Why not? Disruptive industries and the new economy

Three consecutive stories on ABC 24 last Friday night cast a clear light on the “new economy”.

First I caught Elysse Morgan on ABC Business, interviewing the head of the world’s richest sporting team, namely Real Madrid’s Emilio Butragueno.

A man who starred on the field at a time when the internet did not exist, he is now comfortable with the idea of Google bidding for broadcast rights against the powerhouse media players like Fox.Asked if he could see the day when the broadcast rights are accessed via internet subscriptions, he replied: “Why not?”

Real Madrid is carving out its own digital footprint, including its own TV channel via YouTube. Butragueno said the club was not trying to compete with mainstream media, but saw new opportunities ‘to build bridges with supporters all around the world and to have contact directly with them’.

It makes sense. In this way, they get to control both the medium and the message. They get to give their fans the story through the club’s mouthpiece, rather than a media angle, which is a public relations godsend.

The next story of the night was about Uber. Company spokesman David Plouffe also used the same terminology as the previous story; words such as “opportunity” and “flexible”.

The disruption caused by Uber is meeting resistance – “It’s a new service and you’ve got old regulations” – yet he saw great expansion opportunities outside the capital cities, where customers served by thin public transport services and few taxis, would embrace the new model.

The growth opportunities are remarkable.

The final story I saw was about the Australian dollar being “smashed”. A lower Aussie dollar is a bonus for Australian companies engaged in ecommerce and fighting against international competition. With the dollar so low, smart minds will see this as a gift, a real window of opportunity to take their organisation into the online commerce space.

More on that another time.