512: Creating Your Own Story in Minutes with Tap by Wattpad
From Instagram and Snapchat to social activism and IRL influencers – marketers everywhere are exploring different ways to reach Millennial and Gen Z audiences. These marketers realize that good storytelling is the only way to connect with these audiences – however, what they don’t realize that is that storytelling can very literally mean “reading stories.”
In fact, according to a Pew Research, 18 to 29-year-olds are the more likely to have read a book in the past year than any other generation. At Wattpad, they believe that good old-fashioned written stories are one way that brands can set themselves apart. Wattpad users are spending 30 minutes every day reading content on their desktops and smartphones and engaging with brands. With new social platforms and technologies focused on compelling entertainment, Wattpad has turned a community of writers and storytellers into invaluable assets. On today's podcast we look at the role of technology and the value of storytelling in marketing. We look into the specific ways brands are crafting stories to engage audiences (on Wattpad and beyond) and the best practices for brands to infuse better storytelling into their marketing ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAg-bydfFcQ
Wang Qi (Joey) is responsible for Huawei's 5.5G marketing. He has more than 17 years of experience in the mobile communications industry. He has a deep understanding of industry developments and solutions related to 5G, LTE, indoor coverage, and vertical industry applications.
I recently sat down with him to discuss 5G-Advanced, the key capabilities of this technology, and real-world use cases of how businesses can unlock new opportunites. We also take a look under the hood at 5.5G's key characteristics which include 10 Gbps downlink, 1 Gbps uplink, 100 billion connections, and native intelligence.
Driven by new toC and toB services, 5.5G will enhance eMBB, URLLC, and mMTC, it provides new capabilities of sensing, passive IoT, positioning, and native intelligence. We also discuss how Huawei are on a mission to build intelligent 5.5G that support 10 Gbps downlink, 1 Gbps uplink, and 100 billion connections, embarking on a new journey of 5G.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaxz6edUg0U
In this Tech Talks Daily Podcast episode, I had the opportunity to engage in a fascinating conversation with Thorbjørn Fink, COO of Pleo, a trailblazing company in the fintech sector. Our discussion offered an in-depth look at how Pleo transforms how businesses handle spending through innovative solutions that streamline financial processes and empower employees.
Thorbjørn began by sharing his journey in finance and what led him to join Pleo. His insights provided a unique perspective on the company's mission and operations, setting the stage for an enlightening discussion about what distinguishes Pleo in the competitive fintech landscape.
Much of our conversation revolved around Pleo's challenges while scaling across different markets. Thorbjørn highlighted the hurdles in attracting and retaining talent and the critical importance of investing in infrastructure and regulatory compliance to facilitate rapid expansion. This part of our dialogue offered listeners a rare glimpse into the complexities of scaling a fintech company internationally.
We then shifted our focus to the role of tools and automation in enhancing organizational efficiency and improving the working lives of employees. Thorbjørn emphasized the need for companies to identify areas where manual tasks bog down employees. He shared how Pleo's solutions, such as intelligent company cards and automated expense reports, are designed to alleviate these burdens, thereby unlocking business value through automation.
Another critical topic we delved into was the importance of automating processes in finance departments. Thorbjørn and I discussed how automation minimizes human errors and allows finance teams to focus on more strategic, value-added tasks. He stressed the necessity of building a scalable foundation in finance departments and being open to adopting new tools to future-proof these critical business units.
Throughout our conversation, Thorbjørn provided insights into Pleo's unique features, including its ability to catch receipts on the go, automatically categorize expenses, and offer full compatibility with Apple Pay and Google Pay. He also touched upon Pleo's innovative Pocket feature, which enables instant out-of-pocket spend reimbursement, illustrating how Pleo captures wall-to-wall spending across businesses.
As we wrapped up, Thorbjørn shared where listeners can find more information about Pleo and its offerings, inviting them to explore how Pleo's solutions can revolutionize their business spending and financial management.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD7TkbwP8dU
Yotpo is known for helping brands collect and leverage reviews and photos throughout the buyer journey to increase trust, social proof and sales.
Yotpo recently launched Insights to help direct commerce brands analyze customer feedback at scale using natural language processing, sentiment analysis, and semantic grouping. With algorithms trained on a dataset of 32M reviews, Insights uncovers the factors that have the highest impact on customer satisfaction and allows for comparison using industry benchmarks, enabling businesses to invest time and resources in areas that will make an impact.
Insights directly impact bottom lines and increases sales. Campaigns have found that adding a star rating increases purchase rate by 4x, 58% of shoppers spend more when they connect with a brand and consumers spend up to 10% more because of good reviews.
I invited Tomer Tagrin, the co-founder, and CEO of user-generated marketing platform YotPo onto the show to discuss how brands can survive and grow in the world dominated by Amazon.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-aYw6H6Ojs
CorkGuru is a digital wine platform designed to help restaurants enhance their wine program and create better guest experiences. Restaurants can better manage their wine inventory which drives sales for the beverage program and guests have the chance to receive a great experience with accessibility to the platform. The wine inventory system puts wine intelligence at your fingertips through dynamic digital wine lists, inventory management, guest inclusion features, and wine discovery.
CorkGuru today launched recently launched a digital wine platform blending the thrill of exploration people experience in wine label tracking apps with inventory management and business intelligence. The result: deeper, more profitable wine programs for restaurants, more tailored selections for guests, and guidance on new experiences to seek out. The Pittsburgh-based company is already established with several top restaurants across the country, including the award-winning Bistecca Steakhouse & Wine Bar at the Meadows Racetrack in Pittsburgh and Chef Matt Harris’ Tupelo in Park City, Utah. The platform now launches more broadly, including a mobile app for guests. “Restaurants often say ‘paper works’ when it comes to their wine lists, but there’s so much more we can unlock for both restaurants and guests,” said Danielle Gillespie, founder and CEO of CorkGuru.
“Typical wine lists can’t capture the moment a guest, craving a full-bodied cabernet, opts for something else because the price point is too high. Smarter wine lists can help restaurants guide guests to the experiences they crave, and those they don’t yet know about.” Building smart wine cellars
Beverage programs used to drive restaurant profits. However, some reports indicate sales have slowed over the past few years, and restaurants now need to get smarter about managing lists and inventory to recapture that value. CorkGuru helps restaurants control this important revenue stream and improve the guest experience through: Wine Cellar Builder – a web-based portal for real-time inventory management Tableside tablet wine lists with dynamic wine descriptions and label images Wine list data and business intelligence through a partnership with Upserve’s Breadcrumb POS Simplifying wine ordering According to a recent Boston Consulting Group survey, more than one-third of restaurant customers rank digital sources as the most influential for discovering restaurant information, and nearly 60 percent have downloaded one or more restaurant apps. CorkGuru helps restaurants cater to these more digitally-empowered guests through:
Scrollable and searchable wine entries on tableside tablets based on taste, color, varietal, preferences and food pairings Mobile app allowing guests to locate their favorite wine nearby, build a profile and explore new varietals Special wine promotions, news and invitations from favorite restaurants “How many times have you been at a restaurant in a position to order wine, but not sure what you want, then feeling pressured to order, you default to something you know, rather than try something new,” said Gillespie. “There are too many good wines and interesting pairings to get stuck in this habit. CorkGuru aims to break guests free from the wine echo chamber.”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAbWDb1uOXY
Jeff Wald, best-selling author of two books, including The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations. Jeff is also the Founder of WorkMarket (purchased by ADP in 2018 for $135 million), and several other technology companies, including Spinback, a social sharing platform (eventually purchased by Salesforce.com), an angel investor and startup advisor, and serves on numerous public and private Boards of Directors.
Based on hundreds of formal interviews with CEOs, HR executives, and political leaders, The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations guides readers through the history of work to understand how companies and workers reacted to the last three industrial revolutions. Jeff asks what lessons we can learn from these revolutions and the current state of the labor market and in order for workers, companies, and societies to prepare for the Rise of the Robots.
Included in the book is the $10 million Future of Work Prize. Jeff challenged twenty leading thinkers of the future of work on their vision for the workforce in 2040. Jeff shares his story and lessons he learned building four companies, investing in and advising hundreds of others. We discuss why new technologies like autonomous vehicles seldom lead to the job losses people expect.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdEVGryhr1Q
Dublin-based climate action fintech is a climate donation app that empowers conscious shoppers to amplify their positive impact by earning free, personalized climate donations from their spending. Amplify partners with a network of sustainable brands, allowing their customers to earn a donation for a high-impact climate cause of their choice on every purchase, at no added cost.
Users choose a climate charity, securely link their bank card, and then 2% of each transaction they make with a sustainable brand in Amplify’s network is automatically donated to their chosen cause for free. Supported by Enterprise Ireland and approved by the world’s leading card networks, Amplify is setting out to transform the donation experience for sustainable brands and conscious shoppers, empowering them to amplify the climate action of every sustainable purchase.
David Beakey, Co-founder of Amplify, shares how they combine their passions for sustainability and technology to help conscious consumers transform the impact of their sustainable spending.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny0LbMvRzGw
Rich Penkoski is a principal and deputy CEO—Markets for Deloitte Consulting LLP, responsible for defining and delivering the industry-specific insights and solutions clients need to solve their most complex business challenges. He also serves on the Deloitte Consulting Executive and Management Committees, the Deloitte USA Board of Directors and as chairman of the Board, Deloitte Consulting Management GmbH & Co. KG.
Rich has led many of Deloitte’s largest Finance and IT-enabled transformation programs and has served many of Deloitte Consulting’s most significant clients across Financial Services, Retail, and Consumer Products. He believes that measurable and sustainable value is only achieved when strategy, implementation, and ongoing operations are delivered through a combination of business acumen, technical excellence, and extensive industry depth.
Though we often hear about the value and importance of digital transformation—who exactly should be driving these efforts within an organization? The Chief Technology or Information Officers are usually top of mind, but the Chief Financial Officer is equally as influential. I invited Rich onto the podcast to discuss how CFOs are leading the way as key players and incubators of digital transformation.
Rich also shares his experience in leading many of Deloitte’s largest financial—and information technology-based digital transformations, and I learn how CFOs and the wider C-Suite can collaborate to drive successful digital transformation efforts.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TPECeAVkPk
How can smart vending machines change the way we shop for food on the go? In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Aslak de Silva, CEO of Selfly Store, to explore how his company is leveraging IoT, AI, and intelligent vending machines to transform the grab-and-go food shopping experience.
Selfly Store is at the forefront of innovative retail technology, using real-time data and AI to predict demand, optimize operations, and enhance customer convenience. De Silva shares insights into how these smart vending machines provide merchants with invaluable data on inventory, sales, and customer behavior, allowing for dynamic pricing and predictive planning. This technology not only boosts sales but also enables 24/7 service without additional overhead costs.
We'll delve into the concept of "half-mile stores," hyperlocal vending solutions that meet consumers' immediate needs based on real-time data, and discuss the critical role of properly categorizing and cleansing data to extract meaningful insights from AI. De Silva's vision for the future includes more automated, data-driven retail solutions that can adapt to consumer demand and streamline operations.
Join us as we uncover the benefits and challenges of integrating AI and IoT into retail, and explore how business leaders can harness these technologies to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape. Aslak de Silva provides a unique perspective on the future of intelligent vending and the transformative potential of data-driven retail solutions.
Are you ready to see how smart vending machines are shaping the future of grab-and-go shopping? Tune in to this insightful episode and share your thoughts on the potential of AI and IoT in revolutionizing the retail industry.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyPB6ynAE44
GoSpotCheck is a simple, integrated SaaS platform for companies with large field operations looking for real-time field data and improved execution from their field teams. Its data-driven technologies allow for efficiency in the field and advanced reporting that makes getting more product displayed easier. Working with companies like Under Armor, PepsiCo, Dannon and Anheuser-Busch, GoSpotCheck were seen maximizing performance in the field during the holiday season. I invited their CEO Matt Talbot onto the show to find out more about their future plans to use a $21.5M Series B1 funding round to further develop their leading field execution management platform, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to create the most robust product offering in the business.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stdbrQ8XlH4