It is definitely no longer a question, we are living through a digital revolution. It is about time my generation get to really live through something, from mobile phones, the internet, personal computers, digital cameras, social networks, augmented reality, online shopping! The list goes on.

We are also living through a Financial crisis, and it was very interesting this morning on Sky News – they were talking about increasing unemployment rates and the slowing economies globally, even Germany which has always been seen as the sustainable master of economies experienced below expectation growth. I couldn’t help but turn up the volume when the conversation turned – Digital Media Companies, Social media consulting firms, Digital Marketing Agencies, Mobile Application development houses etc these are all businesses experiencing tremendous growth, and I am not just talking about the tech / social network bubble with inflated  IPO’s ( Groupon, Linkedin, etc) we are all expecting to burst anytime soon. It is the entire eco-system, from ecommerce, ecommunication, IT, software houses, conferences, development houses, hardware etc – all together serving the modern consumers and business’s holistic digital experience need. The industry slowly infiltrating every single other industry on the planet, serving the need of everything and everyone going online, social, in the cloud and mobile.

Apple briefly became the largest listed company last week – overtaking Exxon Mobil. And American Express saw an increase in their share price after their deal with Foursquare. President Obama is on Foursquare now. And Social Software is exploding. The times of seeing everything in isolation is over, we have entered the era of Social Business Design where Technology, Business and People come together.

And yet, I have meetings here in South Africa where people are still asking the question – is this just a digital fad? Is this really where our country is going? It is completely understandable taking our current social and economic situation into account, majority of our population live in poverty. No one can see into the future, but we can have a look at statistics indicating the current situation and growth of Digital as a whole in Africa, and more specifically South Africa.

Below is a couple of my favourites to share:

Happy Wednesday

1. Collaborative

I don’t often read a good old hard copy printed book, and when I do I seldom finish it. Not because I don’t think it is a good, but simply because I find the process slow. So I end up using my personal version of speed-reading to grab the key themes, ideas and insights and put it in some form of a categorized bullet point one pager in my mind.

However, sometimes I will come across a book, and perhaps heavily influenced by external factors such as my mood, location, time of life, frame of mind, etc – but I enjoy every sentence and almost make some form of a study out of it. Not the kind of study where I delve into the theory as such, but rather a game of practical application of every new idea presented, to some relevant real life problem or scenario I am currently aware of. I really like doing that. Cross-functional thinking and application of ideas, like movie production techniques in boardrooms or emergency assistance mapping technology for corporate social media monitoring.

I will post my study eventually – but for now all I can say is join the collaborative world we live in.

Get it, read it, share it – it is definitely worth it.  CLICK HERE TO BUY FROM AMAZON

2. Mobile

Another snap for today is the below infographic, as I am currently eating, breathing and singing mobile, this is almost a representation of my thoughts right now Except, mine looks a little bit different considering I am in South Africa, and in Banking. Nonetheless, it is definitely worth keeping it, and hopefully soon I will have time to post an adapted version showcasing how things are looking specifically in the South African market.

Learn More about Mobile Tagging at Microsoft Tag.

3. Social

I have been doing a lot of research on Social Lending over the last 2 years, and have always wondered why it has not yet exploded in South Africa.

What is social lending? In simple terms it is cutting out the bank or institution facilitating the process of borrowing and investing money. It enables people to connect with each other to get better rates both for the borrower and the investor.

Internationally we have seen an explosion of social financial offerings – including social savings, social lending, social spending, social everything. The big players internationally in the Peer2Peer lending game are listed below ( please note these figures are estimates and are slightly outdated – September 2010 )

Visit these sites here – http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/ ;  http://www.lendingclub.com/home.action ;  http://www.prosper.com/

Specifically in South Africa – the first attempt was – http://www.angelmoola.co.za

An online Lifestyle Loyalty, Rewards and Social Lending platform. In less than two weeks, 276 users have registered on the Angelmoola site and there were 104 loans up for auction. AngelMoola revenue is based on charging borrowers an initiation fee together with a monthly loan management fee for the term of the loan, and from commission on any repayment protection insurance that the borrower selects. I believe they were temporary shut down due to regulation issues, but the website is currently live so I am assuming things are back on track.

It is also interesting to note, that when I ran a quick google insights search – South Africa came out ON TOP- of the regional interests for the search for ” personal loans ” – anyone noticing demand perhaps?

However – the initiative that really speaks social to me – is http://joinfite.org ( a spin off of the original player in social Lending – http://www.kiva.org/ )

A little bit more about FITE – watch this video.

This is the ideal chance for us modern minded individuals to give back to society, instead of donating money or giving away without ever really seeing the rewards – social lending provides you with an opportunity to really make a difference, and to watch the ripple effect of your contribution build a better economy through empowering the women of the world – whilst realizing a return on your investment – get involved today!

And on that note, this is the end of my very random snap episode for today, hopefully soon I will be able to share all the new things I have recently learned in the world of mobile, social and more recently, mobile security technologies!

Happy Monday

So,

SO, WHAT IS MOBILE? ( in life terms)

Our remote control of life, we do everything on it in real time and based on our location or context within our daily lives.

SO, WHAT IS MOBILE? (in marketing terms)

“Mobile as a term is just a reference to an eco-system that phones are a part of…”

-       Kevin Slavin

Most people don’t stare at a laptop, tv, radio, magazine, or billboard, or branding all day long. In store promotions have been trying for years now to be the most relevant, by providing information at point of sale. However, mobile – and this is what it is all about, is about being accessible where the brand is relevant. And not just from a communication perspective, but including products and services associated with the brand. Mobile is the closest you will ever get to personally influencing every customer experience.

So what does this mean in terms of your MARKETING STRATEGY?

In simple terms it means that for the first time in marketing, brands, companies and small businesses have the opportunity to provide relevant digital value, not just random content on a Facebook Fanpage that is supposed to ” make me like the brand because it tells me things about life”

No, it is about providing real relevant real time value, providing communication, products and services that will make my life better.

But here is the thing, this is not just going to happen with good looking creative, great copy writing and a well proposed media strategy. No, it will take a lot more than that, it will force you to think about your consumers, their life cycle, every possible way you communicate with them, how they live, what they want and the context in which they interact with you – across media, in store, online, out office, etc. It will force you to have a closer look and get up close and personal to the people you have in your brand life, and how they are experiencing you, in reality, not some brand story a bunch of people in a boardroom made up. It will force you to review your segmentation approach, and define targeted strategies aimed at specific consumers based on the context within which they are experiencing your brand, product, communication and the act of the sale.

To try and illustrate the complexity and true interoperability of MOBILE in Marketing is not an easy task, however, i found this diagram which I think is a good start:

It illustrates this new mobile way of thinking when thinking about marketing in the 21st century. Further supported by the below matrix – I believe this should give you a good understanding of the bigger picture, and tactically what it entails from a marketing strategy development perspective.

The below presentation is probably the most comprehensive one I could find online, and will certainly provide you with a solid foundation in starting to think within a mobile, connected marketing manner.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/helgetenno/mobile-abilities-map

Secondly in this post, which I would have to continue with at a later stage I would like to touch on the second most important thing in mobile after having a clearly defined strategy and understanding the importance of CONTEXT, which goes hand in hand with it – especially in application or any property development – is the USER EXPERIENCE and DESIGN.

Just for fun…

3. Little World from Kevin Cannon on Vimeo.

Now, I am no expert, but one thing I have learned being in mobile development is -

WITH MOBILE -  CONTEXT IS KING, where would people use your mobisite, application, etc? on the train, in a shop, at home? At work? To better illustrate where I am going with this – I found this presentation – which really illustrates in A LOT OF DETAIL what I mean, it is long, but totally worth it.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/fling/designing-mobile-experiences

In addition to the above, and with relevance to our local market here in South Africa – I would like to end off with the following presentation – a touch on the iceberg of devices, and the clear debate that technology should be for everyone? And living in Africa, how many people actually have an iPhone?

In conclusion, and I realize this post is rather random and perhaps not quite in line with my usual style of writing, a bit all over the show. But I believe that is the purpose, to initiate thinking, to flip a switch in a mind, to open up a conversation, because the only way we will dictate our future – is to imagine it.

And then, to develop it.

So if you are in marketing, and see the future of communication, product development, service delivery and real people (not consumers) experiences – then hopefully this will inspire you to want to understand and engage with application development, mobile TV, mobile payments, QR codes / tagging, NFC, and the application of all new emerging mobile technologies that will shape the future of our daily lives

Home work reading, do visit:

http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/

http://www.mocom2020.com/

http://www.mobileyouthreport.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/PSFK/psfk-presents-future-of-mobile-tagging-report

The whole of the digital universe is buzzing with iPad2, comments, reviews, thoughts, notes, and I am sure tomorrow it will be all over traditional news in every state of America, and all over the world.

I could not help but ask myself why?

I remember the day the iPad ever so glamorously appeared on coffee tables in homes and in the hands of family, children, dads, executives, small business owners, artists, teenagers, grandparents, models, geeks, teachers, tennis coaches, priests, pretty much the whole world got a taste of the magic.

And now, the magic potion just got stronger. More universal. Wrapped in beautiful design, to help us share information, experiences and entertainment in a sleek simple manner.

A 33% thinner, lighter, black or white iPad2 features the world’s most advanced mobile operating system – iOS 4.3. Several new extra’s such as 2 x cameras (front and back), HDMI output, a sexy smart magnetic cover (iPad must have realized the amount of money made off covers for the iPad1 – and definitely the most talked about new feature of the iPad2), phonebooth, garage band, imovie and more applications now available on the iPad and a surprisingly early launch date next Friday the 11^th of March 2011 in USA and 25th in 26 more countries world wide.  All for just $499.

Check out: http://www.apple.com/ipad/ – which literally launched minutes after the event.

Apple shares advanced after Jobs appeared, climbing as much as $4.63 to $353.94 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares were up $1.77 at $351.08 at 2:04 p.m. New York time. Which was less than with the launch of the iPad1. The iPad 2 will account for at least 20 million tablet computer sales in the U.S. this year, with the global tablet market projected to surpass 200 million units in 2014, if true the iPad may eventually generate $60 billion to $100 billion in sales for Apple, compared with Apple’s total revenue of $65.2 billion in fiscal 2010 ( via www.reuters.com) ( read full article here ) It is evident that Apple had to make something happen as new competitors quickly entered the market hoping to take some market share of the projected 200million strong global tablet market. The iPad2 and its early launch makes perfect strategic sense, as they continue to innovate with the user experience at the core of everything and unique to the iPad a featured up and priced down positioning over competitors. It will be very interesting to see how the market responds to yet another Steve Jobs moment of, I was going to say ” one more thing “

But one thing that DID NOT happen when Steve Jobs appeared on stage –

So what was it exactly that gives the iPad such a universal appeal?

For many years before the iPad launched, the technical side of technology and software always out-weighed the mass appeal. Think of online gaming, gambling, blogging, fancy high tech devices even a gps and iPhone4, it was never for everyone, and it never felt so strangely normal, natural and easy using it.

But here we have a device that literally appeals to every person using it for the first time. The Internet was designed to share experiences, information and content. Today I tried to read the Elle magazine, and I kept finding myself tapping the page trying to click through. And it made me realize, the iPad was designed to take this sharing of online and any offline experiences, information and content – with those around us, anywhere, anytime in a beautiful, magical  but most importantly – natural manner.  But even more, it goes beyond sharing, as the iPad2 enters the world of creation. The iPad2 enables users to not only share, but create experiences, information, content, entertainment and I am sure it is this new theme that will get every brand, company and application developer excited to review their current iPad application strategy.

I am sure the critics will point out the flaws tomorrow, but for today I am happy to safely say, I cannot wait to own one. Even if it is just for a short while before I trade it in for the iTable…

So in conclusion, the iPad2 delights me to the point where I can only share what is probably going to be one of the best devices to be launched this year

Lastly, definitely an article worth reading and right up my ally – http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-preview/ – Definitely Read it!

Trends have always been one of my favourite things in life, I still remember the very first trend briefing I got at iKineo – my first job. I sat up an entire evening allocating different business models to each trend. Everything became evident, clear, the world started making sense again, as I realized us, consumers, people, we rule brands, not the other way around. And those brands still silly enough to not put people at the centre of their universe, will struggle to remain sustainable post 2011.

I will add more trends as they get released towards the end of this year, as everyone tries to anticipate what the future holds. But here is the thing, balance. It is such a well known word, yet mostly forgotten during everyday decisions where we get so wrapped up with our immediate deliverables and top level expectations. We often forget the first place to start is with your own people.

You would be surprized how much you can learn spending the day in the field, with sales, with operations, with journalists, with developers, with trainers, with finance, with buyers, with the media, just reading all the insignificant buzz about your brand on google.com/realtime.

Never forget the power of the people on the ground.

Another one of my favourite Trend Reports -

Happy Monday everyone!

I therefore dedicate this post to Friends & Fashion, and the odd online web insight here and there. Because I just love online start ups, really good websites and tools that make my life better.

From Online Shopping  Gilt.com & Asos.com ( who now delivers to South africa

To Newsletters, blogs, social networks, etc. The reason why I highlight the shopping sites, is because I have recently gotten an iPad. And something happened to me – I started shopping, and this made me realize – the future of mobile devices, the commercial future of mobile – lies in online shopping. Several articles I have read and new figures on apps, clearly indicates that mobile devices such as the iPad – will lead to an increase in online shopping. Why – i think it moves beyond the mere design and technology benefits, or the fact that you already put your credit card details in to download apps, or to the fact that you can share it with your friends, and that it is a more personal device – so you almost less scared of the ” computer shopping ” stigma.

It is debatable, but lets see what happens.

So within my favourite article of the week -

20 New York City Start-Ups You Need To Know About

I could not help but get stuck in – Rent The Runway

Rent the Runway, like a “Netflix for dresses,” is an NYC start-up founded by two Harvard Business School graduates, Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Carter Fleiss. The site allows women to rent dresses from notable fashion designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Hervé Léger and Proenza Schouler for about one-tenth of what they would cost to buy in a retail store. Dry cleaning is included in the price and damage insurance costs $5. The renter is responsible for the full retail price in case the dress is completely destroyed. While their long-term business plan hasn’t been laid out yet, NYC fashion consultant Felicia Tumaneng envisions the brand opening up outlet stores to sell dresses that have gone out of season – via – http://thenextweb.com

It is clever, and it makes my life better.

My first attempt to start my own online fashion site, did not go so well, because I wanted to be too much. Refer to one of my earlier blog posts – My love affair with social networks -  and if there is only one point i make today, it is bringing together a couple of points I have been making recently:

I think often we think ” value add ” and “value proposition” is the same thing.

What I have learned is that you need one key ” value proposition” and if you can put it in one sentence, even better. Then you focus the “value add” in terms of tools to make the key function of your value proposition an unforgettable experience.

Like my favourite snap today – via – MASHABLE

Name: Radbox

Quick Pitch: Bookmark movies as you browse the web; view them all at Radbox when you have time.

Genius Idea: People watch 2 billion videos every day on YouTube alone. Most television shows post their content or clips online, just about every major newspapers has video content, and people are increasingly linking to video content in their e-mails, tweets, and Facebook posts. The problem is that most people (at least those with full-time jobs) don’t have time to watch the interesting videos they stumble across during the day.Sites like Instapaper and Read it Later helped solved this problem for online articles by allowing users to collect them for reading later. Radbox has applied the same solution to video – Source: http://mashable.com/2010/11/09/radbox/

Just Genius, and not long after this rather ecstatic discovery I found this new feature on Facebook -

A view your friendship with combination of everything and anything related to you and your friendship. And this is my second point – sometimes i think we forget to think about what happens 12months down the line – when your combination of information, links, images, videos any content becomes soooo much that you are over loaded, overwhelmed and thinking about shutting it all down! Here facebook took the information overload, and turned it into a “memorabilia” display of your friendship. Still focusing on one key value proposition ” friends” – but utilizing technology and web tools to make the experience better.

And this is ofcourse where the semantic web comes in, where we try and make sense of all the trillions of gigs of data hosted on the world wide web. We try and make it relevant. We try and make it feel good. We develop to make peoples lives better.

I think i will end this post now, but to summarize and snap this is the jist of it:

1.  MOBILE SHOPPING – you are going to love it.

2. DEVELOP TOOLS THAT – make my life better

3. 1 key VALUE PROPOSITION  -  plenty of value added features, tools, viewers, customization, real time notifications, location based features, social web, games, rewards, badges, etc

4. Make it SOCIAL – social networks is a no brainer. The Next Web – brilliant example of social integration – use this tool: http://www.apture.com/

5. PLAN FOR THE FUTURE – think about what happens when you information, data and people grow and how you are going to help people make sense of the web of things – Research – web.30 and the Semantic Web!

And one last point

6. MAKE IT LOOK GOOD< there is a reason why FASHION is a multi billion dollar industry – everyone likes beautiful things

STANDING IN THE SHOES OF THE PERSON. That is by far my favourite position.

And I am not referring to the buzz word – customer centric – that every consultant throws around the boardroom table, no, I am referring to HUMAN BEINGS.

This is probably one of the best examples I could find, again one of those that I am so delighted to stumble upon, as it takes all my complex insights and illustrates the scrambles of my mind in simple points. Another, further illustrating where my head is at is:

http://www.cluetrain.com/

Since I find myself in the banking industry, and against my initial expectation I am starting to really enjoy the industry I thought would be worse than being stuck in a society where people only wear ugly clothes. But it is not, in fact, it is rather fascinating,

and I don’t think I am the only one that thinks so, according to the BRANDZ 2010 report

Even more fascinating, is the FUTURE OF BANKING.

(source: slideshare.net – and i wish i could remember the name of the presentation)

This iPhone 5 mobile payment prediction in particular – READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

The lines between telecommunications, banks and retailers are all blurring. Think MPesa, Pick n Pay Banking, Cardless Mobile Payments, and somewhat unconventional payment review technologies popping up everywhere

-my choice for the day – BLIPPY

Basically an online mobile payment tracker & reviewer. In simple terms, you buy something, and you post it with a review of the product you have bought. You can follow your friends, but you can also see exactly what everyone has said about a product you might want to buy,or service or anything really. And here is the key differentiating factor – you know that they have actually bought it.

To me, it just makes sense, it is more relevant, but whether people will take onto it, well that is what we will probably learn in time. Any Ideas? Perhaps just what Vodacom’s The Grid need, a Location Based Purchasing Review Functionality, or have they already done that, it just missed the USER experience. Typical Fail.

And on that note,

Today I would like to end off my love for people in technology, with a quote, which for the life of me I cannot relocate where I found it, but it has become one of my corner stones in strategic thinking around technology development -

” What is remarkable about the growth of technology, is not how rapidly the hardware has evolved, nor the software, networks or even the internet,

BUT RATHER

the fundamental way in which technology is changing human behaviour…

P>S – just some cool stuff to check out, if you have not already:

http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/the-world-is-flat
We were entering Globalization 3, and it happened whilst we were sleeping. The world has changed from:
Countries ——>    Companies ——>    Individuals
The world became a flat global playing platform, the product of:

horizontal convergence of the Personal Computer, Fibre Optical Cables, Workflow Software & Standardized protocols, The Internet and later the WWW which brought about a technological revolution that transformed every aspect of business, life & society, which not even the Global Conglomerates could have prepared for.

My favourite flattener and most indulged concept since, that day in April 2005 when I read the whole book in one day, have always been “The Steroids”
“ Technologies that turbo charges and enables information  – digitization; at high speed; wirelessly (mobile) shared on personal devices –
FASTER< FARTHER<CHEAPER and more easily! “

And this is exactly where the Google’s, the tweeters, the ipads, the Facebook’s of the world fit in.Soon after the “The World is Flat” , the discovery of things exploded as more and more journalists, authors and bloggers  illustrated the changing world we live in, and each in their own individual right trying to make sense of this phenomena we find ourselves living through.

Think, Freakanomics, Tipping Point, Google, Life Inc, 7 habits of highly effective people, Good to Great, Who moved my cheese? , The Power of Now, The Innovators Dillema and more recently – SUPERCONNECT

Snippets below from a presentation illustrates where my thoughts are floating:

The MEDIA REVOLUTION – key ingredient in the changing world we live in:

Technological innovations both online and offline brought about a modern day culture recently defined as the “ Innovation Insanity “ The media realized that the power are shifting into the hands of the consumers and publishing took on a different style of make up. People all over the world are realizing the playground is becoming smaller, and we are moving into an era where soon it will be one Global Technologically Connected world we live in.

The impact on society stretches into every industry where technological innovations and the internet changes the workplace, medicine, dating, drinking, eating, feeling, communicating, publishing, designing, developing, etc

In marketing, or real marketing as I like to call it, I feel the fight for digital can end now. It is no longer about budgets shifting or modern vs traditional or above, below, through or ontop of some silly line that no one even knows what it stands for. Technology is supposed to be integrated; it is about making lives better and bringing more relevant offerings. It is about increasing marketing effectiveness, lowering costs for research, it is about involving the customer. It is about publishers – no longer simply producing content, but rather “ packaged information” tailored according to behavioural and social habit analysis.

It is about connecting the dots, between people, products, places, information and this thing called life.

It is about the changing world we live in.

Integrate it.

Lets see what happens

Source: David J Carr – davidjcarr.wordpress.com

based on Nokia’s Mobile Gateway & Jyri Engestrom

Seriously one of the most comprehensive overviews that puts the strategic thinking behind mobile social networks into some sort of a logical place.

And talk about Mobile Social Networks, some local genius in the mix:

www.motribe.com

And just for fun – Facebook Places launched in the UK today and I just loved reading these ” placeoffs ”

Happy Friday.