If the digital economy has taught us one thing, it should be that complacency is a very dangerous game. How many once-famous businesses, and even entire industries, have fallen by the wayside because they focused too much on their glorious past than on the here and now and the very near future?In recent years, the list of catastrophic failures of companies, many of which we all assumed were too large to fail, have made headlines in newspapers (or what is left of them – because many of them have also folded) round the world. While the finger of blame nearly always points towards disruptive brands like Amazon, Facebook, and Google, it's fair to say much of the blame has to be attributed to the failing brands, many of which could be accused of "Fiddling while Rome burned."Disruptive Business ModelsThe irony is that many of the big brands that no-longer grace our shopping malls and out-of-town retail spaces were once considered disruptive forces in their own right.In the days before Netflix and Amazon Prime, Blockbuster Video put a lot of pressure on dusty old movie theaters forcing them to up their game and create the multi-screened, entertainment complexes we enjoy today. Toys-R-Us, with their vast range of toys taking children from the cradle to the college dorm, pretty much signed the death warrant for countless mom and pop-owned toy stores. If you want a complete overview of how many businesses have either gone out of business or dramatically downsized in recent years, Wikipedia has a complete A to Z of what it calls the retail apocalypse.The fact is, in this fast-moving digital age, disruptive brands need to stay disruptive or risk being disrupted by (often unseen) disruptive forces.Warning: Never underestimate the power of a truly disruptive brand. If you thought Uber was just going to disrupt the taxi industry, you were being more than a little naïve. Uber pretty much invented today’s gig economy (or at least brought it into the mainstream) and will continue to yield their power to disrupt many other industries in the coming years. For example, their entry into food delivery disrupts a number of businesses. Think about how many printers have lost work creating flyers and menus for fast food companies because they are now available on the app. Just wait until they ramp-up on the driverless car technologies they are investing in. What’s next? Flying cars – the future is closer than you might think with this disruptive force behind it.Further Reading: The On-Demand Economy – Disrupting Everything in 2019.Disruptive brands look beyond their core business models for new wins in the digital age. You might think of Starbucks as a coffee shop but in the disruptive world of modern business, they are also a huge player in financial services. Who knew that when they ordered their mocha this morning?Further Reading: Catering for App Users: Best Practices in the Food and Beverage Industries.How Do You Solve a Problem Like Amazon?Amazon is, of course, one of the most disruptive forces on the planet at the moment. From a humble online bookseller, Amazon has grown into a business that has vast influence over many different areas of business. From retail to manufacturing, to logistics, to publishing and media, to the technology that controls much of the digital landscape, Amazon has its fingers in a lot of different pies and you’d be a fool to ignore them.So the news that Amazon is aggressively stepping-up its interests in the online grocery business must be of huge concern to companies like Walmart and Target.The problem for even these huge, established businesses is that Amazon has so many hooks in its customers in the form of its Prime subscription model that they begin to question why they should go elsewhere for … well anything.And it's not just the perceived value that Amazon Prime offers its subscribers with free delivery, free movies, free Kindle eBooks, free music, etc., etc. that makes Amazon look so attractive. They also do a really good job of keeping their customers happy by delivering on their promises.Big brands like Walmart and Target need to fight Amazon on their own ground and that means investing in a diverse range of products, amazing customer services, convenient delivery schedules, and the best possible prices.It also means being more visible and therefore accessible to the wider public.You might think it next to impossible to be any more visible than those big-box retailers which often have multiple stores across virtually every town and city across America. But in this disruptive age – the most visible place to position your business isn't necessarily on a retail park on the outskirts of town. Prime retail real estate is now more likely to be in the palm of your hand on a mobile device or smartphone.Prime Retail Real EstateDigital Turbine helps retailers maximize their opportunities to win and retain customers by helping them position their retail apps on the home screens of thousands of new smartphones.When you pre-load your app on a new device or via a specific network, you not only create an opportunity to be seen upwards of 80 times per day (the average person looks at their smartphone every 12 minutes) but encourages engagement in the form of product searches and purchases.You also create a platform to promote your business via alerts and mobile advertising campaigns highlighting special promotions, loyalty programs, and other touch points.Further Reading:Superstar Apps: What Are Native App Preloads and Why Do They Matter?Imagine how much profitable engagement a pre-loaded campaign across thousands of new devices delivered to customers across the holiday period could add to your business's bottom line in the end-of-year sales.Learn MoreTo learn more about how pre-loading your app with Digital Turbine can help your business position itself more competitively against omnipresent brands like Amazon, contact us today and ask to speak with one of our app marketing experts.
