The Full Monty: You Can Say That Again – October 1, 2018

We're living through tech history; putting humanity into artificial intelligence; the case against driverless cars; the impact of second screens on TV; what happens when marketers are too myopic; the best Halloween costume this year; image-based shopping gains traction; former Facebook employees talk; the best streaming service for your money; a debate about the podcast bubble; California enacts a cybersecurity law and restores net neutrality; the happiness factor of Uber drivers; how Subway increased foot traffic by 31 percent; the purpose of life in 10 words; finding America's quietest spots; plus the podcast pick of the week and more in the You Can Say That Again edition of The Full Monty for the week of October 1, 2018.

The Full Monty saves you time and makes you smarter by curating the essential business intelligence 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. And check out The Full Monty on Flipboard.

Announcements

A reminder that in the weeks ahead, The Full Monty will be making a switch to a tiered subscription model. Some content will always be free, and the full version will be accessible via a reasonable monthly fee. I'd be grateful for any feedback you'd like to provide, from pricing to the model.

Scheduling note: we'll be off next week.

Top Story

History – and in this case, recent history – is repeating itself.

Once again, we've got a data breach from Facebook. It's a violation of privacy, of security, and most of all, of trust. Roll out the apology tour.

Facebook has lived by apology. At what point does it become meaningless? It's like we're living in an abusive relationship and we can't help going back.

It doesn't help that a prominent investor like billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, calls social media the "cancer of our time."

Meanwhile, we've got Tim Berners-Lee, the godfather of the Internet, working to decentralize the web and take back power from the forces that have profited from centralizing it.

Are we seeing a point of no return for some of these technology companies? Have consumers had enough?

Sadly, until there's a viable alternative, there's nothing we can do.

Thanks this week to Gini Dietrich, Christopher Penn, Mitch Joel, Drew McLellan, Chris Poterala, Nick Westergaard and Jay Baer.

And a special shout-out to Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin, whose book Talk Triggers, goes on sale today. It's all about the power of doing business in a way that gives customers something to talk about. And we all know about the power of word of mouth. Plus...alpacas!

I hand-curate all of the content you see below (plus other stories on Flipboard that don't make the newsletter). If you've got something you think I should see, @ me on Twitter, Facebook, or email.

Speaking Engagements

Always looking for recommendations for speaking engagements – including executive briefings / workshops and keynotes. Can I speak to your organization or at your event? Feel free to contact me to discuss it.

Brandemonium in Cincinnati, October 3-4. BR18FRIEND gets you $100 off.
Pubcon in Las Vegas, October 16-18.
Now booking for 2019 for groups small and large. Check out my speaking page for more info.

Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

A report from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School provides a new foundational framework for considering the risks and benefits of A.I. on human rights. (Harvard Law Today) Artificial intelligence will most certainly have an impact on society. We need sociologists, economists, psychologists and more thinking about this just as the engineers are doing the technical work.
Microsoft has launched an A.I. humanitarian initiative – a five-year, $40 million project to support developers of A.I. systems for helping humanity. (VentureBeat)
Parents in China are using educational A.I. robots to entertain children. (CNN)
Alibaba A.I. Labs, which develops Alibaba Group’s consumer A.I. products, said it will introduce a robot for the hospitality sector, making it the latest in a series of hotel-specific robots that make deliveries to guests in order to free up human staff for more complicated tasks. (AdWeek) The bonus is it won't care if you answer your door in your towel.

We're getting ever closer to The Jetsons...

Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ

BMW will introduce 'safe' fully autonomous driving by 2021. (Digital Trends) With BMW drivers out of the driver's seat, we believe it.
Lax safety laws, public skepticism, and privacy concerns are among the issues that could pump the brakes on the autonomous-vehicle market: The Case Against Driverless Cars. (The Motley Fool)
India's ride-hailing company Ola is launching an A.I. ride monitoring system called Guardian. The service tracks and analyzes all trips, including route deviations and unexpected stops, in an effort in increase passenger safety. (Tech2)
BMW engineers have developed an autonomous motorcycle. The company does not plan to produce and sell the self-driving motorcycles commercially. (The Street)

Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

Have you heard of the 360-degree customer view? Like so many other hot topics, it's easier said than done. (Marketoonist)
In a survey earlier this year, 500 marketing decision makers were asked, "Are second screens distracting TV viewers?" You can imagine the answer. (eMarketer) The question should have been: "Are TV screens distracting mobile users?"
Jim Stengel, former CMO of P&G, has some advice: “You wouldn’t think it, but a lot of CMOs aren’t great communicators, in that they’re not clear with their agencies about what they need or clear with their own organizations about priorities. They don’t get outside enough. They’re wrapped up in their own BS and it stresses them out.” (AdExchanger)
U.S. social network video ad revenues will reach $11.69 billion in 2020, more than doubling the 2017 total of $5.68 billion. (eMarketer)

Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

How people learn about corporate social responsibility efforts. And judge them. (MarketingCharts) Keep in mind that this is during a time when the public trusts companies less and less.
Some businesses, concerned about unreliable social-media personalities, are turning to their own employees and customers to serve as brand ambassadors. (The Atlantic) Which is really what they should be doing in the first place.
Speaking of social media personalities, Urban Outfitters is selling a crop-top and leggings combo that it is calling an “influencer costume” this Halloween. Add Fila sneakers, a canvas cap, and a platinum blonde wig, and you too can be an influencer for just $155. (The Verge) Hey, maybe you'll get a contract worth thousands with a brand!

via Urban Outfitters

Retail Apocalypse

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

Amazon introduced Four-Star, a physical store that only sells goods rated four stars or higher on Amazon, with special discounts for Prime members. (Amazon) A smart way for Amazon to use data to test and launch.
With its Amazon Go stores with frictionless payment, some analysts think Amazon could take on convenience stories and QSRs. (eMarketer)
Snap is testing a new way to search for products on Amazon using the Snapchat camera. (Snap) The integration of ecommerce into social and messaging apps is something we'll be seeing more of soon.
Not to be outdone, Google is rolling out shoppable images this holiday season. (Retail Dive)
Warning that Sears is running out of time and money, CEO Edward Lampert is making his biggest push yet to restructure the retailer to avoid a bankruptcy filing, as a debt payment looms next month. (WSJ) Could this be the last gasp for the more than century-old retailer?
Did you know in-car commerce was a thing? Cargo, which makes boxes of items like gum, phone chargers and snacks that ride-hail drivers can sell to their passengers, raised $22.5 million after its official partnership with Uber. (VentureBeat)
Don't look now, but Carvana promoted its next-day delivery for cars in New York by parading them around in take-out food bags. (Marketing Dive)
Bed Bath & Beyond shares have plummeted more than 21% in Thursday trading, on a path to its lowest-ever close, as it uses coupons to compete with Amazon. (MarketWatch) You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is "never get involved in a price war with Amazon" – but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line"!

Perhaps it's worth revisiting the 5 Cs of customer loyalty.

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Platforms

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

More Millennials and Gen Z are using social media apps. But their use is largely visual in nature: YouTube, Snap and Instagram are their weapons of choice. (eMarketer)
Overall, the use of the Internet, social media, and digital devices has plateaued as they have reached near-saturation levels. (Pew Research Center)

Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

An attack on Facebook's computer network led to the exposure of information from nearly 50 million of its users. (The New York Times) You may have heard: Facebook has had a few privacy issues to deal with earlier this year.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram's founders, are leaving Facebook. (Recode) They've stayed an impressive six years past the acquisition, but they may be frustrated with the way Facebook is running their group.
One of the founders of WhatsApp who left Facebook last year went public with his issues with Facebook management. (Forbes) An analysis is less dramatic than the post, offering up a fair assessment of the criticism and the questionable response from one of Facebook's executives. (Stratechery)
Meanwhile, Facebook would like you to know that rebuilding (?) trust is job #1. (AdWeek) With a history of so many breaches of trust and meaningless apologies, is there any chance they can do it? Certainly not with weeks of news like last week.

Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

Twitter has launched event pages for TV series that appear 30 minutes before new episodes are broadcast, including hashtags, talent names and handles. (AdWeek)

Oᴛʜᴇʀ

A former Google scientist told the U.S. Senate to act on the search giant's unethical and unaccountable China censorship plan. (The Intercept) Don't be evil, indeed.
Google announced several changes to its search product: Google Feed is rebranded as “Discover”, and the homepage on mobile will now show a news feed. (The Verge)
Apple acquired Shazam for $400 million. (We Are Social Media) Having the music-related app within the Apple Music ecosystem makes complete sense.
Scott Galloway, never shy about his predictions, has another: Snap may get acquired before 2020, possibly by Amazon. (Recode)

Media

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

Vɪᴅᴇᴏ

So many choices with so much great content spread across all of them: the video streaming service that's the best value for your money. (Lifehacker)
When Amazon's newly announced 10-inch HD screen Echo Show begins shipping next month, it will offer support for Hulu – the first live streaming TV service to work on the screen-based Alexa device. (Techcrunch)
AMC's A-list boasts 380,000 subscribers. The service allows members to see up to three movies per week for $19.95 a month. The company says it is causing an incremental increase in attendance. (Variety) Could this be the MoviePass killer? Up until now, we thought the MoviePass killer would be MoviePass.

Aᴜᴅɪᴏ

Spotify is asking Family Plan members for GPS data to prove they live at the same address. (Quartz) And Facebook is worried about trust?
According to Nielsen’s Q1 2018 Total Audience Report, radio remains the top way to reach consumers across all media platforms. (AW360)
The RIAA's Mid-Year 2018 Music Revenues Report shows that paid subscriptions have become the biggest format for music by revenue. Year-over-year growth of 33% brought total subscription revenues to $2.5 billion. (RIAA)
With a handful of recent consolidations and shifts in business models, the inevitable had to be asked: Is the Podcast Bubble Bursting? (Columbia Journalism Review) In short, no.
Longer version: Despite some worries about falling ad prices, podcasting audiences and ad budgets are growing as the medium is maturing and moves past the gold rush stage. (Medium)
Case in point: Vox Media Podcast Network's fall 2018 podcast slate. (Vox)
Program of the Week: Our pick this week is one of those Vox shows: Pivot, with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. Two tech iconoclasts for the price of one!

And don't forget about The Full Monty podcast, our own 5-minute weekly business commentary.

Privacy / Security / Regulatory

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

Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ

California is the first state to enact a cybersecurity law for the Internet of Things. (The Verge)
The port of San Diego suffered a cyber attack, just a week after the port of Barcelona experienced a similar occurrence. (CNET) A critical development, as any disruption to major ports can have global effects on commerce.
A meticulous analysis of online activity during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign makes a powerful case that targeted cyberattacks by hackers and trolls were decisive. (The New Yorker)
The Facebook security breach of 50 million users affects more than just Facebook. It could affect any site users visited and logged into with their Facebook credentials. (Wired)
And just for good measure: Facebook shared your shadow contact information with advertisers. That is it's not just your own contact information, but contact information you handed over for security purposes and contact information you didn’t hand over at all, but that was collected from other people’s contact books. (Gizmodo) Because they figure if they have to rebuild your trust, they may as well start from the very bottom.

Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ

California Governor Jerry Brown signed net neutrality legislation into law, setting up a legal showdown pitting his state against Internet service providers and the Federal Communications Commission. (Ars Technica)
Uber will pay $148 million to settle its role in covering up the massive data breach that occurred in 2016. (Reuters)
Are Uber drivers happy? A new study looks at well-being in the gig economy. (Oxford Martin School)

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.

Subway boosted foot traffic 31 percent by targeting ads based on weather patterns as determined through A.I. (Mobile Marketer)
If you want to understand the customer journey and build that relationship, you have to understand the data behind it. (Brand Driven Digital)
As we prepare to staff up for the data onslaught, how many data scientists are there, and is there a shortage? (KDnuggets) Spoiler alert: there are never enough.
A deeper dive into shared media, a critical part of the PESO model. (SpinSucks)
The perfect example of data visualization / data journalism:

Mental Nourishment

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

In just 10 words, the former CEO of a multi billion-dollar company explains the purpose of life. (Inc.) I had the honor and pleasure to serve with Alan at Ford. And I try to keep his simple yet profound leadership lessons as my North Star.
If you aren't honest with people because you're afraid of how they might respond, psychologists have good news for you. (Quartz) Honestly, I could use some clients and speaking gigs.
Seven phrases that you should never say to your boss. (Inc.) The article points the finger at Millennials, but it's something we should all keep in mind.
After interviewing 300 successful people about their morning routines, these are the four common themes. (MBGMindfulness)
What can we learn from celebrated authors about the art of writing well? How to write a great sentence—and why it’s the most important element of writing. (The Guardian)
Here are 11 books that will change your life, according to CEOs. (Time)
Since 1989, they haven’t aged a day. But The Simpsons have evolved, as the culture has with them. (The New York Times)
A quest for silence in a loud world: seeking America's quietest spots. (The New York Times)

Related: Emotional Intelligence and the Power of Silence.

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Top image credit: Classical Landscape with Figures and Sculpture by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes, 1803 (public domain via the J. Paul Getty Museum)

Monday, October 1, 2018