Digital Complementor and Distruptor

Digital Strategy Assignment 3: Disruptors and Complementors        

11/17/16

1. What is a digital complementor? What is an appropriate business model for a digital complementor? How does it compare to the appropriate model for a digital disruptor? (Nana)
   

When a company is defined as a digital complementor, the technology this company invents not only helps the organization attract new customers, but also helps boost the demand of other companies. A digital complementor should provide better user experience than existing products or services, and the users should include its own targeted users, particularly the customers of industries that find this technology complementary to their business. Therefore, when the price of the technology goes down, the company that holds the technology would enjoy the increase in sales, and companies that use the technology would see the increase demand of their products or services as well. On the other hand, the business model for a digital disruptor would be slightly different.

A digital disruptor should also provide better user experience, and the users should include its own targeted customers as well. However, the targeted customers would not primarily be the customers of industries that would benefit from the technology, but the customers of the incumbents to the digital disruptor. For instance, Square Inc. and AirBnB both created better user experiences. Square provides more streamlined credit card payment interface and process, and AirBnB makes reserving a place to stay more convenient and with lower prices. Nevertheless, Square targets at merchants (e.g. coffee shops or restaurants), while AirBnB targets at people whoever wants to find a place to stay for short-term or long-term. Thus, Square serves as a digital complementor to the merchants, and AirBnB is seen as a digital disruptor to lodging and hotel industry.

1. Identify 2-3 each companies that have used digital complements particularly effectively with the core product as: (a) physical, or (b) digital. Do you see any future opportunities that these firms don’t yet have? Please provide appropriate citations / web links. (Amy)

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a museum in New York City that has created new experiences for visitors using a piece of hardware called the Pen. The Pen allowed users to interact with touchscreens and near-field communication technologies on tables through the museum. A sensor on the Pen reads and saves the information so that the visitor can later access the information later. Additionally, the screens on the tables allow the visitor to manipulate and create artwork virtually, access relevant information, and discover related art to the area. The Pen is a core component of the museum experience, because it is at the first and last stage of the museum experience. Once visitors leave, they have the opportunity to access saved images from the Pen and demonstrates how digital technologies can be integrated into the museum experience. The use of a digital complement has the potential to increase traffic through the museum with word-of-mouth, social media and experience sharing. Future opportunities could include 360° views or augmented reality of exhibitions.