The Full Monty: Now With Less Audio – August 13, 2018

The Paul Harvey effect; HAL knew what he was doing; Alexa sure talks a good game with shopping; Cox Automotive gets serious about mobility; the intersection of content and digital transformation; customer-centricity is a culture, not a catchphrase; J.C. Penney is returning to its roots; the 2018 Retail Forecast for footwear; Facebook is making some Page changes; Twitter debates its role in Big Tech and society; the psychological hold tech companies have on us; Spotify tests ad skipping; Google is spying on you, perhaps without your consent; NYC cancels its ride; the only thing shared with the sharing economy was false hope; using marketing data to power other efforts; being seen in a positive light and exuding more kindness; plus the podcast pick of the week and more in the Now With Less Audio edition of The Full Monty for the week of August 13, 2018.

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Announcements

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Top Story

The moral debate over which content to keep or ban rages on at Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms. It's been covered by plenty of news sites and pundits, and there's nothing more to add here (other than the links in the Platform section below).

But I'd like to point out that I've rebooted The Full Monty as a show (the audio edition). It's now under five minutes long, and is designed to be something like a business version of Paul Harvey. Harvey, the inveterate radio man, had three daily broadcasts: the five- and 15-minute version of News and Comment, and The Rest of the Story. Google him – or simply click on that link above to get a quick sense of his style.

The Full Monty airs every Wednesday and is available across a wide variety of audio platforms; plus, you'll receive an update via email if you're on this list.

I'd be grateful to have you as a listener, and even more grateful if you gave me feedback on what you hear. Stand by for the next episode of The Full Monty, and I'll see you on the internet.

Artificial Intelligence / Autonomous

The latest in AI, machine learning, bots, and blockchain, mobility, and autonomous everything.

Aʀᴛɪꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ / Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Lᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ

Your brain is an incomprehensibly complicated, elegant and beautiful work of art and engineering, the product of 4 billion years of chemical, physical and electrical computation on a massively parallel system known as the evolution of life on earth. From the WSJ: Should Artificial Intelligence Copy the Human Brain? Can it?
Bots have been known to go rogue, or "cheat" in the parlance of A.I., largely because of shortcuts that humans didn't think to deem off-limits. As systems become more powerful and pervasive, such hacks could materialize on bigger stages with more consequential results. "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."
A quick take on what's required to align marketing technology and A.I. initiatives to get the most out of your marketing. With Christopher Penn and Katie Robbert of BrainTrust Insights.
Only 2 percent of people who own an Alexa-enabled device have used it for shopping, and 90 percent of those who have used it for shopping in the past used it only once. Alexa sure talks a good game...
Scientists have used machine learning to distinguish the brain scans of those with fibromyalgia from those without—with 93 percent accuracy—giving credence to a disease that many scoffed at.

Aᴜᴛᴏɴᴏᴍᴏᴜs / Mᴏʙɪʟɪᴛʏ

Automotive juggernaut Cox Automotive is bringing together its investments and solutions supporting the future of mobility into the newly-formed Mobility Services Group. Part of the announcement included the acquisition of Clutch Technologies.
Amazon announced open source Alexa Auto SDK, available on GitHub, to let automakers integrate Alexa into cars and infotainment systems. Can't wait to be driving and hear "I'm afraid I can't do that."
IIHS tested Level 2 autonomous vehicles and found that they're not all the same. Adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and braking were tested; see how BMW, Volvo, Tesla, and Mercedes-Benz compare.

Communications / Marketing / Business Strategy

Industry developments and trends, including advertising & marketing, journalism, customer experience, content, and influencer relations.

Sᴛʀᴀᴛᴇɢʏ / Mᴀʀᴋᴇᴛɪɴɢ / Cᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ

Gartner says that Web Content Management (WCM) systems play a critical role in digital transformation, since publishers are engaging with consumers across an ever-growing number of channels.
Digital media's supply chain is still plagued by ad fraud, according to eMarketer's latest report on the topic.
Direct-to-consumer brands have given rise to content and customer-centricity, and a relationship with customers that traditional brands have trouble competing with.
That phrase—customer-centricity—doesn't mean what you think it means. In fact, customer-centricity needs to be a culture, not a catchphrase.

Jᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟɪsᴍ / Cᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs / Rᴇᴘᴜᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

From Medium: it's okay that your startup doesn't have a communications strategy. Good advice here for companies of any size.
The six main arcs in storytelling, as identified by A.I. It happens to be something that Kurt Vonnegut had mapped out in a rejected master's thesis years ago. Heh, Kurt Vonnegut.

Retail Apocalypse

Humans are a transactional species, and the practice — if not the very notion of what retail is — is undergoing a historical metamorphosis.

Times are seemingly good: low unemployment, spending is up, and earnings reports coming this week from Walmart, Macy's, Home Depot and other retailers. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the American economy, and there's no better indicator for how much people are shopping than the financial health of stores.
J.C. Penney is going back to its roots: catering to customers who want clothing.
In order for retailers to thrive, they need to digitize and preserve the brand at the same time.
Despite the option to use cashier-less checkouts, 57 percent of shoppers prefer to deal with humans.
Check out the 2018 Retail Forecast: Women's Footwear from BrainTrust Insights.

The most popular, searched-for brands, types of footwear, and retailers for the 2018 Retail Holiday Season. Discover the optimal weeks to begin your most aggressive marketing and advertising to maximize your ROI and sales impact. Download it now.

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Platforms

News to know about relevant social, virtual, and augmented reality platforms that may affect your business.

Fᴀᴄᴇʙᴏᴏᴋ / Iɴsᴛᴀɢʀᴀᴍ / WʜᴀᴛsAᴘᴘ

Instagram Stories have been with us for two years, and during that time, they've altered how we interact.
As they crack down on fake Pages and bots, Facebook is requiring Pages with large U.S. audiences to go through additional authorization.
Facebook is redesigning Pages for small businesses as reach dips, to help create more of a utility for customers: making appointments and reservations, calling for more info, etc.
If you used the Friends List feed, that's no longer an option.
Here's the anatomy of a perfect Facebook video, via Spin Sucks.

Tᴡɪᴛᴛᴇʀ

Twitter seems to be having a dilemma deciding what gets banned.
Overall, tech companies are struggling with the gatekeeper/censor roles. But some think they've abdicated their responsibility.
Part of the challenge with deciding what stays and what gets banned is that hate speech can be subjective. But libel and slander are not.
Twitter says that Alex Jones didn't violate its rules. A little research proved that false.
Kara Swisher, in her new column in the New York Times, says that rules won't save Twitter; values will.

A good time to revisit our piece from May: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
And here's a must-read thread from an employee at Twitter, including this: "We are not a government. We do not need to be neutral. The feeling that we are making the tough, right call by remaining neutral is wrong. Our inaction is suppressing voices - disabling conversation."

Oᴛʜᴇʀ

Tech companies use "persuasive design" to get us hooked. Psychologists say it's unethical.
Related: an internal note at Facebook reveals the "psychological trick" to attract teenage users.
Snapchat reported earnings last week and shared that it lost users for the first time.
The future of storytelling could be through Flipboard. Big fan, here. If you haven't checked out The Full Monty on Flipboard, here's your chance.

Media

The latest in the world of streaming video, audio, and the advertising, pricing and bundling models related to them.

Vɪᴅᴇᴏ

How big theaters are surviving big tech via Sara Fischer. Bottom line: they're still on the leading end of distribution – they're in control. And many of them have changed what they can about the experience: reclining seats, assigned seating, free refills on popcorn & soda, dining, alcohol...
FuboTV is the little streaming service that could: it's not relying on legacy systems, and it introduced technology ahead of Hulu and YouTube.
Check out the Aftermarq blog for discussion on the changing nature of video and TV.

Aᴜᴅɪᴏ

Currently undergoing testing in Australia, Spotify is considering offering non-paying subscribers the option to skip ads.
An exclusive interview with Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify. He talks about Apple, Netflix, Facebook, and the future.
Program of the Week: Our pick this week is Bad Science. Each week they pair a comedian with a scientist, to break down the scientifically inaccurate elements of popular movies and TV shows. Warning: There will be spoilers. Do you have a program to recommend? Add yours to our Google Sheet: smonty.co/yourpodcasts.

Privacy / Security / Regulatory

Business disruptions in the legal, regulatory, and computer security fields, from hacking to the on-demand economy and more.
So many stories in this section this week – more available in our Flipboard magazine.

Pʀɪᴠᴀᴄʏ / Sᴇᴄᴜʀɪᴛʏ / Hᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ

An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you've used privacy settings that say they will prevent it from doing so. Surprised?
Banks and retailers use technology to weed out automated attacks and suspicious transactions, but others are going significantly further, amassing tens of millions of profiles that can identify customers by how they touch, hold and tap their devices. Swipe left.
SMS authentication has its limits, as a recent Reddit breach showed.
Treating hackers like burglars may yield more identifications.
Deepfakes are coming. But is Big Tech ready?

Rᴇɢᴜʟᴀᴛᴏʀʏ / Oɴ-Dᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ Eᴄᴏɴᴏᴍʏ

The New York City Council voted to cap ride-hailing services for at least a year, to help taxi drivers recover and limit the number of vehicles clogging city streets.
No matter. Uber may win the scooter wars instead.
Airbnb is getting more corporate. Airbnb for Work notched 700K companies using its service, up from 250K last year.
Uber and the sharing economy spurred false hopes. The reality is much different. The gig is up.

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.

Many companies now use big data to optimize their marketing efforts, but what about broader company initiatives? eMarketer explores how some firms are using marketing data to power their product and merchandising efforts.
If you're wondering what to use to analyze and present your data, here's an analysis of the top six B.I. and data visualization tools in 2018.
A machine learning algorithm isn't worth much without great training data to power it.

Mental Nourishment

Other links to help you reflect, improve, or simply learn something new.

Do you practice Tsundoku? That's the art of buying books and never reading them. Not sure I'd call that an art...
The dictionary: is it for cataloging how language should be used or documenting how it is used?
Maria Konnikova was a science writer for The New Yorker. She started writing a book about poker. Now she's a professional poker player. Bonus: I interviewed Maria when she released her last book The Confidence Game.
The 19 best pens on Amazon, according to enthusiastic reviewers.
How to get others to perceive you in a positive light, according to science.
Related: we need more kindness in the world, more people who hold us up, not tear us down. Do me a favor and check out my friend Harry Cohen's movement: Be the Sun, Not the Salt – the heliotropic effect.

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Speaking Engagements

Part of my focus lately is to re-energize my speaking practice. I'd be glad to speak to your organization or at your event. Feel free to contact me to discuss it.

Health:Further in Nashville August 27-29
Digital Summit Detroit September 12-13.
Content Marketing World in Cleveland, September 4-6.
Brandemonium in Cincinnati, October 3-4
Pubcon in Las Vegas, October 16-18

Top image credit: Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven While Composing Missa Solemnis (1820) by Joseph Karl Stieler, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

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