…mobile communications. We’re already heading the right direction as communication and computing devices become more and more mobile the cell phone and laptop are meeting in the middle. And if the technology coming out of India and Japan are any indicator these devices will soon do far more than they can currently.
Currently in the US smartphones can do everything from making a simple call and checking email to surfing the web, to recording video and audio, taking pictures and much more. Overseas, phones have been developed to do far more than that, they can act as a credit card - taking mobile banking to another level entirely. They can act as a boarding pass and security verification device for use on mass transit systems. They have even been connected to heart rate monitors for medical patients or people requiring occasional assistance. When certain vital levels reach a threshold the phone automatically contact the proper authorities.
A giant step was made in this battlefield recently as Nokia purchased Symbian, a mobile operating system, and announced it’s plans to make it’s source open, as well as the establishment of the Symbian Foundation - a common trend among open source software developers. As you can read in many other articles; slashdot, eetimes, thestreet and more - analyst believe this to be a push back against Google and it’s Andriod mobile OS.
I imagine we’ll begin to see more moves for the US mobile market. It’s already a major marketing platform in a number of ways, and quite a few more will begin to appear as further innovations in both the hardware and handsets as well as the software come to the marketplace.
It may seem like a strange thing to say, that you should adjust your advertising and marketing plans due to soaring gas prices, however, consider the high cost of fuel and its impact on the way people are commuting to work, vacationing or just running personal errands. We have seen public transportation skyrocket over the last few months due to the cost of fuel and this may not be a short term change. Even if costs were to come down, people are quickly developing new habits and discovering the benefits of public transportation. These benefits include increased productivity and contributing to saving our environment. People will find that using public transportation creates an opportunity to do work on their laptops.
More and more people have wireless internet connections, meaning they can shop online, research and make business purchases while on the go. This is also an effective time for them to seek other pieces of valuable information - all while helping to save the environment. As if we really needed more reasons to justify making interactive advertising and marketing a strategic part of our marketing budget, this provides an effective way to reach people while they are commuting to work, running errands, or going on vacation. They will have less time for television and more for browsing the Internet.
Interactive marketing is not the only medium that will benefit from this new trend. Out-of-home advertising such as mobile devices, mobile bill boards, custom marketing trucks, and digital signage are all effective ways to reach people on the move and we are seeing a major increase in spending in this area. Without a doubt the increase in fuel cost is having an immediate, painful impact on the lives of millions of people and businesses. The silver lining may be that we are all forced to demand more efficient cars from the auto industry, think before we drive, and effectively use mass transportation which will lead to decreasing our demand on oil, all while becoming more productive and saving our environment.
