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November 7, 2022 By Morgan Pastner Jaffe Leave a Comment

Strava a Workout App or Social Media Network?

Strava is a platform where users can find, map or record workouts and the app keeps track of the user’s performance and training goals along with speed, distance, elevation change and more. Strava can even recognize if you are running the same route and the app can tell you if your pacing was slower or faster than the previous workout.

While this app is great for athletes to record and analyze their performance, Strava offers an entirely other aspect to their app. The gamification and socialization features make working out fun, social and competitive. Strava users can see other individuals who may be friends or complete strangers who did the same workout that they previously completed. Now users can see how they compare to someone else. This creates friendly competition and can even foment a new friendship between strangers.

Furthering more into the socialization aspect, Strava has a mixture of Facebook and Instagram features. Each Strava user has an activity feed that shows your friends’ activities that you can “like”, give kudos to or write a comment on. Similar to Facebook, Athletes can craft “posts” where they can add photos, headlines, and descriptions and other friends can share. There are also different groups users can join and challenges such as the “November 30-Hour Challenge.” In addition, Strava has a “Clubs” feature that uses your geographical location and allows you to join different clubs in your area.

Strava is an app that is taking over the fitness industry while allowing people a place to communicate, create new relationships, have friendly competition all along with getting the data that one needs to improve their own performance. Strava currently is growing at a 1 million rate of new members every 40 days¹. Their member rate will keep rising as they continue to bring in new exercise features along with social sharing features. Strava will continue to gain popularity as there is no fitness app that is giving the same amount of data while at the same time, promoting challenges among people globally along with trying to gather people with the same interests in their own community area.

Sources:

Gross, M. (n.d.). How strava became the only fitness app that matters. Men’s Journal. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/how-strava-became-the-only-fitness-app-that-matters-w501209/
Hall, C. (2022, January 1). What is Strava, how does it work and is it worth paying for? Pocket-Lint. Retrieved November 7, 2022, from https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/154854-what-is-strava-and-how-does-it-work

October 2, 2022 By Morgan Pastner Jaffe Leave a Comment

Apple: The Future of our Healthcare?

Apple’s technology within the healthcare space started in 2014 with the release of the Health app available on the iPhone and in 2015 Apple introduced the Apple Watch. Since then, Apple has evolved and innovated their technology to help empower their users to live a healthier lifestyle and to gather more medical information to help bridge the gap between the patient and provider.

The Apple Watch and Health app focuses on 17 different areas of health and fitness and users can store 150 types of data that pertains to their health. Apple has taken their health technology one step further and has a Health Records tool where users can store their medical documents, lab results, medications and much more. The Health Records is available on the Health app and over 800 institutions across 12,000 locations are using the Health Records app. The question remains, do users trust putting all their personal health information into their phone? Do they trust Apple to keep their information secure?

As digital privacy has been a concern for the public, Apple has released many statements reassuring their commitment to keeping their user data encrypted and safe. Does touch ID, face ID and passcodes make users feel like their information is safe? There is still the option that a hacker can get the data and leak it as well. Do the risks outweigh the pros when it comes to the benefit of the new Health App? I would say it does.

There is always going to be the possibility that our information and data will be leaked, but the Health App and Apple watch can give data and insight to providers to help save a patient’s life. Many times, a patient is in the office and the doctor will see how they are in that moment, but the apple watch continuously collects data about someone all day long that the doctor can now read and come to a better diagnose. Not only that but a huge benefit of Apple having the Health Records tool is for patients to store all their medical information in one place. Have you ever had to email your records to a provider’s office because they couldn’t find your records from another doctor? It would save time doctors and office staff when it comes to collecting and hunting down that information.

Overall, the benefits outweigh the risk of data getting leaked. While it may take Apple time to build trust in the medical community and with its users about their data privacy, I do think Apple is on to something that may become the centralized place for Healthcare data.

Sources:

How Apple is empowering people with their health information. Apple Newsroom. (2022, September 20). Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/07/how-apple-is-empowering-people-with-their-health-information/

Rice, A. (2022, July 20). Why Apple wants users to store their health data on their devices. Healthline. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.healthline.com/health-news/apple-wants-users-to-store-their-health-data-on-their-devices-is-it-a-good-idea#Should-you-store-health-records-on-your-device

September 18, 2022 By Morgan Pastner Jaffe Leave a Comment

Social Selling: Social Media Shopping

Coronavirus had a major impact on the way that we purchase, and businesses had to quickly innovate and solve how to now sell and market to their customers during a period with an ever-changing environment. 4.2 billion people worldwide are active on social media and alone in 2020, social media gained 490 million users².

Social media platforms have quickly turned into a way for consumers to tap and purchase a product they may see on their feed, ad or on an influencers page. This is known as social selling. Social selling is the modern way to build relationships and engage with potential customers. A new user to each platform is a potential customer. Social selling has now become the new innovative way for customers to find new brands and to purchase them through that platform.

For example, on Instagram you can instantly purchase from the app and while many users may not feel comfortable leaving their payment methods on Instagram (yet), potential customers still tend to follow the brand and end up on that brand’s website to check out their products. There are also other ways brands and business can sell on Instagram as well. PlusBKLYN, a plus sized clothing sure located in Brooklyn, New York goes “live” on Instagram every Thursday night to sell products and throughout the week posts products on their story and consumers can “DM” to purchase. Owner Alexis Krase reports that 50% or more of her daily sales total come social selling.

Social media and word of mouth increases engagement with new people and cultivates new relationships between the brand and the customer. Business can use social listening tools to respond and engage with customers directly. Not only does this create authenticity, but it also builds trust and in turn creates customer loyalty. Social listening also is a unique way for businesses to collect data and information about their customer and their desires when it comes to the products that the company offers.

Social commerce continues to evolve at a quicker rate, as social media networks keeps advancing and growing so will the potential revenue. In light of the pandemic and supply chain issues, there has been less products in person while online shopping has a more variety and items in stock. While in-person shopping will never go extinct, social selling is still in its early stages in developing and it will be interesting to see how it evolves over the next few years.

Sources:

¹ Hutchinson, A. (2022, January 18). New report highlights the rise of social media shopping [infographic]. Social Media Today. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/new-report-highlights-the-rise-of-social-media-shopping-infographic/617315/

² Newberry, C., & Olafson, K. (2022, April 5). Social selling: What it is, why you should care, and how to do it right. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/what-is-social-selling/#:~:text=using%20social%20media.-,What%20is%20social%20selling%3F,selling%20as%20modern%20relationship%2Dbuilding.

July 13, 2022 By Morgan Pastner Jaffe Leave a Comment

Possible Movie Theater Extinction

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, movie theaters took a shift and online streaming services started to become a top innovator, 72% of users are using at home digital content streaming services. In 2021 the combined home and mobile entertainment reached $99.7 billion, a 24% increase compared to 2020. Only 387 movies were released in theaters in 2021 compared to 987 in 2019. ¹

The pandemic has shifted the way people think about doing their everyday activities and with online streaming services taking over, people have been accustomed to staying at home and not only that, but they have also found a huge benefit in staying at home versus going to the movie theater to watch a movie.

Cinema tickets are not exactly cheap, especially if you are going as a family. A ticket can cost anywhere from $15-20 dollars per person along with the costly popcorn, drinks, and snacks that the movie theaters charge a staggering 600% markup. Now you can purchase a new released movie or even those movies may be included in a subscription service that the user is already subscribed to.

Buying a movie online if not subscribed to the service can be anywhere from $15-25 dollars. Now with the cost of gas rising and more Covid-19 variants spreading, staying home not only saves money but can be more comfortable. At the movie theater you have young adolescents that may scream during the movie, the seats may not be comfortable, and you may have to get up to go to the bathroom or grab another refreshment.

At home you can sit in the comfort of your own home. Parent’s do not need to find a babysitter, and if viewer needs to grab a snack or go to the bathroom, you can easily pause or rewind the movie at any time to re-watch a scene. Not only this, but the purchase also allows you to re-watch the movie again or another member in the household may want to watch it lat a later time, whereas in the movie theater after you are done the movie you go home.

I believe as the pandemic continues and as people’s wants and desires continue to shift, the streaming and movie service will continue to innovate and shift to the new normal. As movie theaters have already taken a financial hit due to the pandemic, the future of the physical locations remains uncertain. As digital innovation continues to strengthen, we will see how streaming services adapt and if theaters find ways to survive.

Sources:

^{McClintock, Pamela. “2021 Global Box Office down 50 Percent from Pre-Pandemic Times: MPA Report.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2022, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2021-global-box-office-pandemic-1235110511/.}

^{Patel, Arvin. “The Top 5 Streaming and Video Innovations Keeping Us Sane during COVID-19.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 28 May 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/arvinpatel/2020/05/28/the-top-5-streaming-and-video-innovations-keeping-us-sane-during-covid-19/?sh=2d6dc9093f6c.}

^{Worby, ByMike. “10 Reasons Why Watching at Home Beats the Cinema.” Tilt Magazine, 19 Sept. 2021, https://tilt.goombastomp.com/film/10-reasons-why-watching-at-home-beats-the-cinema/.}

July 13, 2022 By Morgan Pastner Jaffe Leave a Comment

Keep the Change

Design thinking is such an important methodology when creating new products or services. A great design satisfies both our needs and desires and has products or services appeal to us both emotionally and functionally. Bank of America was able to use design thinking to look the problem that customers were having with saving their money.

Bank of America assembled a team with experts in finance, engineering, operations, and project managers. In 2004 Bank of America started engaging with customers and realized that people enjoyed the act of saving more so than the actual amount they save. For example the customer felt just as good as saving $50 dollars a month or $500. From this insight the team held 20 sessions and 80 product concepts to try to find a solution. The team created a prototype of a rounding up service and tested it online with 1600 people. With extremely positive reviews, Keep the Change was approved.

Keep the Change is a product that would allow customers to round-up with every purchase/transaction that they would make. People were used to purchasing with their debit cards and Keep the Change gave an invisible way for customers to increase their savings. As an added bonus, Bank of America matched the saving at 100% for the first three months up to a certain amount that also helped promote the product.

In less than a year the program attracted 2.5 million customers. Keep the Change helped open 700,000 new checking accounts. A million new savings accounts and enrolment totaled to more than 5 million people who together have saved more than $500 million.

Why was this service so successful? The BOA team used Design Thinking methodology and was successful in creating a product that appealed to the customer both emotionally and functionally. Since then, more than 12 million customers have signed up for the program and saved more than 2 billion dollars in total. 60% of all new customers enroll for “Keep the Change”. 99% of customers who signed up for the program stayed with it.

Sources:

^{Hub, Abu Dhabi SME. “Leverage Design Thinking to Resonate with Customers – Bank of America’s ‘Keep the Change’ Experiment.” Leverage Design Thinking to Resonate with Customers – Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” Experiment, Abu Dhabi SME Hub, https://www.adsmehub.ae/en/learn/post-details/leverage-design-thinking-to-resonate-with-customers–bank-of-americas-keep-the-change-experiment.}

^{Joni, Dr. Saj-nicole. “Why We All Need More Design Thinking.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 11 July 2012, https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/14/tim-brown-ideo-leadership-managing-design.html?sh=3bf321b1f8f3.}

^{Namdarian, Shay. “6 Companies That Have Successfully Applied Design Thinking.” Medium, Medium, 16 Sept. 2019, https://shaynam85.medium.com/6-companies-that-have-successfully-applied-design-thinking-2d8bddf4e9e2.}

^{Schmieden, Karen. “Bank of America Helps Customers Keep the Change: The Design Thinking Association.” Bank of America Helps Customers Keep the Change | The Design Thinking Association, https://www.design-thinking-association.org/explore-design-thinking-topics/external-links/bank-america-helps-customers-keep-change.}

July 13, 2022 By Morgan Pastner Jaffe Leave a Comment

Restaurant Industry Innovation Shift

With the Covid-19 pandemic, restaurants have had to make radical changes to shift to the customer’s needs and to follow safety protocols. Not only that but during this time, many chefs and wait staff have decided to quit their jobs to move to a more stable industry leaving the restaurant industry understaffed and facing a problem with the shift in digital innovation.

30% of people still do not feel safe dining inside and PYMNTS research found that 36% of customers are using apps to order head and 28% percent are using food delivery apps like Grubhub and DoorDash. This digital shift, especially seen in the younger generation who want speed and faster services when it comes to ordering their food. Even at a physical location more than 64% of customers prefer to order their food digital instead of having staff wait on them.

According to Mastercard’s Recovery Insights: Commerce E-volution, roughly 20 to 30% of the Covid related shift to digital globally is expected to be permanent. The demand for digital experiences continues to be the customers priority. Technology continues to be a digital innovator and restaurants are adapting to have more automated systems. 54% of respondents in a Deloitte survey claim they prefer to order from a partially or fully automated kitchen. Technology and mobile apps also gather valuable data for the restaurants when it comes to marketing. This information can provide restaurants useful insight so they can try to be more personalized as Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts has done with their app over the years

With the increase in digital ordering and the demand for faster service, restaurants have been turned upside down with their operations to keep their customers happy and maintain their loyalty. As the pandemic continues, restaurants continuously must stay on their feet to adapt to the new normal and to the new technology innovators that are being used in the restaurant industry.

It is very beneficial for restaurants to collect data with using apps for on-the-go ordering or in person orders. The information and data obtained from the technology can be used for marketing purposes alongside obtaining information for making smarter purchasing choices for materials and providing the customer with what products/foods they enjoy the most.

It is uncertain with the current shifting environment if people will still enjoy seeing their favorite waitress or bartender when they go out to eat, or if they still want to have that human contact to be waited on or if the restaurant industry will shift to completely digital and we will be ordering from IPad’s or other electronic devices from the comfort of our table.

^Sources:

^{“Deloitte: The Restaurant of the Future Should Evolve to Serve Consumers in New Ways.” Deloitte United States, Deloitte, 6 Dec. 2021, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/deloitte-the-restaurant-of-the-future-should-evolve-to-serve-consumers-in-new-ways.html.}

^{Kiel, Aaron. “New Tool Offers Operators an End-to-End Solution for Diner Engagement.” Bar & Restaurant, Questex, 20 Apr. 2021, https://www.barandrestaurant.com/technology/new-tool-offers-operators-end-end-solution-diner-engagement.}

^{PYMNTS.com. “Digital Ordering Changes Restaurant Industry.” PYMNTS.com, What’s Next Media and Analytics, 14 June 2022, https://www.pymnts.com/restaurant-innovation/2022/pymnts-intelligence-how-digital-ordering-demands-are-changing-the-face-of-the-restaurant-industry/.}