Apple Buys Intrinsity Inc. Chip Technology

As far back as Feb. 2nd 2010,  I wrote about the "Apple iPad - The A4 Hidden Gem" that would likely have far reaching implications in mobile devices.  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has acquired Intrinsity Inc. of Austin, Texas,  for  $121 million, mere chump change for Apple. Intrinsity's technology is used in the A4 Chip and boosts performance in mobile devices, thus increasing battery time to 10 hours in the iPad, for example.  

Get set to see this chip power more mobile devices from Apple, including the iPhone, which could really use a boost in battery efficiency and power.  Perhaps we might see this appear in the next generation iPhone due out this summer.  

What do you think? 

Mobile Medicine and Healthcare

With more and more physicians and patients (consumers) using PDAs and Smartphones, mobile marketing has become a critical channel of communication between Doctor and patient.  Proper implementation of a strategy featuring mobile applications can go a long way in helping physicians build their business and maintain successful relationships with their customers, the patient.  Doctors would gain a great deal by just merely implementing a more user friendly, informative mobile website. Indeed this is a much less expensive solution than implementing a mobile App.  Furthermore, there is no need to worry about platform implementation i.e. creating an app for the iPhone or the Pre or any other format.  For example a mobile App for the iPhone would likely only reach 25 percent of users.  Mobile specific websites would reach a much larger demographic because at least one third of all users have Internet access on their phones.

Doctors need to consider a mobile marketing strategy as the growth in smartphone usage continues and the consumer expects to be able to communicate with their healthcare providers at any time of the day, and anywhere.  In fact, medical Apps is one the fastest growing categories in the Apple App Store with about 2000 Apps already available.  Consumers are therefore hungry for medical information on their smartphones. 

Some simple advice to physicians thinking about implementing a mobile marketing strategy:

• Consider who your target market is.  Is it really local?  Therefore consider location based marketing techniques including Facebook Advertising.
• Try out an online mobile phone simulator to see if your website is mobile-friendly and easily navigable on a smartphone, before embarking on building a brand new site.
• You may wish to just simplify what you already have; cut out the bells and whistles and just make sure it is easy to navigate on a small screen.
• The most important information should be viewable at the top of the screen.  Don’t make your patients have to scroll down to find what they want.  (Think like you are a user.)
• Provide a back button for convenience, as most phones don’t have a physical back button like a computer keyboard.  

These little things make all the difference to the user experience. 

For more information and marketing consultation, please contact me via this Blog.  Or , tell us about your healthcare mobile marketing experience.

E-Readers Will Help Magazine Publishers

A study by Mediamark Research and Intelligence shows that owners of e-readers (including the Apple iPad)  are big fans of magazines.  In fact 91 percent of them read magazines and they read about 13 issues a month.   This suggests that publications may have new life in terms of revenue generation, as long as the subscriptions are not exorbitant.

Time Magazine released its weekly publication for the iPad, but at a price of $4.99 an edition.  If publishers want to succeed on this new platform and recapture the diminishing print revenues, they need to price digital versions of their publications at more realistic and enticing levels,  or at least offer discounts to monthly subscribers.  The iPad has presented a wonderful opportunity for traditional newspapers to stage a come back with digital subscriptions.  The question is: can they respond to this new marketing opportunity?

Can Mobile Marketing Replace Direct Mail?

If you have a smartphone and are used to being connected wherever you are, you would probably answer “yes” as a consumer. 

According to the Director of Research at Nielsen Mobile, “People look at every text message they get”, and 97% of them do so within 15 minutes.”   I don’t believe there is any other medium offering these kinds of results to marketers or businesses. 

Of course, as a business owner you may be worried about the intrusive nature of sending out promotional text messages.  However a  new survey from Compete.com indicates smartphone owners are very receptive to mobile coupons.  The survey, also found that usage during commutes to work and while watching TV were the highest by far.   The survey asked consumers how interested they are in receiving  various types of mobile advertising:  

·      * 36% were interested in receiving grocery coupons -  (perhaps a sign of the economy).

·      * 29% want to receive scanable barcodes

·      * 26% want offers that they can save and pursue later

·      * 26% want movie offers

·      * 21% want SMS promotion/coupon Ads when they pass a retailer.

As a business, you should be considering mobile marketing because it is highly targetable and very cost-effective with an exceptional ROI.  Typical results range from 7-15% ROI compared to the traditional method of direct mail at 2-3%.    

There are many mobile marketing firms that offer very cost effective programs starting from $25 a month.  So, can mobile marketing replace direct mail?  I think based on cost and ROI, it is already replacing traditional direct mail especially in Europe.  

Have a comment?  Please post.....

Kindle Struggles Against Apple iPad

Apple has struck a big blow to Amazon Kindle sales causing Amazon to now scramble just to catch-up. Rumor has it that Amazon is looking to distribute the Kindle through bricks and mortar stores, specifically a deal with Target stores. While the iPad is more than an e-reader, Apple will be pushing books through iBooks.

Then there are the hardware manufacturers such as HP and Dell, all scrambling to release an entrant into this space since the iPad has effectively killed the netbook. Why bother with a netbook when you can get an iPad for may be $150 more and have a much better experience? And why bother with a device from HP (the Slate) that will only give you about half the battery life of an iPad largely due to the 'clunkiness' of Windows 7 and no wi-fi?

For all those nay sayers out there, Apple has set a new milestone again with the iPad. BestBuy was sold out on the day of the launch - 300,000 units and Apple is purported to have sold 450,000 units over the last few days. Users have downloaded 600,000 books and 3.5 million iPad Apps since April 3rd. 

And this is just the beginning!

Mobile Marketing Comes of Age

It's time to start thinking about mobile marketing for your business.  Analyst group, Gartner, predicts that by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide.  The mobile phone channel is not one a marketer can afford to ignore.  

There are two main reasons driving this trend:

1. a whole generation of consumers have grown up with mobile and,

2. it allows for a more personal engagement between the marketer and consumer.  

One of the challenges is to overcome the intrusion of privacy, so it is important to always get the consumer's permission by opt-ins.  

We already know from many data sources, that consumers are accessing social media sites from mobile devices at an increasing rate in a desire to be always connected.  Therefore it makes sense to consider mobile marketing as part of an integrated marketing strategy, complementing other online and offline efforts.  My advice would be to start experimenting.  Mobile marketing should not replace what you are already doing online, but compliment it.

If you've had good or bad experiences....start the conversation.