How Gen Y is influencing what Baby Boomers buy

Gen Y are a group of people generally born between 1977-94 so are aged between 16 and 33, the baby Boomers are generally late 40's to late 60s age bracket. Gen Y's are a tech savvy generation with text messaging, Internet, iPods, to keep them socially connected, due to events such as 9-11 & Bali they "live for the moment". GenY is the largest group on Facebook however the over 35 sector is the fastest growing now fast becoming the Baby Boomers.

Interestingly the GenY's are influencing what the Baby Boomers spend there, (in many cases), immense cash reserves on. Example, GenY's influence parents on most tech appliances and gadgets e.g. mobile phones, entertainment equipment, online shopping sites etc. in most cases indirectly. Mobile phones are now handed up in families and not down. GenY's now stay living at home and spend their cash as fast as they earn it they are not interested in saving for a house that they will never own.



Not only are they making most of the FMCG purchasing decisions such as drinks, fast food, entertainment tickets etc. they can also be a major influence on Grandma's next holiday or Grandpa's next flat screen TV. Why because they network with each other and can naturally carry out a research task in minutes online via Blogs, vertical sites, social networks and search engines.

Sure Gen Y's probably will not influence the older generation on what the best wine to have with Scampi on a sunny afternoon maybe, but I am sure they could find out via their mobile phone within a minute. Is it highly possible that this Gen Y generation would work on a commission basis via Social networking? Ummm I wonder.

Ding Dong the Desktop is Dead

With the arrival of the iPad imminent and the release of the Microsoft Courier tablet and HPs Slate one has to wonder about the desktop environment. Microsoft has enjoyed such a great ride since the late 80s with its closed client/server environment however the time for change is upon us all, and its all portable and personal.

People are on the move. In order to do business these days in any industry you need to "get out there" and communicate. People today want a simple, small yet powerful device that has access to software and data that is stored in the "cloud".

More and more people consume disposable content today that can be discovered, downloaded, installed and run in many cases just once then discarded all usually for free or the cost of a magazine.Desktop Dead

Global mobile browsing users will surpass broadband subscribers any moment now if it hasn't already. Browser based application execution is far more reliable then installed software. The reason is that once a software package is installed on a desktop it looks at the resources available and installs to that metric, the problem is that once another package is installed after that it neglects the other installs. This in time slows the desktop down and can corrupt DLL files and strain memory.

Fast paced networks in most cases wireless and the associated services built on and around them is the future. Even this week Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim, founder of the America Movil empire, has edged out Microsoft boss Bill Gates as Forbes magazine's richest person in the world.

Mobile killed the Desktop Star

It is very clear to me and other people that work solely in the Mobile ecosystem that the medium is huge for marketing and social interaction. The two main reasons are its wireless therefore truly mobile and its personnel (my handset, my stuff). It is also clear that the traditional "Digital Agencies" that have spawned over the past decade will not have the right expertise or people to deliver what Brands want.

Head AssJust recently Gartner Research predicted that mobile Web access will surpass traditional PC access by 2013, people have now embraced that fact that they can surf while on the move and access content on a personnel basis. Add to that the fact hat most people are over the Mobile data cost mass hysteria that the carriers imposed a few years back. Who needs a carrier for data anyway WiFi is here and offers another branded marketing opportunity.

Mobile Advertising is set to Grow 45% in 2010 to $3.8B. That explains why Google and Apple are diving head first into mobile advertising and marketing, with Google's AdMob $750M acquisition and the recent announcement that Apple will likely acquire Quattro Wireless for $250M. (It looks like Microsoft / Yahoo might want to scoop up Millennial Media or another mobile ad firm to compete.) The advertising industry as a whole may take a while to recover, but one of the largest growth areas is in mobile.

They say "the proof is in the pudding" so lets' look at some recent results; A recent campaign run by Shedd Aquarium found that SMS beat out Web in Direct-TV Spot. The SMS call to action generated 325% more entries than the Web based call-to-action, making up 52% of the total entries, though it ran in only 25% of the ads. And over at Pernod Ricard their Malibu branded mobile application that was created to support the launch of its new Malibu Island Melon flavor has seen over 2 million downloads (not just iPhone).

Delivering a nice and/or fantastic experience on the 4th Screen (Mobile), is not the same as it is on the 3rd Screen (Desktop), there are around 5,000 handset models, 8 different operating systems, scripting languages, various browsers, delivery platforms and then the carrier networks to negotiate. It is important to point out that Mobile is NOT another medium yet is designed to work across all media in one form or another. Now is the time to develop a Mobile strategy and start to implement it as your clients are about to ask you all about it.

ZapMe: mobile distribution platform for brands and merchants

ZapMe: mobile distribution platform for brands and merchants

Written by Esme Vos

Topics: Advertising, B2B / Enterprise

ZapMe is a company based in Sydney, Australia that offers a mobile distribution platform for companies. Because people carry so many different mobile devices — iPhone, Blackberry, Palm, Nokia, Android-based smartphones — companies need a simple, easy way to send offers and announcements to customers regardless of their mobile device.

Companies that use ZapMe utilize SMS and mobile applications for their advertising campaigns and manage them through the ZapMe distribution platform. The platform has modules for user management, content management, security and reporting. ZapMe clients get real-time information about the people who receive their ads: age, gender, geographic location, brand preference, type of mobile device, and brand patterns. Recipients of advertising from ZapMe clients can choose from among the brands represented by ZapMe, i.e. tell ZapMe from whom they would like to receive offers.

zapme screenshot.jpg
Q&A with Cameron Wall, founder of ZapMe

When did you launch ZapMe?

January 2007.

What inspired you to start ZapMe?

I wanted to solve the following problem: how does a brand and/or information service use traditional media (newspaper, magazine, TV, Outdoor, radio etc.) to engage people via the mobile channel? There are so many different handsets, platforms, operating systems, versions of firmware etc. when it comes to mobile devices that it’s difficult to make the user experience enjoyable. Moreover, it costs companies too much time and money managing their ad campaigns across a variety of mobile devices. ZapMe is a platform that can distribute content to any device at anytime on the fly, usually via simple SMS which is a standard communication method available on all handsets globally.

Where do you see ZapMe in a year?

Most powerful platform in the mobile marketing industry.

www.zapme.com.au

What the new Apple iSlate should look like

After talking to certain people and reading and hearing rumors from CES in Vegas last week we believe we have a spec similar to what you can expect from Apple with the new iSlate tablet PC. Think of it as a large iPhone that will be able to join together like tiles to create a huge screen tablet!

Other features that could be unveiled may be the iSlate being ultra thin and will house not only an iPhone/Pod docking port yet very cool sound speakers for open sound (run you own personal mixing decks!). Following is a run down of what we might see unveiled around Australia Day;

Rotation Technology

10" Touch Screen (anti scratch)

4Gb RAM

500GB Storage

Built-in 802.11n & 802.16, HSDPA & WiMAX, also possible LTE capability

Bluetooth 2.0

iPhone docking port

Touch screen keyboard

Optional or may ship with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

.

How much I hear you say? Put aside around $1,500AUD for the entry level piece of iSlate. Of course Microsoft and HP etc. will all release tablet type PC's this quarter it will come down to user experience (UX) that will eventually win the battle. The UX will mean consumable bite size Apps. And widgets that are FREE for entry level, IP access anywhere on the globe and of course a robust operating system and browser. Also expect a big and sudden shift to Software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS) later this year. Google will unveil "Gdrive" which will allow people to park data in the cloud and access it from any device anywhere.

Branded Mobile Applications

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Branded Mobile Applications

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The NBN Fiasco explained

There has been lots of hype over the past six months around the National Broadband Network (NBN), and Telstra in particular. To recap the scenario looks like thisthe government has pledged $4.7Billion toward the NBN project in response to the Australian public and business community need for faster broadband access. The faster access is perceived to encourage productivity by opening up much faster and richer online services etc. Although the government has pledged $4.7B it needs to be matched by an ICT player in order to deliver the project.

The NBN project was being contested between Telstra, TERRiA (Optus lead consortium with iiNet, Internode, Macquarie Telecom, & Primus Telecom), open access network player Axia Netmedia from Canada and let's not forget TransACT and Tasmanian government and Acacia looking after their territories. Late last year Telstra dropped a bombshell by not submitting a proposal by the deadline and instead offered a counter-proposal that is non-compliant with the RFP's 98% coverage objective. That move by Telstra was to prove catastrophic for the company and its shareholders so much so that their CEO Sol Trujillo finally said "woops" and resigned and is heading home.

So who will win the bid? I would assume that this is what will play out and remember this is my opinion. The Optus led TERRiA bid will win the bid however Telstra will be involved however will not lead the project, (thank God). Most of the fast broadband will be delivered via wireless access using 3G and WiMAX or LTE or both. The reason Telstra will be involved as the wireless access data will need to be backhauled once handed off, so the existing Fibre will have its place. The "last mile" will be wireless it has to be as wireless is the future, its inexpensive to deploy and can be rolled out quickly. The CBD and metro. areas can enjoy the choice offered however anyone anywhere in this vast land can reap the benefits of a fast online world.

4G (WiMAX, LTE etc.) will deliver speeds of 100Mb p/Sec and handle voice, video and data 3G (HSDPA etc) will deliver speeds up to 40Mb this year also. Telstra will then be broken into four groups wholesale, wireless (mobile), Fixed Line & Media and all of Australia can start enjoying lower tariffs' as a result of fairer competition and level playing field.

The NBN announcement by Kevin Rudd is expected in April 2009.