strategy+business

thank you, next

This issue of strategy+business is infused with the sentiment behind Ariana Grande’s song “Thank U, Next”: The hit acknowledges the lessons the singer learned from her relationships while marching with an optimistic insouciance into the future. What does this have to do with a magazine about business and management? Well, the main articles in this issue grapple with the tension between building on an appreciated past and recognizing that success depends on embracing the future. This tension is explored in articles informed by PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019–2023. In “Making connections with the new digital consumer,” Dan Bunyan and Karim Sarkis of Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting group, examine how consumers’ shift from desktop to mobile and from browser to apps is forcing the digital marketing industry to evolve (page 60).…

strategy+business

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Art Kleiner International Editor Jeremy Grant Executive Editor Daniel Gross Digital Strategy and Multimedia Melanie Rodier Managing Editor Elizabeth Johnson Deputy Managing Editor Sally Errico Senior Editor Laura W. Geller Deputy Managing Editor Michael Guerriero Senior Editor Deborah Unger Associate Editor Michelle Gerdes Senior Editor Amy Emmert Editorial Operations Manager Natasha Andre Chief Copy Editor Victoria Beliveau Art Director John Klotnia Opto Design Designers Laura Eitzen Leigh Jagareski Jennifer Thai Contributing Editors Cristina Ampil Edward H. Baker David Clarke Elizabeth Doty Ken Favaro Bruce Feirstein Lawrence M. Fisher Ann Graham Sally Helgesen David K. Hurst Jon Katzenbach Theodore Kinni David Lancefield Tim Laseter Paul Leinwand Eric J. McNulty Gary L. Neilson Rob Norton James O’Toole Matt Palmquist Juliette Powell Jeffrey Rothfeder Michael Schrage Jesse Sostrin Thomas A. Stewart John Sviokla Chrisie Wendin PUBLISHING Publisher and Business Manager Gretchen Hall Senior Marketing Manager Charity Delich Advertising Director Judith Russorusso_judy@strategy-business.com Business Operations Manager Bevan…

ears wide open

PwC's Entertainment & Media Outlook Voice technology is hot. Just ask Alexa…or Siri…or Google Assistant… or Cortana…or Bixby. Each of these brand-name voice assistants speaks when spoken to, turning on a smart speaker or other voice-activated device that can answer questions. Voice is rapidly emerging as a hands-free medium consumers use for, well, just about anything — music, news feeds, hints on removing stains, instructions for mixing cocktails. In homes, people use voice commands to adjust interconnected lights and thermostats, and search for — and even buy — products and services. There’s something primal about listening to entertainment. Think of cave dwellers huddled around a fire pit enraptured by hunting tales, or a 1940s nuclear family gathered in front of a radio for the next episode of The Lone Ranger. And until…

communicating project developments one step at a time

You’ll be hard pressed to find a city in the US with a deeper connection to its historical roots than St. Augustine, Florida. The City holds the honor of being the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European origin in the United States, and it shows: just taking a stroll down one of the city’s many cobblestone streets invokes the type of old town, coastal-colonial that feels as if you just stepped off a time-machine. Preserving this moment in time would be impossible if not for the help of the city’s extensive zoning regulations and efforts. The plans are designed to preserve the historic character of many buildings in the area through a series of compliance checks that are regulated via the city’s historical preservation board. Due to the intricate nature of…

the kidtech is all right

PwC's Entertainment & Media Outlook What does a former rap DJ from County Tipperary know about the digital content consumption habits of children? Dylan Collins, CEO of London-based startup SuperAwesome, is developing the infrastructure that enables companies to engage with the fastest-growing group of Internet users: the under-13 set. With offices in New York, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles, the rapidly expanding (and profitable) company says it is the largest “kidtech” company in the world. In the digital marketing arena, user-tracking is the norm and users freely offer information about themselves and their viewing and consumer habits. But the largest social media platforms don’t allow kids to register for their services. And a host of regulations and practices limit the ability of marketers to gather information on the youngest Internet users,…

rox: how to get started with the new experience metric

Going into the annual meeting, the hotel chain’s chief financial officer knew he’d be quizzed about the company’s new return on experience (ROX) metrics. But he hadn’t expected an interrogation. He thought he’d explained it, but one shareholder just kept asking questions. So, can you explain ROX another way? How is it different from the metrics you already use? How does it work in practice? Who owns ROX? The queries kept coming. This scenario is hypothetical, but before long, it could be common. Leading businesses are beginning to explore ROX, a metric that captures a company’s return on its investment in customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX). Some large B2C and B2B companies have been able to implement ROX metrics in as little as four months and are already seeing…