Content Monopoly

So what I think you are seeing is not monopoly, but the 'rule of two' (I forget the fancy words for it - it's in the 21 Immutable Laws of Marketing book or whatever that was).

The Pareto Principle?

Most marketing mistakes stem from the assumptions that you're fighting a product battle rooted in reality. All the laws in this book are derived from the exact opposite point of view."
Their twenty-two 'laws' are:

1. the law of leadership - it is better to be first than it is to be better: "The basic issue in marketing in creating a category (i.e. a given type of product or service) you can be first in. It's the law of leadership. It's better to be first than it is to be better. ItÕs much easier to get into the mind first than it is to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first."

2. the law of the category - if you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

3. the law of the mind - it's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace: "Is something wrong with the law of leadership (previously presented)? No, but the law of the mind modifies it. It is better to be first in the prospect's mind than first into the marketplace....Being first in the mind is everything in marketing. Being first into the marketplace is important only to the extent that it allows you to get into the mind first."

4. the law of perception - marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions.

5. the law of focus - the most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind (i.e. the way that Coke 'owns' the word 'cola', or Xerox owns 'copier').

6. the law of exclusivity - two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind.

7. the law of the ladder - the strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder - each category has its own ladder or hierarchy, and where your product or service is in this hierarchy will determine your strategic options.

8. the law of duality - in the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.

9. the law of the opposite - if you're shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the market leader.

10. the law of division - over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.

11. the law of perspective - marketing effects take place over an extended period of time.

12. the law of line extension - there's an irresistible pressure to extend the equity of the brand: "One day a company is tightly focused on a single produce that is highly profitable. The next day the same company is spread thin over many products and is losing money."

13. the law of sacrifice - you have to give up something in order to get something: "The law of sacrifice is the opposite of the law of line extension. If you want to be successful today, you should give something up. There are three things to sacrifice: product line, target market, and constant change."

14. the law of attributes - for every attribute, there is an opposite effective attribute: "Marketing is a battle of ideas. So if you are to succeed, you must have an idea or attribute of your own to focus your efforts around. Without one, you had better have a low price. A very low price."

15. the law of candor - when you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive: "...it may come as a surprise to you that one of the most effective ways to get into a prospect's mind is to first admit a negative and then twist it into a positive."

16. the law of singularity - in each situation, only one move will produce substantial results.

17. the law of unpredictability - unless you write your competitor's plans, you can't predict the future.

18. the law of success - success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure.

19. the law of failure - failure is to be expected and accepted.

20. the law of hype - the situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press: "When things are going well, a company doesn't need the hype. When you need the hype, it usually means you're in trouble."

21. the law of acceleration - successful programs are not built on fads, they're built on trends.

22. the law of resources - without adequate funding, an idea won't get off the ground: "Marketing is a game fought in the mind of the prospect. You need money to get into a mind. And you need money to stay in the mind once you get there."

Don't believe it all. But filter through those perspectives and you may be hard pressed to find a true monopoly on the grid. Yes, for those wondering, I've used some of these perspectives to chart my own course in SL business. Using it not like a marketing bible, but more like an American Automobile Association map showing where all the delays and potholes are.

I don't see why the Law of Duality prevents the market leader from being considered a monopoly. In fact if all these laws are taken as literally true, a successful market leader would be a monopoly because for any competitor to unseat them would violate the laws (although as you said I expect they aren't meant to be taken literally)

Monopoly means: industry with only one seller. Not market leader. I'd say you'd need a 95%+ lock on the market to be an 'effective monopoly' - and even if some people have that presently in a few rare cases, it just means nobody's ever bothered to knock them off their hill yet. For instance there may be an effective monopoly on back-tooth floss picks. But those are not much of a monopoly rather than a niche market. Niche markets may only support one retired person's effort in their spare time between bingo and church - this is the kind of 'monopoly' we see in SL. I'm thinking it's not really a monopoly if anyone could simply walk in and take it away at any time.

That's true, but this thread's discussed several examples where people couldn't "simply walk in and take it away at any time" - or, at least, if they did, they would have trouble functioning as a business while doing so.

People can't walk in and take XCite's place, because of its established network effect. (That's a similar reason why people can't walk in and take Caledon's place.) People can't walk in and take MystiTool's place (without being at major business risk), because of the low price it can offer as a result of being the product of incremental development.

So what I think you are seeing is not monopoly, but the 'rule of two' (I forget the fancy words for it - it's in the 21 Immutable Laws of Marketing book or whatever that was).

The 285 Rules of Acquisition?

I can safely say that I own the market for slut ratings. Complete monopoly.

We are still not monopolies, though. And have seen them get stomped, because some monster-huge company decided to casually throw 100 million dollars at line-extending their products into the niche. True, often these monster companies fail, and decide that shoelace eyelets or highway dots or bottled water just aren't that big a deal. And maybe pull out of the niche market in five years. This is what can easily happen to niche market companies. If anyone set up a "Caledon" with a sweatshop of workers in an impoverished country with blisteringly low margins I'd survive, maybe hold onto #1 in my category... but I sure couldn't stop them. No monopoly here, and none for Xcite.

Monopoly? No. Just a guy who got a really good hold on a market through excellence.

Um, well, being able to be competed with by a company that can throw in hundreds of millions of dollars and/or potentially illegal working practices doesn't really seem to make it "not a monopoly".

What's the difference between that and a monopoly, though? Many companies may have earned monopolies by excellence, but it doesn't mean they're not monopolies now.

Over the short term, you have a point - one may have an effective monopoly if there is little competition.

Perhaps the real question might be: is it a 'bad' monopoly that can drive everyone else off at will, or just a casual monopoly that is such, through excellence? Who deserves?

The real question is, does it really matter?

Anything which blocks or discourage users from creating content (possibly by blocking motivational narratives) risks robbing SL of its key competitive advantage in the virtual world market.

I'm not familiar with that one - but there's all kinds of crazy things out there.

I keep the "Vest Pocket MBA" lying around, myself (I never got an MBA).

Maybe it's the same ideas!

LOL - it was a reference to the Ferengi of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The species that values free enterprise and capitalism over everything else has this set of rules... some of which are:

"Keep your lies consistant"
"Only fools pay retail"
"Faith moves mountains... of inventory"
"Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit"
"It's always good business to know about your customers before they walk in the door."
"Expand or die"
"Never let your competition know what you're thinking"

and other such gems.

I want a copy!!!!!



Darien, I've read a bit about what you have gone through, including some of your commentary on your blog. I'm trying to learn from this, in fact - we are not so different.

I've got a *lot* of people depending on me - so if there is an "SL midlife crisis" on the way, I'm going to have to find a way to cope *and* stay engaged with inworld efforts. Not saying that's what you had, but I'd rather be prepared than blindsided.

Currently I tend to just log out and stay out for a coupla days every now and then. That has served me well for a while, and people can live with it fairly easily.

I want a copy!!!!!