| Mobile Search: Where No Man Has Gone Before? |
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- by Ann Bivins
Were they accessible to me? Nope. That day, I and about 25 other prospective jurors ended up with about two hours of “thumb twiddling” time (due to the inability of the defendant to previously predict his own guilt or innocence.) Had I known in advance that I could enter that government fortress with such a mysterious device, my normally ever-present cell phone would have remained joined to me at the hip. However, I was one of many “thumb twiddlers” doomed by that pre-conceived notion, who got the privilege of watching the few very informed mobile users conduct business, chat with a friend or play insulting mind games while waiting for Mr. Guilty downstairs to relieve us from our agony. Do I have a point to all this? I hope so. We live in an instant gratification society. The fine art of patience is on the verge of extinction. If I have the option between sitting in a courthouse room with the clock ticking or doing a little browsing to find the latest weather conditions, a new auto mechanic, check how my favorite baseball team is performing or maybe download a new ringtone for my cell phone – I know which option I would choose. My schedule is such that when I am accomplishing nothing and time is ticking by it feels the same to me as if I took a $100 bill and tossed it in the N.Y.C. subway – I’m Never Gonna Get It Back! I don’t think I’m unique in this “grab time while you can” mentality. Most of society has been forced into this mindset whether they like it or not. For those of you out there like me, mobile search might well prove to be a “time grabber” if you’re willing to utilize the service. We now have the ability to check our e-mail, local weather and traffic conditions and local news, search for phone numbers and addresses or even do some shopping right from our fingertips. Consider this: In a recent, successful attempt to draw customers closer to their product, Covergirl partnered with Quattro wireless in an ad campaign that, among other things includes a text club and an interactive color selector to help women find that perfect look. Tell me that big corporations don’t see mobile as the up and coming giant for boosting sales. And they aren’t the only ones. Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola and MTV to name a few have jumped on board with consumer draw campaigns of their own. Apparently, they have done their research. According to leading market researchers, revenues from mobile search will generate $11 billion by 2008. Up from a measly 871 million in 2006. Have you ever been guilty of “impulse purchasing”? While I advise strongly against it, I have to admit that I have been sucked into the act a time or two. (I finally got rid of my pet rocks and Ginsu knives after 20 some-odd years of dusting them off in the attic.) Large companies are very aware of our irresistible urges and can entice potential customers right into their stores by offering exclusive ringtones and wallpaper, color selectors, text-in chances at tickets and vacations or a variety of other methods designed to accomplish one thing: Get the consumer to use their mobile device to pull them closer to their product. Yet another inventive way to increase revenues. Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google, put it this way, "Mobile is the fastest and cheapest way to reach the largest number of people. Billions of people still don’t have access to the internet. We think mobile presents the biggest opportunity to get them on the internet." That said, let me say “Beam me up, Scotty!” Ann Bivins, founder of GeoTarget Search provides Local Search and Internet Marketing to help businesses target consumers across the street or anywhere in the world. |
Right on!! Thanks for making this make sense in a complicated world. I would urge any business to take advantage of your value priced services..GB....GC Brown RE