For those of us new to NFTs, here is an explanation I found helpful:

“NFT means non-fungible token, and non-fungible means that this token is unique and can’t be replaced. Let’s take Bitcoin, for example. Bitcoin is fungible since you can trade your Bitcoin for another Bitcoin. You will end up with Bitcoin in both cases. However, NFTs are more like Yu Gi Oh cards- one-of-a-kind trading tokens that if you trade one for another, you will receive a token different from the one you gave away. NFTs can be everything. They can be a jpg image, music, or digital art. You can be an artist, create a 3 minute short YouTube video by adding your images and music. BOOM. You can now sell this video as an NFT at an excellent price if it brings value to the rest of the community. It’s just like getting paintings at an art gallery but cooler.”  Tech Innovations

I like this innovation because it promises to open new revenue streams for all sorts of creators, enabling them to sell digital objects online and capture value over time when they are resold.

I wanted to see how difficult it might be to create and sell an NFT.  Turns out I was able to do this in under 20 minutes on Voice, one of the several marketplaces I found.  You’ll want to figure out which is best for you.

The process was very simple.

Upload my image.  In this case it was a photograph I’d taken of elephants at a watering hole in Africa.

Verify my identity.  This required photographing my drivers license, scanning my face biometrically for comparison, and securely sharing my social security number.  That weirded me out a little, honestly, but I figure all of this is on the web anyhow.

List my NFT for sale.  I opted to auction mine.  And now we have a history of my activity at the bottom.

Promote.

If you want to experiment with this new innovation, the advice I was given was DYOR:  do your own research.  And if you decide to go forward, just know it’s easy to get started.

Reading Progress is an app in Microsoft Teams that enables students to independently read aloud, record themselves, and grow their reading skills while allowing educators to better support students’ progression. Students share the audio or video recordings of themselves with their teachers who can then track progress, provide feedback, and discover trends and opportunities for student growth.  As of March 2022 Reading Progress is available in over 90 languages.

Both students and educators benefit:

“In front of the camera, I don’t feel that stressed out.  I feel like I’m less distracted, and I’m reading better – more clearly and not that slow – and I feel much more confident.”  Andres, student

This is something teachers really, really needed for management, time, efficiency and effectiveness … I’ll be using this forever and always.”  Jennifer Saikaly Moreno, teacher  Source:  https://news.microsoft.com/features/reading-progress/

A recent 2021 Stanford study showed the pandemic caused a 30% drop in reading fluency in early grades. So Microsoft’s introduction of Reading Progress could not have come at a better time.

How the Microsoft Education Team Developed and Launched Reading Progress

I interviewed one of the Microsoft Education team members, Senior Product Marketing Manager Eric Shuai, who kindly gave me some background on how Microsoft approached the development and launch of Reading Progress, and pointed me to further resources.  The first thing he did was to credit the Engineering team, led by Product Manager Mike Tholfsen:

“The engineering team did an amazing job in the development of Reading Progress with deep empathy for both educators and students. They leveraged academic research, consulted with literacy experts, and solicited feedback from educators and students often, resulting in a barrage of positive feedback from our customers.”  Senior Product Marketing Manager Eric Shuai

Three points stood out for me:

Senior Management supported starting with the problem.

CEO Satya Nadella encourages teams to find underserved, very important problems Microsoft technology can solve – to apply technology to a problem, not to build something just because they can.

Engineering studied the problem deeply before developing a solution.

Source: Microsoft

The Engineering team dug into the pain point, asking why, why, why, and developed deep empathy for what teachers and students are going through.

“… reading fluency is important, but it’s incredibly painful for teachers to do … they hate doing it, it takes them forever, they have to pull the kids out into a hallway where it’s loud, and the rest of the class is going crazy while they’re listening and marking (evaluations) in the hallway.  The kids don’t like reading out loud, and for many it’s stigmatizing.”  Product Manager Mike Tholfsen

A description of the process they followed can be found on Microsoft’s blog.

Once the team had a good handle on the problem, they leveraged their deep experience in AI technology to build a solution that solved the users’ problems, seeking out experts from all reading science methodologies and using Human Centered Design principles to iterate prototypes with teachers and students.

Marketing used storytelling to help convey the benefits.

The Marketing team got such positive, rich feedback from educators that they decided to center marketing communications on their stories (more on this below).  Case studies will be an important focus.

What makes Microsoft’s Reading Progress Such a Powerful Innovation

The innovation itself:

Everett M. Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory identifies 5 qualities of a successful innovation, as seen from the users’ perspective.  Microsoft appears to be tapping into several.  This is my take – the real proof will come over time through user feedback on the full end-to-end experience.

The decision to use story telling:

As humans we are hard wired to be receptive to stories.  Stories work with all types of learners.  Stories are more memorable.  Storytelling forges connections between people, and between people and ideas.

Diffusion of Innovation theory also speaks to the importance of peer to peer conversations and peer networks in the successful adoption of innovations, particularly after the early adopter stage.  This is because people are more likely to trust innovations that come from people like themselves.

Yes, data will be important to prove the value proposition to customers.  But viewing video of students and educators allows us to vicariously feel the same joy and pride students and teachers are experiencing, which brings Reading Progress’ benefits to life more powerfully than data alone. Video is an excellent media to showcase – versus simply talk about – the full range of functional, emotional and social benefits.

Reading Coach, announced in March, is a reading practice tool for students that builds on Reading Progress and automatically generates individualized exercises based on each student’s specific needs.  The following video makes full use of story telling as it showcases this new tool and shows how it works with Reading Progress.

Source: Microsoft

We believe in making the customer the hero, which in this case was a teacher in Chino, CA as well as a student.  We tried to show how Reading Progress and Reading Coach supports her effort to drive progress and get students excited about reading with real-time coaching and positive feedback loops.  Eric Shuai

The Microsoft Education team is continuing to build on their mission to create a portfolio of literacy tools to reach every learner.

I am eager to hear what comes next, and to see the impact on this generation of readers.  And I will be fascinated to see how other audiences might use this innovation – immigrants learning new languages, for example.

Questions to Consider as You Develop and Launch New Product Innovations:

1. As a senior leader, how can you give your teams permission to seek out and address the most important problems?
2. How can you put users at the center of your product development efforts, and continue to integrate their feedback longer term?
3. What can you do to tap into all 5 qualities of a successful innovation?
4. How can you use storytelling as well as data to better demonstrate the value of your innovation?
5. What can you do to leverage the power of peers to accelerate adoption?

I look forward to your thoughts, as always.

As I noted in my previous customer experience report on Amazon Go, removing friction from the shopping process is a strategy that has driven much of Amazon’s online innovation (1-Click ordering, etc.).  And lately they have been innovating around making in-store shopping more convenient.

In February, they expanded to eight locations in Seattle, in preparation to expand more broadly in the months ahead.

According to their announcement,

“Amazon One is a fast, convenient, contactless way for people to use their palm to make everyday activities like paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, entering a location like a stadium, or badging into work more effortless. The service is designed to be highly secure and uses custom-built algorithms and hardware to create a person’s unique palm signature.”

I happened to be shopping at Whole Foods, and saw the Amazon One sign on the way out (yes, wrong place!).  But I was sufficiently intrigued to interrupt my journey to the car and investigate.

Amazon One at Whole Foods

I like conducting experiential research.  It helps me understand the customer journey more holistically.  And it uncovers opportunities for improvement across the end-to-end experience.  What follows is my experience, complete with inner monologue.

Setting up Amazon One is as Easy as One-Two — Oh, We’re Done

Unlike Amazon Go, where you first had to download Amazon Go to your smartphone and learn the app, Amazon One signup was as simple as it gets.

Tap the POS to get started.  Follow on-screen sign-up instructions.

The POS asks me to insert my credit card.  I do.  It congratulates me – good use of psychology.  I can go to their website or scan a QR code to see which cards are accepted.  No need.

Scan my right palm.  Scan the left.  I wonder why they might need both.  That minor moment of friction gives me pause.  As a mystery writer who is always scheming how best to commit crimes, I realize they now have the ability to identify me should I ever shoplift at Whole Foods using my non-dominant hand.

Using Amazon One

Of course, now I have to go back into the store to try this new technology out.  I think about what I can get that I didn’t get on my original visit just minutes before.  I consider going for produce but that needs to be weighed. And I decide in advance that Amazon One probably can’t handle that. So I opt for prepackaged goat cheese.

Since I only have one item I go to the self-serve line, which has a sign saying they can only take credit cards – no cash.  I try to use my palm, and a helpful employee tells me I need to go through the full service checkout line.  So my palm is not a credit card.

I go through the regular checkout line where I explain I am a first timer and the helpful cashier shows my how to hover my hand over the checkout sensor.  It takes just a second to get the distance right.

Then, zap.  Money comes out of my hand. I have superpowers.

This is quite exciting.

So what is the benefit of Amazon One?

I guess for in-store shopping this is handy if I am juggling groceries or children and can’t spare two hands to dig through my handbag or pocket to extract my credit card.  Of if I have impulsively wandered in off the street without my wallet or smartphone, and would otherwise have no way to pay.  I don’t know anyone who goes anywhere without their smartphones.

For retailers it will get customers through the line faster, which improves the experience for everyone in line behind them.

But the real benefit of this technology, I believe, is to Amazon.  The name gives it away.  Amazon wants Amazon One to become the one way to identify people everywhere they go.

“… we believe Amazon One has broad applicability beyond our retail stores, so we also plan to offer the service to third parties like retailers, stadiums, and office buildings so that more people can benefit from this ease and convenience in more places.”

Careful, Your Biometric Data is Showing

When I think about all the ways Amazon “sees” what we are doing, they already have a really good idea of what we are up to.  They:

• Can hear what we say at home (Alexa allegedly recorded a murder in Florida)
• Can see who comes and goes from our homes (Ring)
• Know our entertainment habits and preferences (Prime Video)
• Know our spending patterns on their site
• And, for those with an Amazon card they have visibility into what we spend everywhere else

I know I traded away my privacy for convenience a long time ago.  My smartphone knows where I am at all times.  And closed circuit cameras monitor my behavior on the streets.

But I have now just given away my biometric data, That feels more personal.  If Amazon One does become a ubiquitous form of identification, with the rise in cybercrime it feels like I am just one hacker away from having my biometric data stolen.

Searching for the Elusive “Unenroll”

Fortunately, Amazon offers me the option to delete my data if I choose.  Let’s see how that goes. 

I Google Amazon One and look for their Q&A, which addresses privacy concerns and explains there are two ways to “unenroll” – in store at the device itself (which requires me to return to the store), or via the online customer portal at one.amazon.com (no link supplied).  After typing in the URL I am taken to a page that introduces the product.  I navigate to the Help section, select Managing My Amazon One ID and scroll down to the last option, How Do I Cancel my Amazon One ID. There, I find a very unhelpful message which directs, but does not take, me to another site.

I go to the main Amazon.com site, search for my Amazon One ID and get a message that there isn’t one associated with me.  That can’t be true.

So I click on Help and am returned to the same menu I started with. I next go to the troubleshooting section, where it is #1 on the list.  Ah-ha.  First I have to link my data to Amazon One, then cancel.

Troubleshooting Amazon One

So I search on my phone for the Welcome text, where I find a link to view my history and manage my Amazon One ID.  I click to see a landing page that asks me to sign in with my Amazon account, which I have long forgotten.  After signing in, I see the notice “the link is no longer active.”  Grrrr.  Amazon wants me to have them resend the welcome message.  To do this I must use the help menu on, wait for it, the Amazon One device to get a new link.

Funny how Amazon wants to make the buying experience seamless but has built in an incredible amount of friction into the cancellation process.  Not so consumer-centric after all.  And even though I used the same credit card for Amazon One as I do for my regular Amazon purchases, they can’t seem to find me in their system.

At this point I decide I might as well go to Whole Foods.  It’s a good thing I love grocery stores.

Back to the Scene of the Crime

On entering the store I go to the Amazon One device.  It takes me a little time to find the Terms and Conditions at the bottom of the screen.  Selecting the option to unsubscribe, I get a cute little pouting emoji saying “We’re sad to see you go.”  I also feel a little sad that I have cut myself off from the opportunity to use my palm for powerful purposes (and I am right in the store where the temptation to use my superpower is high).

But then, as I leave Whole Foods, I get an email from my credit card company notifying me “your card has been removed from Amazon One.”  And I realize I have seen nothing from Amazon to confirm my successful unsubscribe and reassure me that my palm prints have been deleted.  This is a miss on Amazon’s part, because now I am wondering what has happened to my biometric data.

So, for me, the jury is out.  I am not sure the thrill of using my palm as a superpower will be worth the increased risk of my palm print data getting into the wrong hands (pun intended).

Be interested to hear what you think!

Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-A-Lot Rocks Benaroya Hall

I recently got an email from GeekWire in which their managing editor, Taylor Soper, shared a hilarious video showing how the Seattle Symphony teamed up a few years back with Seattle’s own legendary rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot.  As part of their critically acclaimed Sonic Evolution project, the Symphony commissioned composer Gabriel Prokofiev to write a new composition inspired by Sir Mix-A-Lot, and orchestrated two of the rapper’s most famous hits, including “Baby Got Back.”

I’m sharing the video of their performance because it’s so full of joy.  And we can all use a little levity in our lives right now.  But I also want to make a point about how we as marketers can approach brand collaborations in a more innovative and powerful way.

The Symphony’s stated goal for the Sonic Evolution project is, in their words,

“To create a bridge between the Symphony and Seattle’s reputation as a launchpad for some of the most creative musicians on the popular music scene.”

This project is central to their strategy of bringing in new, younger audiences.

Compare the Symphony’s approach with a more classical (ahem) approach to brand collaborations.

U Can’t Touch This – PepsiCo’s Brand Partnership With Rapper M.C. Hammer

PepsiCo has always been an expert at brand collaborations.  When I was at Pepsi Cola International in the 90’s, Pepsi launched a hugely successful music sponsorship with M.C. Hammer.  It featured the rapper singing his mega-hit “U Can’t Touch This” in a new execution of their Pepsi: The Choice of a New Generation advertising campaign.

Pepsi Sponsors M.C. Hammer

PepsiCo brought M.C. Hammer back this year to introduce Cheetos Popcorn during Super Bowl 2020, reprising his signature hit.  Because everyone knows that if you eat Cheetos U Can’t  …

M.C. Hammer reprises his hit “U Can’t Touch This” for Cheetos Popcorn

Which Brand Collaboration Approach is Right for You?

Both collaborations involved a well established brand joining forces with a super-hot rap star to demonstrate relevance to a new, younger generation.  Both approaches were highly successful.  But they differ in how innovative the collaborations were.

At PepsiCo we used what we called “borrowed equity” to associate brand Pepsi with the most popular artists in the music scene, to appeal to younger soft drink consumers.  This strategy has served the brand well over the years. But everyone understands these are commercial tie-ins for money.

IMO, the Seattle Symphony achieved something more profound. They could have just presented rap music artists “in concert with … “ and left it at that.  But their relationship with Sir Mix-A-Lot was an authentic collaboration.  Both parties participated in creating something genuinely new, leaving both parties changed, and energizing their audience. That’s alchemy.

So when you are considering a brand collaboration, ask yourself, how can you go for alchemy?

Of course there are other ways to collaborate!  If you want to read about collaborating with customers, here you go …

Calling All Food and Agriculture Entrepreneurs!

Grow-NY is a competition for startups with growth potential in food and agriculture. This includes:  physical products, hardware or software technologies, food, fuels, fibers, raw materials, and processes or systems. The startup must operate in the Grow-NY region for at least 12 months.

Deadline for submissions is July 15.  Finalists will get help in the form of mentorship, pitch training and a 3-day business development trip to the region to network with potential partners.

$3MM Dollar Ag-Tech Competition – $1MM Top Prize

2019 winners included a wild and wonderful range of ideas:

• Real Eats, a healthy meal delivery service – $1,000,000
• Dropcopter, automated pollination of orchard crops using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) – $500,000
• Tiliter, software that uses AI and machine learning to automatically identify products (this is a Red Delicious apple, not a Pink Lady apple) – $500,000
• Capro-X, a system that turns Greek yogurt whey into bio-oil – $250,000
• Combplex, laser technology that eliminates mites that can devastate honeybee hives – $250,000
• The Perfect Granola, a food company that helps those in need and empowers the underserved – $250,000
• Whole Healthy Food, a natural way to reduce your body’s carbohydrate/calorie intake without changing your diet – $250,000

Continuing to Build on Unique Local Strengths

Source: The History Center

I not only went to Cornell twice, but I was born in Ithaca NY.  So I have many happy memories of visiting my grandparents there as a child.  For most of these halcyon years the Ithaca area was thriving, with companies like Smith Corona, National Cash Register, and Ithaca Gun.  But when these companies left or went out of business in the 70’s and ‘80’s, they took a large chunk of the local economy with them.

So it was extremely heartening to discover how enterprising and resilient this area actually has been over the years.

This fascinating history of Tompkins County’s entrepreneurial roots from the History Center speaks to the full range of companies that started and flourished here over the years.  Flour mills, confectioners, woolen mills, pottery works, iron bridges, iron works, calendar clocks, tobacco and cigar manufacturers, glass works, organs, bicycle chains, guns, typewriters, egg incubators, sauerkraut, silent films, pocketbooks, turbine components, cash registers, Moog synthesizers, high precision measurement tools, beer, and chocolates.

The region has always had wonderful growing conditions (the reward for its terrible winters). It also offers excellent water sources and hardworking people.  And because only Cornell University has both a top 10 agriculture program and a top 10 computer and information science program this university is uniquely able to stimulate research and innovation.  The combination is fertile, shall we say?

Grow-NY funding is provided by Empire State Development through its Upstate Revitalization Initiative. The competition will be administered by Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement.

With the Grow-NY competition now in its second year, I’m looking forward to seeing what this partnership will accomplish.

Marine biology program.  Emergency physician practice. Technology to extract contaminants.  Data and insights platform. Trucking app and online platform. Fishing gear recycling program.  Least-cost ballast water treatment system.  White fish jerky.  Zero-emission electric outboard motor. Battery-powered energy storage system. Exhaust gas after treatment system.

Okay, the headline may have tipped you off. They are all innovations from startups participating in the Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator, the first of its kind in Washington State.

About the Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator

On January 6, WeWork Labs, the Port of Seattle and WA Department of Commerce’s Maritime Blue kicked off their Maritime Blue Innovation Accelerator.  The program aims to establish the region as an innovation hub for maritime tech.  They also want to make the industry more environmentally friendly.

The program is highly competitive. Out of 100 applications, only 11 companies were selected.

WeWork Labs of Seattle is housing these startups and will provide programming over an accelerated 4-month period.  Participating startups will receive mentorship from Maritime Blue’s coalition of industry experts. They will get opportunities for enterprise pilots and sales. And they will leave with strong connections to the vast, global maritime industry.  The program concludes in April with a demo day, where the startups will pitch to investors and government officials.

I had the opportunity to lead the innovation accelerator’s first program session, Conducting Market Research. We covered four key research questions startups must address, and some approaches they could take.

I was struck by how quickly they were able to start helping each other. Participants generously offered insights, resources and contacts.  Because they share the same eco-system and a commitment to doing something larger for the environment, the conversations were immediately fruitful.  I have no doubt these relationships will prove valuable over time.

Come On In – The Water’s Warm(ing)!

Focusing on a single industry also brings important critical mass.  It’s heartening to see what can be accomplished when we apply tech and innovation resources to mature industries.  Innovation potential is everywhere.  And future startup accelerators should consider more approaches like this.

For a full list of participants, and more details about the program please see the Port of Seattle’s announcement here.

Photo courtesy of WeWork. Thanks to Esther Lee, WeWork Labs’ Head of Curriculum; Lauren Levy, WeWork Labs’ Operations Coordinator; and Elizabeth Scallon, WeWorks Lab Head of Northern California (SF) & Northwest.

Jamie Neely, Trend Hunter

One of the highlights of the day was the opportunity to meet Jaime Neely, their Chief Culture Officer.  She told me that Trend Hunter has been perfecting an innovation assessment tool that helps individuals and teams understand their innovation archetypes and recommends specific tactics to help them realize their innovation potential faster.

Why is that helpful?

Because the reason companies fail at innovation isn’t necessarily that they don’t have good ideas. (Well, that can be true, too).  But another important reason is that the people and teams tasked with innovation may be unaware of how their personal innovation styles affect each other, for good or evil.

This explains so much.

(Here is where I apologize to anyone in my past who I may have tortured, bludgeoned, or end-run in my quest to get that new product out the door.)

Yes, Virginia, you have an innovation archetype

Here is a quick look at Trend Hunter’s framework.  Each trait represents a trade-off between a Hunter and a Farmer tendency.  The value in this framework, for me, is that it suggests that there are many different innovation “styles.”  And each has its place in a successful innovation culture.

Trend Hunter Innovation Archetype

Sometimes the impediment to innovation is … me.  Whoops.

I wish I had understood what archetype I fell into when I was first starting out in my career.  Had I known I was an Ambitious Visionary, driven by curiosity and willing to destroy the status quo, AND understood that the people who had to approve my proposals were almost certainly NOT that way (and for good reason) it would have saved me – and my upper management – a lot of grief.

Jaime Neely seems to have understood this from the start.  When I reached out to let her know I would be blogging about their assessment, this is what she had to say:

“We launched the assessment to help people better understand the ways they approach creativity and innovation. We like to think that everyone today is an innovator — there are simply different types and styles. It’s been incredible hearing how clients and teams across different industries are using the results to better understand those they work with, and to strategize accordingly when it comes to their innovation goals and objectives.” 

If you want to learn more click here.

I am dying to get under the hood to see how Trend Hunter derived this framework.  Meanwhile I encourage you and your team to take the test for yourselves and see what conversations it sparks.

Let me know!

This post was originally published by the American Marketing Executive Circle.

Removing friction from the shopping process is a strategy that has driven much of Amazon’s online innovation (1-Click ordering, etc.).  And now they are innovating around making in-store shopping more convenient.

For those interested in the technology that enables Amazon Go to track and bill purchases without requiring customers to check out, check out GeekWire’s article which looks into the patents Amazon filed.

The opening of the store to the public followed a lengthy beta test conducted with Amazon employees.

I wanted to see how their experiment was going.  (Plus I wanted to see if it felt like shoplifting.)

As with any new innovation, there are areas for improvement, but overall it’s pretty exciting.

Here’s my shop-along experience, complete with inner monologue.  I find conducting experiential research like this helpful.  It’s a way to think about the customer journey more holistically and identify opportunities for improvement across the end-to-end experience.

If you have already visited in person feel free to scroll directly to the sections on what I’d do to improve Amazon Go, and how Amazon Go opens up possibilities for further innovation from Amazon.

Setting up the app is not friction-free

Source:  Amazon 

First you have to download Amazon Go to your smartphone.  At first I was irritated at this prospect, as I hate being asked to download anything these days.  But the actual downloading was almost instant.  Pain over.  I did wonder why they don’t just automatically include this as an upgrade to the regular Amazon app.  They have all my info.

Once you open the Go app, there is a mini tutorial.  Mental sigh.  Most intro tutorials insist on telling you more than you need or want to know.  History of the company?  No thank you.  But the Amazon Go tutorial is quite efficient.  The tutorial shows you how to use your app to enter the store.  You can replay the instruction or swipe to continue.  The tutorial then takes you through the shopping experience, covering only the most likely scenarios – shopping with someone else – what happens if you decide you don’t want the product – a reminder not to carry other peoples’ shopping carts because your account will be charged.  One question they didn’t address is whether you have to return your discarded item to the same location or whether you can leave it near the exit.  I will have to experiment with a low-cost item.  Something about this excites me.

Once I have swiped and seen their intro, I press “Got it, Let’s Shop,”  then am presented with a Sign In page.  I am slightly taken aback.  I was expecting to go shopping but now they need more information so I am NOT going shopping.

After grumbling at having to enter a password, as I am so done with passwords, I look up my password (an annoying extra step), enter my email and password, and am presented with payment card options from my regular Amazon account.  I select my preferred  card.  I get a message they can’t verify it and ask me to update the card.  Grr.  I know that card works.  I press update card and check “Edit”.  My card is perfectly fine.  Thought so.  I go back to the earlier screen and now the card I selected for Amazon Go seems to be working.  I press “Update Card” and get the same error message.  So I check “Edit”, then check the address.  Aha.  They want me to select a billing address.  Don’t they know my billing address?  Hrumpf.  I select my address from the list of addresses I have previously used to send items to – why did they do that, they should know my billing address  –  and press “Use this Address.”  Save.  Return to earlier screen.  For the third time I press “Set as default card.”  Same error message.  I am officially unimpressed.

I try a different card.  That seems to work.  I am not happy about having to use this card instead of my original selection.

Amazon now wants to know if I would like to get alerts, sounds or badges.  After that experience, NO.

At last, I get a screen with my QR code and a cute little Apple-like message:  Hello, Lisa.  I realize I am now a QR code to Amazon.  But I am a cute little human QR code.

The screen shows a banner across the top telling me the address and today’s open hours which is just what I want to know.  The icons along the bottom cover the areas I care about and address my main questions.

• Key: gets me in
• Discover: I think this is going to address my biggest question, what do they actually sell there, and it turns out they lead with timely offers which is even better – I’d forgotten about Valentine’s Day.  The app shows appetizing photos of the main categories –  they sell beer and wine which requires a valid ID – will I have to show that at checkout?  Will that slow me down?  It’s nice to be able to parse through Discover and see what I might want to get on my visit.  It’s like looking at a restaurant’s menu.  This ability to pre-plan means I’ll be able to whisk through the store even faster.
• Receipts: did you charge me extra?
• About: gives a short paragraph on how Go actually works, which is pretty cool – now I feel I am in the know about Just Walk Out Technology and I am excited to learn they have chef-designed Amazon Meal Kits.

The app shows links to the map in several places which I found handy.  The CTA is clear:  VISIT.

From the food featured, I am guessing that the target audience for this store is tech-enabled 20 or 30 year olds who value the ability to find extra precious seconds of time in their work-oriented lives.   But they still want to eat healthy, and might be even willing to prepare a semi home cooked meal on occasion.

Sounds a lot like the Amazon employee – a good target for this location (next to Amazon HQ) and a good target for the neighborhood.

Getting to Amazon Go

Source: Lisa Fernow

Not being an Amazon employee, I can’t just pop out of my office and walk.  So I drive.  The streets around 7th and Blanchard are under construction, and I don’t see any obvious place to park.  I circle the block and eventually spot a sign for a parking garage.  It says it’s full but there are still spots for retail shoppers.  That would be me.  Relief.  The elevator helpfully tells which floor to get off on.

I step outside and see what appears to be a line to get in.  How ironic.

It turns out it’s a group of tourists taking selfies.  Once I pass them I see crowd control stanchions, fortunately with no people in line, with signs making it clear you need to download the app before entering.  This feels pretty friction-full.

A friendly greeter offers me a shopping bag.  I feel welcomed and mildly like an insider:  I have just been given Amazon swag.

I have a little trouble scanning my key.  I want to swipe.  The turnstile wants me to hold my phone still.  Same friendly greeter helps me and manages not to make me feel like an idiot.

It’s not shopping.  It’s not shoplifting.  It’s a sortie!

Source: Wikipedia

Once inside I immediately see a section called “Eat Now”.  It’s perfectly laid out for grab-and-go.

The offerings are inspired by cuisines from all over the world.  The sandwiches are from local bakeries and sandwich shops.  They have an enormous yogurt selection.  Not just yogurt – the point of sale says Icelandic yogurt.  Really appetizing options.  I wonder how well they are optimizing their shelf space.  Hope someone from Whole Foods is advising them.

It’s after lunch and they are out of stock in many items.  Disappointing.  I was hoping to try one of the middle eastern inspired sandwiches but all that’s left seems to be various nationalities of chicken.  I eventually select a burrata caprese sandwich with roasted red peppers on ciabatta roll which turns out to be delicious.

There are no bananas or other individual fruits for sale.  Guess Amazon technology can’t handle that.

I see a sign indicating the “Eat Later” section and wander in to see what’s there.

There is a freezer section of meals, including Beecher’s Mac and Cheese which is a go-to dinner when I am feeling in need of comfort food, and a small shelf of staples in case I happen to be out.  I wonder who in the target audience is actually cooking meals from scratch.

I find the wine section and am pleased to see a decent selection.  I pick out a bottle of Airfield Estates Chardonnay, a local winery.  The wine area is guarded by a polite employee who cards me.  Ah ha.  That’s how they get around the legal age question.  I ask him if he can help me switch to my preferred credit card.  He refers me to another employee who in turn suggests I contact customer support.

On my departure I am thanked for coming.  Nice touch.

As I exit the parking garage I think, I wish Amazon Go could automatically charge my parking fee.  My experience at Amazon Go has already subtly changed my expectations about paying for things.  When the gate arm lifts it turns out I have not parked long enough to be charged.  Woo hoo!

Later I get a notification app that shows what I bought, along with pictures and prices, and tells me my trip time was only 05m 16s including the wandering.  Nice reinforcement of the time savings benefit.

Amazon Go is not really a supermarket.  I’d say Amazon Go is closer to a mini-mart or c-store, or even a walk-in vending machine.  It’s all about convenience.  I was expecting to feel a little bit naughty, or triumphant, at having come out of a store without paying.  Or dazzled by the technology.  Instead I felt … nothing.

But for the convenience seeker, that’s how it should be.  In and out.  As easy and as unobtrusive as breathing.  That’s what it feels like when an experience is without friction.

What I might do to improve the current experience

Amazon got a lot right, and it’s only a few weeks into the public launch.  But even the launch of a conventional store requires a shaking down period, and Amazon is testing an entirely new concept.

There is still plenty of perceived and actual friction to overcome before the full end-to-end experience becomes truly seamless.

If the idea is to serve office workers and reduce the time and mental effort it takes for them to get their eat-now or eat-later food here are some things I might test.

The app:

• On downloading the app tell people to sign in to connect the app to their Amazon account and preferred credit card before telling them to go shopping
• Enable customers to sort by cuisine they’re in the mood for
• Enable people to pre-order items and pick them up from the store – or better yet, deliver them. This way customers don’t worry their selection will be taken – mental friction – and Amazon can better manage demand
• Stream a live feed to show how crowded the store is, so people can time their visits
• Show what’s in- and out- of stock in real time
• Include nearby parking lot locations and available parking spaces – ideally sync up with a parking app to reserve a space (not relevant for people in nearby offices but helpful if Amazon wants to attract other shoppers)

The store:

• Provide a place in the entryway, out of the rain, for people to sign up for the Amazon Go app in comfort
• Find a way to sell individual pieces of fruit and other lunch or snack foods that are generally sold by weight. Amazon bananas!
• Optimize merchandise mix and out of stocks – leverage Whole Foods expertise. Perhaps include a few more non-food items office workers might urgently need:  phone chargers?  Flowers?
• Sell (or give away) Amazon Go thermal bags so people can buy dinner items at lunch and keep them cold
• Train store employees to assist with technical support (credit cards, etc.)

What’s next?  What else Amazon could experiment with based on their Amazon Go learnings

From a customer experience perspective I don’t see Amazon Go technology being installed at Whole Foods in its current state, unless they create a self-contained store-within-a-store with a separate entrance, for a few reasons.

• Not every Whole Foods shopper may want to sign up for the Go app.
• There are important categories – bulk foods, fruits and vegetables, pharmacy – that the Just Walk Out technology probably can’t accommodate.
• For pantry-loading shopping occasions, reducing the checkout line won’t significantly reduce total shopping time.
• And part of what some people get from going to a conventional grocery store is the social interaction with store employees. Convenience is not for everyone.  In a fascinating NYT article, The Tyranny of Convenience, Tim Wu makes the case that convenience has a dark side:  “With its promise of smooth, effortless efficiency, it threatens to erase the sort of struggles and challenges that help give meaning to life.”

But I can easily see Amazon Go mini-marts work in other office buildings.  This could be a way for Amazon / Whole Foods to expand their retail footprint to capture occasions currently unavailable to them.

Other things Amazon might try:

• Integrate Amazon Go, Amazon.com, Amazon Books and Whole Foods back end systems and loyalty programs.
• Make it easier for customers to sign up for, shop and manage their account across all retail channels, on an opt-in basis.
• Allow customers to see their total Amazon and Whole Food shopping history in one place.
• Allow Amazon to suggest items to get from Whole Foods or order from Amazon.com based on their Amazon Go lunch preferences.

Long term, as customers adopt checkout free shopping, Amazon might consider licensing their technology to other retailers.

The possibilities are exciting, and I will look forward to seeing what innovations Amazon experiments with next.

All systems Go!

This post was originally published by the American Marketing Executive Circle.

Hal Conick wrote an enlightening and useful article, How Marketing Can Make Mergers and Acquisitions Easy, in which he referenced the AOL / Time Warner merger.  According to Conick, Time Warner executive Ted Turner said the transaction was “better than sex.” We now know, of course, that this particular merger was not successful.

Marketing topics might not rise to the top of the list of issues entrepreneurs typically think of when negotiating acquisition terms. But discussing these topics before you sign on the dotted line increases your chances of a successful acquisition.

Branding and Product Portfolio

• Which brands should you keep as stand-alone brands? Which should you rebrand, or absorb into the acquiring company’s brands? What is the basis for this decision?
• What process should you follow to ensure an orderly transition? This needs to be driven by what prospects, customers and other stakeholders require.
• Which trademarks should you keep, sell or abandon?

Marketing Strategy and Planning

• What role will the acquired company play in the overall marketing strategy of the acquiring company?
• Will the acquired company continue to operate separately, or will it be integrated into the business operations of the acquiring company? If the latter, what will this transition look like?
• Who approves final strategy? What initiatives should you continue, reexamine and change, or stop? What is the approval process for individual initiatives?
• Who controls the marketing budget going forward?

Strategic Partnerships

• Which partners should you continue to pursue under the new ownership? Do any conflict with the acquiring company’s partnerships? And if so, how should you handle the situation?
• Which relationships will change, and in what way? How can you strengthen them?
• Who owns each relationship?

Marketing Team

• Who should you keep on after the acquisition, who will need to be managed out and what would be the fairest way to do this?
• How will you need to change the roles of the remaining marketers? What possibilities are there for them to grow professionally within the new company?  And what will be necessary to retain them?
• Which outside consultants and agencies should you keep?  How should their roles change? And which should be transitioned, when and how?

Announcing the Acquisition

• Who should you notify, and what is the right process?
• What messages must you communicate to all stakeholders, including employees, customers, partners, and investors? What’s in it for them?
• What tangible actions should the company take right away to show how the acquisition delivers value?

This is a partial list based on my experience working with startups and enterprises undergoing mergers and acquisitions. The main point is to have these marketing conversations up front, to improve your chances of a successful acquisition.

Look forward to your thoughts.

This post was originally published by the American Marketing Executive Circle.

(Main photo source: Unsplash.com)

According to the organizers, FuckUp Nights is the fastest growing global movement of entrepreneurial people who come together to publicly share failure stories. Thousands of people attend FuckUp Nights each month in 200+ cities worldwide. Esquire Magazine says it’s “like TED talks with more booze and less pomp.”

When our bosses/companies/investors/society/insertyourowngrouphere ask us to be 100% successful all it does is to force us to stop taking risks and instead work to appear 100% successful. It’s unrealistic. It’s unhealthy. And it’s unproductive.

So I was tickled to see entrepreneurs come out of the closet and admit, hey, we screw up!

Why is f*cking up so important to innovation? We try more things. And we learn more.

Why Frito-Lay embraced failure

Leo Kiely, VP of Marketing at Frito-Lay in the ‘80s, used to walk around the office with a baseball bat late at night when we were all feverishly working away on our marketing projects.

He wasn’t there to beat us up. (We did that to ourselves, thank you very much.)

He was there to silently remind us that it was important to take a batting average mentality to our work. If we weren’t swinging and missing, we weren’t taking enough chances. As long as we learned from our mistakes and didn’t repeat them, we were good. To innovate, we needed to embrace mistakes as part of the process.

We celebrated our mistakes in public. When a marketer made Director, there was a mini ceremony where that person’s failures were paraded in front of the whole group for us to enjoy. The point was clear: you made Director in part because you took chances and occasionally fell flat on your face.

Frito-Lay was and is one of the most high-performance cultures in the US, and has consistently shown high financial returns – so they are doing something right.

Embracing failure is just one way to cultivate an innovation mindset – but it’s one of the most powerful.

More reading to inspire you to f*uck up

• Why Failure is the Foundation of Innovation Inc.com
• The Miracle of Making Mistakes Harvard Business Review
• How Warren Buffet taught this legendary investor the value of making mistakes CNBC

I’m going to the event in Seattle, and looking forward to making my next mistakes.

Look forward to your thoughts.

This post was originally published by the American Marketing Executive Circle.