MARKETING IN THE DIGITAL AGE: NEWS ROUND-UP (WEEK ENDING DEC 28, 2017)

Last round-up of 2017! Guess what the must have app is for millennials?  And, no, it's not a social media app...

New comScore study: Five of the top ten “must-have” apps among millennials are utility apps

Summary: And the #1 most downloaded app amongst 18-34 year olds is... Amazon! Five of the top ten most downloaded are utility apps. 

Tech Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

Summary: VCs are moving away from productivity apps or games and more towards entrepreneurs looking to solve global problems. 

Google Extends Practices Stemming From U.S. Antitrust Case

Summary: Google is voluntarily removing restrictions on use of AdWords (online search advertising platform), which the FTC was concerned would make it more difficult for advertisers to coordinate campaigns on AdWords and on competing platforms. 

Apple Finally Issues an Apology after its iPhone Battery Fiasco

Summary: In response to recent backlash on older iPhones being slowed down intentionally by Apple, the company has reduced the price of replacement batteries from $79 to $29 starting Jan 2018. 

Marketing In The Digital Age: News Round-Up (Week Ending Dec 22, 2017)

This week's highlights include why your old iPhone really is slow, Instagram comments, using Universal's music library on Facebook, Magic Leap's first product reveal, and fake news on Facebook. 

Apple Slows Down Old iPhones

Summary: Apple has confirmed it is throttling processor speeds when a battery capacity deteriorates over time. While users may feel this is a ploy to get customers onto newer phones, Apple has stated that the performance of older devices is sub-optimal due to its lithium-ion batteries which become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions. 

As of about an hour ago, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple.  

Instagram now Quietly Nudges you to Comment on Posts In Your Feed

Summary: Instagram has quietly rolled out an "add comment" section to posts on Instagram, but you have to hover on a post for a few seconds before this new addition appears.  

Facebook, Universal Music Strike Multi-Year Licensing Deal

Summary: Universal Music Group is the first major label to sign-up a deal with Facebook allowing users to use upload videos to Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus. Facebook has done this in an effort to keep users on its site and attract advertisers.

Magic Leap: Founder of Secretive Start-Up Unveils Mixed Reality-Goggles

Summary: Magic Leap, which has been operating in a secretive mode, announced its virtual reality googles called Lightwear. This is the first piece of working technology the $6B valued company has revealed publicly. 

Facebook Changes Approach to False News

Summary: Instead of using "disputed flags" to indicate a story may be spreading false information, Facebook will rely on its "Related Article" feature. 

Marketing in the Digital Age: News Round-Up (week ending Dec 15, 2017)

We're in the home stretch for the year, but the news hasn't slowed down.  Particularly, the huge ruling from the FCC on the repeal of net neutrality for which a short summary does not do it justice. 

It's Super Hard To Find Humans in the FCC's Net Neutrality Comments

Summary: The sites comments section is littered with comments from bots, memes, and input from people who don't actually exist.  

Twitter Just Took Another Step Toward Becoming A Full On Blogging Platform

Summary: A new feature has begun rolling out across the Twitterverse allowing users to compose multiple tweets with a "+" menu.  It allows multiple tweets to be linked together making it easier for users to tweetstorm.

The Very Real Health Dangers of Virtual Reality

Summary: There have been many instances of people falling while using the headsets because they were not aware of their surroundings. VR's effects are being monitored for an increased risk in myopia (nearsightedness). Motion sickness has been an issue from many users of the headsets. Its effects on children are still unknown. 

Force Block: the Star Wars Spoiler Blocker

Summary: Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit theaters last night, and the internet is ablaze with spoilers.  For those who aren't able to see the film right away, Google has a solution for you. You can install the Star Wars spoiler blocker and receive a warning when you are about to stumble upon a site that may contain spoilers. 

THE internet trends report from Mary Meeker: (not)(so)-surprising findings

(image from TechCrunch)

Mary Meeker's highly anticipated internet trend report was released yesterday. The inner geek in me is squealing with excitement! Although not as surprising as past reports, it's also expected as we learn about the internet more.  

Here is my summary of the findings: 

Not surprising:

• People don’t like pop-up ads
• Mobile internet growth in China and India
• India smartphone costs still too high for a majority of Indians but data costs are starting to decline

A little more surprising:

• China’s consumers increasingly willing to pay for online entertainment (games + livestreaming + video)
• Data has resulted in cheaper and faster clinical trials

Surprising:

• China’s on-demand bike sharing has resulted in 100K+ ton reduction in annual CO2 emissions!
• 60% of most highly valued tech companies founded by 1st or 2nd generation Americans! 

It's worth a read!  What are your not so-a little more-surprising finding(s)?

http://bit.ly/meeker_internet_trends

Fueling Innovation: Snapchat vs Instagram

The recent surge of popularity of Instagram Stories of 200m daily users over Snapchat's 161m has many questioning the future of Snapchat (parent company Snap Inc.).  With users' recent ability to add selfie stickers (and an addition of geo-filters expected to arrive any day now), Instagram's transformation into a Snapchat copycat is nearly complete.  Many are already dismissing Snapchat to the fate of MySpace and Twitter.  Snap has to keep innovating, and quickly, to avoid the same fate. 

To that end, Snap-to-Store (image below) was announced last Wed and could drive advertiser revenue to contribute to the bottom line.  This tool will help advertisers measure whether their ads actually drove users into specific locations, like retail stores or restaurants.  The tool will be great for brands to measure ROI of ad spends.  It still begs the question: if users are eroded on the platform, is this a place that will advertisers will want to be even with this concrete development of ROI?  

Should Snap Inc. take a page out of Instagram's parent company Facebook and capitalize on popular Instagram features while its user count is still high?  For example, when Instagram Stories rolled out, it came with a brief tutorial on how to use the product.  There is still a wealth of the population who don't know how to use Snapchat, and a "how-to" could make Snapchat accessible to a greater segment of the population.  That alone as product development likely would not suffice obviously, so I hope to see further innovation to fuel competition between these two powerhouses to the benefit of the marketplace. 

Image taken from Snap Inc.'s SEC filing.