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Blog Post: What Can You Break?

I am always encouraged when writers can dig nuggets of truth out of other articles and interviews. What separates thought leaders from the rest is the ability to see what is just under the surface and apply it to their area of expertise. Such is the case with writer Kevin Ashton, and his Medium post on what made Steve Jobs great.

Of course, many have written about the former head of Cupertino and his genius. We didn’t need to be informed of that. Articles, books, and soon movies will be telling aspiring creators for years how awesome Jobs was. What I liked in particular about the post from Ashton was how a simple question can turn a good idea into great:

“Why doesn’t it work?”

Jobs was famous for asking this question about all products, including his. There is always something that can be refined to make something better. Often, this contradicts the stance companies have regarding their offerings that are “good enough.”

Not that they would ever admit that. They just don’t work on improving. My company was an industry leader several years ago, but that can only last for so long before competitors catch up and start to put pressure on you. While we still provide our customers an amazing suite of products, I am not talking out of school too much to admit we did not maintain our lead in some areas.

Catching up takes up a lot of energy. Regardless of the industry, most companies know what that feels like. Many who don’t have a mobile strategy in place should be feeling this strain right now.

When looking at your product line, don’t think of the things you like about it right now. That’s for the marketing department to discuss. Product people need to look at what’s wrong. Ashton’s equation of sales plus customers equaling nothing broken is really dangerous. You may have customers now, but your competitors are selling currently as well. Nothing being broken can turn into broke really fast. 

Instead of waiting for that to happen, look for something to break on your own. Perhaps your platform needs to be re-written, but to do that means breaking it down and slowly building that up. Instead of being upset, your customers will applaud your desire to improve their experience or more easily add features.

When you let someone else help you realize your product is broken, it takes more energy to catch up than if you do it on your own. Go find something and break it.

Blog Post: What Can You Break?

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Blog Post: Beware How Each #Mobile OS Displays Email

As more and more web traffic (including email) trends towards mobile, it is important to take into consideration how your messages will be received by each OS. This infographic is a great representation.

Keep in mind your intended audience, and the way that demographic accesses your transmission of information. Is it optimized? Is the resolution a roadblock? Can you display it a different way?

All these questions need to be answered and more if you want to deliver a clear and attractive message to your audience.

Blog Post: Beware How Each #Mobile OS Displays Email

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Blog Post: Twitter Just Changed The Game

Many have wondered what Twitter was going for as a long term business model. Without an IPO, they have been mostly dependent on investor money to keep the pipelines flowing. Sure, they have some ad revenue currently, but anyone who thinks it pays the bills is kidding themselves. For long term viability of the platform, they needed a game changer in terms of revenue.

That announcement came my way today in the form of this great piece from Financial Times.

Twitter has taken a big step on to traditional media turf by signing its biggest advertising deal with one of the world’s leading ad-buyers, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal with Publicis’s Starcom MediaVest Group is worth

What does that mean to the lay person? This site will start generating some real cash very soon. It also means that some high profile brands basically staked their claim on your Twitter feed. Proctor & Gamble, Walmart, Microsoft and Coca-Cola just bought themselves some prime real estate.

I, for one, am excited about this because all the whispers of Twitter going away can now subside. For years it has been my preferred method of consuming and broadcasting information. A fresh supply of revenue will only strengthen the name of Twitter and possibly transform mobile advertising.

Twitter was made for mobile, and brand recognition can only increase with the platform (Vine included). Keep an eye on your feed, because change is coming.

Blog Post: Twitter Just Changed The Game

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Blog Post: Are You Using SMS Alerts?

One thing I love about reading stats is it really drives ideas home. Regardless of the medium – print, digital, billboard, etc. – the right metric can hit you right in the gut. With that in mind, check this:

95% of delivered SMS messages are opened. Translation: if you want your message read, why aren’t you texting your customers?

There is so much more to be digested from this article from Otimo Mobile, but that one stat should make you question everything about you’re mobile strategy. It should keep you up at night.

How can you get SMS into your platform’s marketing plan? The answer could make you feel a lot more comfortable about what you are presenting.

Blog Post: Are You Using SMS Alerts?

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Blog Post: Connected Means Consuming

With all the hyperbole about the Internet being a living breathing organism of a country, most are spot on. Instead of corporations that provide rules, structure and profits to maintain, we watch this conglomerate of mediums evolve with its users better than any other previous form of broadcasts.

I enjoyed reading the results of this survey the Financial Times ran about how it’s content is consumed my type of device. Stats were broken out by print, desktop, tablet and phone with amazing results. Not surprisingly, the financial news provider has seen use sort of meld together in a solid form of consumption.

Basically, we consume all day long through any means necessary.

This could be related to the fact that we are all bored at work, but I think it goes deeper. Never before could I use my walk to the bathroom to check Twitter. Reading in bed was once the only think I could do while falling asleep.

I am always connected, and I need new stuff to consume.

For many of you, this concept is not new or surprising. I think what really drives this thought for me is we now have hard metrics proving what we have always thought. We are constantly finding new ways to consume.

I wonder what will be the breaking point.

Blog Post: Connected Means Consuming

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Blog Post: Google Makes It Rain Rejections

I love this article, mainly because it proves something Apple fans have been saying for years. While it is nice to have a big open field to play in, you can’t be upset when the local weirdos come over to throw the frisbee.

It’s been all over the news today, but a ton of apps have left the Google Play store. I don’t want to gloss over the fact that not all were at the behest of Google, most of them were.

Now that services such as Applause can actually quantify that the quality of apps are higher for iOS, looks like the Android owner decided to do something about it.

I have actually come to appreciate some of the perks associated with Android lately. When most of your team walks around carrying HTCs and Samsungs you start to ask why. The argument against the platform is niche, and can seem a bit elitist. I’ll admit it. When over 60k apps get booted because of spam or quality, however, the argument becomes germane again.

Blog Post: Google Makes It Rain Rejections

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Blog Post: How Can You Connect With Your Customers

There is a lot of gold to be mined in this wrap up of the first day of SES New York, a world-wide network of search and social events to educate marketers. When titans like Google and ESPN show up to share their experiences, you pay attention.

Many companies are already behind the eight ball in terms of connecting with their customers through mobile devices. The industry is still a bit wide open, and many companies are lining up to take your marketing dollars in exchange for ideas. Please don’t lose heart, 2013 is not near the end of the world when it comes to exercising your mobile strategy.

A lot of great companies are ahead of you, there is no denying it. I wish I could have been there when it happened too. If I’m playing catch up, so are many of the so called “experts” in mobile. 

Read through this piece, and continue to search for more information like it. Just have to find it.

Blog Post: How Can You Connect With Your Customers

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Blog Post: Are QR Codes Dead Already?

We are asking this very question at my company this week after I read this article from Ad Age. The author lays out a scenario where mobile users prefer mobile apps to websites, and native apps are already past the need for a QR tag to reference a piece of Internet data. Of course, this brings up the point I have made previously regarding the need for an app in your mobile strategy.

QR Codes were once attached to just about everything — in some forms of media, they still are. Are we really saying this helpful piece of technology is already dead?

This has been an issue I have been investing some time this week. In some industries where mobile apps aren’t a viable part of a strategy, these codes can still help drive customers to pieces of inventory easier.

The rebuttal mentioned is augmented reality, which I think is hilarious  Mobile devices aren’t even close to ready to handle that kind of traffic in large volume. In retail businesses where inventory is moved around the property regularly (clothing, automobiles and grocery stores for example), this is just not logistically possible. 

Invisible ink sounds interesting, although the technology to print it is probably just as behind the curve as augmented-reality tagging. There is already affordable, and sometimes free, software to put QR Codes in business owner’s hands.

Be careful when you read doomsday articles such as this. I love the work being published in Ad Age, and agree with a lot of the points B.L. Ochman offers on QR technology. Maybe she needs to go after her editor for that headline.

Blog Post: Are QR Codes Dead Already?

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Blog Post: A Big Spoonful Of #Mobile Nostalgia

Surely I’m not the only one who scoffs at movies trotting out the same old intellectual property. Instead of giving examples and drawing the ire of fans, let’s just say we all know what I’m talking about. After all, I watched every one of Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies and will be doing the same for the new Man of Steel offering this summer.

In the old days, movie studios would just release a movie and hope people vote with their dollars on what they like. Now, that’s not enough. With every blockbuster, there is merchandising to be printed, video games to code, even tie-in comic books.

The same IPs get translated to new forms of media with the hope of similar popularity.

Today’s article by Venture Beat thinks that approach could save the video game industry. If you are a fan of Mega Man, it just so happens the 25th anniversary of it’s initial launch. Instead of putting the kind of capital into revamping the game for new console systems, why not release to iOS and Android?

Development costs would be down, possible profit could be higher and customers would get a big spoonful of nostalgia.

There are ups and downs on this road. You could pick the one game people don’t remember as fondly as they thoughts. The price for the IP could be so high that app store prices would have to be higher than people are willing to pay. The upside is you could have the hidden gem people were waiting to port to their phone or tablet, and downloads would rack up faster than you thought possible.

I’m not hugely invested in the health of the video game industry, but there are a lot of jobs at stake. Big companies are laying off staff left and right, so mobile could be their saving grace.

Chances are if the price is right, I would replay all the old Mega Man titles on my phone. I’ve already done that with others from my childhood. I’m just not sure how long that can last. 

Blog Post: A Big Spoonful Of #Mobile Nostalgia

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IE11 to appear as Firefox to avoid legacy IE CSS

parislemon:

Max Slater-Robins for Neowin:

To further ensure IE11 users don’t receive an odd version of the site, Microsoft also included the command “Like Gecko” which instructs the website to send back the same version of the website as they would to Firefox. The results of this update are unknown, especially on websites which are poorly coded. The move is strange, but shows that Microsoft is desperate to clean up Internet Explorer and get away from the awful experience in IE6, 7 and 8. 

So, let me get this straight: Microsoft is being forced to trick the web into thinking its own browser is actually that of its chief rival so that pages will render properly?

Such an amazing legacy IE has built.

I love Microsoft. They continue to make one awesome product decision after another!

IE11 to appear as Firefox to avoid legacy IE CSS

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