5 Memorable Takeaways From Professor Scott Galloway’s NexTech Tour de Force
How advertising ‘sucks’ and why Big Tech must be broken up
Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, delivered a breathtaking deconstruction of the global economy and business outlook for the coming years at Adweek’s NexTech 2020 Virtual Summit this afternoon.
In a nearly 30-minute presentation he addressed all sectors of the economy. Here are the highlights:
‘Advertising sucks, we all realize it’
It’s no secret the media industry is in a difficult spot as ad budgets shrink. Those that will survive are doubling down premium subscription revenue models.
“New York Times? Gonna survive. Two-thirds of its revenue is from subscription,” he told NexTech attendees. “It’s really a function of recurring revenue. Advertising sucks. We all realize it. We like to pretend it’s not true. Anyone with money is opting out.”
‘Facebook and Google should absolutely be broken up’
Galloway went on to explain his opinion that “one in 10 to one to five media companies will go out of business” within two years, paving the way for further dominance of Big Tech. “We’re going to see Facebook and Google come back and own 80% of the digital [advertising] market. These companies should absolutely be broken up,” he said. “Power corrupts.”
‘Amazon is going to be the biggest health care company in the world’
This will happen “in about 10 years” as Amazon begins by striking up relationships to test its employees, according to Galloway.
“There’s no company better suited to know your body mass index, whether you’re in a monogamous relationship, your income, what you eat,” he said.
‘Apple’s distribution overhaul, not the iPhone, was its greatest move’
Galloway described Apple’s decision to seize the reins of its product distribution by building 550 “temples to the brand” with its Apple stores as the greatest marketing move it ever made.
“I don’t think the iPhone’s the most innovative thing they’ve done,” he said. “I think it’s the direct distribution that took control of their brand which gives a halo over the iPhone, which is probably an inferior product to the Samsung Galaxy.”
‘Hybrid educational experience is bullshit’
Galloway told attendees that education is the industry vertical that is ripe for disruption amid “the great dispersion.”
“By the way, for all of you sending your kids to college this fall and all those letters you’ve been getting about a hybrid experience and welcoming the students back—that is bullshit,” he said. “Everyone’s going fully online. They’re just waiting till you’ve sent in your deposits for your tuition before they announce it.”
