Zipcar is a car sharing company founded back in 2000 and its business model lies in the fact that consumers may need a car only for a few hours, only for a specific occasion, and also in different places. Robin Chase is the person behind Zipcar; not only an entrepreneurial type, but also a visionary. In the following video you can see her explaining a few years ago, how Zipcar can contribute to emission reduction by increasing consumers’ usage value.
However, the market is quite versatile and therefore a good entrepreneur needs to make quick and decisive moves. A few weeks ago, it was announced that Zipcar was bought by Avis for $500 million (see here for a post in NY Times) and Robin Chase founded Buzzcar. Robin Chase moved a step further and let consumers rent their own cars. As she says in the following video: Instead of investing in a car, we invested in a community!!! With this company, “the peers are now in partnership with the company….creating shared value and strengthening each other….the so-called Peer Inc…” The question remains….Can such a business model work flawlessly in a large scale? Can Robin Chase administer all the interactions among consumers, especially when it comes to their own car?
I can not find a way to make a post on the main blog. I just wanted to share this video with you:
I think it really enhances the thoughts of value creation in consumer channel dynamics.
Have fun !
Kind regards,
Tim van Veelen
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