Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - On Mobile Procrastination For The Holidays

A tweet begins with "starting to think about your holiday mobile strategy?” Hello. Try to get going over a red Starbucks cup. And make it for 2016, but start now.

Speaking of which, mobile payments now account for 21% of transactions at Starbucks.

Adobe said that, for the first time ever, the majority of online holiday shopping visits in the U.S. – 51% -- will be on mobile devices. Adobe forecast almost a third of all sales taking place on mobile devices.

Digitally mature firms are three more likely to drive double digit revenue growth than other businesses: Forrester.

Mobile video ads are getting 66% of the total mobile ad spend, per AppLovin and AppsFlyer.

68% of adults now have a smartphone, nearly double the share in mid-2011, according to Pew. 92% of all U.S. adults own a cellphone of some sort.

According to Strategy Analytics, global shipments of smartphones grew by 10% from Q3 2014 (323.4 million units) to Q3 2015 (354.2 million). However, the 10% figure marks the slowest growth rate within the past six years since the global recession in 2009.

Amazon's Rich Koehler: "If it takes more than three taps to reach any part of your product catalogue, it basically doesn't exist.”

Apple has sold about 1.22 billion iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, says VC Benedict Evans. Roughly 725 million are in use.

Fitness trackers and smart watches will make up two-thirds of wearable device shipments next year: eMarketer.

My diet must be taking.  I haven't seen a promoted tweet about gut bloat for two days.

The iPad tops the Best Buy survey of most desired tech gifts. Whoa, aren't tablets on decline given popularity of larger smartphones, and perceived "good enough" previous purchases?

Another tweet said that mobile is the operating system to our lives. I guess the "remote control for life" descriptor is old news.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - How Expanding Twitter Beyond 140 Characters Will Work Against Us

Twitter is looking to expand the 140-character limit with a new product, according to multiple reports. Sigh. I’m gearing up for 900-word essays on morning runs and lunch sandwich selections. Psst- here’s a lesson that I learned as reporter: "They settled World War II in 600 words". Stick to 140 characters. Or fewer.

Digital channels will influence 64% of holiday purchases, per Deloitte. In a year with only minor upgrades, Apple sold 13 million iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s units on its first weekend.

From Apple CEO Tim Cook -- “There’s no doubt in my mind the best companies will be the most mobile.”

Those 35 and younger are three times more likely to consume video on smartphone, PC or tablet than on an actual TV, according to Tout.

More than 20 percent of Americans use wearables – Forrester.

Gartner: 89% of marketers say they expect to compete primarily on the customer experience by 2016.

“Ad blocking is a definitive sign that marketers have to get our butt in gear" -- AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.

Sheryl Sandberg told TV ad buyers that Facebook has a “Super Bowl on mobile” every day.

Facebook says it now has 2.5 million advertisers, up a half-million in the last six months.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Adblock Plus will allow an independent board to decide which ads are “acceptable” and allowed through its filter. Should be called “Adwesortablock”.

The average American spends almost 80% of time in their top three mobile apps: comScore.

Amazon, believed to know more about us than any other entity, sent me a burger offer. I haven't had one in over 20 years.

Pfizer introduced a smoking cessation research app.

Selfies have caused more deaths this year than shark attacks.

WebMD users can see their daily medication schedules right on their AppleWatch wrists.

Radar has turned the smartphone into a baseball speed detector: Engadget.

A Fan Boy No More

I never have exhibited the obvious signs of being an Apple fan boy – getting the company’s logo cut into my hair or having a Mac Mini serve as my toilet paper holder, for instance – but any review of my writings or tweets suggest that I have had more than a passing fancy for what comes out of Cupertino.

And I’m hardly alone.

There is so much trust in the Apple brand that it ranks first on the prestigious Most Valuable Brand list created each year by Forbes.

Even in my hometown of Seattle, where Microsoft has created loads of job opportunity and upped housing prices, Apple is the standard. That’s on display every day in the Bellevue Square mall where traffic is brisk in and out of the Apple Store while the Microsoft Store can often record visits in a single hour on fewer than 10 fingers.

I’ve owned no mobile phone but an iPhone since V1 was introduced in 2007. I’ve rushed to buy a new version at exactly the time each year when my carrier contract allowed for one. More than once, I have committed even before I could eyeball or touch one.

In the last decade, my purchases just for me have included two iPads, four Macbooks or Macbook Airs, and an Apple Watch.

But something changed for me this year. Or maybe it’s the fact that something changed with Apple.

The company that has defined dependable underdelivered. And, worse, it has made no apologies about it.

Specifically, in a bad way, its Apple Watch turned back time, producing an experience for me that was vintage BlackBerry 2004. Tasks have timed out. Buffering has felt as long as an Alaska summer day and night. Notifications have come at inexplicable times, like the requests to stand up while I was barreling down the freeway at 65 miles an hour.  

Some apps, including OpenTable’s, will not update. Even worse, on one occasion, I suspect that an effort to communicate with the app caused the battery on my Apple Watch to be depleted in less than an hour.

This isn’t the Apple that I know or want.

It was with through that lens that I listened in on this week’s Apple announcements.

--  Live Photos that have been positioned as a reinvention of the way we take and view pictures

-- 3D Touch that will change how we get in and out of mail, messages, apps, and more

-- Claims about the “revolutionary”Apple TV that reminded me of HBO’s ad campaign of several years ago. It’s Not TV. It’s HBO.

-- Even more dependence on Siri, which had been Apple’s biggest miss until Apple Watch came on the scene

-- A pencil that looks, smells, and writes like a stylus, yet is supposed to be so much more.

I’m not buying any of it. The age of innocence is over.

In the hours after Apple’s event, T-Mobile CEO John Legere texted, “Pre-order for the new #iphone starts at 12:01am on September 12. #getready #setyouralarm”

Ummm, nope. Those of you taking to his site or to apple.com at that hour will have one less competitor to be first with a new device.

Apple has built up so much good will, and has risen to the occasion much more often that not, that it certainly remains in the lead position when I’m considering new products.

But it has no lock on my thinking or my money. If that puts me in the former fan boy category, so be it.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - It Isn't The Young That Value The Smartphone The Most

To those who still claim that there is still a technology divide among generations, I offer this: the older you are, the more that you value the smartphone, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

82% of the 65+ crowd say that their device gives them “freedom”.  The same percentage consider mobile a connector rather than a distraction. That's primarily because the devices are intuitive.

Conversely, 36% of 18-29 year olds say the smartphone is a leash and 37% call it a distraction.

Six ducklings that fell down a storm drain were lured out by a firefighter using the duck call ringtone on his iPhone.

Meerkat has introduced its app for Android, temporarily giving it a difference-maker over Twitter’s Periscope.

Meanwhile, the use of these apps is being limited by sports leagues and associations. The latest? The PGA Tour revoked a reporter’s credentials for using Periscope.

There are more mobile-only Internet users than desktop PC-only users in the U.S., per CTIA.

My new on-demand mobile foundations course is now available via Market Motive. There is actionable discussion to drive ROI.

20% more Americans use PINs/passwords to protect data on smartphones and tablets in 2015 vs. 2012, CTIA says. What stops the others?

Secret, a $100 million social app, closed but the co-founders made off with $6 million and a Ferrari. Evidently, they spent no money on a PR strategy.

Nearly half of Fortune 500 websites aren't mobile-friendly by Google's standards, according to Merkle.

Last quarter, Apple sold an average of 8 iPhones per second, 24 hours a day, for 90 straight days.

Starbucks says that its mobile transactions top 8 million weekly.

An Apple Watch fitness app from a deodorant company doesn't pass my sniff test.

39 of the top 50 news sites get most of their web traffic from mobile: Pew.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Assessing An App That Predicts The Second That You Will Die

The new Deadline app guesstimates your death day for you. I’m not sure why anyone would want this, but similar “forecasting” has been available online for years. But with this app, you can set up notifications to view a countdown clock to the second of your supposed departure from Earth. Just ate French fries? Whoops, there went another 12 minutes.

In Virginia, cops can force you to unlock an iPhone with Touch ID, but can't ask for your passcode, according to Engadget.

83% of U.S. consumers now stream TV, up from 74% a year ago: Magid.

Tweet of the week – from @jefftiedrich: Instagram is down. Can I come over and look at your food?

Half of YouTube's traffic is now from mobile.

A third who bought a wearable in the past year no longer use the device regularly, according to PwC. Is it a success that two thirds still do? I’d say so.

Facebook now makes 66% of its money from mobile.

“Expose” on bgr.com says that Tim Cook works hard at Apple and expects other to work hard, too. News here?

70% of consumers delete an email immediately if it doesn’t render properly on their mobile device, per Blue Hornet.

Mobile offers are redeemed 10 times more frequently than print offers, according to eMarketer.

Saying that it is not moving fast enough, Twitter has replaced its CFO, COO, and VPs of media, engineering and product — all in the past six months.

Dubbed Shazam for birds, an app called Warblr is able to identify a bird’s species by comparing sounds that users record to previously recorded birdsongs.

According to CEO Howard Schultz, the Starbucks app processed $1.17 billion in 2013, and the company has already processed nearly $1.4 billion in 2014. It is expected to reach $2 billion by the end of the year.

Next year should be even better - in the second half of next year, customers in select markets will be able to use the mobile ordering and payment app to have food and drinks delivered.

China has 600 million mobile uses (2X the U.S. population).

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 - 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.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - No, You Can't Drive A Truck Over Your iPhone

I’m guessing that beyond sitting on it, you can't drive an F-150 over an iPhone 6 Plus. But don't try it at home.

67% of moms entertain kids with mobile videos & games, up 2X from last year, Yahoo says.

The North American mobile industry accounts for 3% of the GDP, according to industry group GSMA.

Apple sold 39 iPhone 6's per second in its first weekend.

A Homeland mobile ad uses phone vibrations to set off a virtual bomb in your hand.

Nordstrom wants to text shoppers who are interested in certain merchandise. That makes sense. It gets us closer to one-to-one marketing rather than one-to-one list.

Mobile spending on branding-related objectives will grow faster than direct-response initiatives in the next year, Nielsen says.

Nearly 75% of consumers ages 18-44 access a social network daily, Adobe reports. Mobile is the most-used device.

Smartphone penetration has made it to 70% in the U.S., Nielsen tells us.

Here’s one to stump your friends at a dinner party - research shows Japanese travelers are three times more likely to book via mobile than Germans.

Mobile now accounts for more than 50% of ecommerce traffic, according to Shopify.

Gartner says that more than 75% of mobile apps will fail basic security tests through 2015.

Mobile search prompted 30 billion calls to businesses in 2013, reports Harte Hanks.

Pinterest is the most popular social media channel on mobile devices.

Over 30% of Staples' mobile traffic is tablet-driven.

Trend Micro says that 40% of mobile users do not use a password to protect their devices. I would’ve guessed 70%.

Reports say that approximately 85% of iPhone 6 buyers had previous Apple phones. That explains the record pre-order – it was something other than blind faith

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Do QR Codes Have Better Prospects Than The New York Giants?

QR codes have more doubters than the New York Giants, but they may have a better chance than the football team of having a successful fall season.

According to a new Adobe report, 76% of consumers asked said that their QR code scans brought them to a mobile-optimized experience. It provides a lesson about staying current on mobile activity. Report after report in the last 18 months or so put QR codes in the “can do without” pile.

My takeaway from Pew’s expert predictions that, by 2020, most people will adopt smart-device swiping for purchases? Maybe. Even so, will the payment companies and Apple, among many others, be patient for this to grow over a half-decade?

As Yahoo’s David Pogue tweeted, “This business of paying with your phone won't be real magic until it works everywhere (not just the 200K stores with receivers).”

More than three-quarters of the leading brick and mortar department stores use push notifications. Of course, that’s a tactic, not a strategy.

Customers are eager to share their location if you give them something in return, says Ryan Craver, who leads mobile for Lord & Taylor.

I’m not promising that I won't get an Apple Watch (I know myself and, ummm, time will tell), but I’ve been living with the feeling that I'm too connected at times. More often equals bad. Or at least stress that isn’t welcome at what could or should be off-times. I know, I know, it's all about self-control, right? Easier said than done, especially with the expectations of others.

I see that Rolex is advertising on the BBC homepage. Do you think that company feels breath on back of neck with Apple Watch. Probably just a little for now.

Even with an intuitive interface, education needs to come with Apple Watch and health apps. With my now departed Fitbit (it went back due to a recall), I was surprised to know that I was burning calories sleeping.

Speaking of education, the same goes for Apple Pay. My wife's first questions were around unintended purchases while walking by a terminal.

Is it wise for Apple to compel Apple Watch owners to also have an iPhone? Or does that limit sales by shutting out too many who carry other devices?

An app lets women call taxis driven only by women.

Twitter suggests that I follow Karl Rove. It is as clueless as TiVo suggesting poker matches for me, a non-card player. Recommendation engines leave a lot to be desired.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - A Smartphone and a Flying Machine?

Since some supposedly have the iPhone 6 nailed, iPhone 7 rumors anyone? I heard that the phone will enable us to fly without planes.

Orbitz lets users resume searches across devices. That is so 2014.

The majority of Americans download zero smartphone apps every month, comScore says. This report is everywhere on the Internet.

Digital time spent on mobile is all additive, not substitutional to desktop, according to eMarketer.

I had no issues with mine (before it was recalled) - 10-20% of people are allergic to nickel, a material unregulated in the U.S. that's found in devices like Fitbits .

1.6% of app developers make more than the other 98.4% combined, a review by Vision Mobile shows.

Google’s 2013 mobile search revenues were approximately $8 billion.

The value I put on Twitter is high, but it doesn't get me to believe 79% of marketers used Promoted Tweets this year.

Half of American adults now own either a tablet or an e-reader, Pew tells us.

Younger millennials spend a majority of their "TV" time watching TV on another device, according to eMarketer.

The mobile spend by marketers is slowing , the CMO Council tells us.  It’s maddening but points to need to work harder and smarter to show ROI.

I've been doing this all wrong. I see an "offer" to get me 100-200 retweets per tweet for 30 days. You know that my stuff is not that compelling (but you did read to the end, so thanks).

The most secure version of BBM is coming to iOS and Android this year. That’s at least 4 years too late.

173 million people in the U.S. now own a smartphone per comScore.

50% of Walmart web traffic comes from mobile.

75% of HR managers say mobile HR improves worker satisfaction, ADP reports. More education needs to be done there since it isn’t a no-brainer apparently.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Is Captain Kangaroo Still King?

Parents say mobile education apps don’t provide value, but TV still does. So says a study from education-focused research firm The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Since I don't have young kids, I need to ask - who is the modern-day Captain Kangaroo?

For all of Amazon's knowledge of the user, is it not surprising that local offers delivered daily are generic?

It has been five minutes since I've seen a tweet about the weather in NY for Super Bowl 48. C'mon, people. I need to stay informed.

The Weather Channel is doing heavy promotion to try to get us to leave the Super Bowl telecast at halftime to watch its forecast for the second half. Really?

A study says that looking at your smartphone at night can make you more tired the next day. We know this, but can't help ourselves.

My Fitbit Force says I burned more calories in less than four hours of sleep after midnight than in 28 minutes on elliptical. Really?

The size of the iPhone has always been ideal for me. Making it larger might bring others into fold, but send others like me away.

Facebook is either going out of business over the next several years or it wins in mobile advertising. The latter is more likely.

More and more, I'm hearing feature phones referred to as dumb phones. Keep that reference out of your marketing.

Is engagement the metric that matters most with mobile? It’s extremely important but sales trump everything.

My new Market Motive mobile certification students are from China, India, Canada and the U.S. It is representative of where mobile is today.

BlackBerry landed a massive Pentagon order and its stock soared. What is this, 2005?

Apple is no longer the consumers’ favorite tech brand, according to a Forrester study. It dropped to No. 5.

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 Tower of Power Edition

Let’s start with a head-scratcher: I received a text from AT&T saying that my mobile service will get better with the installation of a new cell site. One that is 438 miles away.

If a brand says we will appsolutely love it's mobile app, I won't download it.

A headline says Eye Tracking Is Changing Mobile Marketing. Me: please.

A technology divide among generations? Not a believer. My 84-year-old mother in law sends me emails from her iPhone. And she texts.

Hands on with the iPad Mini Retina tells me I didn't go wrong buying an Air. It’s equally impressive and comes down to preference IMO.

25 percent of social media users exclusively log on to social networks via mobile devices, according to eMarketer.

From industry analyst Chetan Sharma: 90 percent of mobile devices sold in the U.S. in the third quarter were smartphones.

REI, Toys 'r Us and CVS are among top rated mobile retail sites.

71 percent use their phones in store to compare prices. The holiday season will be fascinating.

Gogo Air has added talking and texting, but U.S. fliers won’t be making voice calls soon. How about they fix the awful core service? In my view, the company has done the impossible - supplanted Comcast as the most frustrating for consumer experience and value.

IPG's Magna Global says that viewers tweet 21 percent more often during TV commercial minutes compared to program minutes.

More users get news on Twitter via mobile devices than they do on Facebook, according to Pew. It’s a 20-point difference.

The number of mobile app developers with 1 million users has grown from 400 to 875 since Q1 2012.

Dumb forecast of the week?  200 million people will use augmented reality in 2018. Like anyone knows.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - Assessing the Wearable Market

Are wearables the next big thing or overhyped? I ask in light of the wording in a news report that said that Jawbone raised more than $100 million to “keep up with consumer demand”. My view is demand is overstating it.

Do you know anyone who formerly resisted buying an iPhone because of a perceived hassle with the password process? Neither do I.

It would be interesting to know how many iPhone users employ a password.  I bet it is well under 50 percent.

My takeaway on the new iPhones? I still fail to see how color and a relatively slightly lower iPhone price changes anything for U.S. marketers.

Siri is getting extra powers, like being able to search tweets for keywords. While I’m among the most active on Twitter, I’d settle for Siri delivering the basics – understanding our commands and returning answers to simple questions.

Those who predict the demise of text message marketing have no understanding of SMB needs and budgets. There is ample evidence that it works – and is growing in importance.

A tweet from a mobile conference last week- “More people will use more mobile services on Black Friday this year vs. last year”. You think?

Sign of the digital and mobile times - Bill de Blasio won the NYC mayoral primary without sending a single piece of snail mail.

Every day, over 125 years of total time is spend on Angry Games. My 84-year-old mother-in-law is a major contributor to this number.

40 percent of SMBs accept mobile payments with 16% more going that route in next 12 months, according to BIA Kelsey.

The 18-24 segment has soared 40 percent in time spent on their smartphones in just six months.

Wise words as usual from Google’s Jason Spero - "’Mobile first’ is like ‘organic’. Often claimed. Not always true.”

Of Boats and A Mobile Adoption Reality Check

There are two givens on the annual summer getaway to the family cabin in Wisconsin: the boat won’t start and I’ll get a reality check on whatever progress I believe that we’ve made with mobile adoption.

Sure enough, the boat worked for one day, then crapped out for the rest of the trip despite actions to prevent such an occurrence.  But there was no woe be us -- we rented for much of the week and made the best of it.

As to wireless usage, one might say that no use would’ve been appropriate given that we were on a vacation. But while others were at “Digital Detox” camp http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/01/tech/mobile/digital-detox-camp, those around me were as connected as frustration and my putter.

Specifically:

My 83-year-old mother in law was streaming classical music via the iHeartRadio app on her iPhone.

There was an extended discussion among five about smartphone ringtone selections with Marimba receiving way more support than the choice to have the device ring with a dog’s bark.

Photo sharing was as common as the swatting of a mosquito with shots of sunsets, eagles, and family members being sent to Facebook, Twitter and via email to those away from the action.

Navigation came through apps rather than maps.

Access to information was a close as the phone’s browser and apps with answers coming on forgotten movie titles, hours of operation for the town’s best pizza joint, and the best prices on hotel rooms for the upcoming business trip.

There was relatively little discussion about mobile marketing and advertising, but the sense I had was that brand messages delivered with personalization, relevance, and offers would be welcomed and acted upon.

On the way home, we spent an evening in Minneapolis with long-time friends in their 60s who said that they wanted to further their education on “gadgets”. Rather than ask me questions about phablets and the coming iWatch, they were fascinated to have me walk through use of my iPad 2.

“Who makes the iPad?” asked one, who is the owner of a Samsung smartphone.

Apple awareness clearly hasn’t reached the 100 percent mark.    

(article first appeared on imediaconnection.com - http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2013/07/09/a-summer-check-in-on-mobile-adoption/)

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Marriage of TV and Mobile Edition

Who expected this headline in 2013: Gannett Doubling Down on TV with Belo Purchase? It’s not your grandfolks' TV - mobile makes it interactive and more attractive to advertisers.

"Flat design" and "deglitzed" failed to make it to Apple’s iOS 7 intro. It was all about benefits, just as it should be.

Of course, designers and other pundits attempted to have the last word – and made up some new ones, including overhelveticated.

Google maps turn by turn for iPhone rocks – that’s not news but it can't be said enough.

How important is mobile to Nordstrom? The retailer says that for every $1 spent via mobile today, mobile will inspire $13 of in-store purchases – and $22 by 2016.

70 percent of sales organizations using tablets are already realizing a positive ROI, according to a study.

Facebook mobile ad revenue is expected to top $2 Billion this year.  It’s the subject of my Market Motive webinar this Tuesday.

In a related note, local mobile advertising is expected to double in 2013, according to Borrell.

If you have a bad mobile site, Google says that you'll soon have a SEO problem. Bravo.

Mobile wallets are about experiences, not payments, according to a MasterCard exec. I say that you build loyalty to fight commoditization.

One third of Americans own a tablet. And further growth could come through reported $99 #Android devices launching this year.

I was struck how Siri expectations were raised so high for iOS7. I’m definitely in the "show me" place on this one.

Nokia has a new television spot selling what it calls the best low-light camera. Is that key to a buying decision for more than a few? Doubtful.

I wonder how many used their mobile device to watch the CBS Sunday Morning piece on not being able to put your phone down.

A Forbes article asked Will Mobile Revolutionize Advertising--Or Kill It? I say that it’s neither. There are no absolutes. It will change it. Already has.

An Ogilvy executive is the latest to remark that we need to bring value to mobile users. That can't be said enough.

Another article I saw said that Mobile Isn't Just a Screen or Device, It's About Behavior. Yeah, but it’s about understanding behavior that leads to business results.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - "The Next Big Thing" Edition

Apparently The Next Big Thing was Samsung's $12 billion drop in market value due to slow Galaxy S4 sales.

I see a story where the iPhone low-end edition will be out in July. Give me second – I will find others that say August, September, Fall, and never.

I recently tried using the lowest-end smartphone recently. It was hardly the experience that benefits advertisers. Remember 60 percent have smartphones but not all equal.

Where’s the smartphone growth happening? About 18 percent of Americans ages 65 and older now own a smartphone, up from 13 percent in February 2012.

40 percent of YouTube's worldwide views now come from mobile devices.

DVRs and sports don’t mix - 1-2 percent of TV programs are sports in a month but they drive 40 percent of social engagement in a month. It’s the need to be live in a community.

The NFC (near-field communication) payment volume forecast by Gartner was revised downward more than 40 percent. You mean cash really wasn't going to be gone by Tuesday?

A barrage of "flat design" commentary will be coming with the iOS 7 unveiling. Questions I have are will the changes drive Apple sales and loyalty.

A study says irrelevant emails stress us out. What about tweets or mass offers for eyelash enhancements?

A report says that mobile users are willing to share data and watch ads in return for premium content. That’s true – they want a value exchange.

"Positive" tweets lead to more Twitter growth, a study says. Expect smiley faces in my next 1,000 tweets.

There is now a location-aware, mobile version of Wikipedia.

Storytelling has been amped up in retail - explaining technology "with stories instead of specs".  To say it another way, it’s about benefits.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer: The "U Can't Touch This" Edition

Consumer Reports says that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the world’s best smartphone in part because you can use it with gloves on. I see a commercial coming with MC Hammer’s song, U Can’t Touch This.

In the first three months of 2013, 1.8 million Spaniards switched from big carriers to small, cheaper operators. Is a repeat here? Upstarts get smashed in marketing budget wars.

Only 9 percent of marketers think agencies do good job keeping up: Chief Marketing Officer Council. I find that especially true with mobile and traditional firms, some of which that have never veered from the 60’s-style TV spot and print.

Smartphone owners spend 127 minutes per day in mobile apps. What was that about the mobile web killing apps?

A new ad saying more people enjoy music on an iPhone than any other phone targets a younger demo. No 50-somethings.

A report says that by 2016, 25 percent of all laptops shipped will have touchscreens, as compared to just 10 percent now. That’s in large part due to mobile’s effect on technology and behavior.

Home improvement or HTC First with Facebook Home won't be sold in Europe, according to AllThingsD.

64 percent of mobile users use Twitter in front of the TV at home. 25 percent of them tweet about the shows they watch.

99.9 percent of new mobile malware targets Android phones. Consumers don’t care – and won’t until there is a significant issue.

Walmart's head of mobile said at CTIA that while sales through a phone are important, it’s mobile-influenced sales that matter most. Also, Walmart app users spend 40 percent more per month, make twice as many trips as non-app users.

An 18-year-old’s invention can recharge a mobile phone in 30 seconds. But a component needs to be put into the batteries, so it won’t work on our current models.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The Like and Tweet Edition

Smartphone users check Facebook 14 times a day. That’s when they are not tweeting.

Anyone other than me think it was a mistake to bring the first new BlackBerry without a physical keyboard? Touchscreen is me-too.

It's not a T-Mobile contract - it's an Equipment Installment Plan. Wasn't this going to be dead simple?

In-app purchase revenue has hit records: 76 percent Of U.S. iPhone app revenue, 90 percent in Asia. Not just any apps - games.

54 percent of retailers see mobile as biggest growth area. The others are destined to fail.

According to eMarketer, Twitter will earn $308.9M in 2013 mobile ad revenue -- more than they earned in 2012 total, from any ad type.

An analyst says that the iPhone 5 got five times as many tweets as the Galaxy S4. Meaning what? Little to nothing.

IDC: tablet sales grew 78.4 percent year over year in 2012. They are expected to pass desktop sales in 2013, portable PCs in 2014.

Apple plans to triple the number of authorized resellers in India by 2015. That could coincide with a cheaper iPhone.

News that an Australian business is charging $5 to "fight" showrooming was trending but it won't create a trend. It more likely will put the company out of business.

From the Wall Street Journal no less came a feature on the Mets PR director it calls a "butt dialer" for inadvertently placing mobile calls.

JetBlue plans to offer fast onboard Wi-Fi free of charge. Hopefully that’s the start of a trend.

HTC is no longer "quietly brilliant" in its marketing. It will be louder. As for brilliant, we'll see.

Young Americans send almost ten times as many texts as Americans over 55. What's noteworthy is that the 55+ set texts.

Notes From A Mobilized Marketer - The "Don't Make Me Hurt You" Edition

Said Prince to a South By Southwest crowd: "Don't make me hurt you -- you know how many hits I have?”

About as many as mobile notes I’ve jotted down recently. Here’s some of what’s on my mind:

How quickly things change in mobile. Mailbox reportedly was the third most-used iPhone utility app last month. 

There is some buzz around the Hater app. That’s because the world needs better ways for us to express hatred.

Chinese consumers spend 50-60 percent of their time on mobile.  How as marketers do we sell more to them? That’s one of mobile’s big opportunities in the years ahead.

With three days of meetings on mobile healthcare apps, the question has been posed as to whether Congress is stifling innovation. Or is oversight necessary to protect the public?

Gartner says it will take three years for BlackBerry to reach a 5 percent market share - and it's not sure thing. When it comes to share shifts, that’s often not a quick process, even in mobile.

Instagram added 5 million daily mobile users in three months after the Facebook acquisition.

Samsung confirms that it too has a smartwatch in development. Likely dozens of others do as well.

Mobile-initiated product research by affluent consumers doubled year over year in 2012, according to eMarketer.

23 percent of teens have a tablet computer, a level comparable to the general adult population, Pew reports. Many believed tablets skew older.

Gestures in Samsung’s Galaxy S4 will be either make you more efficient or look dumb - or both.

Samsung may sell 10 million Galaxy S4 units in a month, half the time it took to sell 10 mil III's, according to analysts.

As of the other day, Apple shares were up 5,749 percent since 2003. Samsung’s were up 373 percent.

Google says the mobile consumer is 18 to 24 months ahead of most marketers. Ahead? For sure. Two years? Gosh, I hope not.