Here are a selection of stories that made the headlines this week that got me thinking about the marketing perspective.
Monday
Yahoo acquires Tumblr for $1.1bn
Tuesday
Microsoft finally reveals the XBox One console system
Wednesday
Twitter announce 2-step verification
Thursday
Adidas reviews Garcia deal after Tiger Wood’s controversy
Friday
Google considering purchase of crowd-sourced mapping tool Waze
As the dust begins to settle from one of the most significant acquisitions in web-land since the Facebook/Instagram deal (s fb), the warm glow of euphoria created by Yahoo's (s yhoo) $1.1-billion takeover of Tumblr has given way to the harsh reality of blending -- or, more importantly, not blending -- two vastly different companies and cultures. In a statement about the deal, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promised not to "screw it up," …
The way that technology is now a part of our daily lives is extraordinary. Who would have thought that you could have a map, a GPS tracker, pedometer and a telephone in the palm of my hand today?
The race for manufacturers to create devices that we can wear is becoming more prominent in our daily lives. When Nike teamed up with Apple 7 years ago with the Nike+ system to keep track of runs, it helped the sportswear giant develop a greater connection with their customers (pun intended) by creating products that utilised this system. It also helped Apple to tap into Nike’s market though their synergistic ties, developing apps and hardware that enabled owners to track their runs, map routes and sync their music with their workouts.
Nike further extended their adventures in technology by releasing the FuelBand and setting up the Accelerator program in 2012, aimed at leveraging their technology through their API and SDK for Nike+.
The widely reported, Kickstarter-backed Pebble watch project is another wearable device that enables you to operate certain functions of your smartphone without reaching into your pocket. The device also enables developers to create applications for the watch, ranging from fitness to…
Google are planning to gain a foothold through the creation of Google Glass, an augmented reality device worn as a pair of glasses that displays information to the user in a similar format to a smartphone, operating via voice-activated commands.
Such a device offers many application and product collaboration opportunities for Google. By marrying technology and fashion through Glass, manufacturers can create products with aesthetic appeal that target a new customer demographic, or adapt their current range of products to accommodate Glass, thus extending the lifecycle of eyewear products in developed markets.
Privacy issues?
Despite the potential possibilities that Google Glass presents, there may be some drawbacks regarding Glass’ functionality, most notably the privacy issue. The trade-off with ‘free’ internet services such as Google, Twitter and Facebook is that your input (personal data) becomes a commodity that such services use to generate advertising revenue through the creation of targeted, personalised ads.
Furthermore, being tracked using such products like Glass does raise personal security concerns about who has access to the data and how it is protected. A Fast Company article outlines a list of places that are likely to be resistant to the use of Glass in certain public and private places.
What does it mean for marketers?
Marketers need to consider whether wearable tech is relevant to their company activities. Architecture and design companies, outdoor adventure or athletics companies may find wearable tech products useful to their business, for instance, especially in terms of the different functions and options that such technology provides. Another consideration is whether wearable tech complements their target market. Such products could be seen by a company’s target demographic as pointless or a privacy infringement. Conversely, they could embrace the technology and see it as way of simplifying daily activities, perhaps even provide opportunities to discover new things they would not have thought about.
Either way, wearable technology is not going away any time soon, and I believe that if Google can strike the balance between protecting customer privacy and providing a purposeful product with numerous applications, they could make the world a much smaller place.
What are your views on wearable tech? Please comment below or tweet me @ChuxOnye
Yahoo’s purchase of Tumblr for $1.1bn is another move by Marisa Mayer to bring the internet giant back to its former competitive edge in a modern way. Having purchased Summly, a news summarization app for $30m in March, these are exciting times for Yahoo. What ways can they maximise the potential benefits from these purchases?
Tumblr is a very popular blogging platform, with over 109 million active blogs and over 50 million blog posts (as seen today). Its popularity stems from the simplicity it offers users in creating and sharing content through Tumblr’s simple design and social networking capabilities. Such user figures provides Yahoo the opportunity to monetize the platform, however there has already been some backlash against this move, with some users migrating their blogs to rival platform WordPress. Mayer has promised not to “screw up” Tumblr, which is a stark reminder to Yahoo’s fateful journey with Geocities.
Additionally, Tumblr has a strong mobile presence which Yahoo is aiming to improve with notable updates to its Y! Mail and Flickr mobile apps. Flickr could be a key platform, especially with its photo capabilities which complements with the ease of sharing content via the blogging site.
Tumblr’s reach, coupled with Yahoo’s financial clout and relative internet business expertise could see this deal being very beneficial to both parties. What would be important for Yahoo is to ensure that the Tumblr experience is not compromised in preference for the pursuit of monetization.
What are your views on this deal? Please comment and tweet me @ChuxOnye
Twitter has become a key platform for brands to connect with and engage with their customers. Efforts to build a strong community can be a challenge, however these 25 brands seem to be doing something right.
Infographic courtesy of Nestivity.
So what are your thoughts on the list? Are these the top 25? Are they really effective?
Please leave your comments below or carry the discussion further with me on Twitter @ChuxOnye.
I want to take the time to dispel a few misconceptions about the luxury consumer. By now, you know I like to explain my reasons for writing a particular article, my reason today is in reaction to the recent hype surrounding Michael Kors watches. A watch as we all know does not have one primary function, it's a fashion statement and it's one item that holds its value extremely well.
