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Reports of tanking VR headset sales have been plentiful, leading marketers to begin questioning the wisdom of adding Virtual Reality to their arsenals. Shel Israel, co-author of “The Fourth Transformation” — a book about the VR/AR/MR inflection point — joins FIR host Shel Holtz to discuss VR’s viability for marketing. Also in this episode…

• Chat story apps are all the rage among young users. Are they also the next big thing in native advertising?
• A Hawaiian Airlines bot answers travelers’ baggage questions, if only they know where to find it
• An AI-based Alexa skill from lawnmower company Troy-Bilt delivers useful information by linking local weather and your personal calendar
• WhatsApp adds functionality for customer service and engaging with customers directly from Facebook ads
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is less and less important to marketers these days
• Google will deliver rich-text search results for Q&As, FAQs, and how-to content
• Twitter reveals how it ranks its search results
• Google employees are upset again, this time about their employer’s plans to introduce a search engine in China with censorship built in
• A new study finds Americans believe CEOs who speak out about their values influence government policy
• Brands are backing away from using stock photos
• One government agency is getting its word out through memes

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

About our guest

The first startup Shel Israel helped was Sun Microsystems; there have been hundreds since. Shel writes on his website, “I gave PowerPoint its name, introduced sound to the personal computer, and was backstage at the Mac launch.” He is best known as a writer and speaker. He writes, “I have been working with disruptive tech companies for a very long time. I have lots to brag about and many lessons learned.” Shel offers four services: writer (he writes speeches, presentations, white papers and books, including Naked Conversations, The Age of Context, Twitterville, Lethal Curiosity, and most recently, The Fourth Transformation); advisor (everyone who talks with a CEO has their own agenda; Shel says his is to serve her or his best interests); anecdotal researcher (market research is a powerful data science, but it misses certain aspects of human behavior; and speaker (Shel has well-received as a keynoter on all continents not covered by ice).

Links from this episode:

• IHOP says fake name change was a big success
• Are Chat Stories the Future of native Advertising?
• Wattpad takes ‘chat fiction’ beyond text with launch of Tap Originals
• Are Chat-Fiction Apps the New YA Novels?
• I wrote a text message thriller, and so should you
• Surfboard? Kid’s Car Seat? Hawaiian Baggage Bot Aims to Help
• When To Mow The Lawn? Troy-Bilt, With Assist From Alexa, Will Let You Know
• Troy-Bilt® Launches “Ask Troy-Bilt” Alexa Skill – Gives Customers A Voice Recognition Tool For The Yard
• WhatsApp launches tools allowing users to launch a conversation from a Facebook ad
• WhatsApp launches Facebook chat ads and Business API for automated messaging with customers
• Survey: SEO rated the ‘least popular digital marketing channel’
• Google to Add Q&A, FAQ, and How-To Features in Search Results
• Twitter Reveals How it Ranks Tweets in Search Results
• Some Google employees are confused and angry about a recent report that Google is creating a censored search engine for China
• CEO activism in 2018: Americans think CEOs must speak out to defend company values
• Real Recognizes Real: Why Brands Aren’t Relying On Stock Photography These Taxpayer-Funded Memes Are The Most Wholesome Thing On The Internet
• Marketers cool on VR, shift focus to AR
• Augmented Reality is coming to a restaurant near you

Links from Dan York’s Report

• DingTalk from Alibaba is world’s largest business chat app
• Facebook testing dating app
• G20 Digital Process: Trust Requires More Transparency and Inclusion
• G20 Open Letter
• Evolving the Firefox brand

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), is director of Internal Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio