This is issue no. 4 of 180. The last issue saw a 57.04% open rate with a 34.57% clickthrough. The most important topics? The (1) Abercrombie brand and (2) the data tools that can help your startup.
Why this is insightful: chat will be the next great operating system and bots will be its apps. With apps like Slack and Messenger dominating our days, bot-based services, commerce, and media will begin to emerge over native mobile and desktop apps.
Why this is insightful: introduced at The New York International Auto Show, the "New York" sedan is meant to take on the BMW 3 Series. Hyundai is serious about the luxury category. And many of us finally see a path for them. You'll believe in this car and Hyundai's luxury bid.
Why this is insightful: we're getting older and no, many of us didn't believe at first. But Snapchat, the rapidly growing social application favored by mobile's youngest users, has hit a notable milestone: for the first time ever. It's here for the haul.
Why this is insightful: suitcases have long needed an update. And travelers have long needed a way to charge their electronics. The way that the Trunkster team executed on these needs will astonish you. A beautiful, functional product.
Why this is insightful: browser toolbars provide important analytics for Web-based marketers. How the information is collected may be biased towards a particular type of technical user. There has to be a better way to showcase this information.
Why this is insightful: it's beginning to work for brands like Hyundai (see-above). But will expansion strategies for Pepsi Cola (upscale restaurants) and KFC (grilled hotdogs) do more damage than good?
Why this is insightful: in a departure from its usual fermented fare, Carlsberg has offered a new experience: a chocolate bar—that is, a drinking establishment made entirely out of chocolate. It's created a short term marketing buzz for the brew house.
Why this is insightful: China has the most prolific eCommerce economy on the planet. From process to logistics, their systems have outdone the likes of Amazon. International trade remains the largest obstacle to a further shift towards evolving commerce practices.
Why this is insightful: this will be a contested argument but many people familiar with both organizations consider this the year that Under Armour finally gains on Nike. Morgan Stanley is predicting a Steph Curry victory (read: $UA) over Lebron James (read: $NKE). Here is the link to the raw data that is cited in this article.
Why this is insightful: in the early years of building Souq, Ronaldo Mouchawar often carried a notebook into his pitch meetings with retailers in Dubai. He hoped they would sign on to the new ecommerce platform, but the chances were always slim. Mr. Mouchawar proves that this type of business can be successful almost anywhere.
A last word: I just made Linkedin more useful.
A new platform that I stumbled upon, Index combines public information on business contacts with private information on relationships to tell you who knows who and how well. Index uses metadata from emails without ever accessing its content. This new service can address who you need to reach to make the best attempt at a warm introduction. The goal is to reduce the number of cold emails that you attempt, improving the odds of a warm welcome.