The Full Monty: Oh the Humanity – April 2, 2018
Social media didn't create the behavior we see online – it amplified it; the devices will be listening; your face is next; major upgrade for Waymo autonomous vehicles by 2020; brand marketing challenges in 2018; leaders in digital transformation; learning from America's most hated companies; the next Walmart acquisition; Facebook shuts down third party ad targeting; Snapchat lays off sales staff; TV advertising suffers at the hands of Netflix; Pandora and Spotify battle it out for ad dollars; two more data breaches; why APIs matter with unlocking data; how to become exceptionally charming; and more in the Oh the Humanity edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of April 2, 2018.
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Schedule
Next week's edition may be a bit delayed, a bit light, or possibly off, due to holiday schedules.
Top Stories
A controversial memo written by Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth memo – admittedly written to provoke a response – revealed the extent to which Facebook’s leadership understood the social risks inherent in the platform."We connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified."But here's the thing: humans weren't meant to be connected on a global scale. The entire history of humanity – recorded and unrecorded – reflects that. Tribes, clans, and countries have warred for years. The disparity between cultures, morals, ideals, priorities and more have consistently put differing people at odds with one another. Social media didn't create that. In fact, it magnified it.
In the New York Times, Kevin Roose wrote, "there's something is wrong with social media," as he tried to make a case that the platforms are at fault, but that's not really the case. There's something wrong with humans.
In the 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar introduced a theory that there is a cognitive limit to the number of people with whom we can maintain stable social relationships. That number – Dunbar's number – is widely accepted to be 150. Stable social relationships.
Think about that for a moment. How many contacts to you have on Facebook? On Twitter? On LinkedIn? In your company? Technology has pushed us past the capacity to effectively maintain relationships. And what we see online, amid endless commenting, replying, and the rest is society run amok: trolls, abuse, anger, and other negative displays of emotion that are tied to the relative anonymity and seemingly dehumanization that a social account can provide.
Is it any wonder then that young adults are growing tired of constant social connectivity? This is why private messaging and smaller group interaction online are taking hold. It's also why people respond well to hand-written notes, personalization, and local experiences. It's human nature to want to feel like you matter and that you stand out from the crowd – that you're more than a number or statistic.
Yes, people fundamentally want to be connected. But they don't want to be connected with 2 billion other people. Or even 800 people. They want connections that matter, on a scale that matters.
And it's incumbent upon platform providers to take that into account.
Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous
The latest in AI, machine learning, bots, and blockchain, mobility, and autonomous everything.ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING
- Microsoft is reorganizing to focus on its cloud and AI business. Cloud storage and data are the new Windows.
- A clever study of video games reveals how the background knowledge people take for granted gives us an edge over machine learning.
- Both Google and Amazon filed patent applications that outline an array of possibilities for how devices could monitor more of what users say and do.
- It's not just voice that's getting attention. In China, facial-recognition technologies are proliferating, from airports to bathrooms. Smile when you say that.
AUTONOMOUS / MOBILITY
- Waymo and Jaguar Land Rover are partnering to incorporate up to 20,000 Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles into Waymo's upcoming autonomous fleet starting in 2020. Probably one of the most significant announcements that will move autonomous vehicles ahead in the coming years.
- Before the fatal crash in Arizona, Uber’s self-driving test program had safety weaknesses, according to former employees. Long monotonous routes contributed to an unsafe environment.
- Tesla confirmed that Autopilot was on during the fiery crash that took the life of a driver. Perhaps the technology isn't quite ready for general release yet, given that some drivers don't seem to take the warnings seriously.
- The real nightmare for self-driving cars could be the very thing that's ruined the Internet.
- With all of the autonomous news lately, it's surprising it took this long for Volkswagen's news to leak:
BLOCKCHAIN
- Google is working on blockchain-related technology to support its cloud business and head off competition from emerging startups that use the heavily-hyped technology to operate online in new ways. Specifically, the Alphabet unit is developing its own distributed digital ledger that third parties can use to post and verify transaction.
- What blockchain might mean for the digital ad supply chain. An opportunity to reduce administrative expenses – and perhaps to verify actual ad consumption.
Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy
STRATEGY / MARKETING / CONTENT
- Brand marketing challenges in 2018 include: the customer experience, personalization and identifying the right technology. Interestingly, all things that Brain+Trust Partners focuses on.
- How should organizations adapt to a digitized and connected world? Here are five ways CMOs can use to navigate the digital transformation.
- Learn from the best: five Fortune 500 companies that are leading digtial transformation.
- Content creation is always a challenge; you may want to consider these 15 tools that will help you create better content.
- And don't forget to check out the 13 best content marketing newsletters in 2018. Disclosure: the newsletter you're reading is included. You have excellent taste!
- For the first time in three years, search is driving more website traffic than social.
JOURNALISM / COMMUNICATIONS / REPUTATION
- Five lessons to learn from America's 20 most hated companies.
- Here's how to avoid a Zuckerberg-like PR disaster.
- And in case you were following, the crisis at Facebook is not about data; it's about leadership.
Retail Apocalypse
Humans are a transactional species, and the practice — if not the very notion of what retail is — is undergoing a historical metamorphosis.- Walmart is in early-stage acquisition talks with Humana. This follows on the heels of other major healthcare mergers and acquisitions over the last year, including CVS/Aetna, Cigna/Express Scripts, and Amazon's announcement with Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.
- Consumers like loyalty programs; but upwards of 50 percent of them have difficulty claiming the rewards. Here's an opportunity for retailers to address the customer experience.
- The entrance of conversational commerce will upend the retail experience for consumers and businesses, offering brands and retailers a chance to lead on customer experience.
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Platforms
News to know about relevant social, virtual, and augmented reality platforms that may affect your business.- Twitter is introducing a feature called Timestamps that will allow anyone to tweet a live video or replay that starts at the exact moment they want it to.
FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM / WHATSAPP
- Dennis Yu has a very helpful summary on what's happened and what to expect from Facebook.
- On the heels of a couple of weeks of data privacy-related news, Facebook's favorability has taken a nose-dive.
- Facebook is shutting down is third-party ad targeting tool called "Partner Categories," which will make those data more difficult to come by for advertisers looking to use the platform to create targeted ads.
- The company is hiring 11 lobbyists in Washington, DC.
- Mark Zuckerberg is trying to avoid appearing before British Parliament to testify; but will testify before Congress.
ALPHABET / GOOGLE / YOUTUBE
- As the EU's Commissioner for Competition continues her investigation of the company, she reserved the right to break up Google.
SNAP / SNAPCHAT
- Snapchat is building the same kind of API that just got Facebook into trouble. Those who don't study the present are doomed to repeat it?
- After laying off 120 engineers in March and another 22 employees in January, Snapchat restructured its advertising division, reducing staff by about 100.
- With various celebrity critiques of its redesign, the launch of Snap Specs, and other questionable moves, is Snapchat over?
Media
The latest in the world of streaming video, audio, and the advertising, pricing and bundling models related to them.VIDEO
- MoviePass announced a partnership to offer a set of exclusive perks through Landmark Theatres and its 53 locations, including e-ticketing, reservations, and seat selection.
- There are many reasons viewers value streaming video services – from the ability to watch on multiple devices to watching content on demand, and even the original programming.
- Television advertising has hit a wall, thanks to increasing numbers of viewers using streaming services.
- Turner Sports unveiled "Bleacher Report Live," a paid streaming service with a lineup that includes UEFA soccer, NBA League Pass games and more.
AUDIO
- The number of paid music streaming subscriptions in the US grew 56% last year to 35.3 million, up from 22.7 million in 2016, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
- Overall, advertising revenues from on-demand streaming services grew 35% to $659 million in 2017 and Pandora and Spotify are battling it out for ad dollars.
- Spotify is seeing growth in its paid subscribership, expecting to see a 46% paid subscriber ratio by the end if 2018.
- The subject of the “Serial” podcast, Adnan Syed, has been granted a new trial.
- Program of the Week: Since we're hot on the heels of the humor of April Fool's Day, this week's show is real but funny: Tom Reads His Spam, in which my friend Tom gives dramatic readings of gibberish received in his inbox. 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
- Saks and Lord and Taylor have been hit with a data breach in which hackers have claimed they stole five million credit and debit card numbers, making them for sale on the "dark web."
- Under Armour announced a breach of some 150 million MyFitnessPal accounts. Suddenly, it pays to be sedentary. Finally!
- What we're seeing transpire with Facebook is not an anomaly. Data misuse is a feature, not a bug—and it’s plaguing our entire culture. There are literally thousands of other sites that do the same thing.
- The FTC is officially investigating Facebook over privacy concerns, but a regulatory framework for Facebook is already in place: API management.
ON-DEMAND ECONOMY
- Uber's new CEO is focused on turning the company around, changing its culture, while not sacrificing what made it so successful in the first place. A fascinating longread from The New Yorker.
- Grab makes a grab for all of Uber's southeast Asia operations, including ridesharing and food delivery, with a 27.5% stake going to Uber.
- Alibaba’s mapping unit, Gaode Map has launched its own carpooling business in China, starting in Chengdu and Wuhan initially with plans to roll out nationally.
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.- Salesforce bought MuleSoft to help companies unlock data via APIs. The software giant kept hearing about integration and data from CEOs, who are so frustrated that they can’t unlock data from their legacy systems.
- It's time for better engagement metrics. And it doesn't require a total rethink. Old web metrics like time on site, frequency of visit and bounce rate are a good starting point for things like time on site per user, impact on content (i.e. results).
- Christopher Penn gives advice on marketing analytics resources.
Mental Nourishment
Other links to help you reflect, improve, or simply learn something new.- Here are 10 genuine ways anyone can be exceptionally charming. Especially you.
- According to a 10-year study, this is the fastest path to the CEO job.
- Did you ever wonder why it's so hard to hear negative feedback? Typically we don't receive it well because we don't give it well.
- Related: luck is a skill you can refine. The key to good luck is to keep an open mind.
- Just for fun: take a sordid literary tour of the gilded era of New York City. And after you've read about Stanford White and Harry Thaw, recall the apocryphal line said to have been uttered by Thaw, when he saw a building by Frank Lloyd Wright: "My God – I shot the wrong architect!"
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