New 2018 data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that more than 1 in 20 Americans now usually work from home. Telework has recently overtaken public transit as the third-most-popular commuting method in the country.
Continue reading “More Than 1 in 20 Americans Usually Work from Home”Category: Business
Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends, 2018 Version
Definitely worth watching. Highlights (via Recode.net) include:
- 2017 was the first year in which smartphone unit shipments didn’t grow at all.
- People, however, are still increasing the amount of time they spend online.
- Mobile payments are becoming easier to complete.
- Voice-controlled products like Amazon Echo are taking off.
Continue reading “Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends, 2018 Version”
Reality Check for Banking
More than two-thirds of the customers of financial services will be digital-only users in just 3 years.
Source: 2017 CGN Research & Advisory Group
John Hancock Offers Apple Watch to Vitality Customers for Just $25
John Hancock has announced that new and existing members of its Vitality life insurance program can receive an Apple Watch Series 3 with GPS only for an initial payment of just $25 plus tax. Over the next two years, monthly payments are based on the number of workouts completed.
By connecting the Vitality Today app to Apple’s Health app and confirming sharing of data, customers can earn Vitality Points for Light, Standard, and Advanced Workouts in the Workout app. Customers can share steps measured by their iPhone or Apple Watch, as well as active calories from the Apple Watch. Vitality members must earn at least 500 fitness-related Vitality Points per month over two years to avoid owing any of the installments.
An innovative life insurance solution that rewards healthy living!
The Increasing Importance of Customer Experience
I was reading an interesting article about the changes occurring in the banking industry which stated that banking will have to completely change its vision of the business: the important thing will no longer be products or distribution channels, but the customer experience.
The problem is not what the branch offices look like, but the behavior of the consumer: bankers should be aware that customers are not going to return to the practice of making frequent visits to bank offices unless we take away their mobile phones. And that’s not going to happen. Banks need to view the digital customer experience as an asset akin to a physical branch and give it the appropriate funding, attention, and support it deserves. For most customers, it will be their first, and in many cases – only, interaction with the brand. When was the last time you went to a branch to do your banking?
The increasing importance of customer experience holds true, to varying degrees, for all industries. Customer experience today is what branding was for the last five decades.
Death of the Industrial Advertising Complex?
In his talk at L2’s Digital Leadership Academy, Scott Galloway argues that advertising is becoming less essential to brand building as consumers are discovering products with tools like Google, Amazon, and TripAdvisor. The brand is no longer on the tip of the tongue, it’s what Google says it is.
I do not agree with everything he puts forth in his lecture, but he makes some very thought provoking points.
Baymard Institute: 3 Key Design Principles for Product Listing Information
Baymard Institute just posted an interesting article about the importance of UX on product listing pages based on their e-commerce usability research.
Users select and reject products in the product listing pages based on the information available about each item. We’ve previously documented that 46% of e-commerce site have severe usability issues because they display too few product attributes in the product listings.
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Going Digital
U.S. Agency Revenue Rises 6.5% in 2015. Digital Accounts for 41% of Agency Business
Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends Report
Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends Report for 2016 came out last week. Some highlights include:
- The global internet adoption rate was flat year-over-year at 9%, reaching 3 billion users or 42% of the world’s population
- Smartphone adoption’s growth is slowing, while Android increases marketshare despite a shrinking average selling price
- Video viewership is exploding, with Snapchat and Facebook Live showing the way, though video ads aren’t always effective
- Messaging is dominated by Facebook and WeChat, it’s growing rapidly, and evolving from simple text communication to become our new home screen with options for vivid self-expression and commerce
- US advertising is growing, with Google and Facebook controlling 76% of the market and rising, but advertisers still spend too much on legacy media rather than new media where the audience has shifted
- Meeker predicts the rise of voice interfaces because they’re fast, easy, personalized, hands-free, and cheap, with Google on Android now seeing 20% of searches from voice, and Amazon Echo sales growing as iPhone sales slow
- The USA could become the home of the auto industry again thanks to innovation from Tesla and Google despite US auto sales slipping since 1950, though car ownership will fall as Uber/UberPool sharing becomes mainstream
Radical Candor
“Radical candor is humble, it’s helpful, it’s immediate, it’s in person — in private if it’s criticism and in public if it’s praise — and it doesn’t personalize.” That last P makes a key distinction: “My boss didn’t say, ‘You’re stupid.’ She said, ‘You sounded stupid when you said um.’ There’s a big difference between the two.”
– Kim Scott (@kimballscott) – The secret to being a good boss.