B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Cannes Lions
  • State of Origin
  • WPP
  • NRL
  • AFL
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Pinterest
  • Thinkerbell
  • imaa
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Meta
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • Foxtel
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Got Disrupted? Stop Whinging Because Your Customers Couldn’t Care Less!
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Opinion > Got Disrupted? Stop Whinging Because Your Customers Couldn’t Care Less!
OpinionTechnology

Got Disrupted? Stop Whinging Because Your Customers Couldn’t Care Less!

Staff Writers
Published on: 15th October 2015 at 10:22 AM
Staff Writers
Share
3 Min Read
SHARE

In this opinion piece, Andrew Birmingham, editor of digital business site Which-50.com, says rather than rage about disruption, brands should put their efforts into winning back their deserting customer base…

Pity the poor taxi industry. Well actually you don’t need to, they are already running a fine line in self indulgence.

This week the ACCC knocked back an attempt by incumbent taxi companies to force us all to use a single app – not even a hint of a nod to competition.

They never learn. Probably, they never will.

In fact they are almost comic book villains in the war between incumbency and digital insurgency. They have tried rent seeking, complaining, scare tactics, the courts, and in Brisbane at least one of their members bragged on Facebook about assaulting an Uber driver. The taxi industry’s response to that behaviour was that somehow it was Uber’s fault. You get the picture.

Maybe they might try offering a better service at a lower price.

The taxi industry is hardly the first one to wallow in the manifest unfairness of capitalism when cosy certainties unwind.

Remember for instance the unedifying spectacle of Australia’s traditional retail industry billionaires trooping off the Canberra and demanding irrational changes to the GST law – reminiscent of the bad old days when vested interests routinely went seeking special preference in tariff protections.

They got their way of course and now we have a tax that costs more to administer than it collects. The fact that the incumbents and their cheer leaders keep talking about “protecting the integrity of the tax system” whenever the irrationality of the GST extension is challenged tells you everything you need to know about their real motives.

This week another incumbent Channel Nine floated the idea via the usual channels that it would punish consumers using ad blockers by banning them from its site.

(Notice something missing? Nah. me either)

Apart from the obvious retort that such an action hardly constitutes a threat it belies an ongoing attitude – found across banking, media, retail and of course the taxi industry – that incumbents can tell their customers where to hop off.

They might want to take a lesson from the travel and music and software industries about where power ultimately resides.

 

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Advertising Standards Bureau, Designworks, einsights, Joshua Spanier
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Cindy Rose Appointed WPP CEO
10/07/2025
Dame Lisa Carrington.
Zespri Teams Up With World Champion Kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington In Global Partnership
10/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: EssenceMediacom
10/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: It’s Friday
10/07/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?