Monday, July 30, 2018

The Full Monty: Principled Stand – July 30, 2018


Standing for something means nothing to the market; when robots go rogue; Ford's new autonomous unit; Uber puts the brakes on self-driving trucks; CMOs have more responsibility for customer experience, but not the underlying technology; the best university websites; why you need human engagement for brand trust; when a stranger decides to destroy your life; Waymo and Walmart pair up for autonomous delivery; the future of social media in 10 years; MoviePass may be passé quite soon; WGBH goes for emerging platforms; the chief cyber security role in the federal government is unfilled; WeWork's cash infusion; go for small data; how to speak Freddish; plus the podcast pick of the week and more in the Principled Stand edition of The Full Monty for the week of July 30, 2018.



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The Full Monty 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.

Contents:

Announcements
Top Story
Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous
Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy
Retail Apocalypse
Platforms
Media
Privacy / Security / Regulatory
Measurement / Analytics / Data
Mental Nourishment
Speaking Engagements

Announcements

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Thank you!




Top Story

You probably heard about the precipitous drop in stock price of Facebook and Twitter after their quarterly earnings call last week.

The dip in revenue, slowing user growth, and lower profit at Facebook were partially the result of the Cambridge Analytica issue that arose at the end of March. Facebook has been working hard to try to correct the error, but there was a breach of trust that needs to be addressed.

Similarly, Twitter – which had a very positive Q1 – slipped a bit, acknowledging that it actually lost one million users over the previous quarter, but that the company was putting efforts into eliminating fake and questionable accounts and addressing things to make the platform more amenable to civil conversation. And then its stock dropped 20 percent.

This is the world in which we live now: when companies are being penalized in the market for doing the right thing. Because growth and ad dollars are all that matter.

More thoughts on this in Episode 40 of The Full Monty podcast, airing this Wednesday. If you'd like to follow along with the rest of this commentary, please be sure to subscribe on the player of your choice.





Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ

  • Ford announced it has created Ford Autonomous Vehicles LLC, which will house the company’s self-driving systems integration, autonomous vehicle research and advanced engineering, AV transportation-as-a-service network development, user experience, business strategy and business development teams. All for the low low price of $4 billion.
  • GM launched its Maven car-sharing program in Detroit and Ann Arbor. The peer-to-peer network will work with 2015 vehicles or newer. Does anyone have a Corvette they'd like to share with me?
  • Waymo announced that it will begin a pilot program with Walmart to shuttle customers to and from stores to pick up their groceries. 
  • Uber says it will stop development of self-driving trucks and instead focus its efforts on self-driving cars; Uber Freight is unaffected by this decision. Unsurprising, given how things wound up with the Otto acquisition, plus Uber's other woes.



Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ



Retail Apocalypse

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


This content is costing someone. Are you getting value? We'd appreciate you pitching in.


And if you don't want to support us financially, that's cool. Taking our audience survey for free would help out, too.

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.

What will social media look like in 10 years? It's anyone's guess, but it will provide more certainty and personalization, with the importance of gathering data in a regulated way.

Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

  • Facebook's stock got hammered after it reported a slowing of revenue growth, profits, and users. The stock closed down 19 percent on Thursay to $176.26. As of today, it still hasn't recovered, closing at $171.06. The effects of the Cambridge Analytica scandal are beginning to be felt – we said it would take a quarter to begin show.
  • Reporters wanted to know what Facebook plans to do about misinformation on its platform, but the Facebook didn't answer.
  • With about a third of the world's population as its user base, it shouldn't be a surprise that the Facebook train is slowing.

Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

Oᴛʜᴇʀ




Media

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

Vɪᴅᴇᴏ


Aᴜᴅɪᴏ

  • Spotify added 8 million paid subscribers last quarter, bringing it to 83 million paid subscribers and 180 million active monthly users.
  • Spotify hired Dawn Ostroff as chief content officer, where she'll be responsible for "all aspects" of the streamer's content partnerships across music, audio and video.
  • Program of the Week: Our pick this week is Last Seen, the story of the largest art heist the world has ever seen. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston was robbed of 13 pieces of art worth an estimated $500 million total in 1990. And it's still an unsolved crime. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts

  


Privacy / Security / Regulatory

Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.
So many stories in this section this week – more available in our Flipboard magazine.

Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ

    Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ



    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.






    Upcoming Speaking Engagements

    Upcoming events:


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    Top image credit: The Fighting Temeraire. 1839, by Joseph Mallord William Turner (public domain)

    -- 

    Wednesday, July 25, 2018

    Episode 39: It's Like Butter




    In the last episode of The Full Monty we talked about ways to gain loyalty. Price was certainly a strong contender, as was doing something to make them feel special.

    This time, we talk about a secret to customer loyalty that goes beyond convenience. It draws on your childhood (or possibly your experience as a parent): how we remove resistance.



    Download now (2.3 MB, 5:05)

    I'd be honored if you'd leave a rating or review for the show. You'd be surprised at how much weight it pulls.


    Links:


      Credits

      Theme song: Heroes United by ScoreStudio is on a royalty-free license from Pond5.com.
      Image: Wikimedia Commons (CC 2.5 license)


      Subscribe on Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSoundCloud, Spotify, or Stitcher. Also, try the RadioPublic interface.


      If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.

      Tuesday, July 24, 2018

      The Full Monty: Frictionless – July 23, 2018


      Creating loyalty comes from reducing friction for customers; A.I. is set to create more jobs than it destroys; Waymo is way ahead in autonomous miles driven; Amazon is cutting out the middle mad-men; leadership needed in digital; behind the scenes on Amazon's Prime Day fiasco; the full transcript of Mark Zuckerberg's comments to Recode; social giants are teaming up on data portability; Walmart may launch a streaming video service; marketers are increasingly looking at podcasting; disinformation campaigns may target company stocks; NYC regulates Airbnb; the top skills needed to get the most out of CDPs; urgency bias is killing your productivity; plus the podcast pick of the week and more in the Frictionless edition of The Full Monty for the week of July 23, 2018.



      Please consider supporting the considerable effort made for you here each week


      You know you want to

          How about it? 



      The Full Monty 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.

      Contents:

      Announcements
      Top Story
      Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous
      Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy
      Retail Apocalypse
      Platforms
      Media
      Privacy / Security / Regulatory
      Measurement / Analytics / Data
      Mental Nourishment
      Speaking Engagements

      Announcements

      If you haven't already, please take two minutes to take our audience survey
      It won't hurt, or your money back.



      Thank you!




      Top Story

      If you want to engage someone – with your content, with an experience – what's the secret? How can you compete with others who are doing nearly the same thing, who already have attention, who might even be priced less than you?

      Simple: Make it frictionless for the customer.

      If you can find a way to make something happen easier or quicker, or do it in a way that is eminently more enjoyable, you'll find customers beating down your door.

      I'll have examples of just how this is done in Episode 39 of The Full Monty podcast, airing this Wednesday. If you'd like to follow along with the rest of this commentary, please be sure to subscribe on the player of your choice.






      Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

      Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

      Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ




      Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

      Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

      Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ



      Retail Apocalypse

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



      This content is costing someone. Are you getting value? We'd appreciate you pitching in.



      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.

      Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

      Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

      Oᴛʜᴇʀ




      Media

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

      Vɪᴅᴇᴏ

      Aᴜᴅɪᴏ


        


      Privacy / Security / Regulatory

      Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.
      So many stories in this section this week – more available in our Flipboard magazine.

      Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ

        Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ



        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.






        Upcoming Speaking Engagements

        Upcoming events:

        Need a speaker for your organization or event? Drop a line.




        Top image credit: The Champion Single Sculls (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull) by Thomas Eakins, 1870 (public domain)

        -- 

        Wednesday, July 18, 2018

        Episode 38: Earn Your Way to Loyalty with These 5 Steps




        One of the most sought-after aspects of branding is loyalty. How can we create more and deeper loyalty from customers?

        There are a number of ways, but I've outlined five that make the most sense, given the constraints we all deal with and the ever-changing demands of the marketplace. Seneca provides some sound advice along the way, and Delta provides a shining example of aiming for feelings.



        Download now (5.1 MB, 10:51)

        We'd be honored if you'd leave us a rating or review for the show. You'd be surprised at how much weight it pulls.


        Links:


          Credits

          Theme song: Heroes United by ScoreStudio is on a royalty-free license from Pond5.com.


          Subscribe on Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsSoundCloud or Stitcher. Also, try the RadioPublic interface.


          If you find this program valuable, please consider supporting it on Patreon. It covers the cost of hosting, email, music and more.




          Monday, July 16, 2018

          The Full Monty: The Price of Loyalty – July 16, 2018


          Loyalty takes work, and there are breadcrumbs to follow; how social platforms use A.I. to protect users; soon 50 percent of searches will be voice-based; customer experience is the new brand; social media may not be reflective of offline behavior; retail is growing by acquisition; Facebook's culture is deeply rooted; Twitter purged millions of locked accounts; consumers may be paying more for digital programming soon; five lessons learned from podcast advertising; Airbnb for camping; how to measure communications results; reading makes you a better person; plus the podcast pick of the week and more in the The Price of Loyalty edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of July 16, 2018.



          Please consider supporting the considerable effort made for you here each week


          You know you want to

              How about it? 



          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.

          Contents:

          Announcements
          Top Story
          Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous
          Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy
          Retail Apocalypse
          Platforms
          Media
          Privacy / Security / Regulatory
          Measurement / Analytics / Data
          Mental Nourishment
          Speaking Engagements

          Announcements

          Can we get your help with our audience survey? It'll take just a couple of minutes and will help us make smarter decisions regarding what you see. Please check it out.



          Thank you!




          Top Story

          Trust is undoubtedly one of the most talked-about and sought-after elements of corporate reputation. It forms the basis of everything that companies can or should do. And yet, many still struggle with it.

          Another term that we hear a lot about these days is loyalty. Everyone seems to be trying to figure out just how to master customer loyalty. And more often than not, we tend to see this second item addressed independently. As in, unrelated to trust.

          Well, trust and loyalty are inextricably linked. And to gain trust, you have to do things consistently and repeatedly, over time. And you need to deliver value to the customer in the process – meaning what's valuable to them, not to you.

          Value can be expressed in many ways, including saving time or money, changing an emotional state, and more. But imagine if you approached it as a mutual benefit rather than as a transaction.

          Some ideas on just how to do that can be found in Episode 38 of The Full Monty podcast, airing this Wednesday. If you'd like to follow along with the rest of this commentary, please be sure to subscribe on the player of your choice.





          Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

          Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

          Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ




          Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

          Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

          • Customer experience is the new brand, according to Shep Hyken. Be it customer service, product quality or just the way the customers feel about the companies they do business with, customer experience rises to the top of whether or not the customer will decide to keep doing business with a brand. Today, 89% of companies compete on customer experience.
          • When you can't even deliver on the basics of what customers expect today, Mitch Joel wonders why are you focusing on the future
          • How to transform into a modern marketing department: CMOs and marketing leaders are in a prime position to determine what internal changes must be made to propel a transformation effort forward.
          • Of every dollar spent on automated ads, only 40 cents reaches the site selling the space. Some big advertisers think blockchain is the answer to reducing digital spending waste.

          Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ



          The 4th annual Digital Summit Detroit is coming up Sept 12-13. Keynotes
          include Chelsea Handler, Scott Dikkers (Founder of The Onion), and Evernote CMO Andrew
          Malcolm. Plus over 50 in-depth digital marketing sessions led by brands including
          Waze, BuzzFeed, Jaguar, Discover, Salesforce, and more.
          Register with promo code MONTY and get $50 off your pass.



          Retail Apocalypse

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

          This content is costing someone. Are you getting value? We'd appreciate you pitching in.



          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.

          Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

          Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

          • Twitter is testing Promoted Trend Spotlight ads that put a banner with a GIF or image background atop Explore content for the first two visits that day. It took long enough for 1990s banner ads to come to Twitter. You can't teach the ad industry new tricks.
          • Twitter pledged confidence in follower counts as the company removed locked accounts that hadn't been validated. These are not exactly the same as spam or bot accounts, but are typically not in the control of the account creator.
          • Larger accounts saw a big drop-off of followers: Twitter's own account lost 7.5 million followers (a 7.5% drop), and the 100 most-followed accounts saw on average a 2% drop. In one case, we saw a social media "guru" who clearly bought many of his followers drop by 34% – from 68K to 45K followers.
          • An analysis of the impact of the purge on elected officials on Twitter by BrainTrust Insights.

          Oᴛʜᴇʀ

          • A number of social media platforms are experimenting with augmented reality ads that let shoppers see what products look like before they buy – how a piece of furniture looks in a room, how glasses look on their face, etc. Snapchat, Facebook, Amazon, and Google are among the early adopters.
          • A behind-the-scenes account of Google, arguably the most important company on the internet, via an excerpt from Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (as Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom), published by Twelve.



          Media

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

          Vɪᴅᴇᴏ

          Aᴜᴅɪᴏ


            


          Privacy / Security / Regulatory

          Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.
          So many stories in this section this week – more available in our Flipboard magazine.

          Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ

            Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ



            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.
            “First we make our habits, then our habits make us.” 
            — Charles C. Nobel



            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.






            Upcoming Speaking Engagements

            Upcoming events:

            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 vendor selection, to improved operations, our focus is on helping companies craft one true view of the customer. 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: Diogenes by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1859 (public domain)

            -- 

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