The natural evolution of marketing is like this: a thought, a concept, a plan, execution, implementation, and consultation after the fact. The problem that most companies suffer from is they go from thought to execution without any concept or plan. Then they rely on consultants to tell them what they already know. Outside validation is what's important. If two people agree, that's collaboration. If three people agree, it must be a trend. Or is it?
Who else would pay a premium on premium roasted coffee than the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. It's no surprise that Starbucks has chosen to setup their "one-of-a-kind shrine to coffee" here, as their email announcement suggests. Stumptown Coffee (a local-to-Portland coffee roaster and purveyor) also has a newly opened roasting operation in Seattle as well. No doubt, they've noticed that Portlanders and Seattlites alike gift their bags of coffee to other coffee aficionados.
It would be a sad day to see Stumptown Coffee in an establishment other than a coffee house or acquired by a Starbucks-like conglomerate (let's hope that never happens). Stumptown Coffee has shops in Portland, Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles; whereas Starbucks is just about on every street corner with a heartbeat. My little inkdot of a city has a population of 160,000+ and still has no Stumptown Coffee shop. Alas, I don't think our city meets the demographic or market size specs for the audience that Stumptown is targeting. After all, what's the cost of short drive into Portland for coffee besides the expenditure of transportation for a tax-free purchase? There are other local coffee roasters here like Paper Tiger, Torque, Compass, and my favorite Brewed Awakenings. What's amusing about technology is that almost 20 yrs ago I wrote a business plan for an entrepreneurship course where my business model was a cyber cafe. It is astonishing to see how WiFi and the ridiculously cheap price of high speed internet has transformed eateries and coffee shops to all become BYOD (bring your own device) cyber cafes. Anyhow. That's it for this post.
Disruptive technology, to me, is software or hardware that upends, replaces, or disrupts an existing market, methodology or process. Here are 10 notable disruptions that caught my attention this year, in no particular order:
3D printed tissue engineering / bioprinting - Move over lab grown beef and incredibly long wait lists for human organ transplants, this tech allows scientists to potentially grow replacement body parts, organs, or bone. (e.g., heart valve tissue)
Sensory Substitution Devices (enables the visually blind to see colors and shapes, e.g., EyeMusic)
Verizon's VGo Telepresence (video conferencing with robotic interface)
Credit card and mobile payment processing for smartphones and tablets (e.g., Square)
And while not a technology, the most disruptive change to an established, traditional business model was CVS pharmacy. Read more about this unique ad campaign to change public perception about the role of the neighborhood pharmacy and the fight against big tobacco. While chain stores and pharmacies still sell chips, soda, and candy, banning tobacco products is still a big step towards a better tomorrow. What didn't make the cut:
the Hendo hoverboard - has promise, but the marketing/concept video is a #fail for consumer use. It would prove worthy if it could move dense items in human/robot unfriend and inhospitable surfaces, like on the moon or Mars for example.
3D printable prosthetics - this "industry" has been around for a while; there is a lot to still be done before it becomes a mainstream way of life
