One More Mobile Divination for 2010!

These predictions come from a recent column in MediaPost by Ryan Deutsch, vice president, strategic services and market development for StrongMail Systems. It’s definitely worth a read! His forecast? Cautiously optimistic (my preferred stance), while straight up on what's working and what needs work!

"As we all gear up for the new year, I figured I would join the long list of bloggers making predictions for 2010. As a courtesy, I am going to keep my positions simple and VERY straightforward, as this will make it easy for each of you to call me out at year's end for any and all completely incorrect calls that I made.” Cheers, Ryan!

The Year of SMS, Sort of Could it be? As email marketers, we have heard for years how critical SMS communications would be to brands and consumers. In fact, I recently heard an analyst joke that we just finished the Decade of SMS Marketing. It felt like each year would be the year for marketers to invest heavily in mobile programs, but that investment never seemed to become a reality.

While mobile has become critical for alert and time-sensitive communications, applications for direct marketing have not materialized. While some brands have leveraged mobile in a meaningful way (to capture off-line options to campaigns, for example), few have committed heavily. I think 2010 will be the year of mobile - but not from a traditional direct marketing standpoint. As applications proliferate on mobile devices and further integrate location services, we will see marketers trying to leverage true location marketing.

I think 2010 is the year for early adopters in location-based marketing. If you are not the early adopter type, be sure you are using mobile for critical alerts or offline opt-ins while you wait for location-based case studies to hit the street. Then make sure you have a mobile (iPhone/Android) application ready to go for 2011."

You can read the rest of Ryan's predictions on MediaPost here

There's No Free Lunch - and there doesn’t need to be

Artists and corporations have lost billions to the “borrowers’ market”, i.e., illegal downloading. But at last, a win-win solution appears on the horizon for all - including the pirates…walk the plank anyone?! It seems the debate over online content "FOR FREE" (jeeez, how I hate that expression!) has finally found an amicable resolution for, at least, the music industry.

This month, FreeAllMusic.com, offers a service that allows users to download songs "which may be copied and shared — unencumbered, in other words, by digital rights management restrictions."

What's the catch here then? Well, instead of paying the 99 cent iTunes fee, you’ll have to watch a 15- to 30-second ad. The ad, however, is of the viewers choosing, and as the viewer is in full control over the choice of song and commercial, the viewer has opted in, engaged and is a whole lot more receptive to the message delivered.

Says FreeAllMusic.com, “We have made this process easier than stealing.” Brilliant, but what took you guys so long?

As technology morphs, marketing and marketers will follow suit, finding, creating (or stumbling upon) new solutions to accommodate changing needs and trends. To be sure, these are truly exciting and challenging times to be involved in marketing. And I find stories like the one about FreeAllMusic inspiring as it shows how capable we are of adapting to new environments and of handling the challenges they pose. For those armed with some creativity and vision, the sky really is the limit!

2010.....BRING IT ON!

The Glad Demise of the Ugly American

For a very long time America has been seen as the global Pac-Man - gobbling up everything in its path. The debt accrued in a quest for "more and better" (in addition to an international policy of exploitation and planet policing) has sullied the intended image of America as being a beacon of opportunity, democracy and freedom.

On a domestic level it has left many in more than a bit of a pickle. Strained personal finances and a shortage of work hours have left Americans with time on their hands to spend someplace other than a restaurant or a shopping mall. Yep. The bottom has fallen out of the bucket - and change, though painful, is proving to be a very positive thing. Rewarding, even!

According to an article in the NYT, in response to the "Great Recession," many Americans are choosing to spend their time and money on things like exercise, gardening and aesthetics, and are re-discovering the simple pleasures of "friend and family time." People are now being presented with the opportunity to internalize the notion of it being better to "do things" than to "have things."

And although retailers are suffering from the shifting value system, museums and the performing arts are enjoying an increase in support. People are still spending, but are opting for experiences over objects. Economists are concerned that the end of a spendthrift mentality could hamper efforts to revive the economy, but with people redefining their values, marketing just have to follow suit as in any market shift. In the big picture, we'll all be better off for it.

Will this change in priorities be permanent? One can only hope so!

Meanwhile, despite our struggles, here's to the hope that 2010 brings America happier individuals and families with a greater appreciation for their lives - and a greater empathy for the struggles of our neighbors around the world. After all, we're all in this together.