As the mainstream news this week alternated between reports of Apple’s “showdown” with the US government and the latest idiotic rant from Kanye West, there was also the story of Adidas quietly launching a bold bet on the subscription economy and the culmination of one of the most innovative movie marketing strategies in recent memory. Not to mention a new phone that actually costs less than a latte at Starbucks. Read on to see my curated selections for some of the most interesting and significant marketing stories of the week.
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Girl Scouts Embrace Mobile Payments
A report from Girl Scouts partner Sage Mobile Payments shared that mobile payments helped troops grow the average cookie box order from 4 boxes to 5 boxes thanks to credit card payments. The effort is part of the 104 year old group’s “Digital Cookie 2.0” platform and is exactly the type of success story that mobile service providers will be able to use with slower moving tech averse businesses of all kinds to legitimize the potential of mobile payments.
Read the full story on Mobile Commerce Daily >>
Adidas Curates New Subscription Box For Women
Last year in a bid to change the culture at Adidas North America, Mark King launched an internal crowdsourcing search for new ideas to promote running. After narrowing 442 original employee submissions to 11 finalists, this week the company launched the winner: a curated $149 subscription box for women called Avenue A. The quarterly product box tells a curated story in collaboration with NY fitness artist Nicole Winhoffer and illustrates a unique bet on the subscription economy from a major fitness brand that other retailers will be watching with interest.
Read the full story on Forbes >>
The Best Marketing Conference You’ve Never Heard Of
There are two types of marketing conferences – those that exist for marketing people to be inspired and network and those for entrepreneurs who want to use marketing to actually make sell products and money. I have been to both and always find it stunning how little audience crossover there is. In this short event recap, author Joel Comm shares a simple truth: if you haven’t heard of the Traffic and Conversion Summit, you’re probably a brand marketer missing the boat on learning how to create marketing that actually converts into sales.
Read the full story on Inc.com >>
Deadpool Has Biggest Opening For An R-Rated Film Ever
Fresh off the biggest opening weekend all time for an R-rated movie ($152.2M), marketing and business writers are raving over the non-traditional marketing strategies employed by Fox Studios and the film’s star Ryan Reynolds to drive fan engagement and lead to an opening weekend performance that no one expected. There are plenty of lessons (and visuals) in this story linked below on how to build fan frenzy, stand out by being provocative, and the surprising value of poop themed emojis.
Read the full story on Hollywood Reporter >>
$3 Android Phone Launches Today In India
Today at 6am the world’s cheapest Android phone is officially launching in India and with it comes a new milestone in the race to provide more technology to the world regardless of economic status. When added to Facebook’s contentious quest to provide free Internet in India and the evolving efforts aroundusing cloud computing to resurrect old machines, these efforts to create technology options for the world’s poorest citizens will continue to inspire price driven innovation in tech and offer opportunity through connectivity to those who most need it.
Read the full story on BGR >>
Fast Company Names Buzzfeed World’s Most Innovative Company
When Fast Company selects its most innovative company of the year, it is typically based on a combination of design and technology. This year, it is telling that the magazine’s choice is a brand that has reinvented media based on analytics and become the most envied property in journalism in the process. What can the media and business world learn from Buzzfeed’s astronomical growth? This article below shares a few useful thoughts on that.
Read the full story on Fast Company >>
How are these articles chosen?
Every week I review hundreds of articles to curate the best stories of the week – and share some quick insights about why they matter for business and marketing. I call these “Non-Obvious Insights” and this is the third week I am sharing them. If you would like to see these insights a full day before anyone else, please join my email subscriber list here to get the insights every Thursday morning directly in your email inbox!
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