PubAffairs Blog
Is it time for public affairs to wag its long tail?
Dan Fox12 November 2008 2:34 PM
One of the odder by-products of the banking collapse has been the confidence with which we can all now hold forth on the intricacies of the international business system.
Analysing the consequences of securitisation and discussing the advantages of recapitalisation is suddenly almost as easy – almost – for us political animals as explaining the legislative path and identifying a decent third-party advocate.
Of course, if I had had more sense back in the lower sixth, I would have gone for an economics degree and started understanding the world a lot sooner and a lot better than my politics BA ever allowed me to. No matter now, though. Even before the credit started crunching, the flourishing of ideas and books such as Freakonomics and The Undercover Economist, meant economics becoming the new rock-and-roll, with everyone dancing along.
One of the most interesting concepts of recent years is the 'Long Tail'. First coined by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 article in Wired magazine, it is best summed-up by the subtitle of the eponymous book it eventually became: why the future of business is selling less of more.
The argument is a simple one: products which have low demand and low sales can, when taken together, constitute a market share as big as (or even bigger) than the best-selling products in the same sector. When such volumes are plotted on a sales chart, the curve plunges deeply before tapering off into a “long tail”.
Anyone who has had an obscure book from Amazon land on their doormat the day after purchasing it knows that the long tail is difficult to gainsay in retail sales, especially when internet-based.
But can it also apply to services? Do time, ideas, advice and knowledge also have a long tail? As public affairs consultants, we’re probably going to find out soon.
The current global situation has left many in a dilemma about their public affairs. The economics means cutting back on the cost of campaigning while the policy and politics means that this activity is more important than ever. Communications budgetholders now want to spend less but do the same or even expand. As with all financial squeezes, this will mean people doing more for themselves. They might want advice and training on how best to do it - but they will have to make tough decisions concerning large-scale help and support.
To paraphrase the recent urgings of the Leader of the Opposition, the public affairs roofs are still going to be fixed in the months to come. But there just are not going to be as many of us up there helping out. We are going to have to devise other ways to make ourselves valuable to those doing their own repairs.
Dan Fox is an independent public affairs campaigner, adviser and writer, and Director of QE Ltd, which is currently wagging the long tail of public affairs by moving its product listings onto the eBay marketplace with The QE Campaign Toolbox.
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