Chris Anderson - Agenda Setters 2009

Name: Chris Anderson

Title: Wired editor, author of 'The Long Tail'

Position: 33    Last year: Not ranked

Why? Explaining how the internet is transforming business models

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'The Long Tail' is the name of a 2004 article in Wired magazine, written by current editor-in-chief Chris Anderson and subsequently expanded into a book of the same name. What's so Agenda Setting about a four-year-old article you may ask? Well longevity and shelf life are key to this thesis.

In the article, Anderson describes the emergence of a new business model made possible by the internet which he calls 'The Long Tail'. The premise is the digital era has changed the game when it comes to profitability. By removing the constraints of physicality - and levelling the economics of distribution - businesses don't need to rely only on popular products to turn a profit. In fact, niche goods or services can collectively comprise a bigger market - which can lead to a scenario of more choice and variety for consumers, and more wealth for business. In other words: win-win.

Anderson may not have been the first to coin the TLT phrase but he was first to turn it into a philosophy for doing business in the digital age. In the words of one Agenda Setters judge, his achievement is about "going beyond the role of influencer and provoking changes to business models and market strategies".

There's more in the pipeline too - Anderson's latest book, Free, continues to explore the impact of the internet on business models and "promises to be as critical to contemporary business thinking as The Long Tail", according to a panellist.