Marketing Technology 5

Marketing Technology Stories you might have missed

MT5 Edition:  #25

Stories This Week: Consumers don’t want personalized search, failure of two screen TV viewing, social media advice you NEED, Google will fail at consumer hardware.

1. Consumers Concerned About Personalized Search Results

[eMarketer] Only 15% of those surveyed preferred personalized search results. In contrast, 45% felt everyone should see the same results.

My Take: I’m a bit puzzled by the results. Why wouldn’t one want information aligned with their interests?  The one thing that stood out in the comments was a concern that this is an opportunity for Google to insert promoted results under the guise of personalized results.  But wait! I thought Google was the “Don’t be Evil” company!

2. Opportunity and Failure of Technology to Bridge Two Screens

• [SearchEngineLand] Google: 41 Percent Of Super Bowl Ad Searches Were Mobile
• [A&G] Shazam: Is it QR All Over Again?

My Take: I put these two stories side by side to show the opportunity and complete failure of anyone to deliver on an elegant two-screen strategy.  The first story shows that a lot of people had their laptop, tablet or smartphone in hand during the Superbowl. The second post shows how awful Shazam is at connecting consumers to the ads.  My take is integration will come when the TVs are smarter. I want to speak  commands such as “play the Doritos ad on my tablet” and have my TV issue commands to my second screen. Why put TVs in charge? They don’t have to power, bandwidth and battery challenges that second screen devices do.

3. 10 Things You Still Need To Know About Social Media / Social Business

[The Brand Builder] Check out these great quotes from Oliver Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder).

My Take: You see so much trite advice on social media, but his recent post provided some real gems such as:

• “Social” is something you are, not something you do
• Marketing on social media channels isn’t “social.” It is just marketing on social media channels
• Change management, not social media tools and platforms, is at the crux of social media program development
• Shut up and listen!

4. Dual monitors saves 15 minutes a day

[NY Times] A study, not surprisingly sponsored by a display company, showed that an extra display (or two) can tangibly boost productivity.

My Take:  I need to monitors, I’d like to have a third (browser, email, twitter). But there can be no doubt that adding a second monitor to an employee’s desktop is THE BEST way to boost employee productivity.

5. Google’s Foray Into Hardware Will Be A Total Disaster — Here’s Why

[Business Insider] Google is positioning itself to take on Apple in the set top box and music streaming device business. The article convincingly lays out why it will fail.

My Take: I’ve been pro-Google for a long time. Their free services have always helped me organize my life and communicate better. However, their recent design improvements, bone-headed business strategies with Google+ and so-so TV offerings have given me less faith in their ability to compete with Apple or Facebook.  They just don’t have the necessary design ethos and they’ve even take steps back in software development.