Lab Weekly — 02/23/2018
The unraveling of sports TV; Google reabsorbs Nest to take on Amazon; Snapchat’s flash sale of Nike sneakers
Lab Original
The Unraveling of Live Sports TV
In this week’s original article, we take a deep dive into the larger cultural shift that is contributing to the continuing decline of live sports TV, unpack the various factors at play, and offer some suggestions for brands in response to the eroding reach of sports content on TV.
News Analysis
Nest’s Indoor Security Camera Now Has Google Assistant Built In [link]
Two weeks ago, Google announced it is reabsorbing Nest, which the search giant acquired for $3.2 billion in 2014 but spun it off as a separate entity under Alphabet shortly after. As Amazon continues to make inroads into consumers’ living rooms with Alexa-powered Echo speakers and Fire TV devices, it makes sense that Google would try to counteract by finally deeply integrate Google Assistant with Nest’s popular smart home products. The fact that Google waited so long to do so could be argued as a strategic mistake that partly led to Amazon capturing the majority share of the voice-activated smart home device market.
Now that Google has finally made the move, it remains to be seen how deeply integrated it could tie Nest products to the Google Home speakers to create a strong Google-owned smart home ecosystem to create lock-in, especially for Android users, or at least create a smart home hardware bundle that Google could sell as a one-stop solution to homeowners. For more on this topic, in particular the brand implications, please check out the third trend, The Battle for the Home, in our Outlook 2018 report.
Related: Lighthouse Camera is taking on Amazon and Nest with its new AI-powered security camera [link]; Microsoft expands Cortana for the smart home with IFTTT integrations [link]
Alphabet’s Waymo Wins Approval for First Driverless Ride-Hailing Service [link]
This regulatory approval moves Alphabet one step closer to a driverless ride-hailing service, ahead of the likes of Uber and Lyft, despite the on-road tests the latter two have been running. It is a fascinating space to watch for auto brands as it will further shift the way people think about vehicle ownership. Already, studies have shown that easy access to on-demand ride-hailing services help reduce car ownership, which will only accelerate once those services become more affordable and readily available by replacing the human drivers with self-driving vehicles. Furthermore, full autonomy in translation could lead to some interesting applications for companies looking for logistical and retail solutions, as some futuristic mobility concepts we saw at this year’s CES envisioned.
Related: Lyft opens its first European hub in Munich to develop autonomous car tech [link]; Uber teams up with startup Jump branches into bike-sharing with a new pilot service in San Francisco [link]; Lyft and Aptiv will partner on self-driving cars beyond CES [link]; Sony and five Japanese taxi operators to develop taxi-hailing system in Japan that uses AI to predict demand [link]
Nike’s Air Jordan Pre-release On Snapchat Sells Out In 23 Minutes [link]
While this latest partnership showcases the vast ecommerce potential of Snapchat, it is important to note that there are still several challenges that the app needs to address before it can confidently expand into a direct-sales channel for brands. The Air Jordans sold out so quickly partially due to the way Snap and Nike set up the flash sale event to hit the target demographic — only people who attended a Nike party after the NBA All-Star game on Feb. 18 could scan exclusive Snap codes to open the app and purchase the sneakers. It is doubtful that all future Snap sales would be able to replicate such exclusivity and precise targeting without piggybacking off a major cultural event. Plus, Snapchat does not have the credit card information of most users, which adds friction to the shopping experience.
Related: Snapchat opens new analytics data to content creators [link]; Farfetch reportedly developing in-store mobile features [link]; Nike previously experimented with mobile commerce via its SNKRS app [link]
Stats To Know:
Netflix is having a major effect on TV viewing habits, potentially costing advertisers between $3 billion and $6 billion in revenue, according to a report in nScreenMedia. In Q3 2017, Netflix had 56.4 million streaming subscribers, who each miss about 35 commercials per day due to streaming on the ad-free subscription platform instead of turning on the tube. This adds up to nearly 2 billion missed ad impressions per day, per nScreenMedia.
Dish reports that Sling TV’s customer base grew 47% in Q4 2017 to 2.2 million while its legacy satellite TV business continued to shrink, dropping 1.1 million over the course of last year. The company closed Q4 of 2017 with 13.242 million total pay-TV subscribers, a net gain of 39,000 sequentially.
According to data from Loup Ventures, Apple Pay has an estimated 38 million active users in the US and 127 million globally, up from 62 million a year ago, equating to around 16% of global iPhones.
