Despite the rise of big data, the cloud and the countless other electronic innovations looking to tap into our collective brainpower, predictions remained as difficult to get right as ever in 2013. For every no-brainer like the rise of consumer mobile smartphone and tablet use,...
Strategic planning season is in full swing in payments! And, the land grab for data and projections on everything from consumer spending to smartphone and tablet sales to POS trends to competitor activities is on! But, unless your one- to three-year window anticipates the macro...
I think I mentioned in an article a while back that I have this odd fascination with old advertising- early turn-of-the-century stuff to about the 1970s. There’s just so much to learn about our culture and consumer behavior and buying triggers by looking at old...
The month of November was ushered in by the Red Sox World Series Parade of Champions in Boston (did I mention that the Red Sox won the World Series this year??!!!), the return of daylight savings time (my favorite day of the year besides Christmas...
Bitcoin isn’t usually something that I write about. And, trust me, after my colleague did a few weeks ago and was all but skewered as a result of his post, I thought long and hard about sounding off about bitcoin. (He’s currently in hiding and...
Everybody knows the ancient story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. “Open Sesame” were the magic words that opened a cave where Ali Baba saw an abundance of gold treasure stolen by 40 thieves stashed inside. Ali Baba, assisted by his very capable female...
I think it’s pretty safe to say that the “traditional” advertising and loyalty ecosystems are dying a slow death and should probably be put out of their respective miseries. Mobile/connected devices powered by apps and enriched by data in real time have engulfed them. The...
A couple of things that happened in the mobile commerce space last week jogged a memory about the relationship between the level of hype over something new and its long-run sustainability. Those two things are related to the media frenzy over Coin and Google’s introduction...
The month of November was ushered in by the Red Sox World Series Parade of Champions in Boston (did I mention that the Red Sox won the World Series this year??!!!), the return of daylight savings time (my favorite day of the year besides Christmas...