Trend Set: SKKY Partners, Apple Event 2022

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Ayzenberg’s resident trendspotter Ashley Otah is taking a much-needed break this week. In her stead, Ayzenberg’s Olivia Gutierrez highlights a few of the major trends occupying our timelines.

Apple Event 2022

Far Out. Apple unveiled the latest iPhone 14 and Apple Watch models, as well as their new AirPods and updated Apple Fitness + at a virtual event produced at their headquarters in Cupertino last Friday.

SKKY Partners

Kim Kardashian has created a new private equity firm called SKKY Partners. The firm’s launch was announced on Twitter, calling this new venture the “next generation Consumer & Media private equity firm.” Kim and Jay Sammons are listed as co-founders, and Kris Jenner will serve as a partner at the firm.

Bowie’s NFT

On Sept. 13, David Bowie’s estate will release an NFT collection titled “Bowie on Blockchain.” The NFTs have been created by several artists, and they are being sold on OpenSea, with 100 percent of profits generated going to CARE, a non-profit humanitarian organization.

AI Art-Generated Demons

Meet Loab. When messing around with AI art generators goes creepily wrong, a viral Twitter thread and an urban legend are born.

It’s Corn!

It has the juice. This interview of a 7-year-old became a TikTok viral sensation after The Gregory Brothers remixed Tariq’s corn-loving spiel into a catchy tune. Since its online explosion, Tariq was invited to Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, to be named their state’s Corn-Bassador. He was also granted a scholarship by the state to learn more about agriculture tourism in South Dakota. In the wise words of Tariq, “I can’t imagine a more beautiful thing!”

Building For Your Customers’ Future Journey Today With Andrew Zimmerman, CEO Of Journey

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Andrew Zimmerman is the CEO of Journey, an innovation and design consultancy that works across the physical, digital, and virtual landscape. Andrew recently formed this future-forward company with the help of enthusiastic backers and several acquisitions, allowing it to quickly expand and scale.

In this episode, Andy and I discuss how brands can leverage emerging technologies to envision and create the next evolution of customer experience.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why you should be developing a voice interface for your product or organization
  • How to think about what your customer’s journey will look like in the future
  • Why you can’t apply traditional thinking to the new ‘worlds’ being created today

Key Highlights

  • [01:42] A teaser for Andy’s bestseller “Journey”
  • [08:00] Andy’s move from CEO of Frog to CEO of Journey
  • [12:25] What made it easy for Andy to raise funds
  • [14:36] Looking at the next generation of customer journeys
  • [19:15] Why Andy calls voice interfacing the “unheard channel”
  • [22:40] Analyzing the wild, wild west that is the Metaverse
  • [28:33] Blurring the lines between physical, immersive, and virtual worlds
  • [34:25] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [38:40] The biggest opportunity or threat for marketers today

Resources Mentioned:

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Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart:

Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

Trend Set: Week Of August 29th

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Ayzenberg’s Ashley Otah looks at three major cultural trends this week and what they mean for brands.

Starbucks

Just brew it. Tables come to life in the Starbucks campaign, “Every Table Has a Story.” As a young creative navigates the working world, the answer “no” persists. Through trials and tribulations, a few things remain constant—dedication and a safe haven to shoot for the stars. Working from home is all a new generation knows, and they want the flexibility to explore other options. However, they are not alone, as others also look to go beyond the four walls of their homes and office spaces. Starbucks creates that space by underscoring how it can fit into anyone’s everyday life through a meaningful medium.  

YouTube Game On

Game over. Gaming is larger than ever, with an estimated 66 percent of Americans, or around 215 million people of all ages and backgrounds, playing video games regularly. YouTube tapped into these statistics by adding a live streaming component and hosting its first-ever “Game On” event. The event was livestreamed worldwide and allowed for interactive gameplay. Community, collaboration and interactive content set the stage as a powerful way to connect generations. 

User Behavior

Wordsearch. Consumer behavior is rapidly changing as new platforms and tools emerge. What was once a foolproof way of exploring the internet and its offerings fades as the future nears. According to a Global Retail Path to Purchase study, 37 percent of users will immediately buy a product after discovering it on TikTok. In comparison, 74 percent of U.S. consumers begin their product searches on Amazon. Different platforms are responding accordingly. For example, Instagram recently launched a searchable map and others are launching nearby feeds. As the behaviors change, companies must continue to respond to these new shifts.

PAX West: The Art Of Pitching Your Game

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Matt Turnbull, executive producer at Xbox Game Studios Publishing will be headlining the workshop Pitch Perfect: The Art Of Pitching Your Game, at PAX West.

Read on for a preview and some pre-panel recommendations.

Pitching Your Game In An Uncertain Market—It Can Be Done 

According to game publishing veteran Matt Turnbull, it’s possible to get a game publisher to take you—and your yet-to-be-published game seriously. But it requires a well-planned elevator pitch that focuses on the essentials—why your game is one-of-a-kind and a potential asset, rather than a gamble, for a game publisher. 

According to the workshop’s blurb, “selling your ideas isn’t a trick, it’s not a manipulation – it’s about communication and collaboration.” Turnbull promises to decode game publishers’ criteria for choosing “the one” as well as how indie developers can most efficiently communicate that value in terms that will resonate with publishers.

Get Panel-Prepared

Watch: PAX streams here, while in-person attendees can attend the workshop today from 6:00 – 7:00PM PST at the Sasquatch Theatre (Sheraton, Level 2).

Listen: Steve Fowler of A List Games discusses the importance of honesty in building connections with audiences and the major players in the gaming ecosystem.

Read: More A List Games content in Game Publishing 101 – discover what drives publishers and the industry.

What Marketers Need To Get Right About Social Commerce

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Consumers are returning more items than ever before when buying from social commerce marketplaces: Marketers should be aware of why some aren’t coming back after a purchasing misfire.

Social Commerce Is Popular, But Trust Is An Issue

SimplicityDX’s Social Commerce Returns Survey asked 1,002 U.S. consumers about their perceptions of their shopping experiences.

While 82% of consumers are shopping through Facebook-branded marketplaces (52% via peer-to-peer shopping), Instagram is consumers’ destination of choice for name-brand products (15% of sales), with TikTok serving 9% of social commerce shoppers.

Regardless of where shoppers are finding products, their choice to shop on social commerce rather than, say, Amazon is either because they’ve engaged with an ad or branded content, or because they are searching for something not found easily on an alternative site. That makes user experience critical for brands selling on social commerce marketplaces.

SimplicityDX’s findings revealed that a single negative experience could transform consumer perceptions of social commerce. After making a return, 66 percent of social commerce shoppers stated that they are unlikely to purchase via a social commerce marketplace again and would exercise caution if, at some point, they decided to do so.

According to a recent survey by Accenture, nearly half of consumers who shop via social channels do not trust that their purchases are secure and anticipate that returns will be an issue. Social commerce shoppers ranked easy returns and refunds, clear product descriptions and images and loyalty rewards as their top three priorities. When consumers are unhappy with the user experience on social shopping journeys, they tend to bail on the experience, and for users flush with shopping alternatives, it may be hard to convert them a second time.

That means brand marketers’ efforts to drive sales through social channels may be wasted if user experience falls short. The study shows that 49 percent of consumers who made a return after purchasing on a social commerce marketplace stated that they would prefer to buy directly from the brand in the future—just 17 percent were willing to chance another social commerce purchase again.

Of course, this looks like an opportunity for brands—even if consumers are dissatisfied with a social commerce storefront. The problem is that a consumer simply Googling for their favorite brand might end up anywhere, with consumers purchasing from private resellers on eBay, Amazon, Etsy or even sites selling knock-offs.

User experience on social commerce sites really matters. Thankfully, marketers aren’t powerless to protect their brands. Below, we’re listing three rules to employ when developing social commerce campaigns or launching a new storefront:

Ensure that the shopper’s journey is simple and value-focused.

Users don’t want complexity when they look for new items or make a purchase. Make sure that checkout processes are smooth and easy to navigate (or use a platform plug-in that makes this easy).

Make it easy to view and learn about new items without too many clicks.

It is easy to lose sight of what consumers really want when the temptation to overwhelm users with content is so strong. Shopping on social commerce sites should be as effortless as reading a news feed—consumers don’t want to work at learning about a product when they are in lean-back mode.

Make social commerce more rewarding than going to their favorite ecommerce site.

Everyone loves rewards, but social commerce shoppers are in a unique position that makes rewarding them rewarding for marketers as well. When consumers are shopping on their social media accounts, they are already connected to other consumers who value their opinion—making them happy with rewards, a great deal or a fun shopping experience can transform them into instant brand ambassadors. 

The bonus for getting social commerce right? According to the Accenture study mentioned above, social commerce shoppers are two times as likely to buy from a brand they’ve never heard of before and also twice as likely to buy a bundle of recommended products as other shoppers.