Philip Eng

This is an interesting idea. As I was thinking about it I could not even remember the name of one of the first pay sites, paypal, and spent a few seconds looking it up. I feel this gets at Greg’s point about the customer not the tech. PayPal is an online secure payment method. They should have been able to transition into the mobile space easily. Yet I couldn’t even recall their name, and your first thought was of Venmo.

Love this idea Phillip. I agree with Sean that apps like PayPal and Venmo are secure ways of mobile payment. I also think that the reason why NFC technology isn’t utilized more is because of the differentiating phones and their apps. I don’t think Apple would appreciate an NFC transfer from an iPhone to an Android or vis versa without some type of compensation. That’s why the creation of these apps, like Venmo, Apple Pay and Paypal exist.

In relation to your question, I don’t think we would see a change in count of transactions if Venmo utilized NFC, A device using NFC needs to be in close proximity of another in order for it to work. Unless you want to send money to a friend whose right next to you, NFC won’t be useful.

Thanks for the post Phillip! Totally agree with you– too often am I with my friends, across the table from each other, and want an instantaneous way to transfer money between us. I love the idea of being able to airdrop funds instead of opening an app and waiting for the transfer period. But in the same vein, I also appreciate being able to send money to friends or family over long distances without having to know their bank account number first. So I’m sort of in the middle thinking about the potential venture in this type of technology.

I agree with Mo though, that ultimately the politics between mobile device makers and cellular providers that it seems unlikely to happen without massive collaborations. Tap technology is the newest form of payment that has plunged in usage since COVID, if there was a time for collaboration to create new innovation, it would be now. Wonder what it would take to open that space to create though.

I don’t know what I’d do without Venmo, but then again, you’re right that a lot of the functionality isn’t really unique. A lot of my Venmo payments are to/from people whom I’m not physically with, so NFCs wouldn’t help there. However, I can definitely see NFCs becoming the defacto way to pay at places like farmers markets, artist booths, etc.
One thing I think Venmo has done particularly well (aside from being an early entrant) is the community/social aspect. One of my friends half jokes that it’s her favorite form of social media, and while a little stalker-ish, it’s a fascinating glimpse into what people are up to.

For me, Venmo works really well for paying friends and family and receiving cash from them. The functionality is simple. I like it. I use NFCs when I am at the grocery store and I like that too. It is nice to have options and sometimes I think we tend to get used to one way of doing something when something else is maybe more practical. I have enjoyed using my phone for making and receiving payments and I don’t really have a preference right now for NFCs.

This is a very interesting idea Philip! I never really thought about this before. I also use Apple Pay so much more than Venmo. They both serve different functions: Apple Pay for stores, Venmo for friends. It would be convenient to have NFC to pay friends. I could be wrong but I believe Apple Pay has this feature, it’s just not used, or I had one time tech issue. My phone was laying next to my friends phone. My Apple Pay app popped up and the screen said “double click to pay”. Meaning send money to the phone next to mine. It was a strange instance being that I did not touch my phone nor intend to send money. In that moment I realized I could send money without Venmo. The privacy and security would definitely need to be amplified. A future issue with this is could other people, “crooks”, send their phone money just by walking next to you?

Venmo and I are not friends. In the past I have had many issues with scams and money being taken from my account and therefore do not find their service very reliable or secure. Venmo compete with many other companies today and I think they are slowly losing the race. “Just Venmo me!” is a common phrase used by todays generation. It’s great for students who do not have much money and want to easily send and receive money from their friends for pizza and coffee but I think there are safer options in todays world!

One – this dog is freaking ADOREABLE. I volunteer to watch when you need a pup sitter.

This is a very interesting concept though Philip. Have you considering finding a niche in the dog entertainment space? I know there are plenty of dog insta’s out there, I wonder if you cant find your kennel in that space (yes pun intended). I think people would be very drawn to something slightly different than just a cute puppy.

Love this post Philip! I was so glad Jaclin came on this past week to speak with us about her journey. Recently, I started posting about my videography on social media, even though I’m just getting started, it still intrigued me.
(https://www.instagram.com/mishmediaplus/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c7f145ef-9da5-463e-96c8-952ac2f25a4d)

I want to grow mine through sharing more content and I was inspired to officially plan out my content strategy. Love your table you started there! I started creating content clusters and using subtopics to plan it out. I am trying to gain clients and it is starting to get exciting.

I recommend maybe you create a reel because they gain attraction or do a IG Live with you and the puppy – that would be so cute! The most important thing to do in the beginning is connected with other accounts for sure! I did some looking for you and here are some accounts to try to interact/connect with or try to get featured on:

@dogs.lovers
@insta_dog
@dogsofinstagram
@small.dogs.fans
@puppystagrams

DOG. CUTE. HEART. HURTS!

Happy new pawrenting!!!

LOVE! I’m sure Jacklin would appreciate knowing how she’s inspired you, Philip. As for your Shiba Inu – with such expressive little faces, they’re absolutely insta-ready doggos. Dan and Misha offer great advice for expanding Louis’ social presence. Lean into those social media audience strategies we discussed a few weeks ago… by listening to your fellow Shiba community, you might discover what niches are saturated and where you have opportunities to stand out. Good luck with training!

PHILIP!!! Louey V is SOOO adorable (yes I just have your doggy my own nickname)!!!!!! Its tough pimping your doggy on social media. I have a colleague is does this, and IT IS WORK!!! From the taking the write pictures, using the right hashtags, making sure the dog looks good in their clothing!!! I think a game changer would be instead of having JUST a social media account for Lou, maybe he can be a doggie vlogger. Vlogging is so popular these days, and you can vlog him and be his voice over!!! YouTube pays you when you have over 1000 subscribers and over 100 views per video, and this could lead to some doggy brand deals, and no one would ever know who or what you look like (my opinion is that it would be very hard to vlog in a major city then if you leaved in a rural place)…. You already have a great name for an instagram handle… make the name for the youtube channel so we can watch Louey V in action!!!!

Philip – This is so relatable. I brought home my puppy, Harper, back in March 2020 and immediately created an account on instagram. The handle is @harperthedoubledoodle if you so wish to exchange follows. I tried to post at least once a day when I first started out; however after a while I would rarely post. I found it hard to grow such a small page from nothing, not to mention the endless ‘spammy’ DM’s and comments I would receive. I think if I were to follow your steps and the advice we received from Jaclin, I could continue to grow Harpers social media page and receive a larger following! Keep at it and don’t feel defeated like me!

P: Thanks for this! Totally think geography (or location) overlay can be a really effective targeting tactic.

I know the East (specifically, China and Japan) have been doing this for years… and sometimes I think we’re so behind, and other times I think… THANK GOODNESS, because I wonder about the saturation (or desensitization) point and diminishing returns of hyper-targeted [and timely] anything/everything.

They say in marketing that you have to hit someone an average of 7x (and today, it’s something like 11x) for it to stick or to get an action, I wonder if this will change that? I wonder the other implications to the advertising industry at-large? Both positive and negative.

Jb

Interesting post Philip (as usual)! As someone who’s usually reluctant to share my location with apps unless I’m actively using the app, I’ve never personally experienced this or even gave it a lot of thought as something I would *want* as a consumer. I don’t keep a lot of retail apps on my phone either, so strike #2 on me being a good target for this service. However, when reading your post and thinking about the convenience of having that geo-targeted notification for a brand I *really* love, I think, “I want that.” I guess this is where I have to analyze my own mobile behaviors and decide what’s really important to me, and how I can get the most value out of a relationship with certain businesses – especially because a geo-targeted promotion serving you the right content at the right time is highly valuable!

Philip this was such a great post and gave me insight into something I never really thought of before! I think Geo-targeting is a great mobile marketing tool and I’m sure it brings a lot of foot traffic for business. I do agree with you on one drawback being that many consumers would be hesitant to share their location, as I have mine only to share when using the app. Though when Erin talked about not having a lot of retail apps on her phone (and I’m also the same) it made me wonder about the data of consumers who actually download a retail’s app. Which would bring another drawback as this type of marketing would only work if a consumer has already downloaded the app. In order to fix this obstacle, I wonder how many retail stores who would benefit from Geo-targeting have marketing tools to entice consumers to download and use their app.

Geo-targeting makes sense for a company’s marketing strategy. In the US, 81% of people own a smartphone, which is even higher for young consumers. In the millennial demographic, 94% own a smartphone and spend more time using those devices than watching television. Research from MarTech Series reveals that 83% of marketers find their campaigns more successful when using location data. In addition: Geo-targeting technology can help marketers win more business and improve relationships with their customers because of customer behavior. Marketers can understand and meet their customers’ needs, resulting in greater engagement with campaigns. Using location data is proven to make marketing campaigns 80% more effective. If you know where potential customers hang out, it’s easy to show them the right promotions at the right time.

I love that you talked about this Philip! Everyone around me always says, how do they know I am near a certain store? Geofencing!! I have been a fan of geofencing for awhile now on the side of marketing. Many people are against it from a consumer side but they opted into it so they can’t really say anything. I think geofencing has helped a lot of retailed and I would love to know just how much of a brick and mortar store’s sales are coming from geofencing!

Just came here to say I love these fries, and I remember the switch happening. But for real, what they did with this campaign and the use of social listening was very strategic, especially for over 10 years ago. I do wonder how their approach for this campaign would change from 2010 to now? I would think it would involve a lot more visuals (great photos and videos) on Instagram and TikTok. And maybe even engaging some influencers to help spread the word of their less sodium-filled and “healthier” fries.

I remember I was immediately drawn to these fries when I saw the ads (the mouthwatering photography is what got me) and haven’t gone to Wendy’s since without ordering them. What’s interesting to me is that I’ve never thought of the sea salt as a healthier alternative, and had Wendy’s led too strongly with the “healthy” message, it probably would have turned me off. Maybe that’s part of why the sea salt messaging is brilliant- it speaks to the health-conscious as well as foodies who hear “sea salt fries” as extra gourmet and delicious (which, to be fair, they are.)

Totally remember them adding the natural cut fries to the menu when I was in high school! Awesome to see some of the behind the scenes for Wendy’s decision making at the time. Think this was around when Burger King released new fries, so it makes compelete sense that these decisions were brought on by social listening at Wendys as both companies were losing (BADLY) to McDonald’s in the french fry wars.

Curious what the rest of the cohort thinks the best fast food fries are? Though I rarely eat there, McDonald’s still gets my vote.

I liked the comparison to New Coke. While I was not around for it, I have heard one of the main issues was a lack of marketing from the get go. It was all about the change, and not why there was a change. Yes social listening would have been a great way for Coke to manage the after affects of the role out. Pre-role out market research also would have helped develop a more effective marketing campaign. I am wondering if there can be a modern day New Coke disaster. I feel there is so much information companies can get before a role out, and so many ways to connect with the customer after, that it would almost be impossible to have that big of a fail.

The success of this campaign comes at no surprise because Wendy’s is one of the top companies that get’s social media right! This is especially when it comes to twitter. Their team operates the platform like a true two-way communication platform, prioritizing customer interaction and insights above all else. Social listening is such a crucial component of social media audience research and it allowed Wendy’s to not only tap into an opportunity to expand their products but also differentiate from their competition which is 2 wins. Great post, Phil!

Wendys did a great job a understanding the market shift. People love fast food, but to have something made quickly, is healthier and taste good is a win across the board. I feel like this really gave them an advantage over their competitors.

Anyone close to me knows that my guilty pleasure food in life is McDonalds…especially their fries. But now, your post has done the unthinkable. Now, I want to go to a Wendy’s – and I have never said that before. And it’s not just about the video of people saying they’re better than McDonald’s (though that does interest me), it’s because you pointed out that Wendy’s made the change to begin with by listening on social media. If enough people out there were talking about it, enough to initiate a change at the company, I’m interested enough to try!

Phil, I think I may need to borrow this example for future cohorts/Learnathons. While we all enjoyed the Anderson Cooper giggling at Wendy’s video, this is an extra-constructive illustration of listening in action to create value at scale. Great post!

Listen, just reading sea salt fries has made me hungry. It seems like Wendy’s has always been ahead of the industry. First this, and then its ‘clapback’ social media accounts. I wonder what “consumer research” meant. Like how did Wendy’s learn about the audience’s demand of a new fry? Did they go on random forums such as Reddit or did Wendy’s send out food reviews and it received many criticisms? Maybe it started out internally and employees were able to get support from customers to change their potato fries. Whatever they did, it worked.

brb, gonna go get some sea salt fries and a frosty now

Thanks for sharing Phil! I am not sure about cryptocurrency and honestly have never thought about it in the context of mobile payments. Although I do not think it is impossible that someday crypto could be incorporated into daily payments and through e-commerce, I do think it has a long way to come in order to be accepted at the scale needed to be as widely used as Apple Pay.

Although, this post made me think of Venmo as another example of digital payments and digital wallets. Venmo starting as a digital application, furthered their services to their customers by creating a Venmo Card. Essentailly a debit card, backed by your Venmo balance. Interesting that this digitally established service made the effort to create physical cards. Contrary to most of their competitors, who were born digital and remain solely digital today.

I echo both what Claire and Jen have posted above. I don’t have a ton of opinions on cryptocurrency yet, but I don’t see why it couldn’t evolve to become a regularly used currency in our day to day lives. I just think it’s going to take a while to get to that point.

On the topic of digital wallets – super handy! I have had some issues with it in the past, getting hacked and not having access to my debit card through Apple Wallet, but overall I think it makes for a more seamless and as Jen said, frictionless, life. It’s also really awesome as a safeguard. My colleague recently had to travel and halfway to her destination realized she forgot her wallet. She was super grateful she hooked up her debit card to her Apple Wallet so she could get gas and go about her day. Having been four hours away from home, she wasn’t left with a lot of options, so having a digital wallet was a lifesaver!

Hey Philip! At the very beginning when Apply Pay was introduced, I was a bit skeptical. I didn’t feel comfortable knowing that my cards could be stored digitally. I was worried that my information could easily be stolen.

It wasn’t until the pandemic that I actually started to rely on Apple Pay to purchase items – mostly because I didn’t want to touch a touchpad during the time.

I have a Discover card and whenever a purchase happens that’s a bit out of my usual – I’ll get a notification sent to my phone if the transaction should be approved. So while I use Apple Pay for 1-2-3 easy payment from now on (the pandemic definitely created this habit for me haha), I’m secure enough to know that if something happens, Discover is great with flagging or checking in purchases that might be concerning.

Just like Gabi, I don’t think I started using Apple Pay until the pandemic for the most part. It is definitely convenient at grocery stores when you have a lot of stuff in your hands, especially when alone. It is also nice when you forget your wallet in the car.

I wanted to also introduce 3 other digital payment forms that I have heard of/used: Zelle, Square Payments, and Facebook Pay. I have recently started using Zelle with my friends because one of them was hacked by Venmo. I like it because it actually has an integration with PNC so it works out because that’s the bank I use. I haven’t personally used Square but I have seen it in many places and have heard about it. You can learn more about it here: https://squareup.com/us/en/payments

I personally like PayPal and Apple Pay a lot! I do wish PayPal creates a connection with Venmo, since they own them, where you can transfer your money between the two accounts or have the accounts linked. That would only make sense to me if they are under the same company now.

Great post, Phil. Really interesting prompt exploring how the pandemic has changed our perception of physical currency, but I don’t know if digital wallets and crypto are entirely equivalent.

One of the advantages of the fiat currency backing those digital wallets is the assurance that its value is backed by a government. Regardless of your opinion of said governments, there are actual physical assets under the control of those governments that at least back up that valuation.

Crypto, by comparison, is almost entirely speculative. I’m admittedly learning about crypto myself and hold a wildly different opinion of Bitcoin than I do some of the more meme-able coins, but the “perception of the masses” carries a bit more weight to me when it comes in the official capacity.

Anyone care to educate their instructor on why the wisdom of the masses is a better basis for valuation than the wisdom of central banks?

For those of you less interested in fiscal theory, do any of you share my appreciation for the beauty of blockchain technology itself, above and beyond its application specific to currency?

Great post Philip! When it comes to crypto wallets and currency I don’t believe the world will conform to using that. Mostly because many don’t understand the concept. When people don’t understand something they automatically become weary or afraid of it. In terms of digital wallets like Apple Pay, I think you made a great point on how it makes consumers spend more. Because it’s not a physical card people don’t feel bad using it even though it still adds up. I’m really curious in looking into the effects of after pay on users. Do the brands who use it see success from it, or is it hurting the business?