Lab Weekly - 09/22/2023
Analyzing the TV landscape; plus, the latest news about generative AI and the Metaverse, along with some must-know stats
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The End Is (Finally) Here For Cable TV — What Comes Next?
The recent Disney-Charter dispute laid bare a heightened conflict between the content providers and distributors that has simmered beneath the surface for years. Add in WBD’s decision to bring some live sports content into Max, the long-waited end of cable TV finally seems to be near — but is this just the beginning for another round of re-bundling?
In case you missed it…
Three Takeaways from Apple’s iPhone 15 Launch Event
Like clockwork, Apple has introduced its new iPhone and Apple Watch lineups. While it may mostly seem like business-as-usual for Apple — faster chips, better cameras, etc. — looking beyond the surface, there are still some interesting insights to be gleaned.
The Ongoing Renaissance of Brand-Centered Trends
Between the Barbie movie and the Grimace shake, brand-centered trends enjoyed a renaissance. Our associate director of Strategy, Katy Geisreiter dissects how marketers learned to work with the chaotic cultural trends of 2023.
The End of the Anti-Amazon Alliance
Three key takeaways from the surprising Amazon-Shopify deal last week: While logistics continues to be Amazon’s biggest competitive moat, and ease of payment still matters a lot to online shoppers, in the end, scales always win out.
Google’s Bard Chatbot Can Now Find Answers In Your Gmail, Docs, Drive [The Verge]
It’s been a huge week in generative AI news, as major players like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft all announced new AI-powered features and services. We plan to write a more comprehensive update next week, but for now, let’s focus on this particularly interesting development from Google’s Bard, which can now tailor its answers to be far more personalized as it gleans information from a host of Google services.
Digital assistants like Siri and Google Assistant have long been able to find information through emails and calendar events, because they are the default choice for iOS and Android devices, respectively. Now that Bard is gaining access to personal information (with users granting consent via opt-in, of course) via Google’s popular online services, it marks a milestone for the development of chatbots based on a large language model: the ability to offer more personal and contextual answers vastly expands their use cases and makes the user experience more engaging.
Google, of course, is also in a unique position to implement such integrations, thanks to its popular suite of online services. Gmail alone is estimated to have over 1.8 billion active users worldwide, or 22.2% of the world's population, in 2023, and Google Docs reportedly has nearly 25 million users worldwide. Such large-scale access to personal information stored on those services is something that no other companies developing consumer-facing generative AI products enjoy. It’d be quite interesting to see if this integration gives Google a significant enough competitive edge against OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
That said, this move naturally triggers some deep-seated data privacy concerns for some. While Google says that users’ personal data won’t be used to train Bard’s A.I. model, or shown to the employees reviewing Bard’s responses, it still warns against sending Bard “any data you wouldn’t want a reviewer to see or Google to use.” For what it’s worth, a reviewer at the New York Times tested out the feature and found it still leaves plenty of room to improve,
Related: Google's AI chatbot Bard can now double-check its answers [NextByte]; Amazon debuts generative AI tools that helps sellers write product descriptions [TechCrunch]; Stability AI debuts Stable Audio bringing text to audio generation to the masses [VentureBeat]
Meta Finally Adds Mobile & Web Support For Horizon Worlds [The Verge]
Remember Horizon Worlds, Meta’s big bet on 3D social platforms with metaverse ambitions? Chances are, if you’re not a current owner of an Oculus VR headset, you likely don’t recall it, since access to Horizon Worlds had been previously restricted to VR headsets only. Last Thursday, Meta finally announced that Horizon Worlds will start to roll out on mobile and the web in early access over the next few months. The goal of this expansion, as Meta puts it in its press release, is to allow more users “to hang out with friends, laugh it up at comedy shows, and enjoy free concerts and events” in Horizon Worlds via “any web-connected device.”
Despite being overshadowed lately by generative AI as a buzzy innovation territory, the metaverse development is still steadily underway. A recent report by Bain & Company forecast the metaverse market size to hit $900 billion by 2030. In particular, virtual experiences are expected to dominate this space, representing 65% of the market share, which virtual social platforms like Horizon Worlds will likely benefit from. Also, the report emphasizes patience, suggesting that the metaverse will remain in its infancy for another five to 10 years. It will be interesting to see how the impending arrival of Apple’s Vision Pro headsets propel the development of metaverse-ortinered platforms.
Related: Roblox is going to let creators that make assets and tools keep nearly all of their sales [The Verge]; Metaverse search interest is down 71% in one year [TechNext]; Walmart planning expanded retail strategy for metaverse [VentureBeat]
Amazon Develops Version of Cashierless Tech for Clothing Stores [Bloomberg]
Amazon’s cashierless checkout technology is extending beyond the convenience store domain and will soon start serving fashion retailers. The ecommerce giant shared that the latest iteration of its Just Walk Out technology, typically deployed at Amazon Go c-stores, now uses radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags to keep track of apparel, allowing shoppers to simply walk out with their selections and get charged for what they leave the store with, even when they are wearing them. Previously, Amazon’s system has relied on ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors to determine who grabs what.
In a way, the extension of this Just Walk Out tech could be analogous to how Amazon is leveraging its “Buy with Prime” button to expand its reach in online shopping. It is ultimately a payment play for offline shopping, as all payments are processed through Amazon's system. Customers take what they like and leave through an exit gate where they can tap their credit or debit card or hold their hand over an Amazon One palm reader payment device. As they pass through the gate, the RFID tags in their clothing and other items are read by RFID readers and their payment card is charged. Once again, retailers will have to ask themselves: are you comfortable with sharing part of your sales data with Amazon in exchange for a seamless shopping experience?
Related: Amazon unveils biggest grocery overhaul since buying Whole Foods [Bloomberg]; Amazon Go store closures reflect a good idea badly executed [Fast Company]
Influencer marketing spend increased 21.5% in 2022 to $29 billion and is expected to go up 17% this year, reaching $34 billion, according to the latest report by marketing research firm PQ Media. The majority of that spend—about 76%—came from the US market, but PQ expects that share to shrink closer to 68% by 2027 as influencer marketing gains traction worldwide.
Meanwhile, consumers are experiencing buyer’s remorse over their social media-influenced purchases. A new survey from Bankrate, cited by Forbes, finds that 60% of Gen Z and 61% of Millennials have impulse shopped due to social media within the past year. And because of the strong pull that online shopping has over these young gens, they are feeling regretful of their purchases, with 55% of Millennials and 58% of Gen Z experiencing buyer’s remorse.
A new survey finds that Millennials and Gen Z don’t share the same online grocery shopping habits. As a result of the pandemic, online grocery orders and curbside pickup increased in popularity. But data from PYMNTS finds that while Millennials (26-42-years-old) have increased online grocery order spending by 10% year-over-year, Gen Z is turning back to in-person grocery shopping as their online grocery spending decreased by 10%.
If you find our insights valuable and would like to have a deeper conversation on technology and media innovations, or need to sound smarter in a client meeting or a pitch, please feel free to reach out to our Group Director Josh Mallalieu!
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