Already, the companies employing these types of advanced analytics have seen significantly improved click-through rates and higher conversion rates (between three and ten times the average). Additionally, McKinsey analysis shows that using data to make better marketing decisions can increase marketing productivity by between 15 and 20 percent—that’s as much as $200 billion given the average annual global marketing spend of $1 trillion.5

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/digitizing_the_consumer_decision_journey

Digital customer service has become a significant factor in both purchase and service transactions: roughly 70 percent of telecommunications purchase journeys occur in part or in whole online, as do 90 percent of service journeys.1 Digital customer service also provides superior customer satisfaction: our research shows that 76 percent of telecommunications customers are satisfied with a customer service journey that is fully digital, compared with 57 percent satisfaction for interactions through traditional channels (exhibit). When you consider that migration to e-care can, in our experience, reduce call volumes and operating expenses by 25 to 30 percent, its benefits seem obvious.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/why_companies_should_care_about_ecare

As a former lighting designer for theater, this stuff interests me. Natural white and blue are tough to replicate. LED does a good job and at lower energy consumption.

Two scientists in Japan and one at the University of California at Santa Barbara were awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for helping create the LED light, a transformational and ubiquitous source that now lights up everything from our living rooms to our flashlights to our smart phones
https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/world/europe/nobel-prize-physics/index.html

Our on body tech will be a retail or marketer’s best friend. Trust me, it’s about to get crazy out there.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102044569

Some pros and cons of Google’s plan to give every “thing” a URL. One of the best articles I have read for those trying to understand where the Internet of Things is heading.

https://gigaom.com/2014/10/02/some-pros-and-cons-of-googles-plan-to-give-every-thing-a-url/