I am an avid reader of books, a fan of Amazon and have been buying books among other things from Amazon from day one. I own a Kindle 2 and love to shop online and the less I have to drive to a store the better.
I am excited to try the iPad as an eReader and am confident both devices will have fan bases for a while, but like the iPod it sure is nice when there is one winner as I can get all or most of my media in one place and at a great price.
Interestingly enough the secret to winning this war is less about technology and more about packaging!
More specificially bundling, but more on that in a minute.
As I said I love to consume books. I do this through three distinct media formats and truly like all three for books.
- Traditional books- Main place of use home and some travel. There is nothing like a book. Something about how most of us are wired being able to open it up, flip and read pages, dog-ear, bookmark, take notes. Yeah devices do this, but it is just not the same. I will always prefer the tactile experience of paper with a large selection of my books.
- eBooks – Main place of use on the road or in my office. When I am traveling the lighter the better. Carrying a few books is cumbersome, carrying a library is not possible. There are many books I reference on a regular basis and having them with me is a must. I also read sometimes 4-5 books at a time and my mood and energy level often dictate which of those books I am going to read at night, having a choice on the road is a blessing.
- Audio – Main place of use driving, exercising, walking, traveling, waiting. I always have a few books on my iPhone that are ready to listen at a moments notice. If I have down time in a doctor’s office, walking through an airport, etc. I can get through several books a month in just spare time.
So the big secret on how to win this war is… The Bundle!
Don’t make me pay for the same thought 3 times! I want the ideas and to be honest MOST books are not worth paying for 3 times. Anyone that would allow me to pay once or once and a half is going to get my business and millions like me.
Why would Apple or Amazon do this?
For starters we all know that eBooks and Audio books are almost free to the manufacturer. It costs pennies to distribute the eBook and the Audio can’t cost much more. Bundling these formats allows me to get to the ideas in more areas of my life and here is the key.
If I can get to the books more often I will consume them a lot faster!
This reminds me of studies in business school about toothpaste. When Crest and other toothpaste brands were faced with the challenge of selling more toothpaste they realized they had two options; first go find new customers or second sell more toothpaste to their existing customers. The first was obvious to them and something they were used to, but the second option posed a problem.
The question “how do you sell more toothpaste to your existing customers?” really became an issue of “how do you get your customers to use more toothpaste?”.
The answer was ingenious.
You start selling toothbrushes! Specifically toothbrushes with more bristles. If you add 20% more brush length guess what most toothpaste users will do? They will use 20% more toothpaste!
So Apple or Amazon if you are listening. I am ready to consume 20%-40% more of your books IF you can offer a fair bundle of Book, eBook and Audio book. It is not hard to do and I will give you all the credit 
.
I would love to hear what you think.