As a new player with a new business model, we have to deal with a lot of skepticism. Your product is free and high quality? That’s not possible.
These two constructs are at odds in the marketing world, for any product. Oil and water. It’s either high quality and expensive or low cost, but low quality.
This is why I applaud the University of Cincinnati. They said no to conventional wisdom, which was well defended by the entrenched players. They put their students at the center of the conversation, and came up with another solution.
Today, they announced that they are adopting our excellent Introduction to Psychology textbook by Charles Stangor, for wide usage.
In the decision-making process, they heard presentation after presentation about how great the competing products were. And they are great textbooks—this is a very competitive marketplace, and the threshold for a good product is very high. Each of the publishers has great offerings in this market.
My group produces the books at Flat World Knowledge. We know they are good, but it’s still gratifying to “make the cut” when put through the rigorous scrutiny of a large, critical committee. Our editorial process is similar to what the traditional publishers do, so it’s not much of a surprise. But still, it’s a test—and I’m always proud of my group when we ace another test.
But in the intensity of the competition, I’m sure what UC heard over and over again was FEAR. All the reasons why this is a bad idea, a risk that’s not worth it. This is why rewriting the rules is so difficult. And on days like today, so rewarding.
Good content at a fair price. It’s really hard to argue with. The only thing standing in the way is fear. Remove that, and good things start to happen.
Congrats, and thank you UC. You are about to see happy students, with unfettered access to their core course materials. You are about to see course completion rates go up. You are about to see more students succeed, because they have affordable access to high quality learning materials.
If old models are getting in the way, get rid of them. UC had the courage to stand up and do just that. How about you? Are you next?