Tag Archives: Strategic management

September 28, 2015 · 11:28 am

AV Gee Whiz…

If you own a Windows computer, chances are you’ve installed some sort of anti-virus program.  At least I hope you have.  One of the more popular programs of this sort is AVG Anti-virus.  I have it on my old Windows machine and I’ve installed it on my parents’ laptop.  AVG recently updated their privacy policy and it’s caused a bit of a fracas.  It also raises some important issues for the rest of us. 

Let me say at the outset that the manner in which AVG presents their new policy should be a model for the rest of us.  You can (and should) read it here.  It is clear, written in plain language that doesn’t require the reader to be either a lawyer or a technical person. Not only do they explain what data they are collecting but also why they are collecting it.  I bet you can’t find another privacy policy that does so as well as this one does.

So what has happened as a result of AVG trying to be good corporate citizens?  They are getting reamed.  There have been many negative articles and thousands of negative posts written (this thread on reddit is particularly nasty).  You see, AVG made one large change in the policy, which is that it now involves keeping the browsing history of its users and selling the data to third parties.  They actually were collecting most of this data before except there was no mention of selling it to anyone for commercial purposes.

The PC World piece on the controversy summed it up nicely:

AVG’s new policy illustrates exactly why companies tend to drown their data collection practices in legalese. There’s no penalty for doing so, and being transparent only invites more outrage. In that sense, AVG at least deserves credit for helping users make informed decisions. Still, the idea of an anti-virus program tracking and monetizing your browsing history is unnerving, and if anything AVG ought to clarify that point further as it finalizes its new privacy policy.

So I’m at a loss here.  Is it a better idea to confuse your customers?  Is it good practice to be a little less transparent?  I don’t think either of those are true.  Are we all still so naive that we believe all the tracking information companies gather about our every move (and this is true about your mobile device usage too!) is just for their own information so that they can make our user experiences better?  Sure, AVG makes it possible to opt out of some of this, but do we really think most people will read the new policy and do so?

I guess the real question becomes is honesty still the best policy?  What’s your take?

Leave a comment

Filed under Huh?, Reality checks

Tagged as , , , , ,

September 16, 2015 · 10:08 am

Changing The Weather

There was a piece on CNN’s site last week that dealt with some changes happening at The Weather Channel. I don’t know about you, but that’s one of the channels I find pretty indispensable, even though my cable service provides a 24/7 local traffic and weather channel too. Over the years, I’ve noticed that the folks at Weather have been adding weather-related programming, and it’s frustrating when you turn on the channel to get an update only to see “Fat Guys In The Woods” or some other canned stuff in lieu of live weather. Apparently, other have noticed as well and Weather is reacting. What they had to say is instructive for all of us, no matter what our business.

Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the article, they just announced layoffs:

About 50 of the channel’s 1,400 employees will be leaving. The plan calls for a singular focus “on our unique strength — and that is the weather.” With the cable channel bundle coming under increasing pressure, and “skinny bundles” becoming more common, “it’s inevitable that channels will be cut,” Weather Company CEO David Kenny said in an interview. With this in mind, “we need to be really clear who we are,” Kenny said.

That’s the business point.  There is always the temptation to expand the meaning of our brands.  As we’ve discussed before, we’re not really in control of that meaning anymore: the consumer is.  What The Weather Channel did was to dilute the meaning of the brand, which in this consumer’s mind was live weather and analysis.  I realize that when it’s a sunny day everywhere there isn’t a lot to say, but it’s possible to bring in non-live segments (not programs) while preserving the core identity.  When the channel was taken off DirecTv for a few months, suddenly someone realized that they were no longer indispensable and the basic business model of subscriber fees was put in jeopardy.  Not good.

Ask yourself what is working for your brand.  What does it mean in consumers‘ minds?  You can’t alienate or confuse them while you try to grow the brand’s meaning.  As the man said, be really clear about who you are.  Make sense?

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting, Huh?

Tagged as , , , , ,

September 8, 2015 · 10:28 am

It’s Showtime!

Change is hard, and when it’s forced upon you by circumstances beyond your control, it’s even harder. That’s the ongoing situation in the television business, both on the distribution side and on the content provider side (read that as cable/satellite providers and programming services).

English: Logo for Showtime.

Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Showtime recently began offing a streaming-only subscriber service, and, as reported in the piece in Adweek, they’re learning a lot from the experience. More about that in a second, but the fact that the Showtime folks are even doing this at all gets a round of applause from me. Too many of my friends in broadcasting (cable-casting, whatever you might call it) are fixated with the traditional (dying) business model. They seem bound and determined to milk every last cent out of it before changing their ways (reality check = music business).  All this while the 13 largest pay-TV providers in the US, which account for approximately 95% of the market, saw a net loss of 470,855 subscribers in Q2 2015—the worst quarterly drop ever.  Now is the time to be trying new things and finding new ways of doing business, not when the drip of cord cutters becomes a flood.

Here is a quote from the article that got my attention:

Showtime Networks President David Nevins has been receiving detailed, data-fueled reports about its growth and usage each day. Having long been limited to getting monthly reports about subscriber trends for the premium cable network, he now browses detailed updates each morning, learning how many subscriptions were sold and what the service’s usage looks like.

While you might wonder why they weren’t looking at usage reports before, the reality is that there was little incentive to do so.  The network stuck their deals with service providers – the cable distributors were their customers, not “civilians.”  While they are no longer being separated from their users by a middleman, they’re also having to learn a lot about those users, which wasn’t an imperative before.  That transition, by the way, is probably one of the biggest impacts of digital – the disintermediation effect on many businesses.

“You can see on a nightly basis exactly what people are watching, and it’s fascinating.”  Anyone in business needs to know what our customers are consuming, as well as how and why they’re doing so.  Moreover, we need to be open to changing how we do business, better to serve both those customers and our bottom lines.  Showtime has been.  You?

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media

Tagged as , , , , ,