"Israel says the IHH flotilla will not enter Gaza directly through its blockade, unless they go through Egypt. That's like challenging a mouse to walk under a parked bus to get the cheese at the other end. It may take a little more time, but it won't stop the end result." ~ Yasha Harari
Fresh Baked Goods
Laughzilla the Third (2012)
The Third Volume in the Funny Stuff Cartoon Book Collection Available Now.
With the release of Windows 8.1 to the world in October, January was the third full month of availability for Microsoft’s latest operating system version, which was just enough time for it to pass Windows Vista in market share. While Windows 8.1 is certainly growing steadily and eating into Windows 8′s share, the duo only managed to end 2013 with 10 percent market share, barely impacting Windows 7.
The latest market share data from Net Applications shows that Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 barely made progress in January 2014, gaining a combined 0.09 percentage points (from 10.49 percent to 10.58 percent). More specifically, Windows 8 fell 0.26 percentage points (from 6.89 percent to 6.63 percent), while Windows 8.1 gained 0.35 percentage points (from 3.60 percent to 3.95 percent).
Meanwhile, Windows 7 dipped 0.03 percentage points (from 47.52 percent to 47.49 percent). Unlike in November, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 combined did better than Windows 7 in both December and January.
Windows 8, which saw its biggest gain in August at 2.01 percentage points and its biggest loss in November at 0.87 percentage points, continues to slip. All Windows users are being encouraged to get the latest and greatest, and Microsoft is making the upgrade path to Windows 8.1 just a free download away for Windows 8 users.
Going back to earlier versions, Windows Vista fell 0.31 percentage points (from 3.61 percent to 3.30 percent), giving Windows 8.1 the opportunity to pass it. Windows XP meanwhile managed to regain some share after falling below the 30 percent mark at the end of 2013, increasing 0.25 percentage points (from 28.98 percent to 29.23 percent).
In 2013, Windows lost share every month except for March, July, and November. In January, Windows slipped 0.01 percentage points (from 90.73 percent to 90.72 percent). OS X gained 0.14 percentage points (to 7.68 percent), while Linux slipped 0.13 percentage points (to 1.60 percent).
Net Applications uses data captured from 160 million unique visitors each month by monitoring some 40,000 websites for its clients. StatCounter is another popular service for watching market share moves; the company looks at 15 billion page views. To us, it makes more sense to keep track of users than of page views, but if you prefer the latter, the corresponding data is available here (Windows 8 is at 7.34 percent).
January was a fairly eventful month in Latin America, with some last-minute announcements still coming out of Campus Party, whose latest edition is taking place in São Paulo. Here’s the news you don’t want to miss:
Big players
A couple of weeks ago, Apple announced that its education-related services iBooks, Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager were expanding into new markets across the world, including several Latin American countries.
Brazilian media outlets also showed interest in the 10th anniversary of Google’s first social network, Orkut, despite the fact that its parent company ignored it altogether. This lack of attention isn’t exactly new: Orkut’s official blogs in English and in Portuguese haven’t been updated since 2012.
As you may remember, Orkut was the brainchild of Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten, who first launched the network on January 24th 2004. Its invite-only model is often pointed out as one of the reasons why its popularity was geographically uneven.
As a matter of fact, Orkut’s brand soon faded in most countries but the platform kept enjoying strong traction in India and Brazil, where it was a huge online phenomenon. However, it still ended up losing leadership in both markets to Facebook — in Brazil, the shift occurred in January 2012, and Orkut’s decline hasn’t stopped still then.
Despite what may look like a fall into oblivion, Orkut still has active users in Brazil — no fewer than 6 million people last December, according to surprising comScore figures quoted by INFO Online. In that context, it is quite a shame to see Google ignore them and display such indecisiveness. After all, it could be trying more aggressively to have all users migrate to its new global platform, Google+, but bridges between the two services are still scarce.
On the other side of the spectrum, Pinterest keeps on gaining users in Latin America, and its global agreement with Telefónica is likely to boost its growth. The partnership was first announced last October, and will see a Pinterest widget pre-installed on Android devices by participating Telefónica carriers. A few days ago, it was confirmed during Campus Party that Brazil’s Vivo would be one of these.
Chinese company Baidu also seems interested in targeting Brazilian Internet users at some point. According to Tech In Asia, a Brazilian Portuguese version of its popular search engine
According to Colombian newspaper El Universal, the social network will also partner with Colombia’s ITC ministry (MinTIC) to foster the development of apps for lower-income citizens, rural areas and SMBs.
Expansions…
GoDaddy went to the media this January to officialize its ongoing Latin American expansion, which is part of the global push it had announced in 2013. In practical terms, this means that the registrar and web hosting company is now making custom versions of its site and local customer service phone numbers available in seven Latin American countries — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
According to Phoenix Business Journal, GoDaddy’s 100 Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking customer service agents are working from the company’s headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, but the firm also plans to increase staff in Mexico, where its newly hired vice president of Latin America is based.
Still in Mexico, the Carlos Slim Foundation has launched a partnership with online education platform Coursera, VentureBeat reports. Their announced goal is to translate 50 English-language courses into Spanish by the end of 2014. As Milenio notes, Coursera is also hoping to further expand its catalogue of original Spanish-language courses, and already signed agreements with Monterrey Tech and National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Brazilian mobile company Movile is expanding the reach of its kids’ content subscription service PlayKids, which is now available in 24 additional countries. According to the company, the app has already been downloaded 1.5 million times since its launch last year. Talking to GigaOM, Movile’s head of U.S. operations Eduardo Henrique also explained that his team has been working on new licensing deals to make sure that at least 8 to 10 shows are available in each territory.
Latin American e-commerce startup Club Point announced the expansion of its Gilt-like site into Colombia, where it plans to start selling products this semester. According to its founders, the private shopping club has already gained traction in Argentina and Chile, with more than half a million members.
Its next targets are Mexico and Peru, and according to its co-founder Juan Pablo Torras, the Start-Up Chile alum does not exclude external growth:
“We will be looking for different alternatives to open other markets in Latin America, such as acquisitions, mergers or alliances with entrepreneurs who already know the markets and allow us to accelerate the expansion,” he said.
…and new launches
High-profile Brazilian entrepreneur and TNW Conference Latin America 2013 speaker, Marco Gomes has announced the upcoming launch of Mova+, a new venture in which he will be involved in a non-CEO role while remaining at the helm of his main company, boo-box.
Mova+’s name is pronounced as “MovaMais,” which means “Move More” in Portuguese. Its purpose is both simple and ingenious: according to Gomes, it will encourage users to exercise in exchange of points in reward programs in Brazil that can be used to buy airplane tickets, products and other benefits.
Mova+ expects these benefits to be funded by employers, health insurance companies and other sponsoring brands. It is currently collecting emails through its landing page ahead of its launch, which is scheduled to take place in March.
Mango is a new Argentine startup which is developing “a reliable, secure and easy-to-implement solution for online and mobile payments.” Currently in private beta, its product is tailored for Latin America, where e-commerce is growing fast and where similar products are lacking.
While the company itself is new, the team behind Mango and its CEO Pablo Sanchez had already been working together doing client work, much of which was related to e-commerce. This background was undoubtedly one of the factors that helped Mango raise a first investment round from French VC firm Kima Ventures and angels such as Adrian Kolonski (Corporate Corp), Reuben Katz (GeekList) and Eric Friedman (Foursquare).
PlayVox is now available as a Zendesk app, its parent company Arcaris announced a couple of weeks ago. As we reported in 2011, this Latin American B2B startup has been a pioneer in bringing game mechanics to call centers’ workforce optimization software. Its new app means that PlayVox data can now be accessed from the Zendesk dashboard, an important feature for future and existing clients, such as Groupon Latam.
With Comenta.tv’s team about to join Wayin, we can’t help but connect this acquisition to the recent wave of “acqui-entries” in Latin America. This term was recently popularized by TNW contributor Juan Pablo Cappello, who predicted that 2014 would be the year of the “acqui-entry” in the region.
While these deals may have drawbacks for investors due to fairly low valuations, they can also give entrepreneurs the exit they have been working for, while offering acquirers some unique advantages.
In most cases, a first-hand knowledge of the Latin American market(s) is a key selling point for these startups, but it is clearly not enough. For instance, StudentUniverse was mostly interested in WeHostels’ mobile expertise when it acquired the company last November. As investor Patrick McGinnis noted in a recent blog post, it was an opportunity for which the startup had thoroughly prepared, a case study that may inspire other entrepreneurs.
“When it comes to our growth strategy, what we want to do is start a strategy where we acquire companies that are doing really well, and where we can integrate the entrepreneurs. We’re in a position where we need the best talent possible.”
…and some got funded
Reuters reported last week that hedge fund Tiger Global Management is planning to spend up to R$1.2 billion ($500 million USD) to buy a stake in Brazilian online retailer B2W Companhia Digital. According to a securities filing, B2W’s current largest shareholder Lojas Americanas also agreed to purchase a minimum R$1.021 billion of new shares in the retailer.
Tiger isn’t a newcomer in Latin America, where its portfolio already includes Baby.com.br, Decolar, Peixe Urbano and Vostu. Still, the potential size of this transaction is impressive, and confirms that big players are prepared to bet heavily on the long-term growth of e-commerce in Brazil.
Cloud services Mandic has received a large capital injection from Intel Capital. The deal was announced at the end of December, but its exact size remains unknown beyond the fact that the firm’s rounds tend to range from $2 million to $20 million USD.
Online IT education platform Oja.la has raised a round of $500k USD led by Alta Ventures Mexico, with participation from Angel Ventures Mexico, Naranya Labs, NXTP Labs and several angel investors (disclosure: NXTP Labs is an investor in my startup, MonoLibre). This follows earlier seed funding from Socialatom Ventures, Wenceslao Casares and Meyer Malka.
Online recruiting platform ViaConvo (a merger between Via6 and JobConvo) has raised R$800k (around $331k USD) from strategic HR investors, its previous backer Confrapar announced in a statement.
Minas Gerais’ state-backed accelerator SEED is currently accepting applications for its second acceleration cycle, which is set to start in May. The list of selected companies will be unveiled on March 17. The first round was officially launched in December, welcoming 40 projects chosen among 1,367 start-ups from 32 countries.
500 Startups’ Mexican chapter 500 Mexico City (formerly Mexican.VC) is also accepting applications for its next edition, which is set to start next spring.
As for liberal arts incubator Exosphere, it has already stopped accepting applicants for its second 12-week program, which will begin shortly in Chile. Despite a slightly new-agey tone, it is focused on startups and leadership, with the ambition to help “45 carefully selected participants (…) develop their entrepreneurial skills under the leadership of world-class advisors, faculty and mentors.”
In the eye of the law
As we reported recently, Argentina has banned home delivery of international online purchases in a bid to limit and tax foreign imports. As TNW editor Jon Russell explained, “deliveries from international shopping sites will no longer be sent to customers’ addresses, instead they must be collected from customs offices where a declaration of purchase must be presented. Citizens are permitted to buy $15 of goods from overseas tax-free, but anything beyond that will be subject to up to 50 percent tax.”
This new measure bears some resemblance to Venezuela’s restrictions on e-commerce. As local newspaper El Universal detailed, Venezuelans are assigned an annual quota for online purchases in foreign currency, whose amount for 2014 will be limited to $300 USD. In the meantime, the country also announced the creation of a Vice-Ministry for Social Networks, whose goal is “the greatest sum of happiness possible for each Venezuelan” (sic; translation ours).
To end on a more positive note, Uruguay has adopted a law on open software and open formats in which the state undertakes to give priority to free and open-source options over private-led alternatives.
Marketing is a highly competitive, continually changing field. Innovations in social media and mobile have cultivated an ongoing dialogue and education between consumers and businesses.
In order to stand out as a marketer today, you can’t simply follow the requirements of your role at an agency or a brand. It’s critical that you continually move past your job description and contribute to the industry conversation on a larger scale. Without doing so, you risk blending in as just another marketer in a very crowded and noisy profession.
Building thought leadership throughout your career is a helpful way of differentiating yourself from those around you. A thought leader is someone regarded as an authority in his/her field—someone other professionals in the field look up to.
It’s a term first coined 21 years ago in the pages of Strategy+Business, the publication from consulting firm Booz & Company. Through consistent education of other marketing professionals, you’ll slowly be recognized as a leader in your area of expertise.
Since the marketing industry is so vast, there are many areas of expertise that a professional can become familiar with and really own—like wearable tech, social media marketing, mobile advertising and more.
Education is the key to establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field, which can be executed in a multitude of ways through different forms of content and media. How each individual establishes thought leadership depends on skill set, interests, and most of all, comfort level with specific subject matter.
Much like networking online today, it’s important to test different techniques to see what works best for you and what resonates well with others.
Try one (or a few) of these approaches to help establish yourself as a thought leader in your area of marketing expertise.
1. Write consistently
One of the best ways to contribute to the conversation in the marketing industry—and build your credibility at the same time—is through writing about marketing news, strategies, your perspective, industry trends and more.
The writing you’re doing to help build conversations around you as a professional should live in a couple of different places to help reach different audiences interested in what you’re saying about the marketing world.
A marketer should attempt a combination of writing on a personal blog, writing for an employer’s blog and for third-party publications through guest blogging and syndication to get the most reach.
Marketer and writer Sabel Harris of TrackMaven executes her writing using this very technique to help build thought leadership for both her employer and herself. She frequently writes on her own blog about a variety of topics focused on both marketing and personal interests, on the TrackMaven blog about the marketing industry, as well as company updates.
She also occasionally contributes content on other industry blogs like Buffer’s blog or Fast Company.
Emulate Harris’s approach to building thought leadership through writing by finding a variety of websites where to can publish your content. To begin, start blogging on your own website—but do it consistently to build your credibility, confidence and writing style. That will prepare you for writing for your employer and eventually third-party publications.
2. Participate in speaking engagements
Not everyone is a good writer or enjoys writing; nevertheless, there are plenty of opportunities to build thought leadership through public speaking as an additional way to share your expertise.
Whether you’re speaking with an audience in person at a conference, online through YouTube, Google+ Hangouts or on a TV segment, you’ll be able to articulate your unique perspective on the industry.
Look for speaking opportunities at a local Meetup, a business association, well-known conference like SXSW and more to get in front of the right audience of other professionals interested in marketing.
Start taking notes from thought leaders like Lewis Howes, who’s built his entire brand through speaking online and offline, through articles, hosting events, appearing in TV segments and more. When Howes appears on a Fox News segment, he’s asked about his expertise on building websites, marketing businesses on social media and other topics that he’s frequently spoken about on YouTube, written about in Entrepreneur Magazine and more.
Each opportunity a professional can take to help market himself as a thought leader is a step in the right direction, since each appearance or article offers promotion for more interviews, speaking engagements, articles, etc. It’s a virtuous circle.
3. Facilitate networking opportunities
As a marketing professional today, there’s always a fear of becoming obsolete due to industry changes. Many professionals attend networking events in order to grow their professional connections and remain relevant on the latest trends, platforms, companies and ideas.
However, thought leaders not only attend networking events but they help create and host them to foster connections in the larger marketing community and further grow their personal brands. Take the initiative and start your own Meetup, Twitter chat, Google+ Hangout series or conference related to your industry. They’ll be of value to other members in the marketing community.
Melinda Emerson is an expert on small business success and is referred to as the @SmallBizLady on Twitter, where she’s started the Twitter chat #SmallBizChat in 2009.
The chat reaches 2.5 million Twitter users every week as Emerson, participants and guest experts discuss how to grow as a small business. The chat has become a resource for small business owners, a means of connecting small business professionals and a way to grow Emerson’s personal brand as a successful online marketer.
Starting a networking event online or offline about your area of expertise can help better associate your personal brand with your niche. It’s an effective way to grow your network, learn from others in the field and stay relevant on emerging trends; but it’s also a powerful way to lead the conversation about your industry.
4. Use social media to answer questions
Offline thought leadership opportunities are arguably more effective than online, since the speaker is presenting in front of a live audience rather than being in front of a computer. But online platforms and tools allow marketers to build thought leadership at a scale like never before.
LinkedIn Groups, Twitter, Quora, Spreecast, Google+ Hangouts and more allow you to communicate with a large audience from the comfort of your own home, at a greater scale than possible in real life.
First, visit social channels like Twitter, LinkedIn and Quora to look for questions about your expertise in marketing and then answer them in real time on these networks. Consistently do so across social media to associate your expertise as a professional with the topics you’d like to be an expert in, whether that’s mobile marketing, SEO, data analysis or another marketing discipline.
This is a long-term commitment to answering the questions of others in order to become a thought leader in a subject area.
Take searching across social media for questions about your expertise to the next level by calling for a question and answer “office hours” on one of your social accounts. Once you’ve built an engaged following, frequently remind them you’re here to help and would love to answer some of their questions.
Important question: What can I do for you? Keep it #reasonable please
Entrepreneur and marketer Gary Vaynerchuk uses this approach on Twitter and other platforms by calling out that he’d like to help his followers, answer questions and provide value as often as possible. This is one tactic for providing your expertise, perspective and influence to help others and establish yourself as an authority on a subject for the long-term.
Don’t think about what you’ll get in return; instead, experiment with your social channels to see what you can do to help the greater marketing community around you.
What tactics and strategies have you found helpful when it comes to growing your personal brand?
The statement from the Japanese company does, however, confirm that it is exploring a range of possibilities for its PC business in the future:
A press report on February 1, 2014 stated that Sony Corporation (“Sony”) is discussing with Lenovo Group (“Lenovo”) the possible establishment of a joint venture for the PC business. As Sony has announced previously, Sony continues to address various options for the PC business, but the press report on a possible PC business alliance between Sony and Lenovo is inaccurate.
This month, Rhode Island became the third state in the nation to offer workers paid family leave to care for a loved one. And last week, Newark, N.J., became the latest in a small wave of cities to mandate paid sick leave. The policies cover both public and private sector workers, and a dozen more […]