A New Marketing Frontier.

Smart Speakers. Because smart speakers such as Google Home and Amazon’s Echo do not run paid advertising, brands are in a marketing arms race to find unique ways to take advantage of these new platforms. Learn more about some of their strategies here. https://nyti.ms/2RGPLjL

Headphones for the Digital Nomad.

Recently, Microsoft Teamed up with Xbox and Skype group teams to create their new Surface Headphones. Noise-cancellation, hands-free functionality, and quick-charging are some of the features of Microsoft’s first line of headphones. These may be a nice gift for folks that frequently work at coffee shops, remote workers, and freelancing friends. https://bit.ly/2rtzzqC

A Bold Branding Move by John Lewis.

John Lewis plans to air eight 10-second ads featuring a different product in each. He draws an association between the ads by featuring a different Elton John song in each. Marketing is all about strategically creating associations with one’s brand, so it will be interesting to see how well this campaign plays out this Holiday Season. https://bit.ly/2RJHLia

The Five Largest Fintech Trends of 2019.

The trajectory of financial technologies affects everyone. Here are the five most important 2019 predictions from experts in the Fintech world. https://bloom.bg/2C1mJ9f

Lyft Prepares to Go Public.

Lyft has filed paperwork with US authorities for their IPO. Uber, Lyfts main rival, is expected to follow suit next year. https://bbc.in/2UmAs1s