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Jeff Hasen

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The Relatability of Human Achievement

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This morning, I completed a 45-minute Tabata ride on my Peloton spinning bike. These rides, designed for twice as much effort time as recovery, have caused many to stop, cry, puke, or not even attempt them.

Minutes later, I learned that Eliud Kipchoge became the first human to run the 26.2 mile marathon distance in under two hours.

Of course, these two events aren’t comparable – I didn’t make history (but I also didn’t throw up) – but there is an important commonality when you consider the power of achievement.

As I wrote in my The Art of Digital Persuasion book, marketers have been wise to tap into moments that at first might seem as unrelated.

In 2017, Nike created Breaking2, an attempt for elite athletes to break the two-hour barrier for running a marathon. The number of people tuning in to the live stream on Twitter was nearly eight times higher than the broadcast audience of the New York, Boston and Chicago marathons. In total, 13.1 million watched the attempt live via Twitter, making it the company’s largest brand-powered, live-streaming event.

“It was cool because you saw all the tweets from the people who are watching on Twitter, “ Stacy Minero, Global Head of Twitter ArtHouse, told me. “And then you have this curated timeline where you had all these journalists and sports broadcasters weighing in minute by minute, weighing in on what was happening on screen.

“Breaking2 created a sense of urgency. I would say also anticipation because there's an outcome -- either the marathon record will be broken or not. You are driving tune in around this anticipation. They also used Twitter Tools. You can ‘heart’ to get a reminder when the race is going live or when key moments were happening.”

While you may never run at record pace or even get on a spinning bike and do what you believe isn’t possible, there is still lots to learn and apply from what occurred this morning.

Tagged with Stacy Minero, Twitter, The Art Of Digital Persuasion.

October 12, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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Personal But Not Too Personal

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Sending meatball sandwich offers to known vegetarians is wasted marketing effort at best and offensive to the receiver at worst.

Still, boundaries remain undefined with little hope for clarity.

Expedia’s Aaron Price told me in an interview that there unmistakably is a line not to be crossed.

“Personalization is an overloaded term,” the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing shared in my The Art of Digital Persuasion book. “I think that algorithmically-driven or machine-managed sort of curation is a path that allows businesses to present their best information to any customer as the first thing that they see and you can optimize for both parties at same time. We want to be in the business of putting things in front of people that are more likely to be sold. From that perspective, it is highly critical that that happens.

“The Internet’s creepy view of personalization is something that I would say we all aspire to avoid. That’s trying to get to exceedingly narrow responses to any customer base on highly, highly personal or seemingly personal information. That kind of stuff is not what we would intend to do or want to do.”

Where do you as a marketer see that line drawn? How do you stay on the right side of it?

Tagged with The Art Of Digital Persuasion, Expedia, Aaron Price.

June 9, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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Five Words To Describe Ineffective Digital Marketers

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ESPN, all over your television guide and digital channels, notably uses a yardstick that measures how well as opposed to how many.

“Quality always wins,” Ryan Spoon, ESPN’s Senior Vice President of Digital and Social,  told me in an exclusive interview for my new book, The Art of Digital Persuasion.

“And that pertains to any job. Whether you're creating the content, creating a product, you're distributing the content, marketing it, whatever that might be.”

In the United States, ESPN has eight cable networks and ESPN on ABC. The digital lineup includes ESPN.com; ESPN3; ESPN Fantasy Sports; espnW, ESPNDeportes.com; TheUndefeated.com; plus a group of niche sites. ESPN+ offers thousands of live events, original programs and on-demand content. The company also has a radio network and magazine.

In short, the brand is seemingly everywhere.

ESPN has certainly made mistakes. Who can forget the ill-advised ESPN MVP phone? Then there have been the company’s missteps around digital and too many apps. It has taken until recently for ESPN to hone in on what fans really want – personalized experiences tailored to the digital channel.

Is the strategy working?

ESPN Digital ranked as the No. 1 U.S. digital sports property in February across every key metric. The network reached 88.4 million unique visitors (up +21% YOY) for its best February on record.

The ESPN mobile app was once again ranked as the No. 1 sports app in the U.S., attracting 18.5 million unique visitors and 1.3 billion minutes, up +24% and +33%, respectively YOY. ESPN Digital also was No. 1 in total minutes with 4.3 billion, which was 1.7 billion more than No. 2 Yahoo-NBC Sports (2.6 billion), and with an average minute audience of 106,000, out-delivering No. 2 Yahoo-NBC Sports (64,000).

Still, it’s less about more and more about excellence.

“I don't know the best way to say it other than just a general mantra, and that’s fewer things done better,” Spoon told me.

In other words, failure often comes when you overextend.

There are four additional words gleaned from my interviews to slap on ineffective marketers: 

Unrealistic

Identify a proven innovator and I’ll guarantee that the road to success had more than a few bumps. The smart ones know that is to be expected. We can only make our best judgments, do what we can, and hope for the best.   

“Everyone has to be relatively sober-minded when evaluating the possibility of a what might come in the future and realize that for all of us who are trying to predict what can happen, we're all partially right and partially wrong,” Aaron Price, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, told me. 

Misguided

To those seeking clarity on the question of when they will master digital marketing, Google’s Jason Spero believes that it is all tied to delivering for consumers.

“It's likely the question of when we get to the finish line might be the wrong metaphor,” Spero, Vice President, Performance Media, explained to me. “But rather how do we recognize consumers’ expectations and how might we be able to serve her needs in a way where she may not see the technology, but she's delighted by the experience?”

Lackadaisical

Maybe next year is a mindset that frankly will get you fired. Think instead of what you can get done today in the area of digital persuasion.

“We don't have 10 years to figure it out, we've got 10 minutes,” global tech marketing strategist Tamara McCleary told me. “We are all wondering where to place our next step. We are all walking on top of quicksand, and we have to be hyper-vigilant about the steps we take. But at the same time, we also can't hold back because we could be completely disrupted if we aren't moving forward.”

Confused

Do not think for a second that gaining an understanding of today’s emerging technologies is the end game. There surely are more changes to come behind it.

So how does one cope with that prospect?

“There's going to be a lot more innovation and disruptors,” Stacy Minero, Head of Content Creation at Twitter, said to me. “I’m not sure how it will play out.  I do think that great stories that are rooted in human insight and strike a cultural chord will be sustainable forever.”

In summary, the 12 leaders interviewed shared beliefs that the task is neither easy nor for the faint of heart. Still, there was a persistent theme that there has been no better time to be a marketer, a notion embraced only by those who choose to ride the winds of change rather than get blown over by them.

Tagged with The Art Of Digital Persuasion, ESPN, Ryan Spoon, Expedia, Jason Spero, Google.

May 30, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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Three Ways To Keep On Keeping On Despite Emerging Technology

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Many of us have spent years, nearing decades, understanding the digital customer journey and motivations. We’ve done it well. Take a bow.

Then the world was upended. We now know that there are funny-looking objects on people’s nightstands and even on their heads.

Voice. Virtual reality. Artificial intelligence. Machine learning. Wearables.

Who asked for all of that?

If you believe that everything has changed for marketers, think again.

During interviews for my The Art of Digital Persuasion book, I learned that in many ways it is imperative to continue doing what you were doing despite the adoption of new technology. 

Be Human

Machines are propelling us to up our marketing games. But they aren’t replacing us. And they never well.

Consider this. In 2017, Nike created “Breaking2”, an attempt for elite athletes to break the two-hour barrier for running a marathon. The number of people tuning in to the live stream on Twitter was nearly eight times higher than the broadcast audience of the New York, Boston and Chicago marathons. In total, 13.1 million watched the attempt live via Twitter, making it the company’s largest brand-powered, live-streaming event.

Of course, most of us won’t attempt to run a two-hour marathon - or any marathon at all. But we can all relate to the effort to maximize human achievement. That’s what Nike bet on and won. 

Be Realistic

Understand that you can’t run a marathon, even in four hours, in flipflops.

“Everyone has to be relatively sober-minded when evaluating the possibility of a what might come in the future and realize that for all of us who are trying to predict what can happen in the future, we're all partially right and partially wrong,” Aaron Price, SVP of Global Marketing, Expedia told me.

In other words, give yourself a chance to succeed. But know that you will never be perfect. No one can be.

Drive Action

Involvement is everything. Regardless of the technology, seek to turn what might be a passive activity into one that your customers and prospects will see is interactive.

How? Interestingly, some brands have built upon the concept of user-generated content to entice customers to take part in user-generated product.

“If you think about Mayochup, which is a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup, Heinz put a Twitter poll out there and said if you get to 500,000 (participants), we're going to put these products on shelves in your local stores,” Stacy Minero, Head of Content Creation for Twitter, told me. “And that created a whole gamification of that campaign. And they got a billion (media) impressions within 48 hours.”

The lesson in all of this? Of course, see emerging technology for what it is – more screens, more interfaces, more complexity for marketers following or leading customers. But don’t think for a second that you should abandon what you know works.

Tagged with The Art Of Digital Persuasion, Stacy Minero, Twitter, Expedia, Aaron Price.

May 5, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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Neiman Marcus Teaches Us To Differentiate Or Else

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To believe that Dallas-based Neiman Marcus first discovered innovation in its second century is to make an error approximately the size of Texas.

One can go all the way back to the day it opened in 1907 to see evidence of the retailer’s forward thinking and acting.

It was the first to offer upscale fashion to the state’s wealthy, according to Wikipedia.

In 1927, Neiman Marcus premiered the first weekly retail fashion show in the United States.

Its history of innovation is deep and while nearly everything around it has changed, the retailer has survived in large part by its boldness.

“A company like Neiman Marcus didn't manage to survive one hundred and 10 plus years without being innovative,” Scott Emmons, the longtime head of the company’s innovation lab (or ‘I Lab’), told me in an exclusive interview for my new book, The Art of Digital Persuasion. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Digital-Persuasion-Innovative-Technologies-ebook/dp/B07NPCXMFJ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=art+of+digital+persuasion&qid=1554466174&s=gateway&sr=8-1

“It’s not like innovation just got invented over the last 10 years because there were iPhones.”

Yes, on one hand, you can argue that Neiman Marcus has been there, done that. But these are extraordinary times for the retail industry. Brick and mortar stores by the thousands are shutting down. Businesses are needing to compete based on not just price, but on such factors as the ability to deliver purchases in two days or less and through the use of technology that digitally puts such things as eyeglasses on one’s face, a dining room table in one’s house, and product reviews in the palm of one’s hands.

“What we're seeing is how quickly the new disruptive ideas keep coming at businesses, and their efforts to keep up with that rate of change, be more agile, and be able to bring new ideas to the table faster,” Emmons said.

Those ideas have led to emerging tech such as voice, augmented and other flavors of reality, artificial intelligence, and more.

When I asked Emmons for advice for marketers, he preached a path of managed risk.

“There is a real temptation to go out and try that bright and shiny thing just because it's cool and everybody is talking about it, and there is all kind of buzz around it,” Emmons said.

“But in the end, you go back to the simple question of what kind of projects should we be tackling. Does it solve a real problem? Or let it evolve from being a solution looking for a problem to something that can solve a problem that you've identified that you have. That's how I look at it.”

When it comes to ROI, one size does not fit all.

“I think the type of projects that we work on are varied enough that those metrics tend to be different,” Emmons told me before leaving Neiman Marcus to join TheCurrent Global consultancy. “If you're working on an RFID project, maybe our metric is did we get our level of inventory accuracy to ‘X’ percent and because our inventory accuracy was better, we lifted sales by this much. You can apply actual traditional lift measurement to see how well something is performing.

“Then you have other types of experiences that have never been done before. And the amount of work it takes to actually tie it back into your transactional systems is large. And so it may be worth it just to try that experience and see if the customers like it, and observe how they interact with it, and sort of take a test drive and not necessarily have a defined ROI on it.”

Others I interviewed offered invaluable advice as well:

ESPN, all over your television guide and digital channels, notably uses a yardstick that measures how well as opposed to how many.

“Quality always wins,” Ryan Spoon, ESPN’s Senior Vice President of Digital and Social, told me. “And that pertains to any job. Whether you're creating the content, creating a product, you're distributing the content, marketing it, whatever that might be.”

To those seeking clarity on the question of when they will master digital marketing, Google’s Jason Spero believes that it is all tied to delivering for consumers.

“It's likely the question of when we get to the finish line might be the wrong metaphor,” Spero, Vice President, Performance Media, explained to me. “But rather how do we recognize consumers’ expectations and how might we be able to serve her needs in a way where she may not see the technology, but she's delighted by the experience?”

What I learned in writing The Art of Digital Persuasion is that successful businesses and marketers innovate to differentiate. The first action for you to take is to place that 2018 marketing playbook in the trash. That was then. The question is what are you going to do now?

Tagged with The Art Of Digital Persuasion, Neiman Marcus, Scott Emmons, Google, Jason Spero.

April 21, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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How "Out With The Old" Can Leave You Out In The Cold

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Artificial. Virtual. Augmented. Machine-driven.

These and other words have entered the marketer’s lexicon.

Out with the old. In with the new.

Or not.

“There's going to be a lot more innovation and disruptors,” Stacy Minero, Head of Content Creation at Twitter, told me in an exclusive interview for my new book, The Art of Digital Persuasion. https://amzn.to/2KmpMz7

“I’m not sure how it will play out.  I do think that great stories that are rooted in human insight and strike a cultural chord will be sustainable forever.”

Of course, human insight has been key for marketers for generations. Minero appreciates the introduction of algorithms but sees them as an element in the modern marketing mix rather than a game-changing end-all.

“You're never going to take humans out of the creative process,” she said. “That’s because ideas come from understanding mindset and motivation and universal human truths. But I think technology will continue to up our game in terms of optimization, everything from understanding what hair color resonates in a video to the type of product and packaging you should showcase in a shot.”

Here are three more lessons learned during my half-year of spending time with a dozen digital marketing pioneers.

Participate Rather Than Only Observe

The decades-old concept of focus groups shouldn’t be dismissed even today. However, one expert strongly told me that we need to not just hear others talk about emerging technology, we should experience it ourselves.

“I've always been someone who likes to ‘live in the future’ and I’ve been fortunate enough to have roles where I’m working with cutting edge technology and then going out and speaking to others about what the impacts are,” explained Dave Isbitski, Amazon’s Chief Evangelist, Alexa & Echo.

“That means constantly looking at new technology trends, learning how they apply to our lives, and in the end teaching people what that future may look like. It helps generate people’s ideas and then they run with it.  For a marketer, tech adoption is no different than any other topic. Keep on top of the latest buzz and trends, look at what the community is saying, whether through social media or at networking events, and start to use the latest technology in your own life.”

The learnings, Isbitski told me, are invaluable.

“Not being a late adopter can have tremendous benefit here,” he said. “I’ve talked to marketers who have been using Alexa since 2015 and the ideas they have for what conversations are possible are very different than someone who has never used a device at all.

“Using early versions of technology today can give you a vision for what tomorrow may look like.”

Remember History When It Comes To Adoption

“Any transformative technology encounters challenges to mainstream adoption in its early lifetime, such as cost, size, comfort, and technical barriers,” Microsoft’s Lorraine Bardeen, General Manager Studio Manager, Mixed Reality, told me. “We’ve seen this all before with the very first computers, the Internet, and mobile phones.”

Bardeen said that B2B usage commonly precedes B2C acceptance. That is why she is bullish on Microsoft’s HoloLens progress that has come with business growth.

“Just like the evolution of other similar technology, we expect momentum for the technology to begin in the commercial space and then trickle outward to consumers,” she said.

Microsoft’s Bardeen forecasts a place for all flavors of reality, including mixed, augmented and virtual.

“We believe that these are not separate concepts, but rather labels for different points on a mixed reality continuum,” she said. “The reality is that if one succeeds, then the ecosystem succeeds, and we’re interested in further education and adoption of the spectrum as a whole.

“Specific to marketing, this technology allows marketers to engage with their audiences in new interactive and immersive ways. The possibilities truly are limitless.”

Think Experience Rather Than Technology

Google’s Jason Spero has a healthy respect for technology. He, however, sees it more as an enabler than a story in and of itself.

“The consumer doesn't see the technology,” the Vice President, Performance Media, explained to me. “What the consumer sees is that they should be able to continue their game from a tablet to a mobile phone. That is a logical, rational, human thought.

“And so the better we can do in our research of studying those expectations of consumers, of understanding the moments where they expect things of us, and then drag the technology along with us kicking and screaming, we need to build those experiences.”

 In summary, the digital leaders interviewed rely as much on the lessons of the past than the vision of the future. We would be wise to follow down that path.

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(first appeared on Mobile Marketer - https://bit.ly/2X0AmgG)

Tagged with The Art Of Digital Persuasion, Microsoft, Google, Lorraine Bardeen, Jason Spero, book.

April 9, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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Now What?

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In 2015, I wrote The Art of Mobile Persuasion, a book about the relationships that people have with their mobile devices.

It’s safe to describe them then and now as intimate, engrossing and integral.

The central questions in The Art of Mobile Persuasion were whether brands have opportunities to get in on that action or is three a crowd?

Since then, some businesses have muffed the chance, taking an approach that has been deemed as invasive, impersonal, and/or offering no value. But others large and small have knocked gently, ingratiated themselves, brought something that was welcomed, and seen resulting increases in awareness, loyalty and sales.

To the former group, what were you thinking?

To the latter, we’re good now, right?

Well, no.

Why? The playing field has changed.

Our nurtured customers and prospects are now being wooed by other means.

Though voice interfaces.

And wearables.

Smart appliances, even toilets.

And OTT (over the top) devices.

Virtual and mixed reality software and hardware.

And the list goes on. There’s every reason to believe that the pulls for attention will grow this year, next year, and every year after that.

Of course, this brings with it all sorts of complications.

·      Where will we find our customers and prospects?

·      Where we do want to lead them and what must they find when they get there?

·      How does all of this innovation affect the customer journey?

·      If personalization is the so-called North Star, how do we deliver this on the screens and interfaces of today – and the ones surely coming behind those?

And how does the relationship that your brand has steadily built with customers via the mobile phone survive, evolve, and thrive when eyes and ears are drawn to even more places?

In my new book The Art of Digital Persuasion, the conversation broadens to today’s interfaces, devices, behaviors and technologies.

I again have had the pleasure and privilege of visiting with some of the sharpest marketers and other business leaders that one can identify. I sought out real-world experience, perspective, and advice to give us the knowledge, skills and confidence that we all need to do our jobs -- and, in many cases, to reimagine our current outdated positions given these upended times.

I share what leaders from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, ESPN, and others are doing and thinking to address the core question of the new book:

Now what?

The book is now available on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2G4CrCu

 I hope that you’ll give it a look and take the time to learn from these experts just as I have.

Tagged with The Art of Mobile Persuasion, The Art Of Digital Persuasion, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, ESPN.

April 8, 2019 by Jeff Hasen.
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Delivering Lessons From The Holiday Shopping Season

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Conventional wisdom would say a retailer shouldn’t risk cannibalizing holiday sales as well as not give consumers an opportunity to wait until the last minute because they might be enticed to buy elsewhere.

In 2018’s first understatement of the year, Amazon is anything but conventional.

The company actually elongated holiday selling efforts, beginning in September and stretching literally to the final hour before Christmas.

Sure, big revenue days were Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but Amazon catered to all, including those who turned the page on Labor Day with shopping and those who procrastinated or purposely waiting until Dec. 24 with delivery options that were as historic as unconventional.

It even prospered in year two of Prime Day in December -- 30 hours of deals for members of its Prime program  — and saw the biggest sales day ever in company history.

Most noteworthy was the activity generated by rapid delivery.

According to Amazon, which for the first time offered same-day or next day delivery in 8,000 markets, the last Prime Now order in time for Christmas was delivered in 58 minutes at 11:58 p.m. on Christmas Eve in Baltimore, MD. The order included those must-haves, at least for someone -- the Kid Galaxy Amphibious RC Car Morphibians Shark Remote Control Toy, the Crayola Oil Pastels Art Tools, 28 ct., and the VTech Click and Count Remote.

“Same day and next day delivery is starting to replace store visits,” retail expert Ryan Craver told me in an interview on The Art of Mobile Persuasion podcast that posted this week (episode 23 here - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/art-mobile-persuasion-podcast/id1156481550?mt=2).

“The big reason why we are seeing a bit of inflection point, if you think back, we didn’t have that many markets where it was available. Obviously now word of mouth plus the press has people try it for the first time and they fall in love with it.

“The second thing is the amount of product that is now available for same day delivery. Everyone knows about Amazon but there is a big behemouth called Google who offers something like Google Express that provide access to everything that Walmart, Target, and Costco sell with same day delivery.”

Craver, a key voice in my The Art of Mobile Persuasion book www.artofmobilepersuasion.com, says price plus availability makes consumers think that delivery is the way to go.

“It’s actually a decent price,” he told me “It’s a marginal fee now. You’ve got 1099 employees delivery for $5 a pop and a tip if you hit a certain price point. That is a pretty compelling consumer experience that is tough to match and it’s going to continue to grow and grow and grow.”

Customers' use of Amazon's one-day, same-day, and two-hour delivery doubled this holiday, according to the company.

As to mobile’s role in purchasing, Amazon said that mobile purchasing increased 70 percent in 2017.

Mickey Mericle, vice president, Marketing and Customer Insights at Adobe, said that “shopping and buying on smartphones is becoming the new norm and can be attributed to continued optimizations in the retail experience on mobile devices and platforms.”

Adobe reported that 75 percent of millennials expected to shop via their smartphone.

Still, Craver reminded us that there is more to do with mobile, noting that many web sites and apps don’t allow for purchase.

“There are only a few retailers who have figured out that final path to purchase,” he said.

Of course, Amazon is one of those few. And it won’t stand still. Drone delivery awaits.

(Hear Craver’s insights on the podcast this week and in a 2018 look ahead posting later this month.)

 

Tagged with Ryan Craver, Amazon, The Art of Mobile Persuasion, podcast.

January 2, 2018 by Jeff Hasen.
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Of Meaningful and Meaningless Looks At A Mobile Screen

During the same week that we learned (learned?) that many mobile users look at a device “for no particular reason” comes additional word that wireless interaction is dramatically improving health for some.

First, the meaningful news:

Out of a pilot study at New York’s Bellevue Hospital called Mobile Insulin Titration Intervention, or MITI, 88% of insulin-dependent diabetics were able to get their blood sugar in check after receiving a daily text reminder or phone call.

According to NPR, the program worked this way. Nurses reviewed individual blood sugar information daily online to check for values that were too high or too low, indicating the insulin dose needed to be adjusted. They then reached out to the patients who needed modifications, many of which were low-income New Yorkers who, while owning a phone, lacked access to computers and other resources to manage their health.

Note that text messaging was used, ensuring that even feature phone owners had the capability to view an SMS. A miss for this demographic would’ve been to rely on a smartphone app.

Only 37% of the comparison group that did not receive texts or calls managed to control their blood sugars.

MITI may soon become a hospital-wide program at Bellevue, NPR said.

Now the separate “revelations” about mobile usage:

A third of millennials take out their cellphones in public “for no particular reason”, Pew reported. 82% of smartphone owners rarely or never turn their phones off. 79% witness annoying and/or loud cellphone behavior in public at least occasionally.

Apple Watch users - any of you lose at least a bit of faith and won't buy Apple products sight unseen or untouched? I'm in that camp.

A tweet offered to help me find my next handbag. I’m waiting for the one hawking manpurses.

87% of Facebook's one billion daily users are on mobile for at least part of their experience.

Few are surprised by Amazon’s decision to exit the mobile phone-making business. Of course, it never caught Fire.

Almost three-quarters of all WhatsApp users access the messaging app on Android, per GlobalWebIndex.

Here are the top 10 magazine publishers with the biggest number of monthly mobile visitors, according to  Association of Magazine Media: 1. ESPN: 42.9 million. 2. People: 28 million. 3. AllRecipes: 24.5 million. 4. Forbes: 21.6 million. 5. Time: 18.1 million. 6. Entertainment Weekly: 14.3 million. 7. Cosmopolitan: 13.7 million. 8. Bloomberg Businessweek: 11.2 million. 9. New York: 9.8 million 10. Bon Appétit and Epicurious: 8.3 million.

 

Tagged with Pew, diabetes, Apple Watch, Amazon Fire, Amazon.

August 30, 2015 by Jeff Hasen.
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - How Marketing Indiscriminately To A List Is A Turn Off

I received another cheeseburger offer via a mobile loyalty club. The problem is that I haven't had a burger in about 15 years and this quick-service restaurant should know that from previous purchases. That's not 1-to-1 marketing. It's 1-to-1 list. And it’s cause to seriously consider an opt-out.

Two men were arrested in a supposed bloody beer-bottle battle over whether Android is better than iPhone. No, they weren’t named Eric and Tim.

Smartphones can now detect earthquakes and give you time to run, per Fast Company. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, the University of Houston, and others, are establishing a crowdsourced GPS-based earthquake warning system that would send out a message when it detects an initial rumbling.

Amazon has shut down TestDrive, an Appstore feature that lets you try some apps before downloading. Only 16,000 apps participated and limited availability likely caused some to shy away.

For 2016, the question isn't whether presidential candidates will use mobile. Rather, it’s will they effectively personalize communications.

Nearly half of smartphone-toting travelers use map apps during vacation, per eMarketer. When's the last time you saw someone unfurl a paper map?

I told my wife of all the features of my coming Apple Watch. A Mickey Mouse face was the most compelling to her.

This week, I saw a headline that said mobile payments are retail's new frontier. Yup, same headline that I saw in 2013, 2014, and probably early than that.

Global mobile-ad spending on Android grew 539% in Q1, according to PapayaMobile.

U.S. adults spend 5.5 hours with video content each day, over an hour of which is digital – eMarketer.

15 million Americans say they'll buy an Apple Watch, a Reuters poll found.

CookBrite is  an app that recommends meals based on ingredients in your kitchen. That’s personalization.

44% of consumers worry that apps are collecting personal info without consent – Forrester. 33% have cancelled a transaction due to privacy concerns.

Tagged with Apple Watch, Android, iPhone, Amazon, emarketer.

April 19, 2015 by Jeff Hasen.
  • April 19, 2015
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Beware of Self-Destructing Picture Apps

Have you heard about Xim from Microsoft, a so-called self-destructing photo app? It’s because the picture goes away over time, not because the images are of an act leading to one's downfall. I suppose that it could be both.

Download an app called Rest Room Gallery designed to show your artistic side while on the toilet. Then explain that to your wife. Ready. Go.

Is there bigger proof of the iPhone's allure than millions waiting for supply rather than buying something else? Last week, I went to an Apple Store that had received two units to sell for an entire day. And that was typical, according to an employee.

Tweet of the week? This one from @levie aka Aaron Levie, CEO of Box – “Jeff Bezos is opening a retail store and owns a newspaper. Turns out everything we thought about the Internet is wrong.”

As for my reaction to Amazon opening a physical store in NYC – the company is about selling stuff. The what remains the same here. This is just another how that will work out or won’t.

Over 65% of users use Facebook in a language other than English, the company says.

Half of the traffic on AT&T Wireless comes from YouTube & Netflix, the carrier reports.

With 7 billion mobile phones and a war chest to get things done, there is plenty of room for Google to create a messaging app that it hopes will rival WhatsApp.

Forrester says that mobile will be 40% of the online ad spend in 2015.

37% of SMBs claim that print newspaper ads are the best source for attracting customers, Borrell Associates tells us.

It has come to this for BlackBerry - Wall Street cheered an $11 million quarterly loss.

Digital video and mobile now make up 20% of Mondelēz's global spend, according to Adweek.

Tagged with Xim, Microsoft, Apple, iphone, Box, Amazon.

October 12, 2014 by Jeff Hasen.
  • October 12, 2014
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Sizing Up Amazon's Fire

My first takes on the Amazon Fire phone:

Online pre-orders for version one of a product from a company that hasn't made a mobile phone before? That tests the brand trust notion that Jeff Bezos played hard during his presentation today.

Through Firefly, Amazon’s Fire aims to be the quickest way to buy stuff – of course, from Amazon. That’s like the mall sending a car for you and speeding you to stores. Only much more efficient.

My TiVo always underdelivered so I’m wondering about the promise that Amazon can predict videos that I’m likely to stream, leading to the video beginning instantly.

Google’s Jason Spero, long one of the savviest in the industry, tweeted: “Amazon just built a phone designed for showrooming. Not clear to me that they will sell many. This is a feature.” Except showrooming often leads to Amazon and customers know that.

Consumers have lots of choices at $199 with a contract. Smartphone prices are dramatically lower than just six months ago. Value for the price is the big question here.

A July 25 ship date gets the Fire out long before the new iPhones. You don’t think there was pressure on Amazon employees to hit this timeline, do you?

Recognition - voice, face, product, person - is the next huge innovation in mobile. Will Amazon further deliver on a relevant, personalized advertising product that brands will spend against?

Tagged with Amazon, Amazon Fire, iPhone, smartphones.

June 18, 2014 by Jeff Hasen.
  • June 18, 2014
  • Jeff Hasen
  • Amazon
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Ramifications of High Expectations" Edition

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There was an interesting Gigaom take on the delivery problems encountered by UPS during the holidays: "The internet has turned us into slaves of instant gratification." I see it a different way – businesses, even owners of small shops, can respond on demand. That’s key to selling, surviving and even thriving. And it’s not a bad thing.

More evidence that consumers want stuff fast. During the holidays, Amazon gained one million more subscribers to speedy Prime. Amazon sold a record 426 items per second before Christmas.

Google-acquired Bump is shutting down this month, ending the efforts by users to transfer data just by touching devices. That’s more than a bump in the road.

73 percent of U.S. adults ended 2013 being part of social networks. Pinterest passed Twitter in popularity.

Internet enabled TV didn’t even exist in 2011, but it’s already in 11 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen.

One would think Gogo would improve its bandwidth before working with airlines on providing free content – the latest being weather information.

Sales from mobile devices reached 14.4 percent on Christmas Day vs. 5.3 percent on Christmas Day 2010—an increase of 172.9 percent, IBM reported.

40 percent of U.S. ad dollars are still being spent on TV ads.

I'm not in the camp looking for a larger iPhone screen. You?

When mobile isn't "mobile" - Over 60% of mobile shopping happens from the sofa.

Going into the gift season, nearly 1 in 5 kids under age 8 used a mobile device every day. The numbers have to be higher today.

Mobile makes up 51 percent of the email opens.

Lauded by pundits, Apple's holiday ad was surely a hit as families came together. It played well in my kitchen.

87 percent of moms use mobile, up 34% And they were the buying decision-makers before. It’s even easier now.

The Moto X print ad in the January issue of Wired changes colors on command to show customization.

Tagged with Amazon, iPhone, smartphones.

January 1, 2014 by Jeff Hasen.
  • January 1, 2014
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Don't Underestimate The Brick and Mortars" Edition

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I’m as bullish on mobile as the next guy or gal. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Despite mobile’s influence, 90 percent of U.S. retail sales this holiday season are projected to occur in brick and mortar stores, according to ShopperTrak.

iOS users far outspent Android users over the holiday weekend, IBM says. Marketers, plan accordingly for rest of season.

From the same source: smartphones are for browsing - tablets are for buying. Black Friday mobile stats confirm our beliefs.

How did the retailers fare? The percentage of mobile sales for department stores was up 46.4 percent over last year.

PayPal saw a 123.9 percent increase in global mobile payment volume on Black Friday over 2012. This isn’t 1980.

Amazon took $50 off Kindle Fire prices for Cyber Monday. The company breaks even on the hardware, makes money instead on future purchases customers will make with the tablet.

A delay of NBA League Pass radio broadcasts in the Game Time app shows the score minute or so ahead. That makes no sense.

About 75 percent of smartphone and tablet users use a second screen more than once a month as they watch TV: Nielsen.

My 84-year-old mother in law is teaching us about Netflix on the iPad. Is this kind of stuff happening in your world, too?

Are we that out of control? A restaurant offers a 50 percent discount for turning off the phone.

I predict voice use via mobile phones on planes will never fly. Even those of us addicted to connectivity say no.

Over 120 million in the U.S. will research products on a mobile device this year, eMarketer says.

I have no quibble with the assertion that indoor location-based services will mature in 2014. There is value for mobile users

Tagged with ios, Android, Amazon, NBA, smartphones, tablets.

December 2, 2013 by Jeff Hasen.
  • December 2, 2013
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  • ios
  • Android
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Behind Amazon's Mayday Button

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Some unwisely say that the new Mayday feature in Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX signals a weakness in the product. On the contrary, I say that providing such help is a customer service feature that will please and facilitate more and faster purchases. And that’s why Amazon included it.

The Samsung Galaxy Round could be announced this week, first smartphone with flexible display. I have no issue with this – choice is good.

There are now more than 1 million mobile malware and high risk apps, TrendWare says. As I’ve said before, consumers won’t notice until and unless there is a huge outbreak. Then maybe, maybe they will act.  We went through this with online viruses and worm attacks.

I saw a TV spot for a Black Friday sale nearly nine weeks before Black Friday. And I can’t remember the advertiser. That’s ineffective.

Just when we thought we knew everything about the iPhone launch came a superb, behind the scenes story in last Sunday’s New York Times. Yes, we long ago realized that Steve Jobs was controlling and a bully. This piece takes the reader to those who were on the receiving end of the fury – and came out of it as pioneers.

One in 5 cell owners do most of their online browsing on their phone, according to Pew.

Headline in CIO Magazines says CIO’s Must Move From 'Mobile First' to “Mobile Only”. Stupid, and that’s coming from a mobile guy.

Mobile hotel bookings will increase 225 percent in 2014, according to Expedia.

89 percent of people delete an email that's not formatted for mobile, says Kissmetrics.

19 percent of marketers expect their companies' mobile spend to rise more than 50 percent in the next two years, IAB says.

65 percent of Twitter's ad revenue comes from mobile.

With changes to the app, finally, you can unfriend Facebook friends on Windows Phone.

Tagged with Amazon, Kindle, Twitter, Samsung, iPhone.

October 7, 2013 by Jeff Hasen.
  • October 7, 2013
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  • Amazon
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Free Amazon Phone Edition

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On reports that Amazon is looking into giving away its own branded smartphone with no contract required, I say it’s like mall operators chauffeuring customers to the store. And offering them beverages, food, and their individual shopping preferences at prices that are competitive if not the best. How the economics would play out for Amazon remains to be told or perhaps even worked out. But Amazon would do this to sell more stuff.

An Advertising Age headline asked Is Apple's New iPhone Last Rites For Mobile Payments? My answer is no. Apple would be accelerator for near field communications. The model will take many more years to play out.

My reaction to Microsoft buying Nokia - why not given its cash on hand and woeful share of market? But it would've meant more years ago when Nokia was consumer preferred. Many of us started with Nokia phones.

Despite the Nokia purchase, Microsoft is reportedly “keeping an eye on BlackBerry” for a possible acquisition. It would be for the technology, not to take out a “threat”.

Fourteen percent of women ages 25-49 access the Internet only through mobile, according to comScore. That number will grow in all demographics.

Smartphone penetration in the U.S. has topped 60 percent for the first time. And you still don’t have a mobile optimized web site? Remember that 44 percent of smartphone owners have used their mobile to find details about a retailer.

Adobe says that 80 percent of tablet use happens at home. I knew it was high, but that number is surprising.

An example of a brainstorm gone wrong? The introduction of the word apptimization.

The hysterical headlines about “make or break time” for Apple forget the fact that 77 percent of mobile traffic comes from Apple devices.

I still fail to see the value in a larger smartphone unless it serves as both a phone and tablet. I want nothing bigger than a current iPhone for carrying in a pocket.

 

Tagged with Amazon, Apple, iPhone, Microsoft, Nokia.

September 8, 2013 by Jeff Hasen.
  • September 8, 2013
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "How Big Was Mobile During The Holidays?" Edition

While we await the overall mobile sales numbers for the holidays, consider Amazon customers purchased more than one toy per second on mobile devices, according to the company.

Also, Amazon patrons bought enough Angry Birds plush toys to stretch 285 times the height of the tallest tree in the world, which is found in the Redwood Forest in California.

A $19 monthly, unlimited Republic Wireless smartphone plan is no bargain, acording to reporter for All Things Digital. Limited device choice and poor signal switchover from Wi-FI to 3G are mostly to blame. I’m reminded of a sign: Good food is not cheap, cheap food is not good.

A continuing problem in mobile is forecasting too far out. I’ve seen report of 4% overall marketing spend in 2017 and one at 50%.

Read this - "Contrary to current conventional wisdom, the future is not going to be 'mobile only” and thought this - conventional wisdom? The idea is preposterous.

It didn't make the top of my list of surprises for 2012, but easily could have - the continued ineptness of Siri 14 months after intro.

We're ending 2012 the same as how we started - businesses thinking they need a mobile app but not knowing why.

The Super Bowl will be shown live on mobile via a Verizon app.  Now we need mobile calls to action in ads and we're cooking.

There was a trampoline discount in my inbox. I'm short of jumping for joy regarding the irrelevance.

Please tell me how the backlash over the Instagram rule change could not be predicted. As was the backpedalling.

The Federal Communications Commission is offering a free smartphone security checker. I worked in this category when Symantec was a client. Users won't care until there is a big outbreak. And maybe not even then.

Tagged with Amazon, Siri, super bowl.

December 27, 2012 by Jeff Hasen.
  • December 27, 2012
  • Jeff Hasen
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  • super bowl
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Irrelevant Offers Edition

No eyelash enhancement deals delivered this week through mobile or online, but my sewing class offer arrived. I saw it when I put down my knitting.

Of course, the course to take instead of matching prices is to deliver value-add customer service. That’s delivering at the Moments of Trust.

How long before Samsung does another iPhone 5 spot saying that you can't even buy one if you are dumb enough to want one? Deja deja deja déjà vu.

But how many changed plans to buy an iPhone 5 because of maps inferiority? None, according to a study. It’s annoying, but not deal breaker

Minutes of talks, plus texts sent and received each increased 3 percent year over year, CTIA says. So much for talk, SMS withering.

More CTIA figures? Americans used more than 1.1 trillion megabytes of wireless data in 2011. The number means nothing to us. What does? It doubled year over year.

Amazon says that it sells Kindles at cost. Of course, money is made on what is sold through the hardware.

On a possible ownership change for Sprint - consumers don't give a hoot. It won't influence purchases. Name one who can tell you who owns Sprint now.

A Coca Cola executive gave Digiday a reason why brands are behind in mobile: 'It's hard as shit,” she said. Harder than brain surgery or rocket science?

A survey says that the iPad mini is the least-desired Apple product launching in 2012. Time will tell – I completely disagree.

I saw a story on "what you need to know about mobile malware". Here’s what I know having worked extensively in the online security category - consumers don't care and won't for awhile, even after a major outbreak.

27 percent of registered-voter cell owners have used their phone in this campaign to keep up with election news or politics, according to Pew. Seems high considering most know whom they are voting for in November.

If you could turn back the clock and go to an unconnected world, would you? Is the answer as simple as "no way"? I don't think so.

For a while, industry folks said that mobile users look at texts within four minutes. A new report says the average response time is 90 seconds. I’m not sure either is accurate.

Tagged with Amazon, Apple, Moments of Trust, SMS, Samsung, coca cola, ctia, iphone, kindle fire, sprint.

October 13, 2012 by Jeff Hasen.
  • October 13, 2012
  • Jeff Hasen
  • Amazon
  • Apple
  • Moments of Trust
  • SMS
  • Samsung
  • coca cola
  • ctia
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Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Free" Smartphone Edition

Forty-four percent have gotten a "free" smartphone in exchange for signing a contract, according to J.D. Power. What’s the play for the carriers and handset manufacturers? Subsidies drive adoption and increased spends on services.

Nearly 30% of emails are opened on a mobile device, according to a new report. That’s massive volume. Now the question is how many of those are mobile optimized?

I’m surprised that live blogging didn’t begin days before the iPhone 5 announcement. Then Ryan Seacrest and Joan Rivers can interview influencers entering the event on a red carpet.

If rumors are right, iPhone buyers will be saying "I want my LTE".

The only surprise in Amazon’s decision to give consumers an opt out on new Kindle Fire ads is that it took a reversal rather than was something that was stated in the new product introductory comments.

It turns out that the Nokia Lumia 920 image stabilization video was a “simulation” – what a way to start out on the right foot. It’s kinda like when what is positioned as real-time isn't real time. Bogus.

There was a major story about a company that is developing apps for as little as $20. Some have looked at this and called the work really mobile websites. Either way, this is supposed to be a winner for brands?

Samsung sold 20 million Galaxy S III devices in three months. By comparison, one forecast says 10 million iPhone 5s will be sold in the first week.

The Federal Communications Commission said that it is testing mobile carriers data speed claims. The best scenario is that we plainly are told what we have with comparisons.

Apple has reportedly failed in contract negotiations with cable companies around Apple TV. No one believes that this is the end of the story.

According to Pew, more than half of app users uninstalled or decided to not install an app due to concerns about personal info.

Nearly one third of cell owners have experienced a lost or stolen phone, especially young cell phone users (18 to 24), according to the same group.

Tagged with Amazon, Galaxy, LTE, Lumia, Nokia, Samsung, iphone, kindle fire, pew, smartphones.

September 11, 2012 by Jeff Hasen.
  • September 11, 2012
  • Jeff Hasen
  • Amazon
  • Galaxy
  • LTE
  • Lumia
  • Nokia
  • Samsung
  • iphone
  • kindle fire
  • pew
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Jeff Hasen

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  • Jeff Hasen
    RT @jeffhasen: The post-COVID 19 digital & #mobile experiences consumers value most - my new post on gaps between services custome… https://t.co/GjVD6TRgmM
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    The post-COVID 19 digital & #mobile experiences consumers value most - my new post on gaps between services custome… https://t.co/GjVD6TRgmM
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    RT @harrison3: "About half of us don’t trust public spaces ... And that’s not changing any time soon. But there’s more bad news. T… https://t.co/2hlqn64NVt
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    RT @MattLockmon: My friend @206andrew is looking for a community specialist to work on his team and manage @tableau's community hub… https://t.co/10Evg95bhS
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    RT @wearesinch: COVID-19 has changed the rules of mobile engagement - maybe forever. We just released our brand new report reveal… https://t.co/xSyg5PO600
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