Mobile is absolutely the centerpiece for a consumer media experience, but its future is in question if it continues to be the primary means of junk, spam and general frustration in our lives.  We may be witnessing the death of mobile before our very eyes.

OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration.  Your mobile phone is supposed to be a tool that gives you access to people and information, and has become the primary screen for accessing video.  All that’s great, but there’s a parallel set of negative issues as well.  

My phone rings as much as 10 times a day, but 75% of the calls are robocalls and spam.  I get text messages that are unsolicited.  I access email on my phone and the majority of that email is spam.  I get alerts and notifications all day and most of them are abused by the publisher or platform that I opted into.

Case in point: If I get more than five notifications a day from the same news app telling me there’s “breaking news,” how is any of it considered important?  

My phone is a way to access the world, but it has also become a way for the world to access me.  I’m relatively in control of the technology on my device, but my number is a direct line int to me and an invasion of my attention span.  It’s desensitizing me and making me question the usefulness of the phone that I carry around everywhere I go.  

I don’t really pay attention to notifications in the moment.  I rarely answer the phone unless I know exactly who it is.  I get annoyed when too many text messages are sitting there awaiting my response.

The carriers need to become more involved in protecting their customers from unwanted intrusions. I read recently that they are starting to wade into the waters and test some new tools, but they really need to dive in and help us.  Call Protect is a great step in the right direction and I use it every day, but there needs to be more to block unsolicited robocalls and help clean up the piping for texts and emails.  

Spam by itself is probably tolerable and companies like Google have taken steps to help here, so now it’s time for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile to take a leadership position on this issue.

The cellphone manufacturers could probably help here, too.  Apple and Google, along with Samsung and any other companies, should work together to remind consumers about settings for notifications and ensure that app developers don’t overdo the notifications systems.  When your phone is buzzing 40 or 50 times a day with new notifications, but you only access a small percentage of the apps on your phone, they could determine if there is a correlation there and help consumers turn off notifications from apps they don’t use.  

It’s not about censoring or stopping the apps from being there.  It’s about ensuring that the notifications are truly valuable to the user.  If they had some tools in place that alerted users regularly and suggested updates to their setting, then users could be more in control of the experience.

Mobile is certainly not going away any time soon, but it does have issues if it continues to decline into a frustrating user experience.  

I hope the carriers, the manufacturers and the operating system companies can figure this out.  Otherwise, I might be digging out the Treo and the Razr for reintegration into my life!

Condé Nast, publisher of

and

, has

in the past six months, according to an analysis of its mastheads by

The cuts came as the company looked for a new CEO to replace Bob Sauerberg, who stepped down in November as part of a broader restructuring that combined its U.S. and international divisions. The publisher this month named Roger Lynch, the former CEO of music streaming service, to the top job.

Vogue’s most recent masthead shows 12 fewer people and Vanity Fair has 13 fewer people than they did six months ago, according to WWD reporter Kali Hays. The company told her that “less than 10” people had been let go during that period.

Freelancers who appeared on the mastheads were cycled out, while others joined the company’s “creative group” that’s separate from any single magazine title, a spokesperson told WWD.

Some staffers left the company to pursue other opportunities, including Edward Barsamian, who quit as style editor of vogue.com and joined Victoria Beckham’s brand. His role at Vogue won’t be filled. Features editor Eve MacSweeney also left, and her LinkedIn profile now describes her as a literary manager and contributing editor to Vogue. 

At Vanity Fair, Jon Kelly last month left his post as founding editor of The Hive, the magazine’s news and culture vertical, telling the New York Post it “was the right time to do something new.” Successor John Homans has kept responsibilities as executive editor. West Coast editor Krista Smith left the magazine to join video streaming giant Netflix.

Lynch will take the reigns next week, starting with a “listening tour” of CN’s offices that will culminate in a strategy.

Given Lynch’s background as a banker with digital media expertise, I expect him to seek more job cuts and operational efficiencies before preparing the company for a sale.

Lynch was at Pandora, his last job, for 18 months before Sirius XM acquired the company amid growing competition from tech giants like Apple, Google and Amazon. Even music streaming leader Spotify doesn’t look safe as Silicon Valley companies boost investments in distributing digital content.

Advertisers have grown to expect that publishers provide more opportunities than print ad inserts, especially since the migration to mobile and online platforms shows no sign of ending.

Selling print ads is easy compared with creating branded digital content that helps marketers cut through the clutter.

That’s why publishers like Meredith and The New York Times are building up their in-house creative studios. They aim to compete more effectively against social-media platforms, like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, that rely on user-generated content (UGC). The problem with UGC is that it has become rife with hate speech, political propaganda and kiddie porn anathema to brands.

Condé Nast has plenty of editorial and creative talent. The company needs to focus its energies on social- and mobile-first strategies that will appeal to advertisers and the readers they seek to reach.

Apple and chipmaker Qualcomm unexpectedly put an end to their two-year, three-continent, multibillion-dollar squabble over patent royalties yesterday by announcing a six-year license agreement, with possible extensions, and agreeing to dismiss all ongoing litigation worldwide.

The settlement, which includes an unspecified payment from Apple to Qualcomm, came as the parties were making their opening arguments before a nine-person jury in a San Diego federal courtroom.

“Just how much the deal might affect people’s phone prices will not be clear until more financial details of the settlement are disclosed. But the effect on the price of individual handsets is not likely to be large,” Don Clark and Daisuke Wakabayashi write for the New York Times.

“Qualcomm had claimed Apple was violating its patents by withholding royalties, while Apple argued Qualcomm had been overcharging for those patents for years, abusing its dominant position in the market. At stake was the future of Qualcomm’s licensing model and billions of dollars in royalties that Apple has either paid or kept. Until the settlement was struck, Qualcomm had lost more than $25 billion in market value amid the looming threat,” Tripp Mickle and Asa Fitch write for the Wall Street Journal.

“Qualcomm stock rose more than 20% after the news broke, boosting its market cap by about $14.5 billion to more than $84 billion. It’s Qualcomm’s best day since 1999. Apple was up less than 1%. Intel, a Qualcomm competitor, sharply dipped on the news before recovering,” CNBC’s David Faber reports.

“The fact that Apple has agreed to once again purchase chips from Qualcomm for what is likely 5G versions of the iPhone, appeared to indicate that Apple was concerned about the schedule for 5G modems from Intel, its current and sole modems supplier,” Jim McGregor writes for Forbes.

Indeed, Apple can now “fire up the engines,” Isobel Asher Hamilton points out for Business Insider. “Previously Wall Street analysts had voiced concerns that Apple was lagging in the race to faster 5G phones, in part due to its fight with Qualcomm. Soon after news broke that the companies had settled … Intel announced it was pulling out of the 5G modem race entirely. ‘It has become apparent that there is no clear path to profitability and positive returns,’” said CEO Bob Swan, Hamilton adds.

“Apple has filed lawsuits against Qualcomm in China and the UK, while Qualcomm has responded with countersuits in China and Germany,” Shara Tibken writes in a comprehensive piece for CNET covering all aspects of the dispute over the years. Those will be put to rest also. But Qualcomm still faces one big challenge in the U.S.

“In January 2017, the Federal Trade Commission brought its own case against Qualcomm stemming from the same issues. Qualcomm defended itself in an 11-day trial in January. The company is awaiting a decision from Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the trial,” which was held in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Reed Albergotti reports  for the Washington Post.

“The terms of Apple’s new licensing agreement with Qualcomm were not disclosed Tuesday, and it’s unclear whether those terms will still put Qualcomm in the crosshairs of the FTC. Qualcomm could have licensing agreements with other companies that the FTC may find problematic,” Albergotti adds.

Yesterday’s deal “caught the technology industry by surprise,” write the NYT’s Clark and Wakabayashi. “In the past, Apple had refused to settle an intellectual property fight with Samsung, pursuing the case for seven years all the way to the Supreme Court before calling a truce last year. The case with Qualcomm had become so ugly and so personal that observers thought Apple would be even less likely to settle quickly.”

“I’m floored,” Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, tells them. “Qualcomm got the bigger win because it had the most to lose and the most to gain. And it ended today.”

“Remember this for the next protracted, hyperbolic and ugly spat between giant companies: It’s never about the principle. It’s always about the money,” observes Shira Ovide for Bloomberg.

More specifically, with 5G a-coming, it’s about continuing to gain on the Androids. Which is exactly what Apple did this last quarter, as Marketing Daily’s P.J. Bednarski reports.

As more consumers join the healthy-living bandwagon, they are increasingly embracing natural and non-toxic options in all areas of their lifestyles, from food and clothing to home and cleaning. For this last category in particular, natural alternatives that truly get the job done can be difficult to source—in particular at low enough price points to be accessible to all.

Enter Society Products, a membership-based marketplace that sells only non-toxic and affordable cleaning products that not only are effective for heavier-duty jobs, but also are accessible to more consumers than ever before, thanks to its subscriber structure requiring small fees that keep overall costs low. PSFK spoke to Society Products co-founder, Jessica Huang, about the company’s consumer-first approach to natural living and democratizing toxin-free care in a space populated with pricey and unreliable alternatives to more the traditional, heavy-duty counterparts:

PSFK:  What led you to cofound Society Products? What gaps did you notice in the marketplace?

Jessica Huang: I spent a lot of time researching, but when it came to the cleaning and home products space, I  just used whatever my parents used. To be honest, they used what my grandparents used.

It’s really difficult to find any natural solutions for heavy-duty problems, like a carpet stain, or ants in your kitchen. If you are able to find any natural products, they are nearly double the price. Usually, they just don’t work. As a consumer, you often feel bullied into these kind of chemical products and “’60’s science,” as we like to call it.

Within the CPG market, what trends are you seeing impact retail today and that you’re leveraging in your work?

As millennials and Gen Z start growing older, becoming renters and homeowners, the way that consumer goods are being discovered and sold is completely shifting. As a generation, millennials are quite cost‑conscious and more open to generics.

I read that 60% of millennials would actually prefer generics over name brands if it meant saving more money. I think that combined with the fact that millennials are also a very on‑the‑go generation means that streamlined is better. Oftentimes, they’ll opt for a more modern design to compliment their routine.

In addition to that, people just care more about the ingredients in the products they use. Keeping those trends in mind, at Society Products, we wanted to have a really design‑focused brand. Our packaging is inspired by artists like Ellsworth Kelly, and Josef and Anni Albers.

We thought, since people use these products every day, why shouldn’t we design something they’re not afraid to just leave out on the counter rather than stash away in a cabinet?

How do you approach messaging millennials and Gen Z-ers?

One focus is keeping everything very clear and concise. It’s also about approaching them on different social channels, and being in tune with what’s going on in the media to take an authentic brand approach.

Could you describe the way you communicate your transparency to consumers?

We really want to be completely transparent with the ingredients we’re using and where our products are being made. Right now, all of our products are made in the USA, with the exception of an Ayate washcloth, which is handwoven in Mexico.

One thing that we’ve noticed as a company is that many home cleaning products actually aren’t required to divulge ingredients in their formulation. Even though it’s not really required of us by law, I think it’s important that we fully list all ingredients of each of our products, making sure that consumers understand what the ingredients are for. I know that I’m not the only one who reads the back of a bottle of shampoo and sees words even a biochemist would have trouble pronouncing.

Finally, we also want to focus on being as cost‑effective to the consumer as possible, especially since we’re an at‑cost marketplace.

How do you curate your product line?

Our initial product curation stemmed out of some feedback that we received from a small focus group of people—millennials, Gen Z, people in cities and people in rural environments as well. We wanted to develop and curate a variety of what we call natural heavy‑duty products.

When we went to launch the Indiegogo campaign, it was important for us to not present too many products at once, yet make sure that we have a selection that covers almost every element of consumers’ life.

We started with a bar soap that you can use in your bathroom or your kitchen, a multi‑insect killer, a carpet cleaner, a surface cleaner—really showing that we can target different areas at once.

As we move forward, we can start diving deeper into the different categories. We just launched a pet waterless bath formulation a few weeks ago.. In the near future, we can see more products for pets.

Why did you decide to focus on selling direct to consumer, and how does that make the customer experience more seamless?

People living in urban environments have the luxury of having so many different retailers near them, from Whole Foods to smaller retailers. When you move outside the cities into the suburban and rural environment, good‑for‑you products just don’t exist.

Our main focus was making sure that all of America can have access to these natural products and creating a one‑stop shop for these more good‑for‑you products so consumers don’t have to search endlessly.

How does your membership model work?

Our membership fees cover our operating expenses in the company. By growing our membership base, we are able to expand the benefits to our members. The idea is to pass on these bulk savings to consumers without requiring them to actually buy in bulk.

Instead of consumers going to Costco and having to buy 10 hands soaps to get a discount, we will be able to sell them hand soap at that cost for just one. The membership fees enable us to do that.

As memberships grow, and as our community base grows, our product offering grows, and as a company we can grow as well.

Finally, how do you maintain that post-purchase and long-term relationship with consumers?

A brand pillar for us is to be completely consciously transparent enough that we encourage consumers to trust in our brand and products. That will allow us to pursue different categories where we still see that accessibility and affordability is an issue.

We also want to make it as easy as possible for consumers to stop using chemical heavy hitters and move towards more natural solutions. The last element to establish that loyalty is being consciously sustainable and pursuing every effort possible to create a cleaner and safer environment for well-being.

We want consumers to see Society products on their countertops, in their bedrooms, out in the yard, and really resonate with them. We want to establish a system and routine for them to adopt, so they really become a member of our Society.

Society Products

Society Products is enabling healthy living for all by identifying gaps in the natural care market and marshaling a membership-based retail model. For more from similar innovative brands, see PSFK’s reports and newsletters. 

Lead image: stock photos from Stock-Asso/Shutterstock

Consumers are warming to making payments using smart devices but that doesn’t mean they don’t have concerns about it.

More than a quarter (26%) of those who own a voice assistant have used it to make a payment, according to a new study. In the U.S., it’s nearly a third (30%).

The study comprised a survey of 3,100 adults in the U.S., U.K. and Australia conducted by Kantar for Transaction Network Services (TNS).

However, the majority (74%) of consumers said that security concerns would stop them from making a payment via a voice assistant.

Payment capabilities are also moving into connected cars, which enable the driver to tap into the internet for real-time traffic information, starting and stopping the car and making payments from the dashboard.

Nearly half (48%) of consumers said they would be eager to purchase a car with payment capabilities when available, with even more (56%) in the U.S.

More than half (57%) of consumers said if they owned a connected car, they would be willing to make a payment for fuel or parking via the dashboard.

The reality is that mobile payments have been getting people used to paying in a new way. More than half (52%) of consumers said they had made one or more payments on a portable connected device within the previous month.

In smart homes, nearly half (45%) of consumers said if they owned a Wi-Fi fridge, they would make a payment for groceries via the appliance’s touch screen or compatible app.

The more consumers learn about Internet of Things devices and what they can do with them, the more they’lll start to expand their uses. Paying remotely is just one of those new uses.

Allowing Apple to focus on more pressing matters, the tech titan has settled its royalty dispute with Qualcomm. The settlement includes a payment from Apple to Qualcomm, the companies announced on Tuesday.

The companies also have reached a six-year license agreement, which was effective as of April 1, and includes a two-year option to extend and a multiyear chipset supply agreement.

While the case dates back to 2017, Apple and Qualcomm just initiated court proceedings on Monday.

For years, Qualcomm made microchips for the iPhone. The trouble started after Apple accused the chipmaker of charging too much to license its patents.

Had the trial proceeded, Qualcomm was facing upwards of $27 billion in damages for overchargingApple and its suppliers for licensing its patents.

Threatening Apple, Qualcomm was seeking billions in unpaid royalties and other unspecified damages from the company.

Whether it hastened Apple's decision to settle, the company is facing a number of major challenges that demand its full attention and resources. Analysts are predicting problems on the horizon for smartphone makers like Apple.

“Smartphones should remain the mainstream mobile gateway, though growth is probably stalling,” Citi analysts warned in a recent note to clients.

Apple has recently blamed its own issues on slowing iPhone sales in China.

“While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors earlier this year.

Brick-and-mortar retailers have traditionally been more limited in the type of data that they could collect compared to their online counterparts. However, new technologies now provide sophisticated tools to give them a real-time window into shoppers’ actual behavior and engagement within the physical space in ways that were previously impossible.

While this new technology infrastructure has transformed the physical store into a valuable resource for the collection of data, much of this information is off-limits without participation from shoppers, who are becoming increasingly concerned about how their personal data is being used. Retailers will have to navigate conflicting desires for a personalized in-store experience and a growing concern over data privacy, offering consumers a clear value in exchange for sharing their data in order to unlock key insights.

PSFK’s Shopper Data Debrief highlights the ways in which retailers and shoppers can both benefit from this new relationship. The report provides best-in-class examples and actionable insights on how to best leverage shopper data in order to create a mutually beneficial exchange that maximizes operational efficiencies while providing a more personalized and responsive customer experience.

Featuring over 30 pages of research and analysis, including six key levers for harvesting shopper data, 18 best-in-class case studies and a list of key data partners, our Shopper Data Debrief will provide retailers with the necessary tools to develop a comprehensive strategy for effectively capturing and leveraging data within the physical footprint in order to improve end-to-end operations, increase ROI and drive better customer experience.

The Shopper Data Debrief by business intelligence service PSFK outlines how retailers can leverage new tools to capture shopper data in the physical store, creating a mutually beneficial value exchange that allows them to refine operations and offer a more personalized in-store experience. This report is part of a series of reports focusing on retail innovation and customer experience to inspire the members of our business intelligence services.

For a copy of this report, please visit: psfk.com/shopper-data-debrief

A week-long, nationwide Easter egg hunt has been started by Regal, which added an augmented reality feature to its mobile app.

Movie fans can use the Regal app to scan in-theater posters to unlock exclusive rewards, redeemable through the end of the month at participating Regal theaters.

Virtual Easter eggs are hidden inside different movie posters and pointing a phone camera with the AR app at the poster reveals the hidden egg and its associated prize, which could be free popcorn or Regal Crown Club credits.

"The race is on for our moviegoers with this one-of-a-kind promotion, which features incredible prizes hidden in posters of the year's most anticipated movies," states Chris Sylvia, vice president of media at Regal. "With the rise of augmented reality, we strive to stay on the forefront of cutting-edge technology to give our guests unbeatable entertainment experiences, as well as reward Regal's loyal moviegoers."

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