I started reading the book “The Long Tail” from Chris Anderson. It is a great easy read I find that aims at challenging the way business is done and highlight the opportunities created by new technologies. Very inspiring.

Yesterday, I was reading the part where Chris Anderson discusses the so-called “death” of the 80/20 rule. Very interestingly he states in this part that many people misunderstand that 80/20 rule. Here is what he says:

The 80/20 Rule is chronically misunderstood, for three reasons. First, it’s almost never exactly 80/20. Most of the large-inventory market I’ve studied are 80/10 or even less. [...Second], the 80 and the 20 are percentages of different things, and thus don’t need to equal 100. One is a percentage of products, the other a percentage of sales. [...] Finally, the Rule is misunderstood because people use it to describe different phenomena. The classic definition is about products and revenues, but the Rule can just as equally be applied to products and profits.

It is pretty amusing that the same day I received a direct marketing ad for a joint offer from DBS and SK-II that totally misuses the 80/20 Rule just as it is explained in the book. Here is what the ad copy says:

Latest research revealed that skin age is mastered by a “20:80 Principle”. Natural biological ageing accounts for only 20% of skin changes, while 80% is induced by our living habits and skincare regimen. With SK-II Bio Technology, you can have control on your beauty.

So much for the “research” that “revealed that skin age was mastered by a 20:80 Principle”. A typical problem of a marketer wanting to sound technical, expert and scientific, but does not do the homework… I hope the actual research at SK-II is a bit more thorough than that…

At least this example shows that the content in Chris Anderson’s book is VERY relevant to the reality today. A great read!