Winner takes all in the networked economy

Kieran Levis

Ferocious competition is the norm in most of the networked economy, says Kieran Levis, so how come it manages to throw up giants like Google and Microsoft that dominate? What is the secret of their success? eBay achieved its current status through positive feedback loops and networks.

Winner takes all in the networked economy

Kieran Levis

Ferocious competition is the norm in most of the networked economy, but a single supplier has dominated the markets for desktop software, internet search and online auctions almost from the outset. How did winners like Microsoft, Google and eBay manage not just to take virtually all the prizes but to hold on to them?

The winners' explanation would be that they are immensely innovative organisations that came up with vastly better products and services than their competitors and made them the standard. There is some truth in this, but much the...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands