Mobile Fix; August 2
Another Beach edition — some of the things I am reading and top news, but light on Views. Normal service resumes next week.
Dollar Dollar
Lots more financial results;
Amazon’s Streak of Record Profit Ends -more detail including the fact Amazon’s ad sales business increased 37% year-over-year, to $3 billion.
Apple’s Revenue Rises Despite Continued iPhone Slump
Twitter’s Costs Rise, but More Users Flock to Platform
Record streaming subscribers for Sky but ad sales slump 5.6%
Amazon
Lots of smart thinking on Amazon around at the moment;
Benedict Evans on Amazon as experiment
This is a long read on What is Amazon;
Good NYT piece on Amazon aspirations in Grocery. Given how the UK leads the world in online grocery I think we will see more action over here and an acquisition seems inevitable — but will it be Sainsburys or Morrisons? ( I don’t think Walmart would sell Asda to Amazon)
Audio
Spotify misses a beat as subscriber numbers disappoint — still added 8m new subscribers and other numbers were good though. Big question is the deal they can strike with the major labels.
The FT on audio and Apple entering podcast market; The future of podcasting will be highly personalised
The Amazon Polly tech is really impressive and will help Voice take off
Social Change?
It feels like some big changes are imminent in Social. The Information did a piece on an internal Facebook project that warned of a Tipping Point and how Instagram and WhatsApp were driving all the growth. A UK study showed what we hear from many places; the young are dismissive of Facebook. And with both Snap and Twitter showing significant growth we have to ask where that time comes from?
So the new Snap campaign about Real Friends seems timely and has been executed well — with a smart use of Instagram ads and hashtags.
There is still lots going on with Facebook — new content for Watch with CNN signing up and an amazing project on Brain Computer Interface — where just imagining something can type it on the screen. And search ads are being tested.
But the fallout from The Great Hack does seem likely to be a tipping point. Mainstream journalists understand how data and phones are political tools and US politicians want to eliminate autoplay and endless scrolling so the ‘weather’ for Facebook is deteriorating. And with news that Boris is testing Facebook ads in the UK the focus on data, politics and Facebook isn’t going away.
I think Facebook should stop taking political ads. There is no upside — other than the revenue. And could Brand safety fears have an effect on revenue? When people (foolishly) avoid News sites to avoid Brand Safety issues do they want their ad in the News feed next to a political one?
newTV
Another Benedict Evans piece, this time on Netflix and software. He makes the good point that while we may look at newTV and DTC through a tech lens, the key issues for these businesses are not really Tech issues. Tech is a tool.
But many of the issues are relevant when we look through the advertising lens. Acquiring and retaining customers revolves around ad issues and the business model of advertising remains hugely important.
Amazon talking up their new shows at the Television Critics Association event — and how they are stalking Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller Bridges
China
100 Million Transit Riders Are Paying With WeChat Mini-Program: Tencent
LVMH Digital Czar on China, Sales and the New Definitions of Luxury
Content
Vice Media in Talks to Buy Refinery29
What does The New York Times look for in coming up with a new product? These five things
DTC
Can the Internet Save the Department Store?
Here’s why you can’t escape Instagram swimsuit ads
Is This the Death Rattle of Mail-Order Meal Kits? Our Friends at Gousto have a £100 million vote of confidence in the their Meal Kit business.
Good thread on DTC brand BuckMason and why they are doing so well
Gaming
US teenager becomes first Fortnite World Cup champion, winning $3m
Esports player discusses the next big thing for the industry
The Video Game Industry Can’t Go On Like This Problems in the console game business
Quick Reads
How Google Is Thinking About Its Upcoming Changes for User Privacy
10 lessons from a serial entrepreneur — Justin Kan, Atrium, YC, and Twitch
The head of Growth at Lyft explains their Marketing Automation in some detail — a perfect example of modern marketing, where tech and smart thinking are intertwined
The smart people at CCS are sharing their latest report on 5G — good summary
Why Your Brand Needs to Identify a Brand Character
Brands are now hiring Talent Agencies like CAA — another threat to trad ad agencies
Apple joins Google, Facebook, and Twitter in data-sharing project
In This Privacy-First Era, Ad Tech Needs to Evolve or Die
Good piece on how retail is about great experiences and how “Employees are retailers’ most valuable resource”
How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist Since they mention a 2001 project it is a good chance to share our futurology project from the same time. If only Teletext had taken our advice..
Finally ….In case you missed this last week; some personal news as I close out my time with TMK and go back to being independent after the summer. I am keen to talk and plot with potential collaborators, partners and clients so do get in touch if you think we could help each other in any way. More to follow as I develop my plans.
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