Monday, March 26, 2018

The Full Monty: Damage Control – March 26, 2018


The Facebook crisis has opened up a debate about data and regulations; China will never catch the US in AI; the 10 machine learning algorithms you need to know; Uber halt; bans on cryptocurrency ads from a number of platforms; a duopoly becomes a triopoly (is that a thing?); the most reputable brands; Amazon eats everything; what's fueling the retail apocalypse (it's not lack of innovation); Instagram catches up with the times; a new digital strategy for NBC; streaming music needs to follow Netflix's lead; Airbnb is far from mainstream; marketers need to take data in-house; measuring meaningful interactions; why introverts are natural disruptors; and more in the Damage Control edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of March 26, 2018.



Does this newsletter bring you any value? Please consider supporting it


You know you want to

    



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.



ICYM
Brain+Trust Partners is pleased to be affiliated with the newly-launched Brain+Trust Insights, a new analytics consulting firm that helps brands make better decisions faster by making dark data light. Please check out our announcement.





Top Stories

We initially meant to talk about a study just released by the Pew Research Center that reported that a quarter of Americans are online almost constantly, coupled with an experiment by ABC News that showed what happens when kids have no screen time limits for 48 hours. Taken together, both pieces indicate the potential damage that technology can do to us, without proper oversight.

And while that point still remains, there's another story that has dominated the news cycle for the past week that also addresses the intended and unintended consequence of unmonitored technology: the Cambridge Analytica / Facebook story. In case you've been disconnected, here's everything you need to know about the issue. Let's be clear about one thing: this was not a data breach; this was an  exploitation of what Facebook had made available; it's something that marketers were aware of and using themselves and it's far from being unique to Facebook: it's Amazon, it's Angry Birds, it's eBay –it's every service you use that's free.

Companies are guilty of giving away their own data or access to data about their customers as well. Any company that has made its products available on Amazon loses the opportunity to have a 1:1 relationship with them. By pouring money into Facebook advertising rather than your own email marketing database, they miss the obvious opportunity to speak directly with their customers. They let the middleman own the process and the data (because it's easier) rather than take on the responsibility themselves. This is exactly why we counsel our clients to #OwnYourData.

We're either woefully ignorant about the terms of service or end user license agreements (EULAs) that we "agree" to, with as much thought as a swipe right or left, or we're willingly giving up our rights in exchange for the free use of a platform. As Shelly Palmer wrote, "we [as a society] need to raise our level of data maturity." When the regulatory process begins – and it will begin soon – we need to do it from an informed perspective.

We've got more to say on Facebook's response and what it says about their leadership later this week. Please subscribe to the Brain+Trust Partners blog to be updated when it's published.


We have a number of other articles on this issue in the Top Stories section of The Full Monty on Flipboard.




Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING

AUTONOMOUS / MOBILITY


BLOCKCHAIN

 


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. 


SPONSOR

Want to know 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?

Don't miss 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.

If you're seeing this, maybe you'd like to see your company's name here too. Let us know.


Platforms 

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

TWITTER

FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

ALPHABET / GOOGLE/ YOUTUBE




Media

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

VIDEO

AUDIO

  • iHeartRadio's parent company is filing for bankruptcy. It has about $20 billion of debt on its books after a $17.9 billion leveraged buyout by private equity in 2008 just before the financial crisis slammed business. See? Another LBO.
  • Apple Music's Jimmy Iovine says that streaming music services are too similar – and like their video counterparts, need to feature different content.
  • Is Spotify the next company to get into smart speakers? Spotify is testing voice commands with a small group of users.
  • Program of the Week: This week's show is the Waking Up Podcast. Join Sam Harris –neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author – as he explores some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events. 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.
    • Many marketers continue to outsource their data management. But new GDPR regulations mean that marketers have to familiarize themselves with new types of tech vendors like customer data platforms, which exclusively focus on managing and storing first-party data. #OwnYourData
    It's time for marketers to get familiar with CDPs. Click to tweet this.


    Mental Nourishment

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



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


    patreon.com/scottmonty

    Does this publication provides any kind of value to you? Then please show it! Become a regular supporter.



    Upcoming Brain+Trust Speaking Engagements

    Upcoming events:
    • The Brain+Trust Partners just returned from a week in Las Vegas, as invited futurists to IBM's Think 2018 conference and the NADA Show.
    Can we speak for your organization or event? Drop us a line.



    Brain+Trust Partners companies evolve at the speed of customers. From social and content strategy development to technology and data vendor selection, to improved operations, our focus is on improving the customer experience and saving money. 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: The Course of the Empire - Savage State by Thomas Cole (public domain)

    -- 

    Tuesday, March 13, 2018

    The Full Monty: Trust Matters — March 12, 2018


    With fake news on the rise and human nature to blame, there are few areas of respite; a major announcement from Brain+Trust; trends in marketing budgets include an increase in social, digital and analytics; don't forget the human connection; the winner in referral traffic; Twitter's approach to fake accounts; the Infinite Dial 2018 is here and chock full of insights; Big Tech needs regulating; how blockchain is changing analytics; how to compete more effectively in a crowded world; and more in the Trust Matters edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of March 12, 2018.



    Does this newsletter bring you any value? Please consider supporting it


    You know you want to

        



    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.



    An Announcement
    Brain+Trust Partners is pleased to be affiliated with the newly-launched Brain+Trust Insights, a new analytics consulting firm that helps brands make better decisions faster by making dark data light. Please check out our announcement.





    Top Stories

    There's no question that we live in a society in which information moves faster than ever before. So the old adage that "a lie is halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on" is quite accurate.

    A recent study in Science found that false news travels faster and wider and that the blame lies with humans. It's the same reason that gossip tabloids have always flourished and that the Kardashians are so widely followed. Human nature seems to gravitate toward a willingness to spread falsehoods and exaggerations.

    And this is why Facebook (and other big technology companies) are in a pinch ahead of the midterm elections. Because what they have to fix isn't just an algorithm: it's human behavior. Behavior that they've trained with Pavlovian-like responses tied to endorphins that 'likes' and 'retweets' cause in the brain. The ubiquitous nature of technology and its endemic effects make this a societal problem, with reverberations that are being felt in government, child-rearing, school, and more.

    There's still a need to be aware of and efforts made to stomp out fake news. Interestingly, even amid the growing era of machine learning, journalists may be better suited to do sniff out fake news. That is, journalists who aren't being coerced into bashing national media companies by their employers. 

    But what's the answer? One New York Times columnist took a two-month hiatus from digital sources, getting his news only from print newspapers. The result was a less frenetic, richer experience with himself and his family. And an Ohio man completely cut himself off from every kind of news. Those kinds of solutions may not be for everyone, but they do indicate just how deep technology pervades our minds and the need to make some kind of change to our behavior.

     Ultimately, it comes down to trust: trusting the sources from which you get information, whether it's from brands, news sources, family members, Twitter accounts, or wherever you're engaging. And knowing that you have the power to influence others, because that's who people trust over all sources. Your employees, customers, fans, family and the like — they're the ones who will be the best resource when it comes to leading and defending your brand or your story. If you have a good relationship with them and can be consistent and persistent, you stand a chance of breaking through.




    Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

    ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING

    BLOCKCHAIN

     


    Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

    STRATEGY / MARKETING / CONTENT

    JOURNALISM / COMMUNICATIONS / REPUTATION

    • Lester Holt took the occasion of the 70th anniversary of NBC Nightly News to reflect on changes to news broadcasts: the focus is on scoops, exclusive interviews, and on-site reporting, given that viewers already know the day's news. The big question is: how might we take these same concepts and apply them to brand journalism?
    • Publishers and brands ought to be thinking about Flipboard, where referral traffic is up compared to social platforms.


    Retail Apocalypse

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


    SPONSOR

    Want to know 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?

    Don't miss 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.

    If you're seeing this, maybe you'd like to see your company's name here too. Let us know.


    Platforms 

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


    TWITTER

    FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

    ALPHABET / GOOGLE/ YOUTUBE

    SNAP / SNAPCHAT




    Media

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

    THE INFINITE DIAL 2018

    VIDEO

    AUDIO

    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.



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


      patreon.com/scottmonty

      Does this publication provides any kind of value to you? Then please show it! Become a regular supporter.



      Upcoming Brain+Trust Speaking Engagements

      Upcoming events:
      • The Brain+Trust Partners team will be Social VIPs for the #WatsonIoT team for IBM's Think Conference. 
      • The National Automobile Dealers Association annual meeting
      Can we speak for your organization or event? 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.


      Top image credit: Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, public domain.

      -- 

      Tuesday, March 6, 2018

      The Full Monty: Now You See It, Now You Don't — March 5, 2018


      The invisible killer of brands; expect an AI bestseller by 2049 (no, not by Isaac Asimov); smart speakers coming from Facebook; automakers increasingly getting into autonomous and ride-sharing; personalization is important — but not quite important enough; what's ailing ad agencies; social sharing is down 50 percent; Amazon's warehouse is totally random, and that's okay; a weekly TV news show from the NYT; Spotify filed for an IPO, but its margins need work; choosing between DDoS and extortion; UberHealth is here; measuring what matters in email newsletters; empathy powers innovation; and more in the Now You See It, Now You Don't edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of March 5, 2018.



      Does this newsletter bring you any value? Please consider supporting it


      You know you want to

          



      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

      They say that high blood pressure is "the silent killer." However, what will ultimately defeat CPG brands is not a silent killer, but rather an invisible one.

      When you use an Amazon Echo, unless you've established some loyal relationship with a brand, you'll likely ask for the category of product you wish to buy (batteries, razor blades, laundry detergent, etc.). And what does Alexa do? It gives you those products that Amazon has predetermined that you should choose from — and more often than not, it's Amazon Choice and private labels.

      Heh. Just think about that for a moment: Amazon Choice. That's exactly what it is: Amazon's choice! Not yours.

      When you surrender your products to third party services, you are at their mercy. And with voice, it's sneaking up on us. It may not even be apparent that this is happening, which is what makes it so insidious. We don't have a visual layout of our options any more; with the web, consumers could browse around and find the best deal or product for them. While voice-enabled ordering may save time for consumers, it might be detrimental at the same time, as consumers are more likely to choose whichever recommendation they hear first or second.

      So we face some tough decisions ahead: at the very minimum, brands must strive to make the processes and selections with voice-activated services as simple and easy as possible. Less is more. But at the same time, brands need to fundamentally re-think their relationship with customers and with third-party distribution and sales platforms. 

      Do you really want to be giving up both your data and your sales advantage to a voice-enabled retailer? Maybe we can get a voice vote on that.




      Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

      ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING


      AUTONOMOUS / MOBILITY

      • Toyota is starting a self-driving software company (TRI-AD) in conjunction with automotive supplier Aisin Seiki and Denso, and together, they plan to invest $2.8 billion into TRI-AD in the coming years and hire around 1,000 employees in order to develop software systems that can power fully self-driving vehicles. The autonomous wars are accelerating.
      • The list of OEMs trying their own hands at ride-sharing services is getting longer. It's a classic case of "if you can't join them, beat them."

      BLOCKCHAIN



      READ THIS BOOK

      The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester is an extraordinary tale of madness and genius, and the incredible obsessions of two men at the heart of one of the greatest literary achievements in the history of English letters.

       


      Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

      STRATEGY / MARKETING / CONTENT

      JOURNALISM / COMMUNICATIONS / REPUTATION

      • New data shows that social sharing is down by 50 percent over the last two years. What's the cause? A number of factors, including more content and competition, more private sharing (email, Slack, messaging apps), and Facebook algorithm tweaks. And search is back!
      • Check out the entire report from BuzzSumo.


      Retail Apocalypse

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


      SPONSOR

      Want to know 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?

      Don't miss 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.

      If you're seeing this, maybe you'd like to see your company's name here too. Let us know.


      Platforms 

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


      TWITTER

      • Twitter rolled out a Bookmark feature for saving tweets. The function only works on the mobile app and is not meant to replace the like/favorite feature.
      • Twitter is wondering whether Twitter is bad for society — and CEO Jack Dorsey is starting new research to find out.

      FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP

      ALPHABET / GOOGLE/ YOUTUBE

      • Google is trying to one-up Slack by inviting G-Suite users to use Hangouts Chat.

      OTHER

      • Pew Internet Research found that a majority of Americans use Facebook and YouTube in its Social Media Use in 2018 study, but young adults are especially heavy users of Snapchat and Instagram. No surprises there.



      Media

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

      VIDEO

      • Get ready for the Edison Research/Triton Digital Infinite Dial webinar, which will unveil the annual study of consumer behaviors around media and technology. It takes place on Thursday, March 8 at 2 pm Eastern. Via Tom Webster
      • The New York Times is planning a weekly TV news show. The company is hiring a producer and is in talks with various streaming services about a distribution deal. Does this mean we'l have the Failing New York Times TV Show?
      • CBS announced the launch of CBS Sports HQ, a new 24/7 streaming network for sports, highlights and analysis.

      AUDIO

      • Spotify filed for an unusual IPO on the NYSE as SPOT, without an initial offering price and a warning that "the public price of our ordinary shares may be more volatile than in an underwritten initial public offering and could, upon listing on the NYSE, decline significantly and rapidly.
      • Everyone wants to build a giant consumer subscription business, just like Spotify. Only others may have a more enviable cash position from which to build.
      • As Spotify prepares to go public, here's a look at their business model from Stratechery. Their margins are very thin and recording labels are in the driver's seat. Makes you wonder if this is the right company to back for an IPO.
      • Program of the Week: This week's show is Akimbo by Seth Godin. Each episode is about 20 minutes long and focused on a single topic (no interviews, it's more like an audio blog post), followed by a little Q&A from the previous week's episode. Thanks to Josh Spector for the suggestion. 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.



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


        patreon.com/scottmonty

        Does this publication provides any kind of value to you? Then please show it! Become a regular supporter.



        Upcoming Brain+Trust Speaking Engagements

        In March we'll be at:
        • SXSW
        • IBM Think 
        • The National Automobile Dealers Association annual meeting
        Can we speak for your organization or event? 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.


        Top image credit: An Incident of Whaling by William Bradford, public domain.

        -- 

        Learn from the Past to Inform Your Future

        The Full Monty in Person


         Book Scott Monty to speak