A common behavior, well known to clicks-and-bricks retailers, is that consumers will research products before coming in store to buy them. This is especially true of electronics goods, but I suppose it’s conceivable they do it for home appliances, automotive purchases, and anything else that is generally of high consideration. Mobile offers the capability of researching while you’re physically in the store. And, since most stores are now ghost towns, it enables the consumer to help themselves.

Expect more of that in December 2011.

Note the desire for coupons and sale information. People want deals, dammit. It’s not exactly something I’d be pushing if I were a mobile marketer. Why cannibalize my in-store sales? Well – I might think of a way to drive urgency using the device. But I wouldn’t want to throw a “20% off” display ad just because I want proof linking the mobile channel to in-store sales. Certainly, there could be a mechanism. A reward of some type, perhaps.

Finally, there’s that 32% figure that sticks out. ‘Buying products’. It’s 2003 all over again and smartphones are to mobile commerce as broadband was to ecommerce.

The second set of statistics follows below. They used a control group and they’re reporting the differences. It’s suggesting that mobile is more effective at driving a number of brand metrics (not direct attribution metrics like a web analyst might assume). Their reporting on the relative impact of the channel on self-reported attitudinal changes, post exposure.

A summary states:

“According to Dynamic Logic, there are three important factors that drive a successful mobile campaign. They are the location of a brand name or logo within a mobile ad matters: left-side brand placement is generally most effective and has a strong impact on advertising recall; clear and persistent branding is important for brand awareness and a strong call-to-action encourages interactivity and engagement and helps drive purchase intent.” Source.

The take away is not “use mobile to drive awareness”. That is not a good takeaway. Mobile is not a mass awareness channel, no more than paid search is. It’s not the way the channel works and it’s certainly not the way consumers want the channel to be used with them. Do you really want to hit people with a SMS coupon every time they visit Deborah in accounting at the north side of the building? (It’s just within the 200m radius of a Starbucks). That’s the wrong takeaway, even if it is highly likely that awareness is higher. (It better be, there’s less on the screen to look at.)

Mobile, good mobile, forces much more discipline. It demands subtraction. It demands that choices be made. This isn’t a corporate webpage where everything can be added.

There’s more constraint because there’s more constraint.

Finally, there’s Korea. It’s the last piece of evidence I’ll put forward.

The video below explains how Korean marketers are assisting people rescue otherwise wasted time. In this instance, it’s shopping from the subway, using smartphones and codes.

This represents a fairly impressive increase in productivity. Mobile enables consumers to be more productive in their lives by converting what was previously wasted opportunity into rescued time. You’re also resurrecting outdoor display advertising and commanding direct consumer attention AND action. It’s awesome and goes well beyond ‘click this QR code to see our awesome marketing microsite’.

Recall the product adoption lifecycle. Innovators will try things simply because it’s novel. There’s a long chasm. Is that chasm ever brutal. At the other side of it there are early-adopters. Early-adopters will try things because it’s obvious that it will be useful. What we’re seeing here is some evidence that we’re through the chasm, at least when it comes to porting very common digital activities that used to happen on a laptop, over to a mobile device. The grayer area is the role of portable devices (tablets) and that role in driving changes in consumer behavior at mass.

How would you use mobile, not so much to increase awareness (it’s not a mass channel) but to complete the action-purchase portion of the conversion cycle?

It’s also the first get together after eMetrics New York, which was a major, and had big time Canadian attendance. These tend to be among the more interesting evenings. It has also been some three months since the last WAWTO event, so there should be quite a few fresh stories.

18. BBC News App: Excellent usability and good content refresh rate. No paywalls and full access. An excellent experience all around.

17. Exoplanet: Continuously updated with the latest exoplanet discoveries. Excellent data visualization and navigability.

16. Twitter: The official app is usable and more convenient than the web.

15. Wikipanion: Of all the Wikipedia apps, the most basic one is the most usable and detailed. I used to use Discover for the longest time, but ultimately stopped because of a lack in detail.

14. Kindle: All my amazon books in one place. Convenient and a huge depth. I tried Kobo, but couldn’t get past the awkward usability.

13. WordPress: The app is functional enough to get posts out. Very handy.

12. Carcassonne: Among the best analytical games you can find for the iPad.

11. Netflix: Search what else there is to watch while you watch Netflix on the main TV screen. You can watch content too, I suppose, however, battery power is a bit of an issue.

10. WeatherEye HD: I get the weather from the weather station at the school down the street. That’s pretty hyperlocal.

9. AirTycoon: A clone of the classic KOEI game about airline logistics. It’s not for everyone. Well. It’s not really for anyone except for those who like yield management and logistics. And think of it like a game.

8. Catan: The classic is excellent and the port is usable.

7. CivRev: The XBOX port performs very well on the iPad.

6. Osmos HD: Simply a beautiful experience and a fun game.

5. Big Calc Free: Extra, oversized buttons and a very good response rate makes this one the best of all the calculator clones.

4. Google Earth: The experience is beautiful and I find myself in there for very long periods.

3. Samurai: Among one of the best hex tile placement games.

2. Game D Story: A Meta-Meta business simulation game…about making video games.

1. Artificial Life HD: The first genetic algorithm game I’ve played. Absolutely excellent and visually stunning.

What’s on your list?

“These developments raise several questions:

1. Why does Apple collect and compile this location data? Why did Apple choose to initiate tracking this data in its iOS 4 operating system?
2. Does Apple collect and compile this location data for laptops?
3. How is this data generated? (GPS, cell tower triangulation, WiFi triangulation, etc.)
4. How frequently is a user’s location recorded? What triggers the creation of a record of someone’s location?
5. How precise is this location data? Can it track a user’s location to 50 meters, 100 meter, etc.?
6. Why is this data not encrypted? What steps will Apple take to encrypt this data?
7. Why were Apple consumers never affiamtely informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner? Why did Apple not seek affirmative consent before doing so?
8. Does Apple believe that this conduct is permissible under the terms of its privacy policty? See Apple Privacy Policy at “Location-based Services” (accessed on April 20, 2011), available at www.apple.com/privacy.
9. To whom, if anyone, including Apple, has this data been disclosed. When and why were these disclosures made?

I would appreciate your prompt response to these questions and thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Al Franken

United States Senator”

Question 1, 7, 8 and 9, if answered honestly, could be explosive. The premise of the questions are based on how an EU regulator would think.

They’re very good questions.

For specific firm, I will go from being worth a stable $170/month subscriber, complete with PVR, to being worth nothing. I’m switching my Internet to a non-UBB restricted wholesaler. I will continue to spend $10/month for Netflix. I will get my live TV with the “free”, Over-The-Air broadcast signal from CN tower, which I have a clear view from. Dedicated ad impressions will take a pretty big hit, as the number of must-see, full attention shows are less than 5. I can’t anticipate myself suffering through TV without a PVR.

I can’t imagine deliberately exposing myself to an abusive medium any longer.

That attitude ought to concern broadcasters and marketers alike. I’m not alone in holding it.

The decision hasn’t been easy. But a lot of factors contributed.

The first is attention. I almost always have a second screen in front of me. My home office is positioned so I can see the TV, dead ahead. My couch is positioned in front of the TV. From my office, the TV competes with my laptop. From my couch, the TV competes with my iPad, and with journals. Finally, the content on TV just couldn’t compete.

I’ll go 2 hours with the TV on, looking up only to fast forward through the most annoying bits (what the hell is happening on CNN?). What was I paying for? That’s the second reason: the annoyance of having to fast forward using a PVR.

And that’s the third factor – choice and control. I don’t understand why the on-demand standard isn’t the ultimate standard.

TV isn’t dying. It isn’t dead. But it’s lost the right to be a constant.

But the other two screens are winning. Cutting the cable is the tipping point.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

We got into mobile analytics and I praised the recent of efforts of our Mia Umanos for working so hard with the Web Analytics Associations’ Research Committee and the mobile analytics project. Mobile analytics is not easy, but there are very large opportunities to demonstrate the value of the channel using the method.

I ‘d like to see the ETL process for mobile analytics get better. I’d hope that those vendors would pick up where traditional web analytics companies have left off – and who knows, there might be a very good one out there. There also happens to be a great capacity to do evil with that data, and I’m rather happy hear the unanimous agreement at the table on cleaning out personally identifiable data from the main bulk.

Later, the conversation degenerated into a John and Kate Plus 8 fest. Which I won’t cover here.