Monday, January 30, 2017

The Full Monty — January 30, 2017

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The Full Monty exposes you to the business intelligence that matters at the top of every week. Please sign up for our email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing. And please share this with your colleagues if you find it valuable.

Between this and the podcast, it's a lot of work. And it's not a team sport, either. If you join as a patron, it will show how much you value this kind of content. Won't you consider supporting rhis effort?


Technology titans take issue with immigration order; Gen X is the heaviest user of social media; digital needs to grow up; redefining B2B marketing with GE; Twitter introduces Explore; Facebook is surfacing more relevant videos; Google eliminated more than 1.7 billion bad ads last year; Snap's IPO is expected this week; Airbnb, Uber and Lyft all develop immigration crisis responses; discovery and retention are an issue for voice-activated systems; the VR wars are on; a seven-part series on marketing trends to watch; why boredom may be good for you; and more in this week's edition of The Full Monty. And don't forget to check out The Full Monty podcast.

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.


Upcoming Speaking Engagements


Industry

  • Without a doubt, the biggest news story during President Trump's first week in office was the executive order concerning immigration. And as you might expect, technology companies took issue with it. Their responses, from the strongest to the weakest, are an object lesson in the range of communications strategies that companies are employing in this post-factual era.
    • The post is being updated as additional company responses pour in (Jan. 30). Even Ford Motor Company, aligned with Trump on manufacturing and jobs, came out against the move.
    • More below on the ripple effect of the first week on various platforms and technologies.
  • We're in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution that is affecting the middle class the most. It's not jobs moving overseas that's impacting them, but rather technology: increasing automation, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other areas.
  • In its 2016 Social Media Report, Nielsen finds that surprisingly, the heavy social media user group isn’t Millennials. In fact, Generation X (ages 35-49) spends the most time on social media: almost 7 hours per week versus Millennials, who come in second, spending just over 6 hours per week. 




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Some of the results are going to really surprise you.

Platforms

TWITTER / PERISCOPE / VINE

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

  • Facebook announced a change to your News Feed: they'll be surfacing more relevant videos for you. In the past, video was ranked based on a few actions, like whether a video was live, if people bothered to turn on sound, or if you decided to open it to a full screen view. Last week's announcement adds another metric, ‘percent completion,’ to determine how to rank video and determine what’s worth inserting into your News Feed.
  • Ads are coming to Facebook Messenger. Big ads. The testing phase will determine the maximum size before users get totally annoyed. Now if they could only shut off game invitations...
  • If you're a MailChimp user, good news: the email provider is helping small businesses buy Facebook ads. Makes perfect sense, considering that the Custom Audiences feature requires an upload of your email database. It's a smart integrated move for MailChimp.

GOOGLE


SNAP

  • Later this week, Snap is expected to file for its long-anticipated IPO. Great. Another Silicon Valley technology company whose strategy will be led by quarter-to-quarter earnings

Collaborative/ Autonomous Economy

LODGING

TRANSPORTATION

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / BOTS / BLOCKCHAIN

  • Apple is joining the Partnership on AI, a research group that includes Google, Amazon and Facebook. This is widely seen as an indication that Apple is becoming less secretive.
  • Fake news is one thing, but when combined with social bots, the issues becomes magnified.
  • One of the most significant issues plaguing AI leaders is one of discovery and retention: Alexa and Google Assistant users aren't sticking with the apps they try. In a non-visual environment, it's going to be tricky to attract and retain users for your apps. Humans simply don't work that way — something that should be eminently clear, as marketers have spent the better part of the last four years telling us that "visual communications" is the future.

Virtual Reality / Audio

VR/AR

  • Facebook has a new head of Oculus, its VR division. Hugo Barra is a former executive at Google and Chinese phone maker Xiaomi. No word of whether he'll be located in Facebook's HQ or if he'll be a virtual employee.
  • And Google just poached HTC's top Vive designer, who will work on Daydream. The virtual reality wars are real.
  • Google Daydream has opened its doors to all developers. While any app can immediately be seen on a non-Google Play store, developers still need to opt-in to Google Daydream distribution program in order to be seen in the VR version of Google Play.

AUDIO

 

Privacy / Security / Legal


Measurement / Metrics / Data

 

Essential Watching / Listening / Reading

"Curiosity is the cure for boredom. There is no cure for curiosity."
— Dorothy Parker



Do you like what you see here? Please subscribe to have trends on digital communications, marketing, technology and business delivered to your inbox each Monday.


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 to work.

Photo credit: Zooey (Flickr)


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Monday, January 23, 2017

The Full Monty — January 23, 2017


The Full Monty exposes you to the business intelligence that matters at the top of every week. Please sign up for our email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing. And please share this with your colleagues if you find it valuable.

Journalism is at an important juncture - its role and business model; the New York Times 2020 report addresses some of that; a major setback in trust; echo chambers, streaming issues and unbundling; teens increasingly use Facebook; Instagram is reinventing itself; Snapchat gets a makeover; the fight for live video; threats to Silicon Valley; Uber shares data; Amazon blazes ahead in AI; empathy is key to AI and CX; personalized audio; know your old philosophers; and more in this week's edition of The Full Monty. Trivia and the poem of the week are now exclusively on The Full Monty podcast.

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.


Upcoming Speaking Engagements


Industry

  • We've been addressing the fake news and post-factual world frequently. The news industry is at a crossroads and needs to step up to address these and other issues. Here are a handful of stories related to that. 
    • Journalism has been under extreme pressure in the digital era, with falling revenue and subscribership, and is under scrutiny from the new administration. But while Trump may be a threat to the news media, he may also be its biggest savior as journalism has an opportunity to create a sustainable business model.
    • A recent survey of publishers indicated that monetization is not the top issue for journalism in 2017. The biggest concern is the role of journalism.
    • Facebook is taking news more seriously, creating the Facebook Journalism Project that connects the news industry more closely with the social giant. Finally stepping up to the fact that it's a media site.
    • Some view the incoming leadership as indicative of hope, while others see it as a dystopian farce. To the latter, they may have the utopian Silicon Valley vision to thank for that, as the bubble-dwellers missed what average Americans were experiencing.
    • In its biggest report since its digital innovation report in 2014, the New York Times 2020 report focuses on the need to rethink editorial operations and produce more significant stories that will drive subscriber growth. To become a subscription-first business, the Times needs to prioritize engagement over pageviews, put more resources into new storytelling formats (including visuals), de-emphasize the print product and the workflow that caters to it, and expand training for reporters and editors.
    • Seth Godin reminds us that "newspapers won Pulitzer prizes for telling us things we didn't want to hear. We've responded by not buying newspapers any more." The challenge of course is that "the decline of thoughtful media has been discussed for a century. This is not new. What is new: A fundamental shift not just in the profit-seeking gatekeepers, but in the culture as a whole." When you're on a candy diet for so long, is it surprising that your teeth rot?
    • And on the whole issue of fake news, the bad news is flagging it won't work because of the way our brains think. When you read or hear a news story, you don’t retain every single detail. You get the gist of the story. You remember the main idea but forget the details.
    • This shouldn't be a surprise, but the real story about fake news is partisanship. "Americans’ deep bias against the political party they oppose is so strong that it acts as a kind of partisan prism for facts."
  • Given all of the above, it shouldn't be any surprise that the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust has sunk to a four-year low, as the public's trust in government, media, NGOs and businesses declined broadly. You can't have trust without truth, and the post-factual world doesn't seem to be cooperating with the need to rebuild trust.




SPONSOR

Get the scoop on what 500 marketers (budgets up to $10 million) believe and how those beliefs influence their behaviors when it comes to hiring and firing agencies just like yours.
Download this FREE 16 page report, full of information, insight and guidance on how to best approach prospects based on the findings.

Some of the results are going to really surprise you.

Platforms

TWITTER / PERISCOPE / VINE

  • Google is buying Twitter's Fabric unit that supports 580,000 mobile app developers. Twitter’s sale of Fabric follows its recent closure of its Vine video app and a 9% reduction of its workforce. Twitter continues to refine its offerings and focus in its turnaround efforts.

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

GOOGLE

YAHOO

SNAP

  • WPP's ad spending at Snap was 3X expectations, or $90 million last year and could pose a threat to the Facebook advertising market.
  • Snapchat is set to get a major redesign, with a search bar, new navigation and a global live story that will feature snaps from all over the world. 

Collaborative/ Autonomous Economy

TRANSPORTATION

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

  • Uber has hired a Amit Singhal, a 15-year Google veteran. The hiring of Mr. Singhal, who left Google last year, is a coup for Uber, which has publicly stated its intention to fight Google’s substantial head start in autonomous-vehicle research.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / BOTS / BLOCKCHAIN


Virtual Reality / Audio

VR/AR

AUDIO


Content / Customer Experience / Influencer Marketing

 

Privacy / Security / Legal


Measurement / Metrics / Data

 

Essential Watching / Listening / Reading

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”




Do you like what you see here? Please subscribe to have trends on digital communications, marketing, technology and business delivered to your inbox each Monday.

Between this and the podcast, it's a lot of work. And it's not a team sport, either. If you join as a patron, it will show how much you value this kind of content. Won't you consider supporting me?


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 to work.

Photo credit: Robert Ashworth (Flickr)
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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The Full Monty — January 3, 2017


We're back for 2017, and here to catch you up on some topics you may have missed over the holiday. The Full Monty exposes you to the business intelligence that matters at the top of every week. Please sign up for our email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing. And please share this with your colleagues if you find it valuable.

Key reports to bookmark; the ad industry needs a new reputation; the Post is investing in journalism; Twitter as a public service; Facebook excels at copying other platforms; Airbnb gets more air; Uber's stunning Q3 loss; understanding autonomous vehicles; everything you need to start a podcast; privacy issues at Google, in the air and at the NYPD; being data-driven vs. data-informed; how to become a creature of habit and more in this week's edition of The Full Monty. Trivia and the poem of the week are now exclusively on The Full Monty podcast.

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.

Program Note

I'll be off next week, due to personal and business travel. Feel free to browse past issues or check out the Flipboard magazine in my absence.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements


Industry




SPONSOR

Get the scoop on what 500 marketers (budgets up to $10 million) believe and how those beliefs influence their behaviors when it comes to hiring and firing agencies just like yours.
Download this FREE 16 page report, full of information, insight and guidance on how to best approach prospects based on the findings.

Some of the results are going to really surprise you.

Platforms


  • You might be surprised by these five unexpected statistics about social media in 2016, such as:
    • Twitter has an ardent user base in Japan.
    • Social commerce makes up 30% of digital sales in Southeast Asia
    • More than a quarter of the world's population will use messaging apps by 2019.
  • Here are five updates to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest that you need to know about.

TWITTER / PERISCOPE / VINE

  • Yes, yes. Twitter is failing — you've heard it before. But rather than looking at the company as a quarterly dividend-maker, how about viewing it as a public service if we really want to save it?
  • Twitter half-time CEO Jack Dorsey asked users for help with improving Twitter. Here's a short version for how to make it happen: Ship new features consistently, handle abuse, eliminate meaningless metrics, provide tools for every kind of user, and show developers you care about them. When asked about the editing feature, and mimicking Facebook's successful implentation, Jack said "copying others is not what I aspire us to be. We will learn from others. And do it in our own way." Because why copy a successful company (even though he admittedly copied Brian Chesky's ask-users-for-help gambit)? Investors must love the original mediocrity.
  • Twitter's metrics were inflated by up to 35% due to a bug in the app. They managed to copy Facebook pretty well in the inflated metrics arena, though.
  • Anthony Messenger, Twitter's chief technical officer is leaving the company, along with VP of product Josh McFarland.
  • The company is experimenting with breaking news notifications. This could be a powerful tool, and makes the case for Twitter as a public service.
  • Twitter introduced 360-degree live streaming video. Anyone on Twitter and Periscope can watch 360-degree live video, though currently only select partners can go live in 360 via Periscope.
  • Vine is still alive, albeit in a pared-down version of itself.

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

No, it really isn't.

Collaborative/ Autonomous Economy

LODGING

TRANSPORTATION

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES


Virtual Reality / Audio

VR/AR

AUDIO

  • As podcast audiences continue to grow, many new listeners will arrive seeking refuge from Facebook’s fake news buffet and Twitter’s ideologue clutter, while expecting the speed of news they’ve became accustomed to from over-the-air radio and television. Enter breaking news analysis on podcasts.
  • While live video got all of the attention, Facebook has cut out the most difficult part and now we have Live Audio on Facebook which will soon be available to publishers and users. It launched with BBC Radio.
  • Here's everything you need to know to start a podcast.
  • Program of the Week: This week, Philip Zannini recommends History According to Bob in which Professor Bob loves to tell stories of the real people behind the often sterile descriptions found in history texts. His conversational style, filled with anecdotes, quips, and humor, bring to life the characters of history. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet:  smonty.co/yourpodcasts.  
  • And don't forget to subscribe to ours via email or on iTunesGoogle PlayStitcherSpreaker or  SoundCloud.


Privacy / Security / Legal


Measurement / Metrics / Data

 

Essential Watching / Listening / Reading




Do you like what you see here? Please subscribe to have trends on digital communications, marketing, technology and business delivered to your inbox each Monday.

Between this and the podcast, it's a lot of work. And it's not a team sport, either. If you join us as a patron, it will show how much you value this kind of content. Won't you consider supporting us?


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 to work.

Photo credit: 
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