Dead Industries…or technological possibilities?

Posted by Rahna on March 27, 2008 under Strategy | Be the First to Comment

I read an article that called Steve Jobs on the carpet for a (rather stupid) comment he made about how reading is dead.   As one who buys about 100 books every year, I cannot agree with Mr. Jobs.  However, I would not like to have everything I have ever said dissected, so I will leave that commentary to someone else:  http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/book-lust/index.html

However, it did raise for me the marketing question of obsolescence.   Everyone said the radio would be dead when TV entered the market, and everyone said books and newspapers would be dead when the internet came along.  Anyone who grew up in the eighties understands the song phrase, “Video killed the radio star” because they remember when MTV showed music videos.  I work with a premium paper company that, by all rights, ought to be dead due to the paperless office….but it’s not.

People still buy books, listen to the radio, print their resumes out on paper, send mail through the post office, and read the newspaper.  I’m not saying that the newspaper industry isn’t seriously struggling, but it is still delivered to millions of homes. 

Steve Jobs’ comment simply makes me think, “What would I do? If I were in charge of that company or industry, how would I grow sales?”  At its core, it’s the same answer that any smart marketer would give: find ways to remain relevant.  Offer your product or service in new ways.  Look at what your core competencies are and find new ways to deliver those competencies.  After all, newspapers are not really in the business of selling sheets of newsprint…they are in the business of informing, selling the latest and greatest information available anywhere.  New technology may present new challenges, but it also produces new opportunities.  Are you taking advantage of those opportunities?  Potentially, those new technologies just offer more choices to consumers.  When MTV started airing videos, it became a monumental marketing vehicle to promote record label sales.  Newspapers need to reinvent themselves to deliver content to someone’s iPhone and grow revenues digitally. 

Maybe you are in that situation, working in a company whose core product line is threatened by emerging technology.  Try to turn it around.  What possibilities does this new opportunity bring?  Is there anything that you could provide or do that could change your business model for the better because of this new technology?

Stretch your thinking to see where change can take you, and take heart in the fact that, despite Steve Jobs prediction, there will always be people like me that defy the “trends.” 

Well, gotta run.  I think I’ll stop by the bookstore….