durosas

Is the Google + Wal-Mart alliance just window dressing in the eCommerce War? Yes, Wal-Mart gets access to a technology its biggest rival, Amazon, already has in the Echo (see voice ordering) and in return Google gets access to all the purchase history consumers make using the service. But will it be enough to leap-frog Wal-Mart ahead of Amazon? Also, does Google get to serve up ads, content and offers to consumers based on that purchase history even if the offers are for similar products outside of Wal-Mart? With Amazon effectively becoming a commerce search engine unto itself can an alliance beat out an integrated approach? Probably not. Amazon is the main river that all of its tributary businesses flow into so it has a common current (or purpose) whereas Google and Wal-Mart do not. Also, at what point does Google realize that to compete with Amazon not only in e-commerce but also in the cloud AND search it actually needs to be the direct contact point for transactions and breakoff f...

Right about now Tim Cook is probably wishing Steve Jobs hadn’t sold Pixar to Disney. Think of the arsenal of content and iconic characters not to mention the head start it would now have versus its tech peers (i.e.: Amazon and Netflix). Instead Apple is playing catch-up in an ever escalating content arms race. The first salvo Apple fired was back in June with the hiring of two former Sony execs to start up video programming positions that didn’t exist before at Apple. And now, after Netflix upped the ante by signing hit maker Shonda Rhimes, Apple has reportedly set aside $1 billion to invest in the creation of original content. BOOM? No, not really. Because that was the same amount that Amazon invested 4 years ago when it started up its original content machine and a pittance compared to what both Netflix and Amazon are projected to invest on programming this year ($6 billion and $4.5 billion respectively). BUT, Apple has a built-in advantage that neither Netflix nor Amazon can ...

After Netflix was skewered by Disney’s announcement that it will remove its content from Netflix Barron’s announced that Netflix stock was vulnerable because it essentially was the Moneyball of content (i.e.: it took former homerun hits and recycled them to manufacture everyday hits by becoming a default syndicator). But now, following the Moneyball analogy, Netflix has responded by dropping Neymar sized money (for those that don’t follow football Paris St. Germain paid a record $500 million transfer fee to rip Neymar away from FCBarcelona) stealing a top talent from Disney in Shonda Rhimes to be their new Designated Hitter. Sounds good, right? Netflix gets a proven winner to help them build amazing content and shrug off the defection of Disney. Not so fast. Like fashion content creation can be fickle (just as Mickey Drexler) and what is trending and hot today can be passé tomorrow (or in internet speed the next few seconds before you finish reading this post). And after shelling out a...

In the face of global growth a competitor founded just down the road in the 800 lb. gorilla in QSR known as McDonald’s, not even with the onslaught of the better-for-you burger brands like Shake Shack and in spite of a comparable small geographic footprint In-N-Out Burger has built a cult-like following by maintaining a laser focus on its brand identity of keeping things simple, maniacally executed against that promise and providing a dash of secret menus. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/competition/secret-n-out-s-cult-following?utm_campaign=20170814&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jolt

To say that Snapchat's growth prospects have looked somewhat darkened would probably be an understatement. The one-time unicorn of tech just wrapped up its second-ever earnings on Thursday missing analysts’ expectations and reporting slower than expected daily active user growth = no good. Add on top of this that Facebook's Instagram is constantly copying Snapchat's innovation and the picture gets dimmer. BUT, is there still light at the end for this fading star? Perhaps. With a few recent acquisitions Snapchat may be pivoting/repositioning itself in much the same way Foursquare did to move from being a check-in app to a location data-collection manager with a social element. Which means not only will advertisers know where their key consumer is but also how they may be interacting with their brand and if not how to seamlessly introduce their brand in the path-to-purchase. The first of these acquisitions that points Snapchat in this general direction was Zenly, a French ...

In the ever-evolving content vs. pipes vs. tech battle Disney has fired a shot heard ‘round the world by announcing that it will pull all of its content from Netflix. On one side I think, it’s about time! Disney obviously has finally seen the light that Netflix is stealing a page from Amazon’s early playbook by establishing a direct link to the end user by inserting itself between the seller and the buyer. The seller in the Amazon scenario were companies like Toys "R" Us, Borders Books and Target (to name a few) turned over management of their eCommerce platforms to Amazon. But not only did they turn it over management but the actual Consumer experience was Amazon! So Amazon, by default, was who consumers felt they were actually shopping from and we all know how that ended for Borders and many other brick & mortar stores. So rather than letting Netflix Amazon them Disney decides to launch a rival streaming service (kinda late to the game if you ask me. CBS launched one ba...

¡Gran atrapada de losphillies actual 2B para los IronPigs Scott Kingery!! https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/879559484280111104/video/1