By Aysenur Yaylaci.

The term digital is often used in a very subjective manner. It can be described as merely the numbers 0 and 1 or something which is not tangible, untouchable, or only applications and social media platforms all we use on our mobile. However, what it is clearly known is that the digital is everywhere like water or air and meets the needs of people.

While 5000 years ago the civilization was not even developed, today digital technologies have been exponentially evolving and change the world and even social behavior within just a few years. For example, the cost of sequencing a human genome was 100M $ in 2001. The exponential evolution of technology enabled to sequence the human genome for 1K $ in 2015. Thousands of similar examples about the exponential technology improvement happened and are going on and going to continue. All in all, it can be said that technology is some kind of gamechanger, which can make something abundant from scratch.

Source: https://medium.com/singularityu/how-to-think-exponentially-and-better-predict-the-future-f4b4b8a29fc7

But how does the digital technology affect our world and society? One answer to this question is the concept of “mobile socialization”. For example, people share and reflect their lives on social media, which facilitates humans to be connected. When we have a look at the statistical data of global mobile usage, it is exponentially growing. This does not come as a surprise, because social media is kind of a simulation of life and particularly meets human needs like sharing experiences, being inspired, building friendship and network, finding jobs etc. On the other hand, all the characteristics of the most technological devices or tools such as digital cameras, navigations systems or flash lights were combined in one single device, which is a mobile phone. Mobile devices are not used only when people are on the way, they are used everywhere and anytime. Our perception of mobile phones is switching in very short intervals, since we use them for work as well as entertainment.

Although emerging technologies, which were created by companies which were market leaders 10 years ago, met human needs at that point in time, why don’t they still have their places on the market? The answer can be found in concept of exponential technology. A new technology can easily disrupt other business in the market. A company can come to the market with a product or offer the same service to customers for cheaper prices. For instance, when we look at EasyJet Airlines, we see that they offer the same service as Swiss Airlines, just cheaper. Swiss Airlines has a different business plan than EasyJet and cannot cut off their prices. Therefore, EasyJet disrupted Swiss Airlines or other relatively expensive airline companies.

 

What can be done to overcome the problem of “disruption”? We as consumers are actually holding the power in this digital consumption era. In the past, when we wanted to buy something, we were going to stores which had specific brands on offer. However, the presence of online shopping is currently providing us the power of freedom. We can go to any website and check any available brands, compare and ask for recommendations. In addition to that example, even if we do not want to buy something in particular, we are all the time exposed to advertisements, reviews and posts on our social media channels. If they cause a positive image in our mind, it might promote people to consume those products or services. Therefore, companies should be aware of that consumers hold the power.

Source: http://blackbird.marketing/influencer-marketing-innovative-disruption-rebranding/

“Technology by itself is not the disruptor. Not being customer centric is the biggest threat to any business.”

In general, companies do not solely compete with their competitors, but also with the experiences of their customers with their products. The important thing companies should focus on is that the value behind of a product or service delivered to consumers.