Earlier this month I asked if Google was now Microsoft.
Magic 8 ball says “Signs point to yes” 🎱
via Inside:
A U.S. federal judge has scheduled an antitrust trial against Google for Sept. 9, 2024. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit targets the search giant’s alleged monopoly over online advertising.
If, like Microsoft, Big G limits/unwinds development to avoid more antitrust actions, we may have seen the last of Google as portal to the Internet.
& yes, it’s an existing trend that is accelerating.
& yes, Microsoft pulled a phoenix so it’s not necessarily The End.
Nearly 90% of consumers no longer trust influencers
Consumers are becoming fed up with influencer marketing and are starting to seek out user-generated content (UGC), or brand-related content created by customers instead
This is people’s natural preference for something that feels more like word-of-mouth than paid advertising. Influencers are part of “the system” now.
TikTok’s Shop push isn’t likely to help this either.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was more about mega-influencers and obviously paid promo material either.
An important caveat to the Stanley Drops.
They were the fuel, not the fire or the fire starter.
The frenzy is “something that was, and still is, actually driven by women content creators”
Most brands won’t be able to start trends. It’s about knowing what to do when you find one.
via Garbage Day
Drops: the key to Stanley Mania™️
Stanley hired Terence Reilly, the marketer credited for reinventing Crocs. Reading between the lines of what Reilly has said about his work at Stanley, it seems like his main strategy for both Crocs and the Quencher was capitalizing on internet buzz and growing it into otaku product worship. Or as Inc. phrased it in their feature on him, he uses a “scarcity model” to whip up interest. Cut to three years later, now we’re seeing mini-riots over limited edition Stanleys at Target.
via Garbage Day
Some thoughts on the Vision Pro from Benedict Evans:
- Any use case that doesn’t land on the pinnacle of current tech—watching sports, gaming, whatever—probably isn’t going to happen ever.
- With AirPods and the Watch, Apple is already an augmented reality company, just not in a glasses form factor.