WebProNews

Category: MobileMarketingPro

MobileMarketingPro

  • Create a Marketing Strategy That’s Not Annoying, Says Bombora VP

    Create a Marketing Strategy That’s Not Annoying, Says Bombora VP

    “It’s really about customer experience,” says Nirosha Methananda, VP of Marketing at Bombora. “I think that is something fundamental to marketing. I feel like we have gone down this path of almost over automating and having to constantly pounce on people without necessarily being conscious and mindful of what their experience is on the other end. From my experience, it’s leading to me switching off and ignoring messages. I’m sure I’m not the only one. That’s basically why I’m passionate about creating a marketing strategy that’s not annoying.”

    Nirosha Methananda, Vice President of Marketing at Bombora, discusses the challenges of marketing without annoying your potential customers by bombarding them with marketing messages in an interview with Logan Lyles on the B2B Growth Podcast:

    Marketing Is Really About the Customer Experience

    As a B2B marketer, I get marketed to a lot. It’s something that I have increasingly noticed and I’m probably not the only one. That’s just becoming part of the experience in terms of being inundated with different messaging and different calls and this, that, and the other. Use this, do this, buy this, whatever it is. It’s really not a great experience. It doesn’t necessarily provide value. Marketers are so busy as it is, and I know that is applicable across the board with everyone we are marketing to. Being able to cut through the noise and having an understanding of all these different things is very challenging. 

    Having on top of it being inundated with this constant flow of messaging like meet me, meet me, meet me, is not very helpful. That’s one of the things that I’m passionate about. It’s really about customer experience. I think that is something fundamental to marketing. I feel like we have gone down this path of almost over automating and having to constantly pounce on people without necessarily being conscious and mindful of what their experience is on the other end. From my experience, it’s leading to me switching off and ignoring messages. I’m sure I’m not the only one. 

    Create a Marketing Strategy That’s Not Annoying

    It also leads to this annoyance and irritation which leads to distrust of brands and that’s not great for this industry. From a customer perspective those bad experiences, unfortunately, more than good experiences, they stay with you for longer and you remember that. Another thing that we don’t necessarily think of is that it’s wasteful. It’s wasteful of time and it’s wasteful of money especially for marketing and sales where money is a precious resource. It’s not something to be wasted. That’s basically why I’m passionate about creating a marketing strategy that’s not annoying.

    As an example, our Intent Event was our first flagship event that we did last year. It was a closed event so we did have limited numbers and we were limited as to what we could do with promotion. What we did was try to have mindfulness around what we were sending out and ensuring that it was helpful. Making sure that the recipients, the people that we invited, were given all the relevant information, but there was brevity in the communication as well as encouraging them to participate without forcing them to be there. 

    There was certainly some urgency around some of our communication but it wasn’t you need to attend this and this is why you must attend this. It was more about being a bit more subtle in presenting them the idea and the concept of what it was, why it would help them, and exactly the information that they needed. What that meant was not sending out multiple emails, being very controlled around it, really thinking about what the experience was before the event, to during the event, to after the event. We were really focused on the customer and making sure that all of the content and communication was educational and helpful.

    Create a Marketing Strategy That’s Not Annoying, Says Bombora VP Nirosha Methananda
  • Conversational Marketing Closes the Gap Between B2C and B2B, Says Drift Marketing VP

    Conversational Marketing Closes the Gap Between B2C and B2B, Says Drift Marketing VP

    Conversational marketing is a whole new way of thinking about marketing and sales, says Dave Gerhardt, VP of Marketing at Drift. “We go to our jobs in B2B and none of the tools that we use match how we actually buy as real people,” he says. “That’s the most exciting thing to me about conversational marketing. It’s really closing the gap between B2C and B2B. We just call it B2P, marketing to people.”

    Dave Gerhardt, VP of Marketing at Drift, was recently interviewed on the B2B Growth podcast by John Rougeux who is VP of Marketing at Skyfii. Gerhardt discusses conversational marketing as a new B2B product category and how it is changing marketing from reaching out to you later to a conversation that is happening now:

    Conversational Marketing is About Connecting You Now

    Conversational marketing is a whole new way of thinking about marketing and sales. The traditional way of doing marketing and sales is all about later. Come to my website and fill out this form and somebody is going to reach out to you later, when it’s convenient for them. The big shift that is happening in marketing and business over the last five to ten years is customers have all the power today. You can’t make people wait. Information is free now.

    I can find anything I want to know about a company without ever having to go to your website. It’s crazy to think that you are going to force people to go to your website, fill out a form, wait three days to hear back from your sales team, and then get a demo. Conversational is all about connecting you now with the people who are ready to buy now while they are live on your website.

    B2P – Marketing to People

    It’s not about buyers. It’s not about sellers. It’s not about sales. It’s not about marketing. It’s about people. That’s how people all communicate online today. I pressed one button in my car and I got a list. I ordered something from Amazon while I was here this morning to send back to my house and it’s going to be there tomorrow when I get home. There are countless examples of that. That is how we all behave online in our real lives today.

    But then something happens weird happens. We go to our jobs in B2B and none of the tools that we use match how we actually buy as real people. That’s the most exciting thing to me about conversational marketing. It’s really closing the gap between B2C and B2B. We just call it B2P, marketing to people.

    What Ties Our Products Together is Conversation

    We have an email product and we have a landing page product. Black and white versions of those people would say everybody has email, everybody has landing pages. The thing that ties those together is conversation. That forces us to think about what is conversational email? What is conversational landing pages? What is conversational whatever? That one word forces our product team to think about how can we change this? If our fundamental stance as a company is that the internet should be one conversation, then how does that weave into everything that we build?

    Ultimately what we care about is that email becomes a conversation. Meaning, the way that marketers have had to use email the last decade is a one-way channel. Email is meant to be a two-way channel. Marketers have been using it as, “John come to my webinar.” What happens if you actually respond to that email? Most of the time you can’t because it’s donotreply@ or it just goes to some inbox where nobody is answering it. That is a terrible experience. Our belief is that if you reply, “Hey actually I can’t make it. Can you reregister my colleague?” That should get handled. We are thinking of that from an evolution standpoint.

    The same thing with landing pages. Most landing pages today are static. You go to the landing page, put a bunch of info in and you are gone. What if that was a real-time conversation on the page? That one topic has to weave itself into everything we do from a product perspective.

    >> Listen to the complete interview with Drift Marketing VP Dave Gerhardt on the B2B Growth podcast.

  • Adobe CEO: Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital

    Adobe CEO: Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital

    “What the pandemic and the current health situation has done is that it has created yet another inflection point for everything being digital,” says Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. “The importance of digital in the marketplace is going to be sustainable for decades. You’re not going to put the genie back in the bottle as it relates to engaging digitally and creating content digitally.”

    Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO of Adobe, discusses how the pandemic has created another “inflection point” in the move toward digital transformation:

    Digital Transformation Is A $120 Billion Opportunity

    It was a good quarter all around. All of our businesses performed exceedingly well. On the Creative Cloud and the Document Cloud, not only did we have a great acquisition. in other words, new customers adopting the platform, but we really focused on engagement and demonstrating the value of our products to our customers. Even our retention levels came back to pre-COVID levels which we believe is a really good sign.

    What’s happening in the world is the businesses that we’re in, namely creativity and enabling people to tell their story, what’s happening with documents and accelerating document productivity, and what’s happening associated with every single enterprise needing to engage with their customers digitally, when you add all of this up we think it’s over a $120 billion of an addressable market opportunity for Adobe.

    Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital

    What the pandemic and the current health situation has done is that it has created yet another inflection point for everything being digital. What we will have to continue to monitor is what happens in the spending environment. But as it relates to the overall need for the kinds of solutions that Adobe provides as well as the importance of digital in the marketplace I think that’s going to be sustainable for decades. You’re not going to put the genie back in the bottle as it relates to engaging digitally and creating content digitally.

    We believe that we’re in this third phase of what is happening in the enterprise. Traditionally, businesses first focused on automating the back office, and then they focused on automating the front office for knowledge workers. It’s absolutely clear that the biggest imperative that exists in the enterprise today is how do you engage with customers? This is a category that we call Customer Experience Management.

    Customer Insight Is Key To Your Digital Transformation

    If you’re an enterprise today and you’re thinking about digital transformation, what’s top of that stack in terms of where you have to invest is to make sure that you have insight into what your customers are doing. How are they engaging with you? What’s the profile? How do you deliver the personalized experience?

    We really believe that what you’re seeing in the enterprise spend environment is that the companies that are focused on this next generation of delivering customer engagement, the customer experiences, and the insight associated with how to take the most advantage of that data, they’re going to be the secular winners moving forward.

    Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen: Pandemic Was Inflection Point For Everything Being Digital
  • Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes and You Will Crush It, Says Neil Patel

    Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes and You Will Crush It, Says Neil Patel

    If you avoid these seven online marketing mistakes and you follow these tips you’re going to generate more sales, says popular digital marketing expert Neil Patel. A common theme of Neil’s tips is creating a brand. “Google doesn’t want to rank sites that aren’t brands,” he says. “There’s an issue out there called fake news and that’s why they’re pushing brands over anything else.” Patel says that if you follow these tips you’re going to crush it!”

    Neil Patel, digital marketing expert and founder of Neil Patel Digital, discusses the seven online marketing mistakes in his latest video release:

    Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes

    I’m going to break down seven online marketing mistakes that you need to stop. You’re probably wondering you’re doing all these things but why aren’t you seeing results? Even if you’re doing the right things, if you’re also doing the wrong things at the same time it’s going to hurt you and it’s going avoid you from getting the results that you deserve.

    Mistake 1: Not Collecting Emails

    The first mistake you are making is not collecting emails. It doesn’t matter how good you are with SEO or marketing only a very small percentage of your visitors are ever going to convert into customers. By collecting emails not only can you get people to come back to your site but you can convince them to convert over emails.

    The moment someone gives you their email address think of that as a micro-commitment. They’re much more likely to convert into a customer because they committed, they already gave you something. That’s why you want to collect emails. You can do this through sliders or exit pop-ups. You can do this for free using tools like Hello Bar.

    Mistake 2: Not Collecting Subscribers Through Push Notifications

    The second mistake you’re making is you’re not collecting subscribers through push notifications. There are free tools like Subscribers.com that’ll make it easy. Just add in a JavaScript or a WordPress plug-in and then when people come to your website they will automatically subscribe through the browser. Then anytime you have new content or products or services that you want to sell then you can notify them through Subscribers.

    Mistake 3: Not Building a Brand

    The reason tip number one on collecting emails and tip number two on getting more push notifications subscribers are really important is because you need to build a brand. This gets you into the third mistake. Google doesn’t want to rank sites that aren’t brands. Why is this? There’s an issue out there called fake news and that’s why they’re pushing brands over anything else. It’s not just going to be Facebook and in Google. Eventually, it’s going to be Twitter and LinkedIn and all the sites out there.

    When you get people back to your site seven times you’re much more likely to build a brand. It’s called the Rule of Seven in marketing. So with your site, you want to provide an amazing user experience. When you provide an amazing user experience, create a great product, create a great service, it’ll help you build a great brand over time.

    Mistake 4: Not Interlinking

    The fourth mistake you’re making is not interlinking. You may notice on Google I’m ranking for terms like online marketing on page one. You’re probably wondering how do I do this? A lot of it comes out to interlinking. In my sidebar, I link to my most popular pages of content. When I write blog posts related to online marketing I link back to the online marketing guide that talks about what online marketing is. By having all these links it helps me rank higher.

    Mistake 5: Just Focusing On Text-Based Content

    The fifth mistake I have for you is just focusing on text-based content. The future of digital marketing is moving to video. It doesn’t mean you should stop doing text but it means you should also be doing video. When you do video you’re going to get more traffic because everyone’s lacking it. LinkedIn wants it right now. YouTube wants more of it. Facebook wants it. Instagram even wants it.

    Why is this? They want to crush the television networks. You look at things like the Oscars or traditional movie theaters and they’re not doing as well. You look at traditional TV and they’re going to get crushed. Why? It’s because of Facebook. It’s because of Google. It’s because of Netflix. If you’re there creating that video content you can be part of it and you’re going to get extra traffic. They want as much help as possible to crush these big old-school companies.

    Mistake 6: Sticking To Just a Few Marketing Channels

    The sixth mistake that you’re making is you’re really sticking to just a few marketing channels. Marketing is competitive. People raise venture capital hundreds of millions of dollars just so they can compete in marketing and sales. You need to do more than one or two or three marketing channels. The more you do the better off you’re going to be.

    Mistake 7: Not Asking For the Sale

    The seventh mistake I have for you is not asking for the sale. Whether it’s a lead or whether it’s getting people to buy your product, there’s nothing wrong with asking people to buy from you. If you don’t you’re not going to generate any sales. Everyone’s like I get all this traffic through my online marketing but no one’s converting. Why? Because you’re not asking for a sale.

    Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes and You Will Crush It, Says Neil Patel


  • Reddit 1-800 Flowers Ad Goes Viral

    Reddit 1-800 Flowers Ad Goes Viral

    “Our ads on Reddit have gotten a lot of traction and puts a big smile on people’s faces,” says 1-800 Flowers CEO Chris McCann. “That’s what we’re trying to do is just make sure we’re relevant and create that cognitive speed bump when people think about our company. They see something different and I’m thrilled with the creative team for coming up with something like that.”

    Reddit Ad That Went Viral for 1-800-Flowers.com

    As usual, some opinionated Redditers expressed their thoughts on the ads:

    1-800 Flowers CEO discusses the company’s growth that was accelerated by the pandemic:

    Ecommerce Growth Accelerated During Pandemic

    What we’ve seen is an acceleration of growth in our company that began back in 2018 and really then accelerated even further in 2020 with the pandemic. It’s driven by the need for us as people to connect and express ourselves. As a company whose vision is to inspire more human expression, connection, and celebration, and as an ecommerce leader, we’re well-positioned in the trends that we see coming out of this pandemic. We think these trends are sustainable going forward.

    We started out as one flower shop many years ago. What we’ve done is created this e-commerce platform for growth, a platform for expression, connection, and celebration. It starts with this all-star family of brands that we have led by Harry & David, 1-800-Flowers, Cheryl’s Cookies, Shari’s Berries, and our recent acquisition just this past August of Personalization Mall. You see us now as a company in the expression and connection business with a leadership position in floral, a leadership position in gourmet food gifting, and certainly now leadership and position in expressions and personalized items which is a fast-growing market.

    You’ll continue to continue to see us grow by organic product development of products that help customers express and connect. And as we’ve done through acquisition, adding to that platform and leveraging that platform that we’ve built.

    Need To Express and Connect Is a Lasting Trend

    Hopefully, the vaccines accelerate and we turn to some sense of normalcy sooner rather than later. As we look at our business, the momentum we saw began in 2018 and 2019 and then accelerated with the pandemic. We’ve been on a good momentum growth even before the pandemic and we really see ourselves now as a bigger stronger company than we were prior to it. We’ve acquired Personalization Mall just this past August and by putting it on our platform and leveraging our digital marketing expertise we accelerated the growth of that company. It grew by 50 percent this last quarter.

    A year ago August we acquired Shari’s Berries and took a business that was stagnant and losing money to now one that’s got a nice growth rate and is generating a nice contribution margin as well. If we just keep our focus on what the consumer is looking for to help express and connect then we’ll be continuing to see double-digit growth for some time to come. That trend that we’ve all learned from being isolated, our need to express and connect is a lasting trend coming out of this pandemic along with the shift from offline to online.

    1-800 Flowers Ecommerce Growth Accelerated During Pandemic

  • Ecommerce Nearing $1 Trillion

    Ecommerce Nearing $1 Trillion

    “We’re forecasting that ecommerce spending this year will be somewhere between $850 billion and $930 billion,” says John Copeland, Vice President of Marketing Science and Customer Insights at Adobe. This would be a 14 percent increase over last year. That would be more typical of what we see year over year in the ecommerce channel.”

    John Copeland of Adobe, predicts that ecommerce spending could be $930 billion, or just under $1 trillion, in 2021:

    COVID was a catalyst to the ecommerce channel last year. What we saw when you look at the full calendar year of 2020 was $813 billion dollars in ecommerce spending, 42 percent growth over 2019. That’s like combining two years’ worth of growth into a single year. Consumers have really embraced the online channel to meet their needs during these challenging times.

    We’re all kind of wondering what (the vaccine rollout) is going to do in terms of ecommerce. We’re forecasting this year somewhere between $850 billion, only a 5 percent over last year, and up to $930 billion, which would be a 14 percent increase over last year. The 5 percent increase would be if everybody gets vaccinated and rushes out and we see kind of a slowdown. The $930 billion, 14 percent increase, would be more typical of what we see year over year in the ecommerce channel.

    Buy Now Pay Later Up 215 Percent Over Last Year

    Buy Now Pay Later is very much good for retailers. In fact, what we’ve seen in February this year relative to February 2020, which is kind of on the cusp of the pandemic, is a 215 percent increase year over year in buy now pay later orders. In terms of retailers, it comes along with larger average order values. What we’re seeing is 18 percent larger orders when customers are using that service. Unlike layaway, with buy now pay later you actually get the goods upfront, you don’t have to wait until the payment’s done.

    Another trend is Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store, also known as BOPUS. In February of this year, we’re already seeing it growing 67 percent year on year. It’s always been huge and growing during the holiday season but now people are clearly working it in as part of their fulfillment options. Picking up in the store gives consumers the ability to schedule it according to their availability and knowing that stock will be there for them when they want to pick it up.

    Ecommerce Nearing $1 Trillion, Says John Copeland of Adobe
  • App Annie Pays $10 Million to Settle SEC Securities Fraud Charge

    App Annie Pays $10 Million to Settle SEC Securities Fraud Charge

    App Annie, the mobile app data firm, has agreed to pay $10 million to settle SEC charges of securities fraud.

    According to the SEC, App Annie and its co-founder and former CEO, Bertrand Schmitt, misled customers about how data was collected. 

    App Annie and Schmitt understood that companies would only share their confidential app performance data with App Annie if it promised not to disclose their data to third parties, and as a result App Annie and Schmitt assured companies that their data would be aggregated and anonymized before being used by a statistical model to generate estimates of app performance.

    Unfortunately, that’s not what App Annie did. Instead, the company used non-anonymized data, in direct violation of its promises, even selling that data to trading firms — something it explicitly said it would not do.

    Contrary to these representations, the order finds that from late 2014 through mid-2018, App Annie used non-aggregated and non-anonymized data to alter its model-generated estimates to make them more valuable to sell to trading firms.

    “The federal securities laws prohibit deceptive conduct and material misrepresentations in connection with the purchase or sale of securities,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “Here, App Annie and Schmitt lied to companies about how their confidential data was being used and then not only sold the manipulated estimates to their trading firm customers, but also encouraged them to trade on those estimates—often touting how closely they correlated with the companies’ true performance and stock prices.”

    “App Annie sought to distinguish itself in the alternative data space by providing securities market participants with valuable information in a new and innovative way,” said Erin E. Schneider, Director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “It went to great lengths to assure its customers that the financial and app-related data it sold was the product of a sophisticated statistical model and that it had controls to ensure compliance with the federal securities laws. These representations were materially false and misleading.”

    The settlement is significant, as it’s the first enforcement action against an “alternative data” provider. Alternative data does not have to be disclosed in a company’s financial results, or in traditional data sources.

    App Annie issued a statement, neither confirming nor denying guilt, saying it had made changes to improve trust and transparency.

    Without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s order, App Annie settled the matter and we are pleased it is now resolved. Over the past 3 years, we made a number of material changes to our operations and established a new level of trust and transparency.

    While the company says the investigation does not pertain to its current customer relationships, it’s a safe bet its customers may not have such a rosy outlook.

  • Target CEO Says Digital Performance Up 50%

    Target CEO Says Digital Performance Up 50%

    “Our digital performance was up 50 percent,” says Target CEO Brian Cornell. “As we gain greater clarity around the consumer, the economy, the state of the vaccine, we feel that the consumer continues to respond to our in-store experience and the ease and convenience of shopping with some of our same-day services like pickup, drive-up, and ship. Same-day fulfillment services now represent over half of our digital channel.”

    Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, discusses their massive Q1 results in an interview on CNBC:

    Digital Performance Up 50 Percent

    We’ve had a string of really solid results going back to 2017 but this quarter may be one of the highlights. Our team executed throughout the quarter. We had a great performance from our store teams with a store comp of 18%. Our digital performance was up 50%. It was really a team effort. We had great supply chain support with our merchants and marketers all coming together to support the results which speak for themselves.

    We are benefitting from investments we’ve been making for years now. Our investment in our store experience, our curated Home Brand and national brand mix, and then the fulfillment services that we offer. That combined with the investment in our team, I think we are seeing continued strength. We feel really good sitting here right now about our outlook, not just for the second quarter but for the full year.

    We’ve Connected With The Consumer

    As we gain greater clarity around the consumer, the economy, the state of the vaccine, we feel that the consumer continues to respond to our in-store experience and the ease and convenience of shopping with some of our same-day services like pickup, drive-up, and ship. They really connect with our curation of Great Home Brand, national brands, and the service our team provides each and every day.

    We are feeling very confident about our position today. I look at the proof point from Q1, we picked up another billion dollars in market share on top of the $9 billion of share last year. That’s just a sign that we’ve connected with the consumer, we’re building relevance, and we’re providing what they need and what they want throughout the year.

    Newness Is A Huge Trend In Our Business

    When you see the combination of stores comping up at 18%, which to me is just a highlight number, and categories like apparel growing again by over 60%, that combination of store traffic and category mix really benefited us throughout the quarter. We are seeing a resilient consumer. They’re clearly shopping our stores and when they’re there they are attracted to anything that’s new.

    Newness has certainly been a trend throughout our business in the first quarter and I think that’s going to continue. That great combination of store traffic and store comps and the continued movement of same-day fulfillment services which now represent over half of our digital channel. We really like that transaction. It looks and feels more like a store transaction which from a profitability standpoint certainly is beneficial for us.

    Target CEO Brian Cornell Says Digital Performance Up 50%
  • Shopify: We Are Arming The Rebels

    Shopify: We Are Arming The Rebels

    “We are arming the rebels… the entrepreneurs, the small business owners, the independent brands, and the rebels are winning,” says Shopify President Harley Finkelstein. “It feels like the retail world that would have existed in 2030 was pulled back to 2020. We have seen this massive catalyst to an acceleration in digitalization in commerce and retail. We are writing the future of commerce and entrepreneurs are really the heroes of the Shopify story.”

    Shopify President Harley Finkelstein says the rebels―the entrepreneurs and the small business owners―are the heroes of the Shopify story… and the rebels are winning:

    We Are Arming The Rebels

    There’s a lot to be optimistic about even in the second half of 2021. It feels like the retail world that would have existed in 2030 was pulled back to 2020. We certainly have seen this massive catalyst to an acceleration in digitalization in commerce and retail. But actually, we are writing the future of commerce and entrepreneurs are really the heroes of the Shopify story. We are arming the rebels… the entrepreneurs, the small business owners, the independent brands, and the rebels are winning.

    Consumers have been voting with their wallets for the last ten months or so to buy from independent brands wherever possible. In 2020, 47 million consumers purchased from a Shopify merchant. That’s up 52 from 2019. Our merchant’s performance helped expand Shopify’s lead on an aggregated basis to be the second-largest e-commerce retailer in the U.S. Shopify is now about nine percent of all US ecom. If you think about it, Shopify is a proxy for independent retail and for direct-to-consumer retail.

    Shop Pay Launches Accelerated Checkout

    We only succeed when our merchants do. This has led to us having more than 1.7 million merchants on Shopify. This includes people from first-time entrepreneurs making their first sale every 28 seconds to the likes of O’Neill and Hallmark and Herman Miller and Purina. Diageo, who also just launched in Shopify and in Q4 alone revenue nearly doubled year over year to $978 million. There’s a lot to be optimistic about. Actually, the future of retail and commerce we think is going to look a lot more like these independent brands than these sort of department stores that existed in the past.

    Shop Pay is our accelerated checkout. We just announced it last week. We know that it not only helps merchants get more sales, it helps buyers convert better and much faster. Now we think that providing it to the Instagram and Facebook platforms means that our merchants can not only access new customers on those platforms, and frankly anywhere where customers are, but now can transact in a more efficient way. Shopify is becoming far more than an e-commerce provider.

    Future of Retail Is Wherever Consumers Are

    We are trying to build the world’s first retail operating system, which makes it as easy as possible and where the cost of failure is as low as possible, so more people can participate in entrepreneurship. We think the future retail is not online or offline or anywhere, in particular, it’s wherever consumers are. That’s what we’re trying to build. Seeing Shop Pay move into Facebook and Instagram is a really great way to demonstrate where the future of retail is happening.

    We are trying to get to a point where we completely democratize entrepreneurship. We use a 100-year perspective and we want to build a 100-year company. We’re about 15 years into our journey right now and we have 85 years left to go. In the long run, we’re happy where Shopify is but frankly, on the topic of more participation in the equity markets, we think that is also entrepreneurial and we think that’s also democratizing.

    Shopify CEO: We Are Arming The Rebels

  • T-Mobile CEO: Our Competitors Spent $80 Billion To Catch Up and They Fell Short

    T-Mobile CEO: Our Competitors Spent $80 Billion To Catch Up and They Fell Short

    “Our competitors just spent a combined $80 billion trying to catch up and match us and they fell short,” says T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. “We didn’t just leave this auction with the most mid-band spectrum, we left the auction with the best mid-band spectrum. Our two and a half gigahertz spectrum is more than 50 percent better in most use cases and we have more of it than anybody else. It’s going to make us famous for network in the 5G era.”

    Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, says that despite AT&T and Verizon spending $80 billion in the c-band auction trying to catch up and match them, they fell short:

    Our Competitors Spent $80 Billion To Catch Up and They Fell Short

    What the c-band auction shows is the extraordinary value of what T-Mobile has. Our competitors just spent a combined $80 billion trying to catch up and match us and they fell short. They spent $80 billion dollars and are still falling short. We didn’t just leave this auction with the most mid-band spectrum, we left the auction with the best mid-band spectrum. Our two and a half gigahertz spectrum is more than 50 percent better in most use cases. Yet we have more of it than anybody else. It’s really terrific because we’ve taken it and run ahead by about two years with the best asset base in the industry. It’s going to make us famous for network in the 5G era.

    As we sit here today we’re more than a million square miles ahead of AT&T and Verizon on deployment. We have more 5G geographic coverage out there than AT&T and Verizon combined. We’re also adding coverage at a record pace, at a pace no one company in this industry has ever done. We started ramping up this engine two years ago and now it’s running at pace. While our competitors just seized some assets, they didn’t catch up, but they just seized some assets that they’re going to get after, but they’re way behind.

    We Will Unlock Massive Cashflow From This Business

    Yesterday we announced a business plan where we demonstrated massive cash flow potential from this business with very reasonable assumptions. These are assumptions that don’t require us to catch any unicorns. We just have to go do what we’ve already demonstrated we know how to do and we’ll unlock massive cash flow potential in this business. We have everything we need to deliver that business plan right now.

    Last week we announced our Work From Home solution. We just started our rollout of home broadband for business home office workers. That’s across more than 50 million of the US population and it will rapidly expand to nationwide. It’s such an exciting thing. Now, work from home workers no longer have to share the WiFiwith their kids. That’s so important.

    They also don’t have to worry about security if they are enterprises, they can get their home office workers a secure connection. Later this month, as we unveiled yesterday, we’ll be announcing our consumer launch plans across a wide swath of this country with rate plans, go to market plans. etc. We’re really excited about what’s ahead in home broadband. From a timing standpoint, we’re way ahead of the other new entrants.

    Starlink Is Not A Broadband Competitor

    SpaceX Starlink Constellation (and other satellite broadband provider) could be a compliment or a future collaborator. Ultimately, for the core mainstream broadband connection, it’s going to come down to capacity. Those emerging technologies won’t be able to match on capacity but they’ll be really great augments for places that macro networks don’t reach. Capacity will be the game. Nobody has the ability to deliver more capacity to more places than T-Mobile.

    That’s just so great. This is a company that used to be a scrappy upstart and now we’re the number two provider but with demonstrably the best asset base in this industry.

    T-Mobile CEO: Our Competitors Spent $80 Billion To Catch Up and They Fell Short
  • Video Gaming Increasing Across All Age Groups

    Video Gaming Increasing Across All Age Groups

    In further evidence of the impact the pandemic is having on everyday life, video gaming has seen a significant uptick across allage groups.

    With more people staying home and avoiding in-person contact, alternative forms of entertainment and socialization have been on the rise. Video gaming, in particular, has become a popular option. Rather than being a solo experience, modern video games often provide a high level of social interaction.

    According to Mat Piscatella, Video Game Industry Analyst, The NPD Group, video games are rising in popularity across age demographics, and specifically among middle-aged and older groups.

    https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1333452885422587912?s=20

    Interestingly, the biggest jump in video game usage was in the 45 to 54 year-old age group. This impact of the pandemic is sure to open up new opportunities for enterprising companies to better engage with potential customers.

  • Digital, Drive-Through, Delivery Powering McDonald’s

    Digital, Drive-Through, Delivery Powering McDonald’s

    “I know everyone wants to focus on the Travis Scott Meal and Spicy Chicken McNuggets which definitely contributed to the fantastic September that we had,” says McDonald’s USA President Joe Erlinger. “But the setup for this great quarter actually started much earlier in the year. Our drive-throughs have been getting faster at McDonald’s. We’ve made a lot of investments in digital and drive-through and delivery as well.”

    https://youtu.be/8K0lnarZ0oQ

    Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald’s USA, says that the Travis Scott Meal promotion is helping but their latest earnings results are actually powered by improvements in digital, drive-through, and delivery:

    Digital, Drive-Through and Delivery Powering McDonald’s

    I know everyone wants to focus on the Travis Scott Meal and Spicy Chicken McNuggets which definitely contributed to the fantastic September that we had. But the setup for this great quarter actually started much earlier in the year. Our drive-throughs have been getting faster at McDonald’s. We’ve made a lot of investments in digital and drive-through and delivery as well.

    Then really we made a lot of changes to our business model as the pandemic set upon us including over 50 changes in operations. We limited our menu and we’ve made our restaurants easier to run. At the same time, we conserved some of our marketing funds. We began to unleash those marketing funds in the third quarter. That’s what set up this great result of 4.6% double-digit comps in September.

    Breakfast Is BACK At McDonalds

    When we entered the pandemic we had reversed what was a long-term trend of negative guest counts. It’s been lost in the results of what happened in the epidemic. But in January and February, we actually had positive comps at breakfast and positive guest counts. It goes without saying that we don’t sell the Spicy McNuggets or the Travis Scott orders at breakfast and we’ve obviously seen positive comps across all dayparts.

    So we are actually very optimistic about the daypart. We’re excited about the bakery launch that’ll take place later this month. We’ve got a real built-in advantage on this because of our drive-throughs and just because of our overall convenience factor. I like the characterization that yes, breakfast is back at McDonald’s.

    Mood Amongst Franchisees Is Strong

    Franchisees did come into this in a position of absolute strength. In fact, 2019 was the highest cash flow year ever for our franchisees. Some of the steps that we took through the pandemic both to support them in terms of their liquidity but also to make the operations of the restaurant easier (helped significantly). We actually improved margins at the restaurant level as well.

    They’re actually coming out of the worst of the pandemic in a very good position and in a very strong financial position. The mood amongst our franchisees is strong. I was in restaurants uh in Washington state a few weeks ago. Last week I was actually in Washington DC. There’s a lot of optimism confidence as we enter the fourth quarter.

    Digital, Drive-Through, Delivery Powering McDonald’s
  • You Can’t Find A 24-Year-Old On Facebook Today

    You Can’t Find A 24-Year-Old On Facebook Today

    “You‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌find‌ ‌a‌ ‌24-year-old‌ ‌on‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌today,” says social media marketing expert Gary Vaynerchuk. ‌”Every‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌them‌ ‌was‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌eight‌ ‌years‌ ‌ago.‌ ‌So‌ ‌it‌ ‌ebbs‌ ‌and‌ ‌flows‌ ‌and‌ ‌as‌ TikTok‌ ‌gets‌ ‌older‌ ‌an‌ ‌audience‌ ‌can‌ ‌emerge.‌ ‌I’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌putting‌ ‌out‌ ‌business‌ ‌content‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌from‌ ‌day‌ ‌one,‌ ‌it skews ‌entrepreneurial,‌ ‌which‌ ‌may‌ ‌work‌ ‌in‌ ‌teenage‌ ‌and‌ ‌early‌ ‌20s.”

    Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vayner Media, social media star and entrepreneurial guru followed by millions, says you can’t even find a 24-year-old‌ ‌on‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌today:

    I Don’t Believe TikTok Is A National Security Threat

    The‌ ‌pitch‌ ‌started‌ ‌before‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌brouhaha‌ ‌started.‌ ‌We‌ ‌were‌ ‌awarded‌ ‌the‌ ‌business‌ ‌(with TikTok) during‌ ‌this‌ ‌time‌. ‌Obviously,‌ ‌like‌ ‌every‌ ‌other‌ ‌American‌ ‌business‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world, we‌ ‌will‌ ‌deal‌ ‌with‌ ‌whatever‌ ‌the‌ ‌rules‌ ‌are.‌ ‌Like‌ ‌everybody‌ ‌else,‌ ‌we’re‌ ‌standing‌ ‌by.‌ Personally‌, ‌I‌ ‌don’t‌ (consider TikTok‌ a national security threat). ‌But‌ ‌maybe‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌not‌ ‌sitting‌ ‌on‌ ‌information‌ ‌that‌ ‌others‌ ‌are.‌ ‌But‌ ‌no‌, ‌I‌ ‌do‌ ‌not.‌

    ‌Our‌ ‌small‌ ‌scope‌ ‌with‌ ‌TikTok‌‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌Vayner‌ ‌Media‌ ‌level‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌really‌ ‌impact‌ ‌what‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌interested‌ ‌in‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌scheme‌ ‌of‌ ‌business.‌ ‌Facebook,‌ ‌Inc.‌, ‌Pinterest‌, and‌ ‌Linkedin‌ ‌all‌ ‌our‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌that‌ ‌all‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌brands‌ ‌work‌ ‌on.‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌not‌ ‌overly‌ ‌emotional‌ ‌or‌ ‌I ‌have‌ ‌no‌ ‌feelings‌. ‌I ‌could‌ ‌care‌ ‌less‌ ‌if ‌Facebook‌, ‌Snapchat‌, ‌Linkedin,‌ ‌CNBC, ‌the‌ ‌New‌ ‌York‌ ‌Times‌ ‌disappeared‌ ‌off‌ ‌the‌ ‌face‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Earth.‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌focusing‌ ‌on‌ ‌attention‌ ‌and‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌what‌ ‌our‌ ‌clients‌ ‌are‌ ‌focusing‌ ‌on.‌ ‌Where‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌actual‌ ‌attention‌ ‌and‌ ‌how‌ ‌do‌ ‌we‌ ‌advertise‌ ‌on‌ ‌that‌ ‌platform?‌ ‌

    Every Influencer Needs To Be On Every Platform

    As‌ ‌far‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌influencers,‌ ‌every‌ ‌influencer‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌‌ ‌world‌ ‌needs‌ ‌to‌ ‌divest‌ ‌and‌ ‌be‌ ‌in‌ ‌every‌ ‌single‌ ‌platform‌ ‌and‌ ‌create‌ ‌contextual‌ ‌content‌ ‌on‌ ‌each‌ ‌of‌ ‌those‌ ‌platforms.‌ Whether‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌a‌ ‌government‌ ‌getting‌ ‌involved‌ ‌and‌ ‌shutting‌ ‌it‌ ‌down‌ ‌or‌ ‌if‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌the‌ ‌consumers‌ ‌shifting‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌put‌ ‌all‌ ‌your‌ ‌eggs‌ ‌into‌ ‌MySpace‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌not‌ ‌doing‌ ‌so‌ ‌well‌ ‌today.‌ ‌So‌ ‌something‌ ‌I’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌screaming‌ ‌about‌ ‌in‌ ‌my‌ ‌content‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌decade‌ ‌is‌ ‌if‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌not‌ ‌creating‌ ‌content‌ ‌across‌ ‌the‌ ‌board‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌losing‌. ‌It’s‌ ‌something‌ ‌that‌ ‌brands‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌doing.‌ ‌

    Way‌ ‌too‌ ‌many‌ ‌are‌ ‌pot-committed‌ ‌to‌ ‌commercials‌ ‌on‌ ‌a‌ ‌TV ‌network‌ ‌when‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌attention‌ ‌is‌ ‌shifting‌ ‌to‌ ‌your mobile device. ‌

    You Can’t Find A 24-Year-Old On Facebook Today

    What’s‌ ‌funny‌ ‌is‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌look‌ ‌at‌ ‌what’s‌ ‌happening‌ ‌on‌ ‌TikTok‌, ‌‌we’re‌ ‌getting‌ ‌our‌ ‌advertisers‌ ‌that‌ ‌are‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌reach‌ ‌35‌ ‌to‌ ‌45‌ ‌going‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌pretty‌ ‌aggressively‌ ‌because‌ ‌every‌ ‌platform‌ ‌gets‌ ‌much‌ ‌older.‌ ‌Don’t‌ ‌deviate‌ ‌from‌ ‌what‌ ‌you‌ ‌know.‌ ‌If‌ ‌you‌ ‌and‌ ‌I ‌dance‌ ‌on‌ ‌that‌ ‌platform‌ ‌I ‌don’t‌ ‌think‌ ‌we’re‌ ‌getting‌ ‌that‌ ‌many‌ ‌views.‌ ‌You‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌stay‌ ‌in‌ ‌your‌ ‌pocket‌ ‌and‌ ‌create‌ ‌the‌ ‌content‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌let‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌evolve.‌ ‌

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_d-65RFQNd/

    You‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌find‌ ‌a‌ ‌24-year-old‌ ‌on‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌today.‌ ‌Every‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌them‌ ‌was‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌eight‌ ‌years‌ ‌ago.‌ ‌So‌ ‌it‌ ‌ebbs‌ ‌and‌ ‌flows‌ ‌and‌ ‌as‌ TikTok‌ ‌gets‌ ‌older‌ ‌an‌ ‌audience‌ ‌can‌ ‌emerge.‌ ‌I’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌putting‌ ‌out‌ ‌business‌ ‌content‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌from‌ ‌day‌ ‌one,‌ ‌it skews ‌entrepreneurial,‌ ‌which‌ ‌may‌ ‌work‌ ‌in‌ ‌teenage‌ ‌and‌ ‌early‌ ‌20s.‌ ‌CNBC‌ ‌and‌ ‌‌your‌ ‌incredible‌ ‌show‌ ‌could‌ ‌dominate‌ ‌on‌ ‌TikTok‌‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌put‌ ‌out‌ ‌information‌ ‌and‌ ‌just‌ ‌had‌ ‌the‌ ‌nuances‌ ‌of‌ ‌TikTok‌ ‌more‌ ‌than‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌become‌ ‌Charlie Demilio.

  • COVID-19 Continues to Reshape Advertising

    COVID-19 Continues to Reshape Advertising

    The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released a report demonstrating how much COVID-19 has impacted advertising.

    As the coronavirus pandemic began impacting businesses, advertising was one of the areas hardest hit. The IAB conducted a survey of 242 companies to see how the pandemic has changed advertising, and how it will continue to do so going into 2021.

    In a bit of good news for the industry, the IAB projects that digital advertising will see an overall increase of 6% in 2020, compared to 2019. That’s where the good news ends, however, as overall advertising across all mediums is expected to drop by 8%. Traditional media advertising is to blame for the drop, experiencing as much as a 30% decline.

    Looking ahead to 2021, as much as 70% of businesses have ballpark estimates of their budget at best, are not clear or have no idea how much they plan to spend. Those buyers that do have some idea of their 2021 budget, plan to spend 5.3% more than in 2020.

    While the pandemic continues to take an obvious toll, one thing is clear: digital advertising is coming into its own as a result.

  • Why You Should Be Using UGC in Your Facebook Ads

    Why You Should Be Using UGC in Your Facebook Ads

    In a struggle to display authenticity without resorting to obvious pandering, while still hitting ROI targets, some brands find Facebook Ads difficult to approach, especially in a politically and culturally sensitive era

    Numerous reports can be referenced highlighting the importance of authenticity within marketing as a whole. This advice is doubly true when attempting to appeal to demographics that may span numerous cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. The only way to truly be authentic is to have representation within these diverse groups of people that can tell their story about your brand in a way that is unique to them and their coveted audience. 

    The way for such brands to avoid failure is to adopt a UGC ad approach utilizing influencers. Influencer marketing, as you may recall, can be distilled in having someone else tell your brand story for you, which is precisely what UGC created ads are.

    There are multiple methods that influencers can utilize in the Facebook ecosystem, including live streaming collaborations, fan page postings, and group advertisements. However, the method we have found particularly effective involves using Facebook’s internal brand collabs manager as a multi-step campaign process.

    For this process to work, a brand will need to only have access to an account with Facebook Ads management credentials. However, in multiple tests, we have found it is faster and more efficient to prequalify influencers through an external network prior to engaging, rather than relying upon the Facebook marketplace alone for the selection process. The importance of this step is predicated on the importance of first calculating the probability of influence based on your predetermined campaign goals. The reasoning for external vetting prior to ad collaborations is as follows:

    1. While approximate reach and engagement is discernable through the brand side of the Facebook collaboration marketplace, what isn’t obvious is relevance. By first vetting Facebook influencers, a brand will likely find the self-identified categorical selections and content focus is not always congruent with the information displayed in the collabs marketplace.

    2. The next issue is cost. Once again, testing has determined that price is not as static as one might assume when simply utilizing the brand collabs marketplace. The reason for this is reflective of fit. As a thought exercise, imagine a digital marketer is being asked to set an hourly rate for her services. The ads collabs manager in this analogy represents the expected blended rate for all activities the aforementioned marketer would be asked to perform. The reality is her distaste for a service such as site infrastructure auditing may make other activities she enjoys more expensive on that blended rate. The same is true of influencers. A blended rate exists to satisfy the vast majority of collaboration pitches the influencer is expected to receive. Therefore, approaching an influencer external to the collabs marketplace can often result in a lower starting price point.

    The only caveat to this approach is not every Facebook influencer in external networks is a member of the ads collabs marketplace. If time is of the essence, it is recommended to ask on the status of this membership when pitching. However, as Facebook is willing to let most applicants into the program, if a brand feels strongly about an influencer, it can be worth pursuing the relationship while urging the influencer also gain membership into the program.

    Once an influencer has been selected based on campaign criteria of fit, economics, and expected outcome, the process for using this influencer in an ongoing ad is remarkably similar to that of a normal influencer campaign. The critical difference is centered on ad quality guidelines, as some industries are more heavily regulated from an ad copy perspective. Presumably, a brand will evaluate the true impact an influencer provides prior to elevating into an ad unit. Additionally, running a postmortem analysis  in the event expectations are not in line with reality helps for future transactions. After initial satisfaction has been reached the next steps are simple:

    1. Approve the collaboration in the Facebook collabs manager interface

    Branded Content Approval. Source: Facebook.com

    2. Create a new ad utilizing the influencer via the boost post ad type. Simply set a budget and you’re done.

    To test this concept for yourself, simultaneously run this process against a fresh ad campaign on the same exact topic. You may find, as we and others have, that the UGC-elevated ads end up outperforming the conventional ad types. The often occurs without running into the pitfalls of a brand trying to target multiple demographics, which can often come off as inauthentic. All that was required was simply incorporating some influencers into the process. 

    To learn more, take a self-guided demo of Intellifluence, which will help you understand how influencers can be applied to virtually any marketing use case in a simple campaign creation process. 

  • Slice CEO Leading Digital Transformation Of Pizzerias

    Slice CEO Leading Digital Transformation Of Pizzerias

    “We want to make sure that 70 to 80 percent of the volume for pizzerias is digital., says Slice CEO Ilir Sela. “This is very comparable to Domino’s and Papa John’s and other big chains. We’ve got to lead the digital transformation of these small businesses. We bring technology and marketing and we enable the existing operation of the pizzeria. We make them more efficient and we make these Pizzerias really powerful and valuable.”

    Ilir Sela, CEO of Slice, discusses how the Slice app is driving the digital transformation of small pizzerias so that they can compete effectively with the national pizza chains:

    Leading Digital Transformation Of Pizzerias

    We take a merchant friendly approach because we really believe in the power of small business and the American dream. I am third generation in the pizza industry. My family consists of a ton of entrepreneurs who mostly opened up small business pizzerias. The goal for us was to make sure that as digital becomes an important component of their business that it doesn’t cannibalize the physical location.

    So we take a digital-first approach in a way that means we want to make sure that 70 to 80 percent of the volume for these pizzerias is digital. This is very comparable to Domino’s and Papa John’s and other big chains. In order to do that you have to take a long-term view and you’ve got to take a merchant friendly view around loyalty and online ordering. Obviously, in order to do that we’ve got to run the playbook. We’ve got to lead the digital transformation of these small businesses.

    All Pizzerias Need To Digitize Their Platforms

    We are actually an all-in-one platform where we partner with a small business in order to digitize their operation. We are not a logistics company ourselves. We empower small businesses to have what we call first-party delivery. In a way, that’s been done forever. Small business pizzerias have delivered across the entire country for decades and they’ve made it work incredibly well.

    The reality is that in the world of COVID and as we go further into the 2020s, all these pizzerias really need to digitize their platforms in order to become more efficient. What we do is we bring technology and marketing and we enable the existing operation of the pizzeria. We make it more efficient and we make it really powerful and valuable.

    Slice CEO Ilir Sela Leading Digital Transformation Of Pizzerias
  • Businesses Being Reimagined In A World That Is Now Entirely Digital

    Businesses Being Reimagined In A World That Is Now Entirely Digital

    “There’s a real recognition that digitization and transformation are not doing what you used to do in the physical world,” says Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz. “Digitizing that and translating that is essentially the journey of going from being a caterpillar to a butterfly. Real transformation. How do you reimagine yourself in the context of a world that now is entirely digital? Customers are thinking very actively about how they actually create products and services that essentially create value for customers entirely digitally.”

    Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient, discusses how the current pandemic has forced organizations to reimagine their businesses digitally. Nigel works closely with clients such as McDonald’s, Nationwide, and Unilever to deliver transformative experiences and business models:

    https://youtu.be/VOKcTLcxHXw
    Businesses Being Reimagined In A World That Is Now Entirely Digital

    Digitization Has Become Existential For Business

    I think Digital has always been important for business. Now more than ever what’s becoming very clear is this has gone from being something that’s important to something that’s existential. How do you support customers to make orders entirely online when your stores are closed? How do you create mashups with other partners to be able to facilitate deliveries when your own deliveries don’t suffice? How do you try to create experiences online through self-service that minimize the impact of people calling your call centers? 

    All of these things are things clients are facing on a regular basis. Most CEOs I’m in conversation with are acknowledging the fact that this has now got to be a priority, that they have to be ready more so than they’ve ever thought before.

    3 Key Things Happening With the Transformation

    There are three things happening here in terms of transformation. The first is the change in human behavior where I think there’s a recognizable shift now. We’re seeing significant accounts of over-70s, for example, ordering from retail and ramping that up. We’re seeing a big shift in institutions like schools and educational institutions, which historically had not thought about transformation as particularly applicable to them. 

    We’re also seeing a shift in industries like leisure looking at creating virtual experiences since physical experiences are essentially restricted and people can’t use them. The human behavior shift is translating to big investments in technology and technology platforms that enable this. 

    Businesses Being Reimagined In A World That Is Now Entirely Digital

    Then lastly, new business models. There’s a real recognition that digitization and transformation are not doing what you used to do in the physical world. Digitizing that and translating that is essentially the journey of going from being a caterpillar to a butterfly. Real transformation. How do you reimagine yourself in the context of a world that now is entirely digital?

    Customers are thinking very actively about how they actually create products and services that essentially create value for customers entirely digitally. There are plenty of examples in this from telemedicine and from the educational space with new courses coming online which can scale faster than traditional courses limited by a classroom and a professor.

    COVID-19 Is Forcing Businesses To Change
  • Senator Blumenthal Demands AT&T Back Off Ad-Based Cellphone Plans

    Senator Blumenthal Demands AT&T Back Off Ad-Based Cellphone Plans

    That didn’t take long; Senator Richard Blumenthal has demanded that AT&T rethink its plans to offer ad-subsidized phone plans.

    As we reported this morning, AT&T CEO John Stankey told Reuters in an interview that the company was looking at offering $5 to $10 off of plans in exchange for displaying ads on the user’s phone. In our report, we raised issues with what we labeled “quite possibly one of the worst, most consumer-unfriendly ideas put forth by a company in recent years.”

    It seems that Senator Blumenthal agrees, slamming the wireless carrier for its plans.

    ”I am alarmed that AT&T’s announcement threatens to create a race to the bottom, trampling over long-held consumers expectations and leaving privacy as a right exclusive to the rich,” wrote Blumenthal in a letter to Stankey.

    Senator Blumenthal also takes issue with AT&T’s plans to monitor and track users across devices, and says that customers should not have to choose between privacy and cost.

    “The prospect of AT&T monitoring consumers’ phone and internet records, matching them across devices and data broker records, and then using that private information to manipulatively target people is outright chilling.

    “AT&T should not hold privacy above consumers’ heads for additional cost. Rather than a benefit, it is clear that AT&T is seeking to legitimize more intrusion into consumers’ lives and more aggressively commoditize subscribers. AT&T’s announcement would create a “pay-for-privacy” standard in the increasingly consolidated phone market, driving prices up for those who want to opt out. You also acknowledge that an ad-supported wireless plan would cross-fertilize its AT&T data broker and ad targeting products, adding to the race to the bottom that exists in the internet ecosystem. In holding out nominal discounts in exchange for the intrusive surveillance and aggressive monetization of private information, AT&T is manipulatively pitting consumers’ welfare and privacy against constrained budgets.”

    Senator Blumenthal has requested a written response by October 18. Given the sweeping implications of AT&T’s proposed action, hopefully this quick pushback will cause them—and any other companies considering such ideas—to reconsider.

  • AT&T Exploring Ads On Your Cell Phone For a Price Discount

    AT&T Exploring Ads On Your Cell Phone For a Price Discount

    In case anyone thought they didn’t see enough ads, AT&T wants to put ads on your phone in exchange for a whopping $5 off your bill.

    Ad-supported services have become one of the most popular business models, with everything from streaming entertainment to mobile apps relying on ad revenue to provide free or discounted services. The proliferation of ad-based business models have created a slew of privacy concerns, as consumers and lawmakers are finally pushing back against being continually tracked, analyzed and profiled.

    It appears that AT&T wants to keep going down the privacy-threatening, ad-based rabbit hole, however, by introducing ad-supported telephone plans. The goal would be to use mobile phones to serve up ads, in exchange for a $5 or $10 price break.

    “I believe there’s a segment of our customer base where given a choice, they would take some load of advertising for a $5 or $10 reduction in their mobile bill,” Chief Executive John Stankey told Reuters in an exclusive interview.

    What’s more, the company plans to use “unified customer identifiers,” that would enable marketers to track users across devices.

    Does anyone else see a problem with this?

    Wireless carriers already have access to a vast amount of data on their customers. In fact, it’s safe to say there are few companies that have as much ability to track their users as wireless providers. Having those companies use that data for targeted marketing, even making it easier for marketers to track users across devices, is quite possibly one of the worst, most consumer-unfriendly ideas put forth by a company in recent years.

    What’s most interesting is that AT&T reported revenue of $41.0 billion in its second quarter results. Its operating expenses were $37.4 billion, leaving it an operating income of $3.5 billion—in a single quarter, a quarter hit hard by a global pandemic, among other things.

    Yet, in spite of making a profit of more than $1 billion per month, AT&T is not happy doing what businesses have done since the beginning of time—charge a fair price for a fair service. Instead, it wants to use its vast amount of data to turn its users into a product it can then sell to advertisers.

    This writer, for one, is thrilled to not be an AT&T customer.

  • Taboola – Outbrain Merger Falls Apart

    Taboola – Outbrain Merger Falls Apart

    It was a merger that started out nearly a year ago as a perfect idea and was even approved by the U.S. government. In the end, it turned into a perfect storm because of the ad industry upheaval caused by the coronavirus and subsequent business closures followed by massive unemployment and fewer clicks on ads. Ad prices then dropped dramatically which changed the value proposition for both Outbrain and Taboola.

    The world’s two leading companies in the discovery & native advertising industry will remain fierce competitors in what still is a chaotic and unpredictable ad market.

    “As part of the process we exchanged financial information with each other,” says Taboola Founder & CEO Adam Singolda in a blog post. “Based on the relative performance of the two companies, we decided the original deal does not make sense anymore. We could choose to pay the same price of 30% in equity + $250M, but our shareholders thought it’s too much for what we would get based on the relative contribution of the two companies. Nothing emotional, not about culture fit, just data.”

    “Out of deep respect, we tried to do a deal that was equity only (but less equity), or equity and cash (but less cash) that matched Outbrain’s financial contribution to Taboola. We failed, and we called it off.”

    Outbrain Co-Founder and CEO Yaron Galai expressed his own thoughts on the collapse of the merger:

    “It is now public news that Outbrain’s planned merger with Taboola is heading to termination in the near future. This isn’t the outcome any of us anticipated for this process. We believed when entering this deal that there is great potential value to be had for our employees, our marketers and publisher partners, and our shareholders. However, this combination apparently was simply not meant to be. We worked hard to mix water and oil, but ultimately the companies proved to be too different to be mixed.” 

    “During a very stormy year for the Outbrain team, due to both the pandemic and the cloud of the merger, Outbrain’s character as the #1 most trusted partner for the world’s best publishers has shone through very brightly. We’re excited to continue innovating and building the best native advertising products for publishers and marketers as an independent company for many years to come.”

     

  • Walmart Joining Microsoft in Effort to Purchase TikTok

    Walmart Joining Microsoft in Effort to Purchase TikTok

    Walmart is getting in on the TikTok action, joining Microsoft’s bid to purchase the beleaguered social media platform.

    TikTok has gone from one privacy and security scandal to the next, culminating in the Trump administration instituting a ban that will go into effect on September 15, unless a buyer can be found. Microsoft has emerged as a frontrunner, although Oracle has also expressed interest.

    Now it appears that Walmart is joining Microsoft in its bid, seeing a unique e-commerce opportunity.

    “The way TikTok has integrated e-commerce and advertising capabilities in other markets is a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets,” reads the company’s statement. “We believe a potential relationship with TikTok U.S. in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses. We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of U.S. TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of U.S. government regulators.”

    It will be interesting to see what Microsoft and Walmart can make of TikTok, should a sale be successful.