Black Friday moves to mobile, digital trends influencing retail, more than 280 marketing resources in one place, the future of homeless media, Amazon's power play, how Facebook scales its culture, unimpressive ad growth at Snapchat, why audio content doesn't go viral, luxury brands' difficulty with storytelling, what that Facebook words quiz did to your privacy, how big brands measure social media, Silicon Valley's reputation problem, plus our weekly trivia challenge, the podcast pick of the week and more, it's The Week in Digital.
A roundup of relevant links affecting our industry.
Each Monday we publish a newsletter that includes a series of links about current events and trends in the worlds of technology, business, digital communications and marketing in order to keep leaders up to date on changes, newsworthy items and content that might be useful in your job. A new issue is available every Monday morning. Please subscribe to keep up to date on developments.
News items are in regular text; additional commentary has been added in italics.
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Posted by Scott Monty on Sunday, November 29, 2015
Industry
- The Thanksgiving holiday came and went, and with it, Black Friday. This year, the crowds at the stores were slightly smaller, as 34% of purchases were made on mobile devices.
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- But mobile app users are still reluctant to share their location, particularly if the use of the data isn't obvious. Location for a weather app makes sense, but why would you need it for a game, for example?
- Most digital shoppers will see well-targeted ads. The key is to make them useful, revelant, and do it well.
- And Walmart is completely overhauling its e-commerce technology as it ramps up its battle against Amazon. Some 3,600 engineers have developed custom solutions using open-source software and custom-developed hybrid clouds. If any company has the ability and scale to take on the online giant, it's Walmart. This should be interesting.
- And finally, here are five digital trends influencing the future of online retail.
- It's nearly 2016, and CMOs need to be aware of (at least) these five marketing trends: product digitization, mobile first, virtual reality, disruptive competition and the rise of adtech.
- If you'd like a comprehensive set of tools to help you with your efforts, try this curated directory of more than 280 marketing resources.
- A research team in Estonia reports that LiFi — data transmitted via light — is 100 times faster than WiFi. But don't expect a commercially-viable product just yet; it won't work through walls.
- Are apps the new media? With so much content living within Facebook, it can be argued that content consumption within apps is the way to go, in terms of driving views and developing content.
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- Easier said than done. App developers are suffering, with too much saturation and high barriers to entry holding back their success. Building for the web may be easier. Case in point: the 10th most popular app has only a fraction of the traffic seen by the top app.
- We're living in an age of homeless media: home pages and apps aren't really necessary any more; it's possible to syndicate content through different social channels and platforms now. This is indeed a new world of content distribution, and you need to be where consumers are, rather than forcing them to visit your site or download your app. But it that enough? What do you actually own as far as the customer experience?
- Remember that unfortunately-named Facebook guy we mentioned last week? It was a hoax.
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*B2B Content Marketing 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends (Content Marketing Institute & Marketing Profs)
Did you enjoy what you read this week? If so, please consider becoming a patron, which means you can pledge as little as $1 a month — or any amount you wish — to help support this newsletter by going to Patreon. A dollar a month? That's 25¢ for everything you've read above.
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*B2B Content Marketing 2016 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends (Content Marketing Institute & Marketing Profs)
Platforms
- Amazon
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- Amazon is adding a number of other online video networks to its Prime Video lineup. This could be just the thing that will drive people to subscribe, as limited offerings in one network are a deterrent. The question is whether consumers will want to sustain multiple subscriptions (and how many).
- Jeff Bezos says the Washington Post will become the new paper of record, as it has passed the New York Times in online viewers and is focused on quality journalism.
- Meanwhile, the New York Times knows that liveblogging is a fast way to report breaking news.
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- You've probably seen your fair share of squabbles on Facebook over religion and politics (the third rails of decent discourse), perhaps to the point where you wonder if the future is bleak. The bottom line: Facebook reflects who you are and you have the power to clean up your Timeline. And as Mom always said, "You're judged by the company you keep."
- The Royal Bank of Scotland is eschewing email for Facebook at Work. The 100,000-employee bank uses the platform because it allows them to communicate, discuss and solve problems that other solutions, such as email, simply can’t.
- Facebook's growth and its retention of its core values has been nothing short of impressive. Here's how Facebook manages to scale its culture. Too long; do read. And a related article from the Harvard Business Review indicates that company culture shapes employee motivation.
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- Instagram will have multiple account support on Android. An iOS version will follow. This will make it easier to switch between personal and brand accounts. We'll stand by, awaiting the inevitable I-forgot-which-account-I-was-logged-into fiascos that will ensue.
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- If your sports mascot is a controversial figure, it's probably not wise to tweet something on a holiday related to that figure. That's what the Washington Redskins discovered when they ignorantly wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving on Twitter. See Instagram, above.
- Snapchat
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- Snapchat's ad business hasn't been all that impressive. To the point that its $16 billion valuation is being negatively affected. With an ad product that bumps up against the $500,000 mark and lack of metrics, we can't say we're surprised.
Trivia question: What new show offended riders of New York City's subway trains this week, and how did it go about doing so? *
Collaborative Economy
- After much scrutiny and publicity over issues with drivers, Uber is creating a safety advisory board. It's not yet clear what role it will play, but it will address all aspects of safety for the company.
- From the delivery of flu shots today to covering rural areas that may not have available ambulances tomorrow, Uber is getting into healthcare. Another example of an industry completely unrelated to transportation that could be disrupted. It might even be better received than Obamacare.
- Have a friend or family member who's too cheap to take Uber? Use Teleport to bring them to you. We can't wait for an IFTTT that couples Siri, Cortana, Google Now or Facebook M to allow you to execute the command by saying "Beam me up."
Audio
- Without any kind of innovation in UX, we're unlikely to see audio content go viral.
- You might think Spotify is a recent innovation. But the Telharmonium was the Spotify of 1906. "The old wheel turns and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before and will be again." - The Valley of Fear
- Podcast Recommendation of the Week. This week, check out The Truth from Radiotopia. The Truth makes movies for your ears: short stories that are sometimes dark, sometimes funny, and always intriguing. Each story is different, and usually 10 to 20 minutes long. Do you have a podcast recommendation for us? Add yours to our Google Sheet: http://smonty.co/yourpodcasts
Content / Customer Experience
- If you want to learn from the best, take a look at the UK's top storytelling brands of 2015.
- Despite such successes, luxury brands seem to be struggling with storytelling. Why? "Content strategy is not your brand story. It cannot replace the ethos and the defining point of view of your brand...luxury brands need to summon the spirit and passion of their founders and turn them into modern culture."
- And regardless of how you feel about content marketing — whether you think the term is overused or the segment overhyped — there's a business case to be made for content marketing.
- When working with influencers, it's important to give them the creative freedom they need and treat them like publishers.
Privacy / Security / Legal
- Bad news if you live in the UK: not only is it illegal to create pirated editions of music for sale, but you can't even make private copies of music.
- Iranian hackers attacked U.S. State Department social media accounts. It must be a side effect of that nuclear deal. Either that, or they wanted to send "I thought you'd find this interesting" emails to John Kerry's contacts.
- As it continues to comply with the takedown requests of search results coming out or Europe, Google has identified the top sites that have been requested. Among the top 10 are Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
- The toy company VTech has had a data breach. It stores the data of some 5 million adults and 200,000 children. Just in time for the holidays.
- You probably played that "most used words on Facebook" quiz recently. As we suspected, they've got a treasure trove of data about you (and your friends) now.
Measurement / Metrics / Data
- People often wonder how big brands measure and communicate social media success.
- Senior marketers agree that a data-driven approach to marketing is key to success. But what do they measure? Aside from profitability, they increasingly look at how it can affect messaging and creative.
* Answer to the trivia question above:
- The advertising for the Amazon original The Man in the High Castle
was a little controversial: the Nazi-U.S. symbols were plastered all over New York subway, giving some riders a vivid memory of how Jewish prisoners were transported to death camps. The ads were removed.
When You Have the Time: Essential Watching / Listening / Reading
- Online communities have been around for a while — and they can be described in fairly broad terms. Often overlooked with respect to the newer, sexier social platforms, online communities have fundamentally changed the way we work.
- People outside of Silicon Valley have strong opinions about how the tech hub is perceived, and the negative-positive split is quite marked. But the question remains: should Silicon Valley do something about its reputation problem?
- You think fighting for a good app review is slog? Try getting a Michelin Star. It's such an albatross that some world-renowned chefs don't want a Michelin rating. Consider that the next time you're telling off a dissatisfied Yelp reviewer.
- The key to being a better boss: radical candor.
- And when you're thinking about your hiring practices, remember that the best candidate doesn't always have the perfect resume. How to think about scrappers vs. silver spoons.
Did you enjoy what you read this week? If so, please consider becoming a patron, which means you can pledge as little as $1 a month — or any amount you wish — to help support this newsletter by going to Patreon. A dollar a month? That's 25¢ for everything you've read above.
I advise brands and agencies to help them improve their communications and digital acumen. Please get in touch if you'd like to put my experience and digital smarts to work on a project, to consult with your group, or to address an audience at your next corporate or industry event.
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