Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

Having started out as the blog for Fleishman-Hillard's Youth Marketing group, we have long been tracking the youth segment here. While young people have long been arbiters of cool, they now have a very unique perspective on the world. Over the past 10 years, a revolution in personal and mobile computing took place. Young people today  never knew a world without PCs and cell phones, and they will inevitably relate to the world differently than their older counterparts.

The mobile innovation we will see coming in the next 5-10 years will be mind-boggling, and it will be fueled by people who can't even drive yet. Many older people won't be able to understand it -- not the how so much as the why. As a recent article in the  New York Times, "The Children of Cyberspace" by Brad Stone, points out:

Children my daughter’s age are also more likely to have some relaxed notions about privacy. The idea of a phone or any other device that is persistently aware of its location and screams out its geographic coordinates, even if only to friends, might seem spooky to older age groups.

But the newest batch of Internet users and cellphone owners will find these geo-intelligent tools to be entirely second nature, and may even come to expect all software and hardware to operate in this way.

Indeed, the rising generation will have different expectations from technology and the world around them. So you may show a Twitter, a Foursquare, or a DailyBooth to a 40-year-old, even a 30-year-old, and they may scratch their head and insist that people won't use it, whereas a young person understands it inherently.

Wait, what do we even mean by "young person"? Indeed, anyone who studies youth knows that there is no such catch-all term. As technology develops at an exponential pace, what we mean by "youth" is fast changing. There are now vast experience gaps between youth of all ages, and "consumer segments" are proliferating. The article points to this rise "mini-generation gaps":

Researchers... theorize that the ever-accelerating pace of technological change may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development.“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.”

The truth is that human behavior is changing rapidly. The only way we can hope to stay relevant as agencies and brands is with open eyes and an open mind.

The Alliance of Youth Movements Summit, going on now in Mexico City, is bringing together international NGOs, governments, and experts in technology and media to discuss how non-profits and social causes can benefit from digital tools.

One panel brought together representatives from Twitter, Google, YouTube, MobileAccord and the State Department to discuss "Using Social Networks to Affect Change." But considering most of the NGOs present focused on emerging nations, where broadband access is often limited, are these services actually being used?

The answer is yes, often through the mobile phone. Google lets users conduct searches through SMS. Kristine Morrisey, Principle New Business Development at Google, said that the price of grain in Niger dropped 6% thanks to farmers' ability to SMS prices. MobileAccord bases their platform on text messaging, enabling charitable donations to be made through SMS. Youtube videos, on the other hand, are being distributed on flash drives, meaning the user doesn't need broadband to view it.

As for Twitter, co-founder Jack Dorsey says the service was designed for the lowest common denominator. Through their short codes, which they are working to set up internationally, users can text in their tweets and receive SMS updates. The whole concept of limiting messages to 140 characters was so that even the lowest-end Nokia phone could be accommodated.

When quantifying usage abroad, we must also look at how these services are being used. The U.S. is very web-centric, Dorsey pointed out, so the majority of users access the service through a computer. In most other countries, though,  Twitter is most often used on mobile phones. And while many U.S. users are sharing links, emerging nations use it more for simple status updates. This is exactly how the service evolved here: from updates and status to conversations to an RSS-replacement, an aggregator of information.

In general, there is still a lot of room for services to be built upon SMS, just as they are built using open APIs on the web. While SMS is definitely a more closed system than the web--and often prohibitively expensive--that is changing. And the more developers push the platform, the more it will need to change and adapt.

We have a double feature today! The first post is from Kristina Horner who delivers a powerful video piece on why brands and bloggers need to work together. The second is from Meghan Keane, who discusses the potential of mobile donations and their implications for mobile payments. Enjoy...

Social vs Brand

This is a very passionate video response by YouTube blogger Kristina Horner about communities working with brands.

‘Kristina is a 21 year old girl from Seattle who is currently studying at the University of Washington, but in her spare time you can find her making videos for YouTube, playing music, or writing. She’s in a band that plays music about Harry Potter and through that, has traveled all over the country (and sometimes further) playing shows and attending conferences. In the past year she’s also been to numerous YouTube related gatherings and events and loves meeting new people and seeing new sights. Kristina has a slight addiction to broadcasting her life and thoughts in various forms on the Internet.‘

Motivated by criticism of her partnership with Ford for the (pretty smart) FiestaMovement work. Kristina argues that for both bloggers and brands to be successful they need to accept the fact that traditional advertising is not-effective (and often rejected) in social spaces. But, brands and publishers like Kristina can easily find win-win situations when brands support their work without compromise. If you work in ‘advertising and or marketing’ and struggle to understand the social media space, have a butchers:

The original post at Rubbishcorp

Kristina's blog italktosnakes

Follow her on Twitter @KristinaHorner

PSA's Come to Mobile. Along with Additional Purchasing Options. by Meghan Keane

How do you get people to start charging purchases on their mobile phones? Have them to do it for charity.

This week mobile gaming company Cellufun will launch the first ever mobile public service announcement campaign. In conjunction with The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Cellufan is offering free in-game advertising, as well as mobile donation opportunities to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

The mobile PSA could be very profitable for the ASPCA. But it's also a smart move on Cellufan's part. Getting new groups of users to spend money through their phones will help pave the way for monetizing the mobile web.

Cellufun allows users to play social games, connect with friends and shop for virtual goods. The service has over 7 million unique monthly mobile visitors, who generate more than 220 million monthly impressions. The average user spends about 6.9 hours using Cellufun. The company estimates the value of the PSA campaign to be more than $10,000 per month.

"Cellufun’s social games — such as Mobile Pet Online and Cellufun Farming — provide not only entertainment, but the perfect venue for raising social awareness by partnering with leading charities and non-profits,” said Neil Edwards, chief executive officer of Cellufun.

Clearly the ASPCA thinks that mobile is a place that has fundraising potential. In addition, it's a great way for Cellufun to get its users accustomed to parting with a little extra money on their mobile devices. Already in the gaming space, these users aren't exactly shy about such things, but for the mobile space to reach its potential as a marketplace, users who have historically been uninterested in buying ringtones or purchasing gaming software need to start getting comfortable with giving money on their phones. And that's already happening.

Apple's App Store has gotten hordes of iPhone users to purchase products on their cellphones, and a key to tapping into the monetization potential of mobile will be proving to people that cellphones are a safe and easy way to make purchasing decisions.

Already consumers are getting more comfortable with many mobile decisions that they skipped on the computer. One proof of this is the fact that mobile Internet usage is far more diverse than the way it has typically worked online. For starters, African Americans are the group quickest to adopt mobile Internet usage this year.

Last week, a Pew Research Center survey found that 32% of Americans have accessed the Internet through a mobile device this year and 48% of African Americans are using their mobile phones to access the Internet. For many groups — especially low income users — the cellphone is the way that they access the Internet altogether.

John Horrigan, associate director of the Pew Internet Project, tells the New York Times:

“The cost of broadband and personal computers drives some users to adopt mobile Internet instead of the traditional wire-line,” Mr. Horrigan said. “It might make sense to invest the money in a smartphone and a monthly plan that enables you to do so many different things, like make calls and send e-mails.”

In addition, consumers who are sympathetic to a cause might make a spur of the moment purchasing decision that they would hesitate on for something more frivolous — from gaming to paid advertising. And once a purchase has been made in a new environment in a space that a consumer trusts, getting them to buy something again is that much easier.

The original post on Econsultancy

Follow her on twitter @keanesian

An Increasing Number of Teenagers Are Enlisting the Help of Image Consultants [WashingtonPost]
As lifestreaming becomes a mainstream activity of teens with their photos and updates flooding the web, some are turning to professional image consultants to get a handle on their identities.

Life Is But A Stream [Ypulse]
New research out of the UK confirms what we've been noticing, that teens are moving away from downloading music in favor of streaming.  In this study, only 26% admitted to downloading at least once a month (down from 42% in 2008).

New York Nearest Subway AR App [Amit Gupta Likes You!]
The team that created the Nearest Tube augmented reality iPhone app we reported on the other week has now created on for New Yorkers called Nearest Subway (thanks!)

Mobile Ads Perform Better than Ads Online. For Now [Econsultancy]
can you make this one more of a list of the stats she mentions with a short lead in?

LG Kicks Off Mobile Worldcup 2009 for Fastest Texter [SlashPhone]
After launching their app store in Asia, LG is now hosting the World Cup of texters to debut in August.

India's Rural Mobile Phone Users Hit 100 Million [PC World]
India and China are poised to be the biggest cell phone markets in the near future, thanks largely to people in rural areas. India had 109.7 million rural mobile subscribers at the end of the first quarter, up by 18 percent from the previous year,

Facebook Driving Mobile Net Usage [BBC News]
According to CCS Insight, 1/3 of 16-35 year olds regularly access Twitter and Facebook on their mobile and social networking sites are driving data usage on mobile.

Students Hit With $15 Fine For Using Cells in School [ABC News]
From ringing in class, to spreading unflattering pictures on campus, the cell phone has raised red flags across U.S. schools. Now in Texas, by state law, administrators are now allowed to confiscate cell phones no matter how they are used, and students can be fined $15 to get it back.

The Evolution of Facebook's Mission Statement [The New York Observer]
From a Harvard-only network back in 2004 to over 60 million users today across the world, Facebook's mission statements reflect the brands growth. Michael Galpert does a good job tracing their taglines.

Why Teens Aren’t Using Twitter: It Doesn’t Feel Safe [TechCrunch]
We seem to really want teens to be on Twitter, it's always coming up in conversation: Are they or aren't they? If not, why?? This post hypothesizes that teens don't tweet due to the inability to control your network.

RIM Launching A BlackBerry Social Network For Venting [TechCrunch]
RIM is launching MyBlackBerry.com to help the launch of its application store. The site will act as a social networking tool where users can post their tips, favorite apps, or just any info about their BlackBerry.

2009: The Year of LBS (Location-Based Services) [ReadWriteWeb]
This is the year for location. No, really, THIS year. I know we said that last year (and the year before) but this is it for real. Well, according to Gartner it is. They predict that the LBS market is going to double in revenue and size in the next year thanks to decreased cost and wider availability of user-friendly apps.

Cellphones Leave Electronic Tracks for Investigators, Raising Privacy Concerns [NYT]
As LBS become more mainstream, issues of safety and privacy will take center stage. This article cites two murder cases that were partly resolved thanks to cell phone tower tracking.

Maps of Subway Platforms, Now on Your Mobile Phone [NYTimes]
It's a favorite pasttime of New Yorkers to strategize what subway car will drop them nearest to an exit. Now even tourists can act like seasoned subway riders with this new app for the iPhone called Exit Strategy that maps subway exits. Just be sure to cue it up before heading into the subway -- reception is still required.

Video: Nearest Tube iPhone App Augments Reality with Directions [Engadget]
If you thought Exit Strategy was hot, check out Nearest Tube. The "augmented reality" app uses the new  iPhone 3GS's camera, compass and GPS to show you where the nearest tube stop is just by tilting it. (You just have to watch it.)

AOL Instant Messenger Begins Life As A Twitter, Facebook App [BusinessInsider]
AOL has just released a beta version of its new AIM client that integrates Twitter and Facebook so you can follow your friends, plus Youtube and Delicious so you can bookmark/send links to videos and sites. All these feature are found under the "Lifestream" tab, and the feature promises to hold even more social sites.

Finally, A Decent Website To Browse Android Apps [TechCrunch]
Facilitating user interaction and involvement with a product or platform is as crucial as the design of the product itself. This is where Google's Android market falls short. Androlib takes a stab at the problem with a full-fledged searchable and rateable directory of Android apps.

Christian Dior Makes Fashion Statement with Mobile Marketing [Mobile Marketer]
Fashion is slowly getting its feet wet on the mobile platform, perhaps understanding that they can reach their clients in other ways that TV and magazines. Following Chanel and Style.com, Dior just launched an iPhone app showcasing their latest ad campaign called "Lady Marion".

Research Roundup: Pew Social Trends, MobileYouth & More [Ypulse]
Our friends at Ypulse give you the latest report on youth media awareness, age perception, and more.

This June, our friends at Ypulse will be hosting their annual Youth Marketing Mashup Conference. The event brings together brand, corporate and social marketers, media professionals, educators and non-profit organizations to talk about using technology in marketing to youth.

This year's Mashup will take place June 1-2 at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. At this gathering of marketing minds, we'll talk about:

• Leading edge technologies youth use today and tomorrow
• How to leverage social media, gaming, virtual worlds, wireless and more to reach youth
• The latest youth-oriented tech and media start-ups

Speakers such as Don Tapscott of nGenera Insight, Guy Kawasaki, Greg Clayman of MTV Networks, Paul Yanover of Disney Online will share insights, best practices and case studies on reaching the tweens, teens and twentysomethings. Our own Allison Mooney will talking about "Mobile Youth Marketing That Works" with panelists from Nokia, Loopt,MocoSpace, and Kajeet.

To learn more about the conference and register to attend, click here.
(Our readers can use the code NGT to get 10 percent off the ticket price.)

In an article posted recently on the UK's Daily Mail website, Baroness Susan Greenfield, an Oxford University neuroscientist and director of the Royal Institution, said that social networking sites, video games and television could rewire children’s brains.

Reporter David Derbyshire noted the basis of Greenfield's warning.

“She argued that exposure to computer games, instant messaging, chat rooms and social networking sites could leave a generation with poor attention spans.”

These ‘sterile’ forms of communication may become the norm, removing real social contact from life and changing the way we communicate in general. Others added that digital is changing the way people think, giving them help provided by document tools and GPS systems, for example.

These changes have certainly already begun. There is no question that mobile devices allow us to access great amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Remember when you had to remember someone’s telephone number? Those days are gone. But while over-access to mobile devices, video and computer screens may result in problems in attention, alter wiring in the brain, and contribute to social and emotional difficulties, they alone do not cause clinical syndromes.

For instance, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a developmental neurological disorder, possibly the result of pre and/or peri natal insult, and highly heritable. Video and computer games, particularly role-playing games, are often played to addiction-like compulsion. But do these cause depression or anxiety or are they more often used as avoidance strategies to reduce already existing psychic discomfort?

As one door closes, another opens. We’ve survived the transitions from rotary telephones to push buttons to keypads and from vinyl records to cassettes to compact discs without major difficulties. What will happen remains to be seen. Yes there are likely to be significant cognitive and emotional threats from technology, particularly within the social realm. But there are also potential opportunities for more contact. Just check applications like Loopt and, soon, Four Square.

Digital technology is here to stay and constantly expanding. The goal will be how do we harness these technologies and their endless possibilities to enhance and improve our lives rather than hinder them.

- Dr. Eric Weinstein is a Practicing Clinical Psychologist specializing in youth and a consultant with MobileBehavior