Should we follow our competitors to mobile?
Great article. Very applicable insights into what this whole ‘mobile’ idea is really about.
Today’s mobile realities are stark. Competition is fierce and users are demanding. If your company wants to put out a fitness app, you’re competing not just with Nike FuelBand or Run Keeper, but with dozens of other apps put out by scrappy start-ups.
Before doubling down on mobile, any business should first ask themselves if they really understand mobility as a behavior and lifestyle, followed by tough questions about the role mobile plays in their business. From there, a strategy for mobile, built on an understanding of mobility, can take root.
The dot com bubble didn’t pop because the web was really a game changer, it popped because nobody quite understood how the game would change yet. Those companies that understood the internet made it through the bubble burst unscathed and very wealthy.
Sage advice: Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those who are skilled in its keep. This isn’t new advice for ‘mobile’. Don’t invest in things you don’t understand.
