Social Intelligence Stories that Caught Our Attention: Volume Thirty

There’s been a lot going on in the world of social intelligence this week, we’ve got interesting stories about a new social data app for artists, the coming and going on trends, social data for social good, a ban on social data being used in credit decisions, Talkwalker’s new corporate partnership, a sinking Abercrombie and Fitch, and Engagement Labs new TotalSocial ranking.

Universal Music Artists Launches New Social Data App for Artists

In an interesting move, Universal Music Artists (UMA) has launched a new app for artists assigned to their label to access data and insights on their music plays across international DSPs, and all pull in data from Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It is believed the app will provide artists with:

“actionable insights to move your career forward, plan tours and build set-lists… see how your tracks are performing on playlists, and understand which playlists you should be on, and more”.

They believe the future is in “hit prediction” models. For me, this seems a bit like the attempts from Hollywood to “Moneyball” movies, which has had poor success to date.

Read the full article here.

How Trends - From Oat Milk to Ugly Sneaker - Get so Huge so Fast

Across at Vox, Rebecca Jennings takes a look into tends and why we’re cycling through trends so fast. The article focuses on the new book from Temple University advertising professor, Devon Powers On Trend; The Business of Forecasting the Future”. It explores the ways trend professionals “read” culture, talking to thought leaders and listening to social media and in turn shape it, and how they bring the culture of the fringes into the mainstream.

I really like how this positions the use of social data and frames social intelligence in a way that is meaningful - something I’d argue that the industry needs more of.

Read the full article here.

Social Data for Social Good in Australia

It was announced that the Australian government science organization, the SCIRO, with its data science arm, Data61 id developing a tool to scour social media and analyze data to work out epidemics ahead of time. An interesting move but it feels a bit like the Google Flu Predictor that ultimately failed, here’s hoping this initiative has better results.

Read the full article here.

Social Data Cannot Be Used in Credit Decisions Under New York Ban

Over the years there have been rumblings of financial service and insurance organizations attempting to use social data to understand “credit risk” and “trustworthiness”. In a landmark decision, New York state is banning consumer reporting agencies and lenders from using a consumer’s social network to determine their creditworthiness.

In a statement, Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) said it:

“Social data does not meet the FICO’s stringent scientific criteria for data sources used in credit risk scoring”.

Read the full article here.

Talkwalker’s New Corporate Partnership with Burrells

Following its recent rebrand and launch of new, enhanced digital products, media data intelligence firm Burrells announced a partnership with Talkwalker. The move is said to amplify value to Burrelles’ clients who are already using the firm’s technology to gain analytical insights into complex media trends. A big congratulations to the Talkwalker team from everyone at The Social Intelligence Lab.

Read the full article here.

Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister are Suffering From Sinking Social Media Data

New research from Thinknum suggests that Abercrombie & Fitch and its Hollister line are struggling to maintain real and fashion gravitas as young shoppers look to other brands. The research is based on analysis of the companies social traction which has been declining. They also suggest that the company appears to be flooding e-commerce channels with an overabundance of products that could further erode product exclusivity.

Read the full article here

Engagement Labs Released TotalSocial® Ranking

Engagement Labs has released a ranking of the top retail brands in the U.S. based on social influence. I’m not usually one for this type of ranking but the statement from Ed Keller, Engagement Labs CEO caught my attention and I wanted to ask your opinion:

“Published analytics by Engagement Labs have proven that stronger performance on TotalSocial metrics are linked to business growth, which is why businesses from Victoria’s Secret to Amazon should be focused on improving TotalSocial scores”

What’s your thoughts?

Read the full article here.

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