Posts tagged as:

Apple

Spotify’s Business Disruptive Factor (And Why Vinyl May Finally Be Obsolete)

by Daria Steigman on August 1, 2011

Spotify, Business Models, Disruption, Spotify has landed in America.

The music-streaming service with 15 million songs in its catalogue is likely to be disruptive to the music industry in a way that Apple only dreamt of. Here are three reasons:

1. My vinyl is finally obsolete. I have a large collection of albums and cassettes that I’ve been reluctant to jettison–even if I listen to them only rarely. Enter Spotify, and I’m listening to The Go-Betweens, The Mekons, and Gang of Four again.

2. I don’t need a bigger iPod. It drove me crazy that I only had access to a small portion of my music library on the go (not to mention all the CDs that I’ve yet to burn). Until Spotify came around, I was thinking of investing in a mega-gigabyte iPod just to have everything at hand. Now I can stream what I want or download a playlist to listen to offline.

3. I can hear what my friends are listening to. Once our school days are over, most of us don’t talk music that much. Heck, if it weren’t for my brother (who totally turned me on to hip hop by suggesting artists to explore), my music collection would be stuck in the 20th century. Spotify lets me subscribe to my friends’ playlists. It’s digital curation, the music edition.

BusinessWeek has a terrific article about Spotify. One snippet that really stands out:

“Americans own their music; Swedes rent it… If Spotify gets what it wants, your records will no longer define you. Your playlists will.”

It’s an interesting piece about a changing marketplace, and worth reading.

Have you tried Spotify? Agree or disagree that this model will change the business landscape?

Update: A link to the BusinessWeek article has now been added thanks to alert reader Bill Farrell, who was able to find it online.

Disclosure: I received a beta invite to Spotify via a Klout Perk. Within two days I had upgraded to a Premium (paid) subscription.

Photo by Pink Sherbert Photography (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

{ 8 comments }

Scratching the Surface

by Daria Steigman on June 7, 2011

Bling, Customer Experience, Independent Thinking, Steigman CommunicationsBling only gets you so far.

You can own a big house, but you still have to mow the lawn. You can buy expensive china, but your food still has to taste good.  You can put on an Armani suit, but your product still has to wow the customer.

My first experience at an Apple Store was miserable. I waited in a short line at the counter for over 10 minutes to pay for an iPod charger while roving employees came back and forth helping other people who’d wandered into the store after us. (Apparently the counter is just for show and you’re supposed to snag an employee on the go.) For all of Apple’s attention to hipness, their customer experience was a fail.

If I scratch the surface of your business, what will I find?

Photo by Bitterjug (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , ,

{ 1 comment }

Is Your Business Disruptive?

by Daria Steigman on April 9, 2010

Chevy Chase Bank (now owned by Capital One) appears to have discovered free business banking. I know; I used to be their customer. In fact, I had one or more accounts with the bank for over 20 years.

While there are lots of reasons I left that bank, there’s exactly one reason I landed at PNC Bank a few years ago. They offered free banking to small businesses. They treated me as though my business is important to them. Bank staff learned my name, welcomed me in, and otherwise provided amazing customer service. Can you guess what happened next? (Yup, I moved all my accounts.)

It doesn’t take an industry changer (i.e., Apple and music distribution or Amazon and book publishing) to be disruptive. You just need to tilt the market in your direction.

What can your business do to be disruptive?

Photo by Christina (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , ,

{ 0 comments }

What’s Wrong with a Public Health Care Plan?

by Daria Steigman on May 15, 2009

Am I missing something? I really don’t get all the handwringing among insurers and the pharmaceutical industry about a public health plan component to reform. One of the latest naysayers is Eli Lilly‘s CEO, John Lechleiter, who said that a public plan is “a slippery slope towards the days when all Americans would get their health insurance through a government-run plan.”

As a business owner, I face competition every day. And almost all of it is from companies that are far bigger players in the marketing communications field. Heck, unless you’re also a solopreneur, everyone is bigger than I am.

I realize that insurers fear that Americans will drop their private insurance and flock to a government plan. That’s likely true. But companies typically lose their customers because they aren’t valuing them or providing value to them. This happens every day. And yet, while cost alone may determine some purchasing decisions, examples abound where we will pay a premium to support a brand we love. Nike makes money selling high-end running shoes; Apple‘s enthusiasts pay top dollars for a mobile phone. In the insurance arena, I’ve accepted higher auto premiums in exchange for terrific service.

My advice to the insurance industry: Stop worrying about possible competition and look at what you can do to deliver what your customers want.

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Tagged as: , , , , , ,

{ 0 comments }

Duracell, BlackBerry, and an Elegant Solution

by Daria Steigman on March 26, 2009

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most elegant. Not the Apple design kind of elegant, but rather the functionality of wheels on luggage or mini air canisters for the road cyclist.

I found the coolest gadget at Costco yesterday: a plastic case for two AA batteries with a BlackBerry adapter for charging your phone on the go.

No more cursing the fact that you forgot to charge your phone overnight, no more worrying about your battery life while checking your e-mail, no more searching for an open electrical outlet.

The cost: $20 for two (hey, it’s Costco, you can’t buy just one of anything), batteries included. Connectivity peace of mind: helpful. Bonus feature: an iPod adapter.

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Tagged as: , , ,

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →