The Best From The US In December

A round-up of the most important retail, tech, and marketing stories each month.

All Change

The big news was Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox for $52bn — taking control of all division except news and sports. Speculation abound as to why Rupert Murdoch sold; this article claims the deal was sparked when Facebook bid for Indian Premier League cricket rights. Indeed, with the tech giants expected to enter the upcoming English Premier League soccer war the entertainment landscape is changing and Murdoch knows it. A scintillating side-story is that Mickey and friends now control Hulu! Having pulled content from Netflix (in 2017) and announced that they would build their own service, this ready-made solution — with c.12m subscribers — represents a clear and present danger to the other streaming providers. Next, Apple gobbled-up music recognition app Shazam — a great idea, in 2012. Meanwhile, Target has acquired same-day delivery company Shipt, giving it the platform to push ahead within the under-potentialised US online grocery market.

Shop Around

Westfield (the Australian global mall-owner) has been bought by Unibail-Rodamco for $16bn, whose CEO bullishly stated “Internet will grow but … It’s very difficult to be profitable on the internet”. Many, including The Economist, argue that this is a new dawn for the property market who will likely transform malls into ‘mini cities’ with gyms, shops, and bars, or, alternatively, rent units to eCommerce players to act as a cheap fulfillment centres. McKinsey’s broadly agrees, believing that the job of store owners is to provide experiences that you cannot get online — or ‘retail-tainment’. This article goes one step further, “Stores are the most powerful, measurable, manageable form of media that a brand has at [its] disposal”. That may be the biggest volte-facesince Amazon opened a bookstore… Talking of which, apparently it is books that will save retail!

Amongst the theorising it is likely that ‘small’ companies who are winning in physical retail will continue to be targeted by the traditional players, as much for their talent as their inventory. Last year it was Bonobos, this year probably Glossier. Finally, a list of those facing the retail apocalypse in 2018.

Small But Important

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to end net neutrality protections. Opponents fear this could lead to sites and messages being blocked or slowed-down: proponents believe it will reset the intention of the ‘Open Internet Order’ and let service providers charge companies who drain their resources more — ‘In the same way, the government requires drivers of 18-wheeler trucks to pay more in tolls.’
• Hot on the heels, T-Mobile is moving into TV. The CEO’s announcement lacked detail (and finesse), preferring to take aim at the cable providers.
• Patagonia is suing the government following the decision to shrink national parks like Bears Ears. The company took to Twitter proclaiming, ‘The President Stole Your Land’.
• Google’s year in search, 2017. Top hashtags, including ‘#MeToo’, which was also named Time Magazine’s person of the year. Top tweets; GIFS; and Holiday ads, by online views. (Worth a look.)
• 2018 Predictions: some for Amazon (including another brick-and-mortar purchase). Thoughts on the Fashion industry, including the saturation of off-price and the importance of sustainability credibility (mentioned many times by this blog). Tech (the big four will become as hated as banks).
• One area that is set to explode is meatless meat, as is vegan fashion.
• Uber’s bad year was compounded as the European Court ruled that it is a transportation company, not an information one, meaning it must adhere to the same industry guidelines as taxi companies. Side note, apparently the company is surreptitiously moving into the restaurant business, offering heightened cashback to learn about people’s habits.
• In a move that must have left Twitter asking ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’, it is now possible to follow a hashtag on Instagram.
• Smart bags — with phone-charging devices in them — may soon be banned from flights unless their batteries can be removed, most of which cannot.
• adidas is closing its digital sports division, thereby ending its involvement with wearables. Conversely, L.L. Bean is using blockchain to learn more about how their products are used by customers, offering rewards points in exchange. This article asks ‘What happened to wearables?’, once the darling of tech. (This author answered the question last May.)
• Everyone knew it! Apple products do slow down over time. Although the company explains it is because the battery diminishes, not because they want you to upgrade.
• Spotify and Chinese company Tencent are in talks to swap 10% of their holdings with each other. The move would give the Swedish company a path into a hugely under-realised market. Some think it is a defense strategy against Amazon (naturally) who have quietly become the third-largest provider globally, up from 14th place in 2014.
• Vine, the much-loved short-video service is coming back. Under-utiliised by parent Twitter, V2 is coming soon (according to the founder).
• And finally! Snap owner, Evan Spiegel, threw a secret New Year’s Eve party for the company — and banned them from posting on Snapchat. Sadly, it meant that his employees took to Instagram instead. Ghosted.