The Full Monty — July 11, 2016
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The role of live video and robots in last week's shooting events; Pokemon Go takes over the world; important aspects of the modern news consumer from Pew; Walmart goes all-out with its payment app and storytelling; Messenger goes crypto; streaming sports on Twitter; Memories are the new standard for Snapchat; AI with a side of emotion; curated content works; it pays to know your influencers; don't leak data; CEOs need to lead digital strategy; The Full Monty goes audio; plus our trivia challenge, podcast pick, a NEW limerick and more.
Virtually everything you need in business intelligence. If you’re on Flipboard, you can get these links — and those that didn't make the cut for publication — by subscribing to The Full Monty Magazine at smonty.co/fullmontymag.
If you're around at 9:30 pm ET on Sunday evenings, you can get a preview of a couple of topics from the week's via the live video on Facebook. If not, you can always catch the replay here.
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Join Me
- I'm hosting an online seminar for MarketingProfs THIS WEEK — on July 14: Making the Customer the Center of What We Do.
- On July 26, I'll be speaking at the 12th Public Relations and Communications Summit, hosted by ExL Events at Pfizer Headquarters in New York City. Use my code C769SPK and receive a 15 percent discount.
- Planning further ahead, I'll be keynoting at Brand ManageCamp in in September and Pubcon in October in Las Vegas.
Industry
- Last week's shootings put technology in the spotlight.
- Facebook Live was used to broadcast the aftermath of Philandro Castile's shooting by Minnesota police. His girlfriend had the sense to turn on live video and explain what had just happened.
- The company promotes Live video heavily, but is now struggling to deal with the effects of such videos being available. Is it right to broadcast live videos of this nature? What about the 13-18 year-olds who are on the platform (at least the ones who haven't left for Snapchat)? Is it ethical to expose them to this content?
- The video was not available for a short time, causing some to accuse Facebook of censorship; the company says it was a technical glitch. It was later restored with a graphic violence warning. Facebook's position is that it only removes content if it celebrates or glorifies violence, not if it’s only graphic or disturbing. We have to hand it to Mark Zuckerberg for staying true to his vision of making the world a more open and connected place. He is unflinching, even in uncomfortable situations like this. Does Zuckerberg's quest for an open society justify such shocking and graphic videos being shown to everyone?
- Aside from the shocking nature of such videos and the question of censorship, there's another issue at play: are news stories and personal experiences in Facebook's feed being ranked based on format or on importance?
- Related: Mark Hughes was unfairly targeted as a suspect in the Dallas shootings, with police tweeting their need to find him. But Twitter and TV worked in tandem to clear him.
- And the Dallas Police Department became the first to use a robot to kill a suspect. Once technology is involved at this level, does this eliminate or reduce the humanity in subduing criminals? Perhaps there are lessons from the use of military drones in strikes against terrorist cells.
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- Too many details to share here — you should check out the report in its entirety — but the Pew Research Center has a report on The Modern News Consumer. From the pathways to news (less print, more online and still a lot of TV), to the issue of trust (there's some but not a lot), loyalty (split, although TV wins again), social engagement (drops with more required from readers), digital distinctions (happening upon news rather than seeking it out), attitudes of young adults (follow news less closely, are more skeptical).
- Here's a quick summary of five key findings about the traits and habits of US news consumers.
- Related: Pew looks at the State of the News Media in 2016.
- Despite the overall good news for television and the news media, there's still a demographic gap. Nielsen's latest quarterly look at TV viewing habits of the 18-24 year-old demographic shows a year-over-year decline of roughly one-and-three-quarter hours per week - that's 15 minutes less per day. between 2011 and 2016, Q1 traditional TV viewing by 18-24-year-olds dropped by more than 10 hours per week, or by almost one-and-a-half hours per day.
- Comcast plans to integrate Netflix with its set-top box. It's a sign that streaming is mainstream and that even behemoth's like Comcast can't stop the competition, instead undertaking a collaborative strategy for mutual benefit: Netflix gets distribution, Comcast retains customers.
- And streaming video — live or otherwise — is huge in China, where at any given hour, millions of people are streaming their own reality shows.
- Video matters. Just ask the team at Supercall, where cocktails are the new food videos.
- Walmart is making its Walmart Pay — competitor to Apple Pay — available to all 4,600 of its US stores. This might well be enough to put Walmart on par with the other main Apple and Payment options. [Disclosure: Walmart is a client]
- The thing with advertising is, marketers and advertisers love the medium. Consumers? Not so much. How do we make consumers love advertising in a new media landscape where they have the power to opt out of ads they never liked in the first place?
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Platforms
Facebook
- NPR has been using Facebook Live for two months; here's what they've learned. Not exactly who you'd think would be using the medium, but their lessons are valuable to every business considering video.
- Gawker engineered a way to include the most 10 recent comment threads from its sites in its Instant Articles. Ingenious.
- Messenger is getting end-to-end encryption and will support self-destructing messages, like Snapchat. Between Whats App and Messenger, Facebook is ensuring it's the definitive resource for those who don't want their messages discovered.
- A brief history of Facebook Messenger. Four out of 10 mobile phone users will use it, making Messenger the leading over-the-top (OTT) mobile messaging app.
- With its new OpenCellular network, Facebook is creating an open-source wireless access platform. Expect remote areas to be powered by such configurations.
- Facebook's former CTO is joining Twitter's board.
- Facebook is getting Tesla's VP of product technology, who also used to work in engineering at Apple. Reporting directly to Elon Musk can have the effect on people.
Yahoo
- Yahoo is integrating its news, weather, finance and monkey bots to Facebook Messenger. Monkey?
Twitter/Periscope/Vine
- Twitter streamed Wimbeldon last week, giving us a glimpse of what live sports will look like on Twitter.
- Based on this success, it should be no surprise that Twitter is in talks to stream MLB and NBA games and to get streaming rights from Turner Broadcasting. This will certainly keep Twitter in competition with Facebook for live video domination.
- Is your CEO on Twitter? Great! Just make sure they don't melt down like Elon Musk, who gave a lesson in how not to handle crisis communications.
- Twitter has been blocked in China for seven years. Which makes it all the more surprising that it has 10 million users there. Twitter's China strategy is focused on offering Chinese companies and media a gateway to global audiences by advertising on its service.
Snapchat
- South Korean Snapchat clone Snow has self-destructing messages, “stories” video sharing, and is gaining traction in China, where Snapchat is blocked.
- Snapchat introduced Memories, an archive of your past snaps. While this may seem to be in conflict with its initial intent, the fact is, more people are using Snapchat to capture memories.
- And with this pivot to the center, Snapchat, with its more than 200 million active users, could position itself to truly take on Facebook.
- Three publishers already have plans to use Memories to improve the quality and longevity of their content.
- Some Discover publishers are being sued by 14 year-olds over their choice of racy content in their stories.
Trivia question: Bastille Day (aka French National Day) is celebrated in July 14, to commemorate the date in 1789 when the notorious prison was stormed. In what year was it first celebrated?*
Collaborative / Autonomous Economy
Transportation
- Uber is taking a $1.5 billion leveraged loan to support its global expansion. Such a loan will ensure that the investors' shares aren't diluted. But it only demonstrates what a money-sucking enterprise the ride-hailing industry currently is. And P.S., let's hope these banks know what they're doing.
- Lyft is launching Lyft Premier, a luxury ride service that will feature Audi, BMW and Mercedes vehicles. Ooh, fancy! Sounds like they need some mustache wax now.
Autonomous Vehicles
- The UK, Germany and Switzerland are the next test markets in which self-driving robot delivery vehicles will be tested.
- Alphabet's self-driving car division has a general counsel. Given the myriad of legal, regulatory and insurance-related issues that need to be addressed, this is no easy job.
AI/Bots
- Scientists are on the verge of creating an artificial intelligence system with emotions. It will understand the context of conversations and keep up with events. Make sure the police robots get some of this, please.
- A new robotic butt makes detecting prostate cancer easier. It beats volunteering. Either way, it's still going to be a digital experience.
Virtual Reality / Audio
Virtual Reality
Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the launch of Pokémon Go, a new augmented reality app. Since you're addicted, here are six tips for the ultimate beginner. The app requires users to get out into the real world (gasp!) and walk to where the creatures are located, by combining the app, your phone's camera and GPS. Kids and couch potatoes out moving around — sounds great! But there are some downsides. Such as?
One player managed to find a dead body adjacent to a Pokémon creature. And police are warning that muggers can use the beacon technology to attract victims to a location. And one player even landed in the emergency room because he wasn't watching where he was going. Not really that much different than people dying from selfies. It's a human trait: give us technology and we'll find a way to hurt ourselves with it.
But there's a touching and kind human element to Pokémon Go that shows that it can bring out the best in people.
Our take: potential huge upsides for local businesses, if there's a way to integrate. Think Foursquare meets geocaching meets augmented reality.
Niantic Labs' (the creator) stock is way up on activity — activity that shows that daily active users of Pokémon Go surpass that of Twitter. Proof that if given a compelling and fun way to use a new technology, people will adopt it.
- VR, on the other hand, is constrained by the way that the public perceives it:
— Eva (@downtohoerth) February 19, 2016
This is the future @oculus @LeapMotion #VR pic.twitter.com/1z7VscNsLO
— Eva (@downtohoerth) February 19, 2016
Audio
- Audio book company Audible is creating a podcast subscription service. Will paying for podcasts make them more mainstream?
- Amazon Echo will now offer the option to play Pandora and Spotify for audio, rather than only Prime Music.
- Everyone thought ebooks were going to kill print books. It didn't happen. The real medium to watch? Audiobooks. Now if you could only listen to a version of this newsletter...
- Program of the Week. This week's recommendation is Major Nelson Radio and was suggested by Michael Powell. Direct from inside the Microsoft Xbox team, Larry Hryb (Xbox Live Gamertag: Major Nelson) discusses Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox 360, gaming, technology, other Next Generation Consoles. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts
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Content / Customer Experience / Influencer Marketing
- Curated content can do wonders for your Facebook reach. The key? Do the work and understand that you need to share more than your own content.
- An unlikely suspect, Walmart is doing storytelling at scale through its Walmart Today site that focuses on strategic reputational stories.
- People who tell good stories are happier in life and love. Great lessons for brands here as they attempt to build relationships with customers.
- Having the right content team makes all the difference: a quick guide to staffing and process flow for content teams.
- Once you find out this UX secret, it may ruin apps for you.
- In this latest confessions entry, Digiday finds that influencers may charge more if you're difficult to deal with. It pays to know your influencers.
Privacy / Security / Legal
- Enamored with your wearable device? You might not be after you read this article that explains how your wearable may be leaking personal data.
- Be careful about the information you intentionally share online. This video demonstrates how easy it is to get your data.
- A man who thought Google's mapping car was watching him was arrested for setting the car on fire. Remember that quote from Catch-22, kids: "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you."
Measurement / Metrics / Data
- When mobile is increasingly important, there are benchmarks for mobile metrics, including mobile survey response rates, percentage of customers that companies interact with, and average customer engagement rate.
- And a solution like Zignal Labs' mobile command center may be just what you need when you take your show on the road.
* Answer to the trivia question above:
- The French didn't waste any time and began celebrating French National Day on July 14, 1790.
When You Have the Time: Essential Watching / Listening / Reading
- An important read on jobs, the economy and how the current education system isn't structured to support what we've built — by Seth Godin.
- Getting intimately involved with digital strategy is now an integral component of every CEO’s job.
- You may go glamping, but don't do it in your budgie smugglers, lest you end up sleeping with the fishes. These and 997 other words and phrases made it into the Oxford English Dictionary this year.
- A tale of mystery and intrigue from The New Yorker which also happens to be about a former friend and colleague from my Sherlock Holmes world, who would have turned 63 this week.
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These limericks are often quite jaunty;
We're wary of making them flaunty.
You're used to the snark,
But now we'll embark
On creating an audio Full Monty.
I speak to groups and advise brands and agencies to help them embrace the fundamentals of human communication in the digital age. You can join these other top-notch clients by reaching out 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.
Image credit: Alan Levine
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