Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Tanja Džido, Creative & Account Manager, Envy Hrvatska
Meerkat is dead! A shining star of 2015, which started the trend of live streaming through mobile devices, this weekend was officially shut down. Departures of all the greats, including this one, carry a strong message. In the constantly changing digital market, only those who can quickly adapt to changes and respond to them more courageously and with even more creative ideas survive.
A small trip to the past for those who first hear of this once bright star: Meerkat app appeared in early 2015 and immediately became a big hit. The secret of its success? A simple idea that has worked well. You only had to download the app, connect it with your Facebook or Twitter account, and you could do live streams in which all your followers could enjoy. Just a few weeks later, Periscope appeared, which was bought by Twitter for a hefty $100 million and with the option of live stream also offered the option of saving the video after its completion. The final blow was made by Facebook when they introduced Facebook Live video, after which the app practically lost its purpose of existence.
And how did the company behind the Meerkat respond to these punches? They routed the efforts to a new project – a video-chat app Houseparty, which reportedly already has over a million users.
You can view this story as a “big fish eat the small” type of thing, or “it’s important to leave the sinking ship”, or you could try to learn a lesson that always and at all times you need to see further and wider than your competitors, and be ready for blows below the belt. If you are lucky and get to have your 5 minutes of fame, they will pass very quickly, and the question is what then? What’s your next move?
In the agency world we are constantly witnessing shutdowns of big names or their unsuccessful attempts at restructuring. In parallel, the number of smaller, highly specialized agencies that achieve dizzying success and move the bar higher is rapidly increasing. Why? Because they are backed by the young minds that are at first name basis with the technology. They are unafraid of its constant changes. They consider them an exciting game. They don’t shy from switching the Monday morning team meeting for a testing of a new drone, trying out new applications over a morning coffee, and offering their clients something new every day.
On the other hand, clients, especially large companies and corporations, slowly realize that times of great strategic plans and tactics carved in stone that need to be signed by the entire administration are long past. Survivors are only those who think well on their feet, those who will approve a concept for a viral video in a matter of minutes before it starts shooting and have the courage to be the leader of market trends. If you’re not the first… The second doesn’t exist. Copy-paste is worthless in the digital world, because the gig is something already seen, and it’s up to you to come up with something new, and to have the courage to be the first to implement it.