Here's a quick overview of some links from my newsletter from the week of March 6, 2017. These are merely highlights extracted from the newsletter; if you'd like to get The Full Monty, please hit subscribe now and you'll get an email at the top of each week with the entire edition.
Industry
- Last week, we highlighted the importance of interplay between digital and in-store experiences in retail; this week, we revisit that topic with the acknowledgement that brick and mortar isn't dead, but it's suffering. Some of the pervasive issues affecting the retail industry include: a sea of sameness, independent entities versus integrated channels, customer experience hiccups, lack of wow factor, and treating all customers the same.
- These 10 breakthrough technologies all have staying power. They will affect the economy and our politics, improve medicine, or influence our culture. Some are unfolding now; others will take a decade or more to develop. But you should know about all of them right now.
- A look at the increasingly complex world of native advertising technology in 2017.
Platforms
- The New York Times is publishing its journalists' tweetstorms in its print edition. Giving additional and more permanent life to Twitter commentary is a clever move that will help spread and preserve such correspondence that would otherwise be easily overlooked. It's a technique that brands might consider as well.
Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp
- If an advertiser wants to buy Instagram's Story inventory as a standalone (no other Instagram or Facebook inventory), it can do so while still using Facebook's self-serve targeting tools.
Google / Alphabet
- YouTube debuted YouTube TV, a $35/month service including broadcast networks, about 30 cable channels, cloud DVR with unlimited storage, personal recommendations. This will be a stand-alone app, separate from the subscription-based YouTube Red. Google got itself into trouble with multiple messaging apps. Might video be going the same way?
Snap
- New Snapchat user numbers indicate that older groups are now more likely to tune in for content. The platform has multiple partnerships with television networks for mini-episodes. Meanwhile, the younger groups are less likely to add Snapchat when Instagram Stories can fulfill their broadcasting needs.
Collaborative / Autonomous / AI
Transportation
- As the Uber Turns... the soap opera continues as the company continues to get hammered with negative news that includes its corporate culture, bad boy CEO, personnel issues, underhanded use of technology, and lawsuits. Good times. Too much to cover here. Click here for the entire rundown of the crisis.
- Will ride-hailing be free by 2021? If ad platform Vugo has its way, you'll watch ads to earn ride credits. Sounds freakily like the Black Mirror episode "Fifteen Million Merits."
Autonomous
- The definitive list of 33 corporations working on autonomous vehicles. Just wait. It'll be up to 34 before the week is out.
Virtual Reality / Audio
VR/AR
- Competition in the VR headset space is heating up and Facebook has slashed the price of Oculus Rift.
AUDIO
- Spotify announced another major milestone yesterday, as the music-streaming giant revealed it now has 50 million paying subscribers. And yet, the company is still not profitable. How can that be?
- Program of the Week: Our program of the week is...over on The Full Monty.
Content / Customer Experience / Influencer Marketing
- Video is the new blogging: research from Convince & Convert and Vidyard indicate that there's more attention than ever being paid to videos today. In fact, 53% of videos that are 90 seconds or less are watched to completion.
Privacy / Security / Legal
- The FCC has taken steps toward delaying its own rules protecting consumer privacy, which means that they won't be able to stop Internet providers from selling your data. Good. I hope they can see the gesture I'm making right now.
Measurement / Metrics / Data
- It's not the ink, it's the think: six data visualization strategies to help you simplify and press the right emotional buttons in your presentation of data.
Essential Watching / Listening / Reading
- Links from this section are available only on The Full Monty.
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