Hello brandh@cker, Robb here hosting Get Customers Productive to help you assess agile marketing growth hacks and tools to optimize your omni-channel customer paths to purchase. I’m here to curate, capture insights, inspire, coach, catalyze dialogues that spark innovative growth solutions, provoke you ⁉️ + motivate YOU to become that creator leader, productive marketing technologist, growth hacker, digital products builder you already know you are. In other words, brandh@cker. Come on in, join our Customer Productivity Workshop Community:

👉READ: The Ad-Based Internet Is About to Collapse. What Comes Next? Why CMOs get fired. Get ready for the post-cookie world. Why WhatsApp Matters. CMOs: Innovate or Die. These two trends will transform product development in 2021. The demise of the cookie remains top challenge for media in 2021. How to build a high-touch brand in a no-touch world. Marketing Meets CX: Brand Building In The Experience Age . Why you should be a media-first company. Do you know how to explain machine learning your manager?. Forrester: CMOs must adjust as agencies shed more than 50K jobs.

📚YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Are you learning from 2020 to prepare for 2021?

👉READ: How DTC Brands Approached Customer Service During the Busiest Shopping Weekend. Clorox's Jackson Jeyanayagam on hiring DTC talent post-pandemic. DTC Brands Can Avoid Pandemic Subscription Churn By Zeroing In On Retention. How 2020 killed the Instagram brand 

📚YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Have you checked out the new gamified startup service called Startly? Have at it, now is the time to start your startup.

👉READ: How the Chinese phone maker conquered India—and outperformed Apple. 6 Chinese Marketing Terms You Should Know. TikTok becomes the next frontier for influencer marketing as Dunkin', Arby's tap the platform. Boost Your Brand By Tapping Into China's Social Commerce Success. Why China’s Millennials Are Targeting These Silicon Valley Brands. How TikTok will play into brands' omnichannel strategies in 2021. 4 Ways Brands Can Enter TikTok. How China is digitally transforming its rural economy.

📚YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Look to Ashley & China to tell you how to set up your new livestreaming eCommerce shop.

👉READ: Can The Subscription Model Fix Healthcare? 3 AI Trends That Will Revolutionize Healthcare. TikTok Parent Company ByteDance Builds Team to Develop Drugs Using AI. Amazon’s new health band is the most invasive tech we’ve ever tested. Is Teladoc Health in Trouble if Amazon Jumps Into Telehealth? Amazon Halo is the most invasive tech we’ve ever tested. 3 AI TrendsThat Will Revolutionise Healthcare

📚YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Ensure you are up on Predictions for AI-powered digital healthcare in 2021

👉READ: What Marketers Should Know Before Building an Amazon Keyword Strategy Why Amazon is failing to sell luxury fashion but Alibaba is succeeding.

📚 YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Figure out Why You Can’t Learn From Amazon

📚 YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Read the book about the rise of TikTok, the world’s most valuable AI company.

JOB BOARD OF THE FUTURE

👉By 2025, 148 million “jobs of the future” (software development, cloud, AI, privacy, etc.) will be created.

SAY HELLO

Have a healthy, productive & happy start to 2021! PS. Don’t let your dog eat your homework 📚 🐕

Best, Robb

Message Me

PS. Want your insights or article to be shared or featured? Email me back with a pitch and I’ll get you in the queue! Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter.

Hi brandh@cker, Robb here hosting Get Customers Productive to help us study & understand the modern innovative customer outcomes focused marketing experiences Amazon, D2C Social Commerce, AI and Chinese Tech now allow us to generate for our customers. The question is: are we fully embracing the disruptive tools now before us? I’m here to inform, inspire, coach, provoke ⁉️ 👉motivate YOU to become that marketing technologist, growth hacker, creator, digital products builder, and leader you know you are 👀. So, welcome to Customer Productivity +join our GCP studio audience 👀

⁉️ASK YOURSELF 👀: who can I Google Meet/Zoom/call ☎️ to start ideating about how I, a current or future CMO, will reinvent my marketer-self as the pandemic endures?

👉READ: How AI will change your agency. What will 2021 be like for CMOs? Retail automation and the future of commerce. Dentsu’s 2020 CMO Survey. Biggest barrier to AI = capitalism. Organizing for AI-by-design. Forrester: CMOs will need to reinvent roles as pandemic's impact endures. Lessons from the best Instagram business accounts. WhatsApp moves into a customer service strategy.

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Read How to be a better CMO and lay out your next step 2021 pillars to leadership success

⁉️ASK YOURSELF 👀: who can I Google Meet/Zoom/call ☎️ this week to learn more how analytics/Amazon data analytics can help inform my next product strategy?

👉READ:  The direct-to-consumer challenge: converting one-time buyers into repeat customers. How Mohawk Group is creating a cocktail of tech-eStartups. Why all the Warby Parker clones are now imploding?

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Read the Mohawk Group’s website. That’s the future of your product portfolio, no?

⁉️ASK YOURSELF 👀: who can I Google Meet/Zoom/call ☎️ this week to learn more about how a data strategy could help you build better products & services?

👉READ: Is China becoming the testbed for new retail? Are you keeping tabs on the Digital Yuan and what it means for the U.S. Dollar? TikTok attack videos go live with anti advertising Advertising Club. iPhone loses its luxury status in China.

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Here we thought TikTok and WeChat were the ‘problem’ - turns out all our needed COVID entertainment time (via videogames) are being spied on for Chinese data strategy purposes? (Foiled again; time to pivot again - I wonder if Biden wins if his policy folks will be as stern on Chinese Tech has Trump has been).

⁉️ASK YOURSELF 👀: What is the U.S. healthcare industry learning from the Chinese healthcare industry in managing COVID-19?

👉READ: Three details on Amazon Halo illuminate the giant’s theory of success. Big Tech is set to win big on our medical health and mental health data. How China uses artificial intelligence to Combat Covid-19. Novartis highlights partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent in 2-year update on digital strategy push

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Go buy an Amazon Halo.

⁉️ASK YOURSELF 👀: who can I Google Meet/Zoom/call ☎️ this week to learn how I can build a brand for my product on #Amazon, is it possible to build a brand on Amazon?

👉READ: Is Amazon about to take over online advertising? 5 ways to make your Amazon ads stand out. Shopify working with Google on YouTube e-commerce trials. Visualized: a breakdown of Amazon’s revenue model.

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Figure out which of these 5 eCommerce advertising methods to grow revenue is right for your new developing product.

⁉️ASK YOURSELF 👀: who can I Google Meet/Zoom/call ☎️ this week instead of just reading more articles online?

👉READ:  How to grow your network in the digital-only arena.

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Pick up a copy of HookPoint. Join LunchClub.

🛒  🛍️ Need to build your modern marketing mindsets to be a brand survivor amidst today’s AI transformation? Let’s discuss how you can grow. Reach me here: @robbhecht #stopthespread. Let’s go. 👉 Start following us on our new Facebook & Instagram feeds (coming soon) 

& PS. Don’t let that dog eat your homework 📚 🐕

Best, Robb 👀

PS. . Want your insights or article to be shared or featured? Email me back with a pitch and I’ll get you in the queue! Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter.

Hello Brandh@cker. Robb here, coaching Creators and Marketing Leaders like you to drive your Social/Commerce experiential product launch in our now fully algorithm-first shopping landscape, I help you generate innovative productive customer outcomes focused marketing experiences, inspiring, provoking ⁉️and 👉motivating you to sharpen your skills as a growth marketer, creator, builder, and leader.

Let’s go! 👉 Start following us on our new Facebook & Instagram feeds (coming soon!). Let me know what more you want covered or how you think this newsletter can be improved for you, or simply hit reply or reach me here ☎️ Thanks and speak soon. @robbhecht

& PS. Don’t let that dog eat your homework 📚 🐕

⁉️ASK YOURSELF: With our target consumers’ full purchase funnels now on social networks, can D2C brands survive without them?

👉READ: Managing our hub economy/HBS . A marketers complete guide to AI. How to own data and measure performance in a cookie-less world. Why your company needs to RE-establish a brand position now. AI & advertising, a consumer perspective.

📚 HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Watch: The Social Dilemma; how does it make you feel as a marketer? Then read: Facebook’s rebuttal to “The Social Dilemma”

⁉️ASK YOURSELF: Do you consider your brand: ‘member centric’? How so?

👉READ: Once protective of their data, retailers are now eager to share it. How a member-centric approach drives growth for modern D2C brands like FabFitFun and PupBox. Why D2C startups need to focus on customer engagement for growth. Running shoe brand “On” launches a sneaker membership model. What Apple and Netflix understand about optimal subscription pricing

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Read: the Forever Transaction

⁉️ASK YOURSELF: Is my company respecting Chinese innovation? Or, still labeling “Made in China” as a copycat mentality?

👉READ: TikTok is a story about the ascendancy of China and Silicon Valley's downfall. Understanding China’s next wave of innovation & why it’s hard for Westerners to compete. Why most foreign brands become popular in China because of influencers. Western influencers boost their careers by embracing Chinese nationalism. Artificial intelligence created by Silicon Valley failed to democratize AI.

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Go buy a share of Alibaba (or +Ant Financial).

⁉️ASK YOURSELF: On the flip side: did Covid give the healthcare industry the needed impetus to digitally transform rapidly?

👉READ: 8 healthcare trends to watch in 2020. 7 key trends for digital healthcare transformation. How COVID-19 is Accelerating the Adoption of AI in Healthcare

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Review what health app you find most useful in 2020. Then, imagine what that app experience will be in 5 years.

⁉️ASK YOURSELF: What is your Amazon strategy, exactly? Convenience?

👉READ: YouTube to turn into eCommerce hub . Emerging e-commerce challenges are prompting a shift to ‘headless’ setups. What Facebook's low-key (and data analytics centric) CMO choice says about its future. Amazon’s growing ad business could forever change tech

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Read: Amazon: How the World’s Most Relentless Retailer will Continue to Revolutionize Commerce

⁉️ASK YOURSELF: How am I challenging myself daily to stay ahead of rapid technology change?

👉READ: Global online content consumption doubles in 2020 >> how are you positioning your voice in it?

📚HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT: Take an AdWeek CMO digital masterclass

🛒  Need to be a brand survivor amidst today’s Social Commerce AI transformation? Hit reply and let us know. Your brand needs to take steps ASAP to remain relevant in Content, MarTech Stack, UX, Algorithm Equity and SocialCommerce. Let’s discuss how you grow. Reach me here: @robbhecht. #stopthespread. Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. You’re on the free list for GET CUSTOMERS PRODUCTIVE. For the full experience, become a paying subscriber.

Best, Robb

PS. . Want to be featured? Email me back with a pitch and I’ll get you in the queue!

Hello Brandh@ckers! Robb here, coaching Creators and Marketing Leaders like you to drive your digital and experiential product launch in our now fully algorithm-first SocialCommerce shopping landscape, I help you generate productive customer outcomes focused marketing experiences. This week I am continually inspiring, provoking and motivating you to sharpen your skills as a growth marketer, builder, and leader. Let’s go! 👉 Let me know what more you want covered or how you think this newsletter can be improved for you, simply hit reply or reach me here. Thanks and speak soon! @robbhecht PS. Don’t forget to do your assigned homework.

ASK YOURSELF: How are you becoming an AI Marketing Leader? Are you hyper-personalizing?

👉READ: Jeff Bezos says to build a life you’re proud of, ask yourself these questions. How to present a strategy in 6 slides (e.g. job to be done, insight, principles, visual model, tactics, timing). How the death of digital IDs will reshape the marketing mix. How to stay up to date on AI. Gartner 2020 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies. What’s in It for AI Leaders? Brands that hyper-personalize will win the next decade.

👉ASSIGNMENT: Read: Your next five moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy & Take a Fast Company Course

ASK YOURSELF: D2C has been about acquisition on social platforms, is your retention strategy as strong?

👉READ: How startups die from their addiction to paid marketing. The Startup Brand Fallacy: Why brand marketing is mostly useless for consumer startups. (UH OH!) The DTC party’s over, what happens next? Are you ‘funnel juggling yet? Peloton moving toward subscription model, says CEO (isn’t this old news?) Welcome to your BLAND new world of consumer capitalism.

👉ASSIGNMENT: Watch: Recurring Revenue

ASK YOURSELF: Is your company in pursuit of big first party data? Does you in fact have a data strategy?

👉Why TikTok's algorithm is so desirable to a buyer. How luxury brands are leveraging the power of data in China. Understanding China’s next wave of innovation. Luxury brands have only scratched the surface of China’s eCommerce. China and US are now in a battle over big data. Facing Trump ban, China’s TikTok embeds itself into US culture. (Too Much?)

👉ASSIGNMENT: Understand: In How Chinese tech builds trust, Part III: why targeted advertising is broken we learn: Outside of China, targeted ads work (because of Facebook). Inside China, not so much. As a result, marketing budgets go to KOLs or influencers, branded content, and brand-building efforts. There is (barely) an alternative. Insight: how to get rich in China:

* Be an influencer with a very targeted niche audience. Get in touch with brands.

* Create a model for targeted advertising in China.

ASK YOURSELF: Surveillance Capitalism, Platform Capitalism, Algorithmic eCommerce, Get Customers Productive: we’re all saying the same thing. But if profits are all the matters to Capitalism, who cares if we slip into “Fully Automated Communism”?

👉How to use Instagram Live shopping to drive sales. The pandemic is propelling a new wave of automation. Platform capitalism: three books and a documentary. Scott Galloway’s prediction on “algorithmic e-commerce”. Customer experience, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

ASK YOURSELF: Amy Webb said in “the Big Nine” that we’d end up Amazon, Apple spheres, did she anticipate Walmart+ :-)

👉How will you leverage Walmart+? What is your headless commerce opportunity? Walmart to test drone delivery as race to deliver the goods heats up. The ruthless tactics keeping Amazon on top

ASK YOURSELF: How can I leverage one of these free tech stacks to motivate me to get my vision out there?

👉How to validate your startup idea. So you want to become a content creator: Here's how you can make money doing it. GenZ vs Silicon Valley. Developing your business strategy for the digital age with Scott Galloway, key takeaways

🛒 Say hello Brandh@cker! Need to be a brand survivor amidst today’s eCommerce AI transformation? Hit reply and let us know. Your brand needs to take steps ASAP to remain relevant in content, UX, algorithm equity and eCommerce. Let’s discuss how you grow. Reach me here: @robbhecht. #stopthespread. Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter.

Best, Robb

PS. . Want to be my next feature? Email me back and I’ll get you in the queue!

Helping Creators and Leaders like you to drive your product launch in our now fully algorithm-first SocialCommerce shopping landscape, I help you generate productive customer outcomes focused marketing experiences. This week I am continually inspiring, provoking and motivating you to sharpen your skills as a growth marketer, builder, and leader. Let’s go! 👉 Let me know what more you want covered or how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here. Thanks and speak soon! @robbhecht

INSIGHT: Growth marketer, is your brand behaving like a health & wellness brand?

👉Why every brand now needs to behave like a health and wellness brand. The facial recognition gold rush.What are digitally native vertical creators or DNVCs? Identity as a strategy: planning the cookie-less future. These Gen Z kids showed me the future of marketing

INSIGHT: There is no new normal

👉The Lululemon Story: How to build a brand with a cult following. The American Dream is gone? How the fashion industry collapsed.Is direct to consumer (D2C) the future of post-lockdown consumer goods? Customer experience in the subscription economy.Why Americas best beverage coffee brand went DTC. Scaling user growth.

INSIGHT: Has China already won? You bet.

👉The TikTok algorithm at depth (<==must read). Facebook lobbied heavily in Washington for the TikTok ban. How Chinese tech builds trust. China’s disruptors.  The rise of private traffic and owned channels in China. Facebook’s strategy of cloning competitors might be inspired by Chinese tech companies,  How digital giants in China are helping revive the country's retail sector. China sees 210,000 new AI-related enterprises. Ant Financial IPO shows Chinese innovation is ahead. China’s artificial intelligence surveillance state goes global . How Ant Group became the biggest fintech company in the world. Forget TikTok. China’s powerhouse app ss WeChat.

INSIGHT: “Video-first” eCommerce marketing is here, to stay. What is yours looking like?

👉 The Video-First Future of eCommerce

INSIGHT: Global eCommerce crouching tiger hidden dragon = Alibaba

👉Is Facebook the sneaky threat Amazon never saw coming? TikTok can help Walmart take on Amazon, Facebook, and Google. From live-streaming to undercutting Amazon, how Alibaba plans to take on Europe. Alibaba wants American brands, the same ones as Amazon. Ming Zeng on what Alibaba’s success says about the future of strategy. As online shopping intensifies, e-commerce marketers are becoming increasingly reliant on Facebook’s ads.

INSIGHT: Now’s truly the time to drive ‘Brand You / Creator You’

👉Three crucial lessons for launching an AI startup. New media platforms are enabling a new creator type: DNVCreators. Building your side hustle yet?

🛒 Need to be a brand survivor amidst today’s D2C eCommerce AI driven transformation? Hit reply and let us know. Your brand needs to take steps ASAP to remain relevant in content, CX, AI, algorithm equity and social commerce. Let’s discuss how to help you grow. Reach me here: @robbhecht. #stopthespread. Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter.

Best, Robb

PS. . Want to be my next series feature? Email me back and I’ll get you in the queue!

Helping Creators and Leaders like you to drive your product launch in our now fully algorithm-first SocialCommerce shopping landscape, I help you generate productive customer outcomes focused marketing experiences. This week I am continually inspiring, provoking and motivating you to sharpen your skills as a growth marketer, builder, and leader around subjects like:

Let’s go! 👉 Let me know what more you want covered or how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here. Thanks and speak soon! @robbhecht

👉The 4 most important (and rare) leadership skills we need for our future. Brands aren’t companies, they’re universes. Data scientists are the new investment bankers. The greatest sales deck, ever. Five XM practices for accelerating your digital transformation. Order your copy of How To Future. Are you promoting content effectively? Five e-commerce themes marketers should know. The World According to Scott Galloway, in 6 Video Clips. Facebook Accelerator: Commerce. The Passion Economy and the Future of Work. Can Artificial Intelligence fix my business problem.

👉3 D2C brands and how they build brand loyalty The most important new role at DTCs: Retention specialists. Digital wholesale marketplaces are competing for dwindling business as brands move to DTC. How CPG brands can fix their customer’s journey with a DTC approach. How to Choose a Subscription Business Model for Your Company

👉Axis of Autocracy. The TikTok War. The eCommerce Game Is a Tale of Two Countries, and China's Companies Are Pulling Ahead. ByteDance’s array of services. China’s short video battleground heats up. TikTok and the Sorting Hat (<== must read). 8 Video e-Commerce platforms to watch in China.

👉The Future of Content Marketing is Already Here. Why social commerce could eclipse eCommerce. Are you thinking enough about algorithmic experiences. Fitbit campaign prepares for demise of online cookies. The social commerce opportunity. How are brands learning from publishers when it comes to digital engagement?

👉How Walmart Can Beat Amazon at Its Own Game

👉Harvard Study Finds Alibaba's Tmall Innovation Center a Model to Follow. Will Your Brand Survive the Chinese Decade? Burberry teams with Tencent for ‘social retail’ How Chinese corporate VCs are building tech empires.

🛒 Need to be a brand survivor amidst today’s eCommerce transformation? Hit reply and let us know. Your brand needs to take steps ASAP to remain relevant in content, UX, algorithm equity and eCommerce. Let’s discuss how you grow. Reach me here: @robbhecht. #stopthespread. Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter.

Best, Robb

PS. . Want to be my next feature? Email me back and I’ll get you in the queue!

Helping Creators and Leaders like you to drive your product launch in our now fully algorithm-first SocialCommerce shopping landscape, I help you generate productive customer outcomes focused marketing experiences. This week I am continually inspiring, provoking and motivating you to sharpen your skills as a growth marketer, builder, and leader around subjects like:

Let’s go! 👉 Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here. Thanks and speak soon! @robbhecht

INSIGHTS: Ask yourself modern brand marketer: are you developing an inclusive cult and your social responsibility?

👉Luxury Communism: the pandemic makes it clear: we need fully automated luxury communism. What does Apple’s IDFA decision mean for marketers? The next great consumer companies won’t be exclusive clubs, they will be inclusive cults. Millennials and Gen Z demand that brands engage in social responsibility

INSIGHTS: D2C, itself a brand, is evolving - says 2PM: ‘the term “DTC” does not signify a particular sales channel, a refrain that you commonly hear from traditional retail executives and investors. Rather, it’s a generational term that communicates age, awareness, and intent.’

👉DTC brands struggled to attract new online shoppers during COVID-19. Why cutting product prices is a bad idea—even during the coronavirus pandemic. P&G goes native: D2C deodorant tests new paths to brand building. The evolving brand of D2C.

INSIGHTS: C2M, private traffic and owned channels arise to build customer relationships

👉In China, social commerce makes up 11.6% of retail eCommerce sales. The rise of private traffic and owned channels in China. Is Western luxury ready for China's C2M model? Have you taken Ashley’s China Digital masterclass yet? China’s trillion-collar campaign fuels a tech race with the U.S. China’s cultural revolution 2.0: how the communist party is reviving its retail economy

INSIGHTS: Well, now that eCommerce sits at the center of well, everything…..

👉eCommerce was once a part of the business strategy, now eCommerce is the THE business plan. What is a digital marketing engineer? Instagram rolls out IG Shop.

INSIGHTS: To date I’ve harped on “Amazon Everywhere” and “eCommerce everywhere” and that’s certainly the case with in-platform eComm. But this week’s tip: you can’t ‘beat’ Amazon; better to ‘co-exist’

👉Walmart ready to take on Amazon. Shopify Vs. Amazon: Understanding The Competition In E-Commerce. Don’t wait till it’s too late: Amazon’s influence on eCommerce. How to Win the Buy Box on Amazon in 2020. Your business can’t beat Amazon, but it can co-exist

INSIGHTS: We’ll continue to look at Chinese innovations, particularly as Alibaba and Baidu continue to go global. Check out the new Verishop model, as its 1) launching a trusted marketplace first and 2) a social media experience around it second (~China like)

👉What does Perfect Diary do so well? How to develop a WeChat Mini Program. Five Tips to Get Started with Chinese Live Streaming. Will your brand survive the Chinese decade? Mapping China’s AI companies. U.S. e-commerce adopts a social network strategy from China

🛒 Need to be a Brand Survivor amidst today’s rapid digital eCommerce transformation? Hit reply and let us know. Your brand needs to take steps ASAP to remain relevant in commerce content, UX, algorithm equity and social eCommerce. Let’s discuss how you grow. Reach me here: @robbhecht. #stopthespread. Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter.

Best, Robb

The pandemic has changed the role of the CMO from a D2C digital transformer into a “Remote-First Brand Leader” who strives to leverage ethical technologies around human rights and brand purpose

👉Deloitte’s trends defining the future of retail & consumer products industry

👉Companies go “Remote First”

👉Urgent message for disrupter brand CMOs

👉Mike Walsh’s Untact Revolution

👉How the pandemic has changed the role of the CMO

Every brand now tips into the subscription business

👉Reinventing the D2C business model

👉D2C brands not doing as well as thought?

👉Can the subscription box model be saved?

👉How startups make efficient funnels

👉You may not know it, but you’re in the subscription business.

With TikTok threatened globally over security concerns, it quickly launches innovative eCommerce and business tools to drive brand sales and become “totally relevant” to advertising and American culture at large

👉How brands are using TikTok to educate

👉TikTok launches SocialCommerce tools

👉How to leverage TikTok to promote business

👉TikTok users gush about China, hoping to boost views

👉Mastering TikTok ads

The future of shopping: Influencers + Live Streaming

👉Gucci’s new tech bet: Personalized video shopping

👉The impact of AI on influencer marketing

👉Bring your brand into focus with Snap

Amazon faces swift competition from Shopify, Walmart and other niche eCommerce Everywhere platforms

👉How the Walmart-Shopify alliance helps both companies win against Amazon

👉CPG Brands See Potential In Non-Amazon Marketplaces

BOPIS gains increasing ground across the country

👉Does Facebook Shops make sense for your business?

👉BOPIS is the new normal in grocery shopping

👉Starbucks’ new store layout signals an industry mad dash toward pick-up

👉The future of shopping will be on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon, Shopify or in Platform? Your startup likely only has one chance to make a name for itself before it’s swallowed by the vastness of the growing eCommerce marketplace. Give yourself the best opportunity to develop brand equity that serves you well today and into the future. Hit reply and let us know.

Best, Robb

Let us know how we can help you grow, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and #stopthespread

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Digital transformation and #blacklivesmatter consumer expectations similar?

“It’s no longer a time for simply talking digital transformation [replace with blacklivesmatter]. It is time for action. Your investors, employees, vendor partners —- and, most importantly, your consumers —- not only will expect it, they will demand it. Or they will go elsewhere.”- Jeff Maggs, MediaPost.

👉Resource: Ads by #BlackLivesMatter

👉The future of brand strategy: its time to go electric

👉Every brand is now a challenger brand

👉AI & Blockchain = passive income forever?

👉Deloitte’s latest CMO Survey

Questions for your business strategy: what to do next now that Alibaba’s coming for Amazon, AliExpress is leveraging a worldwide influencer strategy and New Retail is leading the post Covid world brand order

👉Alibaba coming for the US market

👉Why US retailers should follow China’s lead after COVID (think New Retail, online to offline, retailment)

👉WeChat mini-programs upend Gym Memberships in China (pay as you go workouts)

👉What’s your AI transformation story?🤖==>ps. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO agrees with me here

Individual TikTok recommendations are based on a number of factors including user interactions, such as the videos you like or share, accounts you follow, comments you post, and content you create, captions, sounds, and hashtags, and device and account settings like your language preference, country setting, and device type.

👉TikTok reveals how “For You” video recommendation algorithm works

👉TikTok Creator Marketplace

👉How to learn about managing your money on #LearnOnTikTok

Did D2C subscription eCommerce companies jump at the prospect the mother ship was ailing?

👉How COVID brought Amazon to its knees

👉AliExpress to sponsor 100,000 influencers worldwide

Tien Tzuo says there is a tipping point around the idea of subscriptions as the common currency for the relationship between the consumer, customer in B2B sectors, and the company and its products and services

👉Are we at a Subscription Economy Tipping Point?

👉Will D2C actually change post COVID retail forever?

👉What’s your D2C #brandhacker story?

Tmall is aiming to create a new model of “immersive” and story-driven e-commerce livestreaming that departs from the typical format of a host hawking products directly to an audience. 

👉Commerce content case studies

👉A recent Fast Company piece on the future of shopping noted that the acceleration of e-commerce (which only increased amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic) means “a big opportunity for brands, consumers, and streaming services to reinvent the theater of shopping.”

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let me know.

Best, Robb

Let me know how I can help you grow, how you think this newsletter can be improved and what more you may need; simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and #stopthespread

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Any brandhacker leader today knows they lead with purpose and increased clarity on inclusion and diversity issues and solutions. While the country demonstrates and speaks of organizational next steps, company programs etc., etc. - don’t forget the powerful tools which run our economy now: algorithms - and let’s not forget to continue to work to eliminate the racial biases we’re seeing in some algorithm+AI work.

👉Diversity & inclusion drive today’s successful leaders

👉How we can make racism a solvable problem and improve policing.

👉Pandemic leads to increased VR Adoptions

👉8 tips for leaders looking to future-proof their experiential marketing techniques

👉Amy Webb informs on China’s AI plans

👉China has created tech ‘new world order’ in areas like AI and data collection, says US think tank

👉Guide to streaming platforms in China

👉US joins G7 artificial intelligence group to counter China

👉China’s O2O retail leads in technology, but lets down in content

👉Have you read Bezonomics yet?

👉Amazon rules the product search process, not Google

👉How to Beat Amazon at eCommerce

👉Winning in D2C and doing what Amazon Can’t Do

👉Inside Clorox’s D2C Strategy

👉5 common mistakes to avoid in subscription commerce

👉Direct-to-Consumer no match for Amazon consumer base - e-commerce expert

👉What’s your D2C brandhacker story?

👉As retailers re-open, curbside pickup experience will be the key to success

👉Facebook & Instagram launch “Shops” to help small businesses sell online

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let me know.

👉Competing in the Age of AI

👉What’s your AI transformation story?🤖==>ps. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO agrees with me here

Best, Robb

Let me know how I can help you grow, how you think this newsletter can be improved and what more you may need; simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and #stopthespread

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Hope everyone had an excellent Memorial Day Weekend. I am quarantining with my family in Minneapolis. Hope you are all being and staying safe.

*We have some ongoing trends rising in the marketplace which you should note to get your customers productive, namely:

* Marketing Leadership Today: How can you tell a story with VR? Time to put your strategic VR/AR hats on marketing leaders.

* Product Design / Commerce Content: Commerce content gets more animated now that Facebook buys Giphy.

* Amazon Everywhere: Hey drop-shippers, trade barriers, Trump and COVID may make you alter your manufacturing base to Vietnam or India.

* D2C Strategy: If you’re a struggling D2C leader, make sure to incorporate texting in your customer journey, we’re seeing data that this channel build certain loyalty

* New Retail & Social Commerce: With Amazon slow to deliver, audiences are turning increasingly to D2C brands

* AI Competition: Do we all feel comfortable that a foreign AI-first company/app called TikTok has embedded itself into the center of our Americana culture (overtaking Facebook and embracing Disney). Just checking.

* ChinaTech: Time to put aside the fact that the Communist party of China is hell bent on world domination through AI, let’s learn from and appreciate the (non surveillance) consumer tech innovations coming out of Shanghai

👉READ>>AR/VR Technologies Fuel Quiet Revolution in Shopping. CMO Role Not Dead, Just Evolving.

👉READ>>Posts is a new image-based browsing experience on Amazon. TikTok is coming after Snapchat with a new augmented reality ad format. Facebook buys Giphy.

👉READ>>What The Amazon Subscription Model Can Show Entrepreneurs. How to Maximize Amazon Advertising Performance With AI-Driven Keyword Harvesting. It’s b******t’: Inside the weird, get-rich-quick world of drop-shipping.

👉READ>>The manufacturers playbook for shifting to D2C. Major trends in D2C. Survival of the fittest for D2C models. How to run & grow a subscription service. D2C Playbook: Direct-to-Consumer Strategies for Established Brands. DTC personal care brands seize on customers' changing habits. Texting your customers builds loyalty.

👉What’s your D2C brandhacker story?

👉READ>> 4 reasons why eCommerce subscriptions are growing. Advertisers must quickly work out post-coronavirus e-commerce strategies. In a time of quarantine, many e-commerce customers are choosing independent retailers over marketplaces such as Amazon.

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let me know.

👉READ >> Twitter is playing catchup against Facebook and Google. GroupM: Instagram Has The Potential To Be A Full Funnel Commerce Platform. This is how the TikTok algorithm works. TikTok : A Consumer AI Success Story. Facebook, Google and Snap have found their knight in shining armor as ad spending craters.

👉What’s your AI transformation story?🤖==>ps. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO agrees with me here

👉READ>>China pushes nationwide buildout of new ‘big data’ centers to speed up digital transformation of industries. Experiential Marketing Mechanics: Turning Customers into KOC. Where to promote your brand in China besides WeChat.

Best, Robb

Let me know how I can help you, how you think this newsletter can be improved and what more you may need; simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht.

Thanks and #stopthespread

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Robb here, I'm sending out another thank you to those who work in healthcare, delis, grocery stores, pharmacies, home-delivery and take-out services: I see you. I appreciate you. Meanwhile, I encourage my modern marketer studio audience who drive brands forward amidst COVID-19 to continue to generate customer outcomes focused “technology-embracing” experiences - experiences which will help make their lives easier to get through this crisis.

My purpose: 👉To help you make smarter marketing decisions: I seek to educate, entertain and inspire you - by providing you bi-monthly marketing insights, case studies, lessons and action item assignments to empower your brand, advance your ‘purple squirrel’ digital transformation marketing career and most importantly: get you & your customers productive. Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and #stopthespread

The Future: with COVID altering America’s comfort in the ‘data privacy for health protection equation’ alongside the rise of the China Tech Surveillance State/Global AI Prowess, it may be a good time read the Resisters by Gish Jen. In a layman type nutshell, this book describes a future world driven by AI, where “Aunt Nettie” is the central government’s eye in the sky. NPR did a review here, outlining:

“Jen's new novel, The Resisters, at first, seems like a departure: It's dystopian fiction about an America of the near future, filled with eavesdropping houses, surveillance drones, and an all-powerful Internet entity called ‘Aunt Nettie’ — a sly mash-up of 1984's ‘Big Brother’ and those sinister aunts who enforced order in The Handmaid's Tale….The power of The Resisters derives…from Jen's inventive elaboration on how the change happened; how Americans gratefully handed over their autonomy to a big combo of machines, AI and the omnipotent Internet. Net Net: how Americans bought into the sedating fantasy of less stress, less thinking and boundless leisure time hits close to the bone.”

Sounds rather algorithmically “productive” to me. America watch your back. Should we resist?

👉ACTION ITEMS>>The most in-demand career skills of 2020. Will coronavirus usher in a new era of brand purpose? The influencer economy slows down. Five trends for Influencers, 2020 and beyond. Are you launching your own digital products yet? What consumer habits will outlast the pandemic? Is now the time to obtain a career coach or therapist? Coronavirus pours gas on Tech. Digital transformation isn’t about the technology. TikTok ideas for business.

👉ACTION ITEMS >> Can D2C companies survive COVID? How “As a Service” improves business outcomes. Why automated billing is critical for business success. The future of retail technology. Will Amazon copy your business model? Are you drop-shipping? DTC brands buy TV inventory.

👉What’s your D2C brandhacker story?

👉ACTION ITEMS>> Amazon inspires us to buy less? Coronavirus transforms retail. Contactless payments on the rise. The rise of the ‘frictionless enterprise’. Checked out Amazon Business Academy yet?

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let me know.

👉ACTION ITEMS >> Would people pay to use social platforms to avoid data capture? A guide to our cookie-less world. What does a ‘post-cookie’ world look like?

👉ACTION ITEMS>>Huawei builds a smart future with its AI Prowess

👉What’s your AI transformation story?🤖==>ps. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO agrees with me here

👉ACTION ITEMS>>How Tencent’s WeChat threatens Apple. Alibaba will emerge as a cloud technology giant. How Coronavirus has changed global business forever. Beijing’s Plan to Lead the Future of Technology. What Western marketers can learn from China. Countering China’s Techno-nationalism.

Bytedance is an existential threat to Facebook. The Last Futurist says:

ByteDance isn't just a tech unicorn, it's the heir apparent to Facebook globally. ByteDance is the smartest AI startup in the world as of 2020. Will ByteDance’s TikTok become the generational GenZ tech company, that Facebook was for Millennials?

👉ACTION ITEMS>>WeChat now an agent for #Beijing. WhatsApp launches ads.

Thanks for subscribing. Say hello. I want to hear back from you. If you have tips or feedback, just hit reply, or email me at robb.hecht@gmail.com. Meanwhile, take care of yourself out there. #besafe #stayhealthy

Best, Robb

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Hello WFH 👷 Automated Marketer,

Robb here, today I'm sending out a special thank you to those who work in healthcare, delis, grocery stores, pharmacies, home-delivery and take-out services: We see you. We appreciate you. Meanwhile, I encourage you modern marketers who drive brands forward amidst COVID-19 to continue to generate customer outcomes focused “technology-embracing” experiences - experiences which will help make their lives easier to get through this crisis. One example: Goggles for Docs.

My purpose: 👉To help you make smarter marketing decisions, I provide you bi-monthly marketing insights, case studies, lessons and action item assignments to inspire you, to empower your brand, advance your ‘purple squirrel’ digital transformation marketing career and most importantly: get you & your customers productive. Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and #stopthespread

👉The Covid Marketing Pivot: Short or New Normal

A crisis like the COVID-19 outbreak shows that traditional businesses can no longer thrive in a dynamic age when digitalization is rewriting the rules of engagement; the old-school way will bring a wave of bankruptcies and only innovative enterprises might survive and bloom during this trying time. What we’re seeing in the pivot:

* Brands need new positioning for the new normal

* Don’t waste a good crisis (surveillance capitalism no longer seen as exploitative, but rather essential to virus tackling; repositioning BigTech as ‘trustworthy’ suggested)

* D2C Creative Action Plan -rapidly evolving messaging during Coronavirus.

* CMOs are having to lead in new ways through Coronavirus

* Is coronavirus pandemic accelerating the digitalization and automation of cities?

* How gratitude can help D2C marketers combat COVID-19 challenges

* How Covid has impacted media consumption

* 5 startups seeing a COVID-19 upwardly bounce in business

👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #1 & ACTION ITEMS >>How the ad industry can turn this recession into an advantage. Coronavirus will accelerate digital transformation. How marketers now need to stay connected to consumers. Digital media changes course on content. How to manage a multi-million dollar account from your sofa. Social Media’s boost during COVID-19 won’t spare it some pain. You don’t need a CMO. Building Brand Communities: How Organizations Succeed by Creating Belonging. The new 5 Ps of marketing.

👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #2 & ACTION ITEMS >> Read: Bezonomics: How Amazon Is Changing Our Lives and What the World's Best Companies Are Learning from It. How Delivery helped China manage Coronavirus. Amazon starts selling Amazon Go technology to other businesses.

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let us know.

👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #3 & ACTION ITEMS >> U.S. government launches a data strategy. W3C Business Group Will Petition Google To Postpone Killing Third-Party Cookies In Chrome Due To COVID-19. In a cookie-less world, media experience will be king. How Covid 19 has made data experts the new-age social media influencers. Data capital: the cornerstone for modern marketing.

Subscribe now

👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #4 & ACTION ITEMS >>Why don’t we just ban targeted adversing? How psychological targeting can be used for good. The ladder to AI. Have you tried Instagram’s co-watching tool? Facebook is back in favor. AI’s role in retail. YouTube and TikTok creators pivot to DIY face mask tutorials.

👉What’s Your AI Transformation Story? 🤖==>ps. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO agrees with me here

👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #5 & ACTION ITEMS >>> The status of subscription boxes. Will D2C brands pull out ahead ‘post Covid’? Why D2C brands should think app first. D2C brands brace for hard knock lessons. 5 Ways to Get Into the Subscription Economy.

👉What’s Your D2C Brandhacker Story?

👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #6 & ACTION ITEMS >> China developed a Twitter propaganda machine, then let it loose on Coronavirus. Why Alibaba holds the key to global economic recovery. Open AI structure to boost innovation in China. How Chinese retailers used digital tactics to survive the coronavirus crisis. Will the Coronavirus Change the Way China’s Millennials See Their Country? The supply chain of the future is China.

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👉PRODUCTIVE LESSON #7 & ACTION ITEMS >>>How to move to a WhatsApp business account. Reasons your marketing strategy must include WhatsApp right now. WhatsApp is at the center of the Coronavirus response. Startup founders are building companies on WhatsApp.

Thanks for subscribing. Say hello. I want to hear from you. If you have tips or feedback, just hit reply, or email me at robb.hecht@gmail.com. Meanwhile, take care of yourself out there. #besafe #stayhealthy

Best, Robb

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Dear WFH Brandhaccker,

Robb here, encouraging you modern marketers who drive brands amidst COVID-19 to continue to generate customer outcomes focused “technology-embracing” experiences - experiences which will help make their lives easier to get through this crisis.

Let’s go. 👉I want my insights, case studies and real-work examples to inspire you to empower your brands, to advance your marketing career and most importantly: get your customers productive. Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and #stopthespread

👉Your COVID-19 Caronavirus WFH Toolkit:

* Cocooning from Coronavirus has marketing effects

* Caronavirus spawns tech innovations

* Regular Updated List of Marketers’ Response to Covid-19

* 50 Ways Companies are Giving Back During Caronavirus

* Apps to Provide Calm

* 10 Tips For Preparing To Stay At Home Due To Coronavirus

* 40 Remote Working Stats

* The Importance of Content Marketing During Caronavirus

* The Remote Work Guide

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>Making the shift to attention metrics yet? 50 must-know GenZ marketing stats. 5 trends changing digital marketing in 2020. With cookies gone, we marketers now shift to attention metrics. The Future Leader. In-housing will further affect agency leaders in 2020.

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY>> Alexa provides drug info for patient users seeking real time information.

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let us know.

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>Taking the steps to relearn everything you knew about digital? Marketers learn to relearn the DoubleClick ID. How will an entire industry unlearn AdTech 101? New data improves customer connections. What is under the hood of a CDP? Cookie apocalypse forces profound changes in online advertising. Future proofing audience strategies as cookies crumble. Brands are probably paying multiple times for the same data. CDP vs CRM vs DMP. As Cookies Disappear, Omnicom Media Group Rethinks Context And Attention. Does data need a minder?

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>Are you taking responsible AI seriously yet? TikTok vs. Snapchat, what marketers need to know. Google CEO: the U.S. could lose to China without the government’s help. Berkeley’s AI strategy course. 5 AI and analytics trends marketers and brands should be investing in. How companies should answer the call for responsible AI. How the Facebook algorithm works (2020). TikTok app shows unintentional bias. Programmatic now 85% of all U.S. ad buys. Why AI means the return of contextual targeting.

👉Share Your AI Transformation Story here 🤖==>ps. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO agrees with me here

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>> Is your enterprise ready for D2C? D2C in a nutshell. D2C startups still paving way for legacy brands.

👉Share your D2C Brandhacker Story here

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>Look to India as the next digital innovations hot spot? Is China watching us through our IOT devices? China goes “Robot” during Coronavirus. Coronavirus sparks at-home fitness craze in China. Reddit CEO says TikTok is effectively, spyware. Huawei opens retail store in Barcelona, across from Apple Store. TikTok vs. Instagram, is it taking over the U.S. market? Why India is the new hotbed of experimentation. Understanding TikTok & China Big Tech.

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>WeChat mini programs move offline business online during coronavirus.

Thanks for subscribing. Say hello. I want to hear from you! If you have tips or feedback, just hit reply, or email me at robb.hecht@gmail.com

Best, Robb

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Dear You, hi  I’m Robb Hecht, inspiring marketing leaders like you to generate customer outcomes focused technology embracing marketing experiences. How do I do this for you?

Let’s go. 👉I hope my insights, case studies and real-work examples inspire you to empower your brands, your marketing career and most importantly: your customers. Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and speak soon.

👉Our key insight this week:

Everything is now D2C - Disruptor D2C brands share some common characteristics. With smaller marketing budgets, they must ensure their message is not overwhelmed by established brands and therefore seek innovative ways to stand out amid the noise in order to drive direct action.  Their effective marketing is also facilitated by extensive customer knowledge. This in-depth knowledge of the customer – combined with low costs achieved through simple supply chains and low overheads -- helps D2C brands to flourish. …yes then comes their focus on performance marketing.   

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>The death of the cookie heralds a new era in marketing strategy, are you ready? = Rearchitecting digital marketing. It’s the end of the cookie era. Does social brand purpose matter to consumers? 10 Startups leading in CX. Collaborators in Creation. 6 Personalization Strategies for 2020. The Cookie has outlived its usefulness. The cookie’s death heralds a new era in marketing. It’s all about the content-driven campaign in 2020. Stakeholder capitalism and technological transformation are intertwined.

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY>>>Amazon leads the Western “new retail” model; but increasingly its looking at ChinaTech for lessons = How eCommerce brands can improve their CX. 6 eCommerce Trends that are reworking the eCommerce landscape. Signed up for Amazon’s “Out for Delivery” yet? Amazon wants to move further up the funnel.

🛒 Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let us know.

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>Remember, sometimes you want unqualified leads to stay out of your funnel = The rise of the CDP. GDPR improves the subscription model?

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>Modern Marketer, as we live the ‘Orwellian Experience’, the algorithms increasingly grow smarter, are you reacting to or leading AI yet?= 8 Considerations when selecting an AI marketing vendor. How can we stop algorithm bias? How the Twitter Algorithm works in 2020. Growth Hacking Foreshadows the Future of AI Driven Marketing Teams. An overview of TikTok Ads (infographic). Hook TikTok users with calls for creativity. How AI will change media. Google says AI will be more transformative than Fire. 5 Reasons your business needs to be on TikTok. China AI Report 2020.

👉Share your AI story here <==🤖

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>The world moves D2C; but, there will be a shakeup = What Harry’s & Brandless’ stumbles mean for D2c eCommerce. What all brands can learn from our new D2C world. Can D2C brands compete with Amazon? Get ready for the D2C shakeup. D2C Metrics explained.

👉Share your D2C Brandhacker Story here <<== 

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>China’s quarantine won’t make it weaker, but rather digitally ‘stronger’ how? = Caronavirus paves way for a stronger China: offline shopping is over, online education replaces offline, WFH becomes common, emergence of health tech society based on biotech, accelerated emergence of smart cities, next level China ‘speed’, China contingency plans.

PS. China’s government tied to Tech. Is this China’s World Supremacy Tech Plot? Step 1: Addict World to TikTok. Step 2: Capture global user data. Step 3: Map social data via China’s giant global database of hacked user data (purchases, credit cards, employment, etc.) Step 4: Leverage AI for insights on a personalized level. Step 5: build 1-1 machine learning/AI - user interactions, training user with pro state capitalism messages. Wait, is this the WeChat model?

👉PRODUCTIVE TAKEAWAY >>>Is WhatsApp the next ‘big’ world digital ecosystem ‘thing’ to counterbalance WeChat? =WhatsApp has 2 billion users. Can WhatsApp become India’s WeChat? Harnessing the power of WhatsApp.

Thanks for subscribing. And hey, why’d you subscribe? How can I help? Say hello

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks

Hi, I’m Robb Hecht, inspiring marketing leaders like you to generate customer outcomes focused technology embracing marketing experiences. How do I do this for you? I curate content and translate trends from what I read into action to provoke, support, inspire, develop insights, observe trends and motivate you around topics like societal automation, stakeholder capitalism, purpose driven campaign development, social commerce, new retail, customer success, data strategy and AI algorithmic CX.

Let’s go! 👉I hope my insights, case studies and real-work examples inspire you to empower your brands, your marketing career and most importantly: your customers! Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and speak soon!

👉Hello Automated Marketer

Our two key articles to highlight this week:

* What’s top of mind for CMOs right now

* CMOs are desperate for leaders; here’s how to become one

👉IG wants to be both YouTube & TikTok. CocaCola launches the Insider’s Club. 22 IG stats you need to know. D2C brands better able to adapt to offline, than offline brands are able to adapt to D2C. The Age of Instagram Face. Why the future of retail is vertical commerce and D2C Brands. How to launch on TikTok and Twitch. Use CLV for eCommerce Success. Not all D2C brands need a store. Are we running out of D2C business ideas. Why some D2C brands are leaving Amazon. Agency pops up helping D2C brands go OOH. How to become TikTok famous. How the IG algorithm works in 2020. The brands that defined the DTC decade.

👉PS. What’s your D2C Story? We’re on a hunt for insights…visit D2C Brandhacker Stories - and provide your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing leaders, stories and insights do you feel other marketers should take note of?

👉2020 eCommerce Trends. How headless technology is changing eCommerce. Alibaba’s new retail could be what makes America great again. Today’s China is tomorrow’s America. How headless commerce will transform the experience industry in 2020.

Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let us know.

👉Contextual programmatic advertising. Firms believe AI could hurt branding.

👉PS. Take part in the #TakeAISeriously movement toward a U.S. AI transformation: Take AI Seriously is a "let's get serious" call-to-action for American government, industrial & education policy makers & U.S. business leadership to take a proactive role in providing a vision and executional process for U.S. technology leadership

👉 How huge has TikTok become? China 2025 is still very much alive. The Strategy Behind TikTok’s Rise. 7 Chinese eCommerce companies you should know about. 8 of the Top 10 fastest growing brands in the world = Chinese. 10 Ways TikTok will change digital product design.

👉How WeChat threatens Apple. WeChat leaps into New York real estate market. Will WeChat style conversational commerce come to the U.S.? WeChat is the world’s fastest growing brand. Living outside China’s SuperApp.

👉Growth surge in eCommerce expertise needed, given rise of D2C in health & beauty brands. The rise and fall & rise of the global CMO. Does your brand have an experience? Is your digital team ready for a cookie-less world? Tips to fuel your social media marketing strategy in 2020.

Thanks for stopping by. And please say hello!

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks!

Hi, I’m Robb Hecht, inspiring marketing leaders like you to generate customer outcomes focused marketing experiences which embrace technology. How do I do this for you? I curate content and translate trends from what I read into action to provoke, support, inspire, develop insights, observe trends and motivate you around topics like societal automation, stakeholder capitalism, social commerce, new retail, customer success, data strategy and AI algorithmic CX.

Let’s go! 👉I hope my insights, case studies and real-work examples inspire you to empower your brands, marketing career and your customers! Let me know how you think this newsletter can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht. Thanks and speak soon!

👉Hello Automated Marketer, our key pillars this week:

* The “Big Idea” isn’t enough, says Martin Sorrell. It’s more about how it’s deployed.

* The rise of Content-Driven Campaigns

👉The D2C ‘in app’ brand wars? Yes apparently CAC costs are souring on traditional channels, the solution: emerging channels, e.g. ‘in app”. Optimizing your Instagram Strategy. TikTok’s new platform options. The secret to TikTok: “digital crack cocaine”. The Subscription Economy Index. Every marketer should think like a D2C marketer. D2C brands spending 41% of their budgets offline. D2C Brands Showing Their Viability. But, D2C Brands Hit A Revenue Wall in 2020?

Whose going to Adweek’s Challenger Brands? (I’m not, unless you have an invite?)

👉PS. What’s your D2C Story? We’re on a hunt for insights…visit D2C Brandhacker Stories - and provide your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing leaders, stories and insights do you feel other marketers should take note of?

👉The Future of eCommerce; Shopify is trying to take on Amazon. DNVBs find friction in Amazon experiences and seek to fill the gaps they find. What you need to know about Headless Commerce. When Amazon takes over your brand.

Need a bespoke/full strategy on Amazon? Hit reply and let us know.

👉What does the 2019 AI Index tell us?

👉PS. Take part in the #TakeAISeriously movement toward a U.S. digital transformation: Take AI Seriously is a "let's get serious" call-to-action for American government, industrial & education policy makers & U.S. business leadership to take a proactive role in providing a vision and executional process for U.S. technology leadership

👉 AdExchanger’s coverage of China Digital. 10 Trends for Chinese eCommerce in 2020. The Future of Influencer Marketing is in China. China’s Ad Agencies Lose Lead to Influencer Led Creative Studios. 5 Chinese Marketing Terms You Must Know. The Future of America’s Contest with China.

👉Copying WeChat: Facebook is monetizing WhatsApp. WhatsApp could be the next big thing for digital marketers.

👉Want to be a side hustler? <==here’s a cool toolbox. 3 Evolving Social Media Trends for 2020. What does 2030 Look like for digital marketing? Advertising makes us unhappy? Developing a data driven product. Modern Marketing Trends to Note for 2020. The designers, brands and platforms to look for in 2020.

Thanks for stopping by. And please say hello!

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks!

Hi, I’m Robb Hecht, exploring how to inspire marketing leaders to continually leverage new customer expectations and technologies to get customers productive. I try to ask what’s the big deal and why marketers should care, translating trends into action to support, inspire and motivate leaders like you around topics like societal automation, social commerce, new retail, customer success, data strategy and AI algorithmic CX. Let’s go! 👉I hope my insights, case studies and real-work examples inspire you to empower your brands, marketing career and your customers! Let me know how you think it can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here: @robbhecht

👉Hello Automated Marketer,

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Per Forrester’s “The Future of CX” report, brands will need to emphasize context over channels as omni-channel retail becomes more prominent. Loyalty continues to decline among consumers from Generations X through Z as they increasingly make values-based decisions.

WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?: LuxuryDaily put it this way: brands that stress authenticity and transparency are winning over consumers, finding that consumers would change their loyalty if they found another brand that better aligns with their values.

👉D2C brands: faster than legacy, but surprisingly traditional. Adidas over-invests in digital performance marketing, to the detriment of its branding goals. Read about the Rise of D2C. How one company is building brands to only sell on Amazon? Curious how to calculate your CLV and learn what it shows about the health of your business?

👉Instagram Marketing Hacks: How to Beat the Instagram Algorithm in 2019. Facebook reveals how its A.I. decides what to recommend on Instagram. TikTok tests social commerce functionalities. Are you a TikTok newbie? Read TikTok for beginners; How to use TikTok. TikTok is reportedly considering a rebrand in the US to shed its Chinese roots. Amazon is home to businesses that turn TikTok memes into merchandise. Everything you wanted to know about the social algorithms & more there too. Learn how to use Twitter data to shatter conventional thinking. PS.Goodbye Cookies; Hello Contextual?

👉 China’s Internet is Flowering: as Azim Azahr said: WeChat’s domination of the Chinese internet is well understood, and Western internet giants are taking note. ‘For decades, the online infrastructure—from design to programming languages to wireless protocols—came from the West... For the first time, a Chinese concept is taking on that role. With WeChat mini-programs, we’re seeing a technology copied not to China, but from China. Read: Tencent Vs. Alibaba. Alibaba’s digital transformation infrastructure is digitally transforming China.

👉WeChat Pay Wins Innovation Awards. WeChat is Censoring U.S. Citizens? WeChat for business: what marketers need to know

👉The Anti-Extinction Roadmap for Modern marketing professionals. Traits You Need to Be A Modern Marketer. CMOs are in a desperate fight for survival; read: “Successful CMOs will no longer be exclusively focused on marketing but will be centrally responsible for "customer obsession" by expanding their control to also include customer experience, company values, brand innovation and employee experience.” How to do strategic planning like a futurist. How anyone can use data science in marketing for better results. What to expect in marketing in 2020 (via WARC). Feeling prepared?

👉The Omnichannel Trap. Nobody would seriously propose an "omni-product" strategy, would they? 50 Stats from Blake Morgan which prove the value of customer experience. (We love you, Blake).

👉We’re on a hunt for insights…visit D2C Brandhacker Stories - and provide your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing leaders, stories and insights do you feel other marketers should take note of?

👉Take part in the #TakeAISeriously movement toward a U.S. digital transformation: Take AI Seriously is a "let's get serious" call-to-action for American government, industrial & education policy makers & U.S. business leadership to take a proactive role in providing a vision and executional process for U.S. technology leadership

Thanks for stopping by. And please say hello!

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks!

Asking what’s the big deal and why marketers should care, Get Customers Productive (让客户富有成效) is a ‘translating trends into actions’ podcast/newsletter by Robb Hecht that marketing execs read to help empower their brands, marketing careers and their customers - keeping them ahead of actionable marketing tips on societal automation, social commerce, customer success, data strategy and AI algorithmic CX advancements coming out of Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google + China’s BAT (Baidu, Bytedance/TikTok, Alibaba, Tencent/WeChat). Let me know how you think it can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here!

👉We’re on a hunt for insights…visit D2C Brandhacker Stories Now - and provide your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing leaders, stories and insights you feel other marketers should take note of?

👉Hello Automated Marketer,

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? Per Forrester’s “The Future of CX” report, brands will need to emphasize context over channels as omni-channel retail becomes more prominent. Loyalty continues to decline among consumers from Generations X through Z as they increasingly make values-based decisions.

WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?: LuxuryDaily put it this way: brands that stress authenticity and transparency are winning over consumers, finding that consumers would change their loyalty if they found another brand that better aligns with their values.

👉Why the Future of Brick & Mortar Isn’t About Sales. LINK

👉Marketers: Don’t Use 2010 Strategies in 2020. LINK

👉Influencer Marketing Has Peaked; Here’s What’s Next. LINK

👉Creating A Roadmap for a Company’s Transition to Digital. LINK

👉Congress Introduces the “Filter Bubble Transparency Act”: LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? Recognizing it’s easier to passively accept reinforcement of our beliefs than to proactively explore avenues that might lead to negating them, Congress is catching on to the power of social algorithms and how they may persuade American citizenry -with a proposed law which attempts to fix the filter bubble problem offering users to decline to be served content based on data. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?: The U.S. Congress grapples with the issue of what’s OK to say (for money or not) on Facebook.  As MediaPost’s Ted McConnell reminds us, “They should be reminded that the right question is not only whether Facebook has editorial obligations or rights. The higher order question is how information impinges on society, the national interest, and the Constitution. What should we control? What safeguards should we institutionalize?”

👉Social Media Is In Crisis Mode. LINK.

👉How the TikTok Algorithm Works. LINK

👉Gartner’s ‘Cool Vendors in AI Marketing’. LINK

👉Facebook Launches TikTok Competitor, Reels. LINK

👉AI Will Spell the End of Capitalism. LINK.

👉When Algorithms Decide Whose Voices Will Be Heard. LINK

👉Have you downloaded Forrester’s Automation Framework yet? LINK

👉4 Ways TikTok’s Ad Products Benefitted from Competitors Mistakes. LINK

👉The Dark Psychology of Social Networks. LINK

👉How do TikToker’s Make $? LINK

👉Emotional Connection is Key to Standing Out on WeChat Programs. LINK

👉New Sites Help Customers Make Sense of the Number of D2C Startups. LINK.

👉What’s the Future of eCommerce? LINK

👉China transitions to cashless society. LINK

👉 China Social Landscape - from Kantar. LINK

👉China Throws Its Weight Behind AI and Blockchain to the World’s Tech Leader. LINK

👉The US needs to copy China’s tech strategy to remain the top economy in the world. LINK

👉L2’s Danielle Bailey on China’s Retail Future. LINK

👉TikTok Tests Social Commerce. LINK

👉Forrester’s Redefinition of the CMO Role. LINK.

👉 CMOs Are In A Fight for Survival. LINK

👉Silicon Valley Slumps in Sustainability Supremacy. LINK.

👉Can China Balance Consumerism with Sustainability? LINK

👉SoapBox: Become A Better Manager. LINK

👉Taskade: Write. Work. Chat. Get Things Done. LINK

👉Take part in the #TakeAISeriously movement toward a U.S. digital transformation: Take AI Seriously is a "let's get serious" call-to-action for American government, industrial & education policy makers & U.S. business leadership to take a proactive role in providing a vision and executional process for U.S. technology leadership

👉Got Feedback or news? Hey, thank you for reading. 👨I’m @robbhecht - your Get Customers Productive modern marketing coach. Fancy sending some feedback on how we can make GCP better for you? I’m honored that you’re reading, and delighted that I am learning from you all.  Tell me what you’re working on and let’s capture you in our next episode.

Have a great week - Coach Robb

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks!

👉We’re on a hunt for insights…visit D2C Brandhacker Stories Now - and provide your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing leaders, stories and insights you feel other marketers should take note of?

[👀 The Week’s Insights👀 ]

👉Hello Automated Marketer,

👉Should You Be Advertising on TikTok? Read: “TikTok’s U.S.Data Strategy”. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? While China has blocked Facebook, Google and Twitter from their consumers, the U.S. gives TikTok wide open access. In fact, Axios says, “While the video-based app simply seems like a benign platform for GenZers to make and share funny memes, it could become a Chinese vacuum for coveted American data.” WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE: American consumers may one day wonder why their data is being offered up to foreign powers. @ShaneSavitsky

👯 This Week’s Influencers👯

George Simpson, @Keith Loria, @ShaneSavitsky, @BrettHyman, @BethStackpole

🛍️  How to Be D2C

👉D2C Acquisition Costs Need Not Bankrupt Them: LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? “If you wake up on a Casper mattress, work out with a Peloton before breakfast, Uber to your desk at a WeWork, order DoorDash for lunch, take a Lyft home, and get dinner through Postmates, you’ve interacted with seven companies that will collectively lose nearly $14 billion this year. -said MediaPost’s George Simpson WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?: legacy brands are at a turning point of becoming more like D2C brands or learning harsh lessons from them. It’s TBD.

🤖 New Retail & Omni-Channel Marketing Strategy

👉What Are Key 2020 Marketing Success Principles? Read: Forbes Piece On Marketing Success Principles for 2020: LINK

* Advertise Your Value, Not Your Cost

* Create Meaningful And Helpful Content

* Understand Where Your Leads Are Coming From

* Talk Less, Listen More

* Spotlight Your Current Customers

* Answer Your Audience's Questions

* Think Like The Buyer

* Leverage Your Good Reviews

* Have A Strong Website

* Rank High In Search

* Align Your Marketing With The Customer Journey

🧬 Driving Your Marketing AI, Algorithms & Automation

👉Customer Engagement: what are the top Marketing Challenges of 2019? Kelton Research says #1 is customer engagement.

 🦁 eCommerce Everywhere

👉Should You Be Using A Customer Journey Anymore? Read: “The Need for A Customer Journey Is Over”: LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? Many in marketing share this belief, arguing that it is unreasonable and impossible to create a completely predetermined, sequential customer journey these days. - Via PostFunnel. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?: “Instead of designing journeys, marketers should be focused on real-time customer engagement. By this, they mean observing the interactions and behaviors that customers have directly with the brand or the environment the brand operates within and acting on it.”@Keith Loria

🇨🇳 Chinese Big Tech & New Retail AI Innovations

👉 What’s Pushing Chinese Tech So Far Ahead? And Why Should You Care? Read: Rebecca Fannin’s new book “Tech Titans of China”. LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL?The book describes how its technology sector has grown so rapidly in the last two decades that it is pushing the United States out of its long-held position at the top of the digital food chain. Advancements by companies like Huawei, WeChat, Baidu, Tencent and others are helping the Chinese economy grow at an unprecedented rate and influencing the global economy. China and the U.S. are battling to be the leader in 5G technology, a fight it seems that Chinese tech companies are winning. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE?: As Chinese tech trends grow globally, you may be asked to tweak your product or services to meet ‘new retail’ customer functional expectations being driven out of Beijing.

👉Should We Marketers Worry About The Rise of Digital Nationalism?: Read: LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? The Wall Street Journal reports that across the world, nation-states have been responding to a series of crises on the internet (some real, some overstated) by asserting their authority and claiming various forms of digital sovereignty. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE? Given the dark side of the Internet, scams and privacy issues - is a more ‘controlled’ version of the Internet actually a ‘'bad’ thing? Digital nationalism could increase separate spheres of the web, e.g. an Asian version, an African version, an American version etc. - things global marketers cringe at.

👩‍💻 Your #ModernMarketer Leadership Corner

👉Why the Rise of the CXO (Chief Experience Officer) Is Significant? Read: LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? As companies bear down on customer experience as a key differentiator, they are carving out a new CxO role. Are CIOs a natural fit for the new post? The answer is, it depends. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE? The GCP view is that the CXO should be tied to a planner or a marketer, alongside a technologist. Why? Impactful customer experiences are tied to customers and their persona needs - its these insights which need brought to life through planning. @BethStackpole

👉How Can You Connect Your Brand to Cultural Communities? LINK. WHAT‘S THE BIG DEAL? Brett Hyman pens an excellent piece on how CEOs need to understand the true value their companies bring to communities — and how to leverage that value to grab people’s attention. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS CARE? Gone are the days of your hired influencer holding your product on Instagram; today you must assess your customers and build community around their interests. @BrettHyman

📚  What’s On Your Amazon Wishlist?

Well, here’s whats on mine:

👉Schism: China, Trading & the Fracturing of the Global Trading System, by Paul Blustein

👉The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy, by Robert Kuttner

👉Tech Titans of China: thorough new book by Rebecca Fannin which outlines how China companies have moved from copycats to innovators ready for global expansion

🤡  Cool New Productivity Apps

👉Brill: Save time when capturing your handwritten notes. Share to email, Slack, Jira, Trello and more

🎧 What’s Your D2C #BrandhackerStory?

👉Visit D2C Brandhacker Stories and provide your perspectives now. We need your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips.

🎙️ What Are You Working On?

👉Got Feedback or news? Hey, thank you for reading. 👨I’m @robbhecht - your Get Customers Productive modern marketing coach. Fancy sending some feedback on how we can make GCP better for you? I’m honored that you’re reading, and delighted that I am learning from you all.  Tell me what you’re working on and let’s capture you in our next episode.

Have a great week - Coach Robb

Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks!

👉Visit Brandhacker Stories Now - and provide your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing tips do you give to your fellow marketers - to survive!?

[👀 The Week’s Insights👀 ]

👉Hello Automated Marketer,

👉3 Ways Asia Is Shaping Digital Consumers Of The Future. LINK (via Forbes’ Michelle Evans @mevans14 who claims: Asia will continue to write the digital consumer story for years to come). The three ‘ways’ are:

* Marrying social life with commerce

* The super app revolution (A super app is a multifunctional mobile app combining several features, such as communication, lifestyle, social, financial and retail, in a single platform)

* A hotbed for digital wallet exploration

SO WHAT? Asia/China are increasingly leading the global digital/mobile only transformation. Michelle notes that 40% of China’s consumers find recommendations from families and friends “extremely influential”, compared to only 32% in the US and 26% in the UK - Euromonitor International’s 2019 Lifestyles Survey.

ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: Am I effectively using TikTok to reach my customers?

👯 This Week’s Influencers👯

@mevans14; @blakemorgan, @Shwanika, @hilarymilnes, @adexchanger, @natives, Piers Fawkes, Husam Machlovi and Patrick Toner

🛍️  Your Marketing Strategy: How to Build A D2C Subscription Brand

👉Le Tote & Lord & Taylor: the just 7 year old Internet clothing rental D2C retailer called Le Tote bought a US department store, 'Lord & Taylor', for $100m.  LINK. SO WHAT? (Everything that the Internet did to media is happening to retail.) Rent is the new customer acquisition cost. And, retail location is now a Customer Acquisition Cost. ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: What’s next? Warby Parker buying LensCrafters?

👉Shopify Continues Efforts to Become the ‘Operational Amazon of D2C’. LINK. SO WHAT? Shopify is powering the entire D2C economy. While Amazon charges merchants 30% of a sale it fulfills, Shopify negotiates pricing with customers. ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: While I may have that Amazon presence, certainly I gain reach and delivery efficiency, but is the % taken from my sales efforts worth it?

👉The Hottest D2C Buzzwords & What They Mean: LINK(If you are still fuzzy on what CAC, LTV, AOV mean, this link is for you.)

👉Clorox’s DTC Playbook. LINK. Nutranext’s DTC group will launch its first new brand for a wellness product targeted to Gen Xers. Eventually, Clorox wants to leverage the data it gleans from DTC to build a customer data map that sits across all of its brands at Nutranext and Clorox, online and offline. SO WHAT? On the new brand, Clorox’s media plan is very much multichannel: build awareness but it’s more mid-funnel using Facebook, Instagram, even Pinterest, supplementing it with influencers, display and video for retargeting and for reinforcing the message. And then traditional closers like paid search. ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: Is this what you’d recommend for Clorox? How would I do it differently?

Build Your Omni-Channel Marketing Strategy

👉Blake Morgan interviews Michelle Peluso, SVP Digital Sales & Chief Marketing Officer at IBM for the Modern Customer Podcast, where she speaks about driving customer experience with data, how her marketing teams use IBM Watson to pinpoint areas of improvement everyday, blockchain, and so much more. LINK.

🧬 How to Drive Your Marketing AI, Algorithms & Automation

👉How the Instagram algorithm works & what it means for business: LINK

👉How to get started with TikTok for Marketers: LINK

👉How TikTok holds our Attention: LINK

👉Have you started taking courses at Pinterest Academy yet? LINK

 🦁 Build an eCommerce everywhere / Amazon Strategy

👉Amazon Tests Data Sharing. Via AdExchanger.LINK. One reason CPG and household product brands have resisted selling on Amazon is that they can’t accurately forecast lifetime value scores or see how many placements it takes to convert shoppers, said one agency executive. SO WHAT?: Legions of D2C brands use Shopify, but if they could just get access to this Amazon data, Amazon could usurp Shopify’s customer base. ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: Does my eCommerce strategy use just Amazon, or a fusion of Amazon + Shopify. Why or why not?

🇨🇳 Chinese Big Tech & New Retail AI Innovations

👉 Alibaba’s New Retail Explained. LINK (Via Alizila). What is “New Retail”? New Retail has paved ways for traditional retailers in different verticals in China to digitize their operations by combining online and offline shopping experiences seamlessly using technologies. It has transformed companies and brand partners in categories from grocery and fashion to food and beverage and home. SO WHAT? If you’re working at a startup or legacy brand, start to observe if your business model is becoming antiquated vs. New Retail because China trends are going to be projected across the Pacific Pond. ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: Is my business truly mobile friendly? Do I have a CRM system that activates text messaging with customers?

👉 30 Minutes Delivery. LINK (Via ChinaSkinny). “One of the most powerful innovations in delivery is what happens behind the scenes. Like many things in China, companies are utilizing their enormous pools of data, and making sense of it with Artificial Intelligence - to improve delivery. Meituan’s Smart Dispatch system, for example, calculates 2.9 billion route plans every hour to optimize the delivery for its 600,000 electric bike riders to pick up and drop off up to 10 orders at once in the shortest time and distance. SO WHAT? China Skinny reports that this 30 minutes delivery is not just a ‘metro area thing’ - rather it’s an ‘all over China’ thing…increasing efficiencies and productivities. ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: How does my delivery service work in comparison? How can I improve my customer journey purchase journey with data?

#ModernMarketer Leadership Corner

👉CMO Confidence: the WSJ @natives reports that despite an ongoing trade war and looming predictions of a recession, marketers expect their budgets to grow next year. LINK.SO WHAT? While marketing budgets the past few years have been flat, the key point to note is that CMOs will need to expand their budgets to invest in more technology (not necessarily on actual working media). ASK & INSPIRE YOURSELF: if I had to buy one martech, AI or CDP tool this year for your company, which would it be and why?

🤡  What’s On Your Amazon Wishlist?

Well, here’s whats on mine:

👉Schism: China, Trading & the Fracturing of the Global Trading System, by Paul Blustein

👉The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy, by Robert Kuttner

🎧 What’s Your #BrandhackerStory?

👉Visit Brandhacker Stories and provide your perspectives now. We need your D2C brand building, digital transformation, eCommerce & subscription marketing insights and tips. As the D2C marketplace gets ever more crowded, what marketing tips do you give to your fellow marketers - to survive?

🎙️What Are You Working On?

👉Got Feedback or news? Hey, thank you for reading. 👨I’m @robbhecht - your Get Customer Productive modern marketing coach. Fancy sending some feedback on how we can make GCP better for you? I’m honored that you’re reading, and delighted that I am learning from you all.  Now, tell me what you’re working on and let’s capture you in our next episode.

Have a great week - Robb

🎙️Readership Notes

👉Shout outs to those who have reached out and updated me on what they are up to: Piers Fawkes, Husam Machlovi and Patrick Toner.

PS. While this version will stay open for all, please support my work by recommending Get Customer Productive to your network as a resource. Send some ❤️ & simply retweet this if you’re on Twitter. Thanks!

Helping marketers translate trends into actions, Get Customer Productive is a Robb Hecht curated newsletter that marketing execs read to empower their customers, their careers and to keep their brands ahead of societal automation, social commerce & algorithmic CX trends coming out of Amazon, Facebook, Apple & Google + China’s BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent). Let me know how you think it can be improved, simply hit reply or reach me here.

[👀 The Week’s Insights Rollup]

👉Hello Automated Marketer,

From D2C companies being overly focused on acquisition to the detriment of extending their CLV metrics through loyalty and retention efforts, to Mary Meeker’s annual report highlighting the true rise of visual marketing and strong growth of ‘shoppable commerce” across social platforms, the past few weeks have been a mix of Cannes news and the growing realization that martech is now at the center of marketing communications. Content now takes almost half of today’s marketing budget. And it’s official, the key to D2C is to gamify customer delight. Moving forward, to ensure your brand is not ‘filtered out” of the social platforms algorithms you’d best build campaigns on value, emotions and generating customer reviews. And are you ready?…YouTube announces shoppable videos are coming. Hey by the way - if you’re ‘digitally transforming’ (really means ‘data transforming’) your company, make sure you’re transforming your culture too.

To the East, China’s Tencent increases its power by offering brands the leveraging of its massive database of detailed, customizable, user profiles derived from across the Tencent ecosystem, connecting Adtech to Martech to smart retail. As for the addictive TikTok everyone is talking about, the Wall Street Journal had a piece outlining its U.S. strategy right in the middle of the trade negotiations - saying “Using high-end artificial intelligence, TikTok has figured out how to serve up the fun parts of social media - focusing on fluff - and to create a viral user-made video network that none of the other giants have managed to pull off”….noting that, Zhang (TikTok’s founder) learned early on “that consumers don’t always know what they want and are highly open to suggestions.” Sounds a little communist/socialist to me, but at the rate TikTok’s growing; it, like the Chinese economy over the past 20 years - they’re doing something right.

PS. Have you gotten your CEO’s permission to disrupt yet?

👯 Spotlight:this Week’s Influencers👯

Hugh Williams, Luck Koch, Nikhil Lai, @StevenVBe, @danielnewmanUV, @rainbowbex, @marymeeker, @Brionic, Mobvista team, @MarkWalkerFord, James Chadwick, @natalieLsach

🛍️  Marketing Strategy: How to Build A D2C (Direct to Consumer) Subscription Brand

👉Retention is Key to D2C. LINK by Hugh Williams, Exchange Wire. SO WHAT? DTC brands have no problems getting customers, says Hugh, because they’re interesting and people want to try new things. But, in terms of that second sale, D2C can literally run out of potential buyers to convert, because in some categories there are too many challenger brands and differentiation is hard to achieve (they are all innovative, minimalist, and offer great terms of use) making it hard to win a larger piece of the pie. What’s the solution: Retention. ASK YOURSELF: Are you too focused on customer acquisition, only to the detriment of building community and a loyal retention customer base?

👉Traditional Retailers Invest in D2C Strategies. LINK. eMarketer Analyst, Luck Koch. SO WHAT? D2C companies face a different set of realities compared with legacy brands: mature companies, traditional retailers, wholesalers or brick-and-mortar-first brands (who often must first please shareholders with profits). Legacy brands have a different set of growth goals and internal stakeholders to please—and to not mince any of Luck’s words: D2Cs get to burn a lot of money. For some traditional brands, it’s not feasible to do a total overhaul of their marketing stack to unify customer data, at least not all at once. Legacy brands aren’t able to respond as nimbly as D2C brands because of the profit expectations their shareholders have. ASK YOURSELF: if you are working for a legacy brand, will you ever truly be ever to shift the internal paradigm; or will you recommend acquisitions instead?

👉Consumer Intimacy: The Essential Value Of First-Party Data. LINK. by Nikhil Lai. SO WHAT? Birchbox entices consumer loyalty by adding novelty to its transactions and designing opportunities for self-expression.  Each month, Birchbox enfranchises users to customize their box by selecting a sample of their choice. (Users learn about their choice of samples by monitoring Birchbox’s Facebook and Instagram channels for routine Sample Choice revelations.)  Throughout these touch-points, Birchbox celebrates its consumers’ agency with a mix of self-interest and altruism.  As it gamifies customer delight, Birchbox is guided by its first-party data to know what and for whom it should create. ASK YOURSELF: how are you gamifying customer delight?

🧬 How to Drive Your Marketing AI, Algorithms & Automation

👉Automated Commerce: Will Your Brand be Filtered in or Filtered Out. LINK. By WARC’s @StevenVBe (Steven Van Belleghem). SO WHAT? Steven points out that it won’t be long until we have an always available, omnipresent AI platform for every consumer. AI will bring big changes to everyday commerce – and brands have a limited window in which to act to avoid becoming invisible to customers. He predicts branding will change and be constructed around 1) strong brands built on emotions, 2) great products AI will recommend due to good reviews etc; 3) brands filtered out due to lack of value and bad reviews. ASK YOURSELF: will your brand be ‘filtered in’, or ‘filtered out’?

👉How Marketers Are Using AI And Machine Learning To Grow Audiences. LINK by @danielnewmanUV (Daniel Newman). SO WHAT? In looking at what Daniel outlined last Sept, we are tracking nicely in 2019:

 🦁 Build an eCommerce everywhere / Amazon Strategy

👉Key Retail & eCommerce Trends from Meeker’s Internet Report 2019, by @rainbowbex Rebecca Sentance, @marymeeker. LINK. SO WHAT? Of particular importance in this year’s Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report is the intense rise of shopability becoming integrated into social platforms, apps and services of every kind, offline retail increasingly becoming digitized, and eCommerce reaching new communities and demographics. Consumers now start their product searches on Amazon than search engines like Google and Bing now, but Jeff Bezos still relies on other services like Facebook and YouTube to inspire people to want things. With eCommerce growth now reaching 13% of all retail purchases (and parcel shipments rising swiftly) -signals point to big opportunities for new shopping apps. With the rise of social shopping - Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram also made a key statement in the report insights, "People have always been visual—our brains are wired for images. Writing was a hack, a detour. Pictorial languages are how we all started to communicate—we are coming full circle, I suppose." ASK YOURSELF: are you now building a visual-first Amazon + ‘eCommerce is everywhere’ digital strategy?

🇨🇳 Chinese Tech & Retail AI Innovations

👉Why China’s Tencent is About to Leapfrog the Competition, by @Brionic (Brian Monahan). LINK. SO WHAT? Had to include this as part of my #PATCI (pay attention to Chinese innovation) series, Brian describes the new data-driven marketing power rising in the East, observing that if Tencent executes on its vision, they will leapfrog the current generation of marketing platforms. Tencent Data Cloud = its end-to-end marketing platform creates detailed, customizable, user profiles derived from across the Tencent ecosystem, connecting Adtech to Martech to smart retail. The gist of Tencent’s offer is for marketers to simply bring an interesting idea that provides value to users. From there, Tencent will help:

* Build that experience inside their walled garden.

* Tell you who will be interested in your thing and everything about them.

* Source key opinion Leaders (KOLs) who influence your target.

* Deliver targeted ads with zero waste.

* Use dynamic offers in the payment process to drive conversion.

* Incentivize pass along and advocacy.

* Use its messaging platform to drive repeat engagement.

* Connect to retail partners to track true ROI.

* And drop machine learning on top of it all to optimize performance in real time.

* *One note to this news piece - don’t forget, the Chinese use Tencent tools as a gateway to the Internet, vs via Google and Amazon in the States. What’s that mean- well, it means companies like Tencent effectively have much more weight than is revealed to the ‘Western’ eye - due to their massive databases

👉 Where Instagram Goes, China has led the Way. LINK by Mobvista team. SO WHAT: the western world still lags behind China when it comes to social shopping. YouTube is believed to be considering launching shopping services towards the end of the year through which products in its videos- or related formats, will be made available for purchase. China, which is more advanced with social shopping, could offer Western marketers very crucial tips in getting the products right and ensuring the imagery and video are enticing enough to hook browsers and turn them into customers. ASK YOURSELF: Are you prepared for video shopping? How must your video creative be developed to ensure a seamless customer experience?

How to Win at Social Commerce / CX

👉Almost half of marketing budgets are now spent on content. LINK by @MarkWalkerFord. SO WHAT: I remember telling an interviewer once that content would be the biggest line item in their marketing budget in the near short future. Turns out the prophecy has been fulfilled with this infographic. ASK YOURSELF: Are you leveraging written content, video content and SEO in your marketing plans to rise to the top of the social platforms?

Modern Marketer Leadership Corner

👉The Disruptor CMO Playbook (19 strategies CMOs can use to take charge, adapt faster, and optimize the metrics that matter): LINK by James Chadwick. SO WHAT: Chadwick lays out 19 (why 19?) marketing principles modern marketers should drive their brands by. ASK YOURSELF: can you implement 75% of these with your marketing team by year's end?

👉What is the role of the Chief Digital Officer? LINK. By Natalie Sachmechi @natalieLsach. SO WHAT?: Natalie defines how the CDO’s role is to help companies stay competitive in an age of increasing digitization, striving to implement new digital models; while the CIO looks to improve existing models. A common trait of CDOs seems to be their ability to help companies grow not only technologically, but culturally. “Digital is not only about technology,” says a source. “It’s also about people.” ASK YOURSELF: if you are looking to your IT leads for your true organizational digital transformation; look elsewhere.

👉New Job: Director, China Expansion @ Away SO WHAT? You will partner with the VP, International & Managing Director, China in all aspects of market entry strategy & execution, from market research & discovery to in-market CX, retail, & operations - resourcing to liaising with potential third party vendors, ensuring that all strategic decisions take into account both local & HQ contexts. Developing a strategy for how Away can enter the market via both e-commerce & physical retail & ensuring it is coordinated with Away’s strategy in mainland China. Experience in both e-commerce & physical retail operations prior familiarity with Tmall operations is a must. ASK YOURSELF: don’t you want this job?

👉Need Career Advice from someone at a FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google) company? Look here.

🤡  What’s On my Amazon Wishlist?

👉Agency: Starting a Creative Firm in the Age of Digital Marketing (Advertising Age) by Rick Webb

👉Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O'Neil

👉Rockonomics: A Backstage Tour of What the Music Industry Can Teach Us about Economics and Life by Alan B. Krueger

🎧 What’s Your Brandhacker Story?

👉We need your D2C, digital transformation & subscription marketing insights. Visit Brandhacker Stories and provide your perspectives.

🎙️ Brandhacker? What Are You Working On?

👉Got Feedback or news? Hey, thank you for reading. 👨I’m @robbhecht - your Get Customer Productive modern marketing coach. Fancy sending some feedback on how we can make GCP better for you? I’m honored that you’re reading, and delighted that I am learning from you all.  Now, tell me what you’re working on and let’s capture you in our next episode.

Have a great week - Robb

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🎙️ Readership Notes

👉Shout outs to those who have reached out and updated me on what they are up to: Piers Fawkes, Husam Machlovi and Patrick Toner.

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