This Is Just the Beginning — October 29, 2018

Big Tech may be seeing its hold start to unravel; Delta's use of technology and different thinking mean smoother flights; Lyft gets in the autonomous fast lane; marketers are faced with multiple threats; influencer marketing should be more than a tactic; Walmart's geographic transformation; visual search is coming; facts about Americans and Facebook; the golden age of streaming may be at an end; podcasting's next chapter; the rise of the data industrial complex means changes are ahead; IBM's biggest acquisition and its impact on the cloud; the weird world of secret menus; the 100 websites that reshaped the web; plus the podcast pick of the week and MUCH more in the edition of The Full Monty for the week of October 29, 2018.

The Full Monty makes you smarter faster, 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

If you aren't yet subscribed to updates on my blog, please check that out. I create two posts a week that capture an issue of today and tie it to a quote from the classics of philosophy, history, or literature.

Last week, it was all about how we allow ourselves to get conned:

Top Story

Big Tech is getting big attention.

From data breaches to ill-conceived handling of election-related meddling, the industry has been caught with its tunic down. Or with no tunic at all, since attention isn't on anything related to the past and proven human nature, but rather only on the technical.

From China to the EU, entire countries are beginning to strike back against overly-powerful tech companies. Meanwhile, the biggest red flag coming out of Silicon Valley is that none of the people in charge of making tech products want their kids using them.

They've recognized the negative impact that technology can have on children. To be clear, this isn't the first time we've heard the warning raised about being saturated with information. Dr. Conrad Gessner was an early proponent of less technology.

And yet younger people are better at telling factual news from opinions than older generations. Perhaps it's because they're more digitally-savvy. Or because they haven't spent as much time with media to develop a sense of mistrust.

One thing is for certain: in a world with less Facebook, people are primed to seek out content directly from the source.

And in the end, that may be a great benefit to publishers — and to mankind.

About this week's image: J.M.W. Turner's Dido Building Carthage is possibly his greatest work. Dido was of the queen and founder of Carthage, who fell in love with Aeneas on his way to Rome. The painting includes a flimsy toy boat, signifying Carthage's naval inferiority, and the tomb of Dido's husband, hinting at the future destiny of Carthage. Via The Athenaeum (public domain).

Speaking Engagements

Always looking for recommendations for venues to share my stories. I connect our digital selves with classical influences, pointing out the universal human truths that can unlock the secret of retaining and growing customer relationships. Feel free to contact me to discuss speaking to your organization or at an event you care about.

IDEA: if you're looking to save some of your training and development budget and don't feel like sending multiple members of your team to a conference (high prices, time away from the office, questionable content), I've got an option for you: bring me in for a roundtable experience with your team for an hour or a half day.

Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

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

Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

According to Deloitte's latest survey about A.I. use, most companies say that cybersecurity is their greatest fear with the technology. (Business Insider)
If you're a regular passenger on Delta, you may have noticed that Delta flights don't experience as much turbulence as other airlines. The reason is that Delta uses lines of code, iPads onboard and a willingness to ditch a century-old way of doing things. (The Points Guy) And just like that, we see how it's not technology that leads the way, but a mindset. Digital transformation starts with a different way of thinking.
Technology has now gotten to a point where celebrities are preserving themselves digitally to continue their careers beyond the grave. (MIT Technology Review) It's as if Narcissus met Hades.
Honda hasn't been shy about wanting an A.I. assistant in its cars, and it's bringing in a partner to ensure that this assistant is one you'll want to use. In this case, Honda is partnering with SoundHound to customize its in-car assistant. (Engadget)
Researchers at Airbnb describe how they implemented a sophisticated neural network — layers of mathematical functions that loosely mimic the function of neurons in the human brain — in their web and mobile app to improve the relevancy of search results. (VentureBeat)
For the first time, Christie's auctioned a painting generated by A.I. The piece is called "Portrait of Edmond Belamy" and was created by a GAN (generative adversarial network) trained on a dataset of 15,000 portraits painted between the 14th and 20th centuries. (BBC) The selling price: $432,000. And any the loss of any shred of self-respect an art lover has.

Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ

Lyft is driving its autonomous efforts into high gear. It purchased AR company Blue Vision Labs and unveiled its first Level 5 fully autonomous vehicle — a Ford Fusion Hybrid. (TechCrunch)
Meanwhile, Ford will make Washington, DC its fourth city for testing autonomous vehicles, beginning in Q1 2019. (TechCrunch) Legislators will get to see the technology firsthand as they prepare to make laws and regulations related to it. (Someone should have gotten them to use the Internet a while ago too.)
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shut down driverless school bus tests in Florida. (TNW) There's never been a good idea that started with "Hey, let's experiment on children."

Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

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

Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

Marketers, we have a problem. Agencies are threatened by in-housing, consultancies, even an FBI investigation into illegal media buying practices. Brands are losing market share to direct-to-consumer startups and Amazon’s own products. Even the tech platforms have reason to fret, as GDPR sinks in and calls for governmental regulation get louder. (Digiday) If there was ever a call to think ethically, be customer-centric, and build relationships, now is the time.
What a decentralized web means for advertising. Tim Berners-Lee is on the scene. (AdWeek)
A BuzzFeed News investigation uncovered a sophisticated ad fraud scheme involving more than 125 Android apps and websites, some of which were targeted at kids. (BuzzFeed News) And this is only what was uncovered. There's bound to be more like this.
Research from the IAB Tech Lab found that U.S. men 18-34 were the most likely demographic to use ad blockers. This was largely attributed to young men in tech and gaming communities. The solution? Advertisers are using Twitch to reach people who hate ads. (AdExchanger)
The reason you're having trouble with your digital transformation efforts comes down to this quote from Scott Brinker: “Technology changes exponentially; organizations change logarithmically.” (Marketoonist) That is, we're at a point when technology is evolving faster than culture.

Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

There are many instances of influencer marketing or influencer relations out there. But here's a summary of what a comprehensive influencer marketing strategy should look like. (Convince and Convert) If done well, influencer marketing can be more than just a tactic.
With PR, marketing and ad components, social media influencers have become a cornerstone of social strategy. But what’s the real impact of social media influencers—in which sectors, and on which consumer groups? (Agility PR)
Customer service, bad or good, has real-world implications. Close to three-fourths of consumers have bought or always buy based on a retailer's customer service reputation, according to call center tech provider Genesys. (eMarketer)

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 planning to create Town Centers: outdoor gathering areas with seating, green spaces, playgrounds, restaurants, jogging paths, fountains, and perhaps live music. (Inc.) If you're ever been to Walmart's hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, the town square where the original Walton's store is located is very reminiscent of this concept. Interestingly, this is the very thing that critics have long claimed that Walmart has destroyed.
Not all shoppers want groceries delivered. According to a recent survey by Civic Science, 12 percent of U.S. adult consumers currently use a grocery delivery service with an additional two percent interested in trying it. A majority (68%) had no interest in the convenience, though. Close to half (45%) of those respondents who were interested in grocery delivery were Gen Xers, and far more women (67%) than men (33%) were likely to use this service. (eMarketer)
Amazon is seeing a slowing in its core businesses. Year-on-year growth in revenue is down from products sold on Amazon.com, commissions and services to third-party sellers, subscription products like Amazon Prime, and cloud-computing business Amazon Web Services. (Quartz)
With Shopify Plus, Shopify is pitching itself to Amazon-wary DTC brands. (Digiday) Emphasizing the importance of owning customer relationships and data as businesses scale.
The marked contrast between Amazon's and Sears' compensation plans shows the shift in recent years away from employees to shareholders. (New York Times)
Target is offering free two-day shipping for the holidays, in an effort to combat Amazon and Walmart. (CNBC)
What if you could store and deliver goods as easily as data? The future of retail is in robots and drones: automated warehouse, automated delivery, automated supply chain. Welcome to the physical cloud. (WSJ)
Retailers need to be ready for visual search. (Digiday) Yes, this is in addition to voice search.

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Platforms

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

Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

Facebook is rolling out a simplified update of Messenger. It is giving more prominence to the 'Discover' tab where users can directly message companies on the platform. (Marketing Land) This comes at a time when the News Feed is getting clogged with updates and brands are competing for attention.
Eight facts about Americans and Facebook. Two of note: it is used by half of teens, but no longer dominates the teen social media landscape as it once did; and many adult users lack a clear understanding of how the platform’s news feed works. (Pew Research Center)
Piper Jaffray found 85 percent of teens use Instagram at least once a month, just ahead of long-time leader Snapchat at 84 percent.
Facebook is building Lasso, a standalone app to compete with TikTok, the 15-second music video app. (The Verge) Hey, they copied everything about Periscope and Snapchat, so why not?

Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

A look at two features Twitter is testing to improve the quality of debate: “presence indicators”, which say what users are doing while they tweet, and “ice breakers” to start conversations. (The Verge) Huh. Sounds like Facebook.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has also said that Twitter is planning to remove the ability to like tweets. (The Telegraph) Yeah, that should fix everything.

Oᴛʜᴇʀ

Pinterest has seen a 7 percent gain in users in the last year, and is getting more popular with Millennial men. (eMarketer)
Snapchat is integrating its lenses into desktop apps. Snap Camera will integrate with apps including Twitch, YouTube, Skype, and Zoom. (The Verge) Just the thing every video conference call needs. Priorities.

Media

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

Vɪᴅᴇᴏ

As more companies pour into the streaming business, the golden age of streaming may be coming to an end. (The Verge)
And it's not just in the U.S. The push to create rivals to stunt the growth of Netflix has become a global phenomenon. (Axios)
Apple is planning to launch its TV subscription service in more than 100 countries. And exclusive Apple content will be free to device owners. (Ars Technica)
Helios and Matheson are spinning out MoviePass as a separate company. The poor fortunes of the startup have taken a toll on the parent company's stock price. (The Verge)
Netflix is planning to raise $2 billion in debt securities to fund its content machine. (Variety) Netflix knows that content is king in the media business, and it needs to stay ahead.

Aᴜᴅɪᴏ

What's next for podcasting? The industry is making moves toward paid subscriptions and exclusive content. (TechCrunch) My bet is on watching podcasting following the models of what you see in the Video section directly above.
Spotify is testing a 'what's new' timeline to promote new releases. (The Verge)
The audio world is all aflutter now that iHeartMedia has announced the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. (Fast Company) They evidently missed the fact that Podcast Awards have been a thing for quite some time. Like since 2005 time.
Program of the Week: Our pick this week is Believed, a joint production of NPR and Michigan Public Radio that's an inside look at how Larry Nassar, an Olympic gymnastics doctor, got away with abusing hundreds of women and girls for two decades.

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

Apple CEO Tim Cook attacked the “data industrial complex” and called for comprehensive U.S. privacy laws in a speech at a conference on data protection and privacy in Brussels. (TechCrunch) Hats off to Cook for being the responsible adult. And for coining a term that will have an impact like "military industrial complex" did in the 1960s.

Following that, business executives believe more countries will adopt GDPR-like laws. (eMarketer)

Google now lets users review and delete their recent search activity and provides easier access to privacy controls, on desktop today and mobile apps later.
Facebook is considering purchasing a cybersecurity firm. (The Hill) It's sorely needed.
Under GDPR guidelines, the U.K.'s top data privacy watchdog has fined Facebook the maximum possible amount for neglecting to protect data in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. (The Verge)

Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says the European Union's copyright legislation, Article 13, threatens creators' livelihoods if implemented as proposed. (The Verge)
Uber and other gig economy stars have created a class of workers who thrive on the flexibility of the work. But they suffer for lack of benefits. Could now be the time for the SEC to allow Uber and their ilk to offer stock options to their workers? (L2)

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.

Big news out of Armonk, NY: in its largest acquisition ever, IBM is acquiring open-source distributor Red Hat for $34 billion. The companies said the deal would enable businesses to do even more work in the cloud, keeping their apps and data portable and secure. (CNBC)
With web browsers cracking down on ad trackers, data privacy laws going into effect and data breaches remaining ever present, it is presumably not a great time for marketers to be dependent on third-party data — data that they acquire from other companies. (eMarketer)
Top resources for A.I., data science, and machine learning for marketers. (Trust Insights)

Mental Nourishment

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

Somewhere in your travels, you've come across more than one of the 100 websites that reshaped the web as we know it. (Gizmodo) Get ready for some webstalgia.
As you probably know by now, I live at the intersection of analog and digital. So with those 100 websites, I can't resist sharing 100 must-read books of 2018. (Medium) Courtesy of Josh Spector's excellent For The Interested newsletter.
Just in time for Halloween, it's the forbidden chord that invokes Satan, according to people of the Middle Ages (Quartz Obsession)
Maria Popova always has insightful, deep articles on Brain Pickings. She's celebrating her 10th anniversary with 10 things she's learned. (Brain Pickings)
When you look at classical sculptures carved in marble as white as snow, you're not looking at what the sculptors originally intended. Scholars are correcting what we know about the colors of sculpture. (The New Yorker)
Before food trucks, Americans ate "night lunches" from beautiful food wagons. (Atlas Obscura)
The relationship between the diner and the restauranteur is at the center of the weird world of secret menus. (Literary Hub) Go ahead and order a 'McGangbang' and let me know how it goes.

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Top image credit: Dido building Carthage, or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire by J. M. W. Turner, 1815 - The Athenaeum, Public Domain

Monday, October 29, 2018