50 years ago, Rob Ziegler opened the first Look & Listen in Hillbrow.
The Look & Listen group grew to 28 stores in it’s prime years, but the digital age raced past them….leaving them behind in the dust. By 2014 the pressure of online music services and piracy was too much, and they were placed under business rescue.
Customers started moving away from physical products in music, gaming and movies to digital downloads, and a big increase in subscription based services such as Deezer, Itunes, Spotify.
The words of that song rings true when we are not prepared for change…killing me softly with his words, killing me softly….
How do you know your business is safe from being chomped up by the robots?
Well, the future is uncertain, but trends are guiding us how to survive, and thrive into the future….if we take note of it.
On the other hand, Look & Listen’s competitor Musica was singing “Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive”
Musica were clever, and saw the writing on the wall. Musica positioned themselves to survive the digital storm. They introduced technology products such as headsets, etc that is accounting to a good chunk of their revenue.
Why did Look & Listen die, and Musica remained.
Looking at future business trends gives us an opportunity to re-align our business strategy and positioning. Musica is a prime example of such a business.
It will be very insightful to see how Musica is steering into the next 5 years.