Google Wallet makes mobile payments a reality.

Years ago, when I was working in mobile marketing, mobile payments were all the rage.

Brands were just starting to experiment with SMS, and premium SMS messaging offered content creators an opportunity to monetize their mobile campaigns.

If someone with a text-messaging enabled mobile device saw your call to action, “Text WAYNE to 12345 to get Lil’ Wayne’s newest single!”), they could type in the keyword, send it to a short code and Voila! they were listening to Weezy right from their mobile phone.

Of course, it didn’t always work that smoothly or all the time.

If you had Verizon phone, for example, which restricted hyperlinks, good luck trying to click through to the URL provided on the link you received.

Or if you hit your monthly messaging limit, you wouldn’t be able to send or receive text messages at all.

And at the time, mobile payments were restricted to paying for premium mobile content on your wireless carrier bill.

In order to complete a purchase, there was a double opt-in process, where the user had to validate that they wanted the content and understood the costs and conditions associated with the offer.

Typically, taking advantage of these premium offers involved giving your wireless carrier AND the aggregator AND (in some instances) the content platform provider a portion of the fees associated with that purchase.

Subscription chat lines and information services, like KGBKGB, sprung up to tap into users’ voracious appetite for texting.

You couldn’t buy tangible things with your mobile device.

Outside of wallpapers, ringtones and music downloads, mobile content was the only thing you could really purchase.

Today, that’s no longer the case.

Smartphones, mobile web sites, and mobile apps let you use your mobile phone to purchase virtually anything.

You’re no longer tethered to your wireless carrier if you want buy something.

iTunes and the proliferation of copycat app stores mean that you can cop plenty of compelling content right to your device.

And not have AT&T or Verizon Wireless mucking about in the transaction.

But there’s a different mobile payments space growing and maturing.

We’ve seen early glimpses of that with PayPal.

Apps like Square that have turned your mobile phone into a payment processing center.

In Europe and Asia, paying using your mobile device is commonplace.

But here in the states, the growth of mobile payments has advanced at a snail’s pace.

Until now.

Google Wallet is a mobile payment system that allows its users to store their debit cards, credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards on their mobile phones.

Using near-field communication (NFC), Google Wallet lets users make secure payments by simply tapping their phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at checkout.

Although Google Wallet launched in 2011, it was only this August, that they set up expanded support to all major credit and debit cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

What does it all mean?

Well for one, you’re no longer reduced to making mobile payments solely with PayPal.

More importantly, the tedious process of entering your payment information, name, address, credit card number, expiration date, security code, etc., is as simple as providing your username and password.

This is a real boon for online retailers, who see the majority of their drop offs occurring at checkout.

The best thing about Google Wallet, unlike PayPal (the carriers) and virtually any other merchant processing system, is that they don’t charge processing fees.

No fees?

That’s awesome!

Mind you, I’m not a Google person myself.

Google Wallet doesn’t work on iOS devices.

So unless there’s an app in the works, hundreds of millions of Apple users will be in the dark.

But big up to all you Android users, who have the ability to truly experience what the mobile revolution is shaping up to be…

At least as it relates to mobile payments.

Are you a carder? The utility of business cards.

I was recently handed a business card.

I didn’t ask for it.

It was handed to me by someone I knew.

Only casually, I’ll admit.

But I had corresponded with this individual a number of times before we met that day.

I had communicated with this person over the phone, texted and shared emails.

We had interacted so often and over so many different medium that it made it hard for me to understand the utility she felt, in that moment, offering her card.

I clearly already had her office number, cell phone number, email and address (I was in her office at the time).

But she still felt compelled to offer it to me.

Not to be rude, yet still feeling perplexed, I obliged.

Took her card.

Gave it the perfunctory once-over.

Before promptly stuffing it in the right front pocket of my waistcoat.

That’s a vest for the haberdashery-challenged.

But why did she offer the card in the first place?

Force of habit?

The card held no more information on it, than she knew I already knew.

And it made me reflect how impulsively we all often give out cards.

I’m a card giver.

“Do you have a card?”

Sure…fumble fumble…here you go.

“Can I have your card?”

No problem…sift sift…I’ve got one right here.

I’m so over sifting through my wallet, fumbling around in my briefcase or digging in my pockets to hand or deposit a business card.

And then what happens?

You’ve got a stack of people’s cards cluttering your office/home/desk.

Or you’ve got unused boxes of your own business cards from every job you ever had.

I’d prefer to just exchange information via our phones and keep it moving.

If asked, I oblige.

But cards get on my last nerve.

So much so, that years ago I began looking for alternatives.

I played with Bump, to tone down the whole card game.

Unfortunately (for me) it took more steps to Bump than open my phone, enter ten digits and press send.

So I tried other strategies to extricate myself from cards.

When I worked for MX Telecom (now OpenMarket) I had a short code you could text “Stephen” to and get all my contact info via SMS.

It was very novel a trade shows, but people weren’t generally up on texting for such utilitarian purposes then (I’m talking 2008).

I even gave folks the old “trying to save trees” line to avoid giving or receiving cards.

And it was all so PC and Eco friendly, that it worked – for a time.

But folks still extended their hands, with those wretched slivers of card stock and ink.

Nowadays, and as much as possible, I try to stay ahead of the game by always affirmatively getting contact details and by-passing the card-exchange ritual altogether.

With my iPhone, I cut to the chase and simply shoot my vCard to anyone requesting my info.

And I try not to cringe whenever I hear those dreaded words or see an outstretched hand – with a card in it.

Is it just me?

The Digital Divide

A snapshot of the Moodle we developed to teach out digital curriculum.

When you think of the digital divide, the first thing that comes to mind is the standard issue of the gap in access and exposure to technology, between children of different economic circumstances.

This lack of access and exposure, leaves lower income and minority youth at a marked disadvantage, by depriving them of skills which are becoming increasingly valuable in the workplace and essential in various industries.

But there is a deeper issue.

Lack of adequate instruction.

Unlike us, children today are exposed to technology and digital content, regardless of economic background, to a far greater extent than any other period in history.

Internet capable mobile devices, social media, interactive gaming systems, and a torrent of digital content, are the norm, not the exception.

Youth today immerse themselves in completely virtual worlds, and engage in social interactions and activity, across a variety of devices and platforms.

iPhones, Blackberries, Androids, PS2s, Nintendo DS3s ( and the list goes on) enable youth to play games, surf the Internet, update their status, listen to music, watch videos, text, chat and share content with each other wirelessly.

We need to examine how this exposure is impacting our youth, and what implications the “mobilizing” of technology has on them.

I believe we should be creating curriculum, which addresses the responsible use and utilization of technology, and programming that harnesses the inherent familiarity with handheld technology that youth have, regardless of economic circumstances.

Ever since I began teaching at the PAL Digital U.N.I.Verse.City, I have been able to see what youth of today are doing with technology.

Most youth know how to surf the net.

Any kid knows how to get to YouTube, or send an email.

They know how to use Google, Bing, Ask.com and Yahoo to conduct searches, and find pretty much anything they’re looking for.

Their mobile phones are extensions of their hands, and their fingers were built for texting (I’ve even seen a few texting without even looking at the phone).

As such, their behavior, adoption and use of technology is distinctly different from ours, and requires a distinctly different approach for educating them on using technology responsibly and appropriately.

Most classroom instruction on technology teach kids the basics.

But kids today need real lessons which go beyond the basics.

They need instruction that helps them see technology as an extension of their inherent creative capabilities.

In our course, we’ve married the theoretical with the practical.

First off, our course lives online. We developed a Moodle, which each student can access, where each lesson, document, evaluation, reference, and assessment can be accessed.

When we teach about Canon EOS 60Ds cameras, the kids are shooting on those cameras.

If we talk about data transfer and tagging, the kids are transferring content from the cameras and putting descriptive tags and meta content within the files.

Our classroom instruction recognizes that these kids need a level of engagement that challenges them, and expands their horizons.

More importantly, academic institutions need to accept that technology is changing at an ever increasing pace, and we have to be prepared to meet the youth where they are (which is far more technologically savvy then we were at their age).

Home Shopping Apps. HSN’s got the goods. Literally.

Home shopping on steroids!

I’m not an avid shopper.

Every once in a while, I’ll hit the store to pick up an item or two.

Most of my shopping is done online, and in response to a real need.

Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine’s Day, etc., are when my shopping cap goes on, and I generally handle my business.

So shopping (outside of essentials) is never high on my list of priorities.

But that’s just me.

There’s a whole other world of shoppers, who take shopping very seriously: the home shopper.

If you’re into home shopping, then anytime is a good time to shop.

If there’s a bargain, you’re looking for it.

While shopping used to require getting into the car and heading to a mall, strip mall, flea market, or consignment store, the home shopper now has a number of different outlets for getting their shopping on (and I’m not talking catalogues either).

QVC, HSN and ShopNBC are probably some of the most well known brands in home shopping.

They’ve each got channels devoted entirely to giving shoppers steep discounts on everything from watches to sewing machines.

They also have websites, which allow visitors to browse items featured on the network, as well as other special offers.

But more importantly, each of them has a branded app, which allows you to shop directly from your iPhone, iPad or Android device, while you’re away from your television or home computer.

ShopNBC does the best job of promoting the fact that they’ve got apps.

ShopNBC does the best job of letting you know they've got apps.

The link to the iOS or Android version of their app is conspicuously located in the bottom left corner of the home page, alongside ShopNBC’s other social media links.

Although you’ve got to scroll to the bottom of the page to see this section, the iPhone and Android logos point to the fact that they’ve got apps.

And while they don’t promote the fact that they’ve got a mobile version of their site too, they do.

HSN’s apps are promoted in a similar fashion as ShopNBC, but not quite as well.

Although it's not explicit, HSN lets you know they've got something for mobile.

The mobile phone logo, appears in a banner below the fold of the page, under the title “HSN Everywhere”.

But where HSN falls short in the visual promotion, it more than makes up for it with the breadth and depth of it’s mobile app offering.

HSN has apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Nokia, Windows Mobile 7 and offers a mobile web version of their site and an SMS service.

QVC does the worst job of promoting the fact that it’s got a mobile offering.

C'mon QVC! You've got to do better than this! Site map, really?

The link to their mobile app is buried in the site map, located at the bottom of the home page, with no icons and even less fanfare.

QVC only offers an iPhone version of their app, and they don’t have a mobile site at all.

I took each of the apps for a test drive to see how well they were built.

I didn’t buy anything mind you, but I did check out what they had to offer.

As expected, each of the apps let you to make in-app purchases.

They also have a ‘watch now’ or ‘live’ feature that lets you to follow along with the network programming directly from your device.

There is a short time delay between the live show and the mobile version, but it’s not material.

But there are material differences in how the live viewing options work on the respective apps.

HSN does the best job for a few reasons, including the fact that it utilizes the accelerometer of the iOS devices, allowing you to watch in both landscape and portrait modes.

HSN's app is the hands down fave!

The menus and content streams, that frame the viewing area, adjust, letting you expand or collapse the screen to watch in full screen/partial screen mode.

While HSN gives you multiple viewing options, ShopNBC’s live viewing is only viewable in full screen landscape mode.

And unlike the HSN app, you’ve got to quit the video, in order to interact with any other content on their app.

QVC’s iPhone app works similarly to HSN’s and is viewable in both landscape or portrait mode.

In landscape mode, the dash slides away letting you watch full screen.

Sorry QVC, but watching TV on the iPhone simply isn't the move. Make an iPad app!

But after experiencing HSN and ShopNBC’s apps in the larger form factor of the iPad, watching QVC’s show on the iPhone was markedly underwhelming.

Each of these apps had their pluses. But hands down, HSN is clearly the most progressive and forward thinking of these home shopping networks.

They have the most comprehensive suite of options for accessing their brand.

Notwithstanding my critiques, each of these brands are clearly thinking about how to help shoppers get the most out of their connected devices.

And at the end of the day, if you’re a ‘shoppy’, you should be over the moon!

Superbowl XLVI and Social Media: A Wish List

Which brands will freak social media this year?

Tomorrow night, the New York Giants will play the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLVI.

While most will be focusing on the game, for marketers, talk always turns to the commercials that air during the game.

With an estimated audience of 111 million, advertisers are queued up to spend $3 million for a thirty second spot, all in hopes of making an impact on that audience.

A well executed commercial can leave an impression on viewers that will last for months afterward and translate into money well spent by the brand(s) that get it right.

Volkswagon’s Young Vader commercial, which aired during Superbowl XLV has garnered over 50 million views to date, and was by far, one of the most popular commercials of the game.

While talk usually revolves around what Superbowl commercials the big brands are planning, I’m more interested in seeing how (and whether) these same brands integrate social media into their campaigns.

Aside from making their commercials available on YouTube (which is valuable), I’m curious as to how many have planned more comprehensive social media campaigns.

I’d imagine that we’re going see a number of calls-to-action involving ‘liking’ this brand or that on Facebook.

Quite passe, if you ask me.

But aside from the standards, like this or follow that, are any of these brands thinking outside of the box?

My wish list for this year’s Superbowl is to see brands utilizing social media in new and innovative ways.

I, for one, am going to be keeping a watchful eye for anything extraordinary tomorrow.

I’m also going to be looking out for which commercials create the biggest buzz during the game.

Which commercials are trending on Twitter?

Which brands get people updating their status with ‘LMFAO’s?

Which commercials get shared the most?

SMS. SnapTags. QR Codes. Spoof videos. Mobile-only content. I’m expecting it all!

Since my Cowboys were unceremoniously drummed out of Superbowl contention by the Giants (damn you Eli!), I’ve got no skin in the game.

So, don’t worry. I won’t be distracted rooting for any team. I know you were concerned.

I’ll keep a scorecard of who did what, paying special attention to the campaigns that tricked out their social media components.

Check in Monday for my post-game survey.

Go <fill in the name of your team here>!

Mobile Engagement: SMS, Apps, Mobile Web, QR Codes, SnapTags

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

I’ve got a new (and far less catchy) one for ya: “There’s more than one way to engage your audience via mobile.”

I told you it was far less catchy.

But to my point, there are numerous ways for businesses and brands to create effective engagement using mobile.

These include SMS (short messaging system aka texting), mobile applications, mobile websites, QR codes and SnapTags.

There are definitely more than these five, but for the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to focus on these.

SMS

SMS isn't just for clamshells anymore!

What is SMS? If you’ve ever sent or received a text message to your mobile phone, you’ve used SMS. SMS stands for short messaging system, and it’s a protocol for communication between mobile devices or mobile devices and computers. The maximum length of an SMS or text message is 160 characters, hence, ‘short.’

How does texting work? Text messaging works by sending packets of data (information) over cellular networks. You send a message that is delivered to your wireless carrier’s message center. From there it’s processed through several switches until it’s received on the recipient’s device.

Along the way, it picks up and shares crucial information about the sender, the sender’s location, timestamp and other data, which can be utilized to track data sent over the network.

Pros

Targeted. The beauty of text messaging for brands, is that users opt-in, only when they actually want to receive messages, information and alerts. Thus, the mobile mailing lists your brand creates, consists of motivated users who have identified themselves as tuned-in members of your brand’s tribe.

Simple to Integrate. Adding a few lines of text, with a mobile call-to-action, to your current marketing tools is a simple way to expand the breadth and depth of your brand’s current marketing efforts.

Unobtrusive. If you’re like me, you look at your phone whenever it’s convenient. You don’t necessarily respond to every beep or buzz at the moment you’re notified. SMS allows you to collect messages, review and respond at your leisure.

Permission-based. Unlike email lists, which are freely shared, bought and sold, mobile is an extremely regulated industry. Mobile marketing companies can only send messages to users who have specifically opted-in to receive messages from the particular brand that acquired their number.

Cons

Frequency. Sometimes brands send out too many messages. At other times, too few. Without being able to ascertain the messaging appetite of a particular user, your message frequency may not match that of the intended recipient(s).

Delivery failure. No system is infallible. SMS is no different. Between users traveling in and out of locations with low/no signal strength, to mis-entered phone numbers, to users switching between providers (but maintaining the same number), there are any number of causes for failed delivery of messages.

Opt-in Requirements. Since you can’t communicate with your audience across their mobile devices unless they’ve opted in, getting users to opt in to your service in the first place can be challenging.

Mobile Apps

Apps, apps everywhere, and not a bite to eat!

What’s a mobile app? A mobile app is an internet application that runs on smartphones and other mobile devices. If you own an iPhone, Blackberry or Android, you’ve probably already used the App store, and have a few apps already on your device. Other device manufacturers, like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola, all have their own version of apps that run exclusively on their devices.

How do mobile apps work? Mobile applications work by connecting users to Internet services that are typically accessed from their desktop or notebook computers. Mobile applications also make it easier to use the Internet on user’s portable devices.

Pros

On-deck. Having an app directly on a phone’s dashboard or dock, is a convenient way for a user to access your brand. When an app is ‘on-deck,’ it provides both utility and convenience within a few clicks.

Targeted. An app is typically a scaled down version of a brand’s website, focused on the few interactions a brand is interested in driving through the use of mobile devices. Well-crafted apps provide baseline information and functionality, taking advantage of the native features and functions of the mobile device.

Cons

Too many apps. There are over 1 million apps in the iTunes App store. There are almost 400,000 Android apps. Making your brand stand out among all these apps can be daunting. Getting people to know that your brand has an app may also be challenging.

Spotty performance. Some apps work great. Others work well. Some work poorly, and a few make us want to throw our phones against the wall. Getting your app to perform right every time is also very difficult to accomplish.

Platform specific. If you’re thinking about a multi-platform app strategy, it’s going to cost you because the app you develop for one device, invariably will not work on another device. If you want to cover the widest range of devices, you’ve got to have a multi-platform approach.

Mobile Websites

What’s a mobile website? Simply put, a mobile website is a site capable of being accessed and rendered properly on a mobile device. As distinguished from a standard website, mobile sites are scaled or designed to take advantage of the features mobile devices and mobile browsers.

How do mobile websites work? Mobile websites work in much the same way as standard sites. Enter a URL into the mobile browser of your device, and you’re taken to the site you’ve requested. But rather than being presented with the typical layout you’d see on a standard web page, you’ll probably have a list of tabs, finger-sized buttons and navigation options formatted for your mobile phone.

Pros

Made for mobile. The beauty of mobile sites is the fact that they’ve been optimized for small screens, and enable users to access a wealth of content on-the-go.

User-interaction resembles an app. While there are architectural differences between mobile apps and mobile web applications, the user experiences on both interfaces are increasingly similar. Most apps utilize real-time web connectivity and mobile web apps provide offline modes which continue to be accessible in the absence of network connectivity.

Cons

Navigation. The mobile phone usually comes with a small screen and no mouse. This means that navigation on a mobile phone may get difficult for the user, even if it has a touchscreen.

Interoperability. Sometimes things just don’t work wel together. Interoperability issues stem from the multitude of competing mobile devices, mobile operating systems, and browsers, developed by the various handset manufacturers, chipset makers and software developers.

Usability. Usability relates to how easy it is to use a thing. Usability problems are presented by the small physical size of the mobile phone form factors (limits on display resolution and user input/operating).

QR Codes

This is an example of a branded QR code. Looks nice doesn't it?

What’s a QR Code? A QR Code is a two-dimensional barcode consisting of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of four standardized kinds (“modes”) of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, Kanji), or by supported extensions virtually any kind of data.

How do QR Codes work? Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application scan the image of the QR code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the telephone’s browser.

Pros

Use of QR codes expanding. Initially, the adoption of QR codes was slow, especially in the United States, where various standards exist. But the technology is gaining traction in the smartphone market, and many Android, Nokia, Blackberry handsets, have QR code readers pre-installed.

Multiple applications. QR codes are used in a wide range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product/loyalty marketing and promotions.

Free to use. There are any number of free QR code generators, which will create a unique QR code for your brand, pointing to any destination or location you chose. You QR code can open a URL, play a video, send a user a text message or deliver content. All for free!

QR Code Error Correction. Through error correction, it is possible to create artistic QR codes that still scan correctly, but contain intentional alterations to make them more readable or attractive to the human eye, as well as to incorporate colors, logos and other features into the QR code block.

Cons

Requires a QR Code Reader. While many smartphone now have QR code readers installed, many older generation phones, and none of the iOS devices have a native reader application. This may impact adoption of this mobile engagement method.

They’re ugly. One of the main complaints that folks lodge against the use of QR codes is the fact that they’re unattractive. Highly stylized brands feel that the black and white block isn’t aesthetically appealing enough to be used with their brands.

SnapTags

This diagram lays out SnapTags quite succinctly. It came from their site, so it better!

What’s a SnapTag? SnapTags are rings, with visual information aligned in a pattern of bars and breaks, that impacts what content is accessed by a compatible reader app. They have been popularized by Spyderlynk, a mobile activation and marketing platform company.

How do SnapTags work? You can either scan a SnapTag with a SnapTag reader or simply take a picture of the snap tag, text the picture to a short code, and receive a code message in return.

Pros

No reader required. What makes SnapTags unique is the fact that each tag also has a unique short code, enabling people without smart phones to send and receive text messages which will connect them with the associated campaign.

Use your logo. SnapTags are appealing because they use the logo of the brand, which enables companies using SnapTags to take advantage of their pre-existing brand recognition, and not get lost in the shuffle of indistinguishable QR codes.

Cons

No widespread adoption. While SnapTags are the proverbial “princess” to the QR code “beast,” they have yet to gain any real traction in the marketplace. It’s difficult to project whether brands will adopt yet another mobile platform to engage audiences.

Too many steps. For users without smartphones, taking a picture, composing a text message, sending it and waiting for a response, may be too much work to interact with a brand. The rule of thumb with mobile is “less is more.” The fewer steps to connect with your brand, the more likely the user is to take those steps.

Ultimately, the appropriate mobile engagement tool is the one that fits your brand’s overall marketing strategy.

You may find that some campaigns warrant the use of a mobile marketing built around a text messaging strategy and print calls-to-action.

Others may fare the best with an iOS app leading the way.

But whatever tool you use, adding a mobile engagement strategy to your brand’s bag o’ tricks is a smart strategy.

QR Codes are cool!

I generated this QR Code using QR Code Generator from the ZXing Project.

If you’re not up on anything that’s happening in the digital world, you probably haven’t peeped QR codes.

Although you’ve probably seen these weird squiggly things on business cards, flyers or maybe even the last time you went shopping at Macy’s, it probably escaped you that these little boxes were the wave of the future.

What is a QR Code?

Well Wikipedia describes a QR Code (short for Quick Response) as a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.

The QR code above was generated using a free online QR code generator. To see what’s encoded, you’ve got to:

1.  Have a QR reader on your phone. If you’ve got an iPhone, I recommend QRReader. *Download it to your device.

2.  Open your QR reader on your device. If it seems like you’ve turned on your camera, it’s ok. That’s what’s supposed to happen.

3.  Point your camera at the QR reader until it’s centered on the screen.

4.  Watch the magic happen!

You can do really cool things with QR codes beyond simply sharing your information.

For example, you can launch a video, send text, trigger an SMS or direct viewers to a URL.

Here are a few more that I think you’ll enjoy:

Point your phone at this QR code for a sexy experience.

In this example our QR code launches a video on Vimeo of a short film produced by Firststar Films/Viral Cinema for Black Box a custom accessories boutique in Tribeca.

QR Codes can be used to generate text messages too!

Although this is just a sample, QR codes can generate real SMS/text messages, delivered right to your phone.

QR codes can trigger much more sophisticated actions, beyond simply opening a URL or driving simple text messages. In fact Google’s mobile Android operating system incorporates QR readers natively into it’s architecture, allowing it to trigger more complex processes.

Brands are only starting to flirt with QR codes in the States, but I project that as they start to proliferate, you’ll find more exotic and innovative things being done.

I hope this has been instructive, and feel free to reach out to me if you’ve got questions on QR codes, mobile, apps or whatever!

Go mobile or go the way of the dinosaur.

Ad & Marketing Industry News

Last night, I read an article in AdAge about how both Google and Facebook were staking their respective futures on mobile, and how mobile was increasingly becoming the foundation of their efforts.

The Marksmen are a production unit ahead of their time.

Since 2005, when I started working with The Marksmen, developing applications that could be accessed and utilized from mobile devices (it all started with the Treo), I knew that mobile represented the future of computing.

Notice I said “computing” as opposed to content consumption or the internet, because with the advent of the smartphone, there are fewer and fewer things that one can do exclusively on a PC that can’t be done on a mobile device.

It was while at DOT.TUNES that I cut my mobile teeth.

From there it was DOT.TUNES, the first mobile application developed for the iPhone BEFORE the release of the iPhone SDK, which allowed users to remotely access their entire iTunes library directly from their mobile devices (even if it wasn’t an iPhone – holla!).

I even did a stint at MX Telecom (now OpenMarket), one of the largest mobile aggregators in the world, to learn about the ins-and-outs of the mobile industry, from the perspective of the underlying technology behind SMS/MMS/PSMS/Wap, mobile billing, etc.

Ever since, I have been preaching about the importance of mobile to anyone who would listen.

I tell virtually all the clients I consult, that they need to adopt a mobile strategy.

Set up a basic SMS service.

Build a mobile version (or mobile optimized version) of your website.

Create a brand specific mobile app.

Do anything to incorporate some mobile elements to your brand identity or risk going the way of the dinosaur.

I’m saying, if Google and Facebook are banking so heavily on it, doesn’t it seem to make good business sense?

They’re only multi-billion dollar companies.

Clearly, there is some wisdom to their actions.

WeHarlem knows mobile. Do you WeHarlem?

Recently, I’ve been speaking with Sergio Lilavois, one of the founding partners of WeHarlem, an interactive e-community for those that live, work or socialize in Harlem.

WeHarlem has launched several innovative initiatives directed squarely at harnessing and applying the power of mobile devices.

They have a social media website, WeHarlem.com, which links residents and local businesses.

In addition, they developed device specific applications, for the iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices, giving WeHarlem users the ability to access all of WeHarlem’s features on-the-go.

One of the most valuable features of WeHarlem’s mobile app, is the Wi-Fi locator, which enables users to find Harlem businesses offering free Wi-Fi in their establishments.

WeHarlem’s strategy involves providing Harlem residents and businesses with bi-directional utility, generating foot-traffic, loyalty and retention.

We’re in discussions right now to help bring businesses even deeper into the fold, by offering services to enable them to more closely connect with their target audiences using mobile and social media technology.

There have been other shining moments, when the strategies I propose actually gain a foothold.

Vincent Morgan, for example, knew immediately that he wanted it all, a mobile version of his primary website and an SMS alert service.

Although he failed in his efforts to dethrone Charles Rangel, he succeeded in rewriting the way candidates utilize the web, social media and mobile in their campaigns.

Anyway, the AdAge article renewed my passion for evangelizing mobile and I will continue to preach the value of mobile to all who will listen!