Cow # 2: Too Cool for you !

Who defines what cool is ? If you think there are products which are considered cool ,have already been serviced by a lot of big players, then is it not better to service the uncool ?

Here’s an example :

Fairly lousy locations, off the beaten business path. No signs readily visible from the street. Tiny rooms, small baths, austere lobbies. It’s so dark in one of them you can’t even read the newspaper.

Why, exactly, is Ian Schrager clearing multimillion-dollar profits from his hotels every year?
Because some folks don’t want to stay at a Hilton, that’s why.
In every way, Ian Schrager Hotels are the un-Hilton. They’ve worked hard to be hip. Don’t be surprised if you run into Anne Heche, David Byrne, Annie Liebowitz, or Mark Cuban as you walk through the lobby.

Is “hip” as big a market as the huge one catering to the core business traveler? No way. But the business traveler market was already taken. By focusing relentlessly on a tiny subset of the market (one that is intensely aware of who else is watching), Schrager becomes the only choice.

This is the secret of companies looking at Longtail(Chris Anderson) . The companies which will try to collect and cater to these nuggets in the long tail are going to be successful and Ian Schrager is a living example of the success