the new products they don't know about? That's where direct selling comes in: "educating consumers about products and services that will improve their lives, but that they either don't yet know about or don't yet know are now affordable."
I won't rehash all of Pilzer's concepts, but they're worth reading to understand the way things are changing and will continue to change.
Suffice it to say, today's Quixtar-affiliated IBO has the ability to harness the same kind of emerging negotiating clout as a Steve Jobs and Wal-Mart are seeing, with the ubiquitous reach and convenience of internet shopping, while providing the one-on-one "high touch" connection with consumers that will win them loyal clients and business partners.
Technorati Tags: Home Based Business, Internet Marketing, Internet Business, Quixtar, WWDB, Affiliate Marketing, Private Franchise, Prosumer, Amazon, iTunes, Walmart
The New York Post is reporting that the music industry "may be on the verge of waving the white flag" to Jobs on his demand to keep iTunes songs at 99 cents.
The whole article is interesting reading, but here's why I bring it up on Unquixotic:
Mr. Jobs controls an internet portal.
With that internet portal comes a huge subscriber base, the iTunes consumers.
Music execs since Edison's days have wanted to control every facet of their product in their own interests over (and sometimes in spite of) the interest of their paying consumer. Today, they are still fighting for that same control.
But in this case, Jobs holds the cards... Why? Because his internet portal has the subscriber base. Those subscribers are attracted to the price point and delivery method that Jobs offers via iTunes.
Therefore, if the music execs want the business of Jobs' huge subscriber base, they must do things under the consumers' terms.
One high-level music industry executive, who believes the record industry will ultimately abandon its push for variable pricing, blamed the labels for not standing up to Jobs.
"Where in life does the retailer set the price of the content?" said this person.
This quote shows an obvious lack of understanding that life, with the new economy, has changed.
When does the retailer set the price? Uh, let's see... When a "retailer" is an internet portal that pulls as many as 20.7 million monthly visitors to it?
Or in the case of Wal-Mart, when their buying scale allows them to call the shots, to name their price, not the manufacturer. Again, because they have mastered the ability to pull in a subscriber base whose purchasing clout allows them to do so.
Strategic Marketing:
"Through the ups and downs of the past decade, two trends have grown stronger. Both of these trends will significantly impact the future of marketing. First, consumers are becoming increasingly empowered via the choice, control and convenience the Internet offers. Second, most entertainment and communication devices are becoming digital and connected-either hard-wired or wirelessly-to the Internet. . . Both of these trends will make consumers Gods of all they survey. They will have access to a world of information as well as other consumer insights. . . They will control marketing and, to get their attention, marketers will have to be particularly insightful and innovative. In such a world, only by understanding consumers and giving them something of value-literally paying tribute to the new Gods-will marketers succeed. . . the next era will be all about the Empowered and Connected Consumer."
What does all this have to do with Quixtar?
Oh, you mean Quixtar, the internet portal with a subscriber base that brings 3 times the revenue to Circuit City than any other of some 9,000+ affiliate partners? The same Quixtar that attracted Barnes & Nobles to seek out their partnership, only to become the online book store's top affiliate partner out of some hundreds of others? The Quixtar that had the bargaining power to trade up from Office Max to the larger partner Office Depot at twice the PV/BV kickback percentage? You mean the Quixtar that lets mere consumers become prosumers, earning a kickback on purchases of brands, products and stores that they would have made anyway? (How's that for empowered and connected?) That Quixtar?
Uh, yeah. That one.
Paul Zane Pilzer frequently describes the transition that has been seen for methods of wealth acquisition: from "resource millionaires" to "manufacturing millionaires" to the current trend of "distribution millionaires" as we are seeing with mere "retailers" like iTunes, Walmart, Amazon and yes, even Quixtar.
So what's next? Enhancing distribution to the next level: One-to-one Marketing, or what Pilzer calls "intellectual distribution." The pull that iTunes, Walmart, Amazon have on their subscriber base is almost completely reliant upon price and convenience-- with products that they already know they want.
What about the new products they don't know about? That's where direct selling comes in: "educating consumers about products and services that will improve their lives, but that they either don't yet know about or don't yet know are now affordable."
I won't rehash all of Pilzer's concepts, but they're worth reading to understand the way things are changing and will continue to change.
Suffice it to say, today's Quixtar-affiliated IBO has the ability to harness the same kind of emerging negotiating clout as a Steve Jobs and Wal-Mart are seeing, with the ubiquitous reach and convenience of internet shopping, while providing the one-on-one "high touch" connection with consumers that will win them loyal clients and business partners.
Technorati Tags: Home Based Business, Internet Marketing, Internet Business, Quixtar, WWDB, Affiliate Marketing, Private Franchise, Prosumer, Amazon, iTunes, Walmart
posted by anonibo at 16:51
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