Hope you guys enjoyed your long weekend! Quite a rewind for us here back at the Six - it suddenly started snowing again!
This week we have the Netflix’s watershed moment; Fortnite and Dating apps playing into Coachella and festivals; Instagram amps up its commerce capabilities; and, Amazon’s emerging Cashierless-as-a-Service offering.
Also, check out our latest podcast! It features a homegrown healthcare start-up co-founder discussing her journey and opening up new chapters in life.
Don’t forget Nominations for our second cohort are ongoing for our Expert Circle!
Analytics, Digital, Design In Action
Netflix and Reel
Shares of Netflix plunged 35% after it lost subscribers in its most recent quarter, the first time in almost a decade. Netflix said several headwinds are affecting growth, including increasing competition and the lifting of pandemic restrictions. Its business benefited from coronavirus stay-at-home orders, with more people seeking out digital entertainment. But in recent months people have been spending less time on digital platforms as vaccines rolled out and mandates eased.
Netflix estimated that 100 million households are sharing their subscription passwords with other family or friends. Netflix's customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during Q1/22 . The drop stemmed in part from Netflix's decision to withdraw from Russia to protest the war against Ukraine, resulting in a loss of 700,000 subscribers. Netflix projected a loss of another 2 million subscribers in the current April-June quarter.
While is this a short-term blip following the lockdown anomalies or a result of heightened competition from fellow streamers and other media like social media or video games remain to be seen.
Festivals as Metaverse Proofs
Fortnite is adding Coachella to its impressive list of in-game collaborations. The annual music festival announced that it’ll release Coachella-themed skins and in-game features for its first foray into gaming. Coachella’s music will also make its way into the game. Up until May 16, Fortnite’s Icon Radio will be playing music from more than 30 artists slated to play Coachella this year.
Video games have been the epicenter of pop culture’s leading edge engagement for a while now, with Fortnite leading the charge. This announcement further cements the growing synergies between digital and physical town squares where people come to congregate. Fortnite has focused more on music and live events in the last few years: Marshmello and Ariana Grande have performed, and artists have been part of musical events built in the game’s creative mode.
Meanwhile, leading dating-app Tinder is launching a new feature called Festival Mode designed to help users connect ahead of their plans to attend concerts or larger music festivals, like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Stagecoach, EDC Las Vegas and others.
Instagram’s Product Tagging
Instagram’s expanding the ability to add product tags in Feed posts to everyone in the U.S. Creators and brands have been sharing how they use and style their favorite products on Instagram and inspiring their communities. This broadly arms Instagram’s creators better monetization opportunities, in-line with the growing race among social media platforms to enable commerce on their sites.
Cashierless-as-a-Service
Amazon announced it will bring its cashier-free checkout technology, Just Walk Out, to a Major League Baseball stadium for the first time. With the addition of these two baseball stadium stores, Amazon continues to expand their cashier-less technology, which is available in Amazon Go and Fresh locations. Amazon began licensing the technology to 3P retailers in 2020.
Amazon is using a combination of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and data pulled from multiple sensors to ensure customers are only charged for the stuff they pick up. Cameras are used to track items as they're taken from shelves.
A patent application filed by Amazon in early 2015 first revealed details about the technology. The patent described a store that would work using a system of cameras, sensors, and/or RFID readers to identify shoppers and their items. Amazon has long shown that it uses itself as its prime use case for potential software offerings, with AWS as the prime example.
We’re also recruiting for our ABD Team!
Please spread the word and show us some love 😘
If you like what we are doing, please consider sharing it with your friends, family, and colleagues. We are a nonprofit organization that is 100% run by volunteers who might look just like you. We are sending a weekly digest every Tuesday. Until the next time!