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.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Renee Zellweger As Spokesperson For "Not Your Selfie" App

Celebrity endorsements have flopped in mobile, but how can Renee Zellweger not be the face of Loosery, a video chatting app that supposedly makes one look more attractive? Renee can build the “Not Your Selfie” category.

Mobile offers are redeemed 10x more than print, Hubspot says.

A TiVo study reports 51% (vs. 36% last year) of TV viewers multitask every time they watch TV.

A study by American Express says that fewer will use mobile device this year vs. last for holiday shopping. I’m not buying it.

82% worry that wearables would invade privacy, according to PwC report. That’s a hurdle beyond the issue of wearables not solving problems.

After a week with the iPhone 6, I have to say it is borderline too big for me. I’m coming from a 5 and really feel of that one in my pocket. I realize that it’s a to each his/her own thing, like most things in mobile.

81% of U.S. online consumers say they're likely to avoid websites that have left them dissatisfied, per Forrester. Are the others just gluttons for punishment?

I see where Moms find tracking family health via smartphone too time consuming. Quick, ease of use are musts in new iterations.

Yahoo shared mobile sales for the first time: $200 million last quarter, 17% of the total. It says that mobile revenues for 2014 will exceed $1.2 billion.

The iPhone 6 "caught fire" allegation was as predictable as a new Apple rumor starting within 5 minutes of a product release. Exploding phone stories, too, are almost always hoaxes.

Microsoft reportedly plans to launch a wearable device within weeks.  Supposedly it will work with iOS and Android, unlike the Apple Watch.

Tweet of the week? From sportswriter Rick Reilly: “Cowboys' RB Joseph Randle steals underwear, gets an underwear endorsement deal. Lesson? Next time steal a Mercedes.”

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: Anything Your App Can Do Dogs Can Do Better

An app that forces you to get out of bed? I have three dogs that do that.

More than half of U.S. online adults who begin tasks on their mobile phone continue them on their laptop, Forrester says.

The digital ad spend is concentrated among a few companies  -- nine account for two-thirds of the U.S. digital ad revenues, according to eMarketer.

Up to five million Android users have malware issues. I believe that 4,999,993 don't know or care enough to do something. But Norton claims that a text message worm targets Android devices.

I disagree with the notion that consumers won't be loyal in the mobile age. In fact, I think that the opportunity to create and cultivate relationships is better than ever.

Nielsen tweeted that while advertisers are exploring mobile, they need proof that campaigns are effective. This is news?

If I tried, I couldn't create a worse user experience than what Gogo gives us on flights. Slow, bad customer service, overpriced, frustrating. No more.

78% of U.S. youth use Facebook at least once a month, more than Instagram & WhatsApp combined, reports Forrester.

Android users are spending around half as much as iOS users on apps.

89% of buyers use mobile when searching for homes, according to Keller Williams.

ESPN said that 3.2 million people watched the U.S. vs. Germany World Cup game. That added 10% to the TV audience.

A tweet said that BlackBerry is waging war against its greatest enemy: media haters. That’s a head-scratching, desperate strategy.

Another tweet says that it's official. We live in a mobile world. What kept you?

Deloitte says that there are three ways that banks can drive revenue from mobile - new customers, cross-selling, and mobile commerce.

The abandon rate for mobile shopping carts is 97%, claims HP.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: The "Invasion of the Wacky Insurance Woman" Edition

My tweet stream has been commandeered by marketers when I see the "consciousness" from Flo of Progressive Insurance.

Still wondering if there has been a meaningful migration of marketing dollars to mobile? Google will lose $1.4 billion in PC revenue this year as search shifts to mobile, according to eMarketer.

iOS bounced back in the U.S. to go past Android with 49 percent share, industry analyst Chetan Sharma says.

Google plans to open its first U.S. retail location in New York City.

Twitter is beta testing a “click-to-call” direct response button.

60 percent of the most-shared Super Bowl ads are the ones that are pre-released. Times have changed in this area, but not when it comes to mobile calls to action in spots.

The first headline I saw the other day - The end of advertising. There likely was one saying the same thing about television. Neither was based in reality.

Ads now beat porn as source for mobile malware.

The other day, I was having my fourth cup of coffee while deciding if I wanted to look at an app that will surely tell me not to drink so much. I didn’t look.

Headline on Mashable: It's Time to Ditch Your Wallet For Mobile Payments. My response? Ridiculous.

Oscar Mayer has created a device to turn your iPhone into a bacon-scented alarm clock. I doubt sales will sizzle.

No change with new numbers: Hispanics over-index on mobile devices, under-index on time spent with desktop PCs.

As a former journalist, it pains me each time I see purported pictures of coming iPhones. That's not reporting - that's link bait.

74 percent of executives say they have a digital strategy, but only 16 percent feel they have the ability to execute. Are you in that camp?

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Fat Chance" Edition

Headline – “Using smartphones too much may make you anxious, fat and a poor student.” So may Twinkies.

The text message turned 21 this week. With 160 characters, there is nothing sexy about text message marketing. Except that it works. In that regard, it likely leads in sex appeal.

Approximately, 100 million U.S. Internet users will log on to social networks via smartphones this year, according to eMarketer. Almost 80 million will use tablets to do the same, up 52 percent from 2012.

In five days, the video of the final play of the Iron Bowl was watched 2,245,386 times on Auburn's YouTube page.

Amazon, the king of personalization, delivered to me an offer for laser toenail fungus removal treatment. Flying trapeze lessons weren't available?

The tweets off of last week’s Amazon "news" drone on. Five years of this?

Text, coupons have replaced flash deals as a mobile holiday focus with just 5 percent of retailers using daily deals, eMarketer says.

Gogo tops my list of technology that needed major improvement in 2013 but failed miserably. Meanwhile, the company’s Twitter description says it’s “everyone’s favorite part of flying”. Someone has lost his or her mind.

Quote I read – “"Shopping is in the process of being forever changed by mobile." You think?

Smartphone sales have surged 61 percent in Southeast Asia. Android dominates with a 72 percent share, but that will change with Apple’s deal with China Mobile.

There are an estimated six billion mobile telephone devices used in the world today, and, for the first time, a small majority are smartphones.

In Japan, you can buy underwear for your smartphone. Some things should never come to America. This is surely one of them.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Don't Underestimate The Brick and Mortars" Edition

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

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Dumber Smartphone User" Edition

A report suggests that smartphones are making us dumber. I read it as more of an opinion about the downside of multitasking. I would say more, but I’m conducting an orchestra while I write.

I’ve been using a low-end smartphone for some testing. It provides perspective on the complaints we have with the better models.

As of late last week, while Facebook's stock was down 30 percent since its IPO, daily users were up 26 percent, mobile monthly users were up 56 percent, and revenue up 38 percent, according to Techcrunch.

More on the changing face of mobile messaging - Google’s new Hangouts app will soon support SMS.

Headline: Mobile Loyalty Programs - The New Home Run for Marketers. New? No. ROI has been proven for years. There are dozens of examples in my Mobilized Marketing book and on this site.

Groupon Co-CEO: My wife won't let me forget I rejected Google's $5.75 billion. My wife would move past it. Sure.

Ninety-five percent of Q1 Android smartphone profits went to Samsung.

Households making less than $30K send/receive 60 texts a day, twice those of households earning more than $75K, according to Pew.

ABC will reportedly participate in Nielsen's first test of new technology designed to track mobile TV viewers.

A Virgin America flight attendant reportedly said this upon landing: “If your mobile device is within reach, you can stop pretending it’s turned off now.”

There is no unsubscribe link on Priceline emails. you know, the ones you and I never asked to get when we booked a room.

I hate those "automated" counts like the one running on the Apple home page last week supposedly counting app downloads. They smell fake every time.

Only 3 percent of affluent women buy designer apparel via mobile: study. That number seems very low and bound to go higher.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: The "Please Turn Off All Electronics" Edition

One-third of airline passengers say they don't turn off electronics, according to a new survey. Many claim the inaction is unintentional. I observe disregard on most flights I take.

Could Facebook have been so short-sighted as to not deploy enough longtime Android users to build Home, which now is being seen more for its missteps?

Those who have downloaded Facebook Home spend 25 percent more time on the network. There are just not enough people on it yet.

Anheuser-Busch uses mobile to take consumers form "awareness to consideration, favorability, purchase intent, purchase, loyalty and advocacy," says Winston Wang, global director of strategic innovation.

ABC will be the first U.S. broadcaster to live-stream local, syndicated, and national shows -- to mobile devices. But it will only work in certain cities for paying cable subscribers.

Among the reasons that Facebook may spend $1 billion on mapping app Waze is better monetization of local search.

Google Wallet has dropped plans for a companion physical card. It was thought by many to be needed backup for battery-depleted phones.

Eight percent of U.S. online adults with a mobile phone have used QR/2D bar codes in the past month, according to Forrester. The naysayers would say it’s .08 percent.

ESPN is eying subsidized wireless data plans, reports the Wall Street Journal.  No cheering yet with economics still to be worked out - or not.

85 percent of mobile givers are first time donors to a charity. Haiti relief was the moment when mobile giving became huge.

A person passes 5,000 ads a day, sees 285 of those, but only notices 6, according to Borrell Associates.

QR codes for researching products? Not so much -- entertainment, amusement are remaining reasons for marketers to consider usage.