Mobile Etiquette – The Social Shift

As part of my study of Multiculturalism in Marketing Communications, I have been exploring the ways in which mobile has invaded/been invited into our personal space, and how our own values impact upon the way we want to receive communication from brands. I stumbled across this infographic on Cellphones.org, and thought it brought to light several key issues. I have had several debates in the past 6 months about the acceptance of answering calls, reading texts and emails whilst engaging with someone face to face, and the discussions of always been hotly contested. What are your views on the subject? Is mobile changing the way we view social interaction? What is deemed acceptable behaviour in such situations? Is the prevalence of ‘instant communication’ creating a necessity for an immediate response, or should the traditional mindset stand strong?

Any thoughts will be included as part of my primary research for my Masters Unit, so would love your feedback

Convergence 2010 – Yay or Nay?

The Mobile OS Market – Infographic Magic

Shamelessly stolen from the brilliant GIGAOM blog, thought this is a great graphic to show the dramatic shift in the past 3 years in the smartphone mobile OS market.

There are a few noticeable and obvious trends (namely rise of RIM, Apple and Android, fall of Windows and Linux), but I honestly believe this year will throw up several more surprise. Keep an eye out for:

• The rebirth of Windows Phone – This will depend on the time of its official launch, but after the positive reception at and post MWC, it is clear that it will start to reclaim some of that last market share. This may not be too evident until 2011 however, with a proposed Q4 2010 launch.
• The Android explosion continues – 2009 was very much a testing the water year fro Android, with the high profile Motorola Droid, Nexus One and HTC Hero all contributing to a jump in share, however 2010 will be the year when Android is a success based on the broad range of other handsets it will feature on. I expect an even more significant leap this year.
• Symbian stability – Despite receiving several body blows in the form of the iPhone and Blackberry, I still expect due to their huge huge sales figures for Symbian not to make its fall from grace just yet. It will take a lot more than a few rivals to bring down this behemoth.

Isolate your Voters using Mobile – by the Conservatives

In marketing today, it is becoming commonplace for any which brand to build an iPhone app just to tick a box. To say ‘we have an iPhone app’ is deemed to be ‘cutting edge’.

Have brand managers and marketers completely forgotten the reasoning behind communicating with their audience, and the fundamentals of marketing?

I get furious when I see pointless applications hit the market from short sighted brands, with no consideration for market segmentation or consumer base, and the latest is no exception.

The Conservative party has just launched its iPhone application which will supposedly “help both existing supporters and floating voters learn more about their policies, connect with them on social networks and share political news with their friends.” (read more…)