Adidas, like many other retailers, is attempting to leverage their digital platforms in order to connect with their customers and build sustainable relationships that last beyond a one-time purchase. The key to building a relationship is evoking emotions from the customer, and Adidas believes digital platforms are the best way to foster this relationship.
One key highlight of the blog is that Adidas attempts to engage the "creator consumer". That is, Adidas wants their customers to co-create with the brand, rather than simply be fed products for purchase. This ties into what we learned in class Saturday as to how Product has been transformed by digital technology.
There are numerous benefits to Adidas leveraging digital platforms in this manner. Not only does the customer get to create the product they want specifically, but they purchase it directly from Adidas, as opposed to searching for another brand elsewhere or for Adidas products at a third party retailer. Additionally, this allows Adidas to see what the customers truly want, and as in the Lego example, they have the opportunity to mass produce a particular style or product if they see there's enough of a demand for it within their customer base. In Adidas case, they even have same day pickup for some of these custom products in their London stores. Finally, the greater the experience the customer has, the more likely they are to spread the word to friends, and these opinions are trusted more so than a typical marketing ad.
The digital battle for customers and retention between competitiors such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour will only continue to expand as the digital revolution continues. I'm interested to see the ways in which these brands can continue to leverage their digital platforms and create unique user experiences for their customers.
https://econsultancy.com/blog/69086-how-adidas-uses-digital-to-enable-powerful-experiences/
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
The Evolution of Compelling Storytelling in the Digital Age
It's no secret that how we watch content in this current digital age has drastically evolved from as short as a decade ago. Growing up, we all remember flipping through channels on our television sets, making sure we were home by 9pm on Wednesdays to watch the latest episode of the O.C, or running to the video store on a Friday night before it closes to pick out a few flicks for the weekend.
Now, the effort and planning required to find your favorite content is minimal. Information and content is literally at our fingertips. With the press of a button (or maybe a few if we're being exact) you can almost always find the exact program, season, episode, and minute that you'd like to watch.
But, the age of digitization doesn't come without challenges. With this ease of accessibility, the sheer task of deciding what to watch has become the biggest challenge yet for the viewer. And from a content creator's perspective, there is more competition and more decisions on how to distribute content than ever.
This Variety article discusses how creators are changing the way they tell stories and deliver their content to consumers due to the dramatically evolving age of digitization. It discusses issues like news dilution due to increased information demand, the decision of distribution channels, new technologies and how it changes the way we watch content, and more.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/spotlight/variety-entertainment-technology-summit-evolution-compelling-storytelling-digital-age-1202406146/
Now, the effort and planning required to find your favorite content is minimal. Information and content is literally at our fingertips. With the press of a button (or maybe a few if we're being exact) you can almost always find the exact program, season, episode, and minute that you'd like to watch.
But, the age of digitization doesn't come without challenges. With this ease of accessibility, the sheer task of deciding what to watch has become the biggest challenge yet for the viewer. And from a content creator's perspective, there is more competition and more decisions on how to distribute content than ever.
This Variety article discusses how creators are changing the way they tell stories and deliver their content to consumers due to the dramatically evolving age of digitization. It discusses issues like news dilution due to increased information demand, the decision of distribution channels, new technologies and how it changes the way we watch content, and more.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/spotlight/variety-entertainment-technology-summit-evolution-compelling-storytelling-digital-age-1202406146/
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
SEO Trend in 2017
With every passing year, SEO continues to evolve with the
development of new search algorithm and rules. Below are some of SEO trends to look
out for in 2017:
Structured
data markup. This is to provide “featured snippet” on Google’s search
engine result page (SERP). See example below on “How to clear cookie cache on
Mac”.
Mobile
search optimization. In May 2015, Google reported that mobile searches
had surpassed desktop searches on its search engine. Thus, it is critical to
have more responsive pages on mobile browsers. One practical solution is
integration of Acceleration Mobile Pages (AMP). AMP pages only use one-eighth
of data to load content compared to average webpages.
Cross-channel
marketing. These days, users are browsing products using multiple
channels i.e. mobile, desktop, and tablet. It is important for marketers to
create a consistent brand presence across these channels, so that users can
move seamlessly between devices and platforms to interact with the site.
Voice
search. According to marketingland.com, teens are the highest users of
voice search with 59% using voice search while watching TV and 57% while with
friends. This high usage number is no surprise given recent improvements in
voice recognition technology. In fact, in SMX West 2016, Google’s director of
conversational search noted that speech recognition error rate has been reduced
to just 8% today.
Short
branded links. One way to share one’s content is via ‘short branded
links’. This is particularly relevant on Twitter, which imposes 140 characters
limit. Compared to generic short links e.g. http://bit.ly/12UR34df,
branded links are easier to remember and offer signal of quality on the
destination webpage.
Branded links have been used by Fortune 500 companies – Pepsi (pep.si),
Starbucks (sbux.co). Furthermore, research shows that using branded links
increase CTR by 35%.
http://www.seonick.net/7-simple-seo-tricks-to-improve-your-2016-seo/
#illegal #restricted #copyrighted #notforyou
Many companies use hashtags to measure viewer engagement, monitor reputation, trigger or amplify a social media dialogue, raise awareness of a product/consumer education, etc. What’s interesting is the sharp rise in hashtag copyrighting (per the article) “The first application to trademark a hashtag was made in 2010. Since then there have been over 5,000 applications of which 2,200 were in 2016” That implies a 60%+ increase y/y. A few brands are active copyrighters, for example: Marriot (#lovetravels) and T-Mobile (#getthanked).
As the article points out “overall rise in global applications does indicate is that brands are seeing the value in going through the proper trademarking process”. The implications though are unclear. What happens when a consumer wants to use these hashtags on Twitter? Is it free speech? Will there be infringement risks for consumers who use copyrighted hashtags in negative or critical reviews? How will the large number of social networks police and monitor these hashtags? This seems like a growing trend worth watching… https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2017/may/09/hashtag-trademarking-rises-64-one-year/
As the article points out “overall rise in global applications does indicate is that brands are seeing the value in going through the proper trademarking process”. The implications though are unclear. What happens when a consumer wants to use these hashtags on Twitter? Is it free speech? Will there be infringement risks for consumers who use copyrighted hashtags in negative or critical reviews? How will the large number of social networks police and monitor these hashtags? This seems like a growing trend worth watching… https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2017/may/09/hashtag-trademarking-rises-64-one-year/
Monday, May 15, 2017
Industry Marketers are calling for Digital Transparency of Data and Fees, led by P&G's Marc Pritchard
Increasingly over the last six months, P&G's CMO, Marc Pritchard, has been calling for clean up in the digital advertising space to meet the cost reduction objectives of his organization. This started when a closer look at media buying contracts showed costly transaction fees and profitable cushion for their agency partners. Additionally, digital viewability standards caught his attention because they are unique to each digital advertising outlet from Twitter to Pandora to Google. This essentially means P&G, and other large advertisers, are dealing with a dozen different definitions of whether the consumer had the "opportunity to see an ad". His conjecture is that viewability standards may not adequately capture true consumers impressions and are therefore adding to the excess cost.
Some of the key roles of a media buying agency are to drive economies of scale with purchases and to reduce complexity in the buying process. These two objectives are not being met if the principal is paying a surplus for the agent's profit and the agent cannot simplify the viewability standards and return on investment. Therefore, it is not surprising to see AudienceScience, P&G's primary digital media trading desk, being put on notice. AudienceScience's technology, Hawkeye, was unique when first established because it synchronized data and buying on one platform. While this was a strong partnership over the last decade or so, Pritchard has now coined the term "crappy media supply chain" to describe their performance.
Looking to the future, P&G may be able to eliminate cost and complexity by purchasing directly with large advertising networks like Google and Facebook, but it likely cannot move away from agencies completely, because there are several other fragmented advertising networks to manage (i.e. prime inventory from New York Times, ESPN, etc.). This is a call to action for both agencies and advertising networks to have better accountability to their advertisers -- and with P&G holding claim as the largest advertiser in the world (>$10.4B annually), this will certainly raise the pressure.
Goodbye to AudienceScience
The Crappy Media Supply Chain
P&G's Call to Action
World's Largest Advertisers 2016
Tug of War Between TV and Digital Advertising Platforms
"Upfront season" begins this week, as ad buyers are meeting with TV networks and will begin purchasing ad space for the fall TV season. Despite the growing emphasis on digital marketing based on the significant increase in consumption and viewing of content through non-TV channels, ad buyers are expected to spend about $9 billion on TV advertisements this season, which does not mark a sizable decrease from recent years. This article presents reasons why traditional TV advertising has maintained its dominance. It highlights the wide audience that television still reaches, the limited inventory available, and the reliability/safety of advertising through traditional mediums (appealing to advertisers after the poor publicity that has afflicted YouTube and Facebook in recent months as advertisements were displayed next to content promoting terrorism-related activities).
However, the article also emphasizes that the success of TV advertising may not be sustainable as demographics change. Younger audiences are more likely to consume entertainment through digital platforms and prefer to view network television shows through platforms where they don't need to view traditional commercials. Moreover, the increasing sophistication of targeting and segmenting which digital advertising and platforms offer provide value that marketers are likely to rely on more in the coming years.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/14/business/media/advertisers-streaming-video-broadcast-tv.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftechnology&action=click&contentCollection=technology®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
However, the article also emphasizes that the success of TV advertising may not be sustainable as demographics change. Younger audiences are more likely to consume entertainment through digital platforms and prefer to view network television shows through platforms where they don't need to view traditional commercials. Moreover, the increasing sophistication of targeting and segmenting which digital advertising and platforms offer provide value that marketers are likely to rely on more in the coming years.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/14/business/media/advertisers-streaming-video-broadcast-tv.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftechnology&action=click&contentCollection=technology®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
Thursday, April 27, 2017
SEO Optimization - Simple Steps
There are many tricks/hacks available to improve SEO
efforts. The most impactful items are simple and straight forward to implement.
Here are six that anyone can easily implement:
- Page title, description & URL: A simple descriptive title and a description that includes the keywords you want to rank for is a good start. URL should be informative, made up of letters and numbers (no special characters) and preferably use HTTPS protocol.
- Content quality – Use of keywords is a good start. It must add value for the reader (and provide a reason for them to like or link back).
- Content quantity & diversity – There should be enough text on each page. Appropriate amount of images and videos should complement text
- Site structure – A proper robots.txt file should be used. Pages should interlink appropriately and check regularly for broken link.
- Page functionality – Use Google page insight test to check if something is slowing down the site. Ensure that the site is mobile friendly.
- User experience – Navigation should be easy with clear messaging.
Reference:
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Starbuck's Unicorn Frappuccino
Starbucks latest beverage created significant media buzz.
For any other organization, it would have been an ordinary event, however, of
incredibly high engagement of Starbucks customers, it turned into a nationwide phenomenon.
Starbucks did a few things
- They picked unusually bright colors, pink and blue, not typically associated with the brand.
- They picked a unique name, Unicorn Frappuccino, which is easy to remember
- To create a sense of urgency, they time limited the availability of the beverage
The genius in releasing a media friendly product is that the
marketing was done by the customers. Customers posted their selfies with the
beverage and made YouTube video. The social media sensation and long lines of
customers got main stream media’s attention. The drink was a hit, not because
of taste but because of the clever marketing by Starbucks.
Reference:
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Amazon Books
Two weeks ago I went to the Amazon Books 30 min south of Boston in the suburb of Dedham, interestingly the first east coast bricks and mortar location. I asked the store manager (as kindly as I could)..."Why Dedham?" It sounds like Dedham was chosen as a trial location to test the layout and footprint allocation.
You walk in, and the glass-front store is organized and aesthetically pleasing with hardwood floors, white walls and spaced out, symmetrical shelves. A stark contrast to the noisy Amazon website.
One thing that striked me was almost 1/4 of the store footprint was devoted to selling Amazon electronics - Alexa, Kindle, etc. 1/4 was a children's section with small reading area, 1/4 was a Peet's coffee stand, and the remaining 1/4 contained the overall bestsellers and new books, and bestsellers within sections like Biographies, History, Science, Health & Wellness, Travel, etc. And only a few small tables for someone to sit and read or work.
Jeff Bezos may not appreciate this comparison, but outside of the electronics section, it looks like a Hudson Books or other airport bookstore with bestsellers and a side coffee shop. To me, Hudson Books does free advertising for Amazon to travelers currently. But one or both need to exist... in person bookstores promote readers to consider other areas and books they would not otherwise. Echoed in this article from the Motley Fool.
You walk in, and the glass-front store is organized and aesthetically pleasing with hardwood floors, white walls and spaced out, symmetrical shelves. A stark contrast to the noisy Amazon website.
One thing that striked me was almost 1/4 of the store footprint was devoted to selling Amazon electronics - Alexa, Kindle, etc. 1/4 was a children's section with small reading area, 1/4 was a Peet's coffee stand, and the remaining 1/4 contained the overall bestsellers and new books, and bestsellers within sections like Biographies, History, Science, Health & Wellness, Travel, etc. And only a few small tables for someone to sit and read or work.
Jeff Bezos may not appreciate this comparison, but outside of the electronics section, it looks like a Hudson Books or other airport bookstore with bestsellers and a side coffee shop. To me, Hudson Books does free advertising for Amazon to travelers currently. But one or both need to exist... in person bookstores promote readers to consider other areas and books they would not otherwise. Echoed in this article from the Motley Fool.
Salesman Doom at Bloom
Show(room) Me the $$$
At Bloomingdales, show-rooming is thinning out the wallets of commission driven Salespersons, and now, the workers union is trying to put and end to it. As of this month, the workers union is proposing a tracking system that ties together the in-store person to the online account making a purchase. - if made through the Bloomingdales' website - that person would get a commission. This could be done in several ways. The physical salesperson could supply the shopper with their code. The user would need to be incentivized to use the code - IE - they get a discount, but also the salesperson receives their commission. Another way would be to, at the digital checkout, ask the shopper if anyone helped then. They could then select the individual (if they can remember them). Thirdly - there can be a section of digital assistants who help the online shopping process. If a purchase is made following this assistance, through chat/ voice, etc, this commission would be distributed accordingly.
This all to speak to a growing problem in in-store salesmanship. As in store purchases decline, should rates of commission increase to offset the reduction? This or the model needs to be disrupted. Or both.
https://consumerist.com/2017/04/19/bloomingdales-clerks-want-commissions-on-showrooming-in-store-pickup-sales/
At Bloomingdales, show-rooming is thinning out the wallets of commission driven Salespersons, and now, the workers union is trying to put and end to it. As of this month, the workers union is proposing a tracking system that ties together the in-store person to the online account making a purchase. - if made through the Bloomingdales' website - that person would get a commission. This could be done in several ways. The physical salesperson could supply the shopper with their code. The user would need to be incentivized to use the code - IE - they get a discount, but also the salesperson receives their commission. Another way would be to, at the digital checkout, ask the shopper if anyone helped then. They could then select the individual (if they can remember them). Thirdly - there can be a section of digital assistants who help the online shopping process. If a purchase is made following this assistance, through chat/ voice, etc, this commission would be distributed accordingly.
This all to speak to a growing problem in in-store salesmanship. As in store purchases decline, should rates of commission increase to offset the reduction? This or the model needs to be disrupted. Or both.
https://consumerist.com/2017/04/19/bloomingdales-clerks-want-commissions-on-showrooming-in-store-pickup-sales/
DM Trends Predicted to End in 2017
Bye Bye Banner?
As digital marketing tactics become more integrated, natural, informed, we're seeing ad formats change alongside the content within them - to more specifically target the user.
The idea is that the physical manifestation of the content can integrate itself within the visual structure of the application itself. There are several benefits to this, such as: the content is not distracting, such as overlaid, pop-up, or skyscraper/ banners can be - and if relevant, the sponsored integrated content can be thought to be native/ natural (so long as the consumer is not deceived).
Marketers are becoming more clever with their ad formats to cater to a more critical and selective millennial generation. This can be seen more recently in Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Google Search Results, and Pinterest.
Reference:
http://mashable.com/2017/01/12/5-digital-marketing-trends-that-will-die-in-2017/#tmbXq4SToOqw
As digital marketing tactics become more integrated, natural, informed, we're seeing ad formats change alongside the content within them - to more specifically target the user.
The idea is that the physical manifestation of the content can integrate itself within the visual structure of the application itself. There are several benefits to this, such as: the content is not distracting, such as overlaid, pop-up, or skyscraper/ banners can be - and if relevant, the sponsored integrated content can be thought to be native/ natural (so long as the consumer is not deceived).
Marketers are becoming more clever with their ad formats to cater to a more critical and selective millennial generation. This can be seen more recently in Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Google Search Results, and Pinterest.
Reference:
http://mashable.com/2017/01/12/5-digital-marketing-trends-that-will-die-in-2017/#tmbXq4SToOqw
How Brands and Agencies Are Fighting Back Against Facebook and Google’s Measurement Snafus
Large corporations are being forced to change how they advertise on Facebook. Almost 2/3 of digital marketing dollars are spent on Facebook or Google. Their "walled gardens" limit the amount of data and analytics advertisers can access to track their performance. Considering the amount of money many companies are spending to advertise on the two behemoths, I'm surprised it's taken them so long to adjust their strategy.
While many companies are publicly making noise about their need for better metrics to track their performance, many companies are not. I think we'll slowly see more companies voice their concerns and begin to demand more data for their advertising spend. Once again, the power of digital marketing is transforming how companies, and their vendors, are reaching their consumers. Facebook and Google have a lot of leverage, but in the end I think they'll move a little to appease their large companies regarding advertising spend and the metrics they provide.
In baseball - It's all about the story
The length of one single baseball game, let alone an entire 162-game season can be for some, boring. For some, it's tough to stay engaged to the story of a single game, let alone the journey of an entire season. "It’s a long arc to ask fans to pay attention to."
Comparatively speaking, "a 20-hour movie would never find success with fans; music albums can get old after so many replays; long books can intimidate readers." But for some reason, "fans of major sports teams never throw up their hands and say 'enough.'"
So what is it? Why do so many fans of major sports teams stay engaged for hours at a time, for months at a time? Is it the sport itself? Yes, of course. But there's more. It's the storytelling. It's the storytelling through all the different platforms. Now, digital story telling is helping "keep fans interest afloat".
It's amazing how on one hand, too much content pushed through all the various platforms can be seen as "too much", but then assessed a different way, it's "not enough". What's the balance? For me, it's in the storytelling. A baseball game and season have so many highs and lows as far as a story line goes. More and more baseball teams are capturing this in their Facebook pages, or Instagram accounts, and now, on Snapchat. For them, there's "too much" content. It's all about keeping the story interesting.
We've discussed before the importance of content. Well, here it is again. If you have good content to push out to your fans, they'll just keep on consuming. Strike-out after strike-out. Double-play after double-play. Keep it coming!
https://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/marketing/digital-storytelling-in-162-games-how-major-league-baseball-keeps-its-story-fresh/
Comparatively speaking, "a 20-hour movie would never find success with fans; music albums can get old after so many replays; long books can intimidate readers." But for some reason, "fans of major sports teams never throw up their hands and say 'enough.'"
So what is it? Why do so many fans of major sports teams stay engaged for hours at a time, for months at a time? Is it the sport itself? Yes, of course. But there's more. It's the storytelling. It's the storytelling through all the different platforms. Now, digital story telling is helping "keep fans interest afloat".
It's amazing how on one hand, too much content pushed through all the various platforms can be seen as "too much", but then assessed a different way, it's "not enough". What's the balance? For me, it's in the storytelling. A baseball game and season have so many highs and lows as far as a story line goes. More and more baseball teams are capturing this in their Facebook pages, or Instagram accounts, and now, on Snapchat. For them, there's "too much" content. It's all about keeping the story interesting.
We've discussed before the importance of content. Well, here it is again. If you have good content to push out to your fans, they'll just keep on consuming. Strike-out after strike-out. Double-play after double-play. Keep it coming!
https://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/marketing/digital-storytelling-in-162-games-how-major-league-baseball-keeps-its-story-fresh/
Why Converting to Instagram Business Is Not a Winning Brand Strategy
As we all know, in 2014 Facebook updated the algo on their newsfeed that limits the reach of business pages and populates users' feeds so that they "see more of what they want." In 2016, the same algo was implemented to Instagram's newsfeed.
3 Important reasons why brands that do not convert to Instagram Business profiles will stay ahead of the curve:
1. Organic Reach & Engagement- which is priceless when building a brand. When your followers are organically engaging with your content, you've earned their interest & trust. When organic reach is limited it means fewer impressions, fewer engagements which leads to fewer conversions and fewer sales... Yikes!
2. You won't be labeled as "sponsored": People don't like being advertised to. Customers want real content from the accounts that you choose to follow. When you search for something on Google, what link do you click on first? I always naturally scroll past the sponsored results & click on the links that aren't ads.
3. Ability to be human: The brands that perform best on Instagram create an emotional connection with their followers- one that triggers a human feeling- so advertising as a brand removes the human factor from those brands.
SEO and Analytics Setup Guides
I thought I would share two blog posts that may be useful to the group. The first is an SEO Guide, the second is a Google Analytics setup guide. Between the two, we ought to be able to take in most the metrics any of us would need if we had our own sites to administer and get it to rank.
First, the groundwork: https://philipwalton.com/articles/the-google-analytics-setup-i-use-on-every-site-i-build/
After getting your site up and running, get the analytics flowing. Collect every bit of data you can. This guide is thorough and technical.
Then, you'll want to optimize for search, and this guide is actionable: https://www.inbound.org.nz/blog/seo-guide
A lot of what is in the SEO Guide has been covered in class, but it is also nice to see each step outlined to some extent. The summary of his guide are these major steps:
First, the groundwork: https://philipwalton.com/articles/the-google-analytics-setup-i-use-on-every-site-i-build/
After getting your site up and running, get the analytics flowing. Collect every bit of data you can. This guide is thorough and technical.
Then, you'll want to optimize for search, and this guide is actionable: https://www.inbound.org.nz/blog/seo-guide
A lot of what is in the SEO Guide has been covered in class, but it is also nice to see each step outlined to some extent. The summary of his guide are these major steps:
- Researched your niche for financial viability
- Created a list of keywords that you're going to focus on for the next month
- Been able to estimate the revenues once you're ranked for each term
- Set up a Google My Business Page
- Have created some citations for your business
- Have a mobile-friendly site
- And finally, have a fast loading site
Friday, April 21, 2017
The Element of Surprise
Why Surprise Is Your Secret Weapon In Social Media Marketing
In line with our discussions around social media marketing and native advertisements, this article discusses the importance of surprise in social media marketing. Surprise has the ability to significantly increase engagement and brand recognition.
Specifically, the element of surprise acts as an emotional amplifier - it is one of the strongest and most memorable emotions and therefore lends itself to immediate brand recognition. In addition, surprise releases dopamine which is a "feel good" chemical and associated with bond forming, another way to create a strong bond with an audience. Surprising an audience with facts, information, or other types of entertainment that they aren't getting from your competition is a great way to differentiate a brand as well as strengthen the relationship with consumers.
Ultimately though, surprise is not an easy effect to achieve in marketing. Shown by the marketing faux pas shown in class, sometimes a overly creative effort can come across as offensive if not executed well. So this type of digital marketing, while incredibly effective, also creates another level of challenges for marketers.
In line with our discussions around social media marketing and native advertisements, this article discusses the importance of surprise in social media marketing. Surprise has the ability to significantly increase engagement and brand recognition.
Specifically, the element of surprise acts as an emotional amplifier - it is one of the strongest and most memorable emotions and therefore lends itself to immediate brand recognition. In addition, surprise releases dopamine which is a "feel good" chemical and associated with bond forming, another way to create a strong bond with an audience. Surprising an audience with facts, information, or other types of entertainment that they aren't getting from your competition is a great way to differentiate a brand as well as strengthen the relationship with consumers.
Ultimately though, surprise is not an easy effect to achieve in marketing. Shown by the marketing faux pas shown in class, sometimes a overly creative effort can come across as offensive if not executed well. So this type of digital marketing, while incredibly effective, also creates another level of challenges for marketers.
The Guardian's About-Face with Apple News and Facebook
The Guardian is pulling out of publishing it's news on Facebook and Apple News platforms. The Guardian was one of the first British news sources to sign onto these platforms, and when it did it went full force. The statement issued explaining why the change made it appear they worried about the trust relationship they have with their readership. However, it also put their content on someone else's platform, when they are likely wanting to drive traffic to their own properties.
http://digiday.com/media/guardian-pulls-facebooks-instant-articles-apple-news/
Is the Guardian's move indicative of how other publishers feel about the platforms? Guardian's displeasure also centers around revenue, and if more publishers threaten to move off these platforms we may see Facebook or Apple change the rev share model.
Other blog posts during this semester and previous semesters have touched on Google's APM and Facebook's IA. At the end of the DigiDay article we learn that the Guardian is still publishing a lot using Google's APM, and purports a much better situation for revenue. This appears to show APM as the better platform for publishers.
http://digiday.com/media/guardian-pulls-facebooks-instant-articles-apple-news/
Is the Guardian's move indicative of how other publishers feel about the platforms? Guardian's displeasure also centers around revenue, and if more publishers threaten to move off these platforms we may see Facebook or Apple change the rev share model.
Other blog posts during this semester and previous semesters have touched on Google's APM and Facebook's IA. At the end of the DigiDay article we learn that the Guardian is still publishing a lot using Google's APM, and purports a much better situation for revenue. This appears to show APM as the better platform for publishers.
"Google Plans Ad-Blocking Feature in Popular Chrome Browser"
According to this Wall Street Journal article, Google is planning to develop its own ad-blocker for Chrome. What's more, the ad revenue giants plans to possibly turn it on by default for users. It begs the question why a company whose majority of revenue comes from advertisers would develop a product that potentially threatens that revenue stream. In the arms race between ad blockers and advertisers (and their publishers), perhaps Google is taking the "if you can't beat them, join them" approach. Rather, Google is taking a defensive stance against the proliferation of ad-block software, an industry that pulled in $60 billion of revenue last year from online advertisers that pay to get their ads through ad-blockers' filters. Indeed, Google intends to claim a part of this market for itself, perhaps charging current clients more to get through its own ad-blocking filters. If successful, this can be a win for Google on two fronts. By blocking annoyingly disruptive ads, Chrome users will experience a better browsing experience, thus strengthening loyalty to the brand, which already claims more than 47% of the browser market on desktop and mobile. Furthermore, Google will create a "premium" service that advertisers must pay for to serve ads, which both enhances revenue growth, but also strengthens (if not by force) the relationship with its advertisers. It is a risky move, however, as there may be backlash from advertisers, who may threaten to advertise on competitor browsers or allocate funding to boost ads on other channels, such as TV. Moreover, Google must ensure that its filtering technology is flawless because, if it accidentally blocks clients' ads and allows others' through, they potentially threaten their credibility and invite more retailation from current customers. On the other hand, however, in the eyes of consumers, Google will be seen as the "hero" in response to consumer advocacy and demand.
"Infield Chatter" - The Twitter of Baseball
There's just so much content in the digital universe. When you have multiple interests, getting information in one platform (e.g. Twitter) is great - until you're overwhelmed by content. Too many times, users miss content because all of the people, or businesses, or fan pages they like, take over their feed.
Well what if you had a platform to only post and consume content for one particular interest? Well that's what baseball is doing through "Infield Chatter". When quality of content is so important, Infield Chatter crafts "deeper individualized, intimate engagement between players and fans". And if all you're in the mood for is a little baseball chatter, how great would it be if you could get your baseball content without having to scroll through posts by Ryan Seacrest, or CNN. While everyone enjoys a little Seacrest and CNN, sometimes, all you want is baseball.
The Major League Baseball Players Association is in no way looking to replace other platforms, such as Twitter or Facebook, with the introduction of "Infield Chatter". It's using "Infield Chatter" to develop a far more detailed and intimate environment for baseball players and fans to interact.
Getting people off of existing platforms may be difficult. Fans will always split their attention between platforms, such as Twitter, and "Infield Chatter" to get the latest from the most favorite baseball team(s) and players. As many players tweet content, If "Infield Chatter" can partner with Twitter so that tweets are posts on "Infield Chatter" and vice versa, the potential success of "Infield Chatter" is tremendous.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2017/04/18/here-is-baseball-players-new-proprietary-social-media-tool/#2149b6772d11
Well what if you had a platform to only post and consume content for one particular interest? Well that's what baseball is doing through "Infield Chatter". When quality of content is so important, Infield Chatter crafts "deeper individualized, intimate engagement between players and fans". And if all you're in the mood for is a little baseball chatter, how great would it be if you could get your baseball content without having to scroll through posts by Ryan Seacrest, or CNN. While everyone enjoys a little Seacrest and CNN, sometimes, all you want is baseball.
The Major League Baseball Players Association is in no way looking to replace other platforms, such as Twitter or Facebook, with the introduction of "Infield Chatter". It's using "Infield Chatter" to develop a far more detailed and intimate environment for baseball players and fans to interact.
Getting people off of existing platforms may be difficult. Fans will always split their attention between platforms, such as Twitter, and "Infield Chatter" to get the latest from the most favorite baseball team(s) and players. As many players tweet content, If "Infield Chatter" can partner with Twitter so that tweets are posts on "Infield Chatter" and vice versa, the potential success of "Infield Chatter" is tremendous.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2017/04/18/here-is-baseball-players-new-proprietary-social-media-tool/#2149b6772d11
Mind reading - It's no longer science fiction
I heard on the radio about Facebook having a 60 person team working on a project that'll help people to type by reading their mind. It sounded very interesting and I looked up this article:
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/20/15375176/facebook-regina-dugan-interview-building-8-mind-reading-f8-2017
Imagine the application of such technology on marketing. A company no longer needs to store a cookie in your phone or laptop to track your interests. They can just read your mind to know whether you're in the mood for sushi or pizza and get to coupons and promotions for the right restaurant. This will allow marketers to customize not only by a person but what that person wants at that moment. Of course, there is serious privacy concern here but if you 'grant access' to a company to do this, I can see a lot of benefits both for the company and the user. Instead of tracking click-through conversion at 5-10%, you can now have mind-reading conversions at a very high close rate.
Fun times ahead is what my mind says right now!
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/20/15375176/facebook-regina-dugan-interview-building-8-mind-reading-f8-2017
Imagine the application of such technology on marketing. A company no longer needs to store a cookie in your phone or laptop to track your interests. They can just read your mind to know whether you're in the mood for sushi or pizza and get to coupons and promotions for the right restaurant. This will allow marketers to customize not only by a person but what that person wants at that moment. Of course, there is serious privacy concern here but if you 'grant access' to a company to do this, I can see a lot of benefits both for the company and the user. Instead of tracking click-through conversion at 5-10%, you can now have mind-reading conversions at a very high close rate.
Fun times ahead is what my mind says right now!
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