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