Go to any event and observe dressed up folks taking selfies. Or folks asking someone else to take a picture for them. Also observe how younger people are examining the background- i.e. the photo frame. The purpose of those photos is not to take a print and make an album. But to post on instagram!
Category Archives: How Internet Affects Business
Resolve to change your web content fast in 2020’s
Why is it so hard to change your web content?
Note: Tis blog post was updated for formatting on February 10, 2021. In COVID times updating your website quickly, is even more important]
Why marketing attribution continues to be a problem
The backstory starts in the pre-internet age when sales folks were very reluctant to adopt technology because they wanted to keep their leads to themselves. After all, commissions were earned depending on who “closed” the sale. Similarly in direct mail and catalogs, the coupon code and a mailed in order identified which mailing worked. As digital and internet marketing developed, the legacy metrics were adopted and “last click attribution” became important. If you think about it “last click” or the ad that you clicked mirrored the “sales closing” and fitted neatly with the old direct mail coupon code model. All you had to do was to put a code on the ad, email and upon checkout just match the ad to the transaction and “Eureka” you had attributed the ad spend, specific email or ad to the purchase.
Forever 21 : What is your strength – that customers value?
It is sad to see that Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy. Their backstory is fascinating and the 5 minute video backstory of Korean immigrants achieving the “American Dream” by Business Insider is worth watching.
Unlike the typical sad “decline of US malls” story and rise of “online retail” the Forever 21 story has important lessons for all businesses. It is also an eerie reminder of the the New Coke fiasco, To recap, Coca Cola did not realize in the eighties that customers did not drink Coke for taste but it was all about being American – a much deeper meaning.
How TJX and Costco drive foot traffic in the digital age
The TJX group (including brands like TJMax, Marshalls, HomeGoods etc.) and Costco seem to be always crowded. And when you look at long checkout lines you know they must be doing something right in the digital age.
Why Dollar Stores are doing pretty well in a digital world
Next time you pass a Dollar Store in the US (including Dollar Tree and Dollar General) observe the parking lot. In towns rich and not so rich you’ll find that the parking lot is full most of the time.If you have not gone into a Dollar Store recently – do so and then compare the merchandise to Walmart. For a dollar the quality is not bad.
Dollar Stores took off after the 2008 recession and there are more Dollar Stores than McDonald’s in the USA. Between Dollar Tree and Dollar General there are 30,000 stores and these are very densely seen in the mid-west and the farmlands of middle America. A recent article “Sign of hope or worry- when the dollar store comes to town” describes the mixed bag that these stores are for local communities.
What is 5 G? How marketers can get ready for 2020
The two biggest attractions for marketers with 5G will be:1) Mobility: With mobile use already at 3 hers 35 minutes a day in the US expectations are that mobile will surpass TV in terms of time spent in 2019. And that’s before 5G really kicks in.
2)Fast=Decrease in latency: Latency or the delay between asking and getting replies due to network speeds will vastly improve. Google will get even faster replies but also even your messaging can get faster. The day is not far away when at a restaurant you see the dessert ads on your phone even before the waiter asks at the end of your meal!
The Furniture Brand Fiasco – resolve to Google your brand reviews in 2019
2019 has rolled in and understanding the digital assault on Brands is timely.Brand owners don’t seem to Google their own brands. How could many brands with 1.5 star reviews still be in the market? Our guess is that managements don’t seem to checking. If they checked, they’d find solutions to this brand fiasco.
Unlocking Innovation: What does our Customer Success Tomorrow look like?
It’s hard to explain to everyone in an organization – that their role includes “marketing”. And focussing on constant innovation. Hence the term “Customer Success.”
[Note: Thanks to the interest of our dear readers this post from September 18, 2018 is updated April 7, 2021. During COVID everyone was forced to become more tech friendly. We hope that this revised post will help our dear readers prepare better for a post COVID world}
The Customer Success term is particularly popular in the SaaS (Software as a Service ) industry. SaaS companies need customer renewals. To do so, SaaS companies try to align the organization including programmers, sales , finance to working towards customer success. SaaS companies also have a separate Customer Success function that faces the customer and helps in getting the most out of the SaaS product.
Blockchain will make supply chains stronger but challenge brands
Blockchain technology will start shaking up supply chains and brands. But first, what is blockchain? Here's our take: Blockchain is a distributed accounting ledger . A mechanism to share how much was paid and received by whom, where each transaction is verified on a peer-to-peer basis. Sort of like verified reviews on Amazon. The personContinue reading “Blockchain will make supply chains stronger but challenge brands”