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