Long tail of investing

Just finished the Long Tail by Chris Anderson and it got me thinking about how this applies to investing in general. Successful investors often will have to invest outside of mainstream 'hits' where the majority of regular investors and funds are active. By this account it would mean they are looking further down the tail of investment options. What are your thoughts? Would an investor like Warren Buffett or even John Paulson be known as 'mainstream' or 'long tail' investors?