Tag Archives: Mobile devices

Apple Advertises its Privacy Strength

Data privacy is undoubtedly an important issue of the times. With the proliferation of mobile devices, website tracking, location enabling, and the pervasiveness of social media, one can be pretty sure that one way or another we are being tracked on our devices.

Apple states “Privacy is a fundamental human right. At Apple, it’s also one of our core values.” Hmm… Even with that statement, it makes one wonder just what is happening with our activities and data. Who know what about us? What do they do with this information?

Enter powerful new advertisements from Apple that illustrates how we are being tracked. The videos show how crowded it gets when companies are tracking our movements and purchases. Great ads.

Apple’s new advertisements, “Tracked,” highlight how its app tracking transparency tool lets users opt out of letting apps track interactions. The company also has the support of privacy watchdog groups such as Privacy International. Users should get to choose for themselves which companies they will share information with about their actions.

The new tool is part of iOS 14.5. It’s simple to choose. When an app wants to follow our activities to share information with third parties, a window shows up on our device to ask for permission. If the answer is “No” the sharing stops. Good for consumers. Not so good for companies (such as Facebook and Google) that rely on tracking to see what we are shopping for in order to target its ads.

Privacy. Simple, powerful, and needed.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the topic of privacy and data tracking with students.
  2. What is their opinion? What is their level of concern?
  3. Show Apple’s website statements about privacy: https://www.apple.com/privacy/
  4. Show advertisements: https://youtu.be/8w4qPUSG17Y
  5. Another ad: https://youtu.be/rEWeA7qDV4k
  6. Divide students into teams. Have teams research competing phone manufacturers to see what those privacy policies state.

Source: Advertising Age; Apple; New York Times; other news sources

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Singles Day 2018 – “11/11 Global Shopping Festival” Hits $30 Billion

Once again the world’s biggest shopping event has occurred. And, no, it’s not Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By far, the biggest shopping day of the year is on November 11, Singles Day, in China. The holiday originally began in 1993 by college students as a celebration for people who are single, chosen because of the connection between singles and the number ‘1’. November 11 now serves as an occasion for single people to party – and shop!

This year, sales (stated as Gross Merchandise Value – GMV) hit $1 billion in only 1 minute and 25 seconds! At the end of the first hour, the sales reached $10 billion! By the end of 24 hours, the sales were an astounding $30.8 billion!

There were more than 100 million items sold in 17 countries, with 180,000 brands participating. More than one billion packages are estimated to be shipping. Even more impressive is that a whopping 90% of sales were completed from mobile devices. Wow.

Singles’ Day is by far the largest shopping and entertainment festival in the world. Compare it to Amazon’s Prime Day at $4 billion, and Black Friday at $14 billion online to see the difference.

Singles’ Day has become an event on its own, including celebrities, fashion shows, TV galas, virtual reality, and augmented reality shopping. It started with a November 10 evening event with a live-streamed, star-studded gala show that drew in 240 million viewers (that’s the equivalent of one in five people in China). There was also interactive entertainment and sport via Alibaba’s app to increase audience and shopper participation.

Why is it so important for global brands to enter this shopping day? Consider that there are roughly 300 million middle-class shoppers in China, rising to an estimated 500 million in the next 10-15 years. While Singles Day may have originally started for lonely Chinese consumers, the shopping day now is seen as critical to driving China’s – and the world – economy.

If you are not familiar with Singles Day, there are many sources with information about the event and Alibaba, including the following:

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Most students will not have previously heard of China’s Single Day. Discuss the shopping holiday and its importance in China.
  2. This is likely the first time students have heard about Singles Day. There are a number of videos that can help explain the event:
    1. What is 11/11?  https://youtu.be/bRv9qG75x2c
    2. Evolution of Singles Day: https://www.alizila.com/video/the-evolution-of-11-11/
    3. Highlights of 2018 event: https://youtu.be/W9JNfS0dAL0
  1. Discuss how this holiday compares to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the U.S.
  2. How should U.S.-based companies participate in Singles Day?

Source: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, CNBC, The Verge, other news sources

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SiriusXM Buys Pandora

SiriusXM satellite radio provider is buying music streaming service Pandora for a $3.5 billion stock deal. The deal will create the world’s largest audio entertainment company. Why should SiriusXM buy Pandora? Because SiriusXM wants to gain people who listen to music but don’t want to pay for the premium SiriusXM service.

SiriusXM offers streaming without advertisements for $10.99 to $20.99 per month per car with up to 140+ channels, or streaming on any device for the same amount of $10.99 to $20.99 per month, or combine both options for all-access streaming. SiriusXM has 36 million subscribers in North America.

On the other hand, Pandora, which has 70 million active listeners (5.6 million who are paying members) can be used at no-cost as long as listeners don’t mind listening to advertisements. Or, listeners can buy monthly subscriptions at $4.99 or $9.99 per month for services that eliminate advertisements and offer personalized stations and create playlists, plus other options.

SiriusXM isn’t new to Pandora; it provided $480 million of funding to Pandora last year. Pandora faces stiff competition from other music services such as Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, and Spotify.

The war to gain new listeners is heating up!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students:How much music do they listen to each day? Where is their music coming from? How much do they pay each month?
  2. View SiriusXM: https://www.siriusxm.com/
  3. View Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/
  4. Discuss the four primary marketing strategies: market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification.
  5. Which strategy is SiriusXM using? Why?
  6. Divide students into teams. Have each team research the different prices and packages offered by each music streaming company.
  7. Compare price structures. Which offers listeners the better deal?

Source:  Wall Street Journal, New York Times, other sources

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