Adobe Summit 2012: The Kouing Aman of Conferences

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Jesse Weissman

About two hours after enjoying a Kouing Aman, you ask yourself "whoa...what did I just eat? It was crunchy and sweet on the outside, thick and moist and the inside, and I think it will stick with me for another eight hours." I just returned from Adobe (Omniture) Summit, the Kouing Aman of all Conferences.

It's a big event that descends on Salt Lake City every year...and it got a lot bigger this year. The venue was larger (Salt Palace), there were twice the number of attendees (~4000), the band was big (Foster the People), and even the breakout sessions had a pastry-puffed quality.

I also attended the Adobe Un-Summit at the University of Utah the day before. Although the balance of participants was tilted a little too far towards consultants and academics (and MBA students), the spirit was there. And I'm not sure that the 10 min rocket pitch approach supports discussions. But it is an effort to get back to the roots of analytics without the Adobe uber sales engine. And they served a box of Kouing Aman at break.

It's a few days later and I'm not sure what I ate.

At the Adobe Summit I attended presentations in the Personalization track. Most were brief, heavy on images, and tried to split time between a client case study and spiel on the supporting Adobe technology. I left wanting to learn more about integrating Test & Target with Insight, and about CQ5. And in general I left early. But that may have also been because the weather was fantastic and Salt Lake is a very walkable city.

Adobe (Omniture) Summit was great because of the amazing people who attended.

In the hotel lobby and over dinners I spoke with brilliant analysts from REI, The Home Depot, L.L. Bean and American Express. We talked shop and agreed to keep talking after Summit. I hung out with the Keystone gang, ate too much sushi, and enjoyed a back-seat view of getting lost in Salt Lake despite 4 smartphones, a lot of digital analytics smarts, and a grid city with super-sized lanes.

Despite all of our Social Media tools and incarnations of "The Digital Self" there is nothing like face-to-face time to accelerate an industry. So while the Adobe Summit was thick in sales sugar & crust, it was pretty rich on the inside. And I'm not sure how the right ingredients might have otherwise mixed together.

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What Amazon Can’t Do…Yet

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Jesse Weissman

Hallway in the MFA Boston After reading Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs and Ready Player One, I realized that Amazon invented a behavior that I will simply call “Collaboreading.” As you read an eBook, you will bump into lines highlighted by other readers including a count to measure popularity.

Reading an eBook is now a shared experience.

But I’m not certain that I care to read other people’s notes. Buying a used textbook with some highlighting in college wasn’t really helpful…it’s the personal connection with the material, the action of applying the highlight, that really helped the material stick.

I finished the biography of Steve Jobs, and wandered over to Amazon’s Recommendations for my next read. More books on Jobs were suggested, in addition to a few on Legos from a previous purchase.

And that’s when I realized what Amazon can’t do…yet.

I didn’t want to read another book on Steve Jobs. I was curious about a few books mentioned in the biography itself, such as Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Suzuki. Or in actually seeing the famous “1984″ ad that announced the Macintosh. And about a week later I decided to watch a biography of Eames on Netflix. In terms of content, I purchased the book on Zen (from Amazon) and rented the Eames film. You can see the “1984″ ad for free on YouTube.

Contextual Recommendations are just another form of buyer intent. It’s the bundle of content you want to buy because of something you learned in the book…which may not be evident from everyone who purchased the book…and which you want to explore now to keep the mental stream flowing.

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Kindle Touch: Sleeping Evil?

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Jesse Weissman

Example of a Special Offer on the Kindle Touch Take a look at this example of a Special Offer that arrives via WiFi on the Kindle. It only appears when the Kindle is “sleeping” and never interrupts the reading experience. A small banner also appears in the footer of the “Home” menu that’s typically a smaller version of the same offer.

I used to receive offers featuring women doing yoga, women washing their hair with Dove shampoo, and deep discounts on chocolates from someplace in Boston. I just started receiving announcements about “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” movie. As a guy I have to admit that the Kindle was downright unmanly for the first few weeks. Now I seem to be receiving more generic Amazon offers.

I don’t mind.

Since I purchased a Kindle a few weeks ago, I’ve started reading again. My wife found an amazing custom designed leather cover for my Kindle, and I can’t put the thing down. The Kindle brilliantly achieves the following:

Provides a solid reading experience at a reasonable cost
Creates a new category of display advertising with a growing install base
Directs readers to interesting book ideas but protects choice
Makes the purchase transaction seamless and almost invisible

My only complaint is its handling of PDF files. At first I was thrilled to email journal articles to my Kindle address with the idea of reading them later. But the Kindle renders PDFs like an image…and my Kindle Touch really wasn’t designed for images. Maybe it’s better on the Kindle Fire.

Mobile isn’t about distance. It’s about the subtle changes it creates in your day-to-day habits and routine. I have fond memories of wandering the stacks at independent booksellers (now gone) in Cambridge, and I viewed the Kindle as a threat. The reality is that the Kindle takes that exploratory experience and puts it in your hands…even if you live in the ‘burbs now.

I’ve just learned that I can save 50% on pancakes somewhere in Boston. Hmmm…I wonder what Amazon is going to do with my attention next. For now I don’t care…too many interesting things to read.

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mCommerce and Eggnogg’n Tea

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Jesse Weissman

A Box of Bigelow Eggnogg'n Tea It took a box of Eggnogg’n Tea (with dancing penguins) to realize that I was totally wrong.

After eTail Boston last August, I wrote about how my life wasn’t that mobile. I was rockin’ an ancient Blackberry and wondering why I should bother with mCommerce, upgrade to a smartphone and pay for an unlimited data plan. I spend most of my time in front of a laptop, or commuting a short distance between home and work laptops, and it just didn’t add up.

The Blackberry finally croaked and I splurged on an iPhone 4s. I traveled to New York for eMetrics and then Chicago to meet with the amazing eCommerce team at Quill. I was driving somewhere outside of Deerfield when I asked Siri to find a good lunch spot. Four options popped up faster than you can say “White Sox.” And now I anthropomorphize my iPhone 4s AI…she’s earned it.

I’ve been back in Boston for a few months now, and some of the novelty has worn away. Today I walked into the local Stop n’ Shop to stock up for the week and was greeted by a display full of Bigelow Eggnogg’n Tea. I hate eggnog, but Becky likes it…however, I have been warned that eggnog is not a welcome surprise this year. The side of the Eggnogg’n Tea box not adorned with dancing penguins touts all the good stuff that is eggnog without the guilt!

My old im-mobile self said “Hmmm” and just kept walking towards the fruits and vegetables isle. And then my mobile-me stopped cold…took out my iPhone, and did a quick Google search on Eggnogg’n Tea (I confess…I like to say and type the word “Eggnogg’n”).

Reviews appeared…all pointing skywards! This is a product that clearly satisfied the needs of eggnog lovers without the risks of saturated fats, excessive calories and (occasionally) raw eggs.

And I added a box to my cart, finished my shopping, and brewed a cup for my wife who said “hey…this is good stuff!”

You don’t need to be a road warrior to be “mobile” and it has nothing to do with distance. The real power of mobile can be felt in the subtle ways it changes your day-to-day routines. Next article will be about my new Kindle…

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A Tale of Two eCommerce Companies

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Jesse Weissman

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”

There were two major eCommerce companies who sold the same wares. One company was based in an expensive city, outsourced IT and paid its local architects in coal. Any change to the Web site was met with layers of fear, process, and expensive consultants.

The other company was smaller and grew a team of Software Architects in an area of the US deemed barren of any technical talent. It never needed to offshore or downsize. Any change to the Web site was met as an opportunity to build something new.

Five years and a few recessions passed. Along comes Web Analytics with the ability to identify, quantify and exploit opportunity faster than anything eCommerce has ever seen before…as long as your Web site can be quickly modified for a/b and mulitvariate testing.

Which eCommerce company do you think is chasing tail today?

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