Artificial Intelligence going Fashion Street

Watched a movie recently, MoneyBall wherein a baseball manager starts picking his team basis results of a computer algorithm created by a geek. And then the team wins successive matches and sets a record for successive wins in the history. And its a true story.

I wondered how come computer algorithms can predict success so much that coaches/selectors who have played the game for years start becoming irrelevant. People who have been there and have gathered that knack of identifying the hidden potential, can be replaced for the better, efficient and faster Artificial Intelligence driven programs.

However, this is getting real and real today. In my industry of fashion too. Yes, an industry which runs on WGSN trends and worldwide fashion walks trends with hordes of designers and fashion pundits and critics giving thier magical crystal ball predictions of future trends and fads. And all the fashion magazine editors, and retailer feedbacks and planners' output will get replaced with what a piece of code can do. And its here. Now. I digged a little on this and found its happening in India as well.

Closer to home in India, ecommerce companies are having a huge gold mine of data of consumer purchase as well as browsing before purchase. Myntra for example has launched multiple brands like Moda Rapido and Here&Now where the design are predicted basis software's suggestions after mining thier database (together as Myntra, Jabong & Flipkart, they claim 70% online fashion market share) as well as crwaling some thousands of fashion blogs and feeds of social media platforms like instagram. Called as Rapid, this technology would come up with a list of attributes: types of collars, sleeves, cuts, colours and other features currently popular with customers and suggest designs to make.

And they claim huge improvements in sell thru(s), so much so that bulk of thier private labels will start working on AI based trends now.

And then there are global players like Amazon using AI-fashion integration by developing an AI fashion designer. The algorithm learns about a particular style of fashion from images, and can then generate new items in similar styles from scratch.

As per online news articles, i found that an Indian designer brand is using IBM’s cognitive tool Watson to map the future of Bollywood fashion by combining analysis of over 600,000 images of fashion runway shows and Indian couture.

In US, a fashion brand called StitchFix, is solely created out of AI predicted designs for different kinds of customer. The styling service has algorithms to predict what styles people of which profile prefer.

Wow! And imagine the impact in terms of how AI can help brands and retailers with predictive forecasting, capacity planning and merchandising. Issues of unsold inventories, deep discounting, 4-6 months of design to inventory cycle, all getting solved by AI.

How paradoxical it is now. Something as creative as fashion is now predicted by a machine! Is it like a victory of geeks over the fashion pundits? Time will tell.

I am an engineer by the way!

Sources - https://www.livemint.com/AI/tdxtlGYRklB16h8rWj7A2H/How-Artificial-Intelligence-is-empowering-designers-in-India.html

https://www.livemint.com/Companies/tchtq74FOkMM43szMIHh0M/At-Myntra-machines-tell-designers-how-to-make-clothes.html

https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/how-algorithms-are-threatening-fashions-white-collar-jobs

Mobile Wallets - A source of valuable data for e-Retailers

Movement towards Mobile #wallets and complete digitization is on its way. Post #Demonetization, now there is month on month drop in ATM transactions and cash withdrawl while usage of wallets and card transactions are growing.

Consolidation is on cards in wallets space as biggies jostle for acquistions of fintech players. From #paytm, #freecharge, #mobiqwik to #amazonpay and #phonepe. Post consumer acquistion thru cashbacks, now players are pumping money into offline retail space where paytm's reach is unmatchable.

And to acquire large number of merchant POS to enable forced adoption of a wallet; there will be more partnerships of the likes of #zopper. May be partnerships in space of loyalty aggreggators like capillary, quicksilver, easyrewards which have large POS reach with these wallet players will pave the way for next chunk of transactions acquisition.

And its evident with monies being  pumped in India by likes of #Flipkart/#Amazon. Why not? #Payment is key to #Purchase as well as #POSdata leading to insights in buying behaviour and patterns to create better #selection making the commerce efficient and profitable.

No wonder why wallets space is so hot; and ATMs are dying. See all 3 news in one place; telling the #story of #money getting #digital.

Disruption = Marketing + Technology

Marketing + Technology intersection will be the breeding ground of disruption in 2018. As per a study by Hansa Cequity/ET, the priorities of marketing men are clearly shifting from plain story telling to a larger play of #technology aiding #marketing mechanics & decision making.

The dominant directions as per study are - #Martech investments and #Customer journey Mapping. The tons of data (POS + Social + web analytics + text/voice search + location behaviour) is going to pave the way for the next disruption.

Brand custodians of today need to define segments basis a lot more dimensions. A consumer today is leaving a behaviour trail everywhere - 1. where he goes and at what time (#geo+#time targeting)
2. What he watches/reads at what time (#search/on-demand #content (youtube/netflix)
3 Where and how much and how #frequent he #spends (offline payment details/online cookies)
4 what he buys and across what all #categories (POS data + aggregater payment info (wallet usage))
5 what are his #habits (search + app download history)

Eg, #Ola/#Uber knows everyday which all places i visit and can predict. They can give me food/shopping deals in my destinations?

A #runkeeper can offer me shoes replacement deal basis my km done on app.

An #airtel TV can send me hourly #dominos pizza offers basis my binge watch/recording habits.

A #paytm can sell me a yearly subscription deal with cashbacks basis my recharge frequency on mobile.

A #looks salon can send me hair treatment offers just when i need one basis my history..

An FMCG brand can marry search data + POS data to predict purchase trends and push sweeteners accordingly.

A siri or alexa searches database can tell you a great deal about what drives a family conversation...much more than psychographics estimation in classical marketing..

Future from a speilberg movie is here.

#technology #marketing

Leadership principles by John Mattone (Executive coach of Steve Jobs)

Privileged to attend a session on intelligent leadership by coach of steve jobs, Mr John Mattone today at  #ETSalesStrategySummit  in Mumbai. Some gems from his session -

1. To succeed, Think #different and Think #Big. Success in terms of leaving a legacy.

2. Leaving a #legacy is possible when u switch to being #vulnerable, which means to lead and interact with open #heart and have the courage to touch others soul to leave a mark.

3. #Character being more important than anything else. Its by being a good human being u get the best out of this world.

4. Dont focus on weaknesses, focus on gifts and #strengths and keep working on them. Those gifts are your means to left a mark in the world. Dont get into comfort zones of ur strengths also. A sachin practices everyday.

5. Be #courageous in pursuits. Be #passionates, nobody remebers a calculated leader!

6. Take #feedback in. Course correct. To keep getting out of your echo chambers and comfort zones.

7. Feel #privileged. Always be in the #present. Connect with people to enrich them and get enriched.

#leadership #stevejobs #johnmattone

Xiaomi - Marching from pockets to rooms

From small screen to large screens, from pockets to rooms.

The battle to woo the masses with super specs at affordable prices has shifted from mobiles to TVs. Chinese players are all on with #Xiaomi leading the battle after being labled as No 1 #smartphone brand.

The koreans, be it #Samsung or #LG are more alert on this turf, dropping prices to hold one. Xiaomi is calling it the '#jio' disruption they want to do in TV space, can they?

Here is the landscape. 22,000 cr TV market. Mostly bought #offline. #Replacement frequncy much lower than a mobile. #Aftersales service a key cog. #Status symbol category more than a mobile. #Specs matter the most (Smart, light, big screen..); the old line hold the most - "Bada hai toh behtar hai".

All that jazz means, 1. its a massive game of #distribution as online TV buying would be lesser compared to phones. 2. The #ritual matters as in u go and checkout the TV in store before u finalise. 3. #Aftersales service can be a pain. 4. #Brandawareness with positive ego attributes matter! (Onida's punchline)

Thats where koreans score vs new entrants. But indian '#value' heritage of good brand at affordable prices with a sweetner for distribution might just what the doctor ordered!

#marketing #tech #disruption #consumer

Marketing Principles at Home

This post is going to throw a lot of insight into our households; the most neglected parts of all our marketers/sales guys who are outside in field or in offices making strategies to wow our consumers. We can rather learn a lot and apply most of consumer behavior/marketing principles at home only! This post is going to be a revelation of sorts..

Consumer is the King  - Be it your wife or your kid; this is a golden principle for them. Thou shall not follow it shall run great risks. Be it a trip to market or watching a particular channel; your wife and kids are like 'the consumer' and shall be treated like kings and be followed all times for better household hours :)

Customer Service is the key to success and peace - For couple who have just turned parents; they will agree to this principle with respect to their new-borns! Your kid, if not given service at 24 by 7; it will give you nightmares even during the days. Whether having food in the wee hours of the night or trying every trick to entertain the chap is what tells all newly become parents - that Supreme Customer Service for their kids is a MUST.

Customer is always right! - I am sure, all married men shall agree that this principle is the golden principle of marriage. Wife is always right. Thou shall not follow it shall suffer!

Why suddenly everybody is interested in delivering #Milk at ur doorstep?

Why suddenly everybody is interested in delivering #Milk at ur doorstep? There are plethora of milk apps (#milkbasket), #grocery #ecommerce players and #offline neighborhood retailers joining the milk-wagon! Why, so much fuss about a low margin, near commodity category like milk?

As indian consumers, we have grown up with #Amul as the only dominant voice in the category. A huge traditional distribution does the trick to make it reach our doorstep every morning. Whats the need to change ?

As a #consumer, its the Power to choose. The night before! When u install that app, because of a tech backed up supply chain, u can decide the night before, what u want to add to that milk? Eggs, Bread, Biscuits? Thats a common problem. U seem to run out of these daily needs and have to run to the kirana guy in the morning.

But what about #retailers? Because, they need a foot in the door. Its an opportunity to change ur #habit, and find a consumer who will buy higher margin categories. And its all stocked up near a big box or small shop near u.

And worldwide #investors dont reward so much on ur revenues so much as ur potential revenue thru active customer count. And India is the biggest populated fastest growing economy. And they have #money!

https://lnkd.in/fUPwvCV

Customers would have wanted a faster horse! - Henry Ford

#Convenience is the biggest attribute of future. Saving #time is the noblest thing to do for consumers. #Brands who marry #technology with #creativity to solve consumer problems with these 2 built in purposes (Convenience & lightening fast) will be the biggest brands of the future.

If you see history with recent successes, its there. Whether it is #Apple bringing Ipods and Iphones with huge convenience offerings or #Facebook with faster way to connect with people or #Google with its fastest search or #Amazon with its fastest delivery, broadest selection & value (Convenience). Its whats that happened. Creating convenience thru technology with creativity in exploring the unknown. 

Why ecommerce players are obsessive about number of clicks? Because they take consumer convenience as obsession to work at breakneck speed to make it happen. From multiple it became 'one click purchase' which in itself was a milestone. But just for a while. Today, consumers we are moving from many clicks to one click to zero clicks. Thats where #AI takes over! And thats what devices/apps like #Alexa or #GoogleHome or #Siri or #GoogleAssistant are doing. Taking convenience to the #ZEROCLICK saving time for the consumers to get what they want at lightening speed!

Why Tech companies are burning midnight oil to create smart appliances via Internet of Things (IOT) that will obey voice commands? Sounds bizarre. Taking customer convenience to an extreme. But that is the future. 3D printing was like a fairy's magic in childhood stories. But thats a reality. Why? To make consumer able to dream and create things basis his imagination. And #Imagination is human being's greatest asset for progress.

And did consumer ask for AI enabled products? Or smart bands? Or Smart cars? Did they dream about it? Did any consumer researches told that they have this need? I doubt it. Its the companies with obsession for consumer, that think about it, put in effort and take risks & create such #innovations. And rule #future.

As Henry Ford puts it fantastically well - “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

Are you a Thermometer or Thermostat?

Are you a #Thermostat or a #Thermometer? I was so intrigued about this concept today, that it blew my mind.

A #thermometer matches with the temperature of the envoirnment. It is influenced by outside, if its hot outside, it will be hot (high temperature) and if cold it will be cool.

A #thermostat on the contrary is something that is driven from inside. Whatever may be envoirnment like (hot or cold), it will resist to give in and stick to what temperature it wants to hold on to (from inside).

In #life, whatever may be the #environment be (tough or easy), one should behave like a thermostat and be doing what it believes it should rather than giving in to the outside envoirnment or circumstances.

Be a #thermostat vs a #Thermometer.

#mind #leadership #drive #insideout #find #yourself

Sweet Smelling Newspaper Ad

Wow! When my son started reading today's TOI when i was starting my day with ET, i got intrigued by sweet smell. And realized that its the #Myntra #Ad about the #BeautyEdit event and that the page is smelling.

Such a small trick and uses another sense for a print ad - sense of #smell. And its a gimmick connected with the event's nature (Beauty category).

And then my mind starts racing - can it be extended? How about #perfume sprayers in the womens compartment in smelling #Delhimetros/#mumbailocals? Or, womens restrooms in Malls? Where-ever there is a mirror, it might be the place; lifts?

#marketing #brand #core #ecommerce #activation #Myntra