The Center for Media Research provides more evidence that companies and associations are wasting money trying to influence folks via traditional media and marketing – Seventy-Five percent have tuned out.
Once again, the politicians stopped listening and so did your audience…
some wireless links to chew on..
We’ve been excited about mobile video and personal broadcasting in the diner. On that note, Jeff Pulver recently discussed his excitement regarding mobile personal broadcasting in a recent post and declared it the “next BIG thing.” I look forward to catching up with Jeff later this week at a breakfast he is hosting in Philadelphia.
One other link to chew on comes from an AP story in the Washington Post. It discusses the fact that many adults are utilizing social technologies to communicate with their kids in college and the dilemma it poses for them (do they accept a “friend” request from Mom?).
Enjoy!
The NY Times had an article last week discussing Twitter and how many news journalists were now utilizing the technology on the campaign trail. Ashley and I have been talking about Twitter since last Spring when we discovered it at the VON show in San Jose.
In any case, the article spurred me to think about Twitter and what I have seen since we started using the technology.
1) Mobile Social Networking – Twitter brings mobile social networking to life. In many instances, events have been started via Twitter and I have met Twitter friends during conferences and in major cities. Twitter has mobile functionality built into its platform so loading the website on your device is not clunky and is fast. Note to Evan Willams / Twitter – this is an area you can build on and other companies are trying to catch up. Continue Reading »
Walter Mossberg talking about his iPhone and the Soviet Ministries (in his opinion, the wireless carriers).
As many diners know, I attended a panel discussion on whether the wireless industry needs more regulation in order to spur industry innovation. The panel discussion was sponsored by New America and featured many speakers offering various perspectives on the topic. I was interested to hear Walter Mossberg’s (Wall Street Journal) comments since he wrote – “free my phone” and considering the industry’s move towards openness… Overall, not a great deal of new ground covered.
Mossberg continued to hammer the wireless industry on everything from control to carrier service quality. He stated that “the FCC has spent too much time on HDTV and less time on broadband.” Mossberg is interested in watching the carriers implement the open model into their existing business. Specifically, he’ll be watching (1) certification requirements and (2) pricing on these open networks. The concern is that the certification could be long and the pricing could be a deterrent from adopting the open access network plan. Continue Reading »
Just left Capitol Hill with CTIA’s Joe Farren… Here’s his thoughts on today’s panel.
I’ll post some of my thoughts later..
Enjoy…
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Off to Capitol Hill – for free my phone panel…
Here’s hoping that the discussion evolves to how we can "free up some capacity" from the federal government and propel wireless broadband in the U.S
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picture – via blackberry while waiting in a monster line at Apple Store (Tysons Corner, VA)
Enjoy this column from Business Week a few years ago.
Key quote is from a President of a marketing research firm – “I give them two years before they are turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake.”
MSNBC’s Bob Sullivan is no doubt committed to exposing bad business practices and I applaud those efforts. However, this post must have been regurgitated from 2007 because many claims are stale…
His latest column is stuffed with some outdated material and he does not give any credit to the industry for actually responding to consumers.
Here’s some updates for the column -
(1) Consumers can choose to have a plan with a contract or go without a contract (and many folks choose that option). We all have different preferences and needs in selecting a device and a carrier. Continue Reading »
innovate or regulate – the choice is yours…
2008 is here and in the District of Communications some folks are already showing a predisposition to bring back some of the wireless rhetoric from last year.
On January 22, the New America Foundation will hold a panel discussion on whether more regulation is needed in the wireless space.
My suggestion to New America: instead of leading the discussion with the same old rhetoric – let’s start the new year focusing on how government can spur continued innovation in the wireless industry. For instance, let’s look at ways to free up spectrum from the federal government. They are sitting on a majority of it. In many cases, it is not being used or not being used efficiently.
In addition to freeing capacity, let’s look at ways to update some of the antiquated wireless regulations. There are a bunch of regs at the FCC (Part 22 – Public Mobile Services, and Part 17 – antenna construction, marking and lighting) that are outdated and no longer necessary.
With regard to openness, 2008 and beyond is about personalizing the wireless device. This is a good thing. Each device will continue to evolve (from just ringtones and music) to allowing more applications (provided they are in sync with the network) on your phone. The result of this enhancement of customer experience will result in increasing loyalty (less churn) and higher ARPU for the carrier.
It is clear that voters this cycle are responding to change. Let’s change the way we approach the wireless industry and focus on ways to spur the innovators not the regulators!
Dish Disclosure – Tin Can Communications ™ represents Capitol Solutions (on behalf of the Wireless Broadband Coalition). The Wireless Broadband Coalition is focused on federal spectrum issues. The Wireless Broadband Coalition is: Alcatel-Lucent, at&t, Cisco, Earthlink, Nortel, Qualcomm, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.
Sim (from Utterz) and I on Jonny Goldstein’s BlogTV show…
Sim and I were on Jonny’s show tonight.
Sim (from Utterz) was in San Francisco where Utterz was recognized as one of the top apps of 2007 (along with Twitter and Google Maps). I spoke about Mobile Diner and the great year ahead for wireless… Enjoy!
Here’s the link..
Besides Barack Obama’s campaign – a few things are cooking in the diner!
As many know, I’m constantly amazed with what Steve Garfield does with mobile technology. Most recently, Steve captured some live video via his cellphone from New Hampshire. The technology he is using is by Qik (on his Nokia device). This will be one of the upcoming trends in mobile as more folks have video capability in their phone… Check out the mobile video journalist.
We’ve used Utterz here in the diner a few times. Accordingly, I’ll be on Jonny Goldstein’s live video blogging show with Sim (of Utterz) tomorrow at 9pm.
I hope you’ll tune in…
December was a great month. It was a nice opportunity to really think about Washington and how traditional business in this town is conducted. Analogous to businesses that realize marketing is changing and face the challenge of implementing new marketing to (receive permission from consumers) be effective – traditional advocacy faces challenges and must evolve.
In the old days, a company could mass advertise on three channels and with mass capital expenditures – folks bought that company’s product off the shelf. In the District of Communications, a company hires a big K street firm with political connections and they create a barrier to entry for a competitor or break a barrier down for their client’s company (yes, I’m generalizing and recall that monopolies thrive in regulation).
Both methods are still relevant and there are some talented lobbyists in Washington… However, here’s some reasons why you may want to consider augmenting your company’s advocacy strategy.
1) There are more channels to choose from today and the lobbying rules have changed.
2) Your audience stopped listening – customers and the politicians.
3) New marketing is cost effective and you’ll develop a closer relationship to your consumers.
4) Your consumers and their constituents will be your advocates. There is nothing more powerful!
On a related note, National Journal wrote about blogs and the importance of blogs last October. Some K street folks questioned whether it was valuable…. Barack, John Edwards and Ron Paul sure don’t doubt social media. Eventually, the policy / political / government affairs shops won’t doubt it either.
Disclosure – New media efforts are not for everyone. Quoting Danah Boyd – “Social technologies succeed when they fit into the social lives and practices of those that engage with the technology.”
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