"There Are Too Many Apps and Too Many Bad To Mediocre Experiences"

Forbes asked me how brands can be relevant, engaging, and useful on mobile.

Here’s what I told author John Koetsier:

Koetsier: We see some brands building massive engagement on mobile, like Starbucks. But many brands aren’t sure where to start. Where should they begin?

Hasen: Everything and nothing has changed with mobile. We still need to sell stuff. It’s the how that is different. The common thread we see with successful mobile marketers is that they are pragmatic and using the channel to attain business objectives and to address pain like churn.

Successful mobile marketers are also open-minded, collaborative, good listeners and risk takers. Those who fail often are selfish, impulsive, illogical, timid and inattentive.

The relationship with the mobile device is so personal that brands need to enhance the experience. Otherwise, three is a crowd.

Koetsier: 75% of people who download an app don’t become long-term engaged users, and that’s probably higher for brand apps. What’s the key problem here?

Hasen: Several factors.

There are too many apps, too many mediocre to bad experiences, and consumers have no patience to see if you will provide value. It needs to begin from the get-go: help the stressed parent with recipes, show them that the train is on time, give them reason to believe that you are out for their personal best interests.

Koetsier: Many brand apps are not daily drivers … they’re not like Facebook that you open multiple times a day. Instead, you use them weekly or monthly as you interact with your airline, for instance. How can you maintain a connection in those times?

Hasen: For some apps, their value is in the knowledge that they will be there for you when and if you need them.

Of course, these days push notifications are the rage. In some instances, like when someone has entered a mall and has opted in to receive pushes, you can send them a notification that reminds them and incents them to open the app.

Another way to engage is by providing offers, special content or the like and promoting it in other interactions with the app users.

Koetsier: Push messaging is huge and there’s a lot of good things brands can do it with. Should push messages be sent only in response to users’ queries or preferences or requests?

Hasen: Push messages shouldn’t even be talked about until you’ve provided some value to the user.

A major mistake seen often is a brand asking for permission before gaining the trust of the consumer. Even when done correctly, brands should treat the relationship as precious and not believe that they can enter someone’s house, put their feet on the furniture, eat all the chips, drink the beer, and stay all night.

Koetsier: Once users are in the app, how should brands use in-app messaging? What’s it best at?

Hasen: When used to its fullest, in-app messaging produces even more value to the user and is personal and within context.

An airline should ask me to rate its app after it gives me an upgrade to first class, not after my flight was canceled. That’s why it is so important to use tools like mobile marketing automation to have a healthy, rich view of a consumer to know his or her likes, dislikes and interactions with you.

Koetsier: How should brands cohort or segment users? What should they be looking for?

Hasen: You and I might shop at the same store but have very different buying patterns. I may need an offer every three months for you to monetize me to the fullest. You may return on your own and never need a prod or a buy-one-get-one.

Group audiences through identified traits that make communications feel like a one-to-one experience – and drive business outcomes.

Koetsier: Is a brand app even useful at all if it’s not tied to the company’s back-end systems for customer and order management, and maybe support/service?

Hasen: There are lots of uses for apps (and also more than a few misuses).

Often the most successful apps engage the loyal customer with even more value as delivered through such things as exclusive content, access to sales and merchandise earlier, and to engage and become part of a user’s life. Nike is the perennial leader at this.

Koetsier: How important is it for a brand to have its own mobile app?

Hasen: Ah, the question that still gets asked after all these years.

It’s about a businesses’ individual customer insights. Does its audience carry smartphones? Are they apt to engage more deeply than what they could do on the mobile web? Can the business make its app stand out among a crowded space or should it tie into a more popular app as many retailers do today. In general, the mobile web is the foundational piece, then an app is layered on if it could enhance the experience.

Mobile users will punish a brand for a crappy experience and reward one that delivers.

Koetsier: Any great stories about brands driving high engagement on mobile that you want to share?

Hasen: The most successful mobile marketers are the ones who are pragmatic. Take the case of a large wireless carrier that uses personalized mobile video to reduce churn.

One way is through a custom welcome video that is the very first point of communication with a new customer. Sent to mobile devices, this personalized welcome video acknowledges and thanks the subscriber for his or her business and summarizes the details of the account and what to expect when the first bill arrives.

As a result, the carrier has seen:

· Significant reduction in churn (customers leaving in the first 30 days), saving what it says is tens of millions of dollars

· A decrease in calls to customer support

· The highest recall of any other touch with the customer (over 50 percent measured at 90 days post-video delivery)

· Significant increase in revenue (ARPU or average revenue per user and lifetime value)

The piece appears here - http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2016/05/10/brands-and-apps-how-to-be-relevant-engaging-and-useful-on-mobile/#47d6d17713d4

Why Are Brands Still Falling Short On Mobile Personalization Efforts?

Personalization was supposed to be the tonic that brought brands closer to immersed mobile users, but as the midpoint of 2016 draws closer, vegetarians are still getting meatball sandwich offers. Customers have little reason to believe businesses understand them, not to mention have the interest or means to reach out to them on an individual basis. What gives?

“We have to realize how complex [mobile personalization] is,” Sean Lyons, US president of advertising agency R/GA, explained in “The Art of Mobile Persuasion.”

“Think about how well you know your close friends and how preferences adapt and change over time,” he said. “Could you predict with great certainty what they may want at a certain moment? Maybe only your closest friends.”

Lyons went on to explain that the personalization consumers crave is a big ask.

“We have really high expectations for the capability to personalize communications, but it’s a very complicated thing,” he noted. “It’s a mix of both a trail of data but also the feeling that I have right now, my mood, that we’re not factoring in. There are going to be a lot more mistakes made and personalization with the wrong people targeted. That’s part of the evolution of it.”

Though it may seem like more companies are failing than adapting, there are brands that have driven business results by creating mobile personalization through one-on-one interactions mobile users find valuable.

For example, one major wireless carrier understands the importance of personalized service and continuously works to decrease churn and increase customer satisfaction. One way it does this is through a personalized welcome video, powered by technology firm Vehicle. The video is the first point of communication with new customers. It thanks subscribers for their business, summarizes the account details and outlines what to expect when the first bill arrives.

As a result of these personalized mobile videos, the carrier has seen:

· A significant reduction in customers leaving in the first 30 days of service, saving millions of dollars

· A decrease in calls to customer support

· A significant increase in average revenue per user and lifetime value

Elsewhere, Toyota targeted Facebook users with personal video advertisements for its new RAV, according to Mobile Marketer. The automaker worked with an agency to create more than 100 interchangeable clips and deliver personal experiences based on data around the viewer’s personal interests.

Although these personalization wins are significant, the failures are often more memorable. For example, imagine this situation: In an attempt to deliver on mobile personalization, an optometrist’s office starts sending appointment text reminders at 4 a.m. a full 13 days before the appointment to patients who haven’t opted in. Not only would this be a violation of regulations and potentially cost the sender thousands of dollars per text, it’s a memorably bad idea to intrude with a text at such a personal hour. Ideally, businesses will employ more common sense as mobile takes hold.

Some consumers want the best of personalization and want it now, but Lyons explained that engaged consumers are more apt to understand the issues in getting to one-on-one marketing.

“People are going to be way more accepting of those mistakes if you are getting a truly remarkable service from the brand,” he said. “Differentiating what your products and services are is still paramount. That will lead the way and gives brands a lot more leeway in how they tailor their communications.”

This may be true, but brands are still leaving money on the table. According to App Developer Magazine, 6 in 10 consumers do not feel their mobile experience expectations are being completely met. Brands need to work smart and invest wisely to make the most of their mobile development budgets and deliver the top-notch marketing experiences their customers crave.

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(article first appeared here - http://mobilebusinessinsights.com/2016/05/why-are-brands-still-falling-short-on-mobile-personalization-efforts/)

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: Floor Traffic Lights Installed For "Smombies"

The German city of Augsburg has installed floor traffic lights for smartphone addicts. According to a German newspaper that calls such addicts “smombies”, the move followed these accidents: a 15-year-old girl in Munich was run over by a tram while looking at her smartphone with headphones in; in nearby Augsburg, on two recent occasions, pedestrians have been hit by street trains while looking at their phones.

Facebook has passed 1.65 billion monthly active users with 54% accessing the service only on mobile. Meanwhile, the company reports $5.38 billion in revenue, 79% from mobile advertising.

Apple may be working on a way to show friends your autocorrect mistakes, the Verge reported. Apple’s autocorrect mistakes or mine?

DeWalt, known as a drill maker, has introduced a rugged MD501 smartphone.

Vendors shipped a total of 334.9 million smartphones 1Q16 up slightly from the 334.3 million units in 1Q15, marking the smallest year over year growth on record: IDC.

Amazon is liable for in-app purchases made by kids, a court determined.

Apple pointed to 451 research saying that there's "94 percent customer satisfaction for Apple Watch." They didn’t ask me, but I would definitely be in the other camp.

Despite a “down quarter”, Apple sold 395 iPhones per minute.

Unlockd raised $12 million to lower one’s mobile phone bill in exchange for viewing ads.

In 2016 mobile payment transactions could total $27 billion, up 210%, IBM reported.

Walmart Canada’s responsive redesign has boosted conversion by 20%, according to the company.

Interesting stats from Forrester: only 37% of brands use mobile paid search advertising; just 23% have unique mobile content; and just over one in five send push notifications.

comScore found that for every $6 spent online shopping in the fourth quarter of 2015, one of those dollars was spent viaa mobile device.

"You're Being The Whale Guy"

In advance of IBM Amplify http://www-01.ibm.com/software/events/amplify/, where I will attend as an invited futurist, I answered some questions for the company’s QUICKBYTES column http://ibmevents.tumblr.com/post/143584665604/what-do-you-see-as-the-hottest-trends-in-mobile:

What do you see as the hottest trends in mobile today?

There has been more emphasis on the customer journey and personalization although I’m still getting meatball sandwich offers despite going to the same restaurant 300 times and always ordering vegetarian. So there’s more work to do there.

We have also seen the rise of the “self-sufficient” mobile user who doesn’t want to talk to humans. This has a major effect on traditional customer service. Retailers like REI have had to adapt since they spend time and resources developing “Green Vests,” experts on climbing equipment, bike helmets, and more. Part of the answer for REI is to equip the Green Vests with wireless solutions to serve the customer.

What are you most looking forward to at IBM Amplify this year?

The exchange of ideas is going to be awesome. I’m also looking to further identify best practices and success stories that prove mobile’s worth. And I’m most interested in seeing advancements in personalization.

What major developments do you anticipate in mobile marketing?

I’ve been in this for 10 years and we are finally getting to the point where we are looking to use mobile to solve business problems. The most successful mobile marketers who I interviewed for my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book are pragmatic–they are attacking business pain points like churn with imaginative, measureable and meaningful mobile programs. A wireless carrier has saved tens of millions of dollars by providing personalized, transparent experiences through the delivery of mobile video.

How can an organization stay relevant five years from now?

It has to stay nimble, be brave, and current. And while it has to take measured risks, it can’t bet it all on one thing in mobile. As Miles Orkin, the former head of mobile at the American Cancer Society, told me, “Not everyone can be Mark Zuckerberg. If you bet it all and lose, you could be selling coffee.”

Data without analytics is like [blank] without [blank].

Data without analytics is like words in an unfamiliar language without a dictionary or translator. It leads to confusion and ineffectiveness.

What do you consider most promising in the era of cognitive computing?

There is a marriage to be made between humans and machines. One exists without the other, but doesn’t realize its potential. Machines help us understand our customers and prospects, but there will always be a role for marketers to maximize the learnings with creativity, experience, and imagination.

What app can you not live without?

My FlightTracker app since I’m constantly not only traveling, but moving flights up and back.

Are you always plugged in or do you sometimes unplug?

I’m like the guy caught on camera in Redondo Beach, CA, who missed seeing a humpback whale two feet from his boat because he was so enthralled with what was on his mobile phone. In fact, whenever I do this, which is often, my wife says, “You’re being the whale guy.” And, of course, she’s right.

What was the worst job you ever had?

The one after I stopped being a sports writer. I used to go to Super Bowls, the World Series, Final Four, and more. My Dad said, “Enjoy it because one day you will have to work for a living.” Of course, he was right, too.

How short is your attention span?

Huh?

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Wee-Wee Pads? Rover Actually Wants An iPad

NPR said that soon we might be sharing our gadgets with our pets, too. My three spoiled (human fault, not theirs) dogs want high-resolution smartphone screens and an iPad to go next to the wee-wee pads.

My frustrations with Apple Watch are well documented. With word that all Apple Watch apps must be native apps (built for the device) starting on June 1, I’ll say great rather than it’s about time.

If you missed National High Five Day last week, rest easy. Next up is National Fist Bump Day in June. #ridiculousness

Nine in 10 US smartphone owners use location services on their phone, according to data from Pew Research Center.

Smartphone owners use on average 26 apps and 52 mobile sites per month, Forrester reported.

59% of consumers have higher expectations for customer service today than last year: Microsoft. It used to be that you can manage public opinion in two hours. Now it’s closer to two minutes.

I asked Siri how much grass should you let a dog eat. Twice, she returned with "I found 15 restaurants. Tell me the one you are looking for"

The Yankees are offering a food-purchasing app, but only 20% of Stadium patrons can use it.

One-fifth of millennials don't use a desktop PC, per comScore.

It has come to this – a "smart mattress" will tell you if you're being cheated on.

The average mobile gamer is 36 years old, Nielsen says.

Approximately 10% of internet users are mobile-only: Accenture.

84% of mobile time spent is on just 5 apps, according to Facebook.

Cracker Jack has replaced its toy prizes with digital codes for games.

This year, mobile game revenue will surpass console and PC gaming, per new study: Newzoo BV.

92.5% of internet users in China had downloaded music apps to their smartphone, per Tencent Penguin Intelligence.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - How McDonald's Views Choice As The Killer App

For 43 years, the slogan from McDonald’s said, “You deserve a break today.” These days, when it comes to patrons accessing product information and offers, the quick service restaurant believes that we deserve choice. Despite an impressive 10 million mobile app downloads, McDonalds has installed kiosks in its restaurants, too, giving options to its customers beyond cellphones and the traditional information found on boards behind the cashiers.

An example of my Apple Watch frustration? A gate change that doesn't come with tap when that’s exactly what's needed. Now, you have to notice. And often don't.

Mobile captures 2 out of every 3 digital media minutes in the U.S., per comScore.

One in five U.S. households have bought groceries online in the past month, according to eMarketer.

Apple will likely sell its one billionth iPhone later this year.

This is permission-based, but still raised more than one eyebrow - when you open the Domino’s app, it automatically sends you a pizza unless you cancel within 10 seconds.

78% of food shoppers say they want to save as much money as possible via mobile, according to Gfk. This is one constant in wireless era – pre-recession, during recession, post-recession, people want deals.

75% of consumers say relevancy matters when it comes to the rewards that businesses provide: Colloquy. The others didn't understand the question?

British mobile phone users’ movements could be sold for profit, as reported in The Guardian. That brings worries that location data will be used by criminals.

10 million did their taxes on mobile last year with Intuit.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says that the secret to a harmonious life is to stop obsessing over your smartphone. Many of us know this but won't/can't/don't believe that we can do anything about it.

Native ads will make up 63% of mobile display ad spend by 2020, a Facebook & IHS study finds.

52% of users view push messages as annoying, according to Localytics. Better practices, more value and education are keys to improving that number.

My eye doctor was appalled when I told him that his vendor was sending appointment text reminders at 4 a.m. to people who haven’t opted in. We will see if anything changes.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Confusion Around Mobile's ROI

Few argue with the idea that more dollars will flow into mobile when we can get more clarity into the results of our efforts. But two studies apparently show how far we have to go. 67% of marketers told Forrester that they can't measure mobile's ROI. But 77% told Salesforce that they can.

Which is it?

Diving further into the Forrester study, we see that only 20% say that they have adequate mobile budget. Yet, as mentioned, 2 in 3 aren’t sure if it’s working or not. I would love to be in on the conversations when these marketers are asked to justify the budget expenditures.

15% of Americans are “cord cutters” who used to have cable or satellite TV but now don't, per Pew.

The Associated Press – and therefore all of us -- will lowercase internet effective June 1. There’s more – in that same timeline, AP will lowercase web in all instances – web page, the web, web browser, etc.

A “suggested” Subway app in my Twitter timeline says that I can order a meatball sandwich. I haven't had one in more than 30 years. This is the best that we can do on personalization in 2016?

Along the same lines, 24% of U.S. respondents are “extremely frustrated” with restaurants for not making interactions and offers more relevant, Accenture says.

87% of B2B marketers struggle to develop compelling content, according to Forrester.

A study from Accenture finds that 60% expect the same customer experience across all touch points – from phone service to in-store & digital interactions. And that number grows every day.

Only 65% of U.S. marketers think that location data is accurate, reports the Location Based Marketing Association.

I was intrigued by a trending hashtag #IfIHadAnExtraFiveMinutes, but I didn’t so it remains a mystery.

StubHub is introducing a 360-view within app so buyers can see view seats before buying tickets.

Millennials living in their own home without kids spent 94+ hours on their PCs, tablets & smartphones in November, Nielsen says.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Short-Sightedness of a 4 a.m. Text Message

The easiest way to betray trust on mobile? Follow the lead of my eye doctor’s office and send a text message at 4 a.m. to remind someone about an appointment 13 days later. Is it that hard to see the stupidity in that intrusion?

For every $1 spent on a mobile device, $30 of retail sales are influenced by mobile, per Forrester.

65% of Spotify's global streams are now on mobile devices. This covers 70 million users and 30 million subscribers.

More than 40% of the top-selling smartphone apps have no privacy policy, per Forbes.

This is the longest stretch since 2007 where I haven't felt compelled to visit an Apple Store to engage with a new product. How about you?

83% of consumers prefer a talk with a person rather than digital interaction for customer service issues: Accenture.

Marketers need to move from “measuring and marketing to devices, to marketing and measuring people,” according to ESPN’s David Coletti. I devote a section of my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book to ESPN’s moves toward even more personalization.

Apple Pay is coming to mobile websites later this year, according to several reports.

Starbucks says that it is within "30 to 45 days" of releasing a Windows mobile app.

Google has added ride-sharing tab to Maps for iOS.

We might have to start a drinking game every time we hear the term mobile moments. It is the new The Year of Mobile repeated-by-all phrase.

I asked my 22-year-old niece if she knows anyone who owns an Apple Watch. "Only some parents. No one my age," was her response.

Juniper Research predicts app advertising will top $44 billion by 2020, up from $13 billion last year.

CBS plans to sell one of its radio division. Several of the stations ran pioneering mobile campaigns that tapped into listener loyalty.

When "You Did It" Prompt Made Me Feel 10 Feet Tall

Jeff is one of the leading strategists, evangelists, and voices in mobile. He has written two books, including the new The Art of Mobile Persuasion. He has spoken around the world more than 200 times.

One of the stories that I recently shared at SXSW includes my reaction to the first tap on my wrist from the Apple Watch. It was no laughing matter then, but it brings chuckles now.

Please check it out and laugh along.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Facebook Drives Mobile Video Growth

Robots and virtual reality advances aside, my SXSW experience was heavy on results and opportunities around mobile video.

On the live streaming side, we now know that last year’s SXSW darling Meerkat was forced to change its business model with the appearance of Facebook Live and the adoption of Periscope.

It was Facebook’s moves and associated metrics that especially caught my attention over the last few days:

As shared by a company executive, 100 million hours of video are viewed every day on Facebook. Mobile is a large driver.

Ninety percent of the views on Facebook for the Straight Outta Compton trailer were on mobile.

The trailer for Furious 7 had 100 million views on Facebook, with an undisclosed but high number on mobile devices.

Approximately 2.2 million people watched the Facebook Live stream of Peyton Manning’s retirement announcement. This came despite the fact that the event was shown on a variety of television and online outlets.

Facebook has long viewed mobile as its biggest growth opportunity. Clearly video is key to the company’s aspirations.

Elsewhere:

Of the gazillion people at SXSW, no one brought a better in-flight Wi-Fi solution. Damn.

In a panel on beacons, Clorox's Sarah Ortman said that a brand’s mobile outreach in store should solve a problem or delight a consumer. Or both.

Despite the hype, I didn’t see many robots at SXSW unless you count those who stayed out until 4 a.m. and were forced to attend early morning panels.

The majority of McDonald’s U.S. business is via the drive thru, making mobile solutions more important. The company had a large presence in Austin.

In the UK this year, mobile ad spending will surpass TV spending as well as desktop spending, according to eMarketer

Half of all debit card holders don't believe it's safe to use their card for online purchases, Kantar reported. I wonder what these people would say about using a smartphone to make a purchase. Likely, no, thanks.

In 2015, Apple sold 441 iPhones per minute.

Some Will Be “First” At SXSW, But How Much Does That Matter?

Be it the Internet of Things, the smart home, virtual reality or something else, change is coming.

The next big stage is this week’s SXSW Interactive, where check-in pioneer Foursquare (which has since morphed) and Oculus Rift, a virtual reality gaming headset, were introduced.

It’s also where Meerkat won the day in 2015 only to be forced to change its business model less than a year later when it was overtaken by Twitter/Periscope and Facebook Live.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said that innovation separates leaders from followers. Serial entrepreneur Jason Calacanis says, “You have to have a big vision and take very small steps to get there.”

The pace is in dispute, but the need to advance technologies and find new ways to engage with the near always-on user is universal.

But how? And what shape does that take?

“If you (as a marketer) have a real specific need for doing it and you think it's going to solve a problem, being an early adopter (of technology) is great,” longtime marketer Jonathan Stephen told me in an interview for my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book (www.artofmobilepersuasion.com). “You are quick to fail and quick to being successful. There are others out there who think this can be an enhancement to an experience and maybe those are the ones who don't necessarily jump on the early bandwagon but they continue to see as the technology improves itself, that they will adapt over time and a lot of the kinks will have been worked out. Best practice would have been created and they would have followed those guidelines.

“It really depends on the position that you're in. If you've got the capital to do that kind of investment, by all means I always think that being an early adopter is fantastic but you have to be prepared to fail. You're not going to get it right the first time (all the time). No one ever has.”

Sometimes being second, third or later has its advantages.

WhatsApp, built by former Yahoo employees as a text-messaging alternative, is a cross-platform mobile messaging app that allows users to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS. In 2014, Facebook purchased the company and access to more than 600 million active users for $19 billion.

“I always use the phrase, ‘I may not be early to the party but I always like to make an entrance,’” Stephen said. “Sometimes there are technologies out there and I wasn't the first to get to it but I definitely want to make sure that I get noticed when I launched that technology. It takes a lot of thought. It takes a lot of strategy in terms of what is behind it. It takes a lot of humility to take a step back and realize where you will be successful and where you want there to go.

“There will be a lot of successes and a lot of failures. You learn that over time. But more than anything it goes all the way back to that business strategy.”

Others who I talked to for the book view things in similar ways.

Curtis Kopf has seen – and been part of innovation – in large enterprises including Microsoft, Amazon and Alaska Airlines.

At Amazon, he was part of a hand-picked 14-person team in the U.S., Europe and Asia that scaled and extended “Search Inside the Book,” a discovery tool that searches and displays the full contents of hundreds of thousands of books from domestic and international publishers.

“Every company wrestles with this,” Kopf told me when speaking of innovation. “We all come from different places whether you are an airline, a bank, or Amazon.com. I've experienced the spectrum of companies based on their business model and who they are have different comfort levels and appetites.

“Amazon.com is going to be a company that makes really big bets -- things that may not materialize for five years or seven years, even ten years. Other companies won't view the world that way.”

Everyone, Kopf said, has a place.

“There's definitely a continuum of innovation and then there are obviously companies out there that are category creators,” he said. “Clearly a lot of the companies that we think of innovators weren't first. Obviously Google wasn't the first search engine (in fact, 20 were launched earlier, according to Wikipedia). They just did it in a new and better way. Apple definitely wasn't the first to do a smartphone. They just did it in a new and better way.

“Innovation is talked about so much that it is almost become meaningless. Every company on the planet says that they are innovative. It's part of their mission statement. Obviously as consumers we all interact with these brands and the truth is that they are not all innovative.”

“Being first is great. There are times that being first could be really important. If you can get it an advantage that you can sustain, there's some buzz and credit that you get from customers by introducing something first. But I don't think innovation in and of itself means being first. It could be taking something that someone else started and doing it in a new way.”

What should we expect to see in Austin this week and what should be our SXSW takeaways?

“South By (Southwest) has an interesting mix of what are perceived to be cutting edge talks or technologies that are really pretty basic,” Sean Bartlett, a former senior Lowe’s executive who is now Worldwide Industry Lead for Retail at Apple, told me.

“There is also the technology itself which is interesting. And then, what I think is most important, with respect to what I've taken away from South By in the few times that I've been there, is more cultural and how you think about things.

“One of the things that I took from a panel a couple of years ago that has actually become a guiding principle of the team is this notion of commitment to craftsmanship. I saw a panel of well-known startup CEOs talking about their products. One of the things that really hit home was how they talked about craftsmanship and quality of the product and the overall experience. It’s a true cultural takeaway that you can bring back and put in effect immediately. You come back from the show and on a Monday you can really start to drive that message home. That's one that always sticks out when I think about that particular show.”

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - MLB is Big League With Mobile App

It isn’t called the major leagues for nothing. Major League Baseball had 8.4 billion minutes streamed to its mobile app in 2015, per comScore. A total of 53% of the total minutes consumed were in the At Bat app with users watching or listening to games. The activity was more than than in all other U.S. official sports leagues apps combined.

Nearly one in four shoppers say that they have changed their minds while in a checkout line after looking up details on a smartphone: Google.

Meerkat is dropping the livestream. It’s a cautionary tale for those looking at "solutions"at SXSW that may be shiny and not stand test of time,

Headline: Retail Executives Say Mobile Investments to Increase This Year. Me: you don't say.

Two weeks after calling for an Apple boycott call, Donald Trump was using an iPhone to send half of his tweets: Marketing Land.

A man with a gun while taking selfies fatally shot himself in Concrete, Washington, police say. Interestingly, the Russian government has issued a guide to discourage people from taking dangerous selfies.

Consumers’ use of health apps and wearables has doubled in the past two years, according to Accenture.

After all this time, Apple has now opened a Twitter account to answer tech questions and to deal with problems.

I read a story that predicted: "When you tuck your iPhone 9 into your back pocket, it may well flex to conform to the contours of your butt" I can only say yay.

One in 10 U.S. Internet users (31.1 million people) will be mobile-only this year, eMarketer reported.

Mobile payments make up only 3% Of U.S. transactions, per GfK. Weren’t we told that cash would be gone by some Tuesday in 2015?

Three Damning Words For Marketers Proceeding With Yesterday’s Thinking

Hard words rather than hardware are what marketers should chiefly remember from the recently concluded Mobile World Congress.

Sandwiched in Barcelona between the new phones, wearables, and virtual reality gear was straight talk from Martin Sorrell, chief executive of advertising group WPP.

Speaking of what he called a “mobile revolution”, Sorrell admonished marketers for yesterday’s thinking.

"We haven't adapted," Sorrell said from figuratively and literally a global stage. "When people talk about creativity in our industry, they're talking about Don Draper. They're not talking about the new definitions. Believe it or not, people inside media agencies are creative. Software engineers are creative ... It's the definition of it -- we haven't contextualized it correctly yet.”

Sorrell’s comments mirror those that I shared from Hank Wasiak in my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book (http://artofmobilepersuasion.com).

Wasiak, the former vice chairman of McCann Erickson and now partner in The Concept Farm, told me:

“I challenge you to walk into an agency, say that you are going to do a campaign and say ‘give me your ideas in about 3 hours’. Not one is going to optimize around the mobile experience. I'll give you $1,000 if you find one. (Instead) they still say ‘here's a great commercial.’

“They look at mobile as more of a delivery device for their creative work. It is supposed to be something where they can creatively integrate their ideas. Mobile is just a big turnaround for them and then they don't get it yet.”

In Barcelona, Sorrell credited smaller entities with some success in getting closer to the customer via the wireless device.

"The essential problem is that big companies are not thinking about mobile in the right way," Sorrell said. “They're thinking of it as an extension of digital, just a way to reach consumers. They're not thinking of it in a way that changes their businesses or adds values in a way they weren't able to do previously."

“Probably the mobile revolution has not registered yet with companies, although it might have registered more ironically with the long tail then it has with larger companies. But it still has not penetrated companies to the degree it should have.”

Earlier, Wasiak told me that the era demands “a totally new and dynamic marketing landscape”.

“There's a difference between engaging with a human being and having a human experience,” Wasiak said in The Art of Mobile Persuasion. “Any company, brand or retailer should make believe that they are having a FaceTime call with them. It's the next best thing to being there. You're on FaceTime. I called, you've accepted. You see me, you know what I want. You know the situation that I'm in. I can tell by the tone of your voice and the look on your face how you feel. If you can try to draw those pictures in your mind through data, it’s better to get that attitude that I'm having a FaceTime call. This just isn't a digital connection.

“Smartphone-enabled consumers have kicked open the doors to a totally new and dynamic marketing landscape. This is first time in my 50-year marketing lifetime that we have the opportunity to be in service to the consumer virtually any time or any place in their daily lives. An awesome opportunity that comes with a huge responsibility.”

And, to date, with harsh assessments from industry pioneers.

(first published on imediaconnection.com - http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2016/02/27/three-damning-words-for-marketers-proceeding-with-yesterday’s-thinking/)

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Remembering and Reaching The Forgotten Mobile Users

Lost in the glitzy introduction of new smartphones at Mobile World Congress is the fact that 35 percent of U.S. mobile users still carry a feature phone. And, according to new research, that percentage won’t change in a meaningful way anytime soon.

Kantar reported that more than half of current feature phone users say that they won't upgrade to smartphone in the next year or are unsure if they will do so.

Feature phone owners tend to be older, are more likely to be retired, and often have a limited income. Unreachable for mobile marketers? Hardly. Mobile loyalty club that use text messaging enable all to participate. And young and old are looking for deals and value. Those programs often lead to sales and a boost in loyalty.

In a sobering study by Duke’s The Fuqua School of Business and others, 40% of CMO’s surveyed say that mobile has made zero contribution to their businesses. Yet the same group says that the spend on the channel will increase 147% in three years.

Nissan disabled its smartphone app after hackers use it to control a Leaf electric car, per Yahoo news.

It amazes me how many marketers even now have no clue that you can't buy a list and just send texts to mobile users.

As the talk and hype build for 5G, it was reported at Mobile World Congress that 4G is in more than 150 countries and will cover two thirds of the population by 2020.

Headline in the Huffington Post: Beacon Use in Retail Stores Will Be Just as Common as Cash Registers. Me: more hype, plus it’s important to note that the number of registers is on the decline with other point of sale systems being adopted.

Only 0.3% of mobile owners use ad blockers, according to M&C Saatchi's CEO James Hilton.

Fifty percent of brands surveyed by the Rubicon Project predict that they will be spending 81-100% of their budget this year in programmatic private marketplaces.

It’s two months into the year and the mobile loyalty clubs that I belong to haven't moved any closer to personalized communications. #dejavu.

Instagram has over 200,000 advertisers in its first five months of operation.

Speaking of ROI, 44% in an eMarketer poll say that the lack of definitive return on investment is holding back wearables.

In 2020, you will be able to fill out your census form on your smartphone, Pew said.

Coca-Cola created packaging that converts into a Google Cardboard-style virtual reality viewer for the iPhone.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Remembering And Reaching The Forgotten Mobile Users

Lost in the glitzy introduction of new smartphones at Mobile World Congress is the fact that 35 percent of U.S. mobile users still carry a feature phone. And, according to new research, that percentage won’t change in a meaningful way anytime soon.

Kantar reported that more than half of current feature hone users say that they won't upgrade to smartphone in the next year or are unsure if they will do so.