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3FER: Moto Me!, Amazon smart buttons & killing a connected Chrysler

Chrysler can't get a brake.
Chrysler can’t get a brake.

As a newly minted Chicagoan, it’s great to see a local company gain some mobile street cred. I’m now tempted to finally become an Amazon Prime member. And I’m glad that I decided against purchasing that new Jeep.

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#1: Moto Me! Motorola had a great week.

Glad to see positive media coverage coming from Chicago instead of Cupertino for once. A year after its breakup with Google, Motorola has shown it can still innovate:

  • The new Moto G proves that it understands the needs of emerging market consumers. (Doesn’t Apple still push the iPhone 4 in India?)
  • The Moto X will offer a better battery and camera than the iPhone 6 at half the price. And Motorola’s direct-to-consumer push eliminates carrier bloatware and draconian controls.
  • The new Moto Pulse and Moto Surround headphones offer battery life and range unmatched by others. And they even made dramatic improvements to the Moto Hint.

(Full disclosure: I’m a Motorola fan boy who owns a Moto X, 360 and Hint.)

Motorola Announces Moto X Style, Moto X Play, and Moto G (Droid Life)

We All Need Motorola’s Direct-To-Consumer Approach With the New Moto X to Succeed (Droid Life)

Motorola also outs Moto Pulse and Moto Surround wireless headphones (GSMArena)

Motorola quietly launches 2nd generation Moto Hint headset (GSMArea)

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#2: Amazon releases a Dashing connected device.

Mastering context is critical when it comes to mobile engagement. Achieving it is also damn near impossible for consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers.

So when Amazon partnered with CPG brands to capture those mobile moments, magic happens. Starting this week, Amazon Prime customers can buy Dash Buttons at $5 a pop. (Why aren’t free?)

These handy, branded devices will place set orders for more Tide detergent, Huggies diapers and a range other products with a touch of a button. You confirm all orders online or with their mobile app. So your cute kids can’t order a surprised pallet of mac and cheese.

Now when will Amazon start stocking alcohol?

Amazon Dash Buttons Are Now Available to All Prime Members (LifeHacker)

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#3: Chrysler confirms our connected car fears.

Auto companies want to supplant our smartphone addiction. (Bluetooth connectivity is so 2011.) Moms want to download directly from iTunes on the road to pacify those brats with Spongebob Squarepants.

Seems that innovation doesn’t come without consequences.  Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4M vehicles this week a dangerous security flaw appeared. Two hackers cracked their Uconnect system. They disabled the brakes as a journalist sped down the road at 70 MPH.

The journalist and Chrysler’s reputation ended up in a ditch.

Hackers remotely kill a Jeep on the highway–with me in it. (Wired)

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(Photo Credit: Andy Greenberg/Wired)

Target, Walmart & 20 Other Companies to Watch in Mobile

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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.

Harvard, Drive-Bys & Fat Tire

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As most analysts have expected, mobile’s grow exceeding their estimates. A few days ago, Pew Research released a study that showed 56% of Americans are using smartphones (for Latino and African American users, those numbers are 60% and 64% respectively.)

That said, most businesses are still lagging in mobile adoption. According to a survey 1,800 digital marketers commissioned by Adobe, only 27% of companies have a mobile-optimized web site and 7% have developed a mobile app.

Congrats if you’re within either or both of these groups. If you’re not, there’s is still plenty of time to incorporate mobile into your enterprise.

Here are five mobile stories that you might of missed from last month:

#1: Insights from Harvard

Few would consider Harvard on the cutting edge of marketing thought. That said, the Harvard Business Review provides a great summary on the growth trends of mobile-only users: http://bit.ly/ZqLZhE

#2: SMS for Healthier Eating

Birdseye partnered with Share Our Strength and Healthier America to provide tips for better grocery shopping. Users receive up to eight messages a month that include ideas on how to save money, what to look for in the shopping aisles and links to recipes.

Why SMS? Households earning less than $30K annually use twice the volume of text messages than those earning more than $75K.

Learn more about this innovative behavioral change campaign at Mobile Marketer: http://bit.ly/11l4w9q

#3: The March of the Latino Shopper

It is no surprise that communities of color are more sophisticated mobile users. This is especially true in Latino communities. Research shows that 16% of Latino shoppers are making purchases on their mobile devices. That’s 25% higher than the general marketplace.

Check out the piece in Progressive Grocer: http://bit.ly/ZqMCaU

#4: Mobile Drive-Bys

Approximately 200 Clark, Marathon, Phillips 66 and Sunoco gas station in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana are capturing the attention of drivers. The system connects to WiFi and Bluetooth-engaged mobile phones that pass within 300 feet of a transmitter, and the sends them an offer via push messaging.

Unfortunately, they do so without mobile user opt-in. So expect that loop-hole to close with the first class action lawsuit.

Read more in AdAge: http://bit.ly/11l2TIN

 

#5:  Social, Mobile & Fat Tire.

Some of the best campaigns rarely come from big brands. Case in point is New Belgium Brewing. Having launched a mobile app for their flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale last summer, NBB expanded their 2013 summer campaign to mesh mobile and social with more traditional media.

Catch the whole story at Mobile Marketer: http://bit.ly/ZqP810

By the Numbers: Black Friday, Cyber Tuesday & Mobile

Whether you battled the crowds last week or scored great online deals this week, many more of you used your mobile phone this year. According to the National Retail Federation, 139M shoppers spent $59 billion on Thanksgiving weekend alone, with nearly 40.7% online—a 7.6% jump over last year.

What part did mobile play in this retail bacchanalia? Here’s some impressive numbers for you to process:

  • Mobile accounted for 16.3% of online sales (IBM Benchmark).
  • Mobile phones accounted for 58.6% of the traffic (IBM).
  • iPad drove 88.3% of the tablet traffic (IBM).
  • Mobile accounted for 25% of black Friday and 22% of Cyber Monday sales (Adobe).
  • eBay/PayPal experienced 511% increase in Thanksgiving Day mobile payment activity since 2010.
The impact of  smartphones, especially when they’re attached to youth, powered these results:
  • 30M Smartphones have been injected into the US since 11/2011 (comScore).
  • The iPhone 5 generated more mobile sales in three days than the iPhone 4S did a month, driving holiday sales (comScore).
  • 38% of Students said that they’d do mobile shopping on Thanksgiving Day (Digitas).
  • 32% of Students are likely to decline a Thanksgiving meal invitation if they know they would not be able to use their mobile devices while there. (Digitas)

So did you use your mobile phone when shopping this past weekend?