Why the Lag in Airlines and Mobile Innovation? My thoughts on MobileMarketer.com

Mobile, mobile, mobile, mobile, mobile! Mobile seems to be mentioned in every other article and included in every marketing and customer engagement strategy – except when it comes to the airline industry. Mobile Marketer published my article yesterday about the economic potential that mobile technology has for airlines – even as the highly risk-averse industry seems to be fearful of incorporating these devices into every aspect of the passenger experience.

So, as the title of the column goes, why are airlines – which were truly cutting-edge during the Golden Age of commercial jets – so fearful of mobile innovation? Mostly, the current atmosphere of uncertainty in the commercial aviation industry is making airlines leery of implementing widespread tech changes if the ROI is hard to calculate.

But time – and consumers – won’t wait around: airlines should only look to how retailers and the hospitality industry are using mobile to drive engagement and revenues and take a lesson or ten from them. But that’s a topic for a future post…

In the meantime, you can read the entire article on Mobile Marketer here and I welcome your thoughts on airlines’ fear of mobile innovation in the comments section below.

Welcome to 2011, the Year of Awesomeness!

Kicking off my blog this year is a list of the top 15 mobile-related columns from 2010, featured in Mobile Marketer – to which I am a contributor.

* 11 trends for mobile apps in 2011
* Identifying three models for a mobile presence
* Mobile swiftly moves to core of all brand communications
* What should the mobile database record?
* What is the growth trajectory for mobile advertising?
* How to market your mobile application to No. 1
* Make customer care rewarding with SMS
* How to buy mobile media
* Why a piecemeal mobile strategy does not make sense
* Five steps to succeeding in mobile commerce
* 5 arguments on why mobile is indispensable to marketing plans
* How to roadmap your mobile Web development
* Why the iPad signals the convergence tipping point
* Key tips on mobile site design and search engine optimization
* Who owns mobile strategy?

For those of you who didn’t read my article the first time around, 5 arguments on why mobile is indispensable to marketing plans is even more relevant today as CMOs firm up their marketing plans for 2011. Here’s a short excerpt:

As the readers of this column will certainly agree, mobile marketing is no fad. Rather, I believe that mobile marketing will – and must – become a central part of every successful marketing and visibility strategy, and I think it is well on its way to becoming just that. However, the integration of mobile marketing into existing marketing strategies on a large scale will not happen spontaneously. Instead, it will come about through a concerted effort to educate companies and other organizations about the benefits and unique qualities of mobile outreach.

Want more? You can read the entire article (and other great posts) on Mobile Marketer here.

Happy 2011!

Why the PR industry must embrace mobile

As just about everyone knows – and as absolutely everyone who reads this publication knows – we are living in the mobile era.

Mobile is the defining communications channel of our time, improving upon – and in some ways eclipsing – the online channel.
As might be expected, many businesses and other organizations have been quick to capitalize on the marketing opportunities presented by mobile. But in the area of public relations, mobile has yet to become a dominant force.

Certainly mobile Web-enabled programs such as Twitter have left a mark on the PR industry. However, the fact remains that most PR professionals are not leveraging the mobile channel optimally, or even scratching the surface.

Tweethearts
As the PR industry continues along the path of commoditization, it becomes critical that PR agencies begin to embrace mobile, not just because of the channel’s immense potential – although that should reason enough – but because mobile communications are some of the most direct, immediate and actionable communications available.

These attributes are what make the mobile channel so effective for marketing and sales, and what can make the channel an invaluable tool for PR practitioners.

That said, marshaling mobile for the service of PR is not as simple as it might seem.

While some aspects and outcroppings such as Twitter are accessible, getting the most from mobile on a PR campaign will almost certainly require partnerships with industry experts and knowledge.

As regulations and best practices continue to evolve as the mobile channel matures, there is a great big grey area of protocol to follow, largely unknown by anyone outside the immediate industry.

This, in turn, presents a major hurdle for PR firms trying to use mobile in a similar way to how they use voice or online communications in their strategies and tactics.

Most agencies do not have the technical capability to implement a large-scale mobile campaign, and fewer would find a positive return on the infrastructural investment necessary to develop that capability.

But assessing the value of mobile in this way is truly counterproductive. Instead, the process of developing mobile partnerships should be viewed as a great opportunity.

The more conversant PR professionals become with mobile, the more services they will be able to offer clients.

Becoming a mobile-capable PR firm through strategic partnerships with mobile solutions providers is a very good way to carve out a profitable niche. More importantly, it is a good foundation for the future.

We time
Why is embracing mobile important for PR firms? Click here to find out.

My mobile dream for 2010 - from Mobile Marketer

The start of the year was a very different kind of New Year for me. Whereas previous years have always started and ended with fireworks, festivities and a very big bang – and a massive headache to boot – this New Year’s Eve was an altogether different affair.

Subdued, reflective, calm and quiet. Huddled up on a snowy mountain top away from emails, news and the twang of social media, I finally had the brain bandwidth to think about goals and dreams for 2010, personally and collectively.

Yes, a very big change to previous years and indicative of the type of mental preparation needed for a new year, a new decade and a new era.

Gone are the brash excesses, hasty decisions and knee-jerk reactions. Out with insecurity and fear, and in with sensibility, logic and decisiveness. Oh, and accountability, all very welcomed, thank you very much.

Welcome to a very different decade in our lives as marketers. Bring it on, I say!

And so we begin this new era from a very different place to where we were in 2000, or 2001, if you are one of those calendar purists.

Saddled with choking debt and less money – but greater and more demanding expectations from consumers and our clients – marketers across all channels have a lot to sort through and sort out.

Although there seem to be startups blooming everywhere – and thank goodness for that: we need new blood, new ideas, new thinkers and revitalized innovation – there are fewer venture capital funds sitting at the end of the digital/tech rainbow.

Veni vidi VC
Whereas 2009 was a funding desert, funds are opening up their coffers once more. But they will be more demanding and expecting a lot more in return. Notice those two words again?

Gone is the era of throwing money at flashy and splashy campaigns and budgets, or reckless startups and the glory days of playing with other peoples’ money. Those days are so over – or at least until we relapse into a time of fake plenty again.

No, this is most definitely an era of thrift and resourcefulness, an era where clients will be tempted to say “You know, we’re going to try doing this ourselves,” or “We’re going to look for a more cost-effective partner because we need to achieve more but with less.”

Sounds familiar, right?

So what does this mean?
Click here to read the rest of the article.