StateWays ■ www.stateways.com ■ July/August 2014 4
StateWays
®
Executive Vice President
and Group Publisher
Charles Forman
Tel: 845-262-1041
Fax: 845-445-6674
cforman@specialtyim.com
Editor- in-Chief
Richard Brandes
Tel: 212-353-3832
rbrandes@specialtyim.com
Art Director
Adam Lane
Contributing Editor
Melissa Niksic
Senior Regional Sales Manager
Bruce Kostic
Tel: 203-855-8499, ext. 215
bkostic@specialtyim.com
Senior Regional Sales Manager
Mark Marcon
Tel: 248-761-6231
mmarcon@specialtyim.com
Senior Regional Sales Manager
Debbie Rittenberg
Tel: 215-860-0306
drittenberg@specialtyim.com
Senior Research Analyst
Adam Rogers
Vice President, Beverage
Amy Collins
acollins@epgmediallc.com
Production Manager
Cherri Perschmann
Tel: 763-383-4425
cperschmann@epgmediallc.com
Interested in List Rental, contact
Jim Scova
Tel: 914-368-1012
jscova@MeritDirect.com
Want Reprints, contact
Circulation and Audience
Development Manager
Robin Cooper
rcooper@specialtyim.com
StateWays is published by
The Beverage Information Group,
a division of Specialty Information
Media
E D I T O R ' S N O T E
Disrupting the
Disrupters
"D
isruptive innovation" is the latest catch phrase to be sweeping through business
culture. It emanates, essentially but not totally, from Silicon Valley, and
refers to the creation of businesses that, in offering a new platform for various
goods and services, result in the dismantling of traditional businesses that preceded it, which
offered the same or similar goods and services. For example, you can think of amazon.com
as a disruptive innovator, for its approach to book retailing has had a profound effect on
the number of brick-and-mortar bookstores throughout the U.S. Indeed, its approach to the
retailing of general merchandise is having a profound effect on the entire retail landscape
across the U.S. Or, you can think of the introduction of the Apple iPhone as a disruptive
product, since it is transforming the way that people communicate and conduct commerce.
[Just look around any mall or city street in America, and see how many people have their
heads down, trolling on their smartphones, versus how many people have their heads up,
looking where they are going.] Obviously, the ongoing demise of traditional print journalism
– in the form of newspapers and magazines – falls into this category, as digital equivalents…
or no real equivalents at all…take their place.
An interesting article by Jill Lepore in a recent issue of The New Yorker magazine
sheds light on this phenomenon, where everyone seems to think that we've entered a new
era of "disrupting or being disrupted." In fact, she points out that the leading proponents of
disruption suggest that even successful companies need to be in a state of constant disruptive
innovation so that they are not devoured by as-yet-unseen competitors.
In her analysis, Ms. Lepore casts a critical eye on the current fascination with disruption
theory, which she notes has derived its popularity mainly from "The Innovator's Dilemma,"
a book published in 1997 by Clayton W. Christensen. In debunking many of the examples
given in Christensen's book, Lepore contends that disruptive innovation can sometimes be
catastrophic; one need only look at the fi nancial engineering leading up to the economic crisis
of 2008. And, she notes, the disrupters sometimes replace the disrupted company or industry
with an inferior product that has mass appeal.
So, what does disruptive innovation have to do with the control states? Well, just think
Washington State. By now, all control state offi cials must see that the most disruptive dynamic
you face are those who, for a variety of reasons, want to privatize the system. To answer that
challenge, control state offi cials must communicate fully what they do and why they do it.
They should also clearly lay out the facts about how the system operates, so that all interested
parties understand their dual mandate: to raise revenue while simultaneously fostering social
responsibility and enforcement concerning proper alcohol consumption. And, they must be
prepared to adapt to new technologies and new issues as they arise, in order to best fulfi ll their
mandate and best serve the public. NABCA Chairman Jeff Anderson delivered words and
ideas very close to these in his introductory comments at the recent NABCA Conference (turn
to page 25). They are well worth noting.
Richard Brandes, Editor-in-Chief
