BROWSER TRAVEL: Now this is fun. A bunch of new sites and services have popped up to help give us our travel fix while we are stuck at home:
Radio Garden: spin through the globe and tune into local radio
Window Swap : turn your screen into another person’s window view
Travel Remotely : roam exotic streets while listening to local sounds
RETAIL ADVERTISING: Facebook released some new research that supports the influential “Long and Short of It” concept. The report advocates for a full-funnel approach to media planning as “in certain instances, brand campaigns can be more effective than DR campaigns in driving sales.” Google also has some new research/perspective on how retailers should balance providing scale (e.g., endless aisle) with curation (e.g., recommended for you). The report reinforces that both approaches need to allow the customer to feel in control throughout the decision-making process.
SUSTAINABILITY & DIGITAL: A few interesting examples of eco-friendliness making its way into digital products: Mastercard recently applied for a patent that will track and reward cardholders for making eco-friendly purchases and VW (of diesel emission scandal fame!) recently launched a ‘carbon-neutral’ website that requires less computing power.
GOOGLE & TRACKING: Google released news last week that once it removes 3rd party cookies from Chrome that “we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web”. The tension between advertiser’s desire for greater targeting with customer/regulator’s desire for greater data privacy continues to play out. Mediacom thinks this will lead to a better advertising model.
SOCIAL PLATFORMS: More product news from the social platforms. Twitter is planning on introducing a Super Follow option that allows users to charge for their tweets (I will gladly pay to avoid certain tweets). LinkedIn is also getting into the employment marketplace space with a new feature that helps freelancers find work. Finally, this is a smart post on how audio is the next frontier for tech/social “The Age of the Ear”. Reply back if you need a Clubhouse invite!