Disruptive FM Episode 23: Future Forward | Soundtrack Reboot | Food Futures

The culture of business. At the intersection of marketing, tech, media and popular culture. Hosted by Geoffrey Colon, Head of Brand Studio at Microsoft Advertising.

In the latest episode we talk about strategic planning. Why do most companies do such a poor job of forecasting? Felicia Gardner, Agency Lead at Microsoft Advertising explains. Plus the second coming of the Soundtrack album and the future of food. Also music from Stereocalypse and Da Capo ft. Tshepo King & Louie Vega.

INTRO

What’s up, people!!! Hope everything is good with you! … here comes another episode of Disruptive FM, number 23 for the week ending Friday the 19th of October, 2018. It’s really starting to feel like Fall. I’m Geoffrey Colon – your host for the next quarter hour or so as we soak up the Culture of Business and check out the latest developments in marketing, media, tech and popular culture. Let’s do it!

Future Forward

Very often, Business is too focused on the here-and-now. Which is important because we LIVE in the here-and-now. But what if we thought about the long-term strategy of our business by 5 percent? That’s a small amount to dedicate to where the world may be going. And why do this? Because, in the past, you could plan out what you were doing and stick to that plan for 30 years and be fine. But now if you aren’t pivoting and flexing and finding new business models on an annual basis you will be put out to pasture. And we have the data to back it up. Since 1955, 87% of companies that were listed on the Fortune 500 are gone. That’s right – in just a 60-year period – less than the lifetime of the average human – a vast majority of companies that once thrived are gone. So we asked a person responsible for Business Strategy and Planning for their opinion on longevity. My colleague Felicia Gardner, Agency Partner Lead at Microsoft Advertising.

[INTERVIEW]

Felicia Gardner, Agency Partner Lead at Microsoft Advertising, on thinking about the future when business planning. Thanks again, Felicia.

Soundtrack Reboot

Spotify is upending another longtime music industry staple: the Soundtrack Album. The streaming giant has begun partnering with film studios to create playlists for films as an alternative to the traditional path of releasing a produced album of songs. The first project is a playlist for the new film “Mid 90s.” After beginning with an initial 15 songs from the film, the playlist will evolve and constantly be updated. In other words, not a stagnant soundtrack, but a fluid soundtrack. Instead of soundtracks being nouns, they will be verbs. Movie soundtracks were once reliable, lucrative earners if we think back to “The Bodyguard,” “Dirty Dancing,” “Purple Rain,” and “Saturday Night Fever.” But studios say music aligned with a film now “offers mostly promotional value.” This could be a new revenue stream once again for burgeoning music industry which is finally very much in the black after a decade of losses.

Food Futures

Older varieties of fruits and vegetables have long been overlooked for hybrid versions that are more reliable, easy to produce and capable of being shipped long distances. Those older varieties — known as heirlooms — are becoming popular again. The industries that tossed heirlooms aside want them again for their biodiversity capabilities. Scientists want to see if the good traits of older varieties — resistance to heat, drought, disease and pests — can be applied to modern, genetically narrow varieties that may fall victim to changing climates. The same questions and research are being applied to heritage breeds of livestock that are different from their modern-day cousins who have been bred for mass food production. What this means is we could be eating foods again that we ate over two centuries ago. In other words, an underlying theme on DFM sprouts again, what is old is new!

[MUSIC BREAK]

"It’s Disruptive FM ... the Culture of Business ... I'm your host, Geoffrey Colon [PAUSE]

In the background, that’s new music from Stereocalypse [PAUSE] a track called “Lone Solo Drummer” [PAUSE].

That’s from a new EP called “Romantico Disco” out now on Innervisions [PAUSE] Innvervisions Records – always quality.

You can  connect with us on Instagram or Twitter @DisruptiveFM, connect with me personally on Instagram or Twitter @djgeoffe ... ...

Disruptive FM is brought to you by Microsoft and Branding Strategy Insider ... for more in-depth analysis check out microsoft.com/stories and brandingstrategyinsider.com

Also … brought to you by iOgrapher … Create Better Video.

iOgrapher makes accessories for your mobile device to help you make professional videos. Learn more about all the products we use here to make our videos [like the ones on “Future Boutique”] at iographer.com. Want to win an iOgrapher for the iPhone 7+? Be sure to leave in the comments on our Instagram the following: I love Disruptive FM.

FEATURE: What C’mon!!!

So Facebook has this new smart screen called Portal. It’s no different than what Alexa devices with screens offer. But hold on. The company can collect data on you to serve up ads? At a time when people are wary about Facebook’s privacy regulations, the company is not being transparent about this whatsoever. This past week, before Portal could even materialize in stores, Recode’s Kurt Wagner wrote: “No data collected through Portal — even call log data or app usage data, like the fact that you listened to Spotify — will be used to target users with ads on Facebook.” Wagner was told this by the Facebook executives demonstrating Portal for him.

But in a follow-up report, Wagner reported the executives misled him:

In all of this commotion, Facebook has since reached out to change its answer: Portal doesn’t have ads, but data about who you call and data about which apps you use on Portal can be used to target you with ads on other Facebook-owned properties. MANNN, this company just can’t be straight with us!!!

Facebook’s official statement: “Portal voice calling is built on the Messenger infrastructure, so when you make a video call on Portal, we collect the same types of information that we collect on other Messenger-enabled devices. We may use this information to inform the ads we show you across our platforms. Other general usage data, such as aggregate usage of apps, etc., may also feed into the information that we use to serve ads.”

The conclusion is inescapable and would seemingly not bode well for Facebook’s home hardware line: Even when the company appears to be going out of its way to collect less data about you than usual, making a show of how the device is “private by design,” even its own spokespeople can still struggle to articulate exactly what they are collecting and how it might be used. Well let’s make it clear: the company is collecting data on you when you use Portal and will then target you with ads. See??? that was easy, and as a result of having to report this fairly to you our listeners, we say...

Okay, time now to take a look at some bubbling news items we have our eye on ... it’s a segment we call "On The Radar"

ON THE RADAR

1. The majority of Americans now deem renting more affordable than buying a house. Some 78% of Americans hold that attribution, signaling that recent mortgage rate rises and higher home prices could lead to a decline in future home sales. Adding to industry unease, a further 58% of renters now say they don’t currently have plans to buy a home, up from 54% back in February. Rental prices have steadied in recent quarters as supplies hit a three-decade high. Home prices grew significantly faster than incomes and inflation in that time.

2. Near-record low unemployment and an ascendant economy are doing little to temper the anxiety of the growing number of students staring down the barrel of student-loan obligations. A perfect storm of events has pushed federal student-loan debt from a crisis to a full-blown catastrophe, according to Bloomberg. With the cost of borrowing inching up, thanks to recent interest-rate increases and higher tuition fees, overall outstanding student-loan obligations have reached $1.5 trillion. More than 10% of student-loan borrowers are 90 days or more delinquent, compared to 1.1% for mortgages and 4% for auto-loans.

3. The economy continues to be a friendly place for job seekers today, and not just for the ultra-educated. Google, Apple, and IBM have all dropped college degree requirements for prospective employees. All no longer require a four-year degree to land a job. This is connected to an effort to improve diversity and make it easier for those who attend coding boot camps or pursue other non-traditional college paths to be hired.

Alright,  that will wrap up our 23rd episode of DFM!  Big thanks to guest Ralph Pardo for joining us.…  You can connect with us by following me on Twitter or Instagram @djgeoffe. Follow DisruptiveFM on Twitter or Instagram @DisruptiveFM. And you can read more in-depth content via our three sponsors Microsoft dot com slash stories, Branding Strategy Insider.com AND iographer.com.

NEXT WEEK:

I’m back in the Seattle speaking with Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, senior writer at Inc. Magazine, about her new book “WE ARE THE NERDS” That’s gonna be a good one!

Until then ... for everyone here at Dfm, thanks for hangin’ with us. I’m Geoffrey Colon …  we’ll catch you next week.