{"id":1764,"date":"2012-10-19T12:52:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T12:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.retailprophet.com\/blog\/?p=1764"},"modified":"2012-10-19T12:52:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-19T12:52:36","slug":"are-you-the-rock-or-the-hard-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.retailprophet.com\/2012\/10\/19\/are-you-the-rock-or-the-hard-place\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You the Rock or The Hard Place?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Doug Stephens<\/p>\n

Doc Searls, a contributor to The Cluetrain Manifesto<\/em> and author of The Intention Economy<\/em> once said that choosing between wireless carriers is like choosing whom to place yourself under house arrest with.\u00a0 He\u2019s right. All options are supremely terrible.\u00a0 All we, as consumers can do in these situations is choose the company we feel will be the least<\/em> horrid of the bunch and hope for the best.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like a lot of people, I\u2019ve been continually and utterly frustrated by my wireless company over the years.\u00a0 The problem is that I hear others complain about their providers just as vehemently \u2013 so I end up wondering why bother making the switch.\u00a0 Coupled with the morally reprehensible fees and other punitive charges these companies invoke for leaving, it truly makes you feel imprisoned.<\/p>\n

And there are many, many examples like this in the market.\u00a0 Cable providers, insurance companies, banks, car rental and real estate companies, and airlines are only some of the categories where differentiation between market alternatives is so dismal or non-existent that consumers reach a point of zombie-fied inertia.\u00a0 If competitors are \u00a0just as awful as your current provider, why switch?\u00a0 There\u2019s no payoff.\u00a0 No point.\u00a0 No difference.<\/p>\n

This kind of atrophy in a market is dangerous for two reasons.\u00a0 First, brands actually lull themselves into believing that this consumer inertia is loyalty \u2013 that consumers are sticking with them because they actually want to<\/em>, which of course isn’t true.\u00a0 Secondly, this tyranny of mediocrity and sameness leaves markets primed for catastrophic disruption from new entrants, which by the way, wasn\u2019t always the case. In fact, the barriers to entry in many of these markets were once virtually insurmountable. \u00a0Here’s why. For at least a century, large companies have managed to thrive by creating enormous scale and they bought that scale with massive amounts of paid advertising.\u00a0 For those hoping to break into an industry, creating similar scale was nearly impossible, especially if you couldn\u2019t outspend the market players on advertising. \u00a0Not so anymore.<\/p>\n

\n

“For the first time in history, it’s possible for small companies to earn<\/em> customers on the same order of scale as large companies can buy<\/em> customers.”<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Now, disruption and new competitors can come from anywhere.\u00a0 Much of this a consequence of open access to scalable, and affordable technologies and networks. \u00a0\u00a0Today, the task of connecting large groups of consumers doesn\u2019t require the same time, effort or deep pockets. In fact, when a product or service is tuly remarkable, consumers will self-organize around it – no advertisng required. \u00a0You see, for the first time in history, it’s possible for small companies to earn<\/strong> customers on the same order of scale as large companies are able to buy<\/strong> customers. \u00a0It’s a level playing field. \u00a0All you need to bring is a truly unique and valued product or service.<\/p>\n

For instance, mobile peer to peer payment network, Dwolla<\/a><\/strong> started a couple of years ago with a few staff and now moves more than a half a billion in payments and has credit card companies looking over their shoulders. They\u2019re remarkable because rather than charging a percentage of the transaction value, they charge a flat twenty-five cents regardless of the amount changing hands.<\/p>\n

Airbnb<\/a><\/strong> is a private home and apartment rental site that is shaking up the hotel industry.\u00a0 It simply gives people with houses to rent short term and people looking for a place to stay a channel through which to connect.<\/p>\n

Getaround<\/a><\/strong> is a site that brings car owners and prospective daily renters together \u00a0– a model that is disrupting the oligopoly that is the rental car market.<\/p>\n

Today, disruption is waiting around every corner, ready to annihilate fat, lazy industries and categories.\u00a0 It preys on those where competitors seem have a gentleman\u2019s agreement not to outdo or outperform one another but to treat customers with equal apathy.<\/p>\n

Going into the new era in consumerism, it\u2019s important to ask yourself two questions and even more important to be honest with yourself when you answer them.<\/p>\n

First, how well does your entire industry truly address the needs and preferences of consumers?\u00a0 Are consumers generally happy with the way the industry as a whole treats them?<\/p>\n

The second question is, how differentiated are you <\/em>within that industry?\u00a0 Is there anything tangibly unique or remarkable about what you bring to the table over what everyone else offers?<\/p>\n

If the answer to both questions is \u201cno\u201d, as my father-in-law says, \u201cDon\u2019t buy any green bananas.\u00a0 You won\u2019t have time to eat them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look for my book, The Retail Revival: Thriving in a New Age of Consumerism<\/strong> in stores February 15, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Doug Stephens Doc Searls, a contributor to The Cluetrain Manifesto and author of The Intention Economy once said that choosing between wireless carriers is like [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[229,230,231,232,233,24,45,234,235],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-airbnb","tag-cluetrain-manifesto","tag-doc-searls","tag-dwolla","tag-getaround","tag-retail","tag-strategy-3","tag-the-intention-economy","tag-the-retail-revival"],"yoast_head":"\nAre You the Rock or The Hard Place? | Retail Prophet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.retailprophet.com\/2012\/10\/19\/are-you-the-rock-or-the-hard-place\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are You the Rock or The Hard Place? 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