Lab Weekly - 09/30/2022
Examining the key innovation drivers in on-demand delivery and logistics; Plus, the latest news from Walmart, Amazon, and DALL-E, as well as must-know stats roundup
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The Future of On-Demand Commerce
From mobile wallet integration to automated delivery bot, to the micro-fulfilment centers that are powering ultra-fast local grocery delivery services, the innovations in on-demand delivery is key to meeting consumer expectations and future-proofing the brand experience you offer. Let’s take a look at the key innovation drivers in the delivery and logistics space.
In case you missed it…
Charting the U.S. Logistics Competitve Landscape
The U.S. logistics landscape is in a rather dynamic, fluid state, as seemingly every major retailer starts to realize the importance of owning a robust backend operation to implementing omnichannel strategies.
Roblox Opens for Ad Business
Here’s what marketers need to know about the metaverse-aspiring game and its new ad platform. Also, now that Roblox has opened the in-game ad floodgate, will its competitors follow suit?
Walmart Launches Two Roblox Experiences In To Sell Toys [The Verge]
In an attempt to shift Gen Z’s perception of its brand, Walmart has launched a pair of immersive experiences in Roblox to reach the emergent platform’s 52 million daily active users, two-thirds of which are under the age of 16. Walmart’s Universe of Play, which went live last week, showcases the big-box store’s toy collection, seeking to inspire visitors to add items they encounter digitally to their holiday wish lists. The other one, named Walmart Land, is presented as a floating island designed in the shape of Walmart’s spark logo., with each of the six sparks is an “isle” embodying a different store shopping aisle. Both Walmart Land and Universe of Play are virtual lobbies that open to a host of mini-games and experiences meant to engage visitors, including a strike-a-pose challenge and a category-themed obstacle course.
Related: Walmart introduces virtual try-on tech which uses customers’ own photos to model the clothing [TechCrunch]; Hasbro launches “My Little Pony”-themed experience in Roblox [AdWeek]; Tim Hortons celebrates National Coffee Day in the metaverse with new Roblox game {Yahoo Finance]
Contactless Amazon “Halo Rise” Tracks Your Sleep From Bedside Table [PC Mag]
Amazon has announced the Halo Rise, a bedside device meant to track your sleep and wake you up in the morning using lights and a “small alarm speaker.” I’m especially curious about the camera-free “contactless” technology that Amazon claims uses “built-in sensors” to track user’s sleep movement and breathing patterns, meaning you don’t have to put on something like a fitness tracker or smartwatch for it to work. It also has built-in environmental sensors to gather data on things like your room’s ambient light level, humidity, and temperature. If this sensor-driven approach could be repurposed and extended into other smart home devices, then we may be one big step closer to the future of ambient intelligence.
Related: Amazon unveils the $340 Kindle Scribe, an Oasis-like device for reading and writing with a 10.2" E Ink display and two stylus options [The Verge]; Amazon’s robots are getting closer to replacing human hands [Vox]
OpenAI Removes The Waitlist For DALL-E, Giving Everyone Immediate Access [WSJ]
Welcome to the age of synthetic media, as OpenAI took its popular text-to-image AI creation tool DALL-E 2 out of limited beta and opened access to everyone on Tuesday. We recommend taking a spin yourself here to see what the image-generating algorithms come up with.
Democratizing access to AI tools is a key driver of the creator economy, but this may be an interesting inflection point that, per Ben Thompson of Stratechery fame, unbundled the content creation process into ideation (coming up with a creative idea) and substantiation (the process of bringing the idea to life). While OpenAI has yet to make DALL-E 2 available through an API, the company notes in the blog post that one is in testing. Once an API is released, DALL-E could power a whole new generation of creator apps and social content platforms, if the legacy platforms don’t adopt it or develop similar tools in time.
To avoid objectionable content, OpenAI employs a mix of automated and human monitoring systems to prevent the system from generating content that violates its terms of service, so it could theoretically be a brand-safe creative tool for brands to deploy. As TechCrunch noted, brands such as Stitch Fix, Nestlé, and Heinz have tested DALL-E 2 for ad campaigns and other commercial use cases, but so far only in an ad hoc manner.
Related: An AI program voiced Darth Vader in ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ so James Earl Jones could finally retire [Engadget]; TikTok now offers a very basic text-to-image AI generator directly in the app [The Verge]; Meta details its text-to-video AI generator, Make-A-Video, which can produce up to five-second videos without audio; Meta is not giving access to the AI model [The Verge]
46% of Netflix subscribers in the U.S. would consider switching to the streamer’s upcoming ad-supported tier, according to a new survey from Samba TV and Harris X that was shared with Marketing Dive. Unsurprisingly, interest in the ad-supported tier was more prevalent among older and lower-income consumers, with 52% of baby boomers and 48% of Gen Xers more likely to shift, the survey found.
Ecommerce apps are losing some of their pandemic luster, a new report by AppsFlyer found. Android-based ecommerce app installs dropped 5% (when excluding India, where installs were up 116%) in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2021. IOS installs also dropped 4% globally over the same period. But as the end of the year approaches, the study notes marketers may also stage pushes around significant upcoming events like Black Friday, Singles’ Day, and the World Cup, to encourage installs.
The U.S. advertising industry is on track to surpass $300 billion in total ad spending for the first time ever, according to a new forecast from MAGNA, which shows that nationwide ad revenues are poised to grow 9.8% year-over-year in 2022. Midterm political spending is up more than 50% compared to the 2018 election cycle, helping media owners mitigate otherwise choppy economic waters
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