The Uber rewards program is available this week for users in NYC metro area, New Jersey, Denver, Tampa, Miami, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Atlanta, and San Diego; and Uber promises it will roll out to all U.S. riders in the next few months.

Uber has also set up different status levels for its customers: Blue, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Every six months, an individual’s Uber points are tallied and at 500, 2,500, 7,500 points respectively, they jump to the next tier for the next six months.

Since the program looks at your ride history from the past six months, by the time you’re enrolled in the program you might be Gold, Platinum, or Diamond status to start.

You’ll get one point for every dollar spent on Uber Pool rides and Uber Eats orders. Two points for ordering an UberX, UberXL, UberSelect, or UberWAV ride. Three points for ordering UberBlack and UberBlack SUV rides.

Uber users will get a $5 credit for every 500 points they earn. And this credit can be used for rides or Uber Eats.

Tiers:

Blue – less than 500 points

Gold – between 500 and 2,499 points: Free cancellations within a 15-minute window, priority customer support

Platinum – 2,500 to 7,499 points: Gold benefits + price locking between two set places (home and work, for example) on UberX, priority pick-ups at the airport

Diamond – 7,500 points and above: Gold + Platinum benefits + dedicated phone support, free upgrades to Uber Black, access to highly rated drivers, no delivery fees on three Uber Eats orders every six months

Riders can keep their current status level for six months. If during that time period they don’t spend enough, they can drop down the tiers. For example, a Gold member would need to earn 500 to 2,499 points over six months to maintain that level for the following six months.

Why it’s hot: modeled after airline rewards programs, time will tell if this rewards/loyalty program will boost Uber ridership among existing users.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/travel/uber-and-lyft-launch-rewards-programs.html. https://mashable.com/article/uber-rewards-loyalty-program/#IOoZZomZtsqW

Facebook has filed for a patent for tech that allows it to tell who you live with in the same household, reports BuzzFeed News. Titled “Predicting household demographics based on image data,” the patent describes how Facebook can use its facial recognition technology on your photos to identify people in them, then correlate those people with the captions a user writes when they post a photo, as well as cross-referencing everyone’s device information, such as shared IP addresses to discover who lives in your household.

It would note the people identified in a photo, and how frequently the people are included in your pictures. Then, it would assess information from comments on the photos, captions, or tags (#family, #mom, #kids)–anything that indicates whether someone is a husband, daughter, cousin, etc.–to predict what your family/household actually looks like.

According to the patent application, Facebook’s prediction models would also analyze “messaging history, past tagging history, [and] web browsing history” to see if multiple people share IP addresses (a unique identifier for every internet network).

Facebook uses pictures from both its main site and Instagram in this process.

Why it’s hot

Well, this seems like a great idea *wink*

Facebook obviously has access to a lot a lot a lot of ohotos, but it doesn’t really do very much with them. This is the type of thing no one knows about until it’s auddenls controversial and then Facebook has to make a lot of security changes and apologise.

I know there is debate on how effective email marketing is and can be. Personally, I have always advocated emails and feel if done right- email marketing can play a very big role in customer loyalty and retention.

And- it looks like people agree with that- as consumers seem to be paying attention to marketing emails they receive. Another recent study from Yes Marketing suggested a considerable percentage of consumers prefer email communication from retailers over other forms of interaction, including social media.

The problem?  In a recent survey- people are saying those emails are not well-designed for their mobile devices, according to the results.

The top two issues shoppers wish could be improved were how marketing emails fit on a smartphone screen and the readability of such emails. The reality is that design, language, timing, tone and many other factors are all important when retailers and brands are looking to make the right impression by email.

Why It’s Hot:

As mentioned above- email could be a very cost effective and valuable cog in the marketing mix. It can help with retention, loyalty and brand awareness. However, if the emails aren’t designed right- especially to accommodate consumers viewing on their mobile phone- they will fail and could in fact have an adverse effect.  Designers should look to take advantage of this insight and look to retool emails to be “mobile friendly”.

Both Instagram and Snapchat added new features to prompt increased voter participation in the US mid terms – and with statistics showing that younger people are less inclined to get out and vote, their efforts likely had a significant impact.

Instagram added a new set of stickers which enabled users to share that they’ve cast their vote and a story at the top of users’ feeds called “We Voted” highlighted all your friends’ stories if they used the “I voted” feature.

Snapchat also got in on the action, rolling out a range of election day stickers and Lenses to encourage users to share their activity, and added polling locations to their Map.

Why its hot

From a voter participation perspective, this form of peer sharing can be highly effective in encouraging others to vote.

Facebook has conducted a test of the same previously – back in 2010, around 340,000 extra voters turned out to take part in the US Congressional elections because of a single election-day Facebook message which, essentially, used a similar form of peer pressure to prompt increased participation.

A startup in California, Mindstrong Health is using scrolling, clicking, and phone interaction data to determine the risk of mental illness.

Founded by 3 doctors, it is seeking to tackle depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse.

Source: https://www.contagious.io/articles/mindful-scrolling

The App “monitors how every participant types, swipes and interacts with every other app on their phone (just basic stuff like how they use their keyboard, rather than looking at any personal information). The data gathered is then encrypted and run through a machine learning programme, which analyses it and delivers the results to the patient and their medical provider.”

One of the reasons the app works is, “‘people’s memory patterns and thinking speed change in subtle ways before they realise they’re depressed.’” The app was developed after trial participants were asked to perform neuropsychological tests and then asked to use their phone normally. This allowed them to find key smartphone signals that correlate strongly with mental performance.

Memory problems, for example, are a common element of brain disorders, and can be identified by looking at how quickly you type or scroll, as well as how many errors you make.

Our state of mind is top of mind in 2018 as more conversations are being had about mental health, so much so that even KFC participated in World Mindfulness day.

Why it’s hot: 

It’s difficult to diagnose mental illness because the symptoms sometimes differ from patient to patient. Mindstrong could provide data that helps define the different subcategories within illnesses and could even help lead to tailoring drug prescriptions for more effective treatment.

In October, Fortune magazine and Harris Poll surveyed over 2,000 American adults representative of the overall population to measure their perceptions of large tech companies.

Why it’s hot: With repeated news of how Facebook mishandled the private data of its users, Americans seem to have an increasingly negative perception of the company. And this might be reflected in the stagnation of its daily active users in North America.

Source: http://fortune.com/2018/11/08/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-reputation/

Study finds that parents who give money to charity could see a lifelong benefit for their own kids. Children in families with strong philanthropic traditions are more likely to grow up acting generously–and be seemingly happier for it.

In a small study from Fidelity Charitable, a public charity that manages the largest donor-advised fund program in the country, the organization questioned 3,000 people who donate to charity and itemize deductions on their tax returns. People who grew up with strong family traditions around giving ended up more likely than those who didn’t (45% to 36%) to donate $5,000 or more of their own money annually to charity.

Other positive correlations: Family-inspired givers volunteer more time (89% to 73%), consider themselves closer to their immediate family (81% to 71%), and rate themselves as “very happy” far more often (48% to 33%) than those who grew up without such influence. Fidelity sees these correlations as proof that there’s something positive happening, and just in time for the holiday season. “We’ve always known that strategic philanthropy benefits the charities donors support, but this study proves that the impact goes beyond that,” says its president, Pamela Norley, in a press release. “Giving makes people happier and is a significant contributor to a happier and healthy family too.”

Fidelity’s findings line up with similar academic research. According to a 2017 study published in the journal Nature Communications, there’s a virtuous cycle around altruism: “Generous behavior is known to increase happiness, which could thereby motivate generosity,” note researchers at the University of Zurich. To show that, the group asked 50 people to rank their mood, and then gave them a small sum (about $25 in francs) to spend each week for a month. The group divided into people that were told to spend the money on themselves, and those who gave it away to others.

The more generous givers reported improved moods and showed more activity in the reward center of their brain during subsequent fMRI scans. That sort of test has been replicated many times with different amounts and far larger sample sizes, and in some instances may even be related to reduced blood pressure. The key isn’t necessarily the amount–benefits in some experiments have been charted at just $5. Although if you have at least $5,000 to donate, that’s good for Fidelity: It happens to be the minimum requirement to open a giving account.

Why it’s hot: This is an awesome insight into generosity and human happiness and could make us as marketers think differently about inspiring behavior change.

Source: FastCo

Doctor’s in Montreal will be able to prescribe free museum visits to patients suffering from a range of illnesses. Patients suffering from depression to diabetes or chronic illnesses will be given up to 50 free visit passes for patients and caregivers.

 

In the 21st century, culture will be what physical activity was for health in the 20th century,” predicts Nathalie Bondil, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts director general, in the Montreal Gazette.

The Art Hive, an initiative from the museum, is just one example of what Bondil says is one part of the future of health care. With an on staff art therapist and the collaboration of physicians The Hive is open to people who want to explore the curative effects of art, whether it be creation or simply its presence.

 “There’s more and more scientific proof that art therapy is good for your physical health. It increases our level of cortisol and our level of serotonin. We secrete hormones when we visit a museum and these hormones are responsible for our well-being.”

Much like exercise, art can improve wellness for all types and ages of patients.

Source: https://qz.com/1433682/doctors-in-montreal-will-start-prescribing-visits-to-the-art-museum/

Why it’s hot:

It’s great to see doctors collaborating with other fields to find solutions for health issues that are beyond prescriptions.

Perhaps because its perfectly instgrammable or because its significantly more satisfying than the toll of homeownership, either way, avocados have become an everyday staple. In fact, we eat four times more avocados today than we did ten years ago and to keep up with the demand, over 80% of avocados consumed in the U.S. are imported from Mexico.

Avocados from Mexico, is capitalizing on the insatiable need for their product by making the recipes on their website shoppable. Now, shoppers can indulge in their habit by choosing from a host of delivery partners – Amazon Fresh, PeaPod, or Walmart Grocery – to get all the ingredients needed to make anything that calls for everyone’s favorite berry. Avocados views shoppable recipes as a service to its own customers, rather than a way to win some of the e-commerce pie.

By garnering customer demographics and preferences, Avocados from Mexico will use machine learning to deliver better, more personalized content to consumers. “We’ve been working very hard in the past to try to get as much data as possible from our consumers,” said Alvaro Luque, president and CEO of Avocados From Mexico . “We’ve been building a very robust CRM system to get them as close as we can to our brand. Every deep investment we can do will help us build this big database we are trying to develop.” Luque said more data will help the company understand the e-commerce preferences of consumers and enhance the customer experience. Avocados From Mexico can determine a metric that is very close to ROI by comparing the cost of its ad campaign with the total value of the products moved to shopping carts, said the company.

While most other grocery products don’t share the same fame as avocados do and can’t expect consumers to visit their site to discover more, building consumer relationships (or more bluntly: gathering consumer data) is especially important to maintain relevance in Amazon’s latest sector play.

Why its hot: Elevating customer experience through personalized content is no longer reserved for high price point products, but rather has become table stakes. Are avocados doing a better job at CX than your brand? 

Source: Digiday

ElliQ is a proactive social robot, designed to not only interact with older adults, but also to engage them. By suggesting activities and connection to loved ones, the robot creates a more human-like connection something other voice-assisted technologies still struggle with.

Why it’s hot: Harnessing the power of voice-powered assistance to deliver value to a generation that likely needs it the most.

Popeyes has launched a pop-up drive-thru just outside of Fort Stockton in Texas. Once customers have placed their order, however, they’re told to pick it up in New Orleans – a 12-hour drive away. Anyone who makes the trip will receive their fried-chicken feast in New Orleans for free.

Popeyes is promoting the drive-thru with a video, showing seven chicken fans embarking on the journey to Popeyes’ flagship location in New Orleans.

Along the way, they encounter billboards (and enthusiastic Popeyes employees) indicating how far they have left to go.

Why its hot?

Promoting a functional benefit through a really emotional experience.

The 12-Hour Drive-Thru is designed to highlight the fact that Popeyes’ chicken is marinated for a whole 12 hours before it’s battered and fried.

Formlabs has created a new 3D printing process for modeling real human organs and body parts before surgery.

“The use of 3D printing in medicine allows us to pull the patients’ anatomy off of a computer screen and put it into the physician’s hands,” says Todd Goldstein, director of the 3D Design and Innovation Center at Northwell Health, the hospital network. “This type of technology is a game changer for all parties involved, as it allows for physicians to better visualize the pathology, allows for patients to truly see what treatment is needed, and allows for more precise, patient-specific treatments across almost all specialties.”

The new system, which combines 10 smaller printers with robotics so the process can happen automatically with less involvement from medical staff, can help the hospitals scale up the use of 3D printing. With a 3D model, a surgeon can look at a specific tumor or deformity, for example, and plan exactly how a surgery should proceed before cutting a patient open. That can make an operation safer and also make it shorter; less time on the operating table also means that patients can recover more quickly afterward.

The system, called the Form Cell, takes data from CT and MRI scans and translates them into a replica of a specific body part, which can be used both prior to and during a surgery. “We’re talking about hours saved before a surgery, and even hours in the OR,” says Gaurav Manchanda, director of healthcare at Formlabs. One 2017 study of children’s surgeries found that surgeries were as much as 45 minutes shorter with the use of the models. A study using Northwell data, not yet published, found that using models in complex cases reduced the length of surgeries by about 10%.

Why its hot

3D printing is becoming more and more mainstream thanks to its increasing accessibility. People have more power than ever before. Wearables give us insights into our health that previously could only come from a doctor. With 3D printing, we can download plans straight from the web and create items right in our homes. Maybe one day we can decorate an entire apartment with furniture by downloading the plans from IKEA. This example is just another of many that show how 3D printing is making once complex processes easier, even advanced surgery.

Kinsa is a tech start-up sells internet-connected thermometers that sync up with a smartphone app that allows consumers to track their fevers and symptoms. These capabilities make the app especially attractive to parents of young children.

Kinsa says its thermometers are in more than 500k American households.

This year and last year, Clorox paid Kinsa for access to real-time data on which zip codes around the country are having increases in fevers.

Clorox then pushes more ads to those specific areas assuming that households there may be more likely to buy their products like disinfecting wipes and sprays. They may also pull back ad spending in healthier parts of the country.

So far, consumer interactions with Clorox’s disinfectant ads increased by 22% after using Kinsa’s data to target these digital ads.

The information shared with Clorox was shared in a privacy-compliant manner because Kinsa says no identifying personal information is shared with other companies.

Kinsa says that such data was also sold to pharmacies and drug manufacturers who used this data to stock more cough and cold products in areas that had increases in fevers.

Kinsa said the data provided unique insight into flu-related illness in specific areas. “We can tell you if it’s high or low, whether it’s rising, if it’s bigger than the three- or five- year average, when it’s going to peak and how severe the symptoms are, too,” said the company’s founder.

Why it’s hot: As more products get connected to the internet, it means more consumer data can be collected, which means greater opportunities for advertisers to effectively target their advertising.

Source

DoNotPay is a Tinder-esque app that helps users file lawsuits and claim awards from class-action settlements.

Instead of funneling through the endless bureaucracy, headache and investment that litigation entails, users can now swipe to sue. The app helps individuals claim everything from remediation from class-action lawsuits to reimbursement for late package delivery. And, the next time your airline kicks you off a flight, or your uber makes a wrong turn, you can be reimbursed for that with a simple tap. While skeptics may see this as an abuse of the legal system, anyone ever wronged by a corporation will finally feel empowered to act and will actually have the representation to do so (since most lawyers won’t talk to you unless your case can yield at least $10,000).

Why its hot: Tapping into native behavior to simplify and democratize access to justice.

Democratizing rideshare services even further, navigation app Waze is testing out a carpool feature that will let regular people pick up passengers along their commute to work or school and earn commission.

With the popularity of services like Uber and Lyft, those looking to supplement their income are increasingly considering ways to capitalize on the booming rideshare industry. Navigation app Waze is currently looking to help commuters earn a little more by letting them pick up passengers to and from work with its recently launched Carpool feature.

There are a few rules in order to keep people from abusing the system: Participants can only partake in two carpools a day, and Waze will verify people’s workplaces through their email. Drivers will be able to choose riders based on their profiles, star ratings, gender, mutual friends status, or whether they are a coworker. Throughout October, the carpool will cost users $2, though afterwards the price will increase to $0.54 per mile.

The app is already in place for several schools and workplaces, including Amazon. The app hopes to take advantage of the democratization of rideshare services as well as appeal to consumer interest in helping reduce pollution and congestion by carpooling.

Why it’s… hot?: This is interesting how a navigation app is getting involved in ride sharing. This makes (slight) sense since this app is already interactive/feeds user data, however it is surprising that they are getting into potential legality issues with this initiative.

Source: PSFK