October’s digital news came right on time as always. This particularly busy and difficult month for everyone turned out to be full of interesting news, especially in the social and tech world.
In this article we will talk about:
- Fantasy soccer and blockchain
Let’s start right away with the first news!
Reinforcement Learning: from Formula 1 to Customer Journey.
Sports fans will know that driver Lewis Hamilton has surpassed Michael Schumacher (91 to 92) in the number of races won. This officially makes him the highest performing driver (at the moment) in formula one.
If there is one thing that the TV series The Big Bang Theory has taught us, it is that there is no limit to the creative madness of scientists. So why not develop an artificial intelligence that can beat Lewis Hamilton’s time? Perhaps on the Circuit de Catalunya?
Amazon Web Services has chosen to put its DeepRacer technology to the test to challenge the Formula 1 champion. The AWS DeepRacer makes use of a very advanced Machine Learning model, Reinforcement Learning, which allows an algorithm to learn complex patterns of behavior by retrying and adapting its actions to the output. To put it in a nutshell: the algorithm learns from its mistakes.
The result? At the moment, the champion remains Lewis Hamilton. Currently.
So what does this have to do with marketing? Try to imagine the customer journey as a game, in which the ultimate goal is to get a conversion. There, there will be endless possible actions to achieve the goal, in the form of marketing messages. When a manager decides how to develop a customer journey, he or she tries to predict which strategy will lead to maximizing the end result.
Through RL, it is possible to provide an algorithm with the variables involved (demographic data, buying behavior, and marketing activity history) so that it identifies the best path to achieve the assigned goal. The algorithm is then able to identify which steps in the customer journey occur most frequently and which bring the most value, thus focusing its efforts and reducing the number of possible combinations.
LinkedIn is the new Instagram: here are your stories
Announced back in September by Pete Davis, stories are (finally?) arriving on LinkedIn as well, confirming a trend that sees this format depopulating on all social platforms.
Just as it does on its more frivolous counterparts Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, in LinkedIn stories it is possible to post photos and videos in a vertical format, adding text, stickers and user tags. All of course intended to disappear after 24 hours.
The stated goal is to introduce a tool that allows users to share “tips and tricks for working more efficiently” while stimulating their creativity. In particular, the Microsoft-owned site aims to engage more with the younger generation, which has grown up using stories and finds in them a natural way to share content.
In short, a way to shake off an overly serious image and wink at what will be the workers of the near future, which, however, has made more than one nose twitch. Indeed, many users of the platform often dislike these “pop” drifts, believing that they clash with the primary function of the social.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that the stories format has proven extremely effective in stimulating users to produce content. Only time will tell whether this innovation will be able to be exploited by professionals and companies in a convincing way. If not, we will learn to ignore the bubbles at the top of the page on LinkedIn as well.
In-store, online, mobile: how contactless is changing retail
The lockdown situation to which we have been forced by the health crisis caused by the Coronavirus has definitely cleared the way for online shopping even in segments of the population that had hitherto remained loyal to physical stores. In fact, eCommerce is expected to grow by 26 percent in 2020.
This does not detract, however, from the fact that the in-store remains the main channel for sales and CRM. The experience offered by the store remains fundamental for Italian consumers, who in 62 percent of cases prefer to make their first purchase in person.
Contactless technology can be a key enabler for retail transformation, both in terms of meeting healthcare requirements and optimizing acquisition costs through data collection.
Some examples? Through mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.), native applications now found on all smartphones, it is possible to collect data from potential customers as early as the first touchpoint with the company. With a simple QR code, the customer can easily access a form to join the loyalty program, adding the loyalty card directly to their wallet.
Another option is to digitize coupons, allowing them to be easily used on mobile. Not only that, it is possible to convert a prospect reached via social networks by offering a digital coupon. Given the rapid rise of so-called mCommerce (simply put, shopping from mobile), mobile wallets will become critical to effectively convey price promotion campaigns.
In essence, the use of contactless and mobile wallet technologies will be crucial for retailers in the process of adapting to the new everyday life we find ourselves in, leveraging personalization, omnichannelality and loyalty.
Conte to the Ferragnez: “Help.” Italians respond, “Lol.”
If there was need for yet another confirmation of the power of influencers in our society, here is the Prime Minister’s response. In fact, there has been much meme talk about Conte’s choice to involve the web’s most famous spouses, Ferragni and Fedez, with the aim of raising awareness among Italians, especially the younger ones, about preventive health rules to stem the spread of the Coronavirus.
The network responded, of course, with the usual wave of memes aimed at ridiculing the situation: if the Prime Minister has to turn to two influencers to convince Italians to put on their masks, we are really at the end of the line.
We at Instilla, however, will not make easy irony. On the contrary, we think this episode represents a watershed moment. Indeed, even politics has recognized the now rampant communicative and persuasive power of influencers, who are often considered just “Instagram Stories slackers,” but are now a fundamental part of many people’s daily lives. In 19 percent of cases, Italians say that an influencer’s content has changed their minds not only about a product, but also about social issues.
At the same time, it is now evident how memes have become a ubiquitous form of communication. Every social or political event is accompanied by a wide variety of reactions in the form of images on the web, and there is no more effective way to capture people’s sentiment than to observe which memes are shared on social.
No more office auctions! Fantasy soccer is done in blockchain
Fantasy soccer is one of those things that makes millions of Italians agree (and argue). There is nothing more satisfying than proving you can field a better lineup than your friends, and perhaps even Serie A coaches.
But now fantasy soccer can also be digital and (hear hear) blockchain, thanks to French startup Sorare. How is this possible? The way it works is quite simple: as was once the case with Panini stickers, users can buy, sell and exchange player cards, numbered and with a level of rarity. The blockchain comes into play here, allowing them to track at any time which player each card belongs to.
Once their team is made up, players can then compete against each other in tournaments – as they do in a classic fantasy soccer game – and win prizes, including new digital trading cards.
The platform, which launched in March 2019, has surpassed $1 million in card sales, with a trading volume of $350,000 per month. The startup’s success has also allowed it to aim even higher, with Sorare announcing $4 million in investments and the hiring of 10 people by the end of 2020.
In short, maybe we still don’t all fully understand how blockchain works… But we will get used to seeing it used in more and more different contexts!
