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Nicholas Lovell

The Curve: How Smart Companies Find High-Value Customers Hardcover – October 3, 2013

by Nicholas Lovell (Author)

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It’s the ultimate business question of our time: How do real companies make money when customers expect (and often get) products for free?

There are millions of potential customers in the world. Most of them won’t pay anything for your product. But some will pay almost anything. The

challenge is to find the latter without wasting time and money on the former.

In The Curve, Nicholas Lovell weaves together stories from disparate industries to show how smart companies are solving this puzzle. From video games to pop music to model trains, the Internet helps businesses forge direct relationships with a vast global audience by building communities and offering bespoke products and experiences.

In many cases, businesses can win by sharing their product (or a version of their product) for free, allowing it to spread as widely as possible. Eventually, a huge number of freeloaders spread the word to the superfans who value that product the most. And a small number of superfans will love a product so much that they will spend substantial sums of money on it—given the chance. These high-value customers are enough to fuel a profitable business. For example:

Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor gave away his album for free to find the 2,500 hardcore fans who wanted the $300 limited ultradeluxe edition.
Bigpoint, an independent game developer, released three adventure games to 130 million users—and made 80 percent of its $80 million revenue from just 23,000 users, who spent money to upgrade their game-playing arsenal.
King Arthur Flour shares useful recipes and tips on its Web site, enchanting a cult of devoted bakers, many of whom happily travel to its Vermont headquarters for expensive specialty baking classes.

This approach doesn’t apply just to digital products anymore. With the advent of 3D printing, customization of physical goods is easier and cheap, and companies can truly tailor their offerings to their customers. A doll company can personalize everything from hair color to eye shape, and automakers

and technicians can create laser-scanned replacement parts for classic cars. Although the potential for piracy will spread to industries that believed they were immune to such disruption, businesses have an opportunity to make money in this new paradigm by offering variety, complexity, and flexibility at little to no extra cost.

What Lovell calls the Curve is a ranking of your company’s potential customers from those most likely to least likely to pay for your product or service. It charts their interest against the amount they are prepared to spend—be it nothing at all or thousands of dollars. The curve itself separates your revenue

opportunity (willing big spenders, your superfans) on the left from your marketing opportunity (freeloaders, whose only acceptable price point is $0) on the right. The area under the curve is the total amount of money you might be able to get from your customers or fans.

Lovell offers a strategy to draw more people into your orbit than was possible when physical costs limited your ability to expand. The Curve heralds a new era of creativity and business freedom.

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Portfolio
Publication date

October 3, 2013
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

1591846633
ISBN-13

978-1591846635
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Business is changing. The days of one size fits all are over. From pay-whatyou- want pricing to niche customization, customers have come to expect (and demand) more. The Curve welcomes us to this new reality and shows us how to take advantage of the exciting opportunities it offers.”

—Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School, and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On

“Before reading this book, I was behind the curve. Now, I’m behind The Curve—as a supporter of Lovell’s provocative and important thesis that marketers have to think very differently today about the relationship between pricing and value.”
—Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence

“In The Curve Nicholas Lovell adds the desperately needed perspective of dynamic pricing to the ongoing shift into today’s world of mass-customized offerings and experience-seeking consumers. It will show you how to find markets within each individual and thereby fill demand all along the curve.”

—B. Joseph Pine II, coauthor, The Experience Economy and Infinite Possibility

About the Author

Nicholas Lovell is an author and a consultant who helps companies embrace the transformative power of the Internet. His blog, GAMESbrief, shows how

digital is transforming gaming—and how to apply that knowledge to other industries. His clients have included Firefly, nDreams, and Square Enix (creators of Tomb Raider), as well as Channel 4 and IPC Media. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, and Wired. He lives in London.

www.nicholaslovell.com

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio (October 3, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1591846633
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591846635
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,758,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,496 in Retailing Industry (Books)
- #2,486 in Customer Relations (Books)
- #7,272 in E-commerce Professional (Books)

Customer Reviews:
53 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Judy Shackelford

Illuminating insights and advice

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2014

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Lovell has brought the insights he shares in his blog, Gamesbrief, to “The Curve” with much more. His work has given those of us in the free to play game business rules to follow that enlighten and provide direction to succeed. “The Curve” adds many additional examples of how to offer those fans who love what you do the opportunity to gratefully and proudly purchase something very special that costs a lot. The addition of this open door to higher priced special purchases will add substantially to the bottom line of those who follow Lovell’s advice. I highly recommend “The Curve” to anyone who is a marketer or entrepreneur, and to the executives in large companies who have websites or virtual worlds they are having trouble monetizing. His illuminating insights and advice are extremely worthwhile. I also recommend Lovell’s blog, [...] to anyone developing a game or app.

Helpful

Derek Murphy

loved this- helpful for authors.

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2014

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A lot of writers are still very skeptical about giving their books away for free or worried about people stealing them. This is the solution. Build a loyal fan base and allow them to pay you more money.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

AK

The Curve allows you to weather the storm

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2013

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The way that businesses work has changed dramatically. Through the Internet it has become easier than ever before to get in contact with customers, but at the same time it has become very difficult to convince them to pay for whatever you offer. We have seen that in the music business, in film and in the publishing industry. Instead of being afraid of this development, Nicholas Lovell argues that businesses should embrace it. In the Curve he shows you how to convert modern "window shoppers" into paying customers.

My company, 1SDK, operates in the mobile gaming space so I know a little bit about the business, but Lovell's book was able to teach me a lot still. At the same time I would recommend it to anyone, regardless of what type of business you are working in. Lovell gives a myriad of examples of people who have leveraged The Curve from all industries. He even includes the story of a flour company that has managed to grow from a local business into a nation-wide brand by offering free services.

In his own words "the secret of the Curve is about building upwards from whatever base you have, finding and satisfying customers who love what you do and allowing them to spend lots of money on things they value". In essence those customers that you might perceive as freeloaders are actually an asset to your business because of two reasons. The first is that they serve as the best marketing tool out there, recommending your products or services to others. The second is that in the age of social media they serve as an audience for those of your customers who buy your premium products. Without the ability of your "superfans" to show to this audience that they have bought your premium products they probably would not do it.

Not only does Lovell draw from his experience in the gaming industry, but he grounds his arguments in theoretical knowledge from the fields of economics, psychology and even evolutionary biology. For instance he explains how economies of production have moved from individual production through mass production in the industrial age to what we now see as "mass customization".

It is essential to understand the new way that markets work so that you can weather the storm no matter how circumstances change.

Plus it is fun to read. I finished it over the weekend.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mohamed Kargbo

Brilliantly written for anyone who want to understand disruption

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014

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Lovell has an ability to write in a conversational way that is both engaging and entertaining. I understood a bit about the digital space but after this read I have a grasp of the trends and reasons that digital has been such a force in the business place. If you want to understand at a high level why digital solutions took the world by storm I recommend to read this book.

Helpful

Richard Love

Great idea--a bit slow

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2014

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This is one of those "big idea" books where you get a whole new way of looking at something (in this case customers) and you'll get loads of insight and new ideas for your marketing.
Unfortunately, once you understand The Curve, the book feels like a rehash of the one idea from several angles with little new in each chapter as you proceed.
This is one every marketer needs to read, but it's a bit dull after the first few chapters.

5 people found this helpful

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Yves Grolet

Usefull !

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2014

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The ideas presented in this book are presenting the revolution that Internet distribution is. It shows how free product on Internet are not a thread for businesses but an opportunity to harvests. I found this book more usable (in my context) than the Septh Godin ones, that i also admire.

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2015

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I see the point, agree with many observations. But the arguments need more data points. Right now it is more like trend tracking.

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edu braat

Think favors rather than features

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2014

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That your most enthousiastic fans are likely to bring you the most revenue is not new. Artists, publishers and fashion designers discovered this long ago. However, it is not applicable in every business, as becomes apparent when Lovell moves from one business to another and often does not deliver useful tips beyond the obvious. To me this is another case of an idea that is better covered by an article or summary instead of a book. In fact, the free sample tells all.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Excellent pricing concept, maybe limited to internet / media industry?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2014

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Good book. Very insightful into pricing strategies. The concept being let people pay you what they think you are worth. For many that will be not much, for other key customers that may be a significant amount. My only criticism is this cannot be carried through to every industry, for example manufacturing but in fairness the book does address that. If you are a business owner it may well open your mind to a very successful new strategy.

Simon Harris

A great insight into the future of potentially all consumer orientated businesses.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 11, 2013

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This is not only a great read, but following on from titles such as "The Long Tail" is opening our eyes to the imminent future of consumer orientated business.
Covering a multitude of examples from businesses across Gaming, Music, Baking Goods and Swimming Pools, Nicholas shows how the embracing of the Free price point is enabling people throw of the tyranny of the physical and significantly increase their earnings and value of their business.
I would recommend this as a key book for anyone who is involved in a business which sells direct to consumers.

3 people found this helpful

James

Getting rid of the fear factor of free

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 28, 2013

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As someone who works in publishing and who talks regularly with authors, designers and creatives, the challenges of free material online are a constant conversation and debate. This book addresses those challenges head on. It shows us that free does not have to be feared but that it can be embraced as a way to build a dedicated customer base who will pay for products and services.

For anyone new to online business, this is a definitive work on how to approach your business strategy. For people more experienced it draws together threads and ideas that you will understand into a single and compelling approach.

Nicholas presents the principles in a way that's very easy to read and uses a number of anecdotes and case studies that make it easy to digest and understand. Thoroughly recommended.

One person found this helpful

Andy Payne

A MUST read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2013

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I have read The Curve twice and will read it again. And again. It is absolutely on the money especially for those creatives in digital. I happen to agree with pretty much all of what it says, but would urge my fellow readers to read it, embrace it, act on it. Sooner rather than later. You only get one life.

2 people found this helpful

Jim Smith

Really makes you think about making money by giving stuff away

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

Really makes you think about making money by giving stuff away. I realise the book is mainly focused on B2C but we are all moving towards more service based packages now

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