Talk Bite: From Snake to Siri, A Mobile Revolution

For the past few years, mobile execs have made the bold statement “THIS year is the year for mobile”. When in reality, we haven’t seen it yet. There are still so many developments that need to happen before advertisers can truly embrace all of the revolutionary aspects of mobile advertising. Targeting being one of the MAIN elements that needs to be perfected then standardized across networks. That by itself is a post so I’ll save my opinions on that for later. It is expected that by 2013, more consumers will be accessing the internet via their mobile devices than their desktop computers. This statement alone really puts the evolving media landscape in perspective. To think that 14 years ago, having the game Snake on your Nokia cell phone automatically put you ahead of the game. Fast forward to 2012, feature phones are still prevalent with smart phones only owning half the U.S. market. It is anticipated that this year, smart phone sales will reach 1.8 billion units and by next year, smart phone penetration will increase from 50% to 70% in the U.S. What this means is that if you do not have a phone that can remind you to get the dry cleaning, locate your friends and video chat you might as well go back to playing Snake on your Nokia. Clients are slowing embracing mobile technology and advertising whether it be by optimizing a site for mobile screens, taking advantage of location based services or providing engaging experiences within the ad in case a mobile site experience is not available. For brands to stay on top of evolving mobile offerings, clients should start preparing for how media will work with these emerging trends. A few things to consider to get ahead of the market – how could brands eventually take advantage of Apple’s new patent that allows Siri to go online and make purchases for you? Or how Siri could be used in your brand’s app? Or how mobile ads can be served using Google’s patented technology that would allow for targeting based on environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and speed of movement? What about mobile video – how can your client best get ahead of this curve? Everyday there is new news regarding mobile so the only way to be a leader in this space is to stay on top of it and ask “How can our brand best use this news worthy technology?”