News roundup: Back to school, body-worn cameras, loyalty programs
This new IBM blog series quickly dissects the week’s happenings, providing thought-provoking perspectives that separate the noise from what really matters.
This week in brief
- Retailers, brands see green for back-to-school shopping
- Raleigh, NC rolling out body worn cameras to 600 police officers
- US travelers ignore airline loyalty programs
- Cost reduction and operational efficiencies driving industrial internet
Numbers of the week:
Back-to-school shopping — backpacks, denim jeans, and… recycled plastic bottles?
Recycled plastic, nylon waste, and bits of old garments may not spring to mind when thinking of cool back-to-school fashion, but environmental concerns are spurring many parents and kids to consider clothing that are both eco-friendly and budget friendly.
According to CNBC, retailers like H&M, Target, and J.C. Penney are creating more clothes that use waste from all sorts of sources. And while still primarily motivated by price, buyers will choose eco-friendly clothes if they are “better for the environment” or “look the same” as other clothes.
“Younger consumers are demanding transparency, accountability and sustainability. IBM research shows that Millennials, in particular, will support brands aligned with their values.”
— Jane Cheung, Consumer Products Industry Lead, IBM Institute for Business Value
THE ANGLE:
- Hot on the heels of the Millennial generation, Gen Zers are a new kind of shopper. As the first true digital natives, for whom technology is second nature, they are “always on” social media, apps, and other channels.
- Gen Zers tend to care more about retail basics than about the “bells and whistles” of shiny apps and capabilities.
- Two-thirds of surveyed Gen Zers said quality, product availability, and value are the most important factors when choosing one brand over another.
- The IBV study, Ready for prime time? New lessons on building the consumer products brand experience, discussed how brands need to re-address consumer expectations.
Raleigh, NC rolling out body worn cameras to 600 police officers by next year
Chief of Police Cassandra Deck-Brown is educating the citizens of Raleigh on her department’s use of body-worn cameras. In a series of public meetings, Chief Deck-Brown will highlight how these cameras will improve policing and clarify policies and the rights of citizens regarding the video data.
“The question for most police departments is no longer whether they want body cameras. Instead, it’s how they can manage all the data they’ll generate.”
–TIME Magazine
THE ANGLE:
- Chief Deck-Brown highlights the importance of considering ever-evolving technology and not relying on a cookie-cutter approach.
- Body-worn cameras have been shown to reduce misconduct and force complaints. A Cambridge University study showed complaints by members of the public against officers fell by 93% over 12 months.
- Law enforcement faces a tsunami of data: 3000x all the content in the Library of Congress is generated yearly in video by US law enforcement.
- Agencies need to analyze information to identify patterns, recommend preventive actions, and make critical decisions.
- Agencies can also apply machine learning to the most valuable data to create deeper actionable insights and predictive behavior
- Durham, NC was able to reduce violent crime 39% by managing all their digital evidence.
US travelers ignore airline loyalty programs
In recent years, airlines have rewritten loyalty programs, but US consumers don’t seem to want to play by those rules. That’s according to a recent survey by Skift, who asked more than 1,200 US adults: “When you travel, do you participate in an airline loyalty program?”
“Loyalty is dead. Long live loyalty.”
— Jason Rabinowitz, @AirlineFlyer
THE ANGLE:
- The results show many Americans aren’t earning points. Only 16.8 percent of respondents said they always collect points when they fly.
- Many Americans are infrequent flyers who want the lowest fares rather than having a relationship with an airline that provides few benefits.
- Younger people are even less likely to collect points when they fly, and many Millennials aren’t loyal to a particular program.
- Many loyalty programs need to change the way they approach younger travelers, such as creating smaller-scale rewards and experiential redemptions.
Report: cost reduction and operational efficiencies driving industrial Internet
A new study highlights the key drivers behind Industrial Internet adoption, which polled more than 250 European companies. Companies have become increasingly aware of the financial, productivity, and data integrity cost of downtime and the need for continuous control system availability.
“There was so much tire-kicking a year ago. Now you are seeing adopters in every single industry actually building solutions.”
— IBM’s Bret Greenstein, Vice President of IoT platforms
THE ANGLE:
- 72% of industrial businesses cite cost reduction and operational efficiency as the biggest drivers of Industrial Internet progress.
- The same proportion (72%) of respondents plan to increase their Industrial Internet spending.
- More than 60% of automotive and discrete enterprises are already involved in Industrial Internet initiatives, while 56% of process manufacturers have started theirs.
- There are currently around 9 billion connected devices, a figure expected to jump up to anywhere between 20 and 50 billion by 2020.
- Analysts predict that that level of connectivity presents a staggering US$4 trillion opportunity over the next decade.
For the next installment of “The Angle” and other content around industry trends, be sure to follow us here on Medium, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
You can learn more about IBM Industries solutions here.
