Transparency in fashion: the opportunity of blockchain

7

October

2018

5/5 (1)

In today’s global business environment firms are increasingly held responsible for the degree of sustainability at their suppliers. Especially in the apparel industry,  social sustainability factors (e.g. proper working conditions) are becoming more relevant. Horrific stories regarding hazardous conditions at apparel suppliers such as the Rana Plaza collapse (a garment-factory in Bangladesh, killing more than 1100 workers) has lead to consumers becoming more conscious of how their clothes are made. Apparel firms are well aware of this and for already some time they have been attempting to increase social sustainability at their suppliers with for example the use of code of conducts. Consumers are increasingly demanding transparent information about the origin of their apparel products. Many firms have been starting to respond to this by using socially sustainable supply-chains as a selling point and their competitive advantage. The technology which provides a promising opportunity for this trend is blockchain. While most people associate blockchain with the technology behind cryptocurrencies, it is now making its way to transform the apparel industry by allowing full transparency regarding its production. It is expected that this information technology will add value to the digital business model of apparel companies by significantly enriching product information.

Information regarding the entire production process will be traceable with the use of blockchain. When raw-materials 0r semi-finished products move from party to party along the supply-chain this information would be recorded and thereby provide transparency. Once the end-product is sold in the store, consumers could enter a serial number in a search-engine and would be provided with everything that they want to know: who made my product, where exactly was it made and what were the labor conditions. Apparel firms who take advantage of this opportunity would respond to this increasing demand for transparency, thereby improving the content component of their digital business model.

Sources:

Weill, P. and Woerner, S. (2013). Optimizing Your Digital Business Model. [online] MIT Sloan Management Review. Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/optimizing-your-digital-business-model/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/samantharadocchia/2018/06/27/altering-the-apparel-industry-how-the-blockchain-is-changing-fashion/#67576d7329fb

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-tech/5-technologies-transforming-retail

 

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Vampr – The tinder for musicians

12

September

2018

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If there is one industry in which it is difficult to make your way in it is the music industry. The world we live in is full of very talented musicians, but only a small percentage of these people manage to make a successful career out of their passion. The barriers to entry are very high, since it is all about getting noticed by the right people (e.g. industry executives), signing a label and hopefully getting a large amount of (online) exposure. Surely the internet has lowered these barriers but still most musicians fail to achieve a sustainable career in the industry. There is, however, a start-up which aims to truly disrupt the music industry with their innovative mobile platform: Vampr.

The platform based app has a concept very similar to the dating-app tinder. Musicians create a profile in which they describe their musical biography, preferred genres and other information that might be relevant to executives in the industry. When two parties swipe right you are a ‘match’ and have the ability to talk about ideas that both parties might have. With such a concept the founders aim to lower the entry barriers to the music industry, or even creating a whole new market for those who never thought a career in the music industry was even possible.

One of the co founders states: “I want to lower the barrier to entry into the music industry for folks who previously mightn’t have thought a career in this field was possible. If that leads to a sustainable career for even one person using our app, then I will have done my job. There is no signup fee nor any strings attached – this is a free app that was designed by a musician with the sole intent of helping and connecting people within the community.”(Clobes, 2016, p1.)

Therefore Vampr has the potential of becoming a true disruptive innovation aiming to transform the entire industry. By providing a online platform which connects talented musicians and industry executives it is truly revolutionary. The concept has already proven to be very successful. The professional platform launched in may 2016 and as of today it already facilitated more than 2 million connections worldwide. Only time will tell if Vampr has the potential of actually disrupting this billion-dollar industry with their unique digital business model.

 

Sources:

http://latfusa.com/article/2016/8/startup-app-vampr-sets-out-to-revolutionize-the/

15 things you MUST do to make it in the music industry

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-most-musicians-fail-grow-expand-sustain-career-music-narayan

Christensen, C., Raynor, M. and McDonals, R. (2015). What Is Disruptive Innovation?. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation [Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/for-former-busker-ed-sheeran-and-for-other-undiscovered_us_5908e078e4b05279d4edc07b

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/hunters-and-connectors/news-story/d93aa0df090be0fd1e7720d51b849870

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