Wednesday, February 28, 2018

The Full Monty: This Again? — February 26, 2018


It's a matter of trust (again); the dangers of artificial intelligence - and what we're doing about it; an IQ test between Google Home and Amazon Echo; going electric in China; the ad industry faces a pivotal moment; print journalism may only have another 10 years; Walmart's secret weapon against Amazon; Facebook faces its first decline ever; the case against Google; more cord cutters mean less TV ad revenue; the impact of the GDPR; ridesharing may do more harm than good; measure what matters; what you consume defines what you create; plus, the latest edition of The Difference; and more in the This Again? edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of February 26, 2018.



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The Full Monty, a Brain+Trust Partners publication, exposes you to virtually everything you need in business intelligence at the top of every week. Links are below with commentary in italics. Please sign up for our email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing.

We've got all of these links — and those that didn't make the cut for publication — in The Full Monty Magazine on Flipboard. You might also be interested in the Brain Trust magazine, as well as Salmagundi by Christopher Barger and Saddle Up by Tim Hayden.






Top Stories

It seems like we just covered this topic. Or perhaps more likely, that we never stopped covering it. I'm talking about fake news. No, not the kind you hear squawked from behind a podium or a high-profile Twitter account. The actual, deliberate and deceitful kind.

From videos that spew conspiracy theories to bot accounts on Twitter to downright breach of privacy, there are a number of reasons to be wary of technology companies and the agents at play on them. And without some kind of reassurance, our level of trust is going to continue to dwindle.

We need trust not only in the accounts and content on these platforms, but we need trust from these technology providers as well. They should be looking out for the public's best interest, not their own bottom line.

And right now, we're at a pivotal moment where they need to step up. Swiftly and decisively.





Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING


    AUTONOMOUS / MOBILITY

    • UPS is developing its own fleet of electric delivery trucks. It'll need them in the fight with Amazon. But the logistics provider has always been clever about its fleet operation, and you can bet that connected electric trucks will be smart.
    • China’s Didi Chuxing is teaming up with 12 automakers including the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance to build an electric-vehicle-sharing network in the world’s largest auto market. China, on the cusp again.
    • One of the biggest headaches for makers of autonomous vehicles: keeping the vehicles clean. Dirty sensors = poor self-driving ability. Which is why winter autonomous driving is not fully developed.

    BLOCKCHAIN

    • Blockchain explained: it builds trust when you need it. Hmm. Maybe it could help with fake news and the above AI issues...


    READ THIS BOOK

    It's an important aspect of many things: joke telling, sales calls, and more. Timing matters. Dan Pink's new book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing breaks this down.



     


    Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

    Industry developments and trends, including advertising & marketing, journalism, customer experience, content, and influencer relations.

    STRATEGY / MARKETING / CONTENT

    JOURNALISM / COMMUNICATIONS / REPUTATION



    Retail Apocalypse

    Humans are a transactional species, and the practice — if not the very notion of what retail is  is undergoing a historical metamorphosis. 


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    Some of the results are going to really surprise you.

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    Platforms 

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


    TWITTER

    FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

    ALPHABET / GOOGLE/ YOUTUBE

        SNAP / SNAPCHAT

        OTHER



        Media

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

        VIDEO

        AUDIO

        • The New York Times announced that it’s working with American Public Media to repackage its wildly successful daily news podcast The Daily as a thirty-minute broadcast for distribution to public radio stations starting in April.
        • Pandora Premium is expanding to the web. The Spotify competitor lets its subscribers listen to specific songs and already has an app.
        • McDonald's released The Sauce, its three-episode story behind the re-relase of its legendary Szechuan sauce (and the distribution gaffe that accompanied it).
        • Apple's new HomePod speakers have great sound, but aren't all that smart.
        • Program of the Week: This week's show recommendation is Business Wars. Epic battles for control of corporate America, from the infamous wars between Coke and Pepsi or McDonalds and Burger King, to small businesses across the country struggling to survive intense competition from local rivals. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts.  
        Don't forget to subscribe to The Difference from Brain+Trust Partners!



        Regulatory / Security 

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

        SECURITY / HACKING


          ON-DEMAND ECONOMY



          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.


          Mental Nourishment

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



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          • We'll be at IBM's THINK conference and the National Automobile Dealers Association annual meeting in Las Vegas in March.
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          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.


          Top image credit: Sunset After a Storm on the Coast of Sicily by Andreas Achenbach, public domain.

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