Still Awaiting the Mobile Revolution
Years from now, when our children ask, "What did you do in the mobile revolution, Daddy?" we may find ourselves saying something like: "Uh ... I was waiting for it to actually happen."
That was the somewhat surprising theme at last week's Mobile Marketing Forum in New York. On the one hand we heard outgoing Mobile Marketing Association president Laura Marriott say that about half of the world's population -- 3.3 billion people -- are mobile subscribers, compared with 1 billion worldwide Internet users. On the other hand, we heard Mozes Inc. founder and CEO Dorrian Porter compare the mobile environment to the movie Groundhog Day, noting that each of the past several years has been breathlessly heralded as "The Year of Mobile" -- only to see those hopes dashed. (Amusingly, Porter started giving the same presentation on the Forum's second day.)
So just what is going on?
It's hard to argue with the sheer numbers of mobile-device users, and we're all aware that the markets for ringtones, games, e-mail, and other applications are steadily growing. Yet the U.S. still lags well behind the Asia-Pacific region, and even Latin America is making eye-opening gains.
The reasons for the mixed picture vary: some blame carriers for not putting enough pressure on device manufacturers to make mobile more easy and available, while others remain concerned about the lack of security needed for consumer confidence in using their devices for financial transactions (though there was at least one company, CellTrust, that believes it has a solution to that). And although such big-name brands as Adidas and Anheuser "Still American, For Now" Busch made compelling presentations of how successful a mobile marketing campaign can be, there was an overwhelming agreement that there's a level of education still missing -- both on the parts of consumers and of brands themselves.
What -- if anything -- is your company's mobile strategy at the moment, and looking ahead? Are you hitting the streets evangelizing about mobile's potential, or content to say, "Start the revolution without me"?
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Good points Liz. I was intrigued to learn at the Forum that in Brazil, eight mobile carriers are essentially folding into four, with the expected result being streamlining of service, fees, etc. Not that the U.S. carriers must merge again, but there must be some sane lessons to be gleaned there...
I think a big roadblock to wider mobile application adoption in the U.S. has to do with carrier fees. Most plans only cover phone minutes, so they tack on fees if you want texts, Internet connection, multimedia, music, etc. The phones and the technology is awesome, but the fee structure is very limiting to the average cell phone user.
I know Sprint is offering a comprehensive package, and I hope other carriers follow suit. A phone can be more than a phone, for both marketers and consumers. We all just have to start using them for what they're worth.