The mobile world descended on Barcelona this week where tens of thousands of delegates discussed how mobile is disrupting multiple industry sectors. However, there is still one glaring barrier to total world domination – the industry’s failure to crack big ticket purchases on mobile.
More on this from our friends at Marketing Week >>> The world has gone mobile, so why is m-commerce lagging?
Cashless societies could become the norm but much will depend on consumer confidence in the available options and the level of security.
Getting rid of cash has long been on the agenda of credit card providers, which trade on the fact that they can provide transaction data to the retailers they service. But now a new wave of virtual ways to pay means that consumers could soon be using new currencies Bitcoin and Ven to pay for goods too. Meanwhile, the UK’s three largest mobile networks got together earlier this month to work with retailers on consistent technology that will allow people to pay via a mobile ‘wallet’.
Read more via Is it the end of the line for cash? | Trends | Marketing Week.
The proportion of web traffic via mobile will hit 20 per cent this Christmas, according to IBM figures, and brands that fail to implement a mobile marketing strategy are losing out on sales by putting up ‘closed for business’ signs in front of smartphone owners.
But marketers wishing to make the most of the growing m-commerce trend that now includes big-ticket items need to negotiate an ever wider choice of operating systems, apps and advertising options.
via How brands can cook up mobile purchases | Trends | Marketing Week.
Marketers might have different priorities from members of the public when it comes to admiring businesses and brands, but according to a new list of the companies most respected for their marketing, those brands that please their customers are also the ones that most impress marketers.
1 John Lewis
2 Apple
3 Virgin
4 Nike
5 Procter & Gamble
6 Innocent
7 Coca-Cola
8 O2
9 Unilever
= 10 Tesco, Virgin Atlantic and Volkswagen
The top brands on the list, compiled by research company Grupo Consultores UK (GCUK) from interviews with more than 200 marketers, would not be out of place on a list of consumers’ favourite brands either. With retailer John Lewis, technology company Apple and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin group taking the top three places, marketers clearly admire and perhaps envy brands who can generate enthusiasm from their customers.
via Ten brands that gain the most admiration from marketers | Trends | Marketing Week.
Starbucks’ decision to cut NFC out of the loop could encourage more retailers to take the same route and develop bespoke mobile phone payment apps, instead of waiting for stores and handsets to become NFC compatible.
via Will retailers cut NFC out of the loop? | Opinion | Marketing Week.
Now here is an interesting debate in the offing: Rosie Baker, writing at Marketing Week, is talking about Coco Cola, Old El Paso and Peacocks marketing and use of Twitter during the riots in London.
There are many more serious issues at hand concerning the rioting that has taken over London and other cities in the UK for the past three days, but being glued to Twitter and social media even more than usual for the past 24 hours has made me question exactly what it is brands think they are using Twitter for.
Read the full article: Riots on the streets on London | Blogs | Marketing Week.
I wonder how this all extends? Should brands be changing their press, radio and TV advertising during the riots? Are we to allow the rioters and looters to make their agenda the only one being discussed.
I do agree that brands need to be very careful if they try and piggy back their message on what has been very distressing, large scale, criminal activity.
Marketers are failing to invest in targeted mobile channels, such as search, by being too fixated on smartphone apps, according to a study by Forrester Research.
The report, which surveyed over 260 marketing professionals across Europe, found that 32% of UK marketers had launched a branded mobile app in the last year while only 26% had optimised their websites for mobile browsing.