Animoto hack exposes personal information, geolocation data

In Early July, 2018, Animoto was attacked by hackers, exposing an estimated 21 million peoples critical info , such as location, emails, and dates of birth. According to sources, Animoto is responsible for video content for several social media sites. While they claim they doubt info for each client was complete, like just name and gender of one person versus location and e mail of another, the companies 1 step system made it vulnerable. The company has since asked members to reset passwords and has employed a 2 step process.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Animoto data breach occurred on July 10 but it was in early August that the incident was reported to the California attorney general.
  • Although user?s geolocation data was breached, the company noted that geolocation data was not being kept for all users.
  • Although the number of its 22 million users affected by the breach is not known, the company will notify all its users.

“Names, dates of birth and user email addresses were accessed by hackers, but the company said it wasn?t known if data had been exfiltrated.”

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/20/animoto-hack-exposes-personal-information-geolocation-data/

The Ultimate Guide to Public Relations in 2018

Being able to get along with people is a massive benefit to have if you are looking to move up the ranks in whatever career it is that you are in. Depending on who you are, and what you do, public relations could be one of the most important things to have. In 2018, that is only enhanced as there are now more and more people who are competing for the highest paying jobs in the world.

Key Takeaways:

  • Public relations, PR, is similar to branding in that it manages the spread of information about a brand. But it is different by focusing on communication and reputation.
  • Owned media is the most important category of PR. It includes social media posts, blog content and website copy.
  • Paid media in PR involves paying to get your owned media out to people and is done through social media advertising, influencer marketing, and pay-per-click (PPC).

“Public relations can be split into three categories: owned, paid, and earned media. Each works towards the same reputation-building goal but use different strategies to get there.”

Read more: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/public-relations

Messenger Bot Funnels: How to Nurture Prospects Toward a Sale

There are definitely ways in which someone can increase their chances of making a sale. It comes down to how bad you want to make the sale and what measures you are willing to go to in order to do so. Some people are different than others. To make a sale involving a bot, one must channel all attention to their particular product. When marketing this product, it is important to be honest in all dealings.

Key Takeaways:

  • As a tool to boost sales, messenger bots have some impressive metrics in their corner, including a 60% click through rate.
  • Bot funnels are essentially similar to email funnels, just that they make use of messenger instead.
  • Since almost all of one’s prospects are apt use Facebook messenger, using messenger bots is just logical.

“To explore what you need to know about setting up a successful funnel using Messenger bots, I interview Mary Kathryn Johnson”

Read more: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/messenger-bot-funnels-mary-kathryn-johnson/

3 Easy Website-Personalization Tricks That Will Boost Your Conversion Rates

Even if your site is awesome and chock-a-block with great and relevant content that users are fascinated by and find useful, you may still be alienating a portion of those that land on your web pages. Why? Just because your content is ‘all that’ doesn’t tell the entire story. People landing upon your site are there for a specific purpose, everything they see should relate to that goal. It’s called personalization. And, while it’s great to have personalized content, if the ads and other promos etc. are about irrelevant subjects that have nothing to say or offer respective of the goals of those landing on the page than some landing and potential leads are going to get lost. So, along with the content, it’s important to personalize the shopping options. In fact, close to half of those surveyed said they would buy from retailers that personalized their shopping across the board. Business owners are realizing the need for this, as more than two-thirds believe that real-time personalization is where the money is. Conversion-specific design elements, like widgets can target landing users based on a number of important factors such as, location, devices the user has and past visits to the site. Using product recommendation engines, for example, allows gathering of users online behavior so that sites can generate ads specific to what they have shown interest in already. Retargeting campaigns that only go after those that have already shown interest in an offering is another great way to achieve conversion from interest to lead. The more site owners target the specific interest of each landing visitor the better their conversion rates will be.

Key Takeaways:

  • You can run special promotions for your client that are triggered according to the date, time, or the site visitor’s location.
  • Use product recommendation engines that are based on algorithms that track your visitors’ online behavior.
  • Keep in mind that your potential customers place a higher value on what interests them personally.

“According to a study released by Janrain, 74 percent of online consumers surveyed said they were frustrated with websites that show content in the form of ads, offers and promotions that aren?t related to their personal interests. What this means is that you?re alienating your site visitors every time you let an irrelevant offer pop up on their screen.”

Read more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/318758

What I learned from Flipkart

Walmart recently acquired Flipkart. Oliver Rippel learned many things during his time as the company’s board director and recently divulged some secrets. Flipkart was the first company to offer more selections and categories through its marketplace, provide warehouse options, and employ their own delivery service. Although they were known for serving India mostly, they also thought globally with events like Big Billion Day. They employed robust and innovative industry leaders who knew the local scene well but could think big also.

Key Takeaways:

  • Flipkart was a massive success story for a short period of time before it faded away.
  • If you catch people’s attention, you can definitely go viral rather quickly.
  • There are many lessons that can be learned from things like Flipkart and how it got so successful.

“In addition to the obvious financial success ? a 3.6x or $1.6 billion absolute return in six years ? being part of one of the greatest success stories of the Indian and global e-commerce market led to countless insights for Naspers.”

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/27/what-i-learned-from-flipkart/

Google’s lifesaving Undo Send feature comes to Gmail for Android

Google has offered an Undo Send feature to its users for a while now. This specific feature allows used to have, at least, 10 seconds to “undo” an emails sent on accident, etc. This feature has been present on Google’s Inbox app but for the Gmail mobile client, it has not been available. Now Android users will have this feature available in the new Gmail version 8.7. The Android Police warn users that the feature may not be present at first, but restarting the app should resolve the issue.

Key Takeaways:

  • Gmail’s 8.7 version for android is slated to incorporate Google’s undo send feature, which is already available to web users.
  • The undo send feature didn’t become an officially listed Gmail feature until 2015.
  • The Android Police, which ran the story about the 8.7 implementation of the feature, notes that may have to restart their Gmail even if they have an 8.7 version.

“It works by implementing a time delay on sent emails to let you rescind them within 10 seconds if you happened to impulsively fire it out with an error in plain sight.”

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/20/17761240/google-gmail-undo-send-android-mobile-feature

MyCyberSale 2018 Offers Malaysia’s BIGGEST Online Shopping Sale Event

MyCyberSale 2018

Malaysians just had a wonderful LONG Merdeka weekend of celebrating, eating and last minute shopping at the malls to avoid the SST (Sales and Service Tax) which kicked in on 1st September 2018.

Here Comes MyCyberSale 2018

Now comes MyCyberSale 2018 which offers Malaysia’s BIGGEST online shopping sale event of the year where Malaysian online sites and marketplaces offer a tonne of discounts and promotions for 5 DAYS in a row which starts from 3rd – 7th September 2018.

You could say the whole of Malaysia and entire South East Asia region will be shopping online this entire week!

When Does MyCyberSale Take Place?

Malaysia’s MyCyberSale usually takes place between our National Day (31st August) and Malaysia Day (16th September) annually.

MyCybersale 2018 Online Shopping

You could call it Malaysia’s annual version of China’s Singles’ Day or the States’ Thanksgiving + Black Friday and Cyber Monday event. All the shopping happens online.

Although the volume doesn’t come close to China or the States, but hey, at least we get our own online shopping sale event to shop our hearts out.

Why Do We Need It?

Let’s face it. Other than FOOD, Malaysians’ next favourite past time or hobby is SHOPPING ONLINE.

We love online deals, promotions and offers where one can get any product or service on sale at a discounted price.

It’s also an excellent way to encourage our local Malaysian ecommerce pool of merchants and online businesses to offer amazing discounts and promotions during this online sale period to spur the local economy.

Did you know that Malaysia is one of the FASTEST growing emerging ecommerce market in the region?

Malaysia One Of The Fastest Growing Ecommerce Emerging Market

So Where Can I Find MyCyberSale 2018 Offers And Promotions?

Majority of MyCyberSale online offers and promotions are listed on https://www.mycybersale.my/cms/4/Merchant-Offering

MyCyberSale By MDEC and PIKOM

MyCyberSale is an ecommerce initiative by MDEC (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation) in collaboration with PIKOM (The National ICT Association of Malaysia). ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology.

There’s 21 different categories with a total of 876 merchants offering discounts, promotions and free shipping the MyCyberSale.my site.

Below are the different categories and number of merchants / offers for MyCyberSale 2018 :

Automotive, Parts & Accessories – 14
Baby & Kids – 85
Beauty & Wellness – 26
Books & Media – 21
Education – 10
Electronics – 29
Electronic Accessories – 23
Entertainment – 6
Fashion – 217
Food & Beverages – 31
Gifts, Premium & Souvenirs – 30
Groceries – 13
Health & Beauty – 138
Home & Living – 54
Home Appliances – 14
Home Improvement – 16
Lifestyle – 16
Marketplace – 42
Multi Category – 40
Services – 22
Sports Equipment – 9

You’ll notice that the largest number of offers fall within 3 categories which are Fashion, Health & Beauty and Baby & Kids.

MyCyberSale 2018 Fashion Offers

It can get a bit overwhelming with all the blinking ads all eyeing for your attention.

Some Pearls Of Wisdom For Online Shopping

Decide what you NEED for yourself. Determine which category and what type of product you’re looking for and make the necessary comparison.

Otherwise, you’ll end up wanting to buy EVERYTHING since there’s a whole bunch of offers going on right now.

Oh, and if you’re buying anything that’s RM50 and above from the listed merchants, you’ll be eligible to participate in the Lucky Draw.

Tell Me, What Do Folks Normally Buy During MyCyberSale?

The most popular categories that people shop from during the previous MyCybersale were :

Health & Beauty – everyone needs to look good or make sure we’re not falling apart
Fashion – we need to update our wardrobe or get some new threads at least once a year
Travel – Malaysians need to go for holidays to de-stress
Groceries – we need to stock up our kitchen / pantry / office as we constantly need to eat

Our wonderful neighbour down south Singapore would be having a blast buying from Malaysia as their strong Singapore Dollar allows them to get a better bang for their buck here.

Shoppers use both desktop and mobile to complete their online purchases.

The bulk of orders are shipped by our national courier service PosLaju allowing Malaysians to receive their online purchases within the next business day (if they don’t get too overwhelmed with the amount of orders!).

PosLaju Malaysia National Courier Service

Most of our Malaysian online sites accept online banking (FPX) and credit / debit card as payment method so shopping online is a breeze.

Is This The LAST Online Shopping Sale Event For 2018?

Of course not! There’s always a reason to have online sales as Malaysians and everyone in this region enjoy shopping online.

If you miss getting something that you want during MyCyberSale 2018, there’s the upcoming 9 September 2018 ONE DAY SUPER SALE by the online marketplaces being offered by Lazada, 11Street, Shopee, etc.

For your info, 9th September 2018 is Malaysia’s King’s Birthday which falls on a Sunday making Monday 10th September 2018 a public holiday. And to top it off, 11th September is Awal Muharram which is a Muslim religious holiday.

So Malaysians have an even longer weekend holiday coming up this week. We’ll probably need to rest and chill with the amount of online shopping we’re doing from last week spilling to this week!

So have a wonderful time shopping online this whole week folks.

Apple’s MacBook Air successor will reportedly have slim bezels and high-res Retina display

The MacBook Air is going to get a successor soon, this according to Bloomberg. Besides having a slimmer price tag and streamlined bezels, the newest Apple incarnation will have a high-res Retina display. The Air’s take two has been a long time coming because Apple has been giving its love and time to its pricier models, specifically the 12 inch MacBook and the MacBook Pro. Air has been considered a sort of educator/poor-man’s model, worth leaving on the bottom shelf for those on straitened means, but not necessarily worth updating. It could be that Apple is recognizing that the Air and other less prestigious models have loyal followers that should be thrown the occasional bone. To that end, Apple has further plans to upgrade the also long-languished Mac Mini, miniature desktop model. New processing and storage upgrades will arrive with a heftier price tag. But, that’s because Apple realizes that Mini users have been multi-tasking on the Mini for some time now and deserve to be able to do so more efficiently.

Key Takeaways:

  • The new incarnation has been on the back-burner while Apple has been putting its energy into its 12 inch MacBook and MacBook Pro lines.
  • Some have suggested that the far less expensive Air laptop was relegated to the bottom shelf by Apple as a model that attracted mainly educators and pinch-pennies.
  • Mini Mac, Apple’s miniature desktop model has also been gathering dust and will be soon given an overhaul.

“Apple is nearing the release of a long-awaited, completely redesigned successor to its MacBook Air laptop, according to Bloomberg.”

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/8/20/17761346/apple-new-macbook-air-mac-mini-2018-rumor-features

The 8 Instagram Accounts With the Most Followers — And What Marketers Can Learn From Them

Instagram is absolutely massive today. Facebook got an unbelievable deal when they bought Instagram for $1 billion back in 2012. Now, there are some accounts and people on Instagram that garner an absolute ransom for one singular post on their Instagram accounts. It is hard to tell which is the most valuable accounts but the power that some of these celebrities have is absolutely incredible. The soccer player from Portugal and Selena Gomez are two of the biggest.

Key Takeaways:

  • Instagram is a huge marketing tool for many companies in today’s culture.
  • Jenner has an incredible reach of followers on her own Instagram and she can charge a lot.
  • Celebrities have incredible power in the world of marketing and people try to get them to promote.

“Instagram?s popularity lets most brands forge an emotional connection with a massive audience, and some brands are so good at visually engaging and resonating with Instagram users that they?ve attracted tens of millions of followers.”

Read more: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/most-instagram-followers

Top 50 Merdeka 2018 Promotions And Offers That You Don’t Want To Miss

Malaysia will be celebrating its 61st Merdeka (Independence Day) this 31st August 2018.

Since everyone’s looking forward to the long Merdeka weekend to chill, EAT and do some LAST MINUTE SHOPPING before we welcome the new SST (Sales and Service Tax), we’ve decided to compile a list of 50 Top Merdeka 2018 Promotions and Offers that you don’t want to miss out on.

Food, Glorious FOOD Promotions For Merdeka 2018

Malaysian love to eat. We’re multi-racial and everything we do seems to revolve around food one way or another.

So here are the Merdeka 2018 Food Promotions that will leave you drooling. Plus you get to save some $$ by taking advantage of these Merdeka 2018 food offers 🙂

Forget the diet this weekend. If you plan your time well and add in a bit of kiasu (can’t loose) attitude, you’ll have a great time enjoying these wonderful offers. We all need to eat right?

Texas Chicken Malaysia

Texas Chicken Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Secret Recipe Malaysia

Secret Recipe Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Kenny Rogers Roasters Malaysia

Kenny Rogers Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Big Apple Donuts Malaysia

Big Apple Donuts Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Dominos Pizza Malaysia

Dominos Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Kyochon 1991 Malaysia

Drop by KyoChon 1991 stores to grab a Heaven and Earth tea for ONLY RM1 on this day!

Kyochon 1991 Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Terms & Conditions :
1. Applicable at all KyoChon Malaysia outlets except Genting SkyAvenue. (https://www.kyochon.com.my/locations/)
2. Only available on Merdeka Day (31st August 2018).
3. Only applicable with any chicken purchase.
4. Maximum 2 redemptions per bill.

Wendy’s Malaysia

27-31 Aug 2018: Wendy’s Merdeka Special Combo

Wendy’s Malaysia Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Famous Amos Malaysia

Famous Amos Malaysia is having their FREE 50% Cookies Giveaway.

Enjoy 50% extra cookies if you purchase 300g in bag and many more.

Famous Amos Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Terms and Conditions

Free 50% cookies (150g cookies) with every purchase of 300g cookies in bag.
Sayangi Malaysiaku Special period: 25 Aug – 31 Aug 2018
Valid in all Famous Amos outlets
Not valid with other on-going promotions, offers and discounts.
While stocks last.
Date: 25th August 2018 to 31st August 2018

A&W Malaysia

A&W Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Starbucks Free Complimentary bottle of Gatorade Giveaway

Starbucks Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Get a complimentary bottle of Gatorade* with a minimum spend of RM30 in a single receipt!
*Valid until 31st August 2018
Terms and conditions:
Valid at all Starbucks Drive-Thru stores, drive-thru window only.
While stocks last

Burger King Malaysia

Burger King Merdeka 2018 Promotion

JCO Donuts Malaysia

JCO Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Ayamas Malaysia

Ayamas Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Tealive Malaysia

Tealive Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Humble Beginnings Malaysia

Humble Beginnings Medeka 2018 Promotion

Baskin Robbins Malaysia

Baskin Robbins Hari Merdeka Limited Edition Ice Cream Sale

Baskin Robbins Merdeka 2018 Promotion

You can get this limited edition ice cream from today – 31st Aug at any Baskin-Robbins outlet.

Juice Works Malaysia

Juice Works Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Online Shopping

Other than eating, Malaysians love to shop online. Who can resist a good online deal especially when it comes with free shipping?

Lazada Merdeka 2018 Promotion

11Street Malaysia

11Street Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Photobook Malaysia

Photobook Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Motherhood Malaysia

Motherhood Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Althea Malaysia

Althea Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Hermo Malaysia

Hermo Merdeka 2018 Promotion

BloomThis Malaysia

BloomThis Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Sephora Malaysia

Sephora Merdeka 2018 Promotion

8excite Malaysia

8excite Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Fashion, Clothing, Shoes, Jewellery And Whatever You Need To Wear

There’s plenty of Merdeka 2018 shoe offers going on.

Bata Malaysia

Bata Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Birkenstock Malaysia

Buy 1 & Get 2nd Pair at 40% discount off Promotion start from 26 August 2018 to 31st August 2018

Birkenstock Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Enjoy discount 40% off every second pair of shoes purchase in one single receipt with minimum purchase of RM310 and above at normal retail price for Classic range and Professional range.
*Except for Eva range (buy 2 pairs of Eva series and Get 3rd pair @ 40% discount off ) in one single receipt with minimum purchase of RM318 and above at normal retail price for Eva range

Terms & Conditions
*Not applicable for discounted items/ instant rebate promotion/ credit card promotion and others.
*Valid for items of equal or lesser value
*Valid for normal price items only
*Terms & Conditions apply. While stock last.

al-Ikhsan Sports Malaysia

Al Ikhsan Sports Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Habib Jewels Malaysia

Habib Jewels Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Something For The Kids Or Yourself

Lego Malaysia

Lego Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Books

Merdeka 2018 book offer. Stationery are also on sale. Grab them now for the kids or yourself.

Borders Malaysia

Borders Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Products For The Home

These still time to get those home and living products for the house since we’re at the tail end of Malaysia’s tax holiday season. Better late than never. Get these Merdeka 2018 product offers now.

La Gourmet Malaysia

La Gourmet Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Thermos Malaysia

Thermos Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Pensonic Malaysia

Pensonic Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Senheng Malaysia

SenHeng Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Tech, Mobiles, Tablets, Computers

Quickly get your mobile, tablets, computers and tech gear by taking advantage of these Merdeka 2018 mobile offers before the coming SST!

Honor Malaysia

Honor Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Samsung Malaysia

Samsung Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Dell Malaysia

Dell Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Mobile Telecommunication Providers

Both postpaid and prepaid users have much to take advantage of this Merdeka 2018 plans with these telecommunication providers.

Tune Talk Malaysia

Tune Talk Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Digi Malaysia

Digi Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Celcom Malaysia

Celcom Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Cars

3 months of tax holiday from GST saw Malaysians car shopping like never before! What a wonderful season to get yourself a new vehicle before the upcoming SST. Check out these Merdeka 2018 car offers below.

Perodua Malaysia

Perodua Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Subaru Malaysia

Subaru Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Mitsubishi Malaysia

Mitsubishi Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Peugeot Malaysia

Peugeot Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Honda Malaysia

Honda Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Toyota Malaysia

Toyota Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Nissan Malaysia

Nissan Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Kia Malaysia

Kia Merdeka 2018 Promotion

Well these 50 Merdeka 2018 promotions and offers should keep you busy on Merdeka Day itself if not the entire long weekend!

Wishing all Malaysians Happy Merdeka as our nation celebrates it’s 61st birthday! Enjoy the long weekend and have fun with all these wonderful offers and promotions.