Articles

Affichage des articles du 2013

2014 trend: drones, Internet of tomorrow!

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First, drones are cool. Very cool. And thanks to brands like Parrot, it's fully democratized. You put a camera on it and you can shoot awesome films, you can control it with your phone or a remonte controller. Fine. Drones are also a good PA: Countries use it to kill supposedly dangerous people (or people celebrating a wedding)  . It become more interesting. Indeed, the machine will do something that a human should have done before. BUT the human is still acting, behind his computer screen, like in a video game, he controls the drone with a joystick. His personal assistant, M. drone, just obeys But here is the coolest part of the article: drones are the new Internet. Andreas Raptopoulos and his colleagues at Matternet are attempting to create a network of drones that operate like the internet, only for tangible objects. "The beauty of unmanned autonomous vehicles is [that there’s] no physical infrastructure. UAVs fly wherever there is air." and it's big!

2014 trend: #Criteo or #Adroll #Retargeting is the new TV commercial. Consumers will reject it. CTR will fall.

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Retargeting = displaying ads showing products recently viewed (or related products to the one recently viewed) on other visited websites through ads. An image from AdRoll describe the process. Criteo (a French brand, Cocorico) built a huge success on it. Congrats to them!! I think retargeting success will kill retargeting as it is today. Why? Because it's too much!! If you visit an ecommerce website and see a couple of Nike shoes, then, EVERYWHERE, you'll see shoes you've checked and other ones that look like more or less the same. Whether you buy it or not, whether you checked it for curiosity or really intent to buy, whether it's a present for your wife or your kid who use the same computer as you (argh!!), you'll see EVERYWHERE these ads: on news websites, on Facebook , soon on Twitter , on search engines, etc. These ads are like TV commercial . They bet on repetition ! Here is the bet: If somebody checked Air Max Nike shoes, we can expect that

2014 trend: Collection points (or point relais) will become the central pillar of BtoC commerce

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People buy more and more online. Amazon annual income prove it. People use more and more postal delivery. French post office break record of packs delivered by day: 2M . I expect that door to door delivery will decrease.  Too complex to scale for Postal Services. They'll increase its cost , like USPS will do in 2014. Thus, it will become too expensive for brands to offer the new "norm" of ecommerce: free shipping, within 3 days. Thus, it will become too expensive for consumers who require a free delivery within 3 days or less. Thus, it will become normal to arbitrate between a free shipping, not to door and a door to door shipping. Thus, it will become normal to not receive mail in a mailbox but to catch in a specific place. I expert that collection points business will increase. It will because outdated to check mailbox. Mails et packages will be stored in a collection point. People will go to that place 1 to 2 times a week. I exper

2014 trend: Forever editable content

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Image via CrunchBase We do not write on paper anymore, we type. Text typed is always editable. Instead of drafting and drafting again to finally write a cool text. You type raw notes and then polish content till it's perfect. That's just the biggest shift in the way world works today. The most comprehensive and trusted encyclopedia ever is a wiki, always editable (and wiki are more and more used in companies to collaborate). The most used social media, Facebook , allow you to edit messages after posting it.Your posts and profiles are always editable (and  Twitter declared they'll do the same soon. Articles on news website are edited all the time . Offers proposed on brand websites change regarding the profile of the visitor or A/B test strategies, they are edited all the time. Remarketing ad banners change all the time, they are hyper personalized, always edited. Prices on Amazon are changed 2.5 millions time a day . Event the popular email client Gmail all

Republic definitely needs marketing

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In France, more and more groups express their opposition to taxes: "les pigeons" a group of entrepreneurs, "les bonnets rouges" a diverse group of people from a region: Brittany, " Front national " the most popular nationalist party, etc. Gray economy is rising. Today was the anniversary of the end of the World War I. A demonstration occurs during official commemoration led by the President. He was booed. Police arrested people.I think it's really sad. And I think the failure of the current government is not really due to bad decisions, it's a communication failure. How to make people believe in participatory democracy without decisions, just communication? Promote & market the "motherland" It's not natural to like France, to believe you're part of a nation, respect and love French flag, know the national anthem. I saw a tombstone last day in Père Lachaise cemetery (famous in Patris). It was written on it: "

Google's hidden revolutions

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Google made a few revolutions recently. Did you notice them? First one: Right in the Chrome landing page, you now have a Google search bar. Google take progressively control of its browser's users. Second one: In Chrome, the search URL disappear from the address bar. After hiding "http" , Google deleted the search address when you use Google and replace it by the a search bar with the words you search. Yes, they delete the search bar from the webpage! You HAVE to use the "ex" address bar. Third one: When you search images, Google is now a real assistant. They help you to filter and target your search. It's very powerful. When you click on an image, you have images related to it. Again, it's powerful and works very well. You can also search images by... images and it works very well. I like a lot Google because like Apple, most of the revolutions they lead are detail oriented, nobody really see them. Journa

Ikea on Cradle to cradle in France [FR]

"Depuis le 1er avril (et jusqu’au 31 mai), Ikea mène une opération inédite, baptisée «Donner une seconde vie à vos meubles», consistent à reprendre des meubles achetés chez elle en échange de bons d’achats Le client remplit un formulaire sur le site de l’enseigne en y joignant une photo de son meuble, puis reçoit une estimation. Il dispose ensuite de 15 jours pour rapporter son meuble (monté)" Source

Puma InCycle: biodegradable, recyclable, cradle-to-cradle. Respect...

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PUMA is taking on the challenge of launching an entire line that is either biodegradable or recyclable and 100% Cradle-to-Cradle Basic certifiedCM. The PUMA InCycle collection includes among numerous others the lifestyle sneaker Basket (biodegradable), the legendary PUMA Track Jacket (recyclable), shirts (biodegradable) and a backpack (recyclable). Good to see that crisis do not completely frozen courageous initiatives to... Build a better world.

Let's invent the "tasteful guarantee" label and revolution food industry

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You buy food, or you wife do. It's "fair trade", "gluten free", "organic", "from local farmers", "low footprint", "low carb", "diet", "sugar free", "halal", "casher", "vegetarian", made in France", AOC (France), "recyclable", "no OGM", "Dukan diet compliant", "costs 100 weight watchers points"... What about taste? Nothing rate it, classify it, analyze it... Isn't it the most important? The most important to protect? to care of? ...but also to boost sales and differentiate and build stories on? The one who create a great rating scale for taste and associated labels will be a billionaire... And revolution food industry. But is it possible to rate taste!? Com on! we can go to the moon, trigger rain, decode genome and make self driving cars so I'm sure it's possible. Edit 7/12/13: The College de France recen

Do you know Bundle "Real People, Real Money, Real Ratings" ?

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"Real People, Real Money, Real Ratings We've crunched the numbers on how people are spending their money to show you your city in a whole new light." http://www.bundle.com/ I really like their pitch! Let's digg into the concept: "We believe this method of rating (combined with people's subjective opinions) allows us to make smarter decisions in the following ways: Bundle ratings remove bias and false reviews because they're based on actual spending information. In essence, people are voting with their wallets.  Bundle cuts through the noise and save you time. You will not have to sift through 55 reviews to see if a place is any good.  Bundle strongly believes that you should have total price transparency, and we show you how much other people have spent at a business on average.  Bundle recognizes that a particular business, no matter its ranking, may not be for everyone. For example, even though the overall rating of a restaurant may be 3 s

I believed in Deezer & Spotify. Now I believe in MP3 in the cloud

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Image via CrunchBase I love music. I believed that steaming was a good thing. It was cool: infinite discovery. unlimited listening, social sharing, collaborative playlists, high quality, easy to find and organize, music available everywhere, impossibility to lose it, etc. I have changed my mind. One big reason: I'm fed up of "loosing" the right to listen to songs because Spotify or Deezer have lost the right to stream it. It's just terrible when your favorite song is unavailable suddenly. Examples: The Live in London concert in Birdy. Deezer do not allow me to stream it.  Some Kavinsky songs. Queens of the Stoneage last album. You realize that these streamed songs are not yours, that you can lose it tomorrow. You realize that your 10 dollars monthly subscription is the the right to use a platform to listen to songs, without any warranty on the available songs tomorrow, in a month or a year: Take it or leave it. I prefer less songs and be sure

Google failed to monetize Google Reader so they closed it. Come on!

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Image via CrunchBase Google explained that they decided to kill Google Reader because the solution did not became mainstream, failed to find its audience, do not get a real traction. I don't believe it. Google is made of smart guys. Google business model is focused on ads. Monetizing a media reader is easy. Flipboard do it very well with ads and sponsored feeds. Twitter do it very well with ads and sponsored trends, accounts, tweets. Facebook do it very well with ads, sponsored stories, promoted posts and co. So what? I don't know. Perhaps the RSS format is too difficult to track, is too "open", too difficult to control ( Iranians regret it ). Feedburner , another Google product focused on RSS is in danger . What I don't understand: Google Reader was a way to have great knowledge about what each and every Google Reader user like to read. Was it too unstructured to be used by Google algorithm?  I don't know. What I h

Winners of the machine era: highly-educated workers & capital owners

The result is that, with the aid of machines, productivity increases—the overall economic pie gets bigger—but that’s small consolation if all but a few workers are getting a smaller slice. “Certainly the labor market has never been better for very highly-educated workers in the United States, and when I say never, I mean never,” MIT labor economist David Autor  told American Public Media’s Marketplace . The other winners in this scenario are anyone who owns capital . Only about half of Americans own stock at all, and as more companies are taken private or never go public, more and more of that wealth is concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people. As  Paul Krugman wrote , “This is an old concern in economics; it’s “capital-biased technological change”, which tends to shift the distribution of income away from workers to the owners of capital.” How Internet made us poor? My take: The article forget one thing: machines rely on energy and energy price raise can change the deal

How to sell a Jag in 2013: content content content

5 years ago, I was in a business school learning marketig and nobody told me that to sell a Jaguar, the process was to hire a famous singer, Lana del Rey, to sing a song that do not mention Jaguar and to hire Ridley Scott to make a thriller starring a Jaguar but not about Jaguar. Content marketing was not mentioned during my courses, it rules marketing now. Source: http://www.minutebuzz.com/marketing--desire-un-thriller-pour-la-promotion-de-la-nouvelle-jaguar-17014/

Second hand digital content, 2013 BIG liberty challenge!

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Cover via Amazon Two pieces of information: Apple and Amazon File Patents to Sell Used eBooks  (Today it's just impossible). Regidi allows people to sell legally purchased digital music (and is sued by EMI...). Why the right to resell digital content is so important? Because if you can resell digital content, it means that you own it. You have more than a right to use it. If you can't resell digital content, it means that you don't know it. It's just a right to use it. With the digitization of content, big brands with big digital stores (Apple, Amazon, Google) and the guys content owned (Music majors, etc.) tried to establish new rules: - even if it cost nothing to be reproduced, digital content has the same price as tangible content . Status : it's not so true now. Legal digital music is a bit less expensive than CDs, eBooks are a bit less expensive than books (except in France) but there is still some efforts to do to lower a bit prices in my

First cause of social trouble? Pollution !

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Yes, it's weird, pollution is the first cause of social trouble in China . Global Warming 1/2 (Photo credit: lamazone ) I'm sure you thought it was corruption, criminality, inequity, food price, etc. Me too. So ecological issues impacts : Economy : Economic impact of global warming is costing the world more than $1.2 trillion a year, wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP Geopolitics : Read Chomsky, watch this documentary  (in french, sorry) and you'll understand. But we all know that at least Irak war and Lybian "liberation" was linked with the precious ressource. Humans' health : Do you really need proofs? Biodiversity : No proof needed and now, social trouble Can't be clearer, isn't it? Ecology is ubiquitous.

The most crucial things missing on an iPad to be as effective as a PC

Switching between different apps easily: an "alt tab" like or a windows toolbar like or a split-able screen ( like in the Galaxy Note) or a widget or (my favorite option) a better 4 digits swipe is needed!!!

Trend: ubiquitous sport, running instead of walking

People take more and more care of their health. People haven't enough time to go to the gym. People haven't enough time to do what they want to and try optimize everything. Using cars is becoming old fashioned. Running is trendy. Running without goals is boring. These considerations make me think of a potential trend: Running instead of walking. The uber optimized life of people is incompatible with walking: it's just too slow. Running to work, to the supermarket, to the bakery, is the perfect way to ally 0 footprint, health, speed without needing anything else than your own body (no bike, no rollerblade). I don't say everybody will run at 12 km/h to work for 1h every day. I rather think of a slow run, let's say 6 or 7 km/h, for 15 or 20 mins maximum. The biggest limit: Women with skirts and hikes or mens with $300 italian shoes will not be able to do it. It requests some arrangements. Related trend, highlighted by Techcrunch, walking instead of si

Lack of energy, the next "Black Death"?

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I've recently read an article telling that after the Black Death (plague that impacts all Europe), the lack of available employees create social issues in sevral countries: Workers asked for better working conditions and pay rises, fight to get it... and got it. The classic balance of power between employees and employers was modified. In a world of mass unemployment where more and more things are automated, the balance power wont't evolve. Unemployment will stay strong. Population will not decrease before several decades, except in case of WW3. One thing can change the status quo: energy. If energy cost a lot, humans will become again a good alternative to machines, local production a good alternative to outsourcing in China. Perhaps we are living the last decades of the capitalism, because this system is fully based on nearly free energy.

Google Drive for iOS, the reason why I love Google

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They did not overmarket it, they did not say they were the best, they just made it. Made what? Made the coolest Document Editor on iOS. It was ugly and limited two years ago. average one year ago. They improved it step by step, versions after versions to finally provide a magnificent experience. Mixing the benefits of the Cloud, Apps and fullweb. Taking good ideas of box.net and Dropbox. https://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/google-drive/ Try it

LinkedIn business model, an example for Facebook?

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Big difference between LinkedIn and Facebook is not focus on BtoB or BtoC but their business models. Facebook focuses on ads and, my take, makes the wrong choice. They bother their users with irrelevant ads they cannot opt-out and are loosing their cool image. LinkedIn focuses on services and, my take, make the right choice. They serve their users the best they can and do not prompt them with irrelevant offers they cannot opt-out. Good news is that it's not too late. Premium subscription withouts ads, bigger storage,etc., premium services for brands (that are not ads), can be easily deployed by Facebook.

Honda do not sell cars, they sell relationships

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Honda headquarters building in Japan (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) 1 million kilometers guarantee for a car. That's what Honda propose . What does it means? It means that Honda do not sold a metal box with four wheels (a car...). It means that Honda sold a relationship based on confidence and respect. Honda tell to their customers:  Be sure that your Honda car will work until you decide to sell it, even if it's in 9 years. Be sure that we'll be next to you if you have problems with it. Be sure that you'll resell it at a good price. We respect you, we care of you, we work hard to offer you the best. This is the best loyalty program, the best customer acquisition program, the best social/word of mouth program.

Classic music can't be seized.

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English: Introduction and descending motif from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F major (Pastoral) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Classic Music is different. Why? Because it can't be seized. It's un-formatted. Because fans of classic music don't like Symphony No 7 of  Beethoven . They like the No7 in A Major played by the orchestra X the 2nd of may 2010. It's a mix of sounds, rhythm, intensity, personal touches. Even sometimes the low quality of some songs make them unique and powerful. When my hard drive burnt. I found through torrents all of my pop music and rock albums within days except my classic music folder. Indeed, it was composed of songs grabbed in YouTube and among hundreds of albums of different players, different orchestras, some were live, some studio, I wasn't able to found them again. By extension, electronic music is quite similar. Its DNA is not 3 min formatted songs. It's mixes and mixes are liv

Vine and Tout iOS apps, symbols of the end of the photo era... replaced by the video one

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Actress Lillian Gish (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Following previous posts in French " l'image fixe est elle morte ? ", " au delà de l'image, mémoriser les sons ", et  " Cinemagram, prémices de la photo de demain ", here is a new one about the future of the photo or, my take on this future, the replacement of the photo by short video. This time, I'll talk about Tout , an iOS app and Vine , another iOS app. What is Tout? Tout is a real-time information network for up-to-the-minute video updates across news, sports, politics, entertainment, or whatever moves you. What is Vine? Vine is the best way to see and share life in motion. Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun way for your friends and family to see... Vine videos last 6 seconds maximum. Vine is a Twitter brand. I'm persuaded that photo will soon become something rare, a niche activity for "experts", "passionate people", a bit like pai

The key of the cloud + offline world: the buffer

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Buffer = essential cog (Photo credit: kevinzim ) In an hybrid world where cloud is mixed with offline, as seen on my previous post , the most important thing to handle is the buffer.  What does it mean?   If people do something offline it has to be replicated online. If people do something online it has to be replicated offline. All offline channels : PC app, business PC app, tablet app, mobile app.  How is it possible? 3 ways:  - End to end offline/online app .  Like Dropbox , Reeder, or the Blogger app I actually use to write this blogpost offline, it's fully transparent, fully cross-channel. Some apps miss some channels in their end-to-end approach. See Deezer , I have my music available offline on my mobile, my tablet but on my PC, I have to be connected to open the Deezer webpage. The missing point: a PC app/client.  - Externalized .  Todo, a todolist app rely on Dropbox to ensure that all the Todo apps are synchronized. It ask permission to stock a

Full cloud, full offline, please apps developers, stop making choices!!!

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 (Photo credit: illustir ) What is the common point between: Readability, Pocket (two "read it later" apps), Dropbox , GDrive, Box.net (three cloud hard drives), Deezer , Spotify (two music streaming services), Dailymotion (a video streaming service), Reeder (an RSS reader), Todo (an iOS todo management app), Runkeeper (an iOS sport activity recorder), Blogger (a blogging iOS app) ??? They have all understood! They have understood that a full online or a full cloud content or service access is not the solution. Our batteries are two weak to download data all the time. Our networks are too weak to download data all the time. Our mobile plans are too weak to download data all the time. Content and services have to be available offline and replicated in the cloud. And Content and services have to be available in the cloud and replicated offline. Three ways to do that: BYOC: Bring your own cloud. Like Deezer, Runkeeper, Blogger

Wishlist for 2013 - Google Reader

Google, you have bought Postrank, a marvelous app that rate posts on Google Readerand filter it using ratings and sunset it. Please make something with it. I miss it a lot when reading Techcrunch feed pushing 20 articles a day!

Apps I love: Zite

You know Flipboard, the famous mobile articles reader. Please give a chance to Zite. Why is it as cool as Flipboard? - It search good things to read for you. Give Zite keywords and it'll retrieve you nice content. Rate what Zite brings you and it will improve. - That's all! Yes Zite focuses on one thing and do it well offering a great experience. You won't pass hours on the app but you'll enjoy the surprise to discover what Zite brings you. http://www.zite.com/

Apps I love: Pocket

The ex name of Pocket is "Read it later". It allows you to bookmark articles and download them for later offline reading. Why is it so cool? - Offline reading is cool in the metro, when the mobile network is weak. - Having one place to store all articles is cool. Wether you use Google Reader, Twitter, Flipboard, Reeder, Facebook, you just send the link to add@getpocket.com or copy-past the link to read later in the iOS app and it's done. - Pocket rendering is good. The app format article nicely. Bonus: Pocket archive all bookmarked articles and allow tagging. Cool for heavy readers. Try it and tell me.

Facebook Wishlist for 2013

Just 3 thing Mark: - A "read it later" or "star" or "send link" button on posts. - A "search on newsfeed" feature. To search specific words on our newsfeeds. - Easy to handle folders with dedicated newsfeeds. Favorite and Interest feed are good a try but please... If Facebook want to be a real news reading site, it must have such Google Reader style features.