This is a brilliant question. It highlights that start-ups should not simply focus on launching an App but rather create and launch a brand that happens to exist as an App. Brands are intangible and by their very nature hard to replicate and copy. However, they are also incredibly valuable to companies when mastered in the right way. Would you use another shopping app than Amazon? Someone could clone Facebook, but is it worth it? Brands attract users and can help an app scale and become famous quickly. Also, by building a brand scope is created to live beyond the App format. So, I'd say companies must focus not just on their App, but also their brand. Hope this is useful?