This is a very interesting point made by Seth Godin in his book "Small is the New Big". And nothing clears this better than the huge success of Slumdog Millionaire.
I read an article in DNA few days ago to see some of the unknown facts about Slumdog Millionaire. As I couldn’t get the link to that article I am sharing what I remember today. Could you think if the movie has not seen a theatrical release? Yes, it’s almost going to happen when the US studio with the theatrical distribution rights worth around $5 million shut down in mid of 2008. Hence the studio thought of releasing Slumdog Millionaire directly on DVD. Luckily in August’08 Fox bought 50% stake in the movie which finally released in the US sometime in Nov’08 in just 10 theatres.
First week grossed just $350K and gradually the “word of mouth” picked up and in Feb’09 the movie grossed $68.5 million having played in over 1400 theatres. This movie took around $15 million to produce and now expected to cross $100 million after winning 8 academy awards out of 10 nominations.
The point author makes here is that in this day & age, if the idea behind a product is good and it enters the market at appropriate time then there is a good chance of huge buyers. The reason is the “word of mouth”.
If I like a product, I may blog, I may SMS, call, email my friends to pass the message. So a good idea always spreads and many times without a big bang launch of the product.
So now the next logical question would be “How can I/we know that an idea is good?” Think on … and do share the product you know in the market which had a similar start and is/was a big hit…
[Thank you DNA for such a good article]
I read an article in DNA few days ago to see some of the unknown facts about Slumdog Millionaire. As I couldn’t get the link to that article I am sharing what I remember today. Could you think if the movie has not seen a theatrical release? Yes, it’s almost going to happen when the US studio with the theatrical distribution rights worth around $5 million shut down in mid of 2008. Hence the studio thought of releasing Slumdog Millionaire directly on DVD. Luckily in August’08 Fox bought 50% stake in the movie which finally released in the US sometime in Nov’08 in just 10 theatres.
First week grossed just $350K and gradually the “word of mouth” picked up and in Feb’09 the movie grossed $68.5 million having played in over 1400 theatres. This movie took around $15 million to produce and now expected to cross $100 million after winning 8 academy awards out of 10 nominations.
The point author makes here is that in this day & age, if the idea behind a product is good and it enters the market at appropriate time then there is a good chance of huge buyers. The reason is the “word of mouth”.
If I like a product, I may blog, I may SMS, call, email my friends to pass the message. So a good idea always spreads and many times without a big bang launch of the product.
So now the next logical question would be “How can I/we know that an idea is good?” Think on … and do share the product you know in the market which had a similar start and is/was a big hit…
[Thank you DNA for such a good article]
March 3, 2009 at 4:35 PM
There might be millions who start the day with DNA but wonderful to see you to give such a wise comment on this.Gr88888888 :)
March 10, 2009 at 8:48 AM
nice blog!
small change in the title!
"if your idea appeals to people, they will find you! ;-)