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1-Page Summary of Oversubscribed
Overview
Nowadays, there are so many options for consumers that it can be hard for new products to take hold. To succeed, you have to create your own market and make customers loyal enough to want all of your future products.
There are a lot of different ways to keep your brand ahead of the competition. Some brands have managed to do this, and others haven’t. The following key points will explore how some brands have done it and what you can learn from them. You’ll learn that having a small group of dedicated fans is enough to keep you afloat; why music festivals sell early-bird tickets; and what made the iPod such a huge success when it was released in 2003.
Big Idea #1: Successful businesses create more demand than supply and find niche markets to generate desire.
Every year, there will be some new device that people don’t really need but they’ll still want it because of its popularity and scarcity. This is because when something becomes popular, everyone else wants to get it too. When there’s a limited supply of an item, the demand for it increases even more so people want to have one as well.
In the past, supply and demand were important. However, nowadays they’re not as critical because of oversubscription. This is actually a good thing because it’s a powerful way to make money.
The iPhone is a great example of this. When Apple releases a new version, they sell out quickly due to long lines and demand. This works for them because it gets the phone in front of people’s faces and shows how popular the product is.
The iPhone is a great product, but it’s facing increased competition. One of the biggest challenges for Apple is to maintain its market share even as Samsung and other companies get more competitive.
In the 1980s, plastic surgery was a very popular industry. But after thousands of other doctors joined in, prices had to be greatly reduced in order to remain competitive. So one way of remaining oversubscribed is to carve out your own niche market with loyal customers. Moet & Chandon are a good example of this strategy because they’ve managed to build a luxury brand that people turn to when they want something special.
Big Idea #2: Disrupt the market by being more innovative and convenient, or less expensive.
Finding a niche market is easier said than done. It’s also difficult to come up with a truly unique and innovative product. Nevertheless, one of the best ways to start an oversubscribed business is to create something that appeals to a specific niche market or customer group.
Being truly unique and inventive means you have no competition. This is what happened when the iPod came out, since it was the first MP3 player to be user-friendly and well designed. There was no market for the iPod before it came out, so there wasn’t any competition at all.
When a competitor enters the market, you can make sure your customers stay with you by building strong relationships. One way to do that is through contracts. If you’re looking for a phone carrier and compare plans carefully, once you pick one and sign a contract for two years, then you are committed to the relationship while others no longer matter.
Another way to oversubscribe is to make something more convenient than the existing version.
Amazon is a great example of this. It’s an online store that sells anything from tires to toys, and you can buy them all with one click.
For other companies like Woolworths and Kmart, it’s hard to compete with the convenience of online shopping. For a successful example of this, you can follow the methods of UNIQLO. This clothing company has been able to provide quality clothes at lower prices by making deals with suppliers so that they can buy fabrics at wholesale prices and pass those savings on to customers.
