SOAPBOX: The rise of the mobile giant
Nathan Luker, Account Manager
Last week I was sitting at a family event, watching my 18 month old cousin show everyone a photo on his mother’s iPhone. With all of us huddled around the little guy, ages ranging from two to eighty, it finally dawned on me the clear shift in our generational technology uptake.
Keep in mind that my cousin has not even been able to say the obligatory ‘mum’ word yet… or any words for that matter… however his finger precisely glided over the screen of the iPhone4 and directed me to the photo in question, with freakish ease.
To be honest, it is no real surprise that my little cousin publicly donned his smartphone skills in that manner. A recent study in America found that 34% of Gen Y and 20% of Gen X mothers, basically one in four, were letting their children use a smartphone by age two. This leads to little surprise that some major toy companies are witnessing major decline and the old ‘Sunday night board game’ is now exactly that… a boring game.
B&T reported in July that around 46% of Australians now own smartphones, up from 36% last year, and predicted this would reach 60% by 2012. This uptake is not just a Gen Y fad with 23% being over 50 and 38% being over 40 years of age. What we are witnessing here is not a product fad or even a brand migration… this is a total shift in our society’s behavior and for marketers; it offers a multitude of opportunity.
A Nielson survey of 2,827 Australians aged over 16 from both metropolitan and regional areas found that those aged 16 to 29 are the most frequent mobile web users, with 71% saying they access the web daily on their smartphones. Along with this, nearly half admitted to using a mobile web browser daily at home and one in four accessed social networking sites daily.
Business owners and organisations need to embrace these consumer behavior trends and tailor their marketing plan accordingly. Developing a website can no longer be based on one touch point. At the very least, scaling needs to be taken into account for all devices and the development of refined mobile sites are definitely recommended. Loyalty programs need to be redefined, social media integrated and mobile applications considered... not to mention your online store enhanced.
Consumers expect a seamless transition from offline to online and across all mobile devices. These devices need to interlink and work effectively or the consumer will simply move to the next provider who can keep up. Adding customer value is now more complex and is more about who can personalise the brand experience, for the individual, and offer specialised buying opportunities based on their habits.
This is the reality of mobile and a taste of the things to come in the future. Gone are the days of killing some time playing ‘snake’ or changing the cover of your Nokia with the latest trend… consumers are in the market for sleek, corporate, fast operating and computer comparative devices that learn their habits and support a lifestyle. You only need to run a basic search in the industry to learn of remarkable happenings in mobile and Mcommerce – from the infamous Google Wallet, iOS5 platform and iCloud technology to the innovation by Tesco in Korean train stations… we’re becoming more dependent on mobile devices and addicted to how they impact our lives.
The really scary part of this is the fact that I was virtually born at the start of the 90’s and my nostalgia has already set in. By age five, I really hope my cousin is not showing me another photo… while multi tasking emails, ‘checking in’ to our family event and ‘Googling’ the species of a bird flying overhead! The new technology curve has swiftly increased and we are so excited to see where it takes us.
We love talking about new technology and how we can embrace the ever-changing landscape to build our clients’ profile and genuine connections with their audience. If you’d like to discuss with us further, want to embrace change or just talk ‘mobile’ - feel free to contact the Press Play HQ.