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Next Year’s Mobile Marketing Trends

Pointing out that 2011 was a huge year of growth for mobile technology, Jichel Stewart of Business2Community takes on the upcoming year’s mobile trends in her recent article 8 Mobiles Marketing Trends You Should Track in 2012.

Stewart’s piece focuses on mobile marketing – marketing to those already out and about, rather than those sitting at home in front of their computer:

“What is unique about mobile marketing is a company’s ability to reach consumers when they are closest to buying. Ask yourself…Are your customers more likely to leave their homes and their pantry in a storm to get a sub sandwich… or when they’ve been out running errands all day, missed lunch, and you send them a text with an offer for a half-price submarine sandwich — half a mile from you, the nearest sub shop?”

Indeed, the use of mobile websites grew 210% over the course of 2011, with 37% of retailers now using these types of sites. These trends can be linked to the increase in both smartphone usage (growing 14.5% from 2008 to 2009) and mobile advertising, which grew from $1.6 billion in 2010 to $3.3 billion in 2011, with figures for 2012 looking to be double that amount.

However, for all Stewart’s predictions, she does seem to overlook one area: the rise of tablet computing. Opting instead to focus on smartphones, one can’t help but notice the omission of one of the most important technological successes of 2011.

Jody Barnes, December 29, 2011

Cloud Computing and the Future of the Mobile Market

December 28th, 2011 | Posted by admin in business process | cloud computing | mobility | smartphone - (0 Comments)

Leo King at PCWorld writes about the impact of “app internet” on the future of the tech industry. In his article “App Internet and Mobile Devices to Drive Massive Technology Demands in 2012”, King discusses the “death of the web” and the rise in mobile apps and cloud computing.

“Gartner said that “low cost cloud services” would begin a fast growth, forming “up to 15 per cent of top outsourcing players’ revenue” within three years. These industrialised services would “alter the common perceptions of pricing and value of IT”, it said.”

In 2012, market intelligence firm IDC says, cloud computing services will reach up to $36 billion, with 80% of new apps on the market being geared towards the cloud. This means that increased focus will be on media tablets and other mobile devices, with Amazon’s Kindle Fire leading the way, and companies such as Microsoft, HP, and RIM looking to make their mark in an increasingly competitive market.

The eventual winner still remains to be seen, but the growth of mobile computing technology shows no signs of stopping, for both businesses and personal users. At this point, tech companies either need to jump into the market, or fear being left behind.

Jody Barnes, December 28, 2011

Kroll Annual Forecast Predicts Trouble

December 27th, 2011 | Posted by admin in business process | mobility | Privacy | security - (0 Comments)

It seems mobile security is getting worse before it gets better. Business Insurance’s, “Mobile Technology Changes Making Cyber Security More Difficult: Kroll” reports on the results of Kroll Inc.’s annual security forecast. The upshot: businesses and organizations are having trouble keeping up. The article specifies:

“Discussing mobile technology security threats, Kroll said mobile technologies ‘are changing so rapidly that in some organizations the demand and pressure to deploy new technologies (e.g. tablet computers) will outstrip the organization’s existing capabilities to secure them. This unfortunate dynamic is no secret to thieves who are ready and waiting with highly targeted malware and attacks employing mobile applications.’”

Writer Judy Greenwald notes some other important points from the forecast. For example, corporate use of social media will bring small businesses under increased cyber-attack, and the growth of cloud services will bring its own risks. Also, cooperation between business and government will be crucial; other countries are expected to be more nimble than the US in their response. Furthermore, the forecast predicts that privacy concerns about geolocation tech will become more of an issue. Yes, I imagine so.

It’s true that mobile security is a big concern. Keep your social networking safe.

Cynthia Murrell, December 27, 2011

Safety First?

December 22nd, 2011 | Posted by admin in guidelines | mobility | News | smartphone - (0 Comments)

Suggesting a middle-of-the-road approach, The Times Leader maintains, “Wholesale Ban on Mobile Devices in Cars Unlikely to Succeed.” Writer Nick DeLorenzo recognizes that mobile device distraction behind the wheel is a serious problem, but insists that human nature will hinder attempts to make it universally illegal. Besides, new cars are coming equipped with interactive devices; the more of these wired wheels that make it onto the roads, the more difficult it will be to ban their gadgets.

Instead of waging that battle, DeLorenzo proposes a compromise of sorts. The write up explains:

“Many new cars have systems that can detect driving conditions — traffic around the car, speed, location and more. If the vehicle is exceeding a certain speed, road conditions are unsafe, there is heavy traffic, the area has a high rate of accidents or driving becomes erratic, begin disabling features, starting with hands-free calling.

“Make this function optional, allow it to be disabled, and work with insurance companies to ensure penalties if an accident takes place and the system is disabled.”

Interesting suggestion; it may be too reasonable to get anywhere, though.

We have a hard time seeing our tech dependent readers giving up mobile devices in standstill traffic but, for our longevity, please be safe with your tech. With or without the regulations.

Cynthia Murrell, December 22, 2011

Marketing Love in a Time of Mobile Apps

December 20th, 2011 | Posted by admin in marketing | mobility | Privacy | smartphone - (0 Comments)

As holiday shopping hits a crescendo this week retailers are examining how to increase sales, analyze shopper data more efficiently and strengthen mobile advertising all in one fell swoop. The article, Malls, retailers focus on mobile phones to reach shoppers, boost sales and study consumers, on http://www.cleveland.com/, explores some controversial mobile app and Smartphone technologies retailers are employing this holiday season.

Although the Federal Trade Commission and several consumer watchdog groups have put a nix to several Big-Brother-esque programs put in place by malls and large retailers to monitor shopper activity and behavior due to privacy violations, some programs are alive and thriving. Many complain that the programs are all one sided, in favor of the retailer, but that is not necessarily the case. In most instances consumers receive a nice reward for their privacy being violated.

As the article explains of the relationship between retailer and consumer,

“With traditional retailers fighting online competition from companies from Amazon to Zappos.com, the retail industry must give consumers a reason to choose brick-and-mortar. Online retailers collect data about shoppers and use that information to tailor advertising and suggest purchases. Now stores and shopping-center landlords see cell phones as a path to influencing what people buy, how long they shop and how much they spend.”

Before condemning retailers for utilizing scores of data mines waltzing in and out of their stores every day, consumers should examine their habits and devotion to mobile apps. Without consumer usage these app-utilizing marketing campaigns would be a waste of time. If one doesn’t want to be exploited by a retailer, turn off the phone.

Catherine Lamsfuss, December 20, 2011

Growing Businesses Struggling to Maintain Brand Loyalty in the Mobile Age

Brand Dossier’s recent article on the increasing presence of social media and mobile devices, “Social media, mobile devices creating brand loyalty challenges for mid-size businesses” deals with new concerns business have in dealing with brand loyalty.

The growth of both social media and mobile devices has lead to a new type of consumer, who can easily compare products and prices, which is making it harder for companies to build up brand loyalty, a new IBM study says. This global study of mid-market chief marketing officers reveals a number of facts about the concerns of CMOs in an increasingly mobile marketplace. According to the study, 72% feel unprepared to “effectively build” brand loyalty, with 70% seemingly placing this unease on the wide availability of consumer-oriented data.

“Mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016, yet 62 per cent of mid-market CMOs report being underprepared to deal with the proliferation of channels and devices. This increase in the mobile shopping trend further increases marketing challenges, complicates data collection and analysis, and threatens both customer service and customer retention.”

In order to deal with the influx of consumer blogs, social media sites, and other sources of information about consumer products, retailers are focusing on marketing analytics in order to more effectively target consumers. The hope is that computers can analyze marketing data and buying decisions more efficiently and more accurately, allowing companies to reach new customers who will stay with the brand, instead of endlessly seeking to save a few cents on their next purchase.

Jody Barnes, December 15, 2011

Advances in BYOD Require Shift of Focus

December 14th, 2011 | Posted by admin in business process | Knowledge management | mobility | smartphone - (0 Comments)

BYOD Brings New Opportunities, a piece by Leyland Brown of Hewlett Packard, discusses a growing trend among small and medium businesses. This trend, which has grown along with the rise of personal digital devices is “Bring Your Own Device,” or BYOD: instead of relying upon a work computer, many workers are using their personal hand-held devices to deal with their daily business.

“Currently, according to Gartner, approximately 10 billion devices are connected to the Internet, and the number will grow to about 20 billion devices in 2021; by 2014, more than three billion of the world’s adult population will be able to transact electronically via mobile or Internet technology. Gartner also forecasts that media tablet sales will top 326 million units in 2015.”

These new trends in mobile computing require a new way of thinking about the way in which businesses provide information, not just for customers, but for employees as well. Brown emphasizes a strategy of “thinking beyond the device,” that is, working with all aspects of the systems which utilize these devices. Making sure both customers and employees have easy access to these new systems and the various data available are of utmost importance in the current technology-driven marketplace. For Brown, this means “shifting the focus from the devices to the content” in order to ensure that customers and businesses are on the same page when it comes to the use of the new generation of personal computing devices.

Jody Barnes, December 14, 2011

PolySpot Managing Director Gilles André: Search and Business Wizard

December 13th, 2011 | Posted by admin in business process | Features | Knowledge management | News - (0 Comments)

As a regular component of Beyond Search, the Search Wizards Speak section features “PolySpot: An Interview with Gilles André”. In addition to holding the title of “Search Wizard,” it would also be fitting to identify PolySpot Managing Director Gilles André as a “Business Wizard.” While he spoke about the company’s exposure to open source and the differences between PolySpot and their competitors, we learned much about his background and savvy in the business world.

PolySpot delivers an agile enterprise search infrastructure + apps for organizations facing the challenges of big data. As the chief executive officer, André has much experience in content processing, which he elaborates on in the interview:

I set up what is now known as an extract, transform, and load or ETL company in 1997. After two fast-growth years, my team and I had hit $20 million in annual revenues. Then we made a decision that looked highly attractive for our investors. We sold the company to the Canadian firm Hummingbird. Looking back, I think we sold too early.

From this endeavor, he learned there were many substantial opportunities in the digital information market. Several years ago, the conversation with CEO Olivier Lefassy began, and the two discussed the opportunities unstructured data presented to the PolySpot leading to Lefassy joining the team in 2011. Ultimately, the conclusion was to the following plan:

[PolySpot] could deliver a solution to organizations wanting to gain access to information which answered a business question. Our approach was to leapfrog the study, plan, implement, customize, and upgrade approach that most enterprise vendors force upon their licenses. PolySpot’s agile framework, its use of open source technology like Lucene, and a focus on putting information in the business work flow.

With this business model, PolySpot is poised for success. It is one thing to have a current working model, but it shows this company is operating on another level as we see evidence that PolySpot has its eyes on the future monitoring trends in entity extraction: relationships between entities and apps in the enterprise. Both PolySpot and Gilles André will remain on our radar.

Megan Feil, December 13, 2011

With Mobile Workforce, It’s iPhone over Blackberry

Once the mobile workforce’s darling, Blackberry has lost its appeal, having been trumped by Apple’s iPhone. Red Orbit’s “iPhone Tops Blackberry as Top Enterprise Phone” details iPass Inc.’s quarterly Mobile Workforce Report that charts the device’s downfall.

“Among mobile employees, the iPhone has captured 45 percent of the market share and overall business smartphone usage has increased to 91 percent. “ “The report discusses the emotional attachment that workers have toward their smartphones, 59 percent would feel disoriented, distraught or lonely without their smartphone for even a week. “ “According to iPass, Blackberry usage is on the decline with their market share dropping from 35 percent in 2010 down to 32 percent today. Android usage has doubled year over year and jumping into the number three spot with 21 percent market share.”

The results aren’t exactly a surprise, particularly given that the good iPhone news is coming from iPass. While Blackberry’s slide to technological irrelevance continues, the rise in android usage is noteworthy. Almost half of the smartphones AT&T sold in the third quarter of 2011 were androids. The mobile workforce technology market is now a two-horse race.

Rita Safranek, December 9, 2011