As we zoom towards 2013, we thought we'd ask mobile experts the world over what surprised them about the past year, what they expected in the coming year and what they think needs a bit more attention. Todays interview is with Patrick Meyer author of Steve Jobs & The World of Mobile.
For four years, Steve Jobs drove mobile/tablet innovation with smart, user-savvy, industry eclipsing solutions. Then, with his passing, the company gets cautious, conservative in its introductions and the company rides its accumulated brand momentum and rocketing stock price. On the anniversary of SJ's death, the track record illustrates this: iPhone 4S, iOS5, iPad 3, iPhone5, iPad4 -- all super upgrades, but no bold innovative, inspiring products. It is reported that Jobs had a 4-year pipeline in place, yet a conservative Tim Cook moves slower than his visionary mentor: Apple TV 2.0 is not here; NFC/iWallet is not here; total ecosystem re-invention (instead of tweaks every six months) is not here. Meanwhile, Samsung is taking the leadership position in smartphones and is driving the Android ship. This includes the current Galaxy portfolio with NFC and fresh new UX (& I am an Apple fanboy!)
Despite what tech players will say, the number 1 trend is going to be "the empowered smartphone user shifting to 'show-rooming' and new mobile/tablet driven shopping/buying. Holiday 2011 gave a glimpse of it -- comparison shopping in Walmart via Amazon.com. This holiday, 25% to 50% of shoppers (overall population and then millennials, respectively ) intended to showroom. Big box retailers freaked and announced they will match any online retailer showroom generated prices in-store. In actuality, the consumers are going to eclipse these numbers. This will crush retailer (Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc.) margins. And consumers and blogs have gone social on this match policy. So in 2013, smart smartphone and tablet owners will drive ecommerce with e-value and e-convenience. The "show rooming behavior" has just begun!
E.A.T. is the dynamic to watch. Engagement & Activation Technology via smartphones. Aka, it is a whole series of engaging ways to bring the consumer to brands, retailers and new experiences/rewards. To illustrate, NFC is just breaking out (on every OEM device except Apple). Myopic press and others have focused on NFC wallets. Important? Yes. But the bigger deal is consumers tapping on things around them (media, retail POS, products) and to bring them to life (no apps needed). They get videos, games, apps, rewards, values and peer-to-peer sharing. In a recent pilot by Thinaire/Kraft/NewsAmerica, consumers engaged at grocery retail by tapping on NFC point-of-sale at 12 times the level of QR; 36% of them went further to conversion steps (get recipe, get Kraft app, share, etc.). They spent 10 times more time at the shelf (& there was no coupon involved)! Then, attribution, Big Data use and pulsing back to users kicks in added ROI (return-on-investment). This turns passive media in marketing stations! And this is just the beginning. Then, add in other tools and technologies, then roll-out everywhere as adoption of NFC phones moves to 30% to 40% of smartphones by late 2013/early 2014.
Patrick is a long term business innovator and thought leader and the author of Steve Jobs & The World of Mobile. He has been a CEO, President, CMO and Board member/partner and then long term C-suite advisor, for company's ranging from Fortune 500 (Coca-Cola, Ford, Ford, Virgin. Apple, Facebook, Google) to emerging ventures and tech start-ups. He is considered an expert on "Business 3.0" and related marketing technologies-digital, mobile, social, e-tail and NFC trans-media. He also is a keynote speaker ( aka "The CEO Futurist"), author and advisor to senior leaders and VC backed ventures. He also helped found the Villanova University Innovation (I.C.E.) Center and is also global innovation correspondent for PatrickTV on Innovation Excellence media channels. Follow Patrick on Twitter @patrickmeyer or learn more at http://patrickmeyer.com/. Thanks, Patrick! Read more mobile trend predictions for the new year¦
Register to our blog updates newsletter to receive the latest content in your inbox.
