What You Need to Know Today: November 2
Here’s what you need to know
TECH
Google goes dsnalog with its new note-taking tools. Just so we’re clear, this notepad is NOT for consumers… yet. “Think With Google is a service Google offers that gives marketers insight into how to best promote their companies,” says Fast Company. “It offers a series of tools which use Google’s own data to analyze trends, behaviors, and more.” Google’s biggest challenge has been figuring out ways to make it easier for companies to try its Think With Google services. Enter My Edit — Google’s pencil and paper solution. Moleskin, take note 😉
PC VR vs. Mobile VR. Palmer Luckey is the founder of Oculus, the virtual reality company. If you thought all VR was the same, it’s not. The simplest way to differentiate the two is this: PC VR has cables, delivers a mind-blowing experience, and therefore attracts more hardcore gamers. Mobile VR delivers a slightly less mind-blowing experience, but is less cumbersome (no wires). This is why Oculus founder Palmer Luckey believes Mobile VR will reign king long before PC VR goes wireless.
#Latergram #Halloween. Instagram made a bold move on Saturday with its Halloween curated video channel that rips off one of Snapchat’s most popuplar features.
CAREER
There’s big money to be made in advertising in the near future. This year alone, ad-blocking software will cost advertisers $21.8 billion. Payback for the sloppy, irrelevant ads you see online. Jay Duggal, of real time ad placement company Quantcast, calls this taking the easy step. It’s why we loathe most ads we see online. But this could all change soon, “We believe that if we can show more relevant ads, it’ll be more useful for users. They will be less inclined to block them, we will have to show fewer ads, advertisers will be willing to spend more for each ad. And the revenue for publishers and data providers like us will go up,” says Duggal. While I imagine this sounds like every pitch ever made by a third-party advertising agency since the beginning of time, Quantcast’s real-time ad placement does do one thing different that could make advertising a lot less annoying. Full story.
+ Are ads valuable to the consumer? I believe they are. Tell me what you think in the comments below.
How DJ Steve Aoki stays productive. “Lying horizontal is a luxury for Steve Aoki. The Grammy-nominated DJ and producer has a relentless global schedule that finds him spinning records in places like Shanghai and Oslo, along with ongoing residencies in Ibiza and Las Vegas,” says Fast Company. “He also puts out albums, including the recent Neon Future Odyssey, and runs the record label and clothing brand Dim Mak.” So what’s his secret to staying so productive? “Meditation is a key component in my daily cycle now. I went through a major physical change in my life in June when I had vocal-cord surgery. I used that time to reset and think about a different set of rules to be more efficient and productive,” says Aoki. Here are more secrets from 11 of the most productive people you know.
LIFESTYLE
Why Oprah’s $43 million investment in Weight Watchers was smart. Weight Watchers doesn’t work. Which makes it a great investment. At least that’s what some people are saying, after it was announced that Oprah bought 10 percent of the company. “It’s the perfect business model. People give Weight Watchers the credit when they lose weight. Then they regain the weight and blame themselves. This sets them up to join Weight Watchers all over again, and they do” (Science of Us).
Attention Kmart shoppers: Bluelight Specials are back! If this means absolutely nothing to you, it’s probably because you were too young to have ever experienced a Kmart Bluelight Special — I definitely was. You know how you see those timers online for deals ending soon? Well, Kmart pioneered this sales tactic in 1965. Every Friday, blue sirens would go off at 942 stores, alerting customers of a surprise sale for the next 15 minutes. Kmart anounced that it’s bringing Bluelight Specials back to its stores and online. Here’s everything you need to know.
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#NOWYOUKNOW
Donald Trump’s Not Surprising Morning Ritual
Trump gets up at 6:00-6:30 a.m. every morning. The first thing he does is look at his “clippings” from the night before. These are news stories about the Donald that have been clipped out of newspapers and online publications, with his name circled. Trump likes scanning these first thing to know what people are saying about him and to ‘watch himself succeed.’ According to Business Insider, before Google Alerts, celebrities and powerful public figures would pay assistants or clipping services to do this sort of thing daily. If Donald Trump becomes POTUS, I’ll be taking a hiatus from writing The Daily Brief to start my own digital clipping service for powerful celebrities. For a list of 12 super-successful CEOs that are Early Risers, click here.
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