What forces are going to drive marketing, branding, sales and store communication in 2008?
It’s a big question on the minds of business leaders. As I have pondered this question over the last three weeks, I have come to several conclusions. Over the coming months, I will address them one at a time through this blog.
In the first few weeks, I will approach one that keeps coming to mind: Mobile Web. Now, there are many forms of mobile web. Today, I will specifically address the mobile web infrastructure as it relates to phones and wireless broadband cards.
Sooooo, Mobile Web you say? It has nearly become a dirty word in marketing because it’s been such a flop so far. All of the promise of seeing a potential customer walk past your coffee shop, only to receive a coupon on their cell-phone, turn around and enter your shop for a Gargantuan Frapa-capa-chalupa-chino has never materialized. HOWEVER, I have seen some exciting progress first hand, so let’s dive into the infrastructure advances.
The Mobile Web is not a new concept. In the US, we have been viewing WAP pages on our cell phones since the late ‘90s. However, what is worth noting is that in January 2007, the web was accessed from a mobile device by 30 million users in the US. That is 19% of the users that accessed the web via a PC over the same timeframe (comScore). Further, web data services are growing at a rate of 17% annually (Questex). This is a mass considered to be a tipping point.
The great news is that we can see this number continuing to increase in 2008. With 3G (3rd Generation) networks reaching places as remote as NW Arkansas (Editors note: Rockfish Interactive is headquartered in NW Arkansas), the world can surf the internet with mobile devices at download speeds reaching 2Mb per second. That is faster than a T1! Further, with Sprint visiting us in the Rockfish office in late August, we learned that Sprint XOHM networks, pronounced ZOAM, capable of speeds near 70Mb/s are already soft launching in three US markets: Chicago, Baltimore and Washington. (XOHM is the brand name for Sprint Nextel’s WiMax, which is a 4G technology.) Sprint Nextel, partnered with Clearwire Corp, expect to cover 100 million people in the US by the end of 2008 with speeds 35X as fast as 3G.
Whew, that was a bit technical for my liking, but I think it got the point across that the infrastructure is finally available and only getting better. This opens a lot of doors for marketers, but also leads us into a developing market that is sure to experience some growing pains.
Next time we will look at some of the barriers to Mobile Web advertising and discuss whether or not they are real issues.