The Lighthouse IT Podcast - April 9th, 2021
Matt and Griff go through a lot this week, including how the US Army awarded a bid to Microsoft for new augmented reality technology, Cleveland Clinic becoming the first private sector business to purchase Quantum Computer, and some very creative marketing strategies that we've seen recently.
Listen here!
Security News
US Army Awards Bid to Microsoft for Augmented Reality Technology
Remember when AR Goggles were all the rage? Oculus was new on the shelf, Google was pushing Glass, and Microsoft had its own contributor - the HoloLens?
Microsoft has just won a bid to provide the U.S. Army with Augmented Reality headsets valued at over $20 billion over the next decade.
It is the second contract awarded to Microsoft in the past couple of years; with the last one creating some internal outrage to employees for providing the Pentagon with cloud services.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, said "these are people that are tasked with protecting us and that the headsets could be used to ensure that no civilians are in the line of fire of soldiers.
Cleveland Clinic becomes first private sector business to purchase Quantum Computer
Cleveland Clinic's aim is to use Quantum Computing & Artificial Intelligence to help life science research and potentially stop the next health crisis.
What is quantum computing?
In classic computing, calculations are done in binary using bits that have states of either 0 or 1. In quantum computing, quantum bits, or qubits, are used. With qubits, they add the ability to have both 0 and 1 at the same time in a state.
This means that quantum computers can evaluate multiple calculations in multiple configurations simultaneously. For instance, Google's 53-qubit Sycamore processor was able to process a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken a modern supercomputer approximately 10,000 years.
Marketing News
Airlines Shift Their Marketing Strategies as People Start Traveling Again
With vaccine rollouts, that means communities will be bustling to take their first vacation away from home in over a year. You bet the Airlines are aware of this, too.
While a boom of airline promotions took place in recent times past, going forward we expect travel to pick up back to normal. This will mean less promotions and deals.
Why Glossier Used Empty Movie Theater Marquees for its Latest Campaign
Glossier, a beauty brand, has taken the creative initiative to host a campaign with a movie theater as the selected venue.
This is one of those unique and creative marketing methods we theorized would come from the pandemic. An out of home marketing strategy that helps struggling businesses in underutilized spaces with a lot of attention.
Would the Krispy Kreme Vaccine Card Promo Work for Your Brand?
If you roll up to any participating Krispy Kreme with a vaccine card until the end of 2021, you'll get a free glazed donut. Is this a pro-strategy? We're interested to see what other businesses use this strategy this year.
This TikTok Feature is Spreading to Other Social Media Platforms
Quick update on TikTok's takeoff: TikTok Duets have snowballed into a trend across its competitors, such as Instagram and Snapchat.
Instagram has Remix the Reel while Snapchat calls their version Remix Snap.
In relation to marketing, this trend allows the platform users to directly interact, change up, and share content created by another user. This creates more opportunities for any business looking to capitalize on the trendy market.
Shrimp Toast Crunch Debacle
A picture speaks a thousand words...
Sadly, still no news on Twitter Spaces, but it may be out this month.