Personalized video marketing

“What's in a name?” Possibly quite a lot when it comes to personalized marketing.

Several months back I received a marketing email from Sprinklr that was rather ironic given its message about effective use of data. It opened like this: “ Hi {lead.First Name:default=}.”  Obviously, something went wrong, and I saw the code rather than my name.

Of course, personalized emails are not all that unusual any more, so some marketers have upped their game with personalized video. After receiving the “A Dog's Purpose” video (above) — in a correctly personalized email — I contacted Adgreetz's co-founder and CEO Eric Frankel about what data is used for this kind of personalized video marketing, and how the video was delivered to people who are 1) dog owners, and 2) have a dog of that particular name? 

read more in A Marketer's Best Friend

Define "good"

I don't mean that in an abstract way or with the kind of depths of thought about what we mean by "qulity" that drove the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance toward madness. I just mean it in the context of "good pay."  The question arises from this job posting:

We pay really well because we want really good content.
“Really good content” means well-constructed, well-reasoned arguments that are also extremely engaging.
Articles need to be a minimum of 500 words, though analysis pieces need to be a minimum of 1,000 words
We provide you with the headlines and an initial source
We’re looking for both weekday AND weekend writers. There’s a bonus for weekend writers.
We often promote writers to management positions

Ah, I think, they say they have high standards but compensate accordingly, so I was picturing a minimum of three figures and not just with a one or two at the beginning of the number. But my illusions about some shared view on what constitutes "good" pay was shattered an instant later as I read on:

What We’ll PayPay will start at $15/article during the test period. Afterward, we’ll bump it to $20/article for weekday news articles, and $30/article for weekday analysis articles. Weekend news articles are $25/article and weekend analysis pieces are $35/article. 

So, basically, they'll pay you what teen babysitters get per hour for an article that should take you several hours to write.  Certainly, any beginning writer -- and that's the only kind who likely would apply for this job -- would likely need more than hour to crank out an article of that length that is not merely recycled platitudes.

Related: http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2017/05/on-working-almost-for-free.html
http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/05/writing-for-free-is-not-deductible.html
http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/05/an-idiots-guide-for-writers.html

AI gets a boost from curiosity

As data analytics become increasingly driven by artificial intelligence (AI),

photo credit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2332/2083892100_3e015d810a_b.jpg

researchers search for a way to drive machine learning. The key ingredient its future development may be a dash of curiosity.

There are all kinds of AI systems currently used by various businesses with different names like Alexa and Albert to personalize then. Perhaps it's time for an AI system named George after the monkey whose curiosity propels him into various adventures.

That would be an apt choice for the Intrinsic Curiosity Module (ICM) developed by a group of four researchers at University of California, Berkeley. The attempt to inject curiosity to achieve self-motivated advances in machine learning was the subject of their paper, Curiosity-driven Exploration by Self-supervised Prediction, that was just submitted to the 34th International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2017).

Their premise is that external rewards for learning are of necessity limited and actually rather rare in real life. That doesn't mean that people stop exploring or seeking out answers even when there are no prizes for doing. They are motivated by their own human curiosity. Infusing that kind of motivation in a virtual agent gets it to test things out for itself even when not directed to do so. The test of the effect was done in monitoring how far it would proceed in two video games, VizDoom and Super Mario Bros. as you see in the demo video here:

Read more in Machine Learning Taps Power of Curiosity

Getting insight on all the channels with AI

Marketers have access to more data on their customers than ever before. The challenge is getting rapid insights from all the channels used, in time to act effectively. One solution is an  AI-powered customer retargeting platform for omni-channel marketing operations. Abhi Yadav, ZyloTech's  co-founder and CEO, spoke to me about the function of AI in omni-channel marketing.

ZyloTech, formerly DataXylo, launched in 2014 as an MIT spin off. Its advisory teams includes PhDs in AI, data scientists, and other marketing experts from the university. The platform uses machine learning to analyze all customer data continuously, and in near real time, for actionable insights on omnichannel marketing.

In the current environment, marketers really have “no way of knowing whether the individual” targeted by the ad “is a new, lost, inactive, loyal or brand-conscious customer,”  says Yadav.

Read more in An AI Approach to Omnichannel

On working almost for free

Someone I did some freelance work for a few years back contacted me to inquire about writing for his current company. The exchange on LinkedIn messaging went like this:

Hi Ariella, Not sure if you remember me from my ___ days but I am looking for a freelancer to help out with blog posts across two products here at ____. I don't remember what your pricing was but I do remember that you made my life a whole lot easier. Can you send me what you were asking?

 I assured him that I did remember him and asked what kind of articles he had in mind. His response:

• product focused
• and a bit of thought leadership
• Just so I can make sure, does $50 for an 800 word article work?

I wrote back:

I'm assuming you dropped a zero there.

Surprisingly enough, he said:

I did not. Our content director informed me that is what we normally pay for an 800 word article. Understood if that is way too cheap. 

That was far below my rate even when I first started freelancing (and he knows it's a tiny fraction of what was paid by his previous company, which is why I had assumed he dropped a zero).  But I am not one to throw away opportunities in a snit. I said my daughter may do it for that rate. After all, she is willing to work for free for college internships. So I'll let her take a crack at it. At least, it will be a learning experience and resume builder for her.

Related posts http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/05/writing-for-free-is-not-deductible.html

 http://writewaypro.blogspot.com/2016/05/an-idiots-guide-for-writers.html
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/college-internships-real-story-ariella-brown-phd-1

AI for customer service

AI is changing our everyday interactions. What once required a human rep can now be handled by a

(Image: panuwat phimpha/Shutterstock)

virtual assistant whose programming allows customer problems to be solved more quickly.

A recent Venturebeat article declared, "AI chatbots are the next big shift in customer service." Those of us of a certain generation expect to wait on a line or on the phone for a person to take care of our customer service issues. But the generation that favors texts to calls has come to have different expectations.

Read more in  Why Machine Learning Can Improve Customer Service

The eyes have it with AI

The camera is already starting to replace the keyboard,” asserts Netra CEO, Richard Lee. The content that will dominate digital information flow will be visual, and for that reason image recognition is becoming a key component of marketing.

His company derives insight from visual data, fostering understanding of how consumers engage with brands through engagement with images. Netra  is a leader in visual intelligence and search that uses machine learning to help marketers make sense of imagery on social media.

Some brands are already using image recognition to connect with and effectively market to their customers. They include Neiman Marcus. The upscale retailer offers its customers the Snap. Find. Shop  app that enables them to use their phones to snap pictures of styles they like and find similar styles carried by the store.  The app is demonstrated here:

The app allows customers to bypass typing in description of the clothing and rely on the image alone to convey what they seek. That kind of search is what we will be seeing more of in future, according to Lee. 

Read more in AI Makes Visual Intelligence Possible

Renewables take to the waves

For major electronics OEMs, transitioning to renewable energy entails not only using it in their own factories but calling on those that supply components to do the same. Apple has done just that. As a result, many of its suppliers are turning to solar and wind power, and some are even reaching out to sea to get it. 

As Bloomberg recently reported, for its own operations, Apple can boast of using tapping into renewables for 96% of its own energy use. That includes not only the corporate offices Lisa Jackson, Apple's vice president in charge of sustainability and government affairs, says, but also “our data centers, our stores, even our distribution centers.” However, as she told Bloomberg Television, the company is resolved to do even better by “moving onto our supply chain.” 

As Apple posted in March, together with its suppliers, the company anticipates that by the end of next year, it “will be generating over 2.5 billion kilowatt hours per year of clean energy.” To put that in perspective, that is tantamount “to taking over 400,000 cars off the road for a year,”  the company said.

Apple’s goal of reaching 100% renewable energy for its production entails getting its suppliers to commit making the necessary changes for their energy sources. Apple now has seven supplier companies committed to renewable energy. Among them is Ibiden. It has the distinction of being the first company in Japan to commit to use only renewable energy in producing components for Apple.

Ibiden is set for renewable energy production that is anticipated to “produce over 12 MW of solar power — more than the energy they need for Apple manufacturing — and support Japan’s nationwide efforts to limit its carbon emissions.” In addition to standard facilities, Ibiden’s energy will come from “one of the largest floating solar photovoltaic systems in the country.” By floating the solar panels, energy can be harvested from the sun without taking up limited land space in Japan.

This trend of moving out to the water to harness renewable energy is also being applied to wind power.

Read more in 

Innovation in Renewable Energy Greens Supply Chain

Mother's Day Marketing

Public domain pic at http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/170000/velka/muttertag-14609069654cp.jpg

Motherhood may be priceless, but there actually is a price tag associated with Mother's Day. Given that the market for this particular holiday is expected to hit a record-high this year, savvy marketers have already put their brands in the game.

On the second Sunday in May, Americans take time out to show appreciation to their mothers, typically with cards, flowers, dinners out, and other assorted gifts. All that adds up to $23.6 billion, according to NRF's forecast.

In anticipation of this substantial spending occasion, you'd expect to see massive marketing campaigns. But it seems that brands are not doing quite as much as they could. I popped into Target and saw only minimal signs of the imminent holiday represented by a few Mother-themed mugs in the front section, as well as the usual cards.

I shared what I've seen with Mike McMaster, VP of Lead Generation at JumpCrew. He said he noticed the same at a mall he visited over the weekend. With the exception of Macy's, he observed very little Mother's Day marketing.

The stores who fail to address the upcoming holiday in their setups are missing out on “the two Ps in marketing,” McMaster says. That refers to “placement and promotion” with targeted positioning of merchandise that ties into the promotional theme of Mother's Day.

Read more in Mother's Day: Price Tags and Hashtags

AI Transforms Business Data Models

(Image: pixone/iStockphoto)

As big data continues to grow, extracting value from it calls for new tools.

Increasingly, businesses that rely on data to drive decisions are applying AI to surface actionable insight quickly and accurately.

Finding innovative solutions to the problems raised in data analytics, particularly with respect to adapting machine learning to credit scores, is what they've been working on for the past six years at Experian's DataLabs. The EVP and Global Head of the labs, Eric Haller, spoke to All Analytics about the new direction for predictive modeling.

Read more in

AI, Machine Learning Power Transformation

Google browser to block unacceptable ads

pic https://static.pexels.com/photos/48123/google-www-online-search-search-48123.png

How offensive or annoying is that? That's a real question for those in the business of assessing what types of ads viewers might consider beyond the pale: Especially now, when ads that don't make the cut may be blocked before any human sees them.

Ad blocking software is what many people rely on to stop annoying popups and noisy videos that play online when they want to watch or read something. However, those extensions required downloads and sometimes fail. They could prove far more effective if they are integral to the browser. Google has plans to do just that in Chrome, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The standards Google would apply would be based on the research of the Coalition for Better Ads. Its Initial Better Ads Standards drew on over 25,000 consumer ratings of digital ad experiences in North America and Europe, this past March. 

Marketers who ignore the standards, thinking that it will only affect some of their ads, may suffer unanticipated consequences. According to the Journal, Chrome may keep out “all advertising that appears on sites with offending ads, instead of the individual offending ads themselves." Like the one bad apple, one bad ad can spoil the entire marketing barrel, which is a very high price to pay for poor judgement.

Read more in Google Chrome to Ride Shotgun on Unacceptable Ads

AR gets real and social

“We're making the camera the first augmented reality platform,” declared Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook's F8 developer conference. That's where he showed off some of the AR effects the social media giant is making accessible to anyone on a mobile device. Whether you want to break the boredom of breakfast by setting some virtual sharks to swim around your bowl, see people's faces replaced by emojis, or turn a tabletop into the site of a video game, you'll be able to do it with just your smart phone. You can hear him and see the effect in this Cnet clip:

Read more in

AR Takes Off on Facebook

Analytics for the Anderson Center for Autism

Concerns about retaining the staff prompted the Anderson Center for Autism to seek a tech

pic from http://www.happygreenbee.com/autism-spectrum-disorder-asd-facts-myths/

solution that was compatible with the center's people-first philosophy.

The Anderson Center for Autism is a nonprofit organization based in Staatsburg, N.Y. that operates a school and 100-acre residential campus comprising 20 buildings, as well as 25 adult houses across three counties. The center uses more than 400 desktops and data centers connected by fiber optics. The entire IT infrastructure has been in the cloud since 2012.

The picture for this organization was very different in 2001, when it was suffering from a lack of funding and inefficient processes, as well as high turnover. Then a new CEO took the helm and brought about a major transformation. Over the next decade, the center set up a cloud-based IT infrastructure and predictive analytics, which streamlined processes, cut down paperwork by 95 percent and reduced turnover significantly.

In 2003, Gregg Paulk was hired as the first IT manager for the center and was tasked with building out the infrastructure. He recalls, "We were in the dark ages."

- See more at: http://www.baselinemag.com/cloud-computing/cloud-mobile-and-analytics-help-retain-employees.html#sthash.LGb5pYyb.dpuf

AR for Logistics

According to Digi-Capital’s latest forecast, augmented reality (AR) will constitute an $83 billion market by 2021.  While a good chunk of that may go to popular games in the mode of Pokémon GO, AR also can also serve wholly practical purposes and improve logistics.

Among the items covered in the Tech Trends 2017: The Kinetic Enterprise from Deloitte University Press was a look the benefits of mixed reality (MR) offer industry.  It enables access to “actionable information to any location where work is done—on site, on the shop floor, or in the field,” and that can take logistical operations to a whole new level of efficiency.

DHL’s report Augmented Reality in Logistics details four areas in which the technology can effectively be applied:

• Warehousing operations
• Transportation optimization
• Last-mile delivery
• Enhanced value-added services

Read more in 

Augmented Reality Gets Beyond Games to Help Logistics

Car analytics and AI

(Image: chombosan/Shutterstock)

Today's cars are all about mobility -- not just the kind that transports people and things, but also data mobility. Today's cars are more connected, and they are generating a lot more data that car manufacturers are working to collect, process, and apply to AI developments.

When the average person thinks about the connected car -- whether it is fully automated or packed with sensors that alert the driver to possible dangers -- what comes to mind is the experience for the person in that driver's seat. In fact, the information the driver sees represents only a tiny fraction of all the data collected through the sensor system. The amount of data collected is indeed vast, and car makers are now working on ways to ingest and process it effectively.

Read more in 

Car Makers Drive Hard Towards AI Advances