3FER: 28 March 2014

Tesco offers time-starved Korean shoppers that chance to order groceries on the go.

#1: Understanding Mobile Moments

We all get deluged with webinar invites. Most are thinly veneered sales pitches. But yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed an Urban Airship session with Forrester Analyst Ted Shadler.

Shadler reinforces how mobile makes consumer immediacy possible. He highlights companies like Uber and Starbucks who are meeting those demanding consumer expectations by understanding their context and delivering on their moments of need.

No need to register. This will be the best 17 minutes of your week (his portion begins 7 minutes in):

Webinar Recording: “Industry Leaders in Mobile Maturity” http://bit.ly/1hDOyjd
Amazon: The Mobile Mindshift http://bit.ly/1hDQ6d8
Forrester: “Re-Engineer Your Business For Mobile Moments” http://bit.ly/1hDT1T0

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#2: Is Mobile Mutating UPS?

Mobile impacts more than just marketing efforts and IT budgets. It can radically change the way businesses evolve. Most people point to Target or Starbucks as mobile innovators, but both companies are only focused on optimizing their customers’ experience.

For UPS, mobile is mutating the company across the enterprise–such as adding 3D printing at select UPS Stores. Check out this thinking in action:

Mobile Marketing Daily: “UPS Caters To ‘Shifted’ Mobile Consumers” http://bit.ly/O5ZUVr
Forbes: “UPS May Have Hit Pay Dirt With 3D Printing” http://bit.ly/O5Zu13
UPS: “3D Printing Accessible to Start-ups and Small Business Owners” http://bit.ly/O5YHx9

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#3: Pizza Wars

The average American downs 23 lbs of pizza a year, making it a highly competitive $30B industry. It no surprise that national chains are competing for an ever growing slice of this market. That pushes them to battle to be on the forefront of mobile innovation.

And it’s working. 2013 was the first year where a majority of sales came from online. And for some, a majority of those online sales were from mobile devices.

If you’re looking for some Friday inspiration, check out these sources:

MoBlog: “Taste And Tech: Papa John’s Nears Digital Tipping Point” http://bit.ly/O654AI
Mobile Marketer: “Papa John’s touts mobile in TV commercial as digital hits 45pc of revenue” http://bit.ly/O66lI7
QSR: “Order’s Up for Pizza Hut’s Mobile Platform” http://bit.ly/O68oM3
SMS MArketing Blog: “Pizza Hut SMS Geofencing Campaign 2.6X More Effective Than Online Advertising” http://bit.ly/O69g3p
Mobile Commerce Daily: “Mobile Web outpaces app in Pizza Hut’s digital ordering” http://bit.ly/O6a4oR
Restaurant News: “Domino’s Pizza to offer hands-free ordering from car” http://bit.ly/O6bcZP
Mobile Commere Daily: “Domino’s Pizza makes limited-time offers vital part of mobile strategy” http://bit.ly/O6bIqx

3FER: 21 March 2014

#1: Wearing Android

A week ahead of schedule, Google released a developers preview of Android Wear, a software development kit (SDK) aimed at wearable device manufacturers. This mobile market niche is hot. Research firm Canalys estimates that 8M units will ship this year, growing to 45M by 2017.

Google’s move decimates any significant growth hopes for Tizen (mentioned last week) and gives it a leg up over Apple. Motorola and LG both announced they will release AW-compatible watches later this summer. Details below:

NY Times: “Why Android Wear Is the Beginning of the Wearable Devices Era” http://bit.ly/1f0oY7v
Google: “Sharing what’s up our sleeve: Android coming to wearables.” http://bit.ly/1f0ptOX
Quartz: “The Google watches are here, and their real interface is Google Now.” http://bit.ly/1gjyYxP
LG gWatch: http://bit.ly/1gjzlIL
Motorola Moto 360: http://bit.ly/1gjzwDU

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#2: Clueless Political Operatives

As many of you know, I cut my teeth trying to bring mobile tools into the political campaign world. Despite a few solid successes, I shutdown my practice–campaigns wanted everything for free and most times the smartest person in the room was the candidate. (And that’s often not a compliment.)

Political operatives are bane of innovation.

At MediaPost’s Marketing Politics conference, it seems they still suffer from path dependency. PD is how a set of decisions one faces for any given circumstance is limited by the decisions one has made in the past, even though past circumstances may no longer be relevant. And this article confirms it.

MediaPost: “Political Operatives Predict Next Big Campaign Medium Is — Surprise — TV”: http://bit.ly/1gjbHw5

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#3: My Mobile March Preso

I had the great pleasure of presenting at yesterday’s Mobile March Twin Cities–a day-long conference on mobile business and technology. I focused on how connected devices, such as Nike’s FitBit, are powering the growth within the mobile world.

Since I had only 40 minutes, I had to do a bit of trimming. Below is a link to the expanded version.

SlideShare: “Beyond Mobile, How Connect Devices are the Next Evolution of Mobile” http://bit.ly/1gj8Pzg

3FER: 14 March 2014

#1: Will Tizen dominate wearables?

With Samsung’s release of the Gear 2 family last month, a new, leaner mobile OS entered the market: Tizen. After months iWatch rumors, Apple released CarPlay at SXSW–a hint of its waning interest in the wearables market. Also at SXSW, Google said they’ll release Android SDK for Wearables in 2 weeks.

While Google’s announcement and DotCoMo’s exit from the consortium, there are still plenty of carriers and Samsung to support the growth of Tizen. This is especially especially true considering the drive to create the $20 smartphone for emerging markets. Check out these resources for more information:

Business Insider: “Why Apple Should Fear Samsung’s New ‘Tizen’ Strategy” http://bit.ly/1gjyQsf
Gizmodo: “Meet Samsung’s new smartwatch family: the Gear 2, Neo and Fit.” http://bit.ly/1gjzUMF
SlashGear: “Tizen hits bump as more carriers plan to back out.” http://bit.ly/1gjMo75
CNET: “Tizen chairman, ever the optimist, says smartphone will hit market in 2014.” http://bit.ly/1gjMXh8
Time: “Samsung’s New Galaxy Gear Watches: Goodbye Android, Hello Tizen” http://bit.ly/1gjN7Fp

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#2: #SXSW’s App Frenzy

More than 40,000 of the country’s digital elite invaded Austin earlier this week for SXSW–the annual conference for the movie, music and interactive industry. Developers, and brands, were there hawking their mobile apps to become the next Twitter or Starbucks app. As these attendees come home, the SXSW echo chamber will no doubt drive more app development.

Here’s why you shouldn’t join them: http://bit.ly/1gjwtFX

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#3: That ring don’t hunt

Wearables are a hot–watches, eyewear and now rings. Unfortunately, the later is largely vapor. Despite huge Kickstarter wins, ample prototypes and fantastic use cases, no smart ring has arrived on the market except one. (It’s NFC-based–as useless to iOS users as their iPhones.) This contrarian article offers a great breakdown on why:

Gizmodo: “Sorry, But Smart Rings Aren’t the Future” http://bit.ly/1cwgHfZ

SmartWatches, Bad Retail Email & More

I was hoping for a little pause in July to get some rays, reconnect with loved ones and lollygag a little.

No such luck. Mobile pauses for no one. The big players released new tech like Google’s Moto X smartphone and Chromecast HDMI TV connector. The carriers battled each other on early equipment upgrades. And smart brands continue to push the boundaries of mobile marketing.

Most of it is fluff, but here are five mobile stories from last month that aren’t:

#1: Retailers also suck at mobile email
#2: The future of mCommerce is SmartWatches?
#3: Users ain’t too happy with retail apps
#4: Why Peter Piper picked a peck of SMS
#5: Screw responsive, you need to be adaptive

#1: Retailers also suck at mobile email

While more than 43% of all email is opened on a mobile device, it seems that major retailers, like most companies, are lagging in adoption. If powerhouses like Sephora and Target choke on mobile email implementations, there’s hope for more savvy marketers. (Less than 15% of SMBs mobile-optimize their email.) Check out this great post in Mobile Commerce Daily: http://bit.ly/15B0VvT

#2: The future of mCommerce is SmartWatches?

Unlike the rest of the world, the US has been slacking in the mCommerce space. You can by a Coke via SMS in Brazil or pay for a bus fare with your smartphone in Finland, but you can’t buy much in America with a mobile phone. SmartWatches such as Pebble or the future Apple iWatch might have mCommerce luck. VentureBeat offers a compelling argument for SmartWatch-based commerce: http://bit.ly/1c4OSu6

#3: Users ain’t too happy with retail apps

Despite millions sunk into app development, retailers continue to fail to keep mobile users happy. While a slim majority (52%) are very happy with Amazon’s apps, less than a third feel the same across all retail channels. Read more about this in MediaPost: http://bit.ly/15B8PFt

#4: Why Peter Piper picked a peck of SMS

The Texas pizza chain, Peter Piper, is geofencing its mobile ad efforts to drive SMS subscriptions. Money quote: “Our primary target is millennial moms, they’re heavy users of their mobile,” said Dan Santy, president/CEO of Santy Integrated. He failed to mention that SMS will have a higher ROI than apps. More in Mobile Commerce Daily: http://bit.ly/11ATPB8

#5: Screw responsive, you need to be adaptive

Just as we started to learn the magic of responsive web design, techies throw us for another loop with the adaptive design. Here’s the gist: responsive designs merely adjust the format to fit the screen; adaptive offers specific designs based on the viewing device. Your web site has separate designs for BlackBerries and iPhones, and Nexus 7 tablets and iPads. Confused? Review what the Harvard Business Review has on this issue here: http://bit.ly/1c4T4tQ

Target, Walmart & 20 Other Companies to Watch in Mobile

The dog days of summer are a time when most of us check out, escape to the cabin/beach/abroad and recharge. Many of us also take time to reflect for the coming fall.

This is a good time to look at mobile. More than 40% of American companies have yet to incorporate mobile into their customer acquisition and retention efforts.

If you’re one of them, consider this your opportunity to explore mobile further.

Here are five mobile stories that you might of missed in June:

#1: Smartphones & Americans
#2: Think Behavior, Not Equipment
#3: Target’s App Accelerator
#4: Mobile the Walmart Way
#5: 20 Mobile Startups to Watch
Bonus: Mobile Email Presentation

#1: Smartphones & Americans

Pew Research is one of the few organizations who’ve tracked the impact of mobile across many areas of American society. So when they publish data on smartphone ownership trends, it’s always a must read for marketers and app developers: http://bit.ly/13dw2bC

#2: Think Behavior, Not Equipment

Those distracted by “new shiny thingies” often are left little from their investment in mobile. (Think of the hordes of dead apps created after executives got their first smartphone.) Companies that start by mapping mobile to customer behaviors reap higher rewards. Here’s a great AdAge piece on how this thinking applies to mobile advertising: http://bit.ly/11ATPB8

#3: Target’s App Accelerator

Internal innovation is tough for most enterprise-level companies, and Target is no exception. That’s why the retailing giant struck a partnership with FastCompany’s Co.Labs to uncover app innovators. Judging from the mix of winning finalists, the effort just might prove successful: http://bit.ly/122x8ZB

#4: Mobile the Walmart Way

Forrester provides a great summary from the CTIA presentation of Gibu Thomas, Walmart’s Global Head of Mobile. Here’s a tasty tidbit: Walmart’s mobile-engaged shoppers spend 77% more each month and make four more trips per month: http://bit.ly/13dpB8j

#5: 20 Mobile Startups to Watch

Lack of resources and big barriers to entry often drives revolutions. And while the mobile innovations that we see stateside are often “cute” (think SnapChat), the real mobile revolution is happening where we least expect it. Mashable highlights 20 mobile startups worth tracking…from Africa: http://bit.ly/11AUouz

Bonus: Mobile Email Presentation

I spoke late last month to about two dozen nonprofit techies and communicators on mobile’s impact on email. Over 40% of all email is now viewed on mobile devices. If you’re not optimized for them, you’re losing eyeballs, conversions and subscribers. You can grab a PDF of the presentation here.

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