Start Your Engines!
In times of tumult, we can easily get over-stimulated. Like second graders eating too many birthday party cupcakes, we get distracted by every. little. thing…and unable to get much of anything done.
Fourth quarter 2009 and first quarter 2010 have been an endless parade of distractions in mobile marketing. New devices, turf wars, what Tomi Ahonen calls a “bloodbath” in smartphones and (this past week) the iPad.
Whew. If I’d had that many distractions in grade school, I’d still be repeating long division. But now that we’re solidly into 2010, it’s time to stop being distracted and start getting mobile. More and more companies are realizing:
- For once, the public is way ahead of marketers. Adam Cahill of ClicZ said it well: “many (if not most) brands are still in the ‘dipping our toes in the water’ phase when it comes to mobile. Meanwhile, consumers have cannon-balled into the deep end of the pool and aren’t looking back.” (Emphasis mine.)
- Applications can be fun, and they can be an important part of the mix. But reality is that only 20% of consumers own smartphones and half of paid smartphone apps get less than 1,000 downloads. That’s just not mass marketing.
- Asia is leading the way, and in many countries, well over half the 18 - 34 demographic is on social media, with most using it via mobile devices. 62 - 84% of adults 18 - 34 are on Facebook in countries including Vietnam (83%), India (79%), South Korea (75%) and Japan (67%). This tsunamic wave is rolling our way - and fast.
Steve Cannon, Mercedes-Benz USA VP of Marketing is quoted in MediaPost this week as “not in a rush to execute on social media. … It will take us time to articulate why [Mercedes Benz] is a premium product. The good news is we have time to do it.”
Mr. Cannon, if you have not started to learn your way around social media and 
mobile marketing, you are now standing at the starting line and the competition will lap you. Ladies and gentlemen: Start Your Engines.
Photo credit: ChilledPhill
