The Full Monty: I'm Sorry, What? – May 29, 2018 The lost art of apology; what it means to be human in a world of A.I., the early adopters of A.I. are in a pole position; Uber ends its autonomous efforts in Arizona; look at failures as well as successes to determine your marketing needs; the greatest communication tool of all time; malls are in peril – but the degree to which is up for debate; how to make a stellar online shopping experience; Facebook Marketplace gets the full classified treatment; YouTube's new streaming services compared to the competition; the media landscape of today; GDPR landed – how to ensure you're prepared; signs that your analytics program will fail; habits to improve your intelligence; plus the podcast of the week, wants and offers in the Community section and more in the I'm Sorry, What? edition of The Full Monty from Brain+Trust Partners for the week of May 29, 2018. Please consider supporting the considerable effort made for you here each week.      How about it?  The Full Monty, a Brain+Trust Partners publication, exposes you to virtually everything you need in business intelligence at the top of every week. Links are below with commentary in italics. Please sign up for our email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing. Contents: Announcements Top Stories Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy Retail Apocalypse Platforms Media Community Privacy / Security / Regulatory Measurement / Analytics / Data Mental Nourishment Speaking Engagements Announcements As you see directly above, we've added a Table of Contents to make navigation a little easier (and especially because some of the good stuff is near the end).  Also, please be sure to check out The Full Monty podcast, which has returned after a year; new episodes drop on Wednesdays. And check out our YouTube channel as well.   Top Stories I'm sorry. How often do you hear those words? I mean hear them applied really sincerely. These days, probably not much. The journalist Ambrose Bierce lived from 1842 to 1914 and in The Devil's Dictionary, he wrote that to apologize was "to lay the foundation for a future offence." And isn't that what we constantly see from businesses, celebrities, executives, and more? They're really only sorry that they got caught. Because if they were truly sorry, they would have caught the slip-up themselves – not waited until they were outed by the media. So they offer their meaningless apology, and it typically smooths things over. For a while. Until the next time they get caught, doing the same thing over again. Do we really need apologies? And for those who offer them, what's the art of making a good one? As a father with young children, I had to teach them the art of saying sorry. Do you know what sorry means? Well, of course you understand it intuitively, but how would you simply describe what sorry means to a two or three year-old? Think about it for a moment. It was an interesting exercise for me as a father.  Here's how I defined sorry to my kids: when you say sorry it means you didn't mean to do it and you'll try not to do it again. The first part of the phrase is the easy part. It's what we mean when we apologize for bumping into someone, or making a simple error. But the second part – I'll try not to do it again – that's what takes effort. You really have to give that part some thought, and commit to acting differently the next time. How often to you say sorry and really mean it? P.G. Wodehouse wrote: "It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them." Think about companies that have stepped in it in recent memory. Typically these are companies that have experienced data breaches or that have violated the privacy and trust of their customers. Do you think we want apologies for those things? I'd say yes – but again, it's the second part of the meaning of the word that makes all the difference. Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous The latest in AI, machine learning, bots, and blockchain, mobility, and autonomous everything. Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ Thinking about artificial intelligence can help clarify what makes us human. When it comes down to superior intelligence, do the perils of AI exceed its promise? The next time you call Domino's, don't be surprised if a bot answers the phone. The pizza company is using AI to maker ordering easier and free up employees. Just for laughs, we should have Google Duplex call a Domino's store and see what happens.  A new McKinsey Global Institute paper looked at 25 core workplace skills today and in the future and found demand for certain skills will be higher in 2030 than today. Further evidence that robots and automation aren't going to replace workers. When it comes to artificial intelligence, early adopters have a decided – even insurmountable – advantage. Automation is affecting the restaurant industry, from reducing inefficiencies to eliminating repetitive tasks. Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ Following the death of a pedestrian earlier this year, Uber has closed its self-driving car testing program in Arizona. Self-driving cars don't only affect the car manufacturing industry. Here are 33 other industries that could be affected by autonomous vehicles. Apple and Volkswagen are working on a fleet of self-driving vans, initially to shuttle Apple employees.  Autonomous vehicles don't really know how to switch lanes as well as humans do. So MIT researchers are teaching self-driving cars to change lanes. Since this is in Boston, next they need to teach them how to flip off other drivers. The latest drone is literally the size of a drone. Insect-sized robots are taking to the air. Black Mirror is real. Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy Industry developments and trends, including advertising & marketing, journalism, customer experience, content, and influencer relations. Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ When it comes to marketing, the choices you make will affect how attention is given to you. But rather than looking at all what went into the successes, it's sometimes helpful to look at what was missing from the failures. Case in point: when shot-up British bombers returned with bullet holes, scientists suggested reinforcing those areas with armour; one contrarian said "Put the armour where there are no holes. Those planes don't make it home." No matter where we go on the Internet, we're trapped in the feed. It's the twice broken model of advertising and media: just as in the TV industry, today's platforms were designed to focus on the most and not the best, in order to maximize ad dollars. When most advertising channels are closed to your business, how can you build an audience? One entrepreneur shares her journey.   Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ Muck Rack and Zeno Group surveyed more than 500 journalists around the world and found that roughly half of journalists around the world (53 percent in the United States and 41 percent outside the U.S.) don't use press releases to find new story ideas. Cruise brand Carnival Corp.'s CEO discovered the greatest communication tool of all time – listening – and profits soared.  American Airlines CEO Doug Parker had a chance to fly in one of his airline's newly configured and cramped economy seats, to truly experience the brand the way some customers do. When asked if he did, he declined to answer. That's a no. Retail Apocalypse Humans are a transactional species, and the practice — if not the very notion of what retail is — is undergoing a historical metamorphosis.  Three predictions that will change malls in the next five years include the closing of one in five department stores, a shift away from discretionary products, and how we'll buy apparel.  Not to be outdone, the former CEO of JC Penney says that 75 percent of malls will close over the next five years. Bold prediction.We think it's overstated. If you want to make your online shoppers' experience top-notch, consider three things: if they can find reviews, how much friction is in the check-out process, and reduce or eliminate shipping fees. Good, fast, and cheap – consumers want it all.  While we're at it, Google has four insights into how shoppers use apps and mobile sites. One major takeaway: put more effort into your mobile site, as it's not guaranteed that consumers will have your app installed, and a good mobile site can/should do what its app does. Walmart is the only firm that has the management, capital and the scale to compete with Amazon.  Amazon is banning customers for making too many returns. SPONSOR Want to know what 500 marketers (budgets up to $10 million) believe and how those beliefs influence their behaviors when it comes to hiring and firing agencies just like yours? Don't miss this FREE 16 page report, full of information, insight and guidance on how to best approach prospects based on the findings. Some of the results are going to really surprise you. If you're seeing this, maybe you'd like to see your company's name here too. Let us know. Platforms  News to know about relevant social, virtual, and augmented reality platforms that may affect your business. Behind Amazon's approach to identifying factors limiting its growth, and how Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram can benefit from adopting a similar strategy. Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ Legal challenges are increasingly putting Facebook and others under scrutiny as to whether they're platforms or media outlets. One lawyer asks, "What is the difference between you and a national newspaper being responsible for the letters they publish on their letters page?" Facebook Marketplace allows users to hire plumbers and home cleaners. This is in addition to recently adding the ability to search for a home rental or buy a car. Sounds like Facebook is also mimicking the classified ads section of newspapers, weakening their case above. "We went along for the ride every single step of the way. But we noticed, over the course of two years, that we were being paid in all types of currencies — followers, shares, views — that did not feel like money," said The Weather Channel, as it walked away from publishing videos on Facebook. Facebook has made it easier to set up two-factor authentication. If you don't have this security featured activated on your account, please consider doing so now. Mark Zuckerberg appeared in front of the EU Parliament last week to discuss Facebook's role in privacy, politics, and society. It turned out to be more of an awkward grilling with unanswered questions than an informal hearing. At least European leaders looked more well informed than their U.S. counterparts.  Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ Twitter is recruiting publishers to help it move deeper into programmatic advertising and challenge the duopoly of Facebook/Google. Aʟᴘʜᴀʙᴇᴛ / Gᴏᴏɢʟᴇ / YᴏᴜTᴜʙᴇ YouTube's new streaming music service, branded as YouTube Music and YouTube Premium: how it stands up to the competition. Google has removed "don't be evil" from its Code of Conduct. Oᴛʜᴇʀ Snapchat is getting clobbered by Facebook on Stories – a feature of its own invention. Facebook's scale, combined with product improvements have allowed it to surpass Snapchat in this regard. WeChat's 500+ "mini games" together have amassed 457 million users, according to QuestMobile report, almost half of the app's 1.04 billion user base.  Media The latest in the world of streaming video, audio, and the advertising, pricing and bundling models related to them. Vɪᴅᴇᴏ Comcast has confirmed it's interested in buying Fox assets. So what does today's media landscape look like? Last week, with a market cap increase of about $150 million, Netflix became larger than Comcast. Maybe Netflix should make a bid for Fox...  The Obamas signed a deal to create original programming for Netflix. The shows will include scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and features. It used to be book deals and speaking engagements; is this the new status for post-presidential years? Aᴜᴅɪᴏ The Four consist of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. Who will be the fifth horseman? Good money is on Spotify. The advertising market around podcasts is fascinating. But have you ever gotten the sense that a handful of brands dominate the shows? This headline acknowledges that: Podcast Industry Stalls as Entire Audience Acquires a Mattress and a Website. It was inevitable. Program of the Week: Our pick this week is Problem Solvers with Jason Feifer, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur. The show features business owners and CEOs who went through a crippling business problem and came out the other side happy, wealthy, and growing.  Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts.     Community A place for subscribers of this newsletter to help each other. Do you have a special request or need? Email us and each week, we'll pick one to feature. And hopefully the power of the crowd will work. As Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations, "...help men. Short is life." This week, the request comes directly from my own team: do you or any leaders on your team need a current state of the industry deep-dive? What's hot in digital and social, and what's coming next? Brain+Trust Partners can help with an executive briefing. Gather as many or as few of your team as you like and book us for an hour, a half day or a full day and we'll share our perspective, shaped by years of brand-side experience and partnerships with technology companies. Can we help you with anything? Send an email to fullmontyshow [AT] scottmonty [DOT] com with your request and we'll see if we can get it into a future issue of the newsletter.   Privacy / Security / Regulatory Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more. Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is here. Why it matters: You'll get many more notifications from companies with details about how they're using your data, and direct requests to share your data with third parties or partners. On the positive side, this helps organize your unsubscribe process. As GDPR officially kicked in on Mary 25, advertisers scrambled to comply. Here's how GDPR will affect marketers, in five charts. Facebook and Google were hit with $8.8 billion in lawsuits on the first day of GDPR. That didn't take long. And yes, even U.S. companies are impacted by GDPR. What you need to do to comply. The big fear around Amazon's Alexa has been that an always-listening device might record stuff that its owners didn't want. That concern has become a reality, as Alexa appears to have not only recorded a user's conversation, but then sent that recording to one of their contacts. Related: what Amazon knows about you and how to delete it. As usual, the effort involved may be more than it's worth to most consumers. Amazon is being urged not to sell its facial recognition system to police, due to privacy concerns. Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ Uber released its latest quarterly numbers last week, and on paper, it had a $2.5 billion profit, thanks to its sale of its Southeast Asian and Russian businesses. Absent those, the company lost $312 million and showed that Uber is keeping a higher percentage of the fares for itself rather than leaving it with drivers. Uber added a 911 emergency button directly within its app, so riders can easily call for help if anything goes wrong.   Measurement / Analytics / Data The future is not in plastics, but in data. Those who know how to measure and analyze it will rule the world. Ten red flags signaling your analytics program will fail. These include an executive vision, and understanding of the value that it will bring, and connection to the business, among other things. A new eMarketer report looks at how to build an effective customer engagement plan by determining how to map and make sense of engagement metrics that matter. This internal video from 2016 shows a Google concept for how total data collection could reshape society. Brain+Trust Insights' Christopher Penn answers the question "What is data analytics?" Mental Nourishment Other links to help you reflect, improve, or simply learn something new. Last week, we shared how you should be reading every day. Similarly, here's how to make writing a daily priority, even if you're running your own business.  You might want to look into six daily habits that will improve your intelligence by Larry Kim. I'll add a seventh: do a crossword puzzle. If you ever find yourself in a situation – whether you're hosting an interview or you're at a social function – one of the keys to conversation is knowing how to ask open versus closed questions. Since we're all so busy asking questions of other people and honing our voyeuristic skills on social networks, here are 10 things you don't know about yourself.  Have you ever had a difficult executive decision to make? This is the kind of decision where the best options aren't obvious, the ethics aren't clear, and the consequences could affect hundreds of people or more. Neuroscientists and psychologists are beginning to learn what happens at moments of choice inside the human mind.  Do you like what you see here? Please subscribe to have trends on digital communications, marketing, technology and business delivered to your inbox each week. It takes many hours to assemble this newsletter each week. Donating shows that you care. Upcoming Speaking Engagements Upcoming events: Digimarcom in Houston on June 7. Content Marketing World in Cleveland, September 4-6. And YOU can register here, with $100 off by using the code BRAINTRUST. Can we speak for your organization or event? Drop us a line. Brain+Trust Partners companies evolve at the speed of customers. From social and content strategy development to technology vendor selection, to improved operations, our focus is on helping companies craft one true view of the customer. And our decades of experience working for major brands means that we deeply understand the challenges you're facing. Let us know if we can help you. Top image credit: The Lictors Bring Brutus the Bodies of His Sons by Jacques-Louis David, 1789 (public domain) --  Episode 30: I'm Right, You're Wrong The Full Monty: The Choice Is Yours – May 21, 2018 Episode 29: Listen, You're Not Alone

   

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