Greetings, mobile fanatics! Today we’ll catch up on the “best of” what’s been going on in mobile this past week, covering everything from exciting stats on Olympic mobile behavior to the latest on the great “Mobile First” movement.
Here’s our recap (the first of many):
MONDAY, JULY 30
The First Company to Build Your Identity into Your Phone Wins the Next Decade by Rebekah Cox for TechCrunch
Quotable
“A mobile experience that truly represents your identity – in a way that both resembles and enhances an in-person conversation but still affords you control over how you portion out your attention and provides context – could tie the knot for the myriad communication channels available.”
Spurred by a one-off tweet from Rebekah Cox that threw the gauntlet down for mobile visionaries, this article explains what features will be necessary for future phones to completely graft the mobile experience to the human experience – namely, controlling who does (and does not!) have access to your individual attention at any given hour of the day.
TUESDAY, JULY 31
What marketers risk by not taking a mobile-first approach by Rimma Kats for Mobile Marketer
Quotable
“Designing for mobile first has the advantage of helping to clarify your campaign thoughts and objectives since small screens and busy users on mobile devices help to crystallize the campaign’s objectives and messaging.” – Simon Buckingham, CEO of Appitalism
Rimma Kats does a great job of not only chastising slow-to-evolve marketers for dragging their feet on mobile, but also cautioning marketers that simply having a standalone mobile strategy isn’t enough. Instead, she encourages marketers to focus on reimagining their marketing calendar so that every aspect of a campaign has a mobile-first touch point.
WEDNESDAY, AUG 1
U.S. Poised to Spend More on Mobile Advertising Than Japan by Tanzina Vega for the New York Times
Quotable
“Advertisers are expected to spend $2.4 billion on mobile advertising in the United States in 2012, up from $1.23 billion in 2011. [eMarketer] estimates that spending on mobile ads in Japan will reach $1.36 billion in 2012.”
That’s not a slim margin, folks. As Vega remarks (in an unspoken “no duh” moment), this growth is largely due to the increase in adoption of smartphones in the U.S. But beyond simply looking at the numbers, this spike in spending also indicates that marketers are finding great value and ROI in mobile advertising.
THURSDAY, AUG 2
NBC: Nearly half of Olympics streams are from mobile, tablet by Robert Andrews for paidContent
Quotable
“Nearly 4.6m people have gone to the [NBC Olympics'] mobile site – double the number from Beijing.”
Andrews makes an excellent point in his article – four years ago, tablets didn’t exist and smartphones were a much smaller segment of the market than they are in 2012. That aside, NBC’s choice to broadcast the Olympics on a delay this year, to move the games into prime time, has actually served to encourage people to stream on-demand video directly to their mobile devices. Perhaps we’re even closer to “cutting the cord” than many networks are ready to believe.
FRIDAY, AUG 3
Mobile provides thread through all brand activation points by Brian Cohen for Mobile Marketer
Quotable
“Mobile is not a test and learn area of investment, used to extend an existing marketing strategy. It is the glue that makes it all work together.”
Cohen is a great mobile evangelist, asking (even pleading with) brands to think long term about how mobile can improve their customers’ shopping experiences. It’s all about tailored messaging, made possible by the sheer amount of personal data generated by an individual’s mobile phone every day.
Did we miss a great story? Share your pick for the most exciting and newsworthy mobile article from the past week in the comments section!
