With only one Friday left, Black Friday and  Cyber Monday will be here before we know it! Now is the time to gear up your advertising efforts, as 35% of consumers plan to spend on Black Friday and 30% plan to shop on Cyber Monday.

The dollars are at stake for advertisers and brands have been growing continuously over the years. Last year, Americans spent $3.34 billion on Black Friday, with an average of $300 spent throughout Thanksgiving weekend, and shoppers in the UK spent £2.9 billion.

It’s no secret that mobile is becoming an increasingly important area of focus for brands when trying to reach potential spenders. This trend holds especially true during the holidays. Last year, Americans set a new record by spending $1.2 billion via mobile on Black Friday. This year, it’s estimated that 63.5% of Americans plan to shop digitally on Cyber Monday to take advantage of online-only deals from major retailers leading the game, like Amazon and Target. In general, over 75% of Americans plan to use their mobile devices for shopping at some point during the Holiday season.

In the UK, Black Friday spend is rising. With 31% of consumers plan to spend in November, 19.4% in the first half of December and 3.8% in the second half. Most consumers will be very present on mobile, with 62% scouting products on mobile and 56% monitoring deals, mobile ad spend is increasingly important during the holiday season.

What does this mean for advertisers?

1. Now is the time to invest ad spend on mobile, as most consumers are spending their time on mobile researching and monitoring products.
2. Prepare websites for increased visitation as websites can experience 5x higher web traffic on Black Friday.

For more data and insights, download your free UK & US holiday one sheets.

That’s one of the questions Dr Ron Chrisley, Director of the Centre for Cognitive Science at the University of Sussex addressed at Mindshare Huddle.

Interviewed by Jack Edmonds, LoopMe’s Head of Agency Sales, Ron’s experience with Artificial Intelligence mean that he was perfectly placed to educate us about the impact AI is set to have on our society.

 

There is no general AI

At present, general AI doesn’t exist. General AI is the idea that a machine can successfully perform any task that a human being can, whereas narrow AI is focused on just one task.

Even the likes of Google DeepMind – as sophisticated as it is – are still forms of narrow AI.

 

Defining consciousness is problematic

Garfield said that consciousness is the period between naps. But as Ron pointed out, we should probably have a better definition than that.

Current approaches don’t go far enough, such as ones which define consciousness based on behaviour. Ron critiqued this by pointing out that currently chatbots can mimic the ways in which humans talk, but these are far from being conscious, even if users aren’t aware that they’re talking to a robot.

However, there won’t be the need to treat AI as human or conscious for the foreseeable future.

 

Robots won’t take over the world

The core ethical question should not be whether there be a robot takeover. This isn’t something we should consider for the next 50-100 years.

However, discussing robot rights is likely to become more prominent. Ron also welcomed governments and private companies looking into the ethical implications, as this will ensure that AI is not being scapegoated for actions that humans are responsible for.

He added that everyone should be involved in discussing what counts as an ethical deployment of AI, and that it shouldn’t be left to one trade body, company or government to make this decision.

 

Education is needed

Much of the concern about AI is due to misinformation. Jack used a stat that 52% of people get their knowledge of AI from TV and films, so it’s not surprising that many have a less than positive idea about the impact that AI has in society.

 

AI will transform our lives

While there is a lot of negativity around AI (mainly due to a lack of education), Ron was keen to stress the great impact that AI can have. Developments in technology will transform (and are transforming) our lives, from tech, health care and even in advertising.

 

The sky is the limit.

 

Thanks to all who came along! Learn more about LoopMe at www.loopme.com

To celebrate Halloween, we’ve picked out 5 of our favorite Halloween campaigns to get you in to the spirit!

 

Horseless Headman – Snickers

Produced by AMV BBDO for Snickers in 2012

 

Star Wars Halloween – Verizon  

Created by agency Wieden + Kennedy, with the advert last being aired in 2013

 

Gear 360 Captures Ghost in Creepy VR Found Footage 

Created by 1 Trick Pony in 2016

 

The Scariest: LG’s ‘So Real it’s Scary’ Campaign 

Superheroes Amsterdam created this in 2012 for LG

 

Giant Talking Spider – Skittles

Created by DDB Chicago aired in 2013.

Morrisons is next up in our Data Champions series, where we take an in-depth look at companies ‘championing data’. To be considered a data champion companies should be using data in a unique way to help achieve their overall business objectives.

In the first of this 3-part series we looked at how Under Armour is disrupting the sportswear industry, revolutionising the ‘connected fitness’ movement.

In this article we’ll be looking at supermarket chain Morrisons. Founded by William Morrisons in the 1890’s, Morrisons has been a mainstay in the UK supermarket industry for over 100 years. It’s now the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain, particularly impressive given that it started as a food market in the streets of Bradford, and where their HQ is to this day.

You may have heard of our AI solution, PurchaseLoop Foot Traffic, which uses AI to drive consumers to stores. This is one way in which retailers are harnessing AI to solve business objectives, however Morrison’s are using theirs to solve another problem – waste. A report should published by Wrap (a UK Government backed charity, set up to reduce food waste) revealed the scale of the issue, with supermarkets wasting on average 235,000 tonnes of food in a year.

Morrisons have teamed up with Blue Yonder, a provider of AI and Machine Learning solutions for companies in the retail sector to improve their customer service and efficiency.

Using data from the last 3 years, Morrisons looked at internal data (peak selling times and best selling products and external data (public holidays and weather forecasts) for each of their 491 stores. This data was then analysed and an algorithm was trained to predict what each individual store needs which product at what time. This is then ordered automatically, in turn freeing up time for Morrisons staff to focus on the customer.

This forward thinking by Morrisons has paid off, in just under 12 months they’ve reduced shelf gaps by 30%. It’s also reduced the amount of days Morrisons are holding stock for, which now stands at 2–3 days. This has had a direct impact on their overall sales figures, with like-for-like sales rising 1.7% in the final quarter of 2016, including their strongest Christmas trading period in seven years.

When supermarkets and other stores introduce Artificial Intelligence systems, there’s often a suggestion that this will lead to job losses. This isn’t the case for Morrisons, as as employees are actually spending more time on the shop floor.

Morrisons CEO David Potts had this to say:

“Our biggest new initiative has been our new automated ordering system. The system is capital light, utilising cloud technology and store-specific historic sales data to forecast stock requirements. It is reducing costs and stock levels, while also saving time for colleagues, and providing a better offer for customers. “

With retailers under a lot of pressure to persuade consumers to come into store, rather than order online, they are looking to improve the in-store experience. This is another example of how big data and the use of artificial intelligence can significantly improve business results.