Greg Hickman of mobilemixed.com invited me to speak about Mobilized Marketing and how everything and nothing has changed for marketers.
The video is here.
Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "How To Make Money With A Tablet Edition"
Google’s profit on every Nexus 7 tablet sold - $0: It's about the ads – duh.
Apple is following a “go-slow approach” to mobile payments, according to the Wall Street Journal. My question - would Steve Jobs worry about adoption or believe he could drive it? Undoubtedly, the latter.
10% of iPhone 4S complaints to FixYa are Siri-related while 45% whine about battery life. That follows what Apple says about Siri – most people are fine with it.
Seattle readers – I’ll be talking talking Mobilized Marketing book 8/8 at MCEI Seattle. The Yacht Club in summer - ummm, ok.
Fisher Price to the New York - “We see 6-month-olds batting at the screen, 9-month-olds swiping, 12-month-olds pointing out objects to see". Surprised that they are waiting until 6-month mark.
If (I stress if) new iPhone and iPad mini go on sale in the fall, what's the bigger seller at least initially? I say the iPad due to price.
I didn't click on Man Holds iPad In His Butt headline. It didn't, ummm, crack me up, either.
Headline: Why Digital Signage Should Be Interactive. Me: everything needs to be interactive because of mobile.
Hey, Linkedin: now that you've dropped tweets, can you work on cleaning up the tall tales told by users? Maybe make noses grow.
Mobile phone use is commonplace even in households with income below $30K - penetration there is more than 80%: Pew.
The latest technology divide myth proof - nearly 70% of those age 65+ have #mobile phone: Pew.
Branding vs. action - quite the disconnect of the word Bold attached to RIM and BlackBerry.
Many smartphone users will get severe weather alerts. Unlike other alerts, users will get these without asking but could opt out.
The passive has become even more interactive - NBC's Olympics coverage will be supplemented by a Shazam app.
The Future of Mobile
Tamara Bousquet, one of the wisest marketers I've met, had one request when we were putting together a slide deck for a co-presentation at an iMedia Agency Summit master class: "Let's not try to predict what will happen in mobile more than six months from now -- no one knows," said Bousquet, executive media director of MEA Digital.
We didn't that day, but questions about mobile's future are posed on a daily basis. So in writing my Mobilized Marketing book, I asked a number of influential marketers the question.
Predictions included the continued trend of turning previously passive activities into interactive ones, the insertion of more context into mobile campaigns, and the continued evolution of the shopping experience, among others.
I included many in a new imediconnection.com piece I wrote. Here's the link: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/32188.asp
Finding Sunshine On A Cloudy Day
Digiday asked me about productivity tools. I mentioned my affection for the cloud despite living in what is often the dreariest city in America.
“Living in Seattle, I’m always looking for sunshine on a cloudy day (someone should write a song about that). My sunshine actually comes from the cloud. With two Macs, a PC, an iPad, and a smartphone, I’m invariably starting something on one piece of technology and picking it up on another – sometimes even more than one. Dropbox and Evernote are more important to me than an umbrella.”
The full post is here http://www.digiday.com/etc/digital-media-hacks/
Will Mobile Commerce Shove Retailers Out of Business?
Will mobile commerce overtake retail sales, or can retail wrestle control of the mobile experience?
My great discussion with marketer Rick Mathieson concludes with Part 3 of his podcast.
Yes, That's Grandpa With A Mobile Phone
As much as mobile has become a meaningful channel for many businesses, there are still misconceptions around consumer activity.
We don’t check in nearly as much as the hype would lead us to believe. There is not a fight to the death between the mobile web and apps – expect to see both around for a long time.
And, no, mobile is not just a young person’s activity.
That’s why I was keen on including AARP’s experiences in my Mobilized Marketing book.
For Nataki Edwards of AARP, the largest member organization of people 50 years old and older, it’s about having a meaningful presence in the lives of her members and prospects.
“AARP’s philosophy is that we really need to be where our members are,” says Edwards, the organization’s vice president of marketing, digital strategy, and operations. “Our members are in a lot of different places. They are still consuming print publications, they are still watching TV, and those will continue to be part of our media strategy but the adoption of digital on mobile and the Web can’t be denied. We made a concerted effort to make sure we had products and services and offerings in all of those channels. Where mobile comes in, it was really the market showing us the adoption of our members and we kept seeing the numbers go up.
“Our strategy has been to meet them everywhere. We’re not just going to build apps [applications]. We’re going to make sure that for people who don’t have smartphones or who aren’t interested in downloading apps that they can still get the best AARP experience on any mobile device.”
Now mobile is on the minds of AARP marketers as well as their product roadmaps.
“We’re not at the stage where we’re creating mobile content specifically for the mobile device but it is a factor in all content creation,” Edwards says. “As the pages are built for the Web, we think what can and can’t be used for mobile, whether it’s the image or Flash—all of those things are taken into consideration.
“Right now the idea is to get to parity when you look at other top media companies out there. What are we offering? Are we comparable to them? We are still figuring out the monetization strategy for mobile. We are selling for mobile but our advertisers are a little bit slower in adoption than we are to creation which isn’t a bad problem to have because we want to make sure the products work well and we have the volume of engaged users to tell the right story.”
Of course, AARP’s efforts are key for many businesses who are needing to reach Boomers and beyond in new mobile ways.
When it comes to mobile, if a business isn’t using the channel, often its competitors are. And they are selling more stuff.
The understanding and mastery of innovation separates mid-sizes businesses, according to IBM. The company often counsels these sized entities to dedicate resources to new products and services, become more risk averse, and agile.
-
(This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. goo.gl/VQ40C)
Mobile Marketing Training At DMA2012
Over two days this fall, I’ll be leading mobile marketing certification training during the Direct Marketing Association’s national conference.
Here are the particulars:
Part 1 (Wed, Oct. 17, 1-4pm): Mobile--An Indispensable Part of Your Marketing Mix
This session explores how mobile – with its unique, personal and individual 24/7 connection to consumers – can and should find a central role your marketing mix.
-
Part 2 (Thurs, Oct. 18, 8:30am-12pm) Through the Looking Glass: A Vertical Market Cross-Section of What Works and Does Not Work
Mobile is registering extremely high – higher than other channels – in key verticals, such as purchase intent and brand recognition. Get the tools that will help you determine what works, and what doesn’t, for your marketing plans.
-
Part 3 (Thurs, Oct. 18, 1pm-2:45pm):
Getting It Done: The Technical Blueprint to Mobile Marketing Success
How do you move from strategic goals to the tactical steps that will translate into marketing success? Deconstruct and examine the attributes of mobile's tactical building blocks to empower you to customize your own blueprint for mobile marketing success
Registration and more information can be found here http://www.vivastream.com/events/dma2012/sessions/postcon-mobile?pd=1
I hope to see you there.
Making Mobile Marketing Work For Your Business
(The following first appeared on entrepreneur.com http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223854)
In his book "Mobilized Marketing," author Jeff Hasen details the strategies and tactics that move products and build loyalty through mobile devices, arguably your most personal means of communicating directly with customers. In the following edited excerpt, Hasen offers insights from seasoned marketing professionals on how to gauge, use and succeed with mobile.
Interested in mobile marketing but not sure how or where to get started?
Here are tips from three leaders in mobile marketing and their thoughts for those new to the field.
1. Do some people watching. -- Barbara Williams, a senior-level marketer at Microsoft.
"This is something really simple. . . . If you're not sure if you should be doing mobile, take a page out of classic consumer research mode. . . . Go to the store, go to the mall, go out to dinner, and sit back and watch people. Just watch. Old school. And you see everyone is on their devices and they are spending quite a bit of time on their devices and they're not making phone calls necessarily and they are not just doing SMS [short message service] -- they are doing a lot of things.
"When you see that happening around you everywhere you go, think about how can I insert my product or my brand or my message into these experiences. Just look at the world around you. And listen to young people who grew up in the digital age. Their behaviors are completely different. You'll see this is definitely the route to go in. Invest the time to learn it and understand it. Explore it yourself."
2. Keep an eye on what "the little guy" is doing, as well as the titans. -- Mario Schulzke, founder of IdeaMensch and director of digital strategy at marketing firm WDCW.
"You know, I am not smart enough to tell you about major game-changers. . . . But I can tell you there will be a revolution of incremental innovations that are about to take place. It's so easy nowadays to build your own website, your own piece of software or your own app. So what's happening is that a bunch of people are starting to solve the problems that they've been having in their own lives and industries. We'll see some major productivity gains in just about every vertical, driven by people solving problems close to their vest.
"Do what feels right. . . . Build a marketing program around tactics that make sense for you. I have many clients who are overwhelmed by Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and the like. But when we talk about creating content that provides value to existing and potential customers, they get that. Having a roundtable discussion on Twitter is no different than going to a networking meeting. Crafting a webinar and capturing leads via email is no different than speaking at your local Lion's Club.
"Do what makes sense to you, and always think about the value you provide to your audience. Focus on the fundamentals. Respectfully communicate with your customers via all channels. Don't pretend to be something you're not, and do the right thing."
3. Create interactive "rich media" designed specifically for your mobile site. -- Microsoft's Williams.
"When you think rich media and digital, you tend to think of the standbys like a whole-page takeover or part of an ad will be in the leaderboard at the top of the page and move into one of the units on the side. . . . On mobile, it's a completely different type of experience. You don't have the flexibility but you have the entire device. You can incorporate rich functionality where you can shake the device or where it is actually using the camera function in augmented reality or the location function. There are so many other vectors or parameters that are unique to mobile that I think make rich even richer on mobile. But you have to think about it in a different way on mobile.
"If you don't have a mobile landing page attached to that rich media unit, you have kinda left [your customers] hanging. . . . While rich media is an incredible opportunity to pull people in and to really drive engagement and surface up and push the content out, that back end is still needed when they want to continue their journey. . . ."
4. Find out how your customers want to communicate with you. -- Eileen Woodbury, director of marketing at Clear Channel Los Angeles.
"People will communicate with you the way they want to communicate. . . . So texting isn't replacing the Web. The Web didn't replace the phone call. People who want to call will want to call. People who never called us before hopefully will engage with us through text. Some people prefer Twitter or are on Facebook all day.
"This is the age of choice. People communicate the way they want to. With every new thing that comes along, we're adding to our arsenal."
Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "Grandma is Packing" Edition
Overheard on a flight - a grandma frantically searching, then finally finding her mobile phone. Her grandson then told her to stick it in a pocket. She said she would put it in her bra. True story.
Do you remember when the only option for reaching out was landline calls? Now 1.4 billion minutes are used on Skype every day.
More than 70 percent of seniors use the Internet every day. It is helping drive smartphone penetration.
Google’s Nexus tablet reportedly will be unveiled next week. Will consumers buy on brand alone? No.
Nokia’s 41 megapixel 808 PureView camera phone comes to the U.S. for an unlocked price of $700. That’s dollar per wrinkle for some headshots.
I find it curious that LG exits hot tablet industry, but continues to make refrigerators. But not your grandpa’s appliance. A Wired story talks about mobile users receiving texts when the fridge is out of beer.
The bullish sentiment for mobile video at the Mobile Marketing Forum contrasts with what some told me in Mobilized Marketing. In the U.S, we mostly commute with our cars, not mass transit. That’s an inhibitor for use, plus there are issues around carrier capacity and cost.
The Federal Communications Commission will review mobile phone radiation guidelines. There is no proof of danger. Beware of hysteria headlines.
Christina Aguilera is among the celebrities pushing a QR code campaign to boost voter registration of young people in 2012.
Sign of the apocalypse - Twitter airs first TV spot. Why? Easy. 46 percent of time spent with media involves TV – twice the second place finisher (Web).
Dispelling Mobile Misconceptions
In Part 2 of my conversation with marketer Rick Mathieson, we discuss misconceptions in mobile that are included in my Mobilized Marketing book. We throw water on statements that have us believe that it’s all about smartphones and check-ins on Foursquare.
Tips For A Common-Sense Approach To Mobile Marketing
Rather than recommend that marketers undergo dreaded technical training, some of the most experienced in mobile marketing suggest a common-sense approach to the channel.
Here are four practical tips from four marketers in the trenches of mobile marketing.
1. Walk a mile in your customer's shoes
"Do what feels right," Mario Schulzke, IdeaMensch founder and senior director, digital strategy, WDCW, told me in research for my book, Mobilized Marketing: How to Drive Sales, Engagement, and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices.
"Build a marketing program around tactics that make sense for you," Schulzke said. "I have many clients who are overwhelmed by Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and the like. But when we talk about creating content that provides value to existing and potential customers, they get that. Having a roundtable discussion on Twitter is no different than going to a networking meeting. Crafting a webinar and capturing leads via email is no different than speaking at your local Lion's Club."
Specifically for mobile, Schulzke recommends that marketers walk in the shoes of their customers and prospects.
"Do what makes sense to you, and always think about the value you provide to your audience," Schulzke advised. "Focus on the fundamentals. Respectfully communicate with your customers via all channels. Don't pretend to be something you're not, and do the right thing."
2. Think beyond a generic digital playbook
"What most people have," according to Steve Mura, director of digital marketing, MillerCoors, "is what I call a generic digital playbook, meaning trying digital is important so, 'We're going to use digital. We're going to use Foursquare and Facebook and Google and all these folks.'"
"What happens is every technology is fair game," Mura continued. "What happens when you get a clear strategy is you say, 'Here are my goals in digital. This is what I need digital to do to help me sell more beer.' There are other people who built really cool businesses and have really good technology, but they won't help you get to where you need to go."
Mura strongly advises marketers to fully understand and apply only those technologies that will positively affect their company's bottom line.
"That's the fundamental place we are in as an industry," Mura continued. "There are those who get digital and know how to use it to help their business, and those who know digital is important and just go out there and flounder in the space for the next couple of years because they're going to say 'Facebook is just as fair game as Google search or as Foursquare.' What they're going to find is half of those things weren't intended to build their businesses. That's a costly and long lesson to learn."
3. Take a walk on the mobile side
Barbara Williams, who serves as global SEM and digital advertising lead for Xbox at Microsoft, says it's time to get away from your desk—whether you are in Columbus or in Copenhagen.
"This is something really simple," Williams said. "If you're not sure if you should be doing mobile, take a page out of a classic consumer research model and do ethnographic research. You can do it on your own. Go to the store, go to the mall, go out to dinner, and sit back and watch people. Just watch. Old school. And you see everyone is on their devices and they are spending quite a bit of time on their devices and they're not making phone calls necessarily and they are not just doing SMS. They are doing a lot of things."
Beyond observing, Williams advised that marketers start applying what they've learned to their own business.
"When you see that happening around you everywhere you go, think about, 'How can I insert my product or my brand or my message into these experiences?'" Williams advised. "Just look at the world around you. And listen to young people who grew up in the digital age. Their behaviors are completely different. You'll see this is definitely the route to take. Invest the time to learn it and understand it. Explore it yourself."
4. Dive in with transparency and thick skin
Terence Reis, a former Mobile Marketing Association managing director and the current director of operations and partner at Pontomobi Interactive, sees mobile as the vehicle to a value exchange between brands and their prospects and customers.
If you're not doing mobile, "you're losing an opportunity to start a unique conversation with your customers," said Reis. "You'll find customers on mobile will start a conversation only if they trust you and they expect transparency and good services. You'll be forced to learn how to talk to people again. And your company will find that it's not only a matter of talking. The negative points of your products will be thrown mercilessly at your inbox."
"But if you have the guts," Reis continued, "you'll be in control and will have the chance to improve your product and your relationship with your audience."
Of course, understanding the technology behind mobile can make you a better marketer. That's common sense.
(first appeared on marketingprofs.com -- http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/8163/four-tips-for-a-common-sense...)
Mobile Marketing Forum Memories -- And What I've Forgotten
The world’s memory champion spoke at the MMA Forum this week in New York. I cannot remember his name.
Etched instead in my mind are the clear strides that the industry took in advancing the understanding and use of mobile marketing and mobile advertising.
This was no 101 session conducted by the Mobile Marketing Association. There are other conferences, not to mention books, on the basics. Last year, I dinged the forum organizers for bringing introductory content to the nearly 1,000 in attendance, many of whom had heard such information in previous years.
What makes the forum special is the large representation by brands and agencies. Their words and actions bring a sense of realism to the mobile industry that drinks the proverbial Kool-Aid elsewhere – you know, everyone’s business has “taken off,” and there are not enough conference rooms to hold all of the new business meetings.
On to what struck me in New York:
Coca-Cola was everywhere – in the coolers during the breaks, but more importantly, on stage for several sessions.
One of the oldest and most active in mobile, Coca-Cola says "you can't stop learning." And the company did not stop teaching, which struck me as significant since we hear brands say that they do not want to talk about their programs for fear of alerting the competition. That is always a head-scratch since the very nature of high-profile marketing programs is that they are noticed and remembered.
Coca-Cola marketers had previously told us that the majority of its efforts are on proven strategies and tactics, including large-scale text messaging programs that provide “reach.” At the forum, we heard the insider thinking around Super Bowl advertising using a mobile element – do not “compete” with the telecast. Instead, make the marketing complementary. Sounds smart.
GE provided insight into its extensive and growing mobile lineup. For instance, the company’s key mobile metric for appliance sales is activity around the dealer locator feature. That "shows intent," GE’s Andy Markowitz said. And that certainly made sense.
I am one of those who can never hear enough case studies. ComScore reported on an unnamed retailer using television, online video and mobile video during the holidays – the company said that 91 percent of people exposed to the message on mobile were incremental to TV. That was interesting and begged for more detail, not to mention additional experiences from brands.
Not everything I heard was believable.
There were seemingly passionate arguments that mobile is already the so-called first screen.
Kleiner Caufield Perkins & Byers executive Mary Meeker’s highly-respected report delivered recently says otherwise – 46 percent of time spent in media is with television, nearly double the runner-up, which is not mobile. There was debate about whether people pay attention to television, but that sounded like mobile hype to me.
I heard Arbitron say that its panel of opted-in mobile subscribers use apps seven times as much as the mobile Web. Such a gap is contrary to other research and makes me wonder if it is representative.
The measurement company also said that voice, email and messaging account for 51 percent of activity on smartphones. Included is a leading 35 percent for messaging which, if true, counters much of the notion that SMS diminishes as devices get smarter.
I will remember the line from Tom Wheeler of Core Capital Partners that mobile changes the "tyranny of place" in viewing video. He said that consumers do not have to go to it – video comes to them. That may happen, but it has not yet reached large scale nationwide.
Some of the largest players in mobile including Apple, Facebook and Twitter were not on stage. Their interests, primarily gathering data to monetize, were talked about by many.
I listened in on a session on privacy from Verizon’s Ash Evans. He said that consumers care about protecting their identity, but they are not interested in doing much themselves.
Mr. Evans, Verizon’s director of corporate strategy, got pushback from the audience when he said the government has a role. He heard even more dissension when he called for a “universal” identity system – a central place where one’s personal information is housed and accessed. That, of course, is problematic given the potential for breaches.
I do not remember the privacy question being solved – it is safe to say that it was not. That is fine. It certainly was progress that we were talking about it.
(first appeared on Mobile Marketer - http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/opinion/columns/13087.html_)
What Entrepreneurs Don't Know About Mobile Marketing
Portfolio.com asked me to identify what entrepreneurs don’t know about mobile marketing.
Here’s the piece, which first appeared here http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2012/06/08/mobile-mark...
As the number of people using mobile devices skyrockets, so does the need for mobile marketing initiatives. Many companies are taking the news in stride. After all, all they need to do is migrate their website and other digital content over to mobile, right?
“It’s not so simple,” said Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer at Hipcricket, a top mobile marketing and advertising company and author of Mobilized Marketing: How to Drive Sales, Engagement and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices (Wiley, 2012).
During this week's BlogWorld & New Media Expo—the annual gathering of bloggers and communications professionals in New York City—Hasen told us two of the biggest mistakes companies make when reaching out to mobile users.
The first is not realizing Web content needs to be changed for optimized viewing on handheld devices. “The look of text and image on mobiles is critical to keeping viewers engaged,” he said. “Eighty percent of mobile users leave nonoptimized websites displayed on their mobile devices because what they’re seeing is not a mobile experience, but rather an online one that didn’t translate well.”
Mobile users on the go typically don’t find what they’re looking for fast enough—specific information, such as addresses of venues or hours of operation—on sites that have not been redesigned to provide a mobile experience.
“Often companies install too much content, which slows down mobile users’ ability to get information quickly, and that’s the second mistake,” he said. “Speed, which is highly desirable, gets a boost when content is bare bones.”
Hasen says it’s mandatory for companies who target smartphone users in the 20-to-30-year-old demographic to address these two missteps. That’s because these users are the ones most engaged when presented with a mobile ad or offer from a brand. In other words, when twenty- and thirtysomethings see your promotions, offers, or advertisements, it had better look good. Said Hasen: “Allocating part of your budget for this redesign for mobile is the only way to go.”
Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Call A Cheerleader" Edition
If voice was ever going to make a comeback, here's the moment: video of cheerleaders asking for phone calls:
Speaking of which, I see where Hooters has a mobile VIP club via SMS. Patrons have a chance to win a trip to their destination of choice. Fill in your punch line. Ready. Go.
Apple is revising tracking reports for app developers while trying to balance consumer privacy needs. You wonder if privacy moves are lip service.
Same as in 2011, 37 percent wanted to use #smartphone in store, but couldn't because of bad/no connection. Big ramifications for marketers.
Nokia's vision of future includes feature phones. I’m not sure, but these devices are very much a part of present day mobile marketing.
What to make of Facebook’s App Center? It's about getting more data to then monetize.
Sprint is investing in its own payment platform and may drop Google Wallet. This is a long-term play – and may be a big opportunity eventually.
Apple will pay $2.2 million fine for misleading ads in Australia. It has nothing to do with Siri overpromises.
Texts passed voice calls as the most used feature on mobile. When will cameras pass voice? 2013, according to mobile guru Tomi Ahonen.
How many said, "Oh, a Foursquare redesign. Now I'm interested." Right, it’s not a driver for new users.
Over one billion Angry Birds franchise downloads = $106 million in revenue. Content wins.
The death of TV? Please. 43 percentof time spent in media is with television, according to Mary Meeker. The Internet, in second place, is nearly half that.
Android adoption ramped 4X as fast as iPhone usage, Meeker reports. Biggest reasons? Choice of devices, carriers, plus the maturation of mobile.
All these years later and you can't get a dependable AT&T signal in Manhattan. What other industry gets away with similar for this long?
Book Signings
A cool aspect of being a published author is the chance to interact with folks during book signings. I did two this past week – at BlogWorld in New York, and, as shown in this photo, at a Barnes and Noble near Seattle.
Talking Mobilized Marketing
Here’s part one of a two-part interview I did with Rick Mathieson, author of the On-Demand Brand and one of those interviewed in my Mobilized Marketing book.
We talk about how brands are succeeding in mobile and lessons discussed in the book.
Facebook Can't Monetize: Anything New Here?
Facebook had advertising issues long before its IPO. So what's changed, if anything? Here's what I told Digiday:
“Facebook’s challenge is to provide value through mobile advertising. That is hardly unique to Facebook. It’s about trust and personalization. Consumers want information, offers and convenience. Brands want to reach mobile users in a one-to-one rather than one-to-many way. Mobile brings us together.
"The half-full view for Facebook is that it hasn’t sped 100 miles an hour to bring ads to members using mobile. A measured approach is prudent. The half-empty view is that it still hasn’t figured this out. Given the stock downturn, more are focusing on the latter than the former. And Facebook is more on the clock than ever before.”
The full story is here: http://www.digiday.com/brands/envisioning-facebooks-mobile-future/
Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Find Your Way" Edition
June should be the month for mapping with Google and Apple bringing enhanced products. With all the shiny object apps out there, maps are among the most used. And always will be. Especially by guys who think they can live without them.
Not enough room for competition? Photo-sharing app Picplz has said farewell after Instagram became the Kleenex of the category.
By 2016, mobile Web traffic is projected to increase 50 times the size of today as more view Internet on mobile than PC.
I’m stoked for a pair of Mobilized Marketing book signings this week – Wednesday at 1 at BlogWorld in New York, then Saturday at the Barnes and Noble downtown Bellevue (WA) store at 2.
The majority of Twitter users (31 percent) are 18-24, according to Pew. I would've bet more tweet during ages of 30s and 40s.
About 25 percent will try NFC (near field communication) for mobile payments by 2017, a new report from Juniper Research says. Mobile wallet hypesters – it’s a long process; most still won't 5 years from now.
I’m hearing more "you're missing the boat if you're not doing mobile" chatter from vendors. That sentiment means more coming from brands.
Overheard from a woman with a new smartphone - "Yeah, I'm even changing tiles". Microsoft needs more of those women. And men. And boys. And girls.
In a marriage of new and old, Google is going to make Zagat the “cornerstone” of local search.
Anatomy of a failing company - RIM added 4.5 million users per quarter for the last seven, but only 2.9 million in the most recent quarter.
A Japanese carrier is planning to sell smartphones with radiation detectors. In strange positioning, marketing says devices - comes in eight "bright colors".
What was the most memorable quote from Apple CEO Tim Cook’s interview at ATD10? "I love museums, but I don’t want to live in one. Another lesson Steve (Jobs) taught us all was not to focus on the past.”
Wikibranders Seattle 20
I’m awed by the marketing talent in Seattle, my home for the last dozen years. I was surrounded by it in my agency life and now as I travel in mobile and social circles.
Sean Moffitt, co-author of the bestselling book Wikibrands, has come up with a top 20 list of Seattleites who, he says, “influence me, inspire me, inform me and just plain get how this crazy social world of tech, marketing, innovation and communication works.”
I’m honored to be included. http://wiki-brands.com/wikibranders-seattle-20-the-best-of-the-pacific-north-...
Jason Yormark @jasonyormark Vice President of Marketing & Social Media at Strategies 360. Mac Enthusiast, Volleyball coach, Amateur baseball player.
Shauna Causey @shaunacausey Help nonprofits + startups. VP of Marketing at @Decide. Previous: lead social/digital at Nordstrom and Comcast. President of@SMCSeattle. Speaker, volunteer.
Adam Brotman @adambrotman Chief digital officer, svp, Starbucks (opinions and thoughts here are my own) http://about.me/adambrotman
Maria Ross @redslice Storyteller, irrestible brand builder, dynamic speaker. Author: Branding Basics for Small Business #brandbook Rebooting My Brain#rebootbook
Joann Jen @joannjen @AntsEyeView. @SMCSeattle Board. Jersey Girl. A little bit Non-Sequitur. Love crunching numbers, online shopping, politics and the Huskies! #socialbiz
Sean O’Driscoll @seanodmvp CEO and Co-Founder of Ant’s Eye View, a management consulting firm focused on social customer engagement.
Rob Wolf @thatrobguy Social Media Manager @Microsoft, photographer, part-time purveyor of fine baby gifts, and folksy raconteur
Jeff Hasen @jeffhasen Chief Marketing Officer at mobile marketing leader Hipcricket; author of book, Mobilized Marketing: Driving Sales, Engagement, and Loyalty
Eric Berto @geekgiant Participating in the verbal scrum at the convergence of communications, PR and social media.
Eric Weaver @weave VP Social Business @AntsEyeView • Veteran digital marketer & Fortune 500 Strategist • Keynote speaker • I am not a hairstyle, seriously.
Jennifer Cabala @jennifercabala Microsoft Accelerator/TechStars, Social Media Club Seattle board member, Startup Weekend facilitator, former reporter, gadget girl, outdoor enthusiast
Kevin Urie @kevinurie Advertising/Marketing Geek @SpringCreekgrp, Dad, Husband and@SMCseattle Founder
Jeff Lanctot @lanctot Razorfish Global Chief Media Officer
Rod Brooks @NW_Mktg_Guy CMO: PEMCO Insurance. Immediate Past Prest: WOMMA Board. Board member: WA. DECA. Dedicated WSU Cougar. Student of Social Media.
Warren Sukernek @warrenss VP Social Insights at @Alterian. Co-founder of @SMBSeattle. Social Media is ok.
Pam Dyer @pamdyer I explore the use of social media tools for marketing, advertising, branding, and engagement.
Sean Gardner @2morrowknight Digital Media Consultant|Contributor @SocialMediaWeek @Smedio@HuffingtonPost|Co-Creator #TwitterPowerhouses Series| Do-Gooder, Surfer!
Jeff Shuey @jshuey Alliance Manager – Microsoft and Tech (ECM & BPM); Mountain Biker, wind and wake surfer; proud dad; SMC Seattle Board Member
John Cook @johnhcook Co-founder of GeekWire, an online news source covering the Pacific Northwest technology community.
Laura Kimball @lamiki Community manager with a marketing brain & heart of a writer.#CrossFit strong girl who wears her @scrappy_face. Building something you haven’t heard of…yet.
Charl Lee Pierce @simchabe By Day: Quietly Brilliant @ HTC By Night: Hanging with my fabulous husband & chasing our kids through the social web
Say Please or Your Target May Say "Do Not Track"
Think back to when you were very young. One of the first lessons taught to you was likely around the concept of permission. There are few words more important than please.
Business people should remember the direction, especially when they consider how to engage with consumers.
Two recent developments are a step in the right direction (if not a verbal ask for permission).
Beginning this week, the European Union's 'Do Not Track' law is beigne to be enforced.
The EU regulation require websites that set cookies to do the following:
-- Inform visitors that cookies are being used
-- Explain the purpose of the cookies
-- Obtain a visitor's consent to store the cookie on their device
Some are suggesting that the "Do Not Track" law will soon come to the United States. We shall see.
Meanwhile, Twitter recently began moving in the right direction by utilizing the Do Not Track feature in the Mozilla Firefox browser. This enables people to opt-out of cookies that collect personal information and any third-party cookies, including those used for advertising. The Do Not Track functionality will only work if a Web site agrees to acknowledge it.
Mozilla is a global, nonprofit organization dedicated to making the Web better.
Current adoption rates of Do Not Track on Firefox are 8.6 percent for desktop users and 19 percent for mobile users, according to Mozilla. The company says it sees the biggest adoption rates in The Netherlands, France and the United States.
The issue around tracking comes up often. It was high profile around mobile during the 2011 holiday season when it was reported that certain retailers were “tracking” customers.
Marketing is more common sense than brain surgery. The idea of giving consumers what they want—and nothing more—is simple. Permission-based programs are the future (in my view, they are the present as well).
Tracking people online or mobile (particularly without transparency into the process) flies in the face of this practice and does anything but encourage interaction between people and brands.
Why is it so difficult for some marketers to understand the requirement for permission-based marketing—let alone implement permission-based programs?
-
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet.
