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Music has always been an integral part of human culture. From ancient times to modern-day, music has evolved and transformed in various ways. With the advent of technology, music creation and discovery have taken a wild and increasingly influential new turn. Enter Generative AI – For those living under a rock, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that has revolutionized the way we do almost everything, including how we create and discover music.

@OpenAI #Jukebox (https://www.openai.com/research/jukebox)is a prime example of how AI is bridging the gap between music and future technology. #OpenAI-Jukebox “produces a wide range of music and singing styles, and generalizes to lyrics not seen during training. All the lyrics below have been co-written by a language model and OpenAI researchers” that can generate original songs and tracks in various genres and styles similar to creativity powerhouse known simply as DALL-E for image creation. It uses deep learning algorithms to analyze existing songs’ patterns and structures to create new ones.

So does the future of music creation and discovery lie in generative AI tools like OpenAI Jukebox or design and art creation in tools like DALL-E? Either way, it’s the season of all things #OpenAI. These days you can’t escape a chatGPT meme or SNL skit powered by the little chatterbox, providing endless possibilities and countless hours of entertainment for experimentation with different words, phrases, images, sounds, styles, and genres. And did I mention they can also help you to work smarter not harder with e-mail responses and documentation creation or even building apps for you ( ie – code scripting )?

Generative AI tools like OpenAI Jukebox are not only limited to creating new songs but also have the ability to remix existing ones. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for artists who want to experiment with their work or collaborate with other musicians.

The use of generative AI tools in music creation also raises questions about copyright laws and ownership rights. As these tools become more advanced, it will be interesting to see how they impact traditional copyright laws.
As a former EDM DJ, Im excited to see where OpenAI takes its Jukebox research – it is just one example of how AI can revolutionize the world of music creation and discovery IMHO. As technology continues to evolve at this crazy rapid pace, it’s exciting to think about what other possibilities lie ahead for the world of AI and ( fill in here ). The future looks bright for humans and  musicians and artists and fans alike as we march on this yellow brick journey towards what ? Emerald city or a more innovative musical landscape powered by artificial intelligence? Who knows ? Let’s ask ChatGPT! 

KPIs in Retail & Store Analytics

I like this post. While I added some KPIs to their list, I think it is a good list to get retailers on the right path…

KPIs in Retail and Store Analytics (continuation of a post made by Abhinav on kpisrus.wordpress.com:
A) If it is a classic brick and mortar retailer:

Retail / Merchandising KPIs:

-Average Time on Shelf

-Item Staleness

-Shrinkage % (includes things like spoilage, shoplifting/theft and damaged merchandise)

Marketing KPIs:

-Coupon Breakage and Efficacy (which coupons drive desired purchase behavior vs. detract)

-Net Promoter Score (“How likely are you to recommend xx company to a friend or family member” – this is typically measured during customer satisfaction surveys and depending on your organization, it may fall under Customer Ops or Marketing departments in terms of responsibility).

-Number of trips (in person) vs. e-commerce site visits per month (tells you if your website is more effective than your physical store at generating shopping interest)

B) If it is an e-retailer :

Marketing KPIs:

-Shopping Cart Abandonment %

-Page with the Highest Abandonment

-Dwell time per page (indicates interest)

-Clickstream path for purchasers (like Jamie mentioned do they arrive via email, promotion, flash sales source like Groupon), and if so, what are the clickstream paths that they take. This should look like an upside down funnel, where you have the visitors / unique users at the top who enter your site, and then the various paths (pages) they view in route to a purchase).

-Clickstream path for visitors (take Expedia for example…Many people use them as a travel search engine but then jump off the site to buy directly from the travel vendor – understanding this behavior can help you monetize the value of the content you provide as an alternate source of revenue).

-Visit to Buy %

-If direct email marketing is part of your strategy, analyzing click rate is a close second to measuring conversion rate. 2 different KPIs, one the king , the other the queen and both necessary to understand how effective your email campaign was and whether it warranted the associated campaign cost.

Site Operations KPIs / Marketing KPIs:

-Error % Overall

-Error % by Page (this is highly correlated to the Pages that have the Highest Abandonment, which means you can fix something like the reason for the error, and have a direct path to measure the success of the change).

Financial KPIs:

-Average order size per transaction

-Average sales per transaction

-Average number of items per transaction

-Average profit per transaction

-Return on capital invested

-Margin %

-Markup %

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

You can reach me at mailto://lauraedell@me.com or you can visit my blog where I have many posts listing out various KPIs by industry and how to best aggregate them for reporting and executive presentation purposes ( http://www.lauraedell.com ).

It was very likely that I would write on KPIs in Retail or Store Analytics since my last post on Marketing and Customer Analytics. The main motive behind retailers looking into BI is ‘customer’ and how they can quickly react to changes in customer demand, rather predict customer demand, remove wasteful spending by target marketing, exceeding customer expectation and hence improve customer retention.

I did a quick research on what companies have been using as a measure of performance in retail industry and compiled a list of KPIs that I would recommend for consideration.

Customer Analytics

Customer being the key for this industry it is important to segment customers especially for strategic campaigns and to develop relationships for maximum customer retention. Understanding customer requirements and dealing with ever-changing market conditions is the key for a retail industry to survive the competition.

• Average order size per transaction
• Average sales per transaction

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How Do You Use LinkedIn? (Social Media Infographics)

How often do you refresh your LinkedIn profile pic? Or worse, the content within your profile? Unless you are a sales exec trolling the social networking site or a job seeker, I would surmise not that often; in fact, rarely is most apropos of a description. Thoughts…? ( yes, she’s back ( again), but this time, for good dear readers…@Laura_E_Edell (#infographics) says thanks to designinfographics.com for her latest content postings!

And just because I call it out, doesn’t mean you will know the best approach to updating your LinkedIn profile. And guess what …there’s an infographic for that! (http://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraerinedell)

Check out my profile on LinkedIn by clicking infographic

BIPlayBook.Com is Now Available!

As an aside, I’m excited to announce my latest website: http://www.biplaybook.com is finally published. Essentially, I decided that you, dear readers, were ready for the next step.  What comes next, you ask?

After Measuring BI data –> Making Measurements Meaningful –> and –>Massaging Meaningful Data into Metrics, what comes next is to discuss the age-old question of ‘So What’? & ‘What Do I Do About it’?

BI PlayBook offers readers the next level of real-world scenarios now that BI has become the nomenclature of yesteryear & is used by most to inform decisions. Basically, it is the same, with the added bonus of how to tie BI back into the original business process, customer service/satisfaction process or really any process of substance within a company.

This is quite meaningful to me because so often, as consumers of goods and services, we find our voices go unheard, especially when we are left dissatisfied. Can you muster the courage to voice your issue (dare I say, ‘complain’?) using the only tools provided: poor website feedback forms, surveys or (gasp) relaying our issue by calling into a call center(s) or IVR system (double gasp)? I don’t know if I can…

How many times do we get caught in the endless loop of an IVR, only to be ‘opted-out’ (aka – hung up on) when we do not press the magical combination of numbers on our keypads to reach a live human being, or when we are sneaky, pressing ‘0’ only to find out the company is one step ahead of us, having programmed ‘0’ to automatically transfer your call to our friend:  ‘ReLisa Boutton’ – aka the Release Button().

Feedback is critical, especially as our world has become consumed by social networks. The ‘chatter’ of customers that ensues, choosing to ‘Like’ or join our company page or product, or tweet about the merits or demerits of one’s value proposition, is not only rich if one cares about understanding their customer. But, it is also a key into how well you are doing in the eyes of your customer. Think about how many customer satisfaction surveys you have taken ask you whether or not your would recommend a company to a friend or family member.

This measure defines one’s NPR, or Net Promoter Rank, and is a commonly shared KPI or key performance indicator for a company.

Yet, market researchers like myself know that what a customer says on a survey isn’t always how they will behave. This discrepancy between what someone says and what someone does is as age-old as our parents telling us as children “do not as I do, but as I say.” However, no longer does this paradigm hold true. Therefore, limiting oneself by their NPR score will restrict the ability to truly understand one’s Voice of the Customer. And further, if you do not understand your customer’s actual likelihood to recommend to others or repeat purchase from you, how can you predict their lifetime value or propensity for future revenue earnings? You can’t.

Now, I am ranting. I get it.

But I want you to understand that social media content that is available from understanding the social network spheres can fill that gap. They can help you understand how your customers truly perceive your goods or services. Trust me, customers are more likely to tweet (use Twitter) to vent in 140 characters or less about a negative experience than they are to take the time to fill out a survey. Likewise, they are more likely to rave about a great experience with your company.

So, why shouldn’t this social ‘chatter’ be tied back into the business intelligence platforms, and further, mined out specifically to inform customer feedback loops, voice of the customer & value stream maps, for example?

Going one step further, having a BI PlayBook focuses the attention of the metric owners on the areas that needs to be addressed, while filtering out the noise that can detract from the intended purpose.

If we are going to make folks responsible for the performance of a given metric, shouldn’t we also help them understand what is expected of them up front, as opposed to when something goes terribly wrong, signified by the “text message” tirade of an overworked CEO waking you out of your slumber at 3 AM?

Further, understanding how to address an issue, who to communicate to and most importantly, how to resolve and respond to affected parties are all part of a well conceived BI playbook.

It truly takes BI to that next level. In fact, two years ago, I presented this very topic at the TDWI Executive Summit in San Diego (Tying Business Processes into your Business Intelligence). While I got a lot of  stares ala ‘dog tilting head to the side in that confused glare at owner look’, I hope people can draw back on that experience with moments of ‘ah ha – that is what she meant’ now that they have evolved ( a little) in their BI maturation growth.

Investigative Analysis Part 1: Quantifying the Market Value of an Organization’s Intangible Asset Known as ‘Knowledge’

OK, so I’ve decided to conduct another multi-part study similar to what I did last year.

This time, I will be analyzing and attempting the quantify an organization’s intangible assets. Specifically, the following:

• knowledge, brands, reputations, and unique business processes

So, starting with knowledge:  Firstly, the chart is a little outdated but I will source the last two years and updated the graph later in the series.  Regardless, it is interesting none-the-less. And since I am the Queen advocate for measuring what matters and managing what you can measure, then consider the following my attempt to drink my own cool-aid – the following chart  depicts revenue growth over a 7 year period ending in 2008 – Those of you, my dear readers, who are also fellow Business Intelligence practitioners, should be able to attest at first glance to this statistical representation of Content Management Systems (CMS) and Portals YoY Revenue growth.

In fact, many of us have been asked to integrate BI dashboards and reports into existing corporate portals, like Microsoft SharePoint or into the native portals bundled with most Enterprise grade BI products like MicroStrategy or SAP/Business Objects, right? Many of us have been tasked with drafting data dictionaries, data governance documentation, source protected project and code repositories; ie – knowledge capture areas. But even in my vast knowledge (no pun intended), I was unaware that the growth spurt specific to CMS’ was as dramatic as this, depicted below and sourced from Prentice Hall

In fact, between 2001 and 2008, CMS’ revenue growth went from ~$2.5B to ~$22B, with the greatest spurt beginning in 2003 and skyrocketing up from there.

 

Conversely, the portal revenue growth was substantially less. This was a surprise. I must have heard the words SharePoint and Implementation more than any other between 2007 – 2009, whereas the sticker shock that came with an enterprise grade CMS sent many a C-level into the land of Nod, never to return until the proven VALUE cloud could ride them home against the nasty cop known as COST.

Aah – Ha moment, folks. Portal products were far less costly than the typical Documentum or IBM CMS.’

In fact, Jupiter’s recent report on CMS’ stated

“In some cases, an organization will deploy several seemingly redundant systems. In our sampling of about 800 companies that use content management packages, we discovered that almost 15 percent had implemented more than one CMS, often from competing vendors. That’s astounding, especially when you consider that an organization that deploys two content management systems can rack up more than $1 million in licensing fees and as much as $300,000 in yearly maintenance costs. Buying a second CMS should certainly raise a red flag for any CIO or CFO about to approve a purchase order.”

That’s 120 companies from the Jupiter study spending $1M in licensing, or $120M baseline. Extend that to all organizations leveraging CMS technology and therein lies the curious case of the revenue growth spurt.

To that, I say, Kiss My Intangible Assets! Knowledge is power, except when parked in someone’s head – Now, when will someone invent the physical drainage system for exactly said knowledge with or without permission of said holder? This gatekeepers need to go, and are often the dinosaurs fearing the newbie college grads and worst of all, CHANGE.

In part 2, we will discuss another fave of mine: Brand You!

“LAURA” Stratification: Best Practice for Implementing ‘Social Intelligence’

Doing an assessment for how and where to learn social media to better understand your business drivers can be daunting, especially when you want to overlay how those drivers affect your goals, customers, suppliers, employees, partners…you name it.

I came up with this process which happens to mimic my name (shameless self-persona plug) to ease the assessment process while providing a guided assessment plan.

First, ‘Learn’ to Listen: learning from the voice of the customer/supplier/partner is an extremely effective way to understand how well you are doing retaining, acquiring or losing your relationships with those who you rely on to operate your business.

Second, Analyze what matters, ignore or shelve (for later) what doesn’t; data should be actionable, (metrics in your control to address), reporting key performance indicators that are tied to corporate strategies and goals to ensure relevancy.

Third, Understand your constituent groups; it isn’t just your customers, but also your shareholders, employees, partners, and suppliers who can make or break a business through word of mouth and social networking.

Fourth, Relate your root causes to your constituents value perceptions, loyalty drivers and needs to ensure relevancy flow through from step 2. Map these to your business initiatives and goals exercise from step 2. Explore gaps between initiatives, value perceptions, loyalty drivers and corporate goals.

Lastly, create Action plans to address the gaps discovered in Step 4. If you analyzed truly actionable data in step 2, this should be easy to do.

To apply this to social media in order to turn it into social intelligence, you need to make the chatter of the networks meaningful and actionable.

To do this, think about this example:

 

A person tweets a desire to stop using a hotel chain because of a bad experience. In marketing, this is known as an “intent to churn” event; when social intelligence reporting systems ferrets out this intent based on scouring the web commentaries of social networks, an alert can be automatically forwarded to your customer loyalty, marketing/social media or customer response teams to respond, address and retain said customer.

A posting might say “trouble with product or service” – That type of message can be sent to customer operations (service) or warranty service departments as a mobile alert.

And a “having trouble replenishing item; out of stock” question on a customer forum can be passed along to your supply chain or retail teams — all automatically.

The Wynn has a great feedback loop using social media to alert them in real-time of customers who are dissatisfied with their stay who Tweet or comment about this during their stay.

The hotel manager and response time will find this person to address and rectify the situation before they check out. And before long, the negative tweet or post is replaced by an even more positive response, and best of all, WORD of MOUTH to friends and family.

Its sad to say, in this day and age, we are often left without a voice or one that is heard by our providers of services / products. When good service comes, we are so starved that we rejoice about it to the would. And why not? That is how good companies excel and excellent companies  hit the echelon of amazing companies!

50 Ways to Drive Traffic Online

I wanted to share with you this great article I came across – It walks you through the 50 ways to increase online traffic; I would add that if you are interested in building your own personal brand, or the “Brand YOU”, then this article is a must read:

http://www.gathersuccess.com/blogging-tips/50-ways-to-drive-traffic-online