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The Mobile App-trap
If it’s not the latest news about Facebook, or jaw-dropping valuations of businesses such as Skype or LinkedIn, I suspect you’ll be mostly hearing about the incredible explosion in mobile and tablet usage and yes, of course the very latest must-haves in app development.
Like many you’ll probably be enthusiastically working out how your business can benefit from this new-found ability to nuzzle up close to your customers, and like many you’ll probably also be picking your way through the pitfalls and confusion which ensues.
The recent episode of UK TV show The Apprentice in which the teams had to create a mobile app, is a great illustration of some of the challenges to be faced. Lara O’Reilly summarises these challenges nicely in her article “Brands Should be Fired up by Apprentice App Task” in Marketing Week . Read more..
Defining, directing and managing your own digital data is crucial for success
“Trust no one; trust only what the experiments and the data tell you”
Sir Paul Nurse – President of the Royal Society “Science under Attack” 2010 BBC Documentary
Ok so perhaps we shouldn’t take the first part of this statement too literally, collaboration after all is an essential part of marketing development today but when it comes to consumer insight however, parallels can certainly be drawn from the sentiment of the latter half of Sir Paul’s statement.
This BBC documentary was about why public trust in key scientific theories has been eroded, but as Sir Paul Nurse discussed the issue, my mind detached itself from the messages on the cathode ray, and onto one simple and firm held thought – make sure you have full access, availability and understanding of all the facts.
I mean, in simple terms, why not, the data is yours, why shouldn’t you?
Read more..
Empathy will drive your business
I’m having one of those freaky weeks when everything I read, listen to or stumble across is talking about the same thing – the importance of the emotional versus the rational part of the brain.
My series of coincidences began when I started reading a fascinating book by Jonah Lehrer – How We Decide. In the book he eloquently explains what influences our decisions and, amongst many other things, why sometimes we’re inexplicably struck to act on something we just can’t quite put our finger on… And it got me to thinking about how technology might have impacted on our ability to make decisions. The chapter that made a big impact on me was about how we’re basically hard-wired to be humane – purely because of our ability to sympathise with others. But what gets to us, isn’t just the thought that someone might be sad, upset or angry – we also rely on visual cues – facial distortions or other visible signs of distress to keep our actions in check.
What’s in a Year? This one’s all about being social and highly mobile.
From Twitter’s 10 most powerful tweets of 2010 to the top 10 predictions for 2011, it has indeed been that time of year when the web is awash with articles which reflect and opine about where we’ve been and where we’re heading. It is no co-incidence therefore that our first blog post on our shiny new site takes a moment to reflect on the challenges that brands have been facing, and to look ahead to outline the areas they are going to need to consider over the coming months.
The general consensus for the year ahead is that social media will continue to grow in importance, fuelled by mobile access and continued acceptance across all generations. Sure there are a million and one other things going on out there right now and this is hardly anything new, but whether it’s the death of websites, or the emergence of new operating systems you can bet that somewhere along the line one of the drivers for change is related to social or mobile.
