Same As It Ever Was. Excellent presentation by Borrell Associates on the difficulties of measuring mobile marketing performance. No matter how many metrics you get, you still don't know how half your advertising is performing. Technology isn't really changing this truth. Nor is the truth about media obsolescence outdated. Intrigued by the forecast that digital advertising will decline as mobile advertising rises.
QR Codes Can Get You Free Lunch. Saw a great presentation about how Applebee's deployed in-store QR codes to make the wait for lunch entertaining. It involved LOL Cats and I wasn't offended. Even better, if you use the code lunch isn't served in 14 minutes, it's free! Now, if I only ate at Applebee's.
Dentists Can Be Innovators, Too. Saw an excellent panel on how local businesses are deploying mobile marketing techniques to drive traffic and deepen experiences. Great stories from a dentist in Miami about getting past dentist music with Pandora stations.
The Snowball Effect. Interesting case study from Coke about extending a social responsibility campaign with a custom app for a retailer. Nice idea to replace traditional retailer promotions.
Lessons From Holiday 2011. A good panel on what the holidays taught the mobile marketing community. At American Eagle, mobile sales alone tripled year over year! AMEX reported 36% growth in ecommerce spend, most from tablet. Consumers spend 25% more on a tablet than other devices. Sapient Nitro reports that 2/3rds of teens think their mobile device is indispensable to shopping.
Meet the Typewriter Wallahs!
Note the corny Merchant Ivory song praising the typewriter about half way through the video.
Very proud of my husband's latest article: a chronicle of our journey through India.
Mobile is the first screen. Interesting facts from ESPN about fans reranking the mobile screen. Curious to see the fragmented apps and platform strategy in response. Must be a challenge to orchestrate content.
Redefining mobile. A broader definition of what it means to provide access to content from Patrick Quinn, as well as how to categorize and count advertising and revenue-generation opportunities. No surprise, it's a larger opportunity than marketers think, and brands are farther behind than they should be.
It's the use case, stupid! An agency panel on mobile behavior demonstrated to me how agencies are struggling to understand mobile behavior. I wish the panel featured UX gurus, not business leads. We would have gained much more insight into how to write use cases for small-screened devices. Also disappointed that agencies leads aren't doing more to excite clients about mobile. When I raised that point to the panel, I heard crickets!
Cars In The Living Room. Interesting presentation from NASCAR on bringing the race into the living room on all screens. I would have expected an emphasis on social TV given the importance of tailgating to the brand experience. Surprised I didn't hear about it.
Hacking The RFP. Finally, a presentation where the rubber meets the road. A good panel on juicing up the RFP so clients broaden their experimentation in mobile. The tricks were great! Hope someone publishes the transcript.
Generally speaking, it's great to gather people together to talk about mobile. I wish there were more people in the audience from more traditional marketing roles. This is a good education opportunity.
The summit promises to give insight into how brands are taking advantage of mobile technologies to engage consumers. My own Volvo client is speaking on the topic on Saturday morning.
I look forward to sharing updates with you over the next couple of days, along with beautiful pictures of the sunrise.
Late last year, I joined Havas Digital. I'm enjoying my role as SVP, Strategy very much. As the new year begins, I'm growing my team.
I'm hiring a strategy director to work for me in New York. I also have an opening for a strategy director in Boston. The brief: Storytellers Wanted.
Take a look at the job description when you have a chance. If you think you are a match, or if you think someone you know is a match, please get in touch. I'd welcome the conversation, and the opportunity to work with you.
Feel free to share this posting as well.
Mat and I enjoy a truly wonderful marriage. Over the past 12 years, we've had very few disagreements. Only one recurring dispute comes to mind: New Jersey.
You see, Mat hails from New Jersey. He's proud of it. He boasts that New Jersey played a vital role in the Revolutionary War.
Me? I can't see why anyone would fight over The Garden State.
So, it was a surprise to me when Mat invited me to lunch at the Fraunces Tavern today. Mat wanted me to see a famous picture depicting the Battle Of Springfield, his home town. The lunch put our dispute to end.
The Battle Of Springfield played a crucial role in the British withdrawal from the north. I offer this picture to acknowledge its role in solidifying our victory and Mat's triumph. I hereby stand down. The Battle Of Springfield has been won.
Mat
Bryan Fuhr