This is issue no. 2 of 180. The goal of each issue is to identify stories in brand, data, and digital that overlap in some way. There is very little that is automated about this, I hope that you enjoy it enough to stay tuned.
Why this is insightful: any startup CEO, these days, will have a 32 inch Mac or Dell monitor with nine Chrome tabs devoted to differing data dashboards. None of them communicate with one another and only very little of the data is actionable. That all changed today as DOMO has left stealth mode.
Why this is insightful: have you ever heard of Kent Bazemore? Neither had I. An NBA journeyman with a merchandise-only Under Armour deal at the time, he helped pitch a teammate named Steph on the merits of leaving Nike for Under Armour. Nike preferred physically imposing men as the face of elite shoes, their bias may have left a dent on their shoe business.
Why this is insightful: In the last six months, we've seen the beginning of the on-demand demise. Spoonrocket folded, Instacart closed shop in a major midwest city, DoorDash has a 16% down round. The on-demand sweep may be over. Say goodbye to free burritos.
Why this is insightful: Facebook marketing tends to sell impressions and clicks as the holy grail of ad ROI. For small businesses that use Square to process payments, one thing matters - processing payments. Perhaps we're moving closer to an ad model that optimizes around sales efficacy.
Why this is insightful: polish isn't all its cracked up to be. Consumers want authenticity and Snapchat seems to be cashing in on this recent consumer behavior. More and more, brands will establish new relationships with users who've always wanted that reality tv-show like look under the hood.
Why this is insightful: a rising tide raises all ships. Yet brands and agencies tend to avoid the co-brand marketing push. This bulleted list gives you the closest thing to a road map as I've seen.
Why this is insightful: the tilt toward mobile is clear. Why aren't brands preparing for it? Native eCommerce apps are a way to capture more mobile traffic and improved conversion. With Shopify's published SDK, many younger brands can move that direction, with ROI efficiency.
Why this is insightful: AI's application in eCommerce is only beginning to manifest. IBM's Watson will be a useful part of the mCommerce experience. A voice search function will allow for conversation and personalization with the hope of increasing conversion and repeat purchases.
Why this is insightful: with the above mentioned-tilt towards mCommerce, Shopify has made it simpler for eCommerce companies to grow their consumer footprint with products like native apps.
Why this is insightful: photo visualization is visualization done with photography or based on photography. It’s visualization created without layers of abstraction, because every data point in an image is really just a photon hitting your camera sensor. - Nicholas Felton
A last word: Did Nike choose data over intuition?
The brand battle that will consume the minds of everyone in marketing (and even tech) will be Nike v. Under Armour. To the $UA brand, Steph Curry is worth an estimated $14B. The Maryland company has seen a 350% growth in their shoe sales as Nike's has begun to fall. Where it gets interesting? Let's begin in 2013 with a comparison to Kyrie Irving, all-star NBA point guard.
Both men were roughly 6'3" and 190 pounds, a size small by NBA standards. In 2013, they averaged 22.5 and 22.9 points per game. And yet, that year - Nike chose not to match UA's offer, emphasizing the marketing duplicity of having two signed "small" players on their roster. Nike went all in on Kyrie Irving as their "tier 2" shoe salesman (Kobe, Lebron, Durant are tier 1) and the rest was history.
On March 23, 2013 $NKE had a $54B market cap and $UA's market cap was $5.4B. On March 23, 2016, the little brother brand is no longer 1/10th of the size of big brother. UA now has around 1/5th of Nike's market cap. Steph Curry was the greatest coup in sports marketing since Jordan chose Nike over Adidas. Remember him?
