Crowd-Source Video by You

Crowd sourcing is where a platform gathers from a crowd or crowds of people, enabled virtually most of the time.  The product is the result of the crowd.

Kickstarter is one example.  Crowds of people have the ability to "support" a project that can then go to production and release an actual product.

Streaming video is being crowd-sourced in a suddenly pervasive way without the knowledge or explicit permission of those capturing the video.

If you install a "Ring" door camera and system you may be providing your video stream to local law enforcement without being aware of it.

Read more here:

https://xconomy.com/seattle/2019/08/28/ring-confirms-report-revealing-firm-works-with-400-police-agencies/

Should this alarm you?

I don't care for anything I pay for being used without my permission.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Disney is the New Netflix

Serious competition has finally arrived for Netflix.

Disney

That is ...

Marvel

Star Wars

Disney Animation

all of that jazz all combined in one big offering.  Disney TV has tons of original content and it is all coming up for streaming.

Here is a story that describes the service:

https://www.cnet.com/news/disney-plus-streaming-service-preorders-release-dates-prices-shows-and-movies-to-expect-d23-discount/

Think this won't be big?

Disney offered a big discount to sign up early, if you sign for 3 years at the start.  Their service crashed upon open because demand was too big.

:-)

Here is a story on the impact to Netflix:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenmcbride1/2019/07/08/netflixs-worst-nightmare-has-come-true/#6393a921396d

Happy ... streaming.  Let the streaming wars begin!

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0262 Digital Dashboards

Best Reading of the Day

Data driven is the way.

Right?

Yes.  Of course.

How we do it is very important though.  Data can tell you anything you want if you try.

Take a look at this read:

https://econsultancy.com/what-are-digital-dashboards-challenges-best-practice/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

There are two factors that have driven the recent meteoric rise of digital dashboards.

Firstly, the concept of data democratisation; wherein all data is available to everyone within an organisation. In a data democracy, there are no gatekeepers, and everyone has the tools to understand and act on what the data is telling them. This idea and its potential benefits are now well established. And the technology to power it is evolving fast – complex machine analysis and processing of big data is giving users the power to draw insights automatically, in ways that were never possible before.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

B2B Startup Growth Strategy

Great read over on TechCrunch.

The startup world has been very heavy with B2C or Business to the Customer companies such as UBER.  The B2B world is heating up as I've written about.

Similarities are easy to find but are there differences?

This article addresses the question of growth.  Well worth the read:

https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/16/how-should-b2b-startups-think-about-growth-not-like-b2c/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

The best growth strategy for your company ultimately depends on whether you’re in an incubation, iteration, or scale stage. One of the most common mistakes we see is a company acting like they’re in the scale phase when they’re actually in the iteration phase. As a result, many of them end up developing inefficient growth strategies that lead to exorbitant monthly ad spends, extraneous acquisition channels, hiring (and later firing) ineffective team members, and de-emphasizing critical customer feedback. There is often an intense pressure to grow, but believing your own hype before it’s real can kill early-stage ventures.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Can Only Top-Tier Retailers Compete?

Figuring out the space for retailers that are not a part of the "super tier" as I have dubbed them, those retailers very good at physical retail and ecommerce and mobile and the digital experience, has been a question I've been interested in for some time.

The bankruptcy announcement by Barneys in New York is interesting to me for this analysis speaking to the competitors Barneys was dealing with:

Scale allows these competitors to invest significantly in long term growth initiatives around customer-facing elements like websites and store remodels, and infrastructure like robust supply chains.

Barneys was at about $800 Million while those competitors were at the Billions level.

I think there is a lot of space for B2B companies providing these services the Barneys of the world cannot afford on their own.

Read the whole story here:

https://www.retaildive.com/news/how-barneys-new-york-lost-its-cool/560356/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Tech to Help Loyalty

I had a number of discussions this last year, sometimes pushing a boulder up hill, trying to help business side digital interests understand what technology could and could not do for them.

The real key to these discussions is value.

If something can move the needle on revenue it will get attention, and some dollars behind it to enable action.

Here is a snippet from a piece that might interest you:

Research published in the Nielsen Global Consumer Loyalty Survey has found that 33% of European consumers (36% in the US) say they love to try new brands, while a further 56% – although more loyal – also admit that they can ‘be moved to experiment.’

This trend for brand-hopping among consumers is a relatively modern phenomenon. 40% say they are more likely to try something new than they were five years ago. Brand loyalists are a shrinking minority and companies are having to double down on enticing exploratory consumers and – crucially – retaining them.

Here is the full article:

https://www.clickz.com/martech-stack-customer-loyalty/252627/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

eCommerce Engines

I've been pretty heavy in eCommerce for a while and have some knowledge of a variety of the systems sold to support those efforts.  This little write-up on the Forrester Wave analysis of those eCommerce engines caught my eye as useful.

Not surprising that Salesforce is at the top (the Demandware platform) along with SAP.

Here is the full article:

https://www.clickz.com/forrester-b2c-commerce-suites-what-made-the-winners-stand-out/247573/

You will have to become a client of Forrester to get their full research.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

New Film-making Using VR

This is just bonkers level film-making.

Motion pictures have gone through quite a few developments over the decades in how they are made but this one has really transformed it all, and I'm unsure if it is for better or worse.

The Lion King was released recently and billed as a live-action remake of the animated original.

What is real and what isn't in the new film is a whole new question though and begs a basic question around that.  What is "animated" today and what isn't?  When you read this story on how this new version of the classic animated original was made you have to think this is really more of an animated film than live-action.

Color me confused.

Here is a snippet from the piece, and the whole article is worth your time:

On December 7, 2017, myself and a group of journalists traveled to Playa Vista, California to visit the “set” of The Lion King. I put “set” in quotes because, really, there were no sets. There was no grass or trees or animals in this building. The building is about three miles from the Pacific Ocean and so non-descript you could drive by it every day for your entire life and have no idea what was going on inside. It could be an Amazon distribution center or have the Ark of the Covenant in it. You’d have no idea unless you were allowed inside.

This particular building had one purpose only: remaking The Lion King. Every step of the process, from the story, to the design, all the way through the edit, visual effects, sound and more took place here. In fact, 90 percent of The Lion King was made in this building by about 150 people. (Outside visual effects houses helped too.)

Here is the whole article:

https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-lion-king-set-was-a-bunch-of-vr-headsets-in-a-gia-1836736857

In the Information Age we are just entering all aspects of our lives will change.  How we do basic things will take on a whole new look.

Not too long ago a movie could only be made with someone pointing a camera at people or things in the real world.  No more.  Now we can craft whole worlds without leaving a room.

Bonkers, but really cool to look at.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Facebook to Change After $5B Settlement With FTC

Wow.

Well, then, $5B is what a month to Facebook?  Still.

Agreeing to oversight after the big payout is still some significant news.

Here is the full story:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/24/technology/ftc-facebook-privacy-data.html

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

How Amazon Competes and How to Compete With Amazon

This will be a short article that may lead to a deeper investigation and white paper.

What is Amazon doing besides just selling stuff online that competes with other players?

How are other players competing with Amazon in ways that may or may not include selling online?

Let's take a look at a few examples.

First Amazon.

They are masters at taking something they already do and monetize it in a new way.  They had massive data centers providing web service to Amazon.com that was mostly not in use.  They needed the massive power for their busy times.  Why not sell it as a service?

Amazon Web Services was born and now you too can host anything you can dream of in "the cloud".

This was quickly followed by others.  Microsoft Azure has found its place and there are countless players in the space now.

Here is one way Amazon is vertically integrating, taking some upstream or downstream product or service and creating a way to do it themselves.  Package delivery.

Amazon Orders Vans for Prime Delivery

Next are a couple of players that took Amazon eCommerce ideas and started providing the same solution for others.

This company is called Mirakl, a Paris based company, that has created a platform for other eCommerce sites to add resellers, just like Amazon.com does. They're the only player in the space and are big already, especially in B2B, and will be growing dramatically in the years ahead.  I promise you.

https://www.mirakl.com/

Next is a similar concept.  The product reviews that worked so well on Amazon.com became something you can add to your own eCommerce site.  Now there are multiple other players in this space but the original may still be the best.

https://www.bazaarvoice.com/

I think these responses are the correct path for all but the largest retailers.  I used to refer to retailers in a Tier level segmentation, Tiers 1 to 5.  Tier 1 was Walmart while Tier 5 was the local YMCA Christmas Tree sellers. I think there is now a super-tier reserved for those who do brick & mortar well, digital well, and eCommerce well.  How can smaller and regional players compete?  Third party providers.

Here is a great example:

https://www.retaildive.com/news/perfect-corp-rolls-out-makeup-ar-tool-for-small-businesses/559242/

Hope this gave you some food for thought.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Probes of Big Tech Coming

This headline says quite a bit, especially given the toxic political environment in the United States today.

AG Barr Promise to Probe Big Tech Unites Democrats and Republicans

Well then.  I guess this is happening.

The question of technology's place in our world, in our society, our laws, our forms of government, and much more, has been growing as the impact becomes more understood.

What is government but a place where the voice of the people can be heard?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Digital Transformation for CIOs

Great little read over on CIO.com.

Is your legacy company in need of a digital transformation?

I have seen first-hand how many missed opportunities reside at legacy companies that don't understand digital having identified $1.6 M in annual revenue just sitting at the table for a recent client.  Is digital transformation on your IT roadmap?

Read this article:

https://www.cio.com/article/3256045/digital-transformation-trends.html

Here is one piece from the article:

Inevitably, when they talk trends, IT leaders discuss their efforts to modernize legacy systems and expand on data lakes to create one version of the truth. This enables them to mine insights that help deliver value and create better solutions for clients, they say. But certain trends have emerged along the way while others have started to fizzle.

Here is a look at what CIOs and other IT leaders and observers are seeing.

Need help in this area?  Give me a call or reach out to your favorite consulting team.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Personalization in Marketing

I have seen first hand how merchandisers are so busy they can barely begin to move forward on future-leaning initiatives.

Missing out on personalization is a big miss however and should not be allowed to happen.

Salesforce estimates that adding Einstein personalization to your marketing sorting rules for grid pages, PLPs, will have a positive impact on revenue in the range of 6-9%.  Why leave that money sitting on the table?  Companies such as Certona are thriving on doing the work for you.  Just set up a data feed of your order history and the company will personalize recommendations, resulting in a revenue lift.

Oh, did I mention Amazon is in that game too?  Yeah.  Another threat from Amazon.  Just what you needed right?

Do it.

Here is a story on the subject of how marketers are failing to make this a priority:

https://www.clickz.com/personalization-powerful-priority/243913/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

It’s been a big news week for Amazon. The ecommerce giant’s shares have surpassed those of Walmart. Amazon announced the end of its restaurant delivery service, while launching a credit card an AI-powered recommendation service to improve personalization. Oh, and thanks to a 52% year-over-year increase in brand value, Amazon displaced Apple at the top of WPP and Kantar’s annual ranking of the most valuable brands in the world.

The latter two are certainly related. Available in a handful of regions for now, the recommendation service enables marketers to incorporate product recommendations and tailored search results on websites, in apps, and within content management and email marketing systems. It’s called Amazon Personalize, a nod to the company’s signature move.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS I found this great little complementary article that is also worth your time, especially if you are in the supermarket industry.
https://retailleader.com/personalization-digital-food-retailing

BRotD - Entry 0261 Google Report on Omnichannel Shopping

Best Reading of the Day

As I started to read this I was struck initially by how pedestrian the article was.  It gets better though and is well worth your time.

What bogey are you chasing today in your marketing strategy?  AOV?  CR?  Looking at your mobile traffic suddenly over 50%?

Read this little article to give you some help:

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/omnichannel-shopping-journey/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

In other words, people feel that online shopping makes it easier for them to find the right item at the right price.
...
Ultimately, people are looking to meet their needs in the most efficient way possible, whether that means shopping online only or researching online before heading to the store.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Shoppability is a Thing

The current state of eCommerce should be interesting to all of us for a variety of reasons.  We have some new data and a new term to consider.

Shoppability.

That is the integration of a variety of apps and services, such as social media, with the ability to shop instantly.  I'm saying this is a way to encourage people to buy things they don't need and spend money they don't have  but this is also a set of ways to help people find goods and services they may not have known about and may truly need.  Both of those statements are likely true.

It is different from "omnicommerce" as it is less focused on the traditional ERP-based delivery of goods and more on inserting directly in to multi-channel approaches to selling.

Here is the full story:

https://econsultancy.com/three-key-retail-ecommerce-trends-meekers-internet-report-2019/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

...what’s most interesting about the growth of ecommerce in 2019 is that it isn’t just coming from the expected places – offline sales shifting to online, or customers visiting retailers’ websites to make purchases. Instead, Meeker’s Internet Trends report tells a story of shoppability becoming integrated into apps and services of every kind, offline retail becoming digitised, and ecommerce reaching new communities and demographics.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Another Platform Player gets an IPO

I have written about this before, though I had previously focused on the B2B space, but platform players are continuing to make big waves in the market.

This is a consignment store online where people can sell their goods.  The IPO is expected to be valued at about $1.3 Billion.  With a "B".

Some people have things they want to sell on consignment.  Some people wish to purchase things from consignment and buy with confidence.  This platform brings them together.  Easy. 

Here is the full article:

https://www.chainstoreage.com/finance-0/another-fast-growing-digital-native-going-public/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Uber and Lyft Drivers Gaming the Business

I loved this story so much I captured it weeks ago and held on to it until I could get it written up here.

To level-set for the audience, UBER and Lyft are essentially taxi replacement services that enable mobile devices to be the call center for service.  The fees for transportation vary dependent on availability of supply versus demand (drivers and cars for passengers).  Simple right?

Economists love the idea because finite resources fit naturally in to a supply & demand scenario for pricing.  Long articles have been written about price-fixing in the New York City housing scene, with good reason.  Passengers don't really care for it because they don't know what they are paying for the service from moment to moment.  A ride home from the airport might cost $50 or $100 depending.  Meanwhile traditional taxi drivers hate it and the new drivers are complaining they don't make enough money from the gig economy.  Who wins in all this?  Uber and Lyft certainly.

Well the drivers have figured out how to game the system.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Though much of the modern internet is premised on the idea that it brings people together, capitalism — not humanity or even a recognizable morality — powers technology companies.

But since technology now powers so many aspects of civic life, we must infuse human rights principles and accountability into how these platforms operate. In the absence of clear pathways of accountability in which workers concerns are addressed, we can expect to see continuous uprisings and actions organized through loosely connected networks of solidarity — and some of them will even use the power of the platforms against their owners.

Here is the whole story:

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/uber-lyft-drivers-are-using-companies-algorithms-against-them-ncna1009026

Welcome to the 21st Century Union of Workers.  :-)

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

eCommerce the Profit Drain

I found the title of this article to be quite eye-catching:

Is eCommerce Draining the Profit Out Of Retail?

Yeah.  That is truly a great question.

Top to bottom the entirety of the eCommerce ecosystem is focused on enabling a company to have an easy relationship with customers and quickly provide them with goods at a low cost.

That has been the focus of traditional brick & mortar retailers for over 100 years but the cost structure of getting good TO a customer is quite different from providing a place for customers to go get goods FROM a retailer.

It is a read that is worth your time.  Get the whole story here:

https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2019/05/16/is-ecommerce-draining-the-profit-out-of-retail/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0260 Product Development Hubris

Best Reading of the Day

The following read is about video games, one specifically, and the design & development process it has been going through.  However, it is really a story of project scope creep, hubris, arrogance, and the problems of unlimited resources.

This is not a new story and is applicable to any project you encounter (that link I provided leads to one of the best stories of this kind you'll ever find).

The game in question is titled Star Citizen and its development efforts launched with great fanfare to a Kickstarter campaign that quickly became the most successful of its kind ever.

Years later the "game" has received over $300 million in funding and ... still hasn't launched anything out of alpha stage development.

I was initially intrigued having enjoyed founder Chris Robert's other efforts so I watched and waited.  What I kept seeing alarmed me.  Usually a Kickstarter campaign includes a goal that will result in "full funding" so a project will result in a product in your hands, and includes stretch goals that will get included if enough people pony up money.  This campaign, however, had no limit. As the funding increased the scope increased, seemingly endlessly.  I saw scope creep beyond belief and concluded I would have no part in the project until scope, and release dates, became solid.  7 years later I am still waiting.

Read more in this snippet:

Rough playable modes—alphas, not betas—are used to raise hopes and illustrate work being done. And Roberts has enticed gamers with a steady stream of hype, including promising a vast, playable universe with “100 star systems.” But most of the money is gone, and the game is still far from finished. At the end of 2017, for example, Roberts was down to just $14 million in the bank. He has since raised more money. Those 100 star systems? He has not completed a single one. So far he has two mostly finished planets, nine moons and an asteroid.

This is not fraud—Roberts really is working on a game—but it is incompetence and mismanagement on a galactic scale.

Here is the full story:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2019/05/01/exclusive-the-saga-of-star-citizen-a-video-game-that-raised-300-millionbut-may-never-be-ready-to-play/#3e2d26c75ac9

Let this serve as a warning.  Managers, always provide resource constraints beyond what you actually have.  Developers, always listen to marketing to identify need.  Leaders, get out of the weeds to provide vision and let your people work.

And on

and on

...

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best App for Movie Lovers

This made me laugh so hard I decided I had to share it and blog about it.

An app to help you know the best time in a movie to go to the bathroom.

Yeap.

https://appadvice.com/app/runpee/450326239

It is just one of the many apps listed in this fine little article to assist you with your movie viewing needs:

https://appadvice.com/collection/movie-apps

Happy Reading (and movie watching),

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0259 The TV Bundle

Best Reading of the Day

One of the more interesting ongoing stories in the Age of the Customer is the ongoing revolution in "Television".

Can we call it TV if we watch a streaming video on our phone?

Anyway ...

This great read tell the history, the current situation, and where we are headed.  Well worth your time.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/2/18518666/bundle-tv-hbo-disney-netflix-apple-amazon-war

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Now you have more TV than you could possibly watch, for less than $50 a month, and we haven’t even gotten to the free stuff yet. The only people who will feel truly left out here — besides people who work in the Television Industrial Complex — are the ones who want to watch live major league sports or live news from traditional TV networks.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0258 Facebook's Next Move

Best Reading of the Day

The wonderful narration of the opening paragraphs had me completely drawn in.

Do you love Facebook?

Or hate it?

Read this piece:

https://www.vox.com/2019/4/29/18511534/facebook-mobile-phone-f8

Here is a snippet from it:

Facebook’s core social network isn’t going away anytime soon, but there’s a good chance — probably a great chance — that the way you use Facebook’s products in 10 years will look and feel very different from the way you use them today. The device you use it on? That may change too.

Zuckerberg isn’t just thinking about that reality, he’s already betting on it.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

HBO Game of Thrones Season 8 Visual Effects

Tech.

Tech and more tech.

That has been the game in film-making since Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace.

The digital transformation was complete with Episode II three years later as the "film" was shot completely on digital cameras.  Since then we've seen a complete revolution in film-making and the rise of digital effects houses.

This Sunday past we saw it achieve a new pinnacle on television as The Battle of Winterfell consumed tens of millions of people in the United States alone.

This piece over on ArsTechnica is worth reading if you love technology, digital, film-making or Game of Thrones:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/04/with-its-latest-battle-game-of-thrones-solidifies-its-seat-on-tvs-vfx-throne/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

The Surveillance Economy

I don't recall having heard that exact phrasing until reading this recent piece in The New York Times.

The Surveillance Economy

I've read quite a bit about how authoritarian regimes around the world are using information tech to monitor and control its people.  Facebook is not a passive player in that space.  The political space has been highlighted since 2016 and the impact of Active Measures by Russian state sponsored actors to impact the elections in the United States. Also, it has been clear for quite some time how much data companies have on potential customers.  Finally, we've seen some positioning by Apple vs. the likes of Facebook (or Google) in data privacy.

This coin of phrase was new to me however and it caught my eye.  This is a good read.  How much do companies know about us? 

Read more to find out.

Here is the full story:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/30/opinion/privacy-targeted-advertising.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

“The way ads are targeted today is radically different from the way it was done 10 or 15 years ago,” said Frederike Kaltheuner, who heads the corporate exploitation program at Privacy International. “It’s become exponentially more invasive, and most people are completely unaware of what kinds of data feeds into the targeting.”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Earnings Recovery

The times they are a changing if you are Apple and your iPhone is struggling to help your company hit its earnings marks.

The early growth days are long in the rear-view mirror for Apple now.  Last year saw a decline like Apple hasn't seen in decades but there appears to be a stabilization in effect so far this year.


Here is the full story:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/30/tech/apple-q2-earnings-preview/index.html

Here is a snippet from the piece:

"It has been Apple's pricing hubris on iPhone XR that was the major factor in the company's December earnings debacle in China," Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush, wrote in an investor note on Friday. "However with some recent price cuts demand trends are slowly turning around in this all-important region for Cupertino."

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Apple Wearables for Health

The Apple Watch is ... what?

Luxury?

That door closed pretty quickly.

Fitness?

Sure.  It does fine there.

What about a health device beyond just fitness?

What about all of those simple to use apple devices as health & wellness technology.

How about $300 billion worth of opportunity?

Here's a part of the story:

Apple Inc.’s health-care ambitions go beyond wearables like the Apple Watch, with the company poised to soon emerge as a leader in consumer health, according to Morgan Stanley.

The company’s health-care market opportunity ranges from at least $15 billion to a whopping $313 billion in revenue by 2027, according to estimates from a team of 14 analysts. The wide difference is appropriate given the early opportunity, they said.

Here is the full story:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-08/apple-s-health-opportunity-could-be-triple-smartphone-market?srnd=technology-vp

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  I read somewhere the medical industry is entirely unprepared for the deluge of data it is about to start receiving.  Patients coming in with a dozen metrics calculated daily for the last year since their previous annual checkup and the M.D. does ... what with that?  Exactly.  The Information Age is upon us and every aspect of our lives is being fundamentally changed.

Create a B2B Platform Plan With Help from B2C Practitioners

I am always interested in the startup space.  Ideas that become reality, for a while, and maybe transform in to something else as the team looks to add-value in a meaningful way.

The customer-facing world has seen a massive rise of digital disruption transforming every aspect of our lives.

UBER has transformed the taxi industry.  Facebook is ... well ... something.

The business to business world has also seen some trans-formative moments as we entered the Information Age.  It occurred to me recently we might be seeing a trend of B2B companies learning lessons from the B2C world and looking for that add-value moment.

Here is my latest white paper that covers the subject:

Create a B2B Platform Plan With Help from B2C Practitioners

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

PS  Uber for dumptrucks?  Yeap.  TRUX.  Worth taking a look at.

New Streaming Video Services

With the news from Apple's big event today you would think I would write about the new AppleTV streaming service.

Nah.

Amazon is the really interesting kid on the block to look at.

Why?

Data.

I've heard Amazon employees talk about swimming in oceans of data.  Outside looking in we have little idea what they have on us.  Let's take a small look at that and how it gives them a competitive advantage in streaming video services.

Read a part of the story here:

Facebook knows who you want to be, but Amazon knows who you really are,” says Alan Wolk, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst at TVREV, a TV- and advertising-focused analyst group. “People may like Starbucks on Facebook even if they only go three times a year, but Amazon knows they have a standing order for Maxwell House. The advantage for a lot of these franchises is, Amazon can sell a lot of merchandise and a lot of ads.”

That point extends far beyond The Lord of the Rings. Sports content is another big entertainment focus; Prime members can stream Thursday Night Football. Last week, the company also reportedly reached a deal with the New York Yankees and Sinclair Broadcasting to purchase the YES Network.

“Amazon knows who’s tuned into the Giants game,” says Wolk. “When Eli Manning goes for a touchdown, they can put jerseys on sale and see if people buy them if they’re $38 or $40. Do they buy two minutes after the touchdown or five? It’s scary how much they know about everyone.”

Here is the full story:

https://www.clickz.com/amazon-entertainment-advantages/228248/

Here is a piece on how Apple's new streaming service might lead to an Apple Prime membership:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-apples-streaming-video-service-should-lead-to-apple-prime-subscription-bundle/

Oh, and, here is a piece on AppleTV's new streaming service:

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2019/03/25/apple-tv-gets-an-overhaul-is-now-available-on-more-devices/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

BRotD - Entry 0257 What Happened to the Wearables?

Best Reading of the Day

This is a great article over on The New York Times.

There's is quite a bit of history there for context.

There is quite a bit about the full-on Apple push in to luxury brands, etc. with the Apple Watch.

There is the current state and directional expectation.

Well worth reading.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

A sudden, striking influx of glamorous non-techies at a tech hub in California. Grumbles about NDAs. Excited, surreptitious glances. Gossip about disruption. A drumroll for a hitherto hush-hush, industry-upsetting announcement.

Sound familiar?

This is not a description of what is happening today at the Apple event in Cupertino, as the company unveils its new video service and television shows (among other things). It is a description of what happened on Sept. 9, 2014, at the Apple event in Cupertino, where the Apple watch was unveiled. For those of us who remember that day, the run-up to this week has provided an eerie sense of déjà vu.

Not to mention a question: What’s the deal with wearables and fashion?

Here is the full article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/fashion/apple-wearables-fashion

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Buy Directly Through Instagram

In the retail digital world we talk about friction.

Reduce the friction for the customer on their path to purchase.  Make it as easy as possible for them to find something to buy and to buy it.

I have spent a lot of time working in Facebook Pixel (Tags) to ensure the data a customer sees in their social media is relevant to them (following you around?) and helps remind them of products they've considered purchasing.

Now social media doesn't even need to get the customer back to the website.  Nope.  Just buy it right there in Instagram.

Interesting.  Powerful. 

Read more:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-19/instagram-gets-into-the-e-commerce-business-with-checkout-tool?srnd=technology-vp

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Best Retail Mobile Apps

I happen to think the world of retail is as competitive as it gets with some of the best minds and the best business plays happening.

A look at retail mobile apps is worth your time and this article by the folks at ClickZ uses the Forrester research to help you gain a view:

https://www.clickz.com/retail-mobile-apps-forrester/227758/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

What makes a retailers’ mobile app great? That question has been asked by countless marketers (and by, um, us) over the years. Forrester Research tackled it in a new report that retailers’ mobile apps, and where they excel and miss the mark.

Mobile commerce is perpetually on the rise. During Cyber Monday, smartphone sales accounted for $2.1 billion, a 48.1% growth year-over-year. And according to eMarketer, more than 90% of our time on smartphones is spent in-app.

Here’s the catch: We’re also highly selective about the mobile apps we use. App downloads keep increasing, but users’ interest disappears as quickly as a Snap. In 2017, App Annie found that the average smartphone owner only uses 30 per month and nine per day.

When Apple revealed the most popular apps of 2018, Amazon was the only retailer on the list, which was dominated by social media and entertainment. In order to command consumers’ attention, retailers have to make sure their apps are top notch.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Customer Lifetime Value CLV

Whether you are a B2B or D2C or a B2B business you should be thinking of the lifetime value of your customers.

The concept is simple.  If your business spends time and money acquiring a new customer isn't it worthwhile to look at the value of that customer as a repeat customer?

Yeap.  Sure is.  Netflix subscriptions are the perfect way to look at it.  That customer isn't worth the $10 they pay the first month.  Their lifetime of paying that $10, then $12, etc. is the real value of that customer.  Payments providers work to that by providing Automatic Updater services so when your customer forgets they have a new CC the subscription service finds it for them. 

There is a great write-up over with ClickZ on this subject that really lays it all out for you:

https://www.clickz.com/how-to-calculate-customer-lifetime-value-cltv-the-complete-guide/228128/

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) allows marketers to predict how much revenue customers will generate for their business for the duration of their relationship.

It is increasingly a data-led estimation and a key metric of business health. CLTV helps marketers understand how much each individual customer is worth to them. It also shows how much can be spent to acquire new customers while ensuring return on investment (ROI).

Forrester has been writing on the subject for a while now as we look to take the lessons of the B2C world and apply them in B2B.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Top 10 Worst Technologies

This article by MIT is just ... fun.

I don't know which one I agree with more but their top 10 list of worst technologies so far in this century is well worth reading.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612930/the-10-worst-technologies-of-the-21st-century/

Here is my favorite entry (or least liked product?):

Juul and other e-cigarettes are addicting a new generation to nicotine, through a loophole that allowed them to escape public health regulations meant to discourage cigarette smoking. Plastic coffee pods save half a minute in the mornings but produce tons of hard-to-recycle waste. And as for selfie sticks … need we say more?

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Brands Focus on their Data

This.

This is everything.

For a company that wants a relationship with its customers.

This is everything.

This.

Owning the data on your customers is critical to present and future success whether you are a manufacturing brand, D2C, retail, or a mix of it all.

Here is a great little article over on CMO.com:

https://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2019/3/4/adobe-2019-digital-trends-report.html#gs.0s3twp

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Brands are prioritising greater ownership and control over their data as they ramp up their investments in customer experience and personalised services, according to new research.

That’s the key finding of the “2019 Digital Trends” report from Econsultancy and Adobe, which surveyed nearly 13,000 marketing, advertising, e-commerce, creative, and IT professionals worldwide. (CMO.com is owned by Adobe.)

As in 2018, brands are continuing to increase their investments in personalisation.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

CVS the Customer Experience Store

I found this little article to be well worth your time.

CVS has been doing pretty serious work over in R.I. trying to crack the code of the Age of the Customer.

Here is the full article on their concept stores and then one on their overall initiatives:

https://risnews.com/first-look-inside-cvs-healthhub-concept-stores

https://risnews.com/cvs-invests-big-customer-experience

Here is a snippet from the piece on their concept stores:

“We're opening a series of healthcare concept stores which will be a testing ground for a new retail engagement model that brings healthcare services to consumers in a more convenient, more accessible, and more customer focused manner,” Merlo said speaking at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. “As we pilot new programs and service offerings we will identify the solutions that are most effective and scalable and then roll them out more broadly across our footprint.”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

HolidayWrapup - Mobile Drives Traffic

If eCommerce is part of your strategy you should be paying close attention to the trends in customer shopping habits.

The shopping season in 2018 was dominated by mobile touchpoints as customers increasingly get out their phone to shop.

Here is a snippet from the report:

Mobile shopping eclipsed desktop for the first time during the 2018 holiday season: 48% of orders came from mobile devices while just 44% came from desktop or laptop computers, according to Salesforce. Mobile accounted for 66% of all e-Commerce traffic during the season, and 74% of shoppers browsed from a mobile phone on Christmas Day.

Here is the full story:

https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/omnichannel-cross-channel-strategies/holiday-wrap-up-mobile-dominates-e-commerce-driving-66-of-traffic

Here is one other point.  For years now we have seen the growth of mobile as a point of interaction between retailers and manufacturer brands while sales has been dominated on a desktop style device.  That is trending towards a pure mobile-first interaction.  The customer shops on their phone, finds what the want on their phone and buys it there too. We are projected to pass the 50% threshold within the next 2 years.

Here is that data:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/249863/us-mobile-retail-commerce-sales-as-percentage-of-e-commerce-sales/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

State of Mobile Report

App Annie is well-positioned to comment on what is happening with mobile apps as they've been crawling the app stores from nearly the beginning.

Their 2019 report is worth reading for a free registration but you can get a quick run-down via Forbes. Basically mobile gaming is a massive business and is still growing at a double-digit rate.

Here is a snippet from the piece:

Global app store consumer spend reached $101 billion in 2018, up 75 percent from 2016. This figure is expected to exceed $120 billion in 2019, according to mobile data and analytics provider App Annie. The company released its annual The State of Mobile in 2019 Report — a comprehensive guide for businesses looking at mobile.
Here is the full article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2019/01/30/mobile-app-state-of-mobile-2019-report-from-app-annie/#6d3a8eb434ab

Go here to get the full report:

https://www.appannie.com/en/go/state-of-mobile-2019/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

My Apple Watch and Why I Don't Miss It

I was among the first users of the shiny new Apple Watch when it was released.  My pre-order was successfully entered a few hours after it opened so it took a few weeks before mine arrived.  Since then I've blogged about it with some regularity.

Initial thoughts were quite positive.  I especially liked how I could tailor the notifications to the watch.  My phone would buzz constantly with emails, work emails, and text messages.  If it buzzed at my watch I knew it was important.  Finally, I could set my phone down and forget about it.

The exercise tracking was nice as well.  An always on way to track everything you do.  The results surprised me.  Some of the things I did that wiped me out (snow shoveling) actually didn't burn a massive amount of calories like I thought it did.  However, the simple acts of walking around and doing little tasks like washing the dishes after dinner burned more than I thought.  Really informative.

Then, something happened.

Reports the first version of the watch had an issue with the battery expanding, enlarging, over time resulted in Apple raising the warranty from 1 year to 3.  The battery would get so large it would pop the device apart, never at a convenient time.

At 3 and a half years my watch flew apart during a workout.  That was about 4 months ago and I haven't worn it since.

I don't miss it.

The benefits have mostly run their course and the drawbacks I hadn't really identified while I was wearing it have at last been revealed.

That 15 minute weightlifting workout that I stretched out to ensure I "got credit" for a workout by hitting the 15 minute mark?  Gone.  I do the same work in 10 minutes now.  I don't have to worry about recharging it, or ensuring it is always on so I "get credit" for whatever I'm doing.  I just do it.  If I go on a run I really want to track my times.  My phone is always present so I just use an app there.  It works.

I don't feel I need the Apple Watch any more and I don't really want it.  I do feel it helped me on my journey to get back in shape but that time has passed, I've learned from having its tracking on me all the time, but I no longer see incremental gains from continuing to wear it.

Here is a great little article from 2016 on smart watches, watches in general, and other options such as the little chronos smart attachment for traditional watches:

https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2016/08/24/an-amateur-watch-collectors-thoughts-on-smartwatches-after-wearing-one-for-a-month/

Here's one great little snippet from that piece:

Perhaps the most important factor in deciding whether a watch is worthy of gracing your wrist is whether you miss it when you’re not wearing it. While I found the Pebble to be handy and good at the things it can do, I didn’t mind switching it for one of my analog watches and not receiving notifications or replying to messages with it. Using my phone doesn’t take much longer, and I’m happy to be able to choose a watch that I enjoy looking at.

So the question then changes doesn't it?  Should you buy a smart watch?  Maybe, but not for the reasons you think. If you want to get really extravagant on your spending and buy one of the GPS fully wireless connected smart watches such as the newest Apple Watches then you'll see lots more benefit over my first edition.  That is exorbitantly expensive though and I don't think most people will go that route.  If you aren't really in tune with your body, your movements, your level of activity then pick one up and wear it for a year or two.  You'll learn a lot about yourself. Power users still have some gains to reap from smart watches with the notifications but you can get a lot of that by simple self control.  Limit your screen time.  Period.

Good luck and Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Mobile Payments Update

I've been following mobile payments since I worked in the field a few years ago.  It is interesting in a few ways but mostly because I view it as a leading indicator of overall digital transformation.

Paper money will never die but we are increasingly likely to have our phones with us while having no paper money.

The reason retailers want it is for the digital relationship it enables with their customers.  After all, money isn't broken so what is the real driver of adoption?  Buy 10 coffees at Starbucks and get the 11th for free, that's what is driving adoption.

Here is an update on the state of mobile payment adoption:

https://www.clickz.com/mobile-payments-2019-beyond/222602/

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

Digital Product Management - Modern Definitions

What is Product Management as it relates to software development, digital?

This is a question with quite a few answers so I've decided to lay out some of my thoughts.  This will be a sketch of what may become a White Paper.

For those readers who look to me for retail, digital interactions for businesses, future technology ideas, etc., this post may not be for you unless you are curious what the process is behind the work that drives those items.

What does the title mean?

Product Manager - Product Owner - Product Team Lead

Most shops run some form of agile development method in today's world.  There are many flavors of that some looking more like traditional waterfall SDLCs, some running in a Lean Startup way, etc. Most software development is attempting to create value for some user who may be a customers The Product world bridges the gap between the users/customers and the engineers who build them.  I like to say, a Product Manager is most focused on everything leading up to the point where a team of engineers has to build something.

Product Manager

A manager should be managing something.  Some process.  Adding value in some way.  The Product Manager role is about as diversely defined as anything I've ever heard of.  Some are "Strategic" product managers focusing solely on understanding the market, crafting the product vision and managing the product roadmap.  Some then handoff to a Product Owner who manages the SDLC process writing user stories to ensure the software gets written.  Some do the user stories themselves.  Some have more senior Product Managers owning the roadmap and only contribute ideas in to it, maybe a Director.  Some even own the P&L though that is rarer.  Most have some ownership and often a bonus structure emphasizing the profit their product brings to the company.

Product Owner

This is the one that creates the most controversy outside looking in.  A shop decides what the role is and often can't imagine anything else.  However, outside of that shop you can find many flavors of Product Owner. I'm going to split it in to two definitions.

Product Owner - Senior Product Manager

This flavor is most often a Product Manager who writes user stories.  However it may also indicate a very senior Product Manager, more of a General Manager who owns the P&L.

Product Owner - Agile

Epics, Themes, user stories, the backlog are all the items this Product Owner focuses on.  Often this flavor does not have direct ownership of the roadmap and is not concerned with P&L or profitability of the product.  This Product Owner focuses on managing the SDLC from the perspective of product.  In many ways this person is the modern Business Analyst.

Product Team Lead

This is another one that might have radically different flavors.  The "Team Lead" indicates someone who may be a group manager, maybe managing other Product Managers.  However some shops place this role as the literal SCRUM master focused on managing the SDLC from the perspective of product.

Where do the opportunities lie with these definitions?

A complete vision of Product Management for software must be end-to-end, from the customer to the engineers.  Along the way there are opportunities for better or worse fits.  Here are a few:

Lean Product Management

If you need quick, iterative, product development this should be your focus.  It is an extension of the more familiar Lean Startup methods that focus on bringing value to market quickly.  This is a mindset that marries with agile product development and should result in increased throughput from the engineering team.  Where it varies slightly from Lean Startup is mostly on the focus of the Product Team and how to best utilize an agile development shop.  Otherwise, it is the same mindset you'll find throughout Lean Startup thinking.  You the Product Manager only has a hypothesis of what the customers in the market will find valuable.  Working with customers you should be able to scratch out an idea that may have value.  Create a simple mockup and get it in front of some customers for feedback.  Put together your best informed guess, make it as small as possible to add value, and write the user story to get the engineers to build it. Then get it in the hands of those customers who most wanted the new product/feature.  Then iterate based on how they actually use it and don't be afraid to scrap it all together.

Here's one I got from a CTO recently.  Take the typical agile user story, now recognize you really want to get a MVP to market as quickly as possible to begin the iterative process of identifying value for your customers.  Do you, as the Product Manager, really need 5-10 acceptance criteria or is there actually 1 or 2 that most likely result in a minimally viable product (I'm looking at you InsightSquared)?

Your embrace of Lean Product Management should be a natural fit to the company's culture, maturity of product line, and SDLC processes.

Roadmap

If your product line is young you should have a flexible roadmap under most circumstances.  In some cases the clients and the capabilities of the industry map out the roadmap to great detail even for young products (I'm looking at you TRUX).  In others there is no defined idea of where the value is and flexibility is a must.  Finally, if your product is mature and well-established you may want to introduce a quantitative approach to product roadmapping where a variety of data inputs might result in a top 10 list of product features to focus on.

Customer Interactions

The definition of a customer and what constitutes "sales" can vary greatly but basically these are the people paying money that keeps your company around and the sales team is focused on growing that area.  If its a platform for social connections you may have a "growth" team instead of traditional sales (I'm looking at your Alignable). The Product Team that has incentive to see their product profitability rise will likely have interactions with Sales and Sales Engineering to help close deals and make the customers happy.  They may be out at trade shows as the voice of the product and bringing back their interactions to be the voice of the customer.  Maybe thought leadership can be displayed in the space by blog posts, white papers, or a CAB - Customer Advisory Board.

UX

The User Experience a customer has with a product can make or break a product depending on a variety of factors. Generally business power users are more forgiving of lesser quality UX design.  They just want the results afterall.  However, UX is important in this area as well as you may inadvertently hide features in a poor UI and lose customers over the poor experience.  Further, as the product matures it is likely features will be added and a lack of UX vision can result in some kind of Frankenstein product with a poor UX that results in lost customers.  Generally, the more mature a market space the more important UX is to differentiate a product and the more consumer-facing a product is the more important UX is.  Product comes in to play as owners of the roadmap and the overall product vision.  Have knowledge of UX and have a plan, but be flexible in achieving your goals and remain focused on the customer.  A company that isn't growing is probably declining.  A product who's sales are not climbing is probably seeing diminishing sales.

There are a thousand more points that could be made on this subject but this outline is my start at defining a modern Product Management shop and helping folks understand the varying definitions for the titles out there and the varying processes available to them.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

IoT Connected Experience In Stores

The in-store shopping experience is going to continue to be more interactive.  Digital relationships are a must for the store of the future, happening today.

I first really jumped at this with BLE, bluetooth, interactions with smart phones and then smart watches.  That is still ongoing but there is a real opportunity to do it a different way and it appears Kroger is teaming up with Microsoft to do just that.

Read the story here:

https://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/news/microsoft-kroger-to-test-connected-experience-grocery-stores-in-pilot/

Here is the blurb that should catch your eye:

Store associates will also be able to use the technology to speed up curbside pickup and Kroger will use the Edge technology to sell digital advertising space to consumer packaged goods brands, according to the release.

Thank to a few of the folks previously from MCX who pointed this piece out on LinkedIn.  You know who you are.  :-)

What we absolutely know is the impact the great recession, combined with ever-improving store brand generics is having on traditional consumer packaged goods. During a recession shoppers cut back.  They try out the store brand version of whatever CPG widget or food stuff they think suits them.  The quality of these has increased dramatically over the decades and the average consumer likes it, then never goes back to the more expensive "name brand" version.  CPGs are desperate to get customers back and they have huge advertising dollars to work with.  Enter the Edge technology system.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant