Three Minds On Digital Marketing @ Organic

image credit:MariSheibley [Flickr]

It's been a great year for Foursquare, the location-based social network / real world game for your mobile. They are celebrating their first birthday this week, a year after they announced their existence at SXSW, with some fairly impressive stats for a start-up:

* Over 500,000 users
* Over 1,000,000 badges have been awarded
* Over 1.4 million venues with 1200 offering specials
* Over 15.5 million checkins (shattering a record this week)

They have also announced some impressive partnerships, including a Starbucks loyalty program, a charity venture with Paypal and Microsoft, and a long overdue Google Maps mashup.

But the biggest news this week is the launch of an analytics dashboard for participating businesses. The tool shows them in real-time who checked in, when they arrived, male-to-female ratio, and what times are peak hours to offer promotions. They are also offering a Staff page that allows employees to interact directly with customers, something that has been surprisingly lacking in the tool...

"Right now, there is not a lot of active interaction between people on Foursquare, let alone between businesses and people. It will be interesting to see if Foursquare starts to offer a deeper social CRM solution in the future. The next logical step after allowing business to see the data is to assist them in acting on it." - Russ Hopkinson

While businesses are sure to benefit, it leaves me wondering: will the "techno-stalking" create the usual privacy issues with Foursquare's user base? Will they rally for privacy over happy hour specials?

"Too often we look at things from the what's-been-taken-away-from-me angle and forget what-I-got-out-of-it. Tax is one and user data collection is another. We've been benefited from data collection and analysis in many applications that are not apparent." - Fang-Yu Lin

Fang points out an article put out by the Economist that describes how Google accomplished perhaps the world's best spellchecker for free, while Microsoft spent millions of dollars. If consumers were just aware of HOW these companies were using their data, they might be less reluctant to relinquish it.

For Foursquare, who's audience is still skewed towards early adopters and big city gourmands, I don't see a huge backlash eminent. When the rewards are drink and food specials, badges and recognition, special events... it's a lot easier a sell than seemingly more accurate delivery of online ads.

Thanks to Craig Ritchie for the link.

Marta Strickland

At the end of January, Apple announced another highly anticipated new device, while its rival in Redmond, Microsoft, has come out with a new version of its mobile UI. Named Windows Phone 7 Series, it's an interesting new take on a mobile UI, and while it's officially planned for release only at the end of this year, it's spurring a lot of conversation already.

Apple iPad

Things were different ahead of the iPad's launch than they were back in 2007, prior to the launch of the first version of the iPhone. While many had thought that Apple may enter the mobile phone market even years before it actually happened, no one managed to quite predict what the device would be like. But with the iPad, predicting what the Apple tablet would look like before the company officially announced it was easier. The surprise element of the iPad was smaller than the wow effect that the iPhone caused.

The feeling after the launch was that the iPad didn't live up to the dreams and hopes of many. People who were waiting for something revolutionary woke up to see the new device as "just a big iPhone". However, the tablet also had its instant supporters: some claim it's the perfect computer for their mom, while others simply say that whatever the iPad lacks in its first incarnation (camera, for example) will make it to the next version.

I question the utility of the iPad, even for my mom, as one of her favorite things to do on a computer is to make Skype video calls. I also think she wouldn't respond too well to the on-screen keyboard. But let's keep in mind that the device hasn't started shipping yet, and very few people have handled it, let alone used it in any real-life scenario. The future of it will lie in the hands of app developers - maybe even more than it lies in the hands of the company's own designers.

For interaction designers, the iPad is an exciting new opportunity. Luke Wroblewski has written a number of terrific articles about the iPad, including a list of new multi-touch interactions and iPad design tools and resources. And Matt Gommel, a renowned iPhone developer, challenges a number of preconceptions about the tablet, including the "just a big iPhone" claim, in his blog. While we're waiting for the actual device (and an iPad version of OmniGraffle), let's get our tools and templates ready. Even if the iPad doesn't instantly appear as big of a game changer as the iPhone, it, together with the HP Slate and other, upcoming tablets, is still the beginning of a new kind of personal computing experience.

Windows Phone 7 Series

Microsoft seems to have done what it hadn't really done before: taken a totally new, fresh approach to something it had already built. The new Phone 7 Series looks and acts totally different than previous versions of Windows Mobile, incl. version 6.5, which will now continue to live on as Windows Phone Classic. The 7 Series promises to be, finally, finger-friendly, complete with multitouch, and it looks significantly different than any of the competing touch-based mobile UIs.

The initial response to 7 Series seems to have been positive, though some point out that the bold new design may not work so well in practice. Luke Wroblewski has been exploring Microsoft's new UI as well, and written an excellent post about its information resolution vs. the iPhone. Edward Tufte responds to it here. While at first I find it quite easy to agree with Tufte's comment that "the WP7S layout and typography have a looseness found in commercial art and marketing, an inappropriate metaphor for a handheld information and communication device", I think it may be premature to call Microsoft's idea "inappropriate", when they're trying to redefine the mobile UI so drastically. Let's see how users react to it.

Karri Ojanen

Source: Ohio State University


A piece in the March issue of Wired took on the issue of 'texting-while-driving', turning the issue on its head by suggesting that instead of banning texting, we should simply drive less.

Now, we're talking. I'm of the opinion that the Internet has done less to change the world than we give it credit for (See "The Internet: More or Less Revolutionary than a TV Dinner" here). To reach revolutionary status, the Web and/or mobile must fundamentally change the way we live. Will the basic inability to text our thumbs off push commute times down? If it does, then we're really seeing where the mobile/web era is taking our lives.

Do We Love Commuting?
Is it really possible? Americans and their cultural hangers-on love to drive. Our culture (and tax code) is heavily stacked toward home ownership. Big houses and plots of land are considered birth rights of the middle class here. And to meet that, we would have to keep building outward from the urban cores for decades to come.

Won't those 30-, 45-, 6-, 90-minute commutes keep things under control? Not hardly. Commuting times have soared consistently since the 1950s and show no signs of stopping soon. And considering even the most entry level cars in 2010 are mobile palaces of HVAC, auto everything, entertainment and comfort -- commuting has become more of a positive respite from the outside world than a negative waste of time.

But people in 2010 also love to text. There's no question. And texting while driving is ridiculously dangerous. Most people I know have a "eureka" story with the phenomenon...a time when they were so lost in texting they nearly killed themselves in traffic, leading to a personal ban on such behavior in the car. Yet at stop lights, they text. In bumper-to-bumper, they text. And if it's really, really important...they text no matter what (despite nearly dying previously -- now that's love).

"I Don't Want a License, Dad"?
Perhaps it won't be my generation that starts seeing driving as a net negative to life...we're probably already too far in the "loving to drive" corner to give it up. But for the text crazy teens coming up now, I'd bet many would actually choose texting over driving if put to the choice. So perhaps after college, they will be drawn toward a lifestyle with less miles on the road all so they can keep avoiding actual conversation via awkward tiny keyboards.

Hard to tell. Maybe texting will simply vanish in the near future, replaced by something new. But love makes people nuts, and the text craze really doesn't make much "logical" sense to begin with. One thing is for sure, texting and driving cannot coexist happily. And that will lead to some kind of cultural shift.

Mike Hudson

image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregtimm

Yes, consumers are still shopping in physical stores. And what do they typically have with them when they're shopping? Their phones. In January, we talked about How Businesses and Marketers Can Use Mobile for Better Results in 2010. And we only touched on the growth in adoption of mobile shopping applications.

Here are four ways that marketers could be enhancing that shopping experience.



1.  Price comparison.  Applications such as Shop Savvy, Snap Tell and Amazon's 'Amazon Mobile' app allow shoppers to compare prices at a given location against nearby competitors and online eComm properties. Through image recognition and barcode scanning, these apps make it very easy for users to know if an item can be had for less elsewhere. These apps are prime territory for marketers looking to inject a brand into a target audience's psyche at a critical juncture in their decision making process.



2.  Mobile Coupons.  Many of the drawbacks of printed coupons are mitigated by delivery and redemption on mobile platforms. Users don't have to cut them out and don't have trouble remembering them and perhaps most significantly, don't have the same negative associations with point-of-sale (POS) redemption. Zavers, mobiQpons, and Cellfire are actively signing-up small businesses and it's only a matter of time before big box stores get on board. Add increased consumer adoption, POS redemption infrastructure and a social dynamic and the appeal to marketers will be greater than ever.

3.  Real-Time Feedback.  Another trend that will increasingly impact purchase decisions this year is real-time feedback. Mostly from dressing rooms, but not exclusively. People will look to their social graph and vertical-interest communities for advice on what to buy.



4.  Loyalty Programs.  Mobile CRM has been a strategic objective of CPG brands for several years, but lacked the consumer comfort and behavior to support it. The three points above will provide inroads for more effective CRM. Consumers checking their phone just before they buy something will create opportunity to deliver more effective personalized messaging derived from prior purchase decisions.


Have you used your phone when shopping? How would you like to see stores you frequent using mobile?

Dan Neumann
@dneumann

image credit: newbirth

How Businesses and Marketers Can Use Mobile For Better Results

Advertising is not what it was ten years ago. The past decade has seen the advent of social computing and mobile technology, two forces that changed the game forever. What will the future hold? From point-of-sale to out-of-home, here are the top five ways we see the device formerly known as a phone changing the game this year and beyond.

1. Mobile will completely revolutionize the way local advertisers can connect with potential customers.
While online display advertising has been incredibly effective for many companies, it hasn't offered all that much value to small, independently owned businesses. For one, the web is good at scale, not so good at precision. It's difficult for mom-and-pops to reach the relatively small audiences that might reasonably be expected to patronize their stores.

A number of new location-based services are beginning to provide attractive alternatives for such small-scale advertisers. Foursquare, for one, allows small business to target offers based on a user's actual proximity to their location. These offers can deliver heightened relevance by appealing to a player's status, nearby friends, or demonstrated preferences. A similar service, Gowalla, has experimented with branded badges and actual prizes that users can win if they check in at a location. Google is also catering more to local businesses by making their Place pages more mobile-friendly. Advertisers can now create Place pages that are accessible through Google Maps, attach mobile coupons, and even include QR code stickers in their window that lead you to these pages.

These examples are really only scratching the surface of what's possible for local businesses through mobile. Expect to see more mom-and-pops jump on these platforms in 2010.

2. Growth in adoption of mobile shopping applications will continue to alter in-store consumer behavior, increasing the significance of mobile in point of sale decisions making.
There are a number of mobile applications and tools emerging that consumers can use to make their shopping trips more efficient, productive, and fun. First, there are mobile price comparison apps such as Shop Savvy, Red Laser, Amazon Mobile. These allow shoppers to compare prices at a given location against nearby competitors and online properties -- an incredibly powerful proposition. There are also crowdsourcing tools like Fashism and BazaarVoice's MobileVoice that help shoppers get outside opinions and feedback before purchasing. These types of apps are prime territory for marketers looking to inject a brand into a target audience's psyche at a critical juncture in their decision making process.
Then there are, of course, mobile coupons, which are finally getting some traction. Zavers, Yowza, mobiQpons and Cellfire are actively signing up small businesses, and it's only a matter of time before big box stores get on board. Add increased consumer adoption, POS redemption infrastructure and a social dynamic and the appeal to marketers will be greater than ever.

All of the above will provide inroads for more effective CRM, specifically, loyalty programs. Consumers checking their phone just before they buy something will create opportunity to deliver more effective personalized messaging derived from prior purchase decisions.

3. Brands and agencies will continue to build branded apps, but will also have more attractive display media options, thanks to Google.
In 2009, we saw a number of brands scramble to check mobile off their lists by creating apps. But now that the marketplace is crowded, many will take a step back and look at media-buying options instead. Google recognizes this; it's why they recently acquired AdMob, i.e., to get a corner on all that in-app content. Google will also build up their network of native app content by making development and deployment of ad-supported apps on their Android platform much easier than it currently is on the iPhone. This is all with the aim of more effectively extending it's AdSense platform to mobile.

Yes, you may say that consumers are obviously keen on micropayments for mobile content. They did, after all, spend $6.2 billion on apps this year, according to Gartner. But consumers are even more fond of free, and in 2010 one way Google will challenge the iPhone is by creating a competitive alternative business model for developers. And where good apps are, consumers go and dollars follow.

Most major carriers and handset manufacturers have multiple Android devices slated for 2010 launch dates, so expect Android's user-base to catch up to the iPhone's by the end of 2010. The web-based Android app store is a hurdle to the experience and doesn't come close to the experience of the iTunes' desktop app. If Google can fix this, then developers may start putting Android first on their product roadmaps.

4. Advertising's outdoor real estate is fast becoming another connected channel capable of delivering high-fidelity digital experiences as unique, varied and measurable as more well-established mediums.
Outdoor advertising has traditionally been very difficult to measure. People move past signs through various modes of conveyance at varying rates of speed making it difficult to know who actually notices a given media unit. Add line of sight and dwell time, and the problem is further compounded.

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) signage is changing all this, and mobile is becoming the key to true measurement and engagement. Using their handsets, once-passive viewers can actually interact with an ad now. For example, Toyota released an iPhone app that let users to draw on the Thompson-Reuters screen in Times Square. Nike's "Chalkbot" allowed cycling fans to have a robot stencil messages of support for Tour de France riders on the pavement via SMS or Twitter. Vans' "Be Here" allowed its users to submit video, photo, or text messages from any of the brand's online properties to be displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square.
In all of the previous examples, mobile served as the glue or connective tissue between outdoor and the web. Indeed, the real potential of DOOH is to blend the digital with the physical world in public spaces. It will also eventually allow advertisers to customize once-mass ads to specific individuals based on data that their phone can reveal about them.

5. Consumers have new power to express their opinions through social technologies from anywhere, anytime. Smart marketers will do all they can to encourage and act on this real-time feedback.
While the crowds may not always be wise, they sure are vocal, and mobile devices are their microphones. In unprecedented numbers, consumers are using mobile-enabled publishing platforms, mainly Twitter, to instantly share their thoughts about products, services and brands.

The best companies have started closing this loop by listening to and acting on consumer's feedback. Some are even creating dedicated apps and services to collect it. Taxihack is a service for commenting live on NYC taxi drivers. SeeClickFix and CitySourced both give users mobile applications for reporting things like potholes and graffiti while out on the town. AT&T recently used a similar tactic with an iPhone app, Mark the Spot, which crowdsources areas of weak reception.

Much of the power seen in these mobile applications is through context attached to consumer feedback. Universal Theatres relies on a SMS response system to test out trailers and gauge audience response during screenings. This in the moment feedback makes for a much more accurate representation of viewers true opinions.

Whether brands carve out a dedicated mobile channel or simply rely on Twitter customer service, we'll see more embracing the feedback loop. The challenge going forward will be an internal one, setting up efficient systems to make sure consumer feedback can be acted on and implemented once it's heard.

How will you use mobile this year?



Allison Mooney and Caleb Kramer from MobileBehavior
Dan Neumann, @dneumann

A version of this post originally appeared on Advertising Age's Digital Next Blog.

I can only assume that every new mom is as curious as I am about the ratio of waking to sleeping hours their little newborn gets... Or how about the amount their baby feeds versus the amount that passes into those 10-15 daily diapers!! That we all have a gut feeling something is amiss but no way to prove it.

Enter Total Baby, an iPhone app to help you keep running tabs on just about everything you'd ever want to related to your new child. From the month to month stuff like doctor appointments, vaccinations, and growth... to the day to day in extreme detail.

Almost every feature is accompanied by a running timer. So, for instance, I use it to time my newborn's feeding sessions, baths, tummy time and what short sleeps he does get. I am able to document which breast, how long (or let the timer run), when, which breastfeeding hold and any custom notes. It can also keep track of 'one time events' like diapers changed, burps, medicine given, etc.

The main screen makes it easy to see the last time you changed, bathed and fed your little one or when he last slept. This helps my husband know whether he can let me sleep if it doesn't happen to be feeding time. Daily totals on diapers and feedings help put perspective on the whole input/output question. That's peace of mind knowing my son is healthy and a big help in knowing how many diapers to buy.

I love how customizable everything is. I was able to easily add 'bouncer', 'mommy's arms', and 'daddy's arms' to sleeping locations. But mostly I love this app because it makes me feel a little more in control of my time and able to slowly (very slowly) move my son Simon towards a more regular eating and sleeping schedule.

Totally worth the $5 if it can get to a 4 hour stretch of sleep some time in the next week!!

What's your favorite "mom" app? I'd love to hear of any others that are helpful.

Marta Strickland

Last Friday I had the pleasure of catwalking through the Avedon Fashion Photographs at the DIA. Instead of the clunky handheld audio guides the museum usually supplies, it encouraged you to use your mobile phone (ringer off, of course) at specific pieces in the exhibit.

I saw this on the DIA site before I visited, so I came prepared with my headphones and an expectation to be guided through many extraordinary pieces.

Yet I left wanting more. Not by the photographs -- those alone were gorgeous -- but by the mobile guide.

Okay, so I know in my post on evolving audio guides last October I stated how I'd like to see more mobile guides. And maybe I would if they project more compelling content. Museum Director Graham Beal commentates on eight pieces in the collection. He did tell me some interesting things about the pieces, but I wanted to hear more about the models, the locations, the celebrities through interviews with the people Avedon worked with.

At "stop number five" (as the mobile guide references the featured pieces), Beal poses questions about what Avedon is trying to convey with his shot. "Is this a straightforward comparison?...Does it poke fun at the fashion industry? The interpretation is left to you [the viewer]." I really like how Beal encouraged me to draw my own conclusion about the photographers vision. But do I really need an an audioguide to prompt me?

I'm not saying that this mobile guide was bad. I admire that museums -- the DIA included -- are experimenting with educating visitors in interactive, familiar (to younger audiences) ways.

Museums, keep it up. You may not get it right every time, but I like that you're trying to keep up with technology while preserving amazing history.

Sarah Jo Sautter

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Jonathan Cohen on the birth of his daughter

In the past few years, numerous businesses have popped up offering innumerable products and services for the Internet catering to the business traveling set. As a pretty frequent business traveler, I have benefited from services like GoGo inflight wireless as well as Wi-Fi from a variety of providers inside airports. I can buy books via wireless, check my Facebook profile, send emails and even watch videos on YouTube via my iPhone. And I do, frequently!

The problem is such constant Internet connection inevitably leads to the need for electricty, and as most computer and wireless device users know, there's never enough. You might be able to access Wi-Fi on Virgin America, Delta or American (not everywhere), but you'll probably have a great challenge with a drained battery.

In fairness, Virgin offers 110V outlets - 2 per row of 3 seats - but if you're last to break out your device, you have to delicately ask to "power share". At most airports, it's often a struggle to find power (though I must give kudos to US Air at LaGuardia, which has power stations at each bank of seats); in other airports, I've seen countless travelers sitting on the ground, connected to an outlet most likely placed to power cleaning machinery. This is not particularly convenient, even if you're fortunate enough to spot a free one.

Having spent 3 days at the hospital after my daughter was born, I was struck by how such a great hospital (NYU - amazing doctors and nurses!) lacked outlets in patient recovery rooms. I have been in ICU units where the use of wireless devices are prohibited, but not in a maternity ward, where moms and dads are constantly connected via mobile phones and email devices. I was able to find an outlet next to the area which piped oxygen to patients in need. [Again, I know this is low priority to having the best in healthcare.]

There are other examples where access to power is lacking and definitely more in demand: restaurants, coffee shops, etc. where one might want to connect.

Nice observation, strategy guy. So now what?

I think that there is an as-yet unmet opportunity for individual businesses, electricity utility companies and maybe these Wi-Fi businesses to partner to develop an offering that will undoubtedly be an ever-increasing consumer need. The demand for broadband access might be unquenchable, but knowing that devices will have finite power and require an electric umbilical cord, I believe there is an amazing opportunity to develop an offering. I'd first work on business travelers whose livelihoods often depend on connectivity while on the road.

Jonathan Cohen

Google recently released Goggles which is arguably the broadest reaching AR program available to date. If you are not familiar, it allows you to do two things:

1. Snap a photo of anything and automatically search for results based on images and text within the photo
2. See location and direction specific google maps results by pointing your camera in any direction

The potential of this tool is that of most augmented reality: quick, easy and highly relevant information. This is also another avenue (along with voice recognition software) for mobile devices without a keypad to access search functionality. To see Google's description of benefits check out the video here.

From my tests the text processing works well so things like book covers, business card, and anything with a URL on it return useful results. Goggles was able to identify flat logos but had much more trouble with 3D object logos, for example it immediately identified a Dodge logo on a sticker, but was not able to identify the Dodge logo on the grill of a Nitro.

While many augmented reality apps have been released recently, Goggles is the strongest indication that augmented reality is coming to the masses quickly. If using the camera on you mobile device to gather information and navigate on foot becomes a commonly adopted behavior this has significant implications to marketers.

How Google Goggles Could Impact Marketing
Many things can be done (or not done) with regard to products and storefronts to provide more value to customers and make shopping easier. An analogy is the way natural search, paid search, and search engine optimization work in concert. Users will see naturally occurring results regardless of where they are.

At some point in the future those results could have paid listing next to them or could be enhanced in some way. For example if a person is walking down the street looking for a place to get a coffee they see a Starbucks .25 miles away and next to that appears an ad for Mom and Pop Coffee Shop .5 miles away. So the person is made aware of a local option just a little further away.

Finally products and store fronts will be able to be optimized to better market themselves. For example logos could be optimized to be easily photographable (make them 2D not 3D). Search results could be specific to a model number to provide end users the most important information. For example if I were in market for a new car and saw one that I liked on the street photographing the trim level/logo could return results of fast it accelerates, the mpg and the cost if search results were properly optimized.

My guess is that Layers on Google maps will offer a lot of opportunities for augmented reality marketing through Goggles. Definitely a product to watch over the next year.

Russ Hopkinson
@rhops

Many smartphones have for years featured front-facing VGA quality cameras, in addition to the better back-facing cams for snapping (more or less) better photos. However, there aren't very many places in the world where video calls between mobiles have really taken off, and bridging video calls between phones and computers has been virtually impossible.

Fring is one of the pioneers of VoIP on mobile, and first launched its app for the Nokia, Samsung and SonyEricsson supported Symbian S60 OS in 2007. Over the years they have extended the app's functionality by adding support for Windows Mobile, the iPhone, and earlier this month for Android, and for several PC VoIP applications including Skype. So far, however, there has been no support for Skype video calls either in Fring or in the native Skype app available for the iPhone, Android, and a few other devices.

The latest version of Fring for Symbian S60 changes that. By offering full video support for Skype, it has the opportunity to leverage the global, widespread userbase of Skype and finally make front-facing cameras useful, particularly to those on networks like AT&T and T-Mobile that don't offer video calling themselves. Fring works on both 3G for, depending on your data plan, inexpensive calls, and WiFi for virtually free video time. Is this what will finally make mobile video calls popular?

Update: And it didn't take Fring long to add video calling to the iPhone app as well. Because of the lack of a front facing camera, it's 1-way only.

Demo: Video calls on Fring for Symbian devices (YouTube)

Karri Ojanen