The Hapless Voyage — Oct 9, 2017
Another consequential event, and Google and Facebook let their algorithms run away from them; milestones in the history of artificial intelligence; Americans' attitudes about automation; shifts in electric vehicle production; digital transformation is about change management, not just technology; Walmart pulls out more stops in its battle with Amazon; teens show a backlash against social media and technology; Google is serious about AI; binge watching may be harmful to your health; branded podcasts are back; Uber gets governance changes; progress is circular, not linear; and more in the Hapless Voyage edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust for the week of October 9, 2017.
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Top Stories
- Following the shooting rampage in Las Vegas last week, it didn't take long for the peddlers of conspiracy theories and fake news to begin their efforts. And once again Google and Facebook failed us as they let these wildly inaccurate and dangerous theories take root in searches and the spread of this misinformation. No one seems to be minding the store as public scrutiny increases on the role these media companies must accept in public discourse.
- Now, Facebook will claim that it can't control the spread of fake news — but that's complete bunk. [As an aside, if that's the case, perhaps Mark Zuckerberg should rethink his position that AI doomsday predictions are irresponsible.]
- Facebook can absolutely control its algorithm. It just chooses not to, because it would eat into the company's profit margins.
- In a little more than a decade, Facebook has become one of the most important technology companies in the world. But as it’s grown, the company has had to try to figure out how to govern its 2 billion users — something it hasn’t quite managed to do. So the question remains: does even Mark Zuckerberg know what Facebook has become at this point?
- The winner in all of this may end up being Snapchat, where the vast majority of ads are reviewed by a person before they go live. It makes it harder for outsiders to post phony content on Snap's platform.
- Amid all of the upheaval in the publishing industry amid digital upstarts in the last 10 years, traditional papers have been derided for their reluctance to adapt and their old media models. But Blair Reeves makes an excellent case for why the New York Times and the Washington Post are likely to be around 50 to 100 years from now, but Facebook and Google are not.
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning / Autonomous
The latest in AI, machine learning, bots, and autonomous everything.ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING
- Google is going head to head with Apple — adding a vertical business model, selling a software- and AI-differentiated hardware at a big profit.
- How did we get here? The top 10 most significant milestones in the history of AI. It's a fascinating history that, when taken as a whole, is most compelling. And it can't be ignored—by any industry.
- A great piece by researcher Danah Boyd on the problems with misuses of data, and how it may get worse in an AI world. She suggests we spend more time on testing and building technical antibodies.
- Sonos announced it is rolling out Alexa support for all its current models in a public beta.
AUTONOMOUS / MOBILITY
- A Pew Research Center survey conducted in May examines Americans’ attitudes about four emerging automation technologies: workplace automation, driverless cars, robot caregivers, and computer algorithms that evaluate and hire job applicants. Some of the findings, in brief:
- There's more worry than enthusiasm when it comes to jobs — particularly around job evaporation.
- About two-thirds of U.S. adults expect most cars to be driverless within the next half century, but 56 percent say they would not ride in a driverless car, given the opportunity.
- They think automation will affect a number of industries but don't think their own jobs are at risk.
- Autonomous vehicles will talk — to the road, to each other, and to us. And the shift will feel like moving from landline phones to mobile devices, as we rethink a relationship with an object that's been the same for over 100 years.
- Where's my flying car? That refrain has been said for decades, and we an confidently say it's almost here. Airbus will have a flying taxi that will make its first flight in 2018, serving dense urban areas with a four-person battery-powered vehicle that will eventually be autonomous.
- Self-driving trains will run on London's rail system for the first time, showing more efficient and safe braking and acceleration than human drivers. Mind the gap.
- A statistic worth remembering: more than half of plug-in electric vehicles sold in 2016 were sold in China.
- Which makes perfect sense as to why General Motors is planning to go all-electric. That starts with two new, fully electric models next year—then at least 18 more by 2023.
- And Ford is shifting spending toward SUVs, trucks and EVs, away from most passenger cars, as it looks to cut $14 billion. The company will step up its joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions work.
Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy
COMMUNICATONS / MARKETING / STRATEGY
- When you hear "digital transformation," you likely think about systems and platforms. But if done correctly, digital business transformation is about people and processes as well as technology.
- Here are 10 key findings from recent Pew Research Center reports about today’s digital news media landscape, shared in conjunction with the Online News Association's annual meeting.
- Related: all of the background research and slides from Amy Webb's keynote there. Amy is author of The Signals Are Talking and founder of Future Today Institute. Whether or not you're in the news media, it's worth looking at these trends, as they figure into larger consumer behavior patterns and expectations that will transform your business.
- It's not widely discussed, but curation is a content marketing strategy that can attract an audience. You, of all people, should know this.
- You know what works to connect with your audience more reliably than social media? Email! Again, you probably know this already.
THIS WEEK IN RETAIL:
- Retail is far from dead. But it needs some direction and assistance with where it needs to go: selling online and selling in stores need to be seamless and frictionless to create the most effective channel to consumers.
- UPS shares were down last week as Amazon announced it is trying out a new delivery program called "Seller Flex" where the company will pick up packages from third-party sellers selling on its platform and deliver the products to consumers. All Amazon has to do is flex its muscles a bit, and it's enough to spook markets and companies. Perhaps it's worth keeping Jeff Bezos' business advice in mind.
- Walmart [a Brain+Trust client] has been banned from putting up stores in New York City. So they've done the next best thing: Walmart acquired logistics startup Parcel to make same-day deliveries in New York. Who has time to visit a store in NYC anyway?
- Voice shopping with Walmart is available via Google Home and Google Home Mini. An interesting play, as both Walmart and Google have identified Amazon as a natural enemy.
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Platforms
News to know about relevant social, virtual, and augmented reality platforms that may affect your business.- A survey of almost 5,000 students, mainly between 14 and 16 years old, found a growing backlash against social media — with even more (71%) admitting to taking digital detoxes to escape it.
FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP
- Instagram started rolling out a feature to enable users to post Instagram Stories directly to Facebook Stories.
- CBS's 60 Minutes featured an interview with the Trump campaign's digital director on how Facebook ads helped propel them to a win, including the news that Facebook had an embedded team with the campaign. While there was outrage in some circles, it's common practice for Facebook to embed a team with a high-paying client (as they did with the Clinton campaign as well). It's just that Trump's team used the data more intelligently.
- Facebook says that approximately 10 million people saw the Russian ads that were purchased to influence the 2016 presidential election. And a number of them targeted Michigan and Wisconsin, two traditionally blue states that ended up going red. Again, controlling these activities isn't a matter of possibility; it's a matter of profitability.
- After that downer, here's a fun one: there are four kinds of Facebook users; which one are you?
ALPHABET / GOOGLE / YOUTUBE
- Google has joined the pile-up as it uncovered evidence that Russian operatives exploited the company’s platforms in an attempt to interfere in the 2016 election.
- An interview with Google CEO Sundar Pichai on AI and how it's used in Google products, like its Clips camera, Google Maps, and Android.
- YouTube altered its algorithm after conspiracy theory videos of the Las Vegas shooting showed up. The company initially defended its promotion of such videos, but changed the formula to promote only reputable videos in the aftermath.
- Google is working on Stamp, an alternative to Instagram Stories and Snapchat Discover, and is paying publishers to participate in an early roll-out.
OTHER
- LinkedIn is introducing Snapchat-like geofilters for events and conferences. Our first reaction was, "Great. We were trying to put our finger on what LinkedIn needed - Snapchat functionality!" But thinking about the practical application for events, it actually may make sense.
- If you want a firsthand and immediate look at tragedies, Snapchat may be the best technology to accomplish that. With its combination of still and video images, along with Snap Maps, it's easy to find the images around an event.
- With 300 million people seeing a Giphy GIF daily and a slew of media partnerships, Giphy is poised to create a new kind of micro-entertainment and a new form of advertising — and is trying to determine how to make billions of dollars doing it.
Media
The latest in the world of streaming video, audio, and the advertising, pricing and bundling models related to them.VIDEO
- More than 85% of cord-cutters said that pay TV services were too expensive, and that cost was one of the main reasons they chose to cancel their cable or satellite service.
- The streaming services don't share their ratings, but a new measurement looked at streams, viewers, engagement and more to determine which Hulu, Amazon and Netflix series have the biggest audiences.
- This should come as no surprise: binge watching may be harmful to your health, as the interrupted sleep patterns may take a toll. Then again, the mental anguish of having to wait between episodes may be just as damaging...
- We'll see exactly how health is affected as Netflix raises the price of its streaming services, effective immediately.
- There are people who don't have to worry about binge watching or the rising price of streaming Netflix. Who are they? The four million or so who still get Netflix DVDs by mail. Someone should slip a note into those sleeves and tell them their AIM is cut off too.
- Vox Media is launching two Twitter shows: Circuit Breaker on Tuesdays, from staff of Verge's gadget blog, and game-focused Polygon Show on Thursdays.
AUDIO
- With the rising popularity of a podcasts, as shared in Edison Research's Podcast Consumer report back in April, branded podcasts are making a comeback.
- Panoply launched Pinna, a podcast subscription service for kids that costs $8/month, as broadcasters like NPR and Gen-Z Media make a play for an as-yet untapped market: young listeners.
- Program of the Week: A new podcast, Experience This! that shares inspiring examples of customer experience, stories of great customer service, and tips on how to make your customers love you even more, with Joey Coleman and Dan Gingiss. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts.
Regulatory / Security
Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.SECURITY / HACKING:
- Russian hackers may have stolen National Security Agency data via Kaspersky Labs. Or not. The story is still being investigated, but the extent of recent data breaches goes to show how much is at stake.
- What is certain is that all 3 billion of Yahoo's accounts were hacked in 2013. How Marissa Mayer still has her golden parachute is beyond comprehension.
ON-DEMAND ECONOMY
- Airbnb is teaming up with WeWork so that guests can book a work space at the same time they book a place to stay.
- Ride-hailing in Paris has a lower price point as Taxify enters the market with lower prices for riders and a lower commission from drivers.
- Uber's board approved a series of governance changes that are expected to curtail Travis Kalanick’s power and pave the way for a massive investment by SoftBank.
- The latest industry that Silicon Valley is looking to disrupt: socks. Try to contain your excitement.
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.- Gartner says that digital disruptors are emerging in all industries. The key to to measuring success is digital KPIs.
- Tips for measuring when there's no room for measurement budget — relevant for communications and marketing teams alike.
Mental Nourishment
Other links to help you reflect, improve, or simply learn something new.- If you need help on focusing and mastering your priorities, here's a suggestion: try Warren Buffet's "two list" approach.
- And if you want to get better at making decisions, remember these three things that Jeff Bezos does when making decisions.
- We think that everything in modern life is new and better, but that's not always the case. If we explore a bit of Victorian London, we're likely to see quite a bit that's the same, from home shopping and delivery to ride-sharing and eating out. It's a helpful reminder that progress isn't linear, but circular.
- The way to trust is through transparency. Share knowledge, don't hoard it.
- Ernest Hemingway won a bet with fellow writers with his ability to craft a six-word story ("For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.") Like any good writer, he wanted to cash in on his success by creating sequels.
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Upcoming Brain+Trust Speaking Engagements
- Speaking at RetailLoco in Atlanta on October 18, 2017 (Tim)
Can we speak for your organization? Drop us a line.
Brain+Trust Partners helps smart, risk-taking executives discern the real from the hype. From strategy development to technology and data vendor selection, and streamlining processes, our focus is on digital business transformation that improves customer experience and drives efficiency for your company. 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.
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October 10, 2017
artificial intelligence, autonomous, digital transformation, Ethics, mobility, newsletter, social media
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