You may have heard the expression, quality doesn’t cost -- it pays. A more precise formulation applies to business in the form of the 1-10-100 rule of data quality. The idea is that while it could cost you $1 to corroborate the data upon entry, it costs $10 to clean it later and $100 to leave it uncorrected due to the various losses that will result from it. How to prevent that happening? Adopt a CDP solution.
Losses due to poor data quality cost the US economy $3.1 trillion annually, according to IBM’s 2016 estimate, and concern about data quality has risen since then. According to Dunn & Bradstreet’s 6th Annual B2B Marketing Data Report, it grew from 75 percent in 2016 to 89 percent this year. It also found that only half of those surveyed express confidence in their own data.
You may have come across the comic showing the interviewer saying “Take a seat” to a the man entering. In the place of the chair is a collection of chair parts. That’s because it’s identified as an interview for IKEA, the brand associated with furniture that comes in pieces to be put together by the customer.
Until now that’s rather the way it’s been for the online IKEA shopper, as well. They had to put the pieces together themselves. The problem was not that IKEA didn’t have an app; it’s that it had three separate ones that do not integrate and allow the customer to do everything on a mobile device.
The catalog app allows you to view hundreds of pages of merchandise on your phone, but not to place an order, which can only be done on the IKEA site. The virtual reality app called “Place” allows you to visualize its products in your home. While the tech, which was introduced in 2017, is both useful and cool, it doesn’t deliver with a buy option.
In the process of exploring the final frontier, the crew of Star Trek made use of technology born of the creator’s imagination. But much of that technology has been realized - at least to some extent - by the year 2019.
Communicators
Should you still have a flip-style phone in your possession, like I do, you have a piece of tech straight out of Star Trek. In fact, TrekMovie.com suggests "the modern flip-style mobile phone was inspired by the communicators from the original Star Trek.” As Oscar Wilde famously quipped, “Life imitates art.” This has proven true for our cell phones.
So back when Paramount was working on releasing its 2009 Star Trek movie, it partnered with Nokia and Verizon for a Star Trek-themed promotional campaign.
Europeans even had the opportunity to purchase a special Star Trek version of the Nokia 5800 (non-flip) cell phone, which threw in “some Star Trek-themed content.”
There must have been some really die-hard fans of the original series at Nokia. Back in 2008, they built 14 prototypes of a cell phone that looked exactly like the communicators used by Captain Kirk and his crew with the functionality of the Nokia N76 flip phone.
The universal translator
The fleet on Star Trek often has to communicate with aliens whose native language is not English, and once in a while, you do get to hear Klingon or another alien language. But most of the time, everyone is speaking in English. How does that work?
The Doctor Who series explains the same phenomenon by saying the Tardis automatically translates everything expressed by both humans and aliens; Star Trek attributes it to something much smaller known as the universal translator.
If you have any questions at all about how its function and evolution has changed throughout the different manifestations of the series, you can likely find it on the Memory Alphasite. It cites the original series’ creator, Gene Roddenberry who wrote the following:
“We establish a ‘telecommunicator’ device early in the series, little more complicated than a small transistor radio carried in a pocket. A simple ‘two-way scrambler;’ it appears to be converting all spoken language into English."
Takeaway:Women have long been a minority in tech, but what do those in the field most want from their employers and careers in general? We discussed this with women currently in tech, and here’s what they had to say.
To find out what women in tech want, we asked them. A query to HARO drew a large number of responses. Everyone wants equal opportunity, though some experience it more others. Some women share positive reports for the level of female representation at their places of work, while others still feel the sting of being overlooked by those who direct technical questions only to the men in the room. However, their thoughtful responses include not just what women want but what practical steps will get us there.
’ll Have What He’s Having
There’s no mystery, really. “Women in tech want exactly what men in tech want,“ asserts Amy Romero, global CMO at CreativeDrive. That means, “More opportunities for advancement, the ability to work on challenging projects that fuel their creative drive, unlock hidden potential and sources of growth, and role models in leadership positions.“
That sentiment is echoed by a number of women, including Ashley Fry: “Women in tech ultimately want a culture and environment to be cultivated that equals the playing field compared to their male counterparts.”
“Turning disabilities into superpowers” is the defining vision of UK-basedOpen Bionics. Their mission is to create “affordable, assistive devices that enhance the human body.”
Their first product was theHero Arm, which they describe as “the world's first medically certified 3D-printed bionic arm, with multi-grip functionality and empowering aesthetics.” It is “a lightweight and affordable myoelectric prosthesis.”
Dedication to helping children by providing them with 3D printed hands is also the driving passion behind a group of volunteers who formed e-NABLE. Its members now number in the thousands, and they have made it possible for thousands of children around the world to regain hand function. See the video below:
Quick and economical home construction
Another way 3D printing is being used to make the world a better place is by reducing the cost of home construction enough to make new houses accessible to those whose income puts adequate shelter beyond their reach.
One company that has made this its mission is ICON. Its tagline is “We’re changing the way people live.” It set out to apply 3D printing to houses and envisions whole communities set up that way in a kind of 21st-century version of Levitton.
Last year ICON built the Chicon house, described as “the first permitted 3D-printed home built in the United States” in Austin, Texas in 2018. It took a few weeks to print “and sparked the imagination of customers, investors, press, and the SXSW conference community.”
Now it has advanced the technology to the point where it can get a house up in just a day and at a cost of just $4000 as you can see in this video:
ICON believes that its 3D printing applied to concrete is the solution to low-income housing, both in the USA and abroad. To that end, it has partnered with a charity called New Story that has provided funding for homes in Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia and for needy households.
“By partnering with ICON in select regions, New Story will be able to see out their vision more efficiently and deliver the promise of a life beyond survival to thousands more,” it reports.
4. Homes on Mars
Applying 3D printing to home construction also has ramifications for the space program. In planning a mission to Mars, NASA has to deal with the challenge of setting up shelter for the people who will be living on the red planet. To that end, it launched the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge
Takeaway:Women are vastly outnumbered by men in technological fields, which is why networking, mentoring and advice from other women in the field can be invaluable tools.
The gender gap that persists in tech career paths remains an obstacle to overcome for women who want to break into the field. But it can be done, and women who have made it have some valuable insight to share with those aspire to follow in their path or blaze their own. It all comes down to overcoming self-doubt and moving fearlessly forward. A number recommend connecting with others for support, but sometimes the motivation has to come from within.
Fortune Favors the Bold
Sophie Knowles, Founder & CEO of PDF Pro goes this far: “Do not be afraid to start your own business. A lot of people are scared by the prospect of going out on their own, but there is so much opportunity.” Her recommendation is to follow your passion because “you will have a much greater sense of purpose and see that you are capable of so much more than you ever thought you were.” That doesn’t mean just following your heart, though. She adds on the necessity of persistence, as well as doing the requisite research and asking for help when needed.
Likewise, Nancy Wang, Founder and CEO of Advancing Women in Product (AWIP) tells women, “If you see an opportunity you think is a fit, take the risk. Changing careers or taking on a new job can be scary, but never be afraid to take that job that you’re really excited about.”
What’s in a name? Quite a lot for brands. Many invest a great deal in building up their name recognition. So when a company makes the move to rebrand: the question is, what justifies changing that name, which can cost the company the goodwill it has cultivated over years of conducting business? Also what particular challenges do B2B companies have over B2C ones when taking on rebranding?
This was the topic of discussion I had with Paul Pellman, a former Google executive and new CEO of Kazoo, an HR tech company that brought together two different companies — YouEarnedIt and HighGround — under a single entity this April. With rebranding at the top of a newly named company, we talked about which situations necessitate making such a change.
A mother’s love is indeed priceless, but Mother’s Day spending can be measured. Marketers who take note of trends can achieve a significant lift in May sales.
The National Retail Foundation (NRF) anticipates that Mother’s Day 2019 will be the biggest to date. According to the figures based on the survey, Americans will be spending a record $25 billion on Mother’s Day gifts and outings.
The total amount isn’t divided over the entire population of the United States but by about 86 percent who identify themselves as celebrating the day, according the NRF. That breaks down to an average of $196 per person, though those in the age bracket of 35 to 44 spend even more, averaging $248.
What is most significant for those in marketing is that the overwhelming majority — 81 percent — seek guidance for gifts from the seller end. What that means is that Mother’s Day offers a great opportunity to direct millions of people who want to be directed toward that perfect gift for mom.
Those who work in the cybersecurity business know that they have to keep up to date on points of vulnerability in technology to maintain their edge. What the ones who successfully market their products also know is that they have to adapt to evolving customer expectations in the highly competitive B2B market.
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Very few people seem to express warm, fuzzy feelings about banks. In fact, they are more 20 point drop in public trust in 2018.
likely to have cold, prickly feelings about them. Financial services institutions suffered a
So what can banks do to try to attract and retain loyalty? Aside from asking banking customers directly, how would banks find out what people really think of what they’re doing? They could tap into social data. That’s what Crimson Hexagon did with in a report that compares two bank brands: BNP Paribas and Santander.
The report is based on an exploration of five years’ worth of online conversations related to these two large bank brands. Data was culled from “Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, blogs and forums – a wide range of locations where consumers gather to discuss various topics.”
In the last century, people who would plan what to watch on TV would turn to printed guides. Thanks to the proliferation of channels and the rise of streaming services, they have a lot more options to choose from. But this brave new world also opens up new ways for marketers to reach the audiences that will lift viewership.
A leader in global TV analytics, Samba TV, connects data on viewership with cross-screen ad exposure to helps programmers measure and optimize tune-in campaign performance. Toward that end it draws on partnerships for insight into what viewers are tuning into on their second screen.
TV and digital are better together, says cross-screen analytics leader Samba TV.
Earth Day is April 22, and some brands have taken a cue from the event to raise awareness about the environment and to show how they contribute to the health of the planet. It’s a more obvious fit for some brands than others.
The online discount retailer, BLINQ, normally appeals to consumers looking for low prices. But come April, which it identifies as “earth month,” it stresses that it is not just about saving money but saving the planet.
The BLINQ blog says, “Most items on our website are overstock or returned goods that would have otherwise been tossed — regardless of the condition they are in! That means every time you shop on BLINQ, you’re doing your part to help reduce waste.”
Still that applies all year round, so for this month, the retailer announced that it partnered with Trees.org to donate a tree for every BLINQ order. In case the pricing is not enticing enough, they also offer customers a bonus of feeling good about the impact of their purchase: “Every order supports sustainability.”
That’s a real value proposition for some customers, according to a recent Nielsen report. "Sustainability sells," is what it found.
Takeaway:Although women currently hold only about 25% of tech positions in the U.S., numbers are growing and many women are working to reduce this gender gap.
Assessing the state of women in tech does present a kind of half-full – or, more precisely, quarter-full – glass perspective. There is definitely still a marked gap in terms of representation in the field and even pay. However, there are also signs of movement in the right direction. So while we do mind the gap, we should also look at what works to narrow it down.
Just like in the realm of B2C, effective storytelling is fundamental to marketing in B2B. The key differentiator for brands is to make the stories not about how amazing they are but about the amazing results the businesses that use their solutions are able to achieve. That’s the key to a subtle shift in messaging at Dell Technologies.
As we saw in "B2B Marketing: Who’s Your Hero?"this is exactly what brands should be doing in drawing on the stories of heroic journeys, in which a magical object can be brought back into the hero’s world to solve what appeared to be an insurmountable labor. Accordingly, Dell Technologies is now showcasing its “Let’s Make it Real" effort, in the context of the real world where heroic businesses are applying the magic of its technology.
Dell Technologies launched the “Let’s Make it Real” brand campaign on March 27. While the tagline dates back three years, the brand decided to take a new direction, in shifting away from the stage setting that puts the spotlight on digital transformation as magic to real-world scenarios in which digital transformation can have a magical effect.
The following video represents the brand message Dell Technologies used in the commercial that aired last year.
Actor Jeffrey Wright presents the special effects, in a theater, that go with the defining message: “‘Magic can’t make digital transformation happen. But we can. Let’s make it real.’”
Ada Lovelace, credited with writing the first computer algorithm.
Takeaway:While men still dominate the top positions in tech, there are women who have worked hard to attain top positions, driving innovative technology and directing successful businesses. Often, they not only step into an existing business, but create or co-found a new commercial concept.
Look at any list of the top names in tech, and you will invariably notice that women are very much outnumbered, often representing only a third at best. To find the women who have risen through the ranks, you may have to look at the lists that are devoted to women specifically. There are a number of them, and this list cannot take them all into account. Instead, it presents a dozen. Some of the names are very well known, and some are less so.
Whether they have worked their way up the ranks of a well-established business, have developed a completely innovative concept that forms the basis of a new one, or have the vision to realize which new tech company they should be investing in, they all are highly accomplished in their field. So as not to appear to rank them in order of importance, they are simply presented in alphabetical order.
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