8 replies to this topic

[EGOL]

Here is an interesting article about a group of guys who are making Billions of dollars by identifying successful businesses then cloning everything from the design of their website to the business model that they are using. They are able to do this because they pick USA businesses and clone them abroad.

This article has a focus on their Amazon.com clone... but I thought that their clone of pinterest.com was more interesting... If you know about pinterest.com then take a look at pinspire.com ... It looks identical down to the pixel with maybe a little color change.

http://www.businessw...-amazon-dot-com

Edited by EGOL, 24 March 2012 - 08:08 AM.

[jonbey]

Pretty shocking really. But not surprising.

I guess for shop sites there is not a lot wrong, designs and colour schemes are not trademark protected. Obviously for content sites its a different matter, and using images etc.

In the "real world" it would be like setting up a book shop opposite another in town and selling the exact same books and shop layout, just under another name. As far as I am aware there is nothing wrong with that. A bit cheeky maybe, but then a lot of business is.

[DCrx]

This is the way things work. It's just slow as molasses how online is picking up on some fundamentals of digital economics.

Designers debuting their lines at the Academy Awards or during Fashion Week are knocked off within forty-eight hours or less.

Always be a moving target. While they are copying your current version, you have one about to roll out -- and another in the works. Expect to be copied, and expect to outdo what's online right now.

Move offline. For example, one company I ordered from decorates packages with hand drawn art. Fulfillment is just as important as ordering, and it's harder and costlier to steal. Service isn't a module a Craigslist flunky can simply switch to the "on" position.

End the era of slapping up a standard non-Facebook site on Facebook. Social marketing starts when you stop trying to figure out the least possible the company can possibly do, plus whatever else it can get away with.

Edited by DCrx, 25 March 2012 - 11:57 AM.

[EGOL]

Designers debuting their lines at the Academy Awards or during Fashion Week are knocked off within forty-eight hours or less.

Thanks for extending this to other familiar things!

[DCrx]

Thanks for extending this to other familiar things!

Quite necessary, given the myopic online perspective. Nothing happens until it's online.

Have you heard, online folk have discovered moving pictures! Like animated GIFs; but better. They have a site for that now. And, one day soon, I hear they may rediscover the script and storywriting. Won't that be something to look forward to.

And, generations hence, they may even discover there's an offline. With business and everything.

Edited by DCrx, 25 March 2012 - 02:03 PM.

[iamlost]

Off Topic

Dang, but there have been few since Charles Lutwidge Dodgson who Snark as well as DCrx.

[SEOigloo]

Thanks for linking to this Egol. The pinterest example is really eye opening. Not shocking...but whoa!

[jonbey]

It also begs the question, why don't I save design / planning time and just copy someone?

[bwelford]

People prefer to buy from people. If you showcase the personalities and avoid being a faceless corporation, then it's very much more difficult for someone to duplicate your online presence.