Six years ago, when I went to my first CTIA Wireless show, the competition for attention was so fierce that those of us introducing products and services needed to decide whether to pre-announce or to spend freely at the event.

At that conference in 2006, when I was with InfoSpace, we lured media and other CTIA attendees to our booth with performances by skateboard legend Tony Hawk. And, even then, we fought hard to get noticed.

By contrast, in the vibrant city of New Orleans, this week’s CTIA show was notable because of the silence.

So, what changed?

For one thing, the race to get mobile offerings into the marketplace is not run on CTIA’s timeline.

The wireless association moved back its spring show about a month to get distance from the Consumer Electronics Show in January – which has more of a mobile focus every year – as well as the global GSMA conference in Barcelona in February. That strategy did not lead to high-profile product launches in New Orleans. Frankly, there were not many – or even any – low-profile launches worth mentioning.

Plus, some of the key players in mobile do not launch hardware or software at the mass conferences – Apple, for one, has its own events and never exhibits with the rest of the ecosystem.

Some of the largest companies did not bring their booths to New Orleans – Samsung, Microsoft and Research In Motion were among those absent, undoubtedly because they are between launch cycles.

What did get done at the Ernest S. Morial Convention Center?

Lots of business development conversations were conducted. Surely, M&A talks were held as well given the increased interest in mobile, especially at scale. There certainly is value there and CTIA should be commended for bringing the people to one place to talk.

I did not meet one brand marketer. Honestly, there was little to see and hear when it came to case studies and real-world lessons.

I am often asked by marketers to identify the top shows to attend.

Mobile Marketer and its sister publication, Mobile Commerce Daily, frequently conduct events – Mobile FirstLook in January, Mcommerce Summit in May: State of Mobile Commerce and Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus in September – that feature rich case studies and top-notch marketers. Mostly brands, retailers, agencies, financial institutions and publishers attend.

Next month, the Mobile Marketing Association holds its Mobile Marketing Forum in New York. About 1,000 are expected with the group mostly made up of brands, agencies and mobile service providers. There are other worthwhile shows for marketers coming up in the summer and fall.

In New Orleans, there was talk of spectrum, security and the connected home, among other subjects. The topics were not new and neither were the comments.

“Wireless service is part of the social fabric of nearly everyone in the country,” is what we heard from the CEO of a major carrier.

Got it. That made neither noise nor news.

(post first appeared on Mobile Marketer)

Here’s a tale of two moms – my mother-in-law wants a smartphone. My mom needed help over the weekend clearing messages from my old RAZR (I’m not a cheap son - that’s all the phone she wants). The lesson for marketers? One size does not fit all. I used to think that the RAZR was intuitive. Gosh, was I wrong. I had to relearn the basics.

Battery life is the number one issue for consumers, but J.D. Power survey takers still rank the iPhone tops for satisfaction.

I am somehow managing to get by on the "lower-resolutionary" iPad 2. Others might think life is unfair.

What to make of Apple having a good supply of the “new” iPad? Sascha Segan of PC Magazine frames it this way on Twitter - “If the iPad didn't sell out, doesn't that mean Apple planned things properly? Shouldn't everyone who wants one get one?” Good points.

Were you like me bored with the iPad line stories? People camp out from Apple products. News here?

When Apple said it was announcing the use of some of its cash balance, I wondered if it involved branding the new device iPad 3? I would call that better late than never.

It was cool to talk to the Mobile Marketing Association and Direct Marketing Association about mobile certification training and a test around DMA 2012. More to come as we get closer to the fall show.

Is Google accurate when it says, “In a few years, not having a mobile strategy will be just as silly as not having a desktop experience"? Are we still years away?

I can’t argue with the SMS practices that are part of Xbox Mobile marketing. Be worthy, engaging, now and relevant.

In my Digiday column http://jeffhasen.com/my-digiday-column-beware-of-sxsw-pixie-dust, I wrote about the danger in marketers chasing the SXSW pixie dust – shiny objects that caught attention but likely won’t drive business results soon or ever. Since, I’ve seen these numbers – there were 755,373 total tweets with keyword or hashtag SXSW. Plus, there were 3,702 concurrent Foursquare check-ins at the hall. The stats tell us what we already knew - attendees are not representative of Main Street. I doubt that there are 3,702 check-ins in many towns.

Another takeaway from SXSW was the lack of discussion about whether something was mobile or social. Of course, it's both. I’m glad that we finally got there.

Over the weekend, Apple announced that it had reached the 25-billion download mark through its app store, which opened in 2008. Further, the company counted 550,000 apps and has reportedly paid developers more than $4 billion in royalties.

Impressive stats. However, what is missing is data on the return on investment for brand managers, some of whom took the plunge in the very early days in part because of a misguided belief that the mere creation of an app would be newsworthy.

“Companies were making decisions to develop an app and rushing to launch something just so they could point to it in the app store,” Joy Liuzzo, InsightExpress vice president and director, says in my soon-to-be-released book, Mobilized Marketing: Driving Sales, Engagement, and Loyalty Through Mobile Devices.

“The lack of strategy is shocking in hindsight—and even during the time—but it spoke to the still naïve understanding of mobile by most companies. They thought of it as an isolated channel, something fun and fluffy, and that consumers would be willing to engage with anything they put in front of them. I think the realization that the channel and consumer were more sophisticated than they realized was a hard wake-up call for brands and agencies. However, those lessons were necessary to force agencies and brands down a more integrated strategy path, one that included proper planning and multiple mobile channel executions and media.”

Among the lessons learned was the need to drive attention to an app. Many now do so through mobile advertising.

Certainly a number of brands have successfully employed apps. Many winning applications serve utilitarian functions, providing such content as recipes, nutritional information and flight status. Others, such as an app employed by Starbucks, expedite payment at the point of sale.

Savvy marketers are giving consumers a choice by providing multiple ways to engage on a wireless device. That strategy is wise because it is more inclusive than a program that banks on one mobile product being available on an individual handset, then found and used by a brand’s customers and prospects.

What are consumers finding most interesting when it comes to apps?

Draw Something Free (social drawing and guessing game), The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Camera Awesome (that replaces the iPhone’s camera) were the top moving free apps on Saturday. Facebook and Twitter apps are always customer favorites, as is Angry Birds, the top selling iPhone and iPad app in 2011.

The top paid Android apps as of Saturday were Draw Something, Where’s My Water (game to test skills with a cranky alligator) and Beautiful Widgets (to customize such things as time and weather).

(post first appeared here - http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/03/04/are-marketers-seeing-roi-on...

Back when I was a sports writer, I loved writing a column called Notes On A Scorecard. It was a somewhat mad dash around the sports world with some news and a lot of opinion. It’s time to kick that off here with the first in a series called Notes From A Mobilized Marketer.

Apple’s 25 billion app store downloads have brought $4 billion to developers. It’s interesting to know that Apple didn't introduce the app concept -- others did as far back as 10 years ago.

More than the number of downloads, I want to know how many apps are used and how often. Activity is lower than you think. I’ll post further on this and discuss the ramifications for marketers.

Approximately 69 percent of China's one billion mobile subscribers access the Web through their phones on a regular basis. China is the largest mobile market in the world. 

Lost in the discussion about smartphone adoption is the fact that more than 150 million in United States still have feature phones. We need to market to them, too.

Judging by the weekend crowd around the iPads in the Apple store, people either don't know about the impending iPad 3 or don't care to wait. Speaking of which, we’re one day closer to the start of iPad 4 rumors. It makes me want to pull the covers over my head.

If Apple was the first to announce 41 megapixels in a smartphone (like Nokia did), do you think folks would stand on chairs and applaud? I do. There is more on Nokia’s accomplishment in my latest MobileGroove column. http://www.mobilegroove.com/mwc-can-facebook-twitter-crack-the-code-on-releva...

Sprint reportedly will have 10 handsets with Google Wallet in 2012 bit.ly/xrKoMq. There is significant wallet discussion in my upcoming Mobilized Marketing book.

Google's supposed Siri-like offering is named "assistant" and being positioned as a "do engine" tcrn.ch/yMJDe9. I’m not a big Siri user. It's more of a gimmick. Do you use it?

I think more will buy photoshop tools if the world moves to 41-megapixel smartphones. Tools and eyelash enhancement services.

I feel the idea of the Air Force spending $9 million on iPads to replace flight manuals will be dissed by politicians. It doesn't matter that it makes sense.

Facebook and Twitter will accelerate mobile advertising's growth unless they screw it up – I discuss that as well in my MobileGroove column. http://www.mobilegroove.com/mwc-can-facebook-twitter-crack-the-code-on-releva...

Registration is open for the free webinar I'm doing May 3 with the Mobile Marketing Association on my new Mobilized Marketing book. bit.ly/A7GoXp. The official book launch is two days earlier but electronic versions will likely be available sooner.

Apple is imposing its will to set price and content for its coming TV subscription service, according to a report read.bi/y4jdgD me: Am I shocked? No.

Frustrated by others' efforts, Walmart and Target reportedly are in a new group chasing mobile payments. bit.ly/yJrhrs This will be a long race and there will be more than one winner.

It's early to gauge ROI, but Samsung has sold two million Note smartphone tablet hybrids (please don’t call them phablets) after its $10 million Super Bowl campaign. bit.ly/AtJMiH

Apple was named Fortune's most admired company on the same day that Verizon won the J.D. Power customer service award. I’m curious to know which has more sway with consumers.

Eight percent of cellphone owners don't know if their device is a smartphone, according to Pew. Should we call them dumb users?

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.

We all need an assistant. The more intelligent, the better.

In addition to the announcement and news around the soon-to-be-introduced in iPhone 4S, this week’s conference gave us a deeper view into how Siri – the technology Apple quietly (and cleverly) acquired last year — plays in a bigger ambition to deliver us suggestions, recommendations and assistance on our mobile devices. Apple’s Siri is marketed as the smart helper that gets things done. All we have to do is ask.

Think of Siri as an electronic concierge and virtual assistant at our call 24/7. No job interviews, hourly wages or background checks before we take Siri into our employ. Siri is trusted and smart — equipped to manage our lives as if she came right out of Harvard or Oxford. Or so we’re told.

According to Apple, Siri understands context and natural language. No need to tailor how you talk to match a machine. Imagine you ask Siri: “Will I need an umbrella this weekend?” Siri understands you are really looking for a weather forecast.

Apple also tells us that Siri — like any capable and qualified assistant — is knowledgeable about using the personal information we allow it to access. For example, if you tell Siri: “Remind me to call Mom when I get home,” it can find “Mom” in your address book and carry out the task. Ask Siri “What’s the traffic like around here?” and it can figure out where “here” is based on your current location, data communicated by the GPS capability in the device.

And the list goes on. Siri supposedly helps you make calls, send text messages or email, schedule meetings and reminders, make notes, search the Internet, find local businesses, and get directions. You can also get answers, find facts and even perform complex calculations — all this just by asking Siri.

There are obvious benefits to having an electronic concierge to help us manage our lives and work – if the technology works, of course. However, voice recognition is not entirely suited to how we live our lives. There are times when you can’t speak out loud (in class or during a play to name two).  And let’s not forget that voice recognition has been inexact for years, especially in loud places where the technology often can’t distinguish one voice or noise from another.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s imagine that Siri does exactly what Apple says it can. There are huge implications for brands when our personal devices are equipped with personal digital assistants. Are companies going to continue to pay for an ad in a Google query if a mobile subscriber can bypass traditional keyword search altogether by just asking their new and knowledgeable pal, Siri? Will advertisers still sponsor the traffic alerts if Siri can tell their customers all they need to know?

On the positive side, the concierge concept could deliver marketers deeper demographics and more insights into what people want, prefer and demand based on what they ask Siri to do in the first place. Siri may be the next big thing, but we won’t know for sure until the devices are on sale and the service stands up to consumer road tests in the wild. The big question is: how much will people trust and rely on Siri for assistance. It’s one marketers will have to wait out. One thing is certain: marketers won’t get the answer just by asking Siri. This is where first-hand experience, knowledge and interacting with customers will give us the ability to gauge their real interest and actual participation.

(first appeared here http://www.mobilegroove.com/remebering-steve-jobs-why-siri-wont-provide-mobile-marketers-all-the-answers/)

Much like I remember where I was when I learned the tragic news that John Lennon had been shot (I was watching Monday Night Football and heard it from broadcaster Howard Cosell), I’ll now never forget where I was and what I was doing when I learned of Steve Jobs’ passing.

It’s rather fitting that I was 36,000 feet in the air connected to an in-flight Wi-Fi system working on a MacBook Air at the time. Thus, I was able to benefit from the technology advancements made possible by visionaries (like Jobs) who have brought us all advantages that generations before us would never know.

And that brings me to another connection between Lennon and Jobs. Each asked us to imagine and look beyond the ‘here and now’ to what will be – if we are open to it.

In this respect, the contributions by Lennon and Jobs are tied to imagination and what can happen when we free our minds. They reshaped our thinking about peace, technology and the world around us. And through their vision and passion they made our world a better place.

To me, this is their legacy and the biggest lesson they have taught us. Dare to dream. Strive to have impact. Rather than accept limitations that would normally convince us that “we can’t”, these two men – in their own fiercely individual ways — showed us that “we can.”

Siri, please don’t let us follow the same foolish path again.

Nearly a year and a half ago, the pundits told us that Apple was irreparably damaged during “Antennagate”, when the most revered brand in the world was slow to admit, then fix issues with the antenna on its then new iPhone 4.

Now many of the same pundits are at it again, expressing contempt for Apple for “disappointing” us with incremental improvements to the iPhone 4 rather than introducing an iPhone 5 that, many hoped, would wash dirty socks and run marathons for us.

Siri, just who did Apple disappoint?

Not consumers who made the iPhone 4 the best selling smartphone despite being a little long in the tooth in technology years.

With the 4S, we get Siri, positioned as the intelligent assistant you need that is now a voice command away. We get over 200 new features including Notification Center, an way to easily view and manage notifications in one place without interruption and iMessage™, a new messaging service that lets you easily send text messages, photos and videos between all iOS 5 users.

We also get a new camera with the most advanced optics of any phone. The 8 megapixel sensor has 60 percent more pixels to deliver high quality photos. On top of that, Apple delivered the ability to capture video in full 1080p HD resolution and with new video image stabilization.

Then Apple lowered the price of the iPhone 4 to $99 and put the 3GS on sale for free with a two-year contract.

Siri would be the first to tell you that consumers care about features and benefits, not model numbers.  Outside of the pundits, there likely wouldn’t have been one person storming Apple’s Cupertino campus if the company named the soon-to-be-released product iPhone 5.

Maybe Apple’s marketing team blundered by sticking to the iPhone 4 model line.

Did it irrevocably damage the Apple brand? It’s laughable to even suggest that.

(Article first published as http://technorati.com/business/article/taking-a-bite-out-of-the/ on Technorati)