Google’s practice of embedding cookies via Apple’s Safari browser is a violation that should be condemned. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-google-tracking-20120218,0,1621176.stor...>

Not only does it break the “contract” between Apple and its Safari users, it blows to pieces Google’s promises made to the Federal Trade Commission that "bars the company from future privacy misrepresentations."

How might the government entity punish Google? According to the Los Angeles Times, “if Google is found to have violated its agreement with the FTC, the company could face fines of up to $16,000 per day for each violation.”

Wow, $16,000 should get Google’s attention. It likely pays more than that daily for lunches in its cafeteria.

Now to the question of whether Web users care about their privacy.  I use Safari on multiple devices and do feel “violated”. But will I change browsers because of this or operate under the assumption that the next browser I use will invade my space as well?

That decision has yet to be made.

In my upcoming Mobilized Marketing book http://jeffhasen.com/pages/mobilized-marketing-book, Thom Kennon, senior vice president and director of strategy at Y&R, tells me that “privacy is delusional.”

More from Kennon in Mobilized Marketing:

“I don’t think for the last 70 or 80 years of consumerism have we enjoyed this Pollyannaish view of what privacy and data protection we were going to have. I don’t believe even aspirationally that it’s attainable.”

This privacy issue will go on long after you can read Kennon’s full comments May 1 when the book is released.

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Just a few days after the official launch of Mobilized Marketing, I'll be discussing the book May 3 on a Mobile Marketing Association webinar. Registration is open and free. https://t.co/MDU3IZ1e

I hope you'll participate with me and Michael Becker, the MMA's Managing Director, North America.

More on the book is here: http://www.amazon.com/Mobilized-Marketing-Driving-Engagement-Loyalty/dp/11182...>

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Before we let the Super Bowl pass, there was interest in two more bylines.

In a piece for MarketingProfs, I wrote about five commercials that would've been better with a mobile element. That article is here bit.ly/AFweTf

For Mobile Marketing Watch, I discussed the missed opportunities. http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/2012-super-bowl-ads-missedopportunitiesga...

It's now time to put away the cleats for another year.

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With the cover final, we're entering the late stages of work before the May 1 publication date of Mobilized Marketing. Of course, I'll post much more on the incredible stories within the book and the interviews with marketers from CNN, Y&R, ESPN, Intuit and dozens of others.

For more on Mobilized Marketing, here's Wiley's description - http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118243269.html

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Each year, I write a piece for Mobile Marketer on the use - or lack of use -- of mobile in the Super Bowl telecast.

My new byline follows:

“Please - ad with mobile call to action leading to millions joining database. #superbowl #brandbowl”—Tweet from the author, sometime late in the first half of Super Bowl XLVI

For each of the past three years, I have played Monday-morning quarterback with a day-after column for Mobile Marketer looking at mobile elements of Super Bowl ads. 

Despite a huge, captive audience that actually eagerly anticipates these commercials, for mobile marketers, the overarching theme has been “missed opportunities.”

But going into Sunday’s Patriots-Giants tilt, 2012 looked to be the year that Super Bowl viewing went from passive to active:

• Nearly 60 percent of mobile users planned to look at or use their phones or tablets during this year’s Super Bowl, according to a survey from Harris Interactive

• Chevrolet launched a tablet and smartphone application designed to run throughout the game and add interactivity to their ads

• Rumors were flying that more than half of the Super Bowl ads would be Shazamable—which is apparently now a word, “the ability to be identified using the ‘Shazam’ mobile app,” syn. “Shazam-enabled”)

• A more informal bellwether—on Twitter, a colleague predicted the over-under on mobile calls-to-action would be 10

Despite the optimism, just as the New York Giants once again delivered disappointment to Patriot Nation, once again mobile marketers were left feeling a little empty at the end of Super Bowl XXVI. Another year of “anticipointment,” perhaps.

Yes, there were more calls-to-action than ever before – particularly hashtags, which debuted in Audi’s 2011 Super Bowl Spot.

This year, by my count, nearly half the ads included a hashtag – some relevant, many fanciful (Audi’s #solongvampires, JetBlue’s meta humor #hashtagoverload).

I also counted more than a dozen spots featuring “Shazam” – which was useful for engaging customers if they have a smartphone, if they have Shazam downloaded , if they are sitting close enough to the TV, if have the Shazam application open and if they see the small call-to-action on the screen. There’s a lot of if’s there.

Most ads also featured suggestions for viewers to visit Web sites or Facebook pages, too.

Each of these calls-to-action were designed to drive a consumer to interact with a brand—with limitations.

Twitter hashtags and Facebook pages allow them to comment on a specific ad spot or maybe even a brand, but in a one-to-many sort of way. 

Shazam is hampered by the requirements I mentioned above, and even if those are overcome, still require the user to click through from the app to a landing page. And Web sites, well, that would have been cutting edge during the dotcom-heavy Super Bowl of 2000 … maybe.

None of these calls-to-action provided marketers with a key element—an easy means to create and continue a one-on-one conversation between brand and customer, with highly relevant content delivered on their most personal device.

By my count, there were two advertisers who used mobile to create a conversation—with mixed results: the NFL (SMS) and GoDaddy (QR code):

• The NFL’s spots had all the ingredients of a great ad—humor, the chance to win big prizes, and an SMS-based “call to action”—but failed miserably on the execution. I texted in during the first half—and heard nothing back … for more than five hours. Calls-to-action are about the instant gratification of a response, not a text back in the middle of the night.

• GoDaddy included a QR code on the latest in its series of ads to encourage viewers to visit their site for their latest series of racy “too hot for TV” advertisements. Theoretically, a great idea and a good way to capture customers who opt in – if consumers just happen to have their QR scanner fired up and aimed at the TV set during the seconds it appeared on screen.

Just like the past few years, there were so many missed opportunities.

Fiat’s ad had all the ingredients of a great spot: innuendo, twists and a fast car. But it could have built a database of opted-in potential customers willing to exchange their information for access to a longer director’s cut of the ad.

Budweiser’s Facebook call-to-action for aiding rescue dogs was a nice touch for a worthy cause—but an SMS prompt for interested participants to opt-in could have benefited beer sales and animals alike.

As far as my colleague’s prediction on 10 mobile calls to action? Bet the under. For mobile marketers, it was another year of anticipointment.

Like Tom Brady’s heave to the end zone on the game’s final play, my plea for an ad with a mobile call-to-action leading to millions to opt into a marketer’s database came up empty.

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MediaPost's Steve Smith asked me what I thought about the mobile components in the Super Bowl spots.

From his article:

"Short-code callouts were few, as many marketers seemed to understand that it is difficult for the fleeting mention of a six-digit number and keyword to register with viewers. Yet a spot advertising the NFL Fantasy game and a $1 million sweepstakes entry had a persistent call to action on screen: send “NFL” to 69635. Unfortunately, as several mobile executives noted, NFL did not respond quickly in acknowledging the entry. In fact, it took hours for our entry to get a 2 a.m reply.  Likewise for Jeff Hasen, CMO of Hipcricket, who told us: 'That's unforgivable when viewers are looking for instant gratification.'

"In our spot check among mobile marketing execs paying close attention to the use of the platform this year, most were underwhelmed. Annual mobile Bowl-watcher Hasen says that while marketers didn’t ignore mobile this year, as they have in the past, the execution was uncertain. Audio ID app Shazam allows users to tag about half of the Super Bowl ads, but Hasen says 'how many knew enough to use Shazam remains a question. With about half the ads including the Shazam prompt, no one spot stood out for including it.' He concludes that despite the hashtags and second-screen schemes, 'my takeaway is one of anticipointment.'”

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/167247/anticipointment-mobile-e...

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Final questions on my mind in the hours before the Super Bowl telecast:

With reportedly half of the Super Bowl spots including a Shazam call to action, will it be advantageous to have a later ad once the concept is discovered by viewers?

Conversely, will advertisers with later appearances suffer from Shazam fatigue?

How will brand managers judge the results of ads that include a mobile component?

How much activity needs to come from the more than 100 million viewers for mobile to be deemed successful?

Will more use the mobile web or mobile apps?

Will an advertiser unveil a call to action that leads to an opt-in database?

Will mobile finally break through this telecast or will it be another year of anticipointment?

We'll finally have some answers later today.

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For several years, Mediapost's Steve Smith and I have shared a disappointment in the lack of mobile calls to action in Super Bowl TV spots.

I talked to Steve this week - a portion of his new story follows:

Longtime critic of mobile marketing (or the lack thereof) during Super Bowls past Jeff Hasen, CMO, Hipcricket says, “we will look back at this as the year of the Super Bowl Mobile. But I don’t know if this will be the way brands will use it going forward.” It will be interesting to see if the various audio recognition apps synchronize accurately amidst the uniquely noisy Super Bowl viewing environment, he says.

And in the end it is important that mobile marketing plays well in this first widespread mobilization of the biggest ad day of the year. “We need the agency and the brand folks to say that we finally did use mobile well and had a great experience,” says Hasen.

Hasen argues that marketers need to give viewers multiple entryways for activating what they see on the first screen, whether it is an audio recognition app or a text prompt. But more to the point, the device needs to be used to get beyond the big branding bang of a Super Bowl TV spot and do what mobile does best, initiate relationships. “I am looking for that remarkable opportunity to build a database,” he says. “It is un-sexy and meat and potatoes, but the opportunity is to build those hundreds of thousands into an opt-in database.”  

Last year, Denny’s generated 2 million diners after offering Super Bowl viewers a free breakfast in a famous game spot in 2009. “I want to see a case study of work that sends people to have their eggs and show how they used mobile to get two or three million of those people in a database,” he says. “Otherwise we are looking at the viewer in the same way we did in Super Bowl I.”

Read more here http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/166989/mobilized-super-bowl-wat...

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Andrew Berg from Wireless Week talked to me about mobile and the Super Bowl telecast.

From his story that ran today:

While you'd be forgiven for thinking that football is the name of the game on Super Bowl Sunday, you'd also be wrong. It's actually advertising. Advertisers will pay almost $3.5 million for a 30 second spot during their year's big game. Is it worth it? That's debatable. But consider that last year's game saw $10.2 billion dollars in consumer spend, according to research from iProspect. For some comparison, Cyber Monday drove $1.25 billion in consumer spend last year.

While it's taken some time to integrate mobile with those flashy Super Bowl ads, every year more advertisers supplement their pricey air time with short codes and calls to action. Admittedly, success for mobile has varied, but there's no denying that viewers have their devices on them during the game. iProspect discovered that 85 percent of search queries during Super Bowl XVLV came from mobile, and Super Bowl searches increased 122 percent from 2009 to 2010 and additional 33 percent increase from 2010 to 2011.

Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer for Hipcricket, is upbeat in his expectations for mobile during this year's Super Bowl.

"I think we're likely to look back and say that this was the year that Super Bowl viewing went from being passive to being interactive," Hasen said, adding that it should have happened years ago.

Hasen comes to the Super Bowl with a cautious optimism, which is then tempered with a gentle bit of skepticism. He'll be looking for the effectiveness of the mobile campaigns, which he says need to be designed with one key fact in mind: It's a party.

For instance, Hasen has heard that over half of the TV spots during the game will be "Shazamable," meaning there will be a call to action for viewers to use their phones to "Shazam" an ad and get additional content or offers. "That's a good thing because you're interacting with consumers," Hasen says (this is the cautious optimism), "but I do have some questions about whether that's the right environment to do Shazam." You can guess that the last bit is the gentle skepticism.

Hasen says in the past, advertisers have been reluctant to include calls to action during the party atmosphere of a Super Bowl. Who wants to grab their phone and dial a short code or Shazam something, while they're dashing back and forth between the TV, the bathroom and the snack table?

It's not that calls to action can't be successful, it's just a matter of when, and Hasen hopes it's this year. "We've got a lot of buildup and a lot of buzz that this is going to be the year of mobile with the Super Bowl, and I just want to it to be the year that it succeeds, where mobile proves to those who might not be believers that it really is the right way to go."

The ways that a company can integrate mobile with their traditional TV spots are growing. GoDaddy will feature a QR code in their steamy new Super Bowl ad (preview below) that will take viewers to another version of the spot on their mobiles. And yet, Hasen says traditional SMS and short codes remain among the most effective ways to use mobile as a compliment to other channels.

"With a QR code, you might have a lot of people that don't have the right scanner. We're big believers at Hipcricket of giving people multiple ways to engage," Hasen said, "so you might give them an SMS, a QR, or you might drive them to a mobile website."

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[[posterous-content:pid___0]]

Mobile Marketer asked me about Tylenol's use of QR codes to educate about responsible dosage.

Here's what I told the publication:

"Consumers often enter stores considering a product, then decide in the aisle after they look at price, possible alternatives, and information available.

"Successful brands are making it easier for customers to make choices. Having bar codes at the shelf is often a good way to go, especially if they are within a broad mobile offering that gives shoppers the ability to act on their terms. 

"Some will engage via scan, while others will look to get smarter through mobile web, SMS, or an app, for instance."

Tylenol does have an SMS call to action for those who want to interact that way.

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The next time you consider wasting a few minutes bursting bubbles through a smartphone application, please stop and think of doing something more meaningful.

More significant than playing a game? Yes, there actually are ways to use your mobile device for good.

Here’s one:

Donate to the charity of your choice via wireless device. You would not be alone.

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and Harvard’s Berkman Center for the Internet & Society, charitable donations from mobile phones have grown more common in recent years. Two thirds (64 percent) of American adults now use text messaging, and 9 percent have texted a charitable donation from their mobile phone.

In what Pew calls the first-ever, in-depth study on mobile donors—which analyzed the “Text to Haiti” campaign after the 2010 earthquake—findings show that these contributions were often spur-of-the-moment decisions that spread virally through friend networks.

Spur-of-the-moment as in pushing aside the bubble burster app for just a couple of minutes.

According to Pew, three quarters of these donors (73 percent) contributed using their phones on the same day they heard about the campaign, and a similar number (76  percent) say that they typically make text message donations without conducting much in-depth research beforehand.

Yet while their initial contribution often involved little deliberation, 43 percent of these donors encouraged their friends or family members to give to the campaign as well. In addition, a majority of those surveyed (56 percent) have continued to give to more recent disaster relief efforts—such as the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan—using their mobile phones.

Pew said that three-quarters (74%) of Haiti text donors in this survey were first time mobile givers, meaning that their contribution to earthquake relief was the first time they had used the text messaging function on their phone to make a charitable contribution. Overall, 80 percent of the mobile givers donated to the earthquake recovery efforts using only their cell phones—and not using any other methods such as online contributions or in-person donations.

Pew said that the mobile phone is bringing in younger donors. Also, the organization said that those giving this way are more racially and ethnically diverse when compared with those who contribute through more traditional means.

How does mobile giving work?

Through such organizations at the Mobile Giving Foundation and mGive, mobile subscribers respond to calls to action in media and online by texting into a charity or non-profit’s short code. A donation, usually in the denomination of $5 or $10, is included on the consumer’s bill sent monthly by the carrier of choice. A full 100 percent of the donation is passed to the charitable recipient within 30 days.

Some of the many current opportunities to give:

Text “GIVE” to 777444 to donate $10 to the USAID.GOV-sponsored famine relief effort in the horn of Africa, benefiting American Refugee Committee, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, UNICEF USA, World Food Program USA, and World Vision. General Mills has agreed to match the first 2,000 text donations that come through this campaign, up to $20,000.

Text “HOPE” TO 20222 to give $5 to the American Cancer Society.

Text “DARFUR” to 40579 to give $5 to the Save Darfur Coalition.

(Article first published as Mobile Does Good Through Charitable Giving on Technorati.)

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Mario Schulzke from www.ideamensch asked me to write about my life on Twitter. Here's what I submitted http://ideamensch.com/1000-days-on-twitter-lessons-learned/

What I know and still wonder about more than 1,000 days and 2,500 followers into my @jeffhasen Twitter life:

I’m doing OK if you consider that I’ve consistently been placed on the Top CMOs on Twitter list http://www.smmmagazine.com/exclusives/top-cmos-on-twitter/.

I’m doing lousy if you average out days and followers that seem to indicate that I’m as popular as Christmas music in January.

I spend more and more time on Twitter. To help determine how much versus the rest, I went to Google and put in “time spent on t…” It came back with two choices — time spent on Twitter and time spent on toilet. At least one of those deserves to be kept to oneself.

I realize that I can grow my followers’ list rapidly through all sorts of trickery. But I continue to believe that a smaller list earned is better than one with 3,000 “followers” who have no value to me – nor me to them. By the way, Tweetcounter says it will take me about 535 days to get to 4,000 followers. I give that prediction slightly more than zero credence. I have lots in store for the next 535 days, none of which I’ve shared with Tweetcounter.

I refuse to use Twitter like most use Facebook (and many sadly use LinkedIn). Katie Couric famously said that “no one gives a rat’s ass that I had a tuna fish sandwich for lunch”. The minutiae of my life isn’t especially interesting to even those closest to me.

I see no value in using a Twitter account as an RSS feed. If you provide a link with no context or analysis, I’ve likely seen the news elsewhere. Please tell me what it means to you and to me.

There is no doubt that Twitter has led to business relationships that I could not develop elsewhere. Want to make a sale? Know your target and go where he or she lives. Twitter is full of potential contacts that are only reachable there.

I view Google Plus much like I saw Twitter 1,000 days ago. Approximately 62 million joined Google Plus in the first six months, according to one estimate (Google does not report the number). Consistently I’ve found those I’ve looked up to be mostly inactive. That either speaks to my circle or the tool as a whole. I spent some of the holiday break reading Chris Brogan’s Google Plus For Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything. It’s a book worth a look, but, at this point, the extent of the change is in question.

Don’t be overly concerned by your Klout score or any other tool that claims to measure your influence. If you can grow your business, career or just your mind via what you see and say on Twitter, it’s an experience worth taking.

Forrester analysts say that 6.2 percent of online adults are creating 80 percent of the influence from tweets. The research firm calls these users Mass Connectors, part of the Mass Influencers group. I have no idea if I fit into those categories but I do feel like anyone can have influence if they provide useful insights and consistently put in the effort to contribute.

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In Mobile Marketer's new guide for Mobile Advertising, I wrote about the importance of giving consumers choice about how to interact with you via mobile. The article follows:

CTIA reports that mobile phone penetration in the United States is greater than 96 percent with more than 300 million current wireless subscribers, 72.5 million of which are using
smartphones (comScore).

Now let us consider the large number of operating systems – iOS, Android, Microsoft’s Mango, BlackBerry – and the ever-increasing different devices in use.

Savvy brands understand that we are each individuals when it comes to our mobile devices. Leading brands such as Macy’s, MillerCoors and Ford understand this concept, and provide multiple options for mobile engagement.

This has led to a number of successful mobile marketing and advertising programs.

In spring 2011, Macy’s launched its Backstage Pass program, which engages shoppers in-store via multiple calls to action to use a mobile device.

Recognizing that not all its shoppers have QR code readers, the iconic department store added a short code to in-store signage, giving consumers a choice and ensuring that no one is left out.

When the QR code is scanned, or the short code is texted shoppers are forwarded to a backstage look at a video from the designer of their choice including Kenneth Cole, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Rachel Roy, Jessica Simpson and Martha Stewart.

The videos offer design suggestions, style tips and more. Shoppers can even enter a sweepstakes to win Macy’s gift cards.

The program has gained wide acclaim and interaction, sparking Macy’s to implement a second video series for the fall shopping season.

MillerCoors, the second largest beer company in America, recognizes that beer and sports go hand in hand.

The company designated nearly 75 percent of its ad spend to sporting events in 2010.

However, MillerCoors recognizes that there is a substantial opportunity to take these advertisements to the next level. By adding a mobile element to its advertisements, MillerCoors is able to connect with customers and build lasting relationships.

MillerCoors tapped Hipcricket to run a cross-media marketing campaign, leveraging traditional mobile elements, to help increase awareness of the Coors Light brand during Super Bowl XLV and the Miller Lite brand during the 2011 NCAA tournament.These campaigns included QR codes, mobile Web sites, SMS and contesting.

The campaigns resulted in over 159,000 interactions from 86,000 mobile participants and over 60 percent of which fell into one of MillerCoors’ key demographics – the 21-34 age range.

FordDirect, a joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and its dealers, implemented its first mobile program in 2010.

The brand’s goal was to include mobile calls to action in its national print, radio and TV advertisements to give potential customers an opportunity to interact with the car brand on a personal level.

The first phase of FordDirect’s program included adding short codes to its national ads for the Ford Year End event.

The car company was able to generate more than 1,000 leads across 38 regional dealer groups and achieve a 12.5 percent conversion rate.

In 2011, Ford is projected to spend $1.3 billion on advertising, primarily targeted at creating leads that turn into sales.

As part of that effort, FordDirect has now expanded its mobile marketing program to include all of its print and TV advertisements. The program has achieved a 15.4 percent lead conversion rate.

The success of these programs has led to an expanded program which includes QR codes among other mobile channels.

With a myriad of ways for people to consume mobile content on a host of mobile devices, why should a brand’s mobile playbook only have one play?

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At CES in Las Vegas today, Samsung's attempt at the hitting the sweet spot was the introduction of a 7.7 inch Galaxy tablet. You may remember the company's first effort was 7 inches. Did focus groups tell Samsung that the 7-incher was too small and 8-incher was a wee bit too big?

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Mobile Marketer asked me to write about mobile's impact on the holiday season.  This column appeared today http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/opinion/columns/11829.html

In part, I wrote about campaigns that caught my eye, as well as the changes I saw in my house.

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My holiday period scorecard?

Thirteen slices of cranberry bread. More sandies than I care to count. Sips (or was it gulps) of Washington wine that brought a calm end to a frenetic year.

And insights that will make me a better marketer in 2012.

What did I learn in those brief moments when I wasn’t stuffing my face?

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Adotas asked me to write about mobile's prospects in 2012.

I hit on several topics:

• Learn lessons from 2011
• Think beyond the click
• Converge your social and mobile efforts
• Find a vendor with protected technology that will keep you safe

The piece is here http://www.adotas.com/2011/12/2012-forecast-mobile-marketing/

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Yes, I've been writing a book on mobile marketing. It has been a career highlight, talking to professionals from around the world about what works, what doesn't, and where we're headed. Their insights and lessons will be shared in "Mobilized Marketing: Driving Sales, Engagement and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices".

http://www.amazon.com/Mobilized-Marketing-Driving-Engagement-Loyalty/dp/11182...

Today, the book made a prestigious list of those most anticipated for 2012. I'm humbled, honored, and thankful.

From TopRank's Online Marketing Blog:

"Jeff Hasen, CMO of mobile marketing forerunner Hipcricket, provides timely mobile strategies and tactics leveraging his experience from more than 130,000 past campaigns. As mobile marketing continues to move to the forefront of the marketing world, the insight Hasen provides into mobile optimization, budgeting, and measurement should prove to be indispensable in 2012."

Wow.

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Mobile Marketer asked me for a 2012 prediction. With all the talk about fancy phones, marketers need to remember those with less sophisticated devices:

"I predict that many marketers will neglect feature phone users as smartphone share tops 50 percent. Sure, we need to provide rich experiences to those with highly-capable devices, but we can't afford to forget the approximate 160 million Americans who will continue to carry simple phones for the foreseeable future. Mobile marketing will continue to be about reach in 2012."

The full article is here: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/strategy/11746.html

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