The Full Monty — August 7, 2017

Google isn't quite as diverse as it would like to be; Microsoft doubles down on AI and puts the brake on mobile; prepare yourself to be marketed to in your driverless car; digital transformation is hard - and it's not primarily about technology; influencers are not all they're cracked up to be; Instagram is where it's at for the under-25 crowd; cutting the cord requires committing to multiple services; SoundCloud is on the block; public officials can't block you on social media; Uber Freight is on the move; the best data science is intuitive; finding more time to read; and more in the Twitter tantrum edition of The Full Monty. Don't forget check out where Brain+Trust is speaking (final section below).

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Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Autonomous

The latest in AI, machine learning, bots, and autonomous everything.

The next frontier of brand marketing is voice. So here's everything you need to know about voice AI, including that 67 million voice-assisted devices will be in use in the U.S. by 2019. Hmm. We used to call those "phones."
Microsoft has stated it wants to be more proactive in the artificial intelligence space, making "best-in-class platforms and productivity services" that involve AI.
In fact, Microsoft's 2017 annual report includes six references to AI; there were none in the 2016 report. The 2017 report contains no reference to mobile. Time to trade in that Window phone?
Facebook acquired AI startup Ozlo to help Messenger build out its personal assistant. It's not a very popular app, but it's one of the most advanced.

AUTONOMOUS

Driverless cars and trucks don't mean massive unemployment; they mean new opportunities.
As autonomous vehicles will eventually allow us to take our attention away from the road, will they evolve into rolling living rooms, with digital advertising opportunities for publishers and brands? According to Forrester's latest report, Autonomous Vehicles Will Reshape the Global Economy, the answer is yes. We'd rather drive ourselves, ad-free, thank you very much.

Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

Industry developments and trends, including retail, fake news, customer experience, content marketing, and influencer relations.

Some businesses are still unsure of what it really means to digitally transform their company, as well as what it truly requires. Note: digital business transformation goes beyond just marketing transformation. And it's what Brain+Trust does.

Hint: don't focus on the technology. Focus on things that don't change.

A study finds that email is the top tool for B2B sales outreach. Thirty-two percent of companies use email, producing 61% of first contacts. Phone calls get second place at 6%. Email, if done well, still has impressive power and effectiveness.
Influencers can produce significant results for your business, but be aware that they're not one-size-fits-all. Influencers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You'll need to choose the solution that works for your company, but the old chestnut is still true: good, fast, or cheap—pick two.
In the U.S., roughly nine in ten adults (93%) ever get news online (either via mobile or desktop), and the online space has become a host for the digital homes of both legacy news outlets and new, digital-only news outlets. It's all here in the Digital News Fact Sheet from Pew Research.

Source: Pew Research Center

THIS WEEK IN RETAIL:

Walmart is developing facial recognition software that identifies unhappy shoppers. The company hopes the technology will enable stores to respond more efficiently to customer service issues before shoppers have a chance to complain.

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Platforms

News to know about relevant social, virtual, and augmented reality platforms that may affect your business.

TWITTER / PERISCOPE

Can tweets help predict crime? According to a University of Virginia researcher, there's a correlation between GPS information and activity.

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

After months of testing, Facebook is getting on top of fake news by displaying “related articles” for popular stories, including ones flagged as false by fact checkers, to combat misinformation.
Advertisers will be able to create Custom Audiences of people who responded to an individual event created by a brand’s Facebook Page or all events.
Instagram is most popular with people under 25, who spend an average of 32 minutes per day on the platform. Instagram is no longer optional if you're looking to reach a younger demographic.
Meanwhile, Instagram Stories celebrated a year in business and has surpassed the number of daily active users of Snapchat.

SNAP

Snap is alienating the very people it needs to survive. According to agencies, issues with Snapchat include continued issues over measurement, difficulty in finding content, influencers moving to other platforms, and lack of outreach to agencies and brands from Snap.

ALPHABET / GOOGLE

Google is developing technology that would allow news publishers to build Snapchat-style stories that would live inside the company’s search engine, using their AMP product. With Google's experience with advertisers and a solid analytics platform, this could this be a better alternative for publishers. It might be time to wave goodbye to Snapchat.

Media

The latest in the world of streaming video, audio, and the advertising, pricing and bundling models related to them.

VIDEO

Netflix users are using Amazon and Hulu to fill the programming gaps. We're increasingly seeing consumers cobbling together their own bundles.

So it should be no surprise that Amazon has pursued sports streaming rights—particularly those with international appeal such as rugby, golf and tennis—in recent months. Those sports could help give it an edge in a market where it trails Netflix.

AUDIO

Spotify has Apple in its sights, with a new podcast initiative as it promotes shows from established producers.
There's a sale afoot at SoundCloud, where the company is in talks to sell stakes to two private equity firms.
Have you ever heard of the Shepard tone? It's an audio editing trick that adds to the intensity of films like Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and more.
Program of the Week: This week's recommendation is Homecoming, a psychological thriller from Gimlet Media, starring Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac and David Schwimmer. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts.

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Regulatory / Security

Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.

SECURITY / HACKING:

HBO had a security breach, with hackers gaining access to thousands of internal documents—including a script to an unaired Game of Thrones episode. Alright, they may have pilfered politicians' emails, they may have affected our election, but they can't get away with GoT spoilers!
The hero hacker who foiled the WannaCry malware attack has himself been arrested for another hack, some three years ago targeting banks.
A federal court has ruled that public officials cannot block social media users because of their criticism. Particularly if you've admitted that it's a better way to get your message out to the public by going around the media.

ON-DEMAND ECONOMY

Speaking of another executive who's having trouble getting along with others... Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick hired a CEO advisory firm to help him improved his tarnished image. And presumably to win back his job. P.S. It's not an image problem. It's a fundamental, deep-rooted personality problem.
Uber's search for a female CEO has been narrowed down to three men. That headline pretty much sums up many of the issues that brought them here in the first place.
Chasing breakneck growth, Uber knowingly bought Honda SUVs in Singapore that were subject to a recall—then one caught fire.
Uber Freight, the on-demand trucking service created by Uber and introduced earlier this year, is expanding from its initial market of Texas to areas in California, Arizona, Chicago (aka Illinois), Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
A former NBC reporter has become a Lyft driver, and he says, "It's my dream job." He's using his experience to create and host his storytelling project, Backseat Rider.

Measurement / Analytics / Data

The future is not in plastics, but in data. Those who know how to measure and analyze it will rule the world.

Social media metrics can't always be trusted. "Good data science is less complicated than people think...the best data science is surprisingly intuitive."
And while we're at it, here's the problem with short-sighted metrics.

Mental Nourishment

Other links to help you reflect, improve, or simply learn something new.

One of the most shared articles from last week from from The Atlantic: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? How the omnipresence of smartphones, tablets, and internet have affected those born from mid-1990s to mid-2000s: high rates of depression, changing norms, more.
Related: The death of reading is threatening the soul. “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.”
Solution: The Best Way to Find More Time to Read. TL;DR: Read. Every day. Every moment you have the chance. Make choices to become more intelligent, to learn about yourself and others, and to discover.
The founding father of neuroscience on the six psychological flaws that keep the talented from achieving greatness.
Here are 20 gadgets for under $20 that you'll actually use.

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Upcoming Brain+Trust Speaking Engagements

Keynote at Health:Further in Nashville, August 23-25, 2017 (Frank and Scott)
Session at Content Marketing World in Cleveland, September 6, 2017: "How to Build and Maintain an Audience with a Remarkable Newsletter" (Scott)
Automotive and Transportation Lab at Content Marketing World, September 8, 2017 (Christopher, Tim and Scott)
Digital Summit Detroit, September 12-13, 2017 (Christopher)
Social Mitten 2017, September 22, 2017 (Scott)
Content and Commerce Summit in Los Angeles, September 18-20, 2017 (Christopher)
MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum in Boston, October 3-6, 2017 (Tim and Scott)

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Brain+Trust Partners doesn't believe in gobbledygook — we use common sense strategic guidance to help you master the evolving marketplace. From strategy development to technology and data vendor selection, to digital transformation and streamlining processes, our focus is on the customer experience. And our decades of experience working for major brands means that we deeply understand the challenges you're facing. Let us know if we can help you.

Top photo credit: JMW Turner Vesuvius in Eruption (Google Arts and Culture)

Monday, August 7, 2017