Living in a pocket

A new survey by Synovate reveals that 82% of Americans never leave home without their cell phones. Once upon a time, it was the American Express card. But it’s not just us in North America – half of Russian mobile users would rather lose their wallets than their phones, and 32% of people across the world surveyed said that they “couldn’t live without it.” By the end of 2010, 70% of all people will own one. Carriers everywhere rejoice!

Seems not so long ago we were carting around “mobile” devices the size of bricks – I used to own one.

But we’re no longer using our mobile phones solely for conversations and texts. These have become pocket-sized assistants, and are the thread that keeps our business and personal lives sewn together. Banking, dining, shopping, research, etc. I’ve written lengthy articles and submitted to editors from mine. So there’s no denying the importance of mobile in our daily lives, and the growing impact that mobile is having on the way businesses communicate and connect with their audiences.

Marketing research firm The Kelsey Group expects an increase in the mobile advertising market from $160 million in 2008, to $3.1 billion in 2013. That’s a HUGE increase. And in the next few years, millions of us (who haven’t already) will be opting for smartphones over PC’s – for both cost and convenience.

Smartphones have already forged ahead into the social media arena. According to USA today, about 65 million of Facebook's 300 million members are mobile users – that’s more than triple the amount of just eight months ago.

These numbers more than suggest that mobile marketing has moved far beyond the experimental stage – this is fantastic news for marketers in just about every industry. The limitations to mobile’s use and capabilities are really only limited by our inability to imagine the future.

Mobile is giving businesses and brands the ability to live in their customers’ pocket. What’s so bad about that? To me, this is an exciting moment. Despite the very challenging environment we’re in, mobile - like social media – is proving that it’s a powerful communication tool that is here to stay.

The Boy Who Twittered Wolf

Last week, I read a blog which mentioned a website - http://www.hsbcreviews.com/ - created solely to whine and gripe about HSBC Bank. 95% of the comments were complaints and most likely a reflection of the quality (or lack thereof) of HSBC’s customer service. Feeling the love for HSBC? Clearly, the blog’s creator and community are not, and have gone to considerable lengths to share their dissatisfaction with the rest of us. Cheers!

Blogs like HSBC reviews and social media in general have become a modern day soapbox, giving a voice to anyone and everyone with a gripe to air. That’s a great thing, isn’t it? Isn’t it? But then I ask myself, how much attention should we pay to the online rants of the companies vilified? I’ve read some absolutely diabolical posts on Yelp talking about companies with whom I’ve had great experiences. And then again, I’ve had horrid experiences with a number of airlines that my friends have raved about.

Who is right, and who is wrong in the social media equation? And who do we listen to do make an informed decision, really?

Right now, there are a gazillion or more negative content producers using social media to churn out their messages of dissatisfaction. Can’t get satisfaction from customer service reps? Sure, go post some comments. But the unfortunate result to this will be like the boy who cried wolf: using social media as the forum to post scathing comments (already in the millions) will eventually lead to this having no credibility at all.

It’s in our human nature to seek out a scapegoat, but the boy who cried wolf came to a rather tragic ending over a similar practice.

Social media is in relative infancy. As it grows up, we need to find a balance over how much weight we give personal experiences and opinions, and what we choose to do with that information. In time, businesses too will learn to use this data in the most efficient and effective way, to adjust and correct their misdoings and misdeeds.

But until then, our experience with social media is on an upward learning curve. Let’s not abuse it before reaches its peak.

Great Expectations - we all have them!

The following excerpt is taken from an article that appears in MediaPost's Marketing Daily on October 19, 2009

According to the Random House dictionary, we've been having expectations since around 1540, give or take a few years.

The noun, ex•pec•ta•tion [ek-spek-tey-shuhn], has a number of meanings -- but I'm most partial to the following, especially when used in reference to the start of a new agency/client relationship:

Often, expectations. a prospect of future good or profit: to have great expectations.

Ahhhh...

Being responsible for new business retention, I can spend several months courting and cajoling a prospective client. During that time, I'll have to prove to the CEO and CMO that my agency is capable of representing Brand X, that we truly get their message and value proposition, and can launch impactful PR campaigns that produce great outcomes -- not just "outputs" -- on ever-shrinking budgets. We'll have to jump through countless hoops and hold conference calls until the contract is signed, and then we're expected to be off and pitching posthaste!

Except there's one important thing missing from the above. An outline of expectations. Not from the client, but from us.

I've actually given it a name: "Statement of Expectations". It sounds rather arrogant at first, but it's become absolutely necessary when taking on new clients in our age of "great expectations."

Why? Because clients expect a great many things from our agencies -- PR, ad, creative, we're all in the same boat -- but in many cases they can't or don't communicate precisely what their expectations and needs are. And left to chance, in an economic climate that's so highly strung, the smallest mistake or misunderstanding can become the impetus for losing a client.

So rather than taking that chance, why not spell it out for our clients beforehand? If we did that more often, perhaps we'd have more fulfilling agency/client relationships -- more clients for longer, as well as staff who felt more respected and appreciated, and overall, a stronger agency brand.

Sounds pretty good to me.

So next time you're about to jump into bed with a new client, ask yourself if you're ready to wake up next to them every day. On second thought, don't. But you should be asking a great many things....

Like what? Read the entire article at MediaPost