ImaginativePRO Blog

WSJ: GOOGLE WILL ADD BUY BUTTONS TO SEARCH RESULTS ON MOBILE

Google's getting ready to face Amazon and eBay, according to The Wall Street Journal, and will be adding buy buttons directly to its search results. You'll see those buttons accompanying sponsored results under a "Shop on Google" heading -- they won't be used for non-sponsored links returned by the algorithm -- when you search for products on mobile devices. Upon clicking one, a separate product page will load where you can pick sizes, colors and ultimately complete your purchase. Any product you buy will still come straight from retailers, the WSJ says, so it doesn't sound like Google's stocking up warehouses with goods like Amazon does.

However, some major retailers are apparently worried that they'll get stuck with back-end order fulfillment with no real customer interaction. Since Google wants to remain in good terms with them (they are some of its largest advertisers, after all), it will give shoppers the choice subscribe to their marketing programs. That typically means mailing lists and the like, so the company's giving them access to customers' info, most likely names and addresses.

In addition, Google promised them that the product landing pages will be heavily branded with their names and will link to more of their products. The company also won't take a cut from their sales and will only get paid for every person that clicks their links. Mountain View will reportedly offer several payment options, "including digital payment methods from other providers," but it (thankfully) won't be giving retailers access to payment details. If you input credit card info to make a purchase, the website will save it for future transactions, but it will remain with the company.

As for why the feature will only be available on mobile, well, Google has a plethora of reasons. The biggest one is most likely the fact that more people now perform searches on their phones than on computers. According to the WSJ, you might spot a buy button or two as soon as the coming weeks. We don't have a list of official partners yet, since Google hasn't officially announced anything, but Macy's might be one of the first retailers available.

COMMENTARY:

Even though more people are shopping on their phones, the majority aren’t making actual purchases on mobile. Google’s solution: sponsored, mobile-only “buy” buttons that keep people on Google rather than sending them back to the retailer’s check-out page. The idea: People will buy more with a seamless checkout than they would if forced to wait for a retailer’s page to load and then go through a less user-friendly checkout process.

With the addition of a buy button, Google Shopping would go from being a simple search engine to being more of a middle-man. However, unlike companies such as Amazon, Google would not get a share of the profit, but more a pay per click profit.

Mobile Commerce Increasing

According to an eMarketer retail sales report, retail mcommerce is rising rapidly, steadily gaining a larger share of overall ecommerce.  

• In 2013, retail mcommerce—which includes products and services ordered on mobile devices, including tablets—increased 70.0% to reach $42.13 billion.
• In 2014 eMarketer estimates that figure will increase another 37.2% to total $57.79 billion, or about one-fifth of all retail ecommerce sales and 1.2% of total retail sales. In 2014, tablet sales will account for nearly two-thirds of mcommerce sales, eMarketer predicts, increasing to nearly 75% by the end of our forecast period.
• By the end of 2015, eMarketer estimates that total US retail mcommerce sales will reach $76.41 billion or 22% of total US ecommerce sales.   

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As more consumers use their mobile devices to conduct online searches for product reviews and price comparisons using search engines and recommendations from friends on social networks, it makes sense to incorporate call-to-action motivators like buy buttons.        

What does this mean for smaller ecommerce stores?

Of course, with the release of these rumors, many smaller ecommerce store owners are worried that this means they will see a dip in sales, as Google will provide linkage with large retailers instead of smaller companies. Rumors state that Macy’s is already in talks to join the new program,

Furthermore, many retailers are afraid that they will lose out on a very important customer relationship if everything is handled by Google.

What will Google do to calm the storm?

According to The Wall Street Journal, ecommerce store owners will be able to continue with the same marketing programs that they have running on their own sites, in other words this will allow retailers to get access to customer’s contact information, for future marketing purposes. Furthermore, Google will brand  the product pages with links to the ecommerce store, finally sources state that recommendations for future purchases will only be shown from the retailer providing the product.

What is the upside?

One of the most difficult areas for ecommerce owners to succeed in is mobile sales, many ecommerce owners see much of their traffic coming from desktops, with the mobile purchase process still in its infancy.

According to research, many shoppers search for products on their smartphones, but then switch to their desktop computers to make the final purchase. One of the reasons for this is, that it is still relatively difficult to fill out a whole purchase form from a smartphone. However, if Google was to make the whole process more seamless, then perhaps retailers participating in Google’s buy now program would gain a major advantage as they would see mobile sales grow exponentially.

What is the downside?

Jason Goldberg, V.P. of Strategy at Razorfish says.  

“While it’s a good feature, it definitely isn’t a no-brainer that all retailers should invest in because a whole set of issues can come with transactions on a third-party platform."  

Other issues include Google’s sponsored ads might not be able to keep up with stock quantities or backorders and shoppers will be subjected to Google’s less specialized customer service.

Keeping Up With The Competition

In December 11, 2014, Facebook announced the addition of new "Call-To-Action" features to Facebook pages.  This includes a "Shop Now" feature that will allow brands to convert fans into buyers from ads running in the newsfeed.    On September 8, 2014, Twitter announced that it was testing "buy buttons" in tweets.     

Twitter says artists, brands and non-profits taking part in the test include Burberry, DonorsChoose, Pharrel among other, and their followers will get offers and merchandise not available elsewhere. They can complete the transaction in a couple taps.

Courtesy of an article dated May 16, 2015 appearing in Engadget, an article dated May 24, 2015 appearing in EcommercePlatforms, an article dated April 10, 2014 appearing in eMarketer, and an article dated May 19, 2015 appearing in Digiday

NETFLIX STOCK HITS ALL-TIME HIGH ON NEWS NETFLIX PLANS TO ENTER CHINA, IN PARTNERSHIP TALKS WITH JACK MA'S WASU

On May 19, 2015, NETFLIX’S STOCK REACHED an all time high for the third day in a row.  Shares peaked at $628.50 a share.  And some analysts expect the price to keep climbing.

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The record share price peak followed reports from two Wall Street analysts that called Netflix undervalued.  Last week, analysts at Apex Capital largely agreed.   The firm said.  

"Netflix is quickly becoming one of the most powerful media companies in the world.”

The firm added that the streaming video giant could soon become the next $100 billion tech company.

Wall Street, it seems, sees the future much the way Netflix does—a future where Netflix takes over everywhere. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in an earnings call last month.

“Internet TV is growing around the world at incredible rates.  And so we’re really propelled by that big macro trend.”

These skyrocketing expectations, and accompanying stock price, are in large part due to Netflix’s rapid expansion abroad—in particular, reports since Friday, May 22, 2015, that Netflix is in talks to expand into a huge new market: China. But as all conquerors know far too well, the path to world domination doesn’t come without resistance. Despite its aggressive growth, the company has already experienced pressure from its European markets to improve its service—and fast. 

The Path of More Resistance

Netflix is growing, and quickly, even in its more mature markets like the US, but especially abroad. In the past few years, Netflix has been rapidly expanding to reach beyond US shores. The service now touts more than 20 million international subscribers in more than 50 countries, including the more recent additions of Australia, New Zealand, and even Cuba. By 2017, the company says it wants to be in 200 markets. But even in Europe, Internet speed and access has been a limiting factor. In a recent talk in Germany, Hastings was asked if Netflix would consider a download option so German subscribers wouldn’t have to be dependent on streaming. Hastings’ answer amounted to “no.”

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What’s more, if content is king, European subscribers have been markedly disappointed with Netflix’s offerings. In France and Germany, for example, the original content selections are not as wide as those offered in the US, in part due to licensing deals with local broadcasters  and distribution rules in different countries. (To get around that, some are opting to use a VPN to access the American service, according to The New York Times.) European filmmakers are also unhappy that Netflix is encroaching on their turf—one recently shouting at the Cannes Film Festival that Netflix “will destroy the film ecosystem in Europe.”

Piracy is another major concern for Netflix abroad, according to the company’s latest letter to shareholders. In the Netherlands, for example, Netflix has seen competition from apps such as Popcorn Time that make illegal streaming as easy as a legal service. (Netflix has called the app’s success in the Netherlands “sobering.”) In fact, House of Cards has become hugely successful in China thanks to pirating.

More World to Conquer

Rather than being deterred, Netflix seems to be confronting those obstacles by growing even more. The streaming giant has plans to expand to Japan later this year, and analysts expect the company will try to break into the Chinese and Korean markets soon, too. For any company dependent on subscribers, the biggest fear in any single market is reaching the saturation point. For Netflix—and its share price—to keep growing, the company is betting it will need to continue to expand.

But a new market brings new demands. In its letter to shareholders, Netflix said that early signs indicate that promoting original content helps bring in new members. So, to get new subscribers in France, Netflix is launching an upcoming French-language drama Marseille, advertised as House of Cards for the French. But for an expansion into China, despite being a market already primed to love shows like House of Cards, censorship and stringent regulations on content could prove tough, which is why Netflix seems to be looking to find a partner to smooth its entry.

Netflix has enormously popular original content, the revenue to invest in new shows, and the data to predict the programming subscribers will like best. It’s a recipe for world domination. The company, and now Wall Street, just better hope it translates.

COMMENTARY:

Q1 2015 Earnings Report Highlights

Here are some of the highlights of Netflix earnings report compared to forecasts that were announced on April 15, 2015: 

• Earnings per share: $0.77 (adjusted for foreign-exchange rate changes since last year) vs. $0.69 expected.
• Revenue: $1.57 billion vs. $1.57 billion expected; $1.4 billion total streaming revenue; $415 million international streaming revenue.
• Subscribers: 62.30 million vs. 61.44 million forecast; US streaming net additions 2.28 million vs expectations of 1.8 million; international user additions 2.6 million vs. 2.25 million

Netflix shares increased by more than 12% in after hours, largely because of the big increase in new-user additions.  It added a record 4.9 million new users globally in the last quarter, bringing total number of users to 62.3 million. Both its US and international user additions beat expectations.

Its total streaming revenue was largely in line with expectations, up about 32% from last year. The subscriber growth was higher than expected as its total paid members came in at 59.6 million, slightly more than the 58.7 million forecast. All in all, Netflix added about 14 million new users over the past 12 months.

Netflix said in a statement.

"We think strong US growth benefited from our ever-improving content, including the launch of the third season of House of Cards and new shows Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Bloodline. In addition, retention continued to improve due to the growing value of our service overall. We are forecasting Q2 US net adds of 0.6 million, similar to the year ago quarter." 

In Q4 2014, Netflix launched its streaming service in Australia and New Zealand as part of its plan to finish its global expansion within the next two years. Netflix said it expects to add 1.9 million international users in the next quarter.

Netflix also confirmed that it's seeking shareholder approval for a stock split.  Its stock closed at $475.46 per share on Wednesday, April 15.

Here's what Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had to say about the quarter's performance:

"During Q1, higher-than-forecast net adds and US revenue, coupled with lower-than-forecast content spending, resulted in a US contribution margin of 31.7%, ahead of our 30.1% estimate. In 2015, we expect to run ahead of our US contribution margin growth target of 200 bps/year on average because a greater share of global and original content costs will be absorbed by existing and new international territories as we continue to expand globally (since we allocate global content costs by geography).

In addition, starting in Q2 we intend to shift some of our US marketing budget to international to take advantage of the substantial available growth opportunities. This, in the short term, drives down international contribution profits and drives up US contribution profits. We are still targeting 40% contribution margin in the US in 2020.

Our international segment was fueled by continued strong growth across our 50+ countries as well as a successful March 24 launch in Australia and New Zealand, which adds about 8 million1 broadband households to our addressable market. In ANZ, Netflix benefited from high consumer awareness, a fervent fan base for original series like House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black and operator relationships with Optus and iiNet, the second and third largest broadband providers. We expect international Q2 net adds of 1.90 million, up 70% vs. last year. Later in 2015, we will launch additional markets, starting with Japan.

The strong dollar hurt financial results during the quarter, negatively affecting International segment revenue (lower by $48 million y/y using Q1 2014 forex rates) which carried through into a $15M negative forex impact on international contribution loss. These forex headwinds offset better than expected subscriber growth to result in contribution losses close to our expectations. As a reminder, we absorbed on average 5% higher VAT rates across our European markets starting January 1. We’ll have a full quarter of content expenses in ANZ in Q2 and expect the international segment loss to grow to $101 million, increasing throughout the back half of 2015 as we expand to additional markets (consistent with what we’ve said).

Our strong performance led to overall operating income that exceeded our projections ($97m actual versus $79m forecast). Net income was negatively affected by currency-related transaction losses included in other expense; excluding these forex losses, Q1 EPS would have been $0.77 vs. our $0.60 forecast and our actual EPS of $0.38."

Netflix reported total worldwide streaming revenues of $1.4 billion for the quarter, up 7.28% from Q4 2014 and up 31.33% from Q1 2014.  U.S. streaming revenues for the quarter were $985 million, up 7.41% from Q4 2014 and up 23.28% from Q1 2014.   International streaming revenues for the quarter were $415 million, up 6.9% from Q4 2014 and up 55.43% from Q1 2014.     

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Profitability and Cash Flow Are Down

Netflix's operating income for the quarter was $97 million, up 49.23% from Q4 2014 and slightly down 1% from Q1 2014.  Net income for the quarter was $24 million, down 71.1% from Q4 2014 and down 54.7% from Q1 2014.  

Netflix's reported a free cash flow deficit of $163 million for the quarter, this was up 114.86% from the free cash flow deficit of $74 million reported in Q4 2014.  

Both profitability and free cash flow have been negatively impacted by higher content and marketing costs incurred to improve its film entertainment offerings and higher marketing and promotions costs in order to increase subscriptions and streamings, particularly as it expands into new markets like Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Netflix Plans To Enter China

According to Bloomberg, Netflix is in talks with Wasu Media Holding Co (000156.SZ), a Chinese media company backed by Jack Ma and other possible partners as it seeks entry into the country’s $5.9 billion online video market, according to people familiar with the matter.

Netflix has held discussions with companies including Wasu Media Holding about forming a partnership, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Netflix plans “to be nearly global by the end of 2016,” a spokeswoman, Anne Marie Squeo, said in response to questions about a possible China partnership.

Entering China would allow Netflix to take advantage of what’s forecast to be explosive growth in online television in the nation of 1.4 billion people. The market is expected to almost triple to 90 billion yuan by 2018, according to Shanghai- based Internet consultant IResearch.

A local partnership would be essential given the Chinese government’s strict controls over licensing for online content. Netflix wants a partner that has licenses for content on all devices — including mobile phones, computers and set-top boxes, according to the people. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has given Internet TV licenses to seven companies, including Wasu.

Wasu didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. Two phone calls to Wasu’s general line weren’t answered.

Courtesy of an article dated May 19, 2015 appearing in Wired, the letter dated April 15, 2015 to Netflix Shareholders, an article dated April 15, 2015 appearing in Business Insider, and an article dated April 16, 2015 appearing in Informitv, and an article dated May 24, 2015 appearing in The Day

APP ANNIE'S WORLDWIDE APP INDEX AND GAME INDEX FOR APRIL 2015

Each month, the App Annie Index highlights the top-performing games and apps for the iOS App Store and Google Play. Our analysis covers trends among the leading apps across countries and categories, and is the industry standard for professionals looking to compare leading apps and publishers. 

Top Android Apps Worldwide For April 2015

In the Android category, Dubsmash gets a boost from celebrities

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In its December 2014 Index for Apps, App Annie reported the rise of selfie video app Dubsmash, which allows users to record and share videos of themselves mouthing along to well-known phrases and songs. In April, the app saw its second round of explosive growth, reaching #5 on April’s combined iOS and Google Play downloads rankings. Starting with a Dubsmash-exclusive tease of Rihanna’s new single on March 26, numerous celebrities (including Hugh Jackman, Kevin Hart and Kate Upton) fell in love with the app. This celebrity endorsement helped renew interest in the United States, where it saw a rise in its download ranks.

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Dubsmash shot up the rankings in Brazil during April 2015

However, it was in Brazil where Dubsmash grew at truly neckbreak speeds. The app spent more than a week as Brazil’s most downloaded app on both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. As in the United States, celebrities in Brazil (such as singer Cláudia Leite and soccer star Neymar) used the app to record videos of themselves for their fans’ enjoyment. Brazil’s attachment to social media (the country has been called the “social media capital of the universe”), combined with the app’s focus on sharing through social networking apps, helps explain this remarkable growth.

Top iOS Apps Worldwide For April 2015

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Tax day in the United States has come and gone, and TurboTax leveraged this increasingly mobile-first trend for tax preparation, reaching #6 on App Annie iOS revenue charts. While February is historically a successful month for TurboTax, its biggest spike comes from the mad rush in the last few days leading up to the tax deadline on April 15.

The app offers a simple drag-and-drop interface, integration with the desktop TurboTax software, and the ability for users to take a picture of their W-2 to automatically fill out forms. All said, TurboTax is a prime example of apps blurring the lines between the digital and real world.

Top iOS Games Apps Worldwide By Downloads and Revenues for April 2015 

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Top Android Games Apps Worldwide By Downloads & Revenues for Apr 2015

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In App Annie's March Games Index, it wrote about the success of Chinese massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Shenwu, which reached #9 in monthly iOS revenue. In April, another Chinese MMO took the spotlight: NetEase’s Fantasy Westward Journey. This name should be familiar to followers of the desktop MMO scene in China: the original Fantasy Westward Journey was an immensely popular PC MMO that reached over 2.6 million peak concurrent users in 2010.

The mobile version seems poised to repeat that success. The game was by far the highest grossing iOS app in China throughout April and shows no sign of slowing down. The app began its ascent in late March when it became the top grossing app in China and remained there throughout most of April.

The original 2004 PC version’s decade of continued success was largely restricted to China (the game is based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West).  It will be interesting to see whether NetEase attempts to bring Fantasy Westward Journey to audiences outside China, seeing as it has struck distribution deals with foreign publishers before.  Regardless of this, however, App Annie looks forward to seeing whether NetEase manages to join the ranks of the Chinese core game giants Tencent and Perfect World who successfully made the transition to mobile.

Top iOS Game Companies by Downloads and Revenues For April 2015

American and Chinese game producers dominated iOS game downloads with Tencent (China), and three U.S. gamemakers (Electronic Arts, Times Warner, and Glo) leading the way.  Chinese game producers dominated iOS revenues with Tencent and Netease leading the way followed by three Japanese gamemakers (Gung Ho Online, Mixi and Line).     

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Top Android Game Companies by Downloads and Revenues For April 2015

King Games was the leader in Android game downloads followed by Gameloft (France), Doodle Mobile, Electronic Arts (USA) and Ketchapp Studio (France).  Japan dominated Android game revenues with a few exceptions. Supercell (Finland) was the leader in Android game revenues followed Netmarble (South Korea) and Gung Ho Online (Japan).  

 

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Courtesy of the Worldwide App Annie Index for Apps dated May 20, 2015  appearing in App Annie Blog and the Worldwide App Annie Index for Games April 2015 dated May 20, 2015 appearing in App Annie Blog

GAMEMAKER ZYNGA ANNOUNCES 18% STAFF CUT AND FOCUS ON FEWER GAMES JUST TWO WEEKS AFTER RETURN OF CEO MARK PINCUS

Just weeks after returning to the helm of the videogame company he founded, Zynga Inc. CEO Mark Pincus is slashing nearly a fifth of the workforce.

The job cuts, announced Wednesday, come as Zynga grinds away at a turnaround. The company reported a 9.1% increase in its first-quarter revenue and a narrower loss, both better than what Wall Street expected. It also forecast a second quarter slightly stronger than analysts’ projections.

Shares jumped hours before the close in New York, finishing up 4.4% to $2.61. In after-hours trading, Zynga’s shares were up 6.1%.

Zynga’s stock price over the nearly two-year period since the hiring of former CEO Don Mattrick on July 1, 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Zynga is cutting 364 employees, or about 18% of its workforce. It is one of the first strategic moves from Mr. Pincus since he returned in early April to retake the reins from Don Mattrick, a former Electronic Arts Inc. and Microsoft Corp. executive who held the top job nearly two years.

Departed Zynga CEO Don Mattrick (left) with founder Mark Pincus (right) who returned from a nearly two-year hiatus to retake the reins as CEO (Click Image To Enlarge) 

The cuts, expected to be completed before year-end, will result in charges of between $18 million and $22 million in the second quarter, Zynga said. The company expects annualized savings of about $45 million excluding those charges, with another $55 million down the road through other belt-tightening, such as letting Amazon.com Inc. manage its servers.

It’s not the first time Zynga has cut into its ranks. In June 2013, it let go of nearly a fifth of its payroll. This latest round will leave Zynga with about 1,600 employees, less than half its peak of 3,400 in 2012, when Zynga acquired OMGPOP Inc. for $180 million.

In an interview, Mr. Pincus said Zynga was trying to do too much. He plans to focus on a few popular areas like casino games. One casualty is sports, a category Zynga entered less than a year ago with a new studio in Orlando, Fla. That studio is closing, stopping development of a Tiger Woods golf game and putting a countdown clock on an NFL game.

Mr. Pincus said.  

“We just have been spread too thin.  Zynga hasn't done a great job of funding our best opportunities.”

One hole in Zynga’s mobile portfolio is action-strategy games. Earlier this week, Zynga released “Empires & Allies” to compete with the likes of Supercell Oy’s “Clash of Clans,” a top-grossing game on app stores.  It took two years to develop, compared with less than three months to make one of Zynga’s first-ever hits, “Mafia Wars” for PCs, Mr. Pincus said.

Sean McGowan, an analyst at Needham & Co., called the ax-wielding a positive step.  He said.  

“Even after all the rounds of cost reductions that we’ve seen, this was still a company with a cost structure that was higher than you’d expect.” 

But he questioned the strategy of making fewer games.

“There isn’t a lot of evidence yet that fewer games will lead to bigger games.”

Zynga expects to launch six to eight new mobile games in 2015, including a second strategy game called “Dawn of Titans.”

Getting strategy games out the door is just one step toward an elusive finish line—profitability. That slow march continued in the first quarter, when Zynga reported a loss of $46.5 million, or five cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $61.2 million, or seven cents a share.

Excluding certain items, the loss was a penny a share, on par with a year earlier but better than the two-cent loss analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue climbed to $183.3 million, ahead of the $147.7 million expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters. Zynga said mobile accounted for 63% of its $167.4 million in bookings—money spent on games—in the quarter.

For the second quarter, Zynga expects revenue of between $175 million and $190 million, better than the $156 million Wall Street expects, according to Thomson Reuters. The company expects another net loss, of between $54 million and $50 million, in line with Wall Street’s forecasts. In the second quarter 2014, Zynga had a loss of $62.5 million.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]

COMMENTARY:   When Zynga announced that former CEO Mark Pincus, who was on a nearly year and a half hiatus, was returning to replace departing CEO Don Mattrick, I was flabbergasted and very disappointed.  It was during Pincus' watch that Zynga tried to make the transition from a desktop social game company that used Facebook as its user platform to attract gamers to an indepenent mobile game company.   There was also a lot of controversy surrounding Mark Pincus' treatment of employees, most notably taking back stock options from staffers he considered poor performers.     

Under Pincus leadership, Zynga's active users, revenue growth and share prices dropped precipitously.  Here's what I am talking about:

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In an article dated June 3, 2013, Business Insider's Jay Yarow and Nicholas Carlson discuss in great detal what went wrong with Zynga under CEO Mark Pincus.  Richard Greenberg, an analyst covering technology stocks, like many analysts on Wall Street were "stunned" by Zynga's board of directors announcement that Mark Pincus was returning to replace departing CEO Don Mattrick.

  

Let's hope that the "new" and "improved" Mark Pincus can turn things around at Zynga.  Zynga's financials for the year ending December 31, 2014 and Q1 2015 show declines and red ink across all important company financial performance metrics.

Financial Data FY Ending December 31, 2014 

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Financial Data Quarter Ending March 31, 2015

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Under departed CEO Don Mattrick, Zynga's both daily and monthly active users have suffered significant declines. This is a condition that must be reversed in order to avoid even larger operating losses.  It will require new games with the potential to become hits and revenue generators.      

 

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As you can readily see, turning around Zynga will present a huge challenge for Mark Pincus.   In Zynga's Q1 2015 Earnings Report, Mark will employ a "Narrowed Focus" strategy that will focus on five game categories:

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Social games like "Farmville", "Farmville 2" and "Mafia Wars" which were Zynga's "bread-and-butter" revenue sources  have matured and lost favor with gamers and have shown dramatic declines in active users and revenue contributions.  Pincus must now hope that its two newest "Action" games "Empires & Allies" and "Dawn of Titans," become big hits.     

Courtesy of an article dated May 6, 2015 appearing in The Wall Street Journal, an article dated April 8, 2015 appearing in the New York Times, an article dated May 28, 2014 appearing in ValueWalk, an article dated June 3, 2013 appearing in Business Insider, and data reported in Zynga's Q1 2015 Earnings Report

STUDY: SOCIAL MEDIA HAS POSITIVE IMPACT ON SALES, BETTER THAN DISPLAY ADS, BUT BEHIND AFFILIATE MARKETING & EMAIL

The middle of the sales funnel is where social media advertising has the biggest impact, according to a recent report from Convertro and AOL Platforms.

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The report was based on an analysis using Convertro's multi-touch attribution technology of 500 million clicks, 15 million conversions, and three billion impressions that occurred in 1Q14.

In aggregate, social media ranked slightly ahead of display ads in driving conversions, but behind both affiliate marketing and email, the analysis found.

However, both social media and display advertising were found to significantly influence the middle of the path to purchase—defined in the report as after the initial interaction but before conversion (essentially, the awareness and research phase).

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Below, additional key findings from the report.

Performance by Social Network

Social media platforms vary widely in where they impact the path the purchase, and how much, according to the analysis.

YouTube was the most effective network in introducing new products and driving sales for the events examined, followed by Facebook.

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Paid vs. Organic

Marketers who spent on social channels registered a nearly 25% lift in conversions compared with purely organic social efforts (2.82% average conversion rate vs. 2.26%).

Conversions on Twitter increased significantly with paid spends (1.45% average conversion with organic tweets compared with 3.85% for promoted tweets).

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Impact by Product Type

The impact of social media advertising varied by product category, the analysis found. For example, paid social media was effective for both introducing products and driving conversions in the subscription and heath/beauty categories, but had little impact in the food/beverage and apparel/accessories categories (where organic social had a far greater impact).

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About the research: The report was based on an analysis using Convertro's multi-touch attribution technology of 500 million clicks, 15 million conversions, and three billion impressions that occurred in 1Q14.

COMMENTARY:  In a Facebook for Business post dated November 14, 2014, Facebook dropped a bombshell when they announced a change that will impact the prominence of particular types of self-promotional organic content within the newsfeed of advertiser from pages.

This all came about when Facebook conducted a survey of users concerning their reaction to the type of content appearing in their newsfeed.  This is what Facebook said that survey revealed:

"As part of an ongoing survey we asked hundreds of thousands of people how they feel about the content in their News Feeds. People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content."

After listening to this user feedback, Facebook concluded that users don’t want to see promotional content in their newsfeed.  As a result, less of it will be appearing within the news feed.

It should be noted that this applies to organic content (earned media) only, not ads (paid media). Facebook defines any of the following as being promotional:

1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads

Here’s one example of a post that Facebook says qualified as being too promotional:

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This post would have been fine if Tiger Therapy hadn’t promoted the sale of their DVD. 

Here’s another example from Facebook:

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In this case, Bunny Puzzle Cube’s only goal is to sell their product and get the user to install their app. Clearly promotional, and the type of post that Facebook says users want to see less of.

Facebook made it clear that brands that choose to post promotional content “should expect their organic distribution to fall significantly over time.”  That’s very strong language.

Even so, Facebook claims that while the brands that post “a lot” of promotional content will take a big hit to distribution, “the majority of Pages will not be impacted by this change.”   This is interesting because most brands post some form of promotional content.

On April 21, 2015 Facebook product manager Max Eulenstein and user experience researcher Lauren Scissors announced that the newsfeed had been updated to show you content that matters to you the most. 

Facebook's News Feed algorithm change aims to give users "the right mix" of content based on their connections — friends, businesses, organizations, public figures and other types of accounts — [their] interests and what matters to them the most, the company wrote in its blog. This is all based on feedback the social network gathered from users to improve their News Feed experience.

There are three parts to the update:

1. Promote friends' posts. News Feed will promote a user's friends' posts — everything from status updates to photos, videos and links — by placing them higher up on the screen so they will be harder to miss. These posts will supersede those by Pages, groups and other accounts, giving the latter less visibility.
2. Less irrelevant content. Previously, posts that friends have liked or commented on also appeared throughout News Feed. Users have said that they don't care about seeing these posts, so this content will now be placed lower in the News Feed, if at all.
3. Additional posts. To make News Feed more diverse, Facebook prevented multiple posts by the same account from appearing on News Feed. This is no longer the case, so now more of a user's friends' posts will show up on that person's feed, further displacing posts by business Pages and other accounts.

For many businesses, the question is whether these changes will greatly impact their posts and Page performance. Facebook says this will "vary considerably" based on your followers and posting activity, but that post reach and referral traffic may "potentially decline."

Facebook advises Page owners to keep posting content that resonates with their audience. Recommendations include:

• Make sure to post quality content on a consistent basis. Facebook suggests scheduling posts for optimum visibility, such as when most of your followers are online and when you have major announcements and events.
• Highly target posts based on your type of message and demographics, such as gender, age, location, interests and other factors.
• Keep it fresh with new and timely content, and then test to see what performs best and makes for more successful campaigns.
• Use Facebook Ads to promote exclusive discounts and promotions 

Facebook's emphasis that advertisers pay for advertising appearing within the newsfeed did not answer the question whether this advertising would actually produce results.  This has been the enigma among social media marketers since I have been covering social media.  This new study by Convertro might provide an answer:  Social media has a postive impact on conversions.   However, this still requires qualification.  The ads must must connect with brand fans, create an element of trust, provide a call-to-action, and provide value to the Facebook consumer in order to drive traffic to a brands website where they hope to covert that traffic into revenues.  

Affiliate marketing and email continue to convert more consumers into buyers, so social media marketers should study why this is happening, and design their Facebook newsfeed ads to incorporate those attributes into their ads.

Courtesy of an article dated September 17, 2014 appearing in MarketingProfs, an article dated November 14, 2014 appearing in Jon Loomer, an article dated April 23, 2015 appearing in Forbes, and an article dated April 21, 2015 appearing in Facebook Newsroom 

HOW SAMY KAMKAR'S ROBOTIC "COMBO BREAKER" CAN CRACK OPEN A MASTER LOCK COMBINATION LOCK IN UNDER 30 SECS

CAREFUL WHAT YOU leave in your lockers, high school students and gym-goers. An invasion of 3-D printed robots may be coming, capable of popping one of the world’s most ubiquitous brands of combination locks in as little as half a minute.

On Thursday, well-known hacker Samy Kamkar published on his website the blueprint and software code for a 3-D-printable Arduino-based lock-opening robot he calls the “Combo Breaker.” Attach it to any of millions of Master Lock combination locks, turn it on, and it can take advantage of a Master Lock security vulnerability Kamkar recently discovered to open the lock in a maximum of five minutes with no human interaction.  Kamkar says.  

“The machine pretty much brute-forces the lock for you.  You attach it, leave it, and it does its thing.”

In fact, the Combo Breaker is programmed to do far better than a mere brute-force attack. It takes advantage of a mathematical trick Kamkar revealed last month that allows anyone—with a little practice—to find the combination of a low-end Master Lock combination lock in only eight tries. That technique takes advantage of a manufacturing flaw: when the U-shaped shackle of one those combination locks is pulled while its rotor is turned, the cracker can feel resistance on certain numbers that help to reveal the position of the “combination disks” that determine the combination that opens the lock. In combination with some restrictions in possible combinations that Kamkar mathematically deciphered and encoded in a web-based tool, Kamkar exploited that information leak to cut out all but a few possible combinations. The resulting manual technique is easy enough—writers at Ars Technica who tested it, for instance, were mostly able to pull it off after a couple of tries.

The Combo Breaker goes even further, automating the process with zero skill or practice required from the user. But a Master Lock cracker willing to learn just one step in the process can also give the Combo Breaker a manual head start by merely turning a target lock’s rotor while tugging the shackle to find the first number that offers resistance and starting the robot at that position. Doing that, Kamkar says, enables his device to then crack a Master Lock combination in just 30 seconds. Kamkar explains.

“Without doing any work, this can open the lock entirely automatically in 80 combinations. If you do that one little test first, it can crack the lock in eight combinations or less.”

Kamkar’s robot consists of little more than a stepper motor, an Arduino chip that runs his cracking algorithm, a lever to pull the shackle, a rotor with a 3-D printed attachment to the lock’s face, and an optical sensor that tracks the location of the lock’s dial as it turns. All together, he says he built his prototype for less than $100. Here’s Kamkar’s video breakdown of the robot’s creation:

 

Master Lock didn’t immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment. But Kamkar says his cracking technique is likely no major surprise to the lock maker, nor should it necessarily register as a serious security crisis. Master Lock gives its locks a 1-to-10 security rating displayed on its packaging, and the locks he tested were all rated 3.  He says.

“The moral is pretty simple.  If you’re trying to protect valuables in a storage locker, you should probably be using a better lock.”

In fact, Kamkar’s method builds off a trick that’s been known for years that reduces the number of possible combinations of those cheap Master Lock locks from 64,000 to just 100. Kamkar’s original goal was to build his robot to automate that tedious one-hundred-combination guessing. But when he drilled off the back of the locks to learn more about how they work, he soon discovered his own additional trick that further honed the attack, vastly reducing his robot’s cracking time. (Watch Kamkar explain the technical details of that technique here.)

The Combo Breaker robot is only the latest in a long career of clever hacks for Kamkar, who works as an independent software developer and consultant. Kamkar gained fame in 2005 for creating the “Samy worm,” an attack that spread virally across Myspace, adding over a million friends to Samy’s Myspace account in less than 24 hours. Kamkar’s more recent work has included a drone designed to seek out and wirelessly hijack other drones and “evercookie,” a browser tracking cookie designed to be nearly impossible to remove.

Kamkar says his goal in freely releasing the plans for the Combo Breaker was mostly to foster hacker experimentation and share his own enjoyment of what he describes as “James Bond”-style gadgetry. But he also hopes to teach the public that their low-end combination locks are laughably insecure. Kamkar says.  

“Security people know about this, but the general public doesn’t.  I try to build things that are interesting to a general audience. And I hope getting this out there helps people make better decisions about the locks they use.”

COMMENTARY:  California's Penal Code 466 PC makes it a misdemeanor (punishable by six months in jail and a $1,000 fine) to have in your possession burglary tools with intent to commit a crime.  However, if you can prove otherwise, you will not be cited.  I am not trying to be a kill-joy, but I wonder if Kamkar knows that he might be helping burglars find it easier to commit burglary's by using his "combo breaker" on victims.  

Not being mechanically inclined, I would probably find it difficult to build a combo breaker of my own, no matter how easy the DIY instructions were.  A far easier, and less costly contraption would be this:

 

I haven't actually tried the latter method for opening combination locks, but it certainly appears to be far simpler, and less costly than Kamkar's combo breaker.  Comments?

Courtesy of an article dated May 14, 2015 appearing in WIRED

HOW GERMAN DESIGNER DFKI ROBOTICS' EO2 SMART CONNECTING CAR WILL TACKLE URBAN TRAFFIC IN THE 21ST CENTURY

As cities continue to grow at a dizzying rate, commuters are constantly battling ever-increasing congestion on the roads and a lack of parking, just to get to work.

But now a team of German engineers have come up with an ingenious solution — a “flexible” electric vehicle capable of shrinking, driving sideways (think like a crab) and turning on a dime.

The EO Smart Connecting Car 2 is an innovative design from DFKI Robotics Innovation Center, based in Bremen, Germany, where a team of software developers and designers, as well as electronics and construction engineers, have been refining the smart micro car project for the last three years.

 

First announced in 2012, the team have moved onto their second iteration of the vehicle. It drives like a traditional car but because each wheel is powered by its own motor, it also has the capability of driving sideways, allowing it to slide into tight spaces in urban areas where parking is limited, explains Timo Birnschein, project manager for the vehicle.

He adds:

“The whole process — the transition between normal driving and driving sideways — takes about four seconds.”

Shrink and drive

The prototype has a top speed of 65 km/h (or 40mph) and can travel 50 to 70 kilometers (30 to 44 miles) on a single four-hour full charge of the battery. But it’s the two-seater’s ability to shrink to around 1.5 meters in length that has the team excited about its uses in future cities, says Birnschien.

He says.

“It is able to reduce it’s own size by about 80cm, which makes it almost as small as a bike in length. And with this kind of feature you can go into very tiny parking spaces.  You are still able to turn on the spot, you are still able to drive sideways and you are still able to connect to charging stations, for example.”

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EO2 smart car

Looking like part “Transformer” and part DeLorean out of “Back to the Future,” the car reduces its size by partly folding itself. It shifts the rear axle to the front and slides on a set of rails which raises the interior upwards, while still remaining comfortable for the passenger.

Touted as a “micro car for a megacity,” the team are working hard to make their vehicle roadworthy and envision it as a communal public resource, similar to existing urban car-sharing schemes. The idea is that when you need a car, you could head to your nearest docking station and select the vehicle that’s charged enough to drive the distance you need. It would then detach itself and you would be on your way.

Birnschein says. 

“[It] is very comparable feature-wise to the first prototype.  The second version is much more reliable and almost road-legal. It’s not really, but it’s almost there and we are trying to bring this car to the road — but it’s a big hassle to be honest because we have so many new technologies in the car that the technical advisory guys are skeptical.”

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The team have invited several manufacturers to test drive the vehicle, with positive response, but the enthusiasm ends there.   He said:

“The problem is for most car manufacturers, they are not really interested if they didn’t invent it themselves. They may buy from Bosch or Siemens or whatever, technology parts like ESP and other things, but not complete systems.”

But his team remain undeterred as they continue working on autonomous features like auto pilot and self parking. Meanwhile Birnschein likens the situation to the rise in smartphones over the last decade — from non-existence to oversaturation.

He says.  

“It will be the same with computer power and autonomy.  In the next 10 years we will most likely see autonomous cars from big car manufacturers — Mercedes S class will have autonomous functions within three or four years. Some of other manufacturers like GM announced they will have semi-autonomous cars by 2020. And many other car manufacturers are already working on this type of technology."

And he adds.

“They are driving all the time on the autobahn with autonomous vehicles. I believe it will be coming — it will be there within the next decade.”

COMMENTARY:  

Electric Mobility with Brains – Smart E-Car Adjusts Shape to Match Traffic

The EO2 car that is extremely flexible, can change shapes, and adjusts to the current traffic conditions – that is the EO2 smart connecting car, developed by engineers of the Robotics Innovation Center at DFKI Bremen.  It is the car that in the not too distant future will drive itself. This prototype is part of the “New Mobility in Rural Areas” project which is investigating the innovative technologies of electromobility.

Flexible chassis enables connection to “road trains”

A changing morphology is quite unique: The driver's compartment of the EO smart connecting car is raised when the chassis is telescoped. This is also possible while driving. In the process, the car “grows” from approx. 1.6 to 2.1 meters in height and “shrinks” about half a meter to a length of less than two meters. The space savings is designed to facilitate a mechanical connection to other e-cars in a kind of chain, a so called “road train.” The contracted form makes the road trains shorter and easier to maneuver. This means greater economy of scale when transporting objects over the same route. Data and energy are transmitted to the other vehicles and the “train” is uniformly controlled, which saves fuel and improves the range. Optional components such as loading ramps and luggage racks can be attached without any problems.

The EO smart connecting car is an intelligent e-auto that can change its form to adjust to individual mobility requirements (Click Image To Enlarge)

Wheels that turn 90 degrees Spatially distributed drives let the EO smart connecting car flexibly navigate narrow spaces such as those encountered in the inner cities or parking garages. Specially designed axles allow each of the four wheels to turn 90 degrees – great for sideways parking into a tight spot. Obstacles are easy to negotiate with this lightweight (700 kg) vehicle, which can turn on a dime, move diagonally, or raise each wheel separately. The top speed is currently about 55 km/h.

Autonomous parking, docking, and charging

The development aim is to achieve a car that drives autonomously.  This includes, for example, automatic parking and docking to the charging stations. Sensors in and on the car can receive traffic information and communicate with other users on the road. The development philosophy is similar to that used for robots: The e-car is equipped with the appropriate sensors and computing capacity needed to gather precise information about its surroundings and to enable it to navigate successfully.  In consideration of the current traffic situation, the remaining battery capacity, and an optimized energy consumption, routes are calculated – and traffic jams are avoided.

DFKI (RIC) Research Team

EO2 Smart Connecting Car DFKI Robotics Innovations Center Research Team (Click Image To Enlarge)

Courtesy of an article dated May 13, 2015 appearing in The Guardian and an article appearing in the DFKI Robotic Innovations Center 

HOW STEVE JOBS GOT STARTED -- THE LIFE OF APPLE'S FOUNDER [INFOGRAPHIC]

Steve Jobs unveiling the first Apple iPhone before an amazed audience (Click Image To Enlarge)

If you would like to catchup on the life of Steve Jobs, this interesting infographic captures it all.

Click Image To Enlarge

Courtesy of Anna Vital appearing in Visually

ELON MUSK SAID THE POWERWALL BATTERY COULD "CHANGE THE WORLD", BUT SOLAR CITY SAYS THEY "DON'T MAKE FINANCIAL SENSE"

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils the Tesla Powerwall Battery before the press on May 1 (Click To View Video)

Even Elon Musk's SolarCity, the biggest supplier in the U.S., isn't ready to install Tesla's home battery for daily users

On May 1, 2015, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk introduced a new family of batteries  designed to stretch the solar-power revolution into its next phase. There's just one problem: Tesla's   new battery doesn't work well with rooftop solar—at least not yet. Even Solar City, the supplier led by Musk, isn't ready to offer Tesla's battery for daily use.   The Daily Conversation explains why Tesla's Powerwall Battery is so amazing.

 

The new Tesla Powerwall home batteries come in two sizes—seven and 10 kilowatt hours (kWh)—but the differences extend beyond capacity to the chemistry of the batteries. The 7kWh version is made for daily use, while its larger counterpart is only intended to be used as occasional backup when the electricity goes out. The bigger Tesla battery isn't designed to go through more than about 50 charging cycles a year, according to SolarCity spokesman Jonathan Bass.

Here’s where things get interesting. SolarCity, with Musk as its chairman, has decided not to install the 7kWh Powerwall that’s optimized for daily use.  Bass said that battery "doesn't really make financial sense" because of regulations that allow most U.S. solar customers to sell extra electricity back to the grid.

For customers of SolarCity, the biggest U.S. rooftop installer, the lack of a 7kWh option means that installing a Tesla battery to extend solar power after sunset won't be possible. Want to use Tesla batteries to move completely off the grid?   You'll just to have to wait.Bass said in an e-mail.   

“Our residential offering is battery backup,” 

Musk said in a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday said that demand for the batteries has been "crazy off the hook," with 38,000 reservations for the Powerwall.  While storing residential power with the Powerwall is still more expensive than grid power, he said, "that doesn't mean people won't buy it." Demand for the new batteries, including those for businesses and utilities, has been so strong that the company may need to considerably expand its $5 billion battery factory that's under construction in Nevada.   

Tesla's Gigafactory, now in the process of construction in the State of Nevada, when completed in 2016, will produce Tesla Powerwall Batteries (Click Image To Enlarge)

The Economic Case for Tesla's New Battery Gets Worse

SolarCity is only offering the bigger Powerwall to customers buying new rooftop solar systems. Customers can prepay $5,000, everything included, to add a nine-year battery lease to their system or buy the Tesla battery outright outright for $7,140. The 10 kilowatt-hour backup battery is priced competitively, as far as batteries go, selling at half the price of some competing products.

But if its sole purpose is to provide backup power to a home, the juice it offers is but a sip. The model puts out just 2 kilowatts of continuous power, which could be pretty much maxed out by a single vacuum cleaner, hair drier, microwave oven or a clothes iron. The battery isn’t powerful enough to operate a pair of space heaters; an entire home facing a winter power outage would need much more. In sunnier climes, meanwhile, it provides just enough energy to run one or two small window A/C units. 

For more demanding applications, Tesla made its Powerwall batteries so they can be attractively stacked, side-by-side. It looks like this:

 

Click Image To Enlarge

But SolarCity doesn’t offer a discount for multiple batteries. To provide the same 16 kilowatts of continuous power as this $3,700 Generac generator from Home Depot, a homeowner would need eight stacked Tesla batteries at a cost of $45,000 for a nine-year lease.  Brian Warshay, an energy-smart-technologies analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance says.  

"It's a luxury good—really cool to have—but I don't see an economic argument." 

Yes, Tesla's Powerwall is cool technology with massive disruptive potential. As battery costs continue to fall and electricity regulations continue to evolve in the U.S., it's going to make ever more sense to own a home battery. SolarCity said in its earnings call on Monday that it plans to offer an off-grid package next year in Hawaii, where electricity prices are almost triple the U.S. average.  

And the home-battery system is just one offering in the new lineup of Tesla batteries. The company is also doing business with big companies like Wal-Mart, Amazon and even with electric utilities like Southern California Electric and Texas-based OnCor.  The economic argument for the commercial systems is straightforward in states with the right incentives, including battery subsidies and expensive electricity charges during peak hours. Tesla now has a clear pricing advantage against its battery competitors.

Tesla Energy batteries for businesses and utility companies are pictured providing energy for the Tesla Motors Powerwall Home Battery event. (Click Image To Enlarge)

But the Powerwall product that has captured the public's imagination has a long way to go before it makes sense for most people. Even in Germany, where solar power is abundant and electricity prices are high, the economics of an average home with rooftop solar "are not significantly enhanced by including the Tesla battery," according to an analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. 

That won't stop homeowners from buying Tesla's new batteries. Germans are already buying storage systems by the thousands at significantly higher prices. In the U.S., the product's launch prompted a record day of inquiries from prospective new customers, according to SolarCity's Bass. He said.

"There's a tremendous amount of interest in backup power that's odorless, not noisy and completely clean." 

Tesla is probably making very little profit on the home batteries at this point and might even be selling them at a loss, according to research by BNEF. Both Tesla and SolarCity are just getting started, trying to get some traction before Tesla's massive $5 billion battery factory begins production next year. That's when the battery market really gets interesting.

COMMENTARY:   This is a great example of unveiling a new product, hyping that product to the high heavens, then taking orders for that product, before the product is ready for primetime.  

Solar City's Jonathan Bass, the leading solar panel installer in the US, where Elon Musk is the Chairman, says Powerwall Battery "doesn't really make financial sense."   This is one of the reasons, Solar City does not plan on selling the 7kWh version, but only the 10kWh battery.  

Solar City says that homeowner's will need a bank of 10kWh batteries to provide adequate backup power.  Instead 0f the $5,000 price tag for one Powerwall bundled with their solar panels, the true cost may be closer to $45,000 for a bank of several 10kWh batteries.  Talk about sticker shock. These batteries may exceed the cost of the solar panels when all is said and done, and we still don't know if Solar City will charge for their installation.

During Tesla's earnings call with analysts on May 6, Elon Musk said that the company had already received more than 35,000 reservatons for the Powerwall battery ($3,000 each), and 2,800 reservatons for the Powerpack ($25,000) from businesses.  The Powerpack can hold ten 10kWh batteries capable of storing 100kWh of electricity.

Tesla has yet to produce a profit since it began operations four years ago.  For the year ending 2014, Tesla generated $3.2 billion in revenues, but lost $294 million.  In the first quarter 2015, Tesla reported revenues of $1.1 billion, but lost $154 million.  By Elon Musk's own account, the company will not generate a profit until 2020.  

Losing money is not unusual for startups during their early years, as they work towards building a customer base.  Tesla is spending an estimated $5 billion for the new Tesla Gigaplant which is scheduled to be completed in 2016.  The Powerwall battery has been described as a "luxury" item by Forbes energy analyst.  The same thing can be said about the Tesla Model S all-electric sedan.  With the announcement of the Powerwall battery, Elon Musk is taking a huge risk because of the aforementioned sticker shock, possible delays in production, possibility of reliability issues with the Powerwall battery, low margins (around 20% says Musk) and high initial costs to the homeowner, and no payback in sight.  

Keep in mind that Tesla does not have solid orders, but "reservations," and without any deposits. Reservations can be cancelled at a minutes notice, especially if there are production problems or issues with Powerwall battery reliability.  Tesla is still taking reservations, and they offer delivery beginning summer 2015, early 2016, mid 2016, late 2016 and early 2017.   I could be wrong, but I doubt they will be able to meet deliveries for 2015.  

Never under estimate Elon Musk.  Tesla promised customers it would make deliveries of the Tesla Roadster (its first all-electric vehicle) in mid-2007, but it ran into production delays and a management reorganization. The first 100 Roadster were not delivered until early 2008 and it took until the fourth quarter 2012 to finish producing the 2,400+ roadsters ordered by customers.  In spite of these delays, few customer cancelled their orders, although their deposits were fully refundable.      

Courtesy of an article dated May 6, 2015 appearing in Bloomberg

BUILDING YOUR CONTENT MARKETING TEAM, THE ANATOMY OF A CONTENT MARKETER, AND THE STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING 2015

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If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Content is king. But why? Simple: because value-added content has the power to influence consumer behavior—without overt sales tactics.

Value-added content (AKA custom content and custom publishing) addresses consumer needs and lifestyle interests connected to your products and services, offering an educational benefit to readers.

Engaging in such content marketing can help establish your company as a trusted resource—keeping you top-of-mind when it's decision-making time. Furthermore, value-added content enables you to teach your customers how to buy from you by providing useful information at each step of their buying process.

Sounds great. But taking content marketing from theory to reality can prove complex, time- and resource-prohibitive, and, when not done well, ineffective.

That's why, when you're developing a new content marketing initiative, your first step is to build your team. Or, if you're refreshing an existing program, start by assessing your key players.

Whether you wind up hiring new players or tapping current employees who possess the requisite skills, here are six key roles you'll want to fill to create a winning content marketing effort.

1. Chief Content Officer (CCO)

The CCO owns your content marketing initiative. He or she is responsible for developing strategy, setting goals, defining direction, and establishing a mission statement for your content initiative.

The CCO also manages the companywide integration of your content initiative and stays engaged throughout the content development and distribution process to ensure the initiative stays on track.

Although the CCO must thoroughly understand content marketing, he or she doesn't necessarily need to write, design, or produce video. Your current marketing director may be able to fill the CCO role.

The CCO is the one person on your content team who should be an in-house staff member.

2. Managing Editor (ME)

The ME is your put-it-into-action person, the one who takes strategy and makes it happen.

Your ME is in charge of developing your editorial calendar and overseeing the people who actually create and produce your content.

He or she also edits content developed by others, whether it will ultimately be a newsletter, a video, or something in another format—policing quality, tone, style, and appropriateness for the mission.

He or she may also create content. In some organizations, the ME job is combined with the CCO position.

The ME is the one person on your team who must be an excellent writer or editor, and he or she must be comfortable working in all media you'll use for content.

3. Content Creators

These are the folks who develop the raw content that is then refined by the ME. They do not have to be trained writers; they could be subject-matter experts, customer service reps, C-level execs, even customers (think testimonials and user-generated content). Or they may be skilled writers—staffers or freelancers.

In some companies, the content creator position is blended into the ME position.

Content curators might also be considered a type of content creator. Curators dig around (usually online, perhaps with the help of tools like Scoop.it and Curata.com, to find information that your team can repurpose. Just remember: Curated content is not unique, so don't rely solely on curating for your content marketing strategy.

4. Content Producers

These are interactive designers, videographers, and other professionals who make your content look good and ensure it's properly formatted and optimized for each channel.

They may also be responsible for distributing content—actually getting it into the appropriate channels.

Content syndicators might be considered part of your production team because their job is to share your content (similar to a media relations manager in traditional PR/marketing).

5. Chief Listening Officer (CLO)

This person is your "ears on the ground" in social media and other channels, listening to conversations and routing the discussion to other team members as appropriate.

In some cases, the CLO may also participate in, and help maintain, conversations.

By hearing, organizing, and sharing the feedback from these conversations, the CLO helps your organization react promptly and appropriately to reactions to your content.

6. Analyst

This person reviews and analyzes your content-related data, such as pageviews, downloads, bounce rates, conversion rates, in-bound contacts, information requests, and so on. The analyst also provides interpretations and recommendations based on the analysis.

Your CCO and development team can then use all that information to gauge your program success, evaluate progress toward goals, and enhance your content efforts.

Alternates

There is no one correct way to build your content team. I consider the six roles described here as essential, but you may need to make adjustments to accommodate your company structure or corporate culture.

Some companies even expand their teams to include a variety of other positions, from director of audience to channel master, lead trainer, and return-on-objective chief.

The important thing is to make sure the primary responsibilities are covered

Consider what makes sense for your company. You can always add players later if you spot a gap in your lineup.

The State of Digital Marketing 2015

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The Anatomy of a Content Marketer

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COMMENTARY:   Creating digital content that resonates and connects with online consumers can be quite labor intensive.  Although we do not advocate staffing up immediately

Courtesy of an article dated May 13, 2015 by Sandra Gudat appearing in MarketingProfs, an article dated January 20, 2015 appearing in SmartInsights and TFM&A and an article dated June 24, 2014 appearing in Curata and an article dated May 13, 2013 appearing in InsideDigital.org

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