One More Reason You Need Video Marketing Now and Ten Reasons to Produce It for the Tablet

A compelling video from Gary Hennerberg convinced me that video and tablets -- together -- will lead the digital marketing revolution. Gary is a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and author of Online Video Marketing Deep Dive, so it's no surprise that he is armed with facts, explanations, inspiration, and more than a little great copy, 

In the six-minute video, Gary cites ten reasons marketers need to think about creating video for the tablet market today, including these highlights:

1. The number of tablets purchased this year doubled over 2011, reaching 119 million in 2012 (Gartner). Smartphones started the trend, but this is the early part of the curve for tablets. Takeaway: Get ready now.

2. We’re in the post-PC era, and the amount of video watched on tablets has jumped 26%. iPads presently account for 95% of tablet video viewing. Takeaway: The iPad won’t play Flash, so convert your legacy videos to a format that doesn't rely on Flash.

3. Tablets are one of the most rapidly adopted technologies in history. Tablets are used for "watching" everything (TV viewing, included). Takeaway: The future is “location-based video.”

4. Video viewing is a “given” on tablets. Takeaway? Got a tablet? You want video.

5. Tablet users are three times as likely to watch video on their devices. Takeaway: Shoot and upload your videos in HD, whenever possible. Tabbies expect quality.

6. Nineteen percent of tablet users watch video once a week, nine percent watch daily. Better yet, One in four viewers is willing to pay to view. Takeaway: These users have money and are willing to spend.

7. The heaviest concentration of smartphone and tablet users combined occurs between the ages of 25-44, but the tablet cohort is 28% more likely to be age 65 and older and 25% less likely to be 18-24. Takeaway: Tablet users tend to be well-heeled.

8. Three in five tablet owners reside in households with a $75,000+ income. Takeaway: See takeaway #7, above.

9. Tablets will become the preferred, primary device for millions worldwide by 2015, overtaking notebook PCs by 2016, says Forrester. Takeaway: Start early and travel fast to master this marketing channel.

10. Ten percent of a publisher’s audience are “power viewers” willing to watch five or more videos in a given day. Takeaway: Consider producing an ongoing series of educational and instructional videos to build trust, authority, and a following. Then you can sell.

Check out Gary’s complete video here.  There's lots more good info in the full monty.

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Near Field Communications Are Near

NFC is the acronym for Near Field Communications. So what?

Put simply, near field communications (NFC) let devices (like cell phones) that are close to one another (like 4 inches apart) exchange information (like credit card numbers).

For those who find that too simple, here’s the real deal from Wikipedia: "Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and connections with a touch. Co-invented by NXP Semiconductors and Sony in 2002, NFC technology is being added to a growing number of mobile handsets to enable mobile payments, as well as many other applications."

NFC also has potential applications for instant file exchange, electronic business cards, mobile gaming , friend-to-friend connections, and, of course, electronic money. In fact, The New York Times reported yesterday that some states (California, Massachussets, Iowa, and District of Columbia) may be turning to online gambling to build revenues),

In January 2011, the tech blogs got all hot and sweaty about a rumor that the Apple iPad2 and iPhone5 would have NFC. By March, we knew that wasn’t going to happen, but when it does, some observes say it’s going to be huge. For example, MG Sigler at TechCrunch says, “If Apple can nail Near-Field Communication (NFC) and tie it directly into their already-established iTunes payment system, it could change everything. It could transform Apple from the biggest technology company in the world, to the biggest company in the world, period. By far.”

Also “coming soon,” Google Wallet (a mobile app that will “make your phone your wallet"), which, in partnership with Citibank, will let consumers “tap, pay, and save.”

NFC: What’s in your wallet?

Research Shows Mobile Is the Big Chatter

“Get near any group of marketing professionals and you're likely to hear a chorus of ‘mobile.'” In fact, mobile is pretty much all we think about, according to a press release announcing availability of Mobile Marketing: Plans, Trends and Measurability: What Do Marketers Think?

Some 560 respondents, split between corporate management and marketing/sales management professionals, spilled their thoughts to King Fish Media, Maxymiser, HubSpot, and Junta42, the quartet that partnered to gather and publish the results of an online survey conducted April 12-27, 2011.

Among the key findings:

• The mobile market is very much in its early stages, with corporate plans in a state of flux.
• Companies are faced with a growing base of installed mobile devices.
• Thirty-three percent of companies currently have a mobile strategy in place, and among those who don't, they plan to have one ready within the next 12 months.
• While only about 12 percent of brands' marketing is spent on mobile, 82 percent plans to increase their spending on mobile over the next year, with 30 percent taking the budget from mainstream marketing and advertising.
• Most commonly, brands are using mobile initiatives to build/grow relationships, which explains why the most popular content types are currently: social media, branded, email capabilities, geo-location/maps, and general reference.

Additional findings:

• About 75% of companies are planning apps using the iPhone platform vs. Android (45 percent), iPad (41 percent) and BlackBerry(41 percent).
• Looking out 12 months, interest in iPad (76 percent) and Android (75 percent) rises significantly, while iPhone and BlackBerry stay flat.
• Interestingly, 68 percent of companies have no plans to develop apps using the Windows operating system.
• Social media, branded content, email, geo-location/maps and general reference are most often mentioned as applications being executed as part of a mobile initiative.
• Original branded content, ads, expert content, and videos are the types of content used most often in mobile format.
• Commerce over mobile channels is slow to take hold among respondents. Less than 20 percent of respondents said they are currently conducting mobile commerce, mostly over a mobile website. Interest does rise for 2012.
• Relationship marketing (customer loyalty and retention) is at the heart of the perceived benefits of mobile marketing.
• In terms of ROI for current mobile programs, 24 percent report that it has exceeded or performed as expected and a full one third have not measured it at all.
• Forty-one percent say future mobile marketing programs will need to show a positive return to continue the program and 34 percent say they will be tracking it, but a positive return will not be required at this time.

“The mobile marketplace has gotten the attention of marketers as a valuable media platform, but it is also still taking shape and in its early stages,” explains Gordon Plutsky, director of marketing and research, King Fish Media. “This report will hopefully offer some clarity on the direction of this developing communications channel, so that marketers can react in ways both prescient and strategic.”

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What Technology Beams You Up, Scotty? QR Codes!

Real life stories are the best examples, so here are a few that tout the value of QR codes.

Perfect for social medial: TDN recently featured a post by Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, “What Are You Doing To Compete with Email?” Richard Munoz, one of the commentators, noted that “more and more personal messages are reaching me via social media rather than through my primary email address .. Perhaps it’s time for printed direct mail to do the same. 2D barcodes that link a direct mail piece to aFacebook profile are one way.”

Great for print ads, too. QR Codes popped up on my radar in another way this week. Target Marketing asked me to participate in a survey evaluating ten of their advertisers. Only one of the 10 featured a QR code in the ad. Why? Where’s the response vehicle? Ads used to feature 800 numbers, but everybody knows that meant talking to a salesperson. QR codes are different. These can lead straight to information, not marketing … and information is the new marketing? Right?

Superb for mobile. And then there was my email exchange with a friend who owns a successful small biz in D.C. Here’s his message to the coupon pitchers: Get a QR Code: “Maybe it's the guy in me, but I hate having to remember coupons. Starbucks sends me the free drink coupon for my loyalty. Yaay. Except when I'm in Starbucks, the coupon is always at home. I put it in my bag, then I don't go to Starbucks. Now I'm worried that I'm gonna lose it before I use it. I like online coupons that I open purchase and use from my phone. I know my phone is always with me.”

There’s more. A lot more. So how ‘bout it? If you’ve got a story to tell, queue up!

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Brilliant Zinio, Breathtaking Magazines

We may not have direct mail sweepstakes from Publishers' Clearinghouse, but we do have email from digital/interactive publisher Zinio. Last year, I regularly received marketing emails from Zinio and I didn’t mind. Most of the time I deleted, but every now and then I’d open and be amazed what a great marketing tool these “free magazine articles” were.

Last summer, for example, the Zinio Daily Spotlight focused on “Water,” followed by a few thirst-inducing statistics:

• 100 gallons – amount of water the average American uses per day, enough to fill 1,600 glasses
• $600 – amount the average home spends annually on energy to heat water.

What did these striking statistics come from? I had to find out, so I clicked “read it.” That’s when I learned that all these tips were in the “Green Home Guide” issue of Popular Science. I realized I don’t know much about science, popular or otherwise. I should. Why don’t I?

Zinio did this to me often. In myriad ways, this digital company reminded me of the value and expertise found in magazines, whose editors and writers know oodles about their topic areas. Besides, most any magazine is just plain joyous to look it.

Zinio seems to be marketing differently now. I don't get any more Daily Spotlights or "read it" emails. (Okay, I didn't subscribe to anything, so that's fair enough.) Also, on Zinio's website, I notice that much of their advertising today is aimed at iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and other mobile readers. If digital downloads will save magazines, that’s a good thing, though I, personally, would miss the feel of glossy paper, the vibrant color, and the whoosh scent of a printed magazine.

Meanwhile, it's fun to cruise around Zinio’s website and peek inside contemporary publications like SPIN and T3, if for no other reason than to check the hip graphics and page layouts. It’s even a treat to sift through the titles of magazines still in print.

Long live magazines!

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Smart Phone Meets GPS, Meets Social Media, Meets Marketing

Last week, I saw a tweet that said, “I'm at Dupont Circle Park (Dupont Cir NW, 19th St NW & P St NW, Washington).” My first thought was, "Who cares?" But, then I figured it was time to learn a thing or two about the mobile GPS frenzy.

Some folks are playing “geo location games” like Urban Defender. Creepy, but not surprising. The serious push, of course, comes from the commercial side. Here’s how that can work.

Less than a month ago, on December 23, Twitter acquired Mixer Labs, the creators of geoAPI. This little smart phone app helps people find their sweet spots and – presumably – spend money.

Certainly, users want the purely informational stuff like GeoAPI’s Reverse Geocoder, which can take a latitudinal/longitudinal coordindate (that's a "lat/lon" to you) and convert it into people-speak (neighborhood, city, state, and country). Good to know. But that's not commercial yet.

GeoAPI also contains “deep data about 16 million businesses and tens of thousands of points of interest” (hours of operation, address, etc.). From there, customers can get seriously involved. Using GeoAPI’s “Entity Creation,” the user can annotate his or her own personal entries. For example, such citations as “awesome sidewalk art” or “best bargains ever,” enable the user to create a virtual world overlay to their own blocks and neighborhoods. Now we're talking customer-intelligence integrated with GPS. There's more.

GeoAPI’s “Media Layers” let the user integrate info from social media sites like Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. This feature lets you check out tweets coming from Central Park in New York, or photos of the Native American Museum in D.C., or what New York insiders think about Magnolia Bakery (Lazy Sunday with 3.7 million YouTube views, proves that people will look).

GPS activity on smart phones will be big business, say experts. Referring to mobile GPS as a "new layer of the web, " Mashable's Pete Cashmore suspects location-sharing devices will be the "breakout services of the year." Loic LeMeur, founder of Seesmic, Inc., predicted that “Location will be one of the most widespread status update’s on Twitter." Max Gladwell calls geolocation "the trend for 2010," noting that a dozen companies already are in the space.

Can you hear me now?

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Nano is the Real Deal, So Figure Out How To Think Small

David Falato, partner at Jack Nadel International, jacked a lot of folks on LinkedIn’s Marketing Search Group when he announced a USB drive made out of paper that can be inserted into a brochure or even a magazine ad. “It is definitely one of the more unique ideas to come along in the promotional product market in a while. Great for tradeshow handouts, brochures, company catalogs, sweepstakes. magazine ads. We can also gather valuable marketing data, for example we can tell how many people actually plugged the USB drive in and what pages they visited on the website that the webkey directed them to.”

Nano is an extension of the niche and local trends I blogged about earlier. Predictably, this year technology will push nano into new product areas and up its influence on marketing strategies.

In its strict scientific definition, nano is controversial – probably for good reason. But that’s a different nano. In the Marketing Brillo sense, nano means close-up, personal, tailored-to-fit, squeezed comfortably into small spaces, common-denominator savvy, highly pertinent, devoid of the extraneous, and relevant.

In October 2006, the ever-prescient Anne Holland, Marketing Sherpa founder, dubbed the term “nano-niche." Anne’s talking about segementation on steroids. “Divide your marketplace into nano-niches. Only do two or three to start as a test. (I wouldn't test just one because it might be the fluke niche that isn't worth the work. You need to try several to discover what makes a winning niche.” Sound advice that worked well in 2009.

No surprise, nano is happening to our stuff, too. As the world gets more crowded, big products need to get smaller: cars for example. The Renault Twizy and the Tato Nano are ultra-small, ultra-cheap, and eco-friendly.

And then there's Twitter, wee words of marketing, news, opinion, and gossip. And smart phones, the big ALL in a palm shell. And SMS, the sales message without form. Powerful.

What’s on your Little Plate this year?

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In Mobile Marketing Heat, Snappable Ads Snap Back

Occasionally late to the party, Marketing Brillo just learned about “snappable ads” this morning, in MediaWeek’s article. Here's what we now know.

Also called "web-enabled print" ads, these tiny touchables adhere to a page that readers can “click-on” to make something happen. That something might signal an advertiser to mail a coupon or send a free sample to the “snapper.” Magazines aren’t the only snappable possibilities. Also think direct mail, newspapers, apparel, brochures, in-store displays, packaging, etc.

To see how the technology works, watch this little slideshow from SpyderLynk, a top developer of snappables.

SpyderLynk’s CEO, Nicole Skogg, was interviewed on June 5 by the Denver Post. "SpyderLynk turns a brand’s printed logos into an image, or “SnapTag,” that people can take a [cell phone] picture of and send in a text message to a number listed in an ad. SpyderLynk sends back to their phones a brand’s promotional material offer, and starts a two-way interaction that a typical printed ad can’t."

Apparently, Skogg knew what she was talking about. Two weeks after the Denver Post article, A9 – a subsidiary of Amazon – acquired SnapTell, developer of SpyderLynk’s SnapTag™ technology.

I can see why magazine publishers and advertisers get excited. This is a really “cool” technology that -- given the chance -- most people can't resist "trying out." Apparently, it bombed when it first hit magazine racks about three years ago, though. For one thing, over-burdened magazine readers didn't know what to do so they fled. Also, street wisdom speculated that maybe the early effort didn’t give away enough value (read free stuff). This time around, consumers can expect better premiums and better directions.

"Mobile activation marketing" -- already well accepted in Asia -- is the end game for technologies like these. Multi-national LinkMe’s technology combines visual, voice, and audio recognition -- which means you can connect a print image to your mobile phone via voice and sound. All you have to do is say something like, “Nike Tennis shoes in November 3 issue of Women’s Day” and the image will appear on your mobile phone.

MediaWeek says current consumer response rates to snappables are about 2 percent. For now, those response rates won't pry marketing dollars from most tight-fisted advertisers. But that's okay.

In fantasizing how technology will meld the total “sensory” experience from every imaginable input device into exactly the display device we choose, “media” takes on a whole new meaning. In other words, we haven't seen that media yet.

For most marketers, laboring away in the direct mail/email/cross-media sweat box, little of this “amazing stuff” requires immediate action. Our essential challenges remains the same: a) To be fully aware of all options; and, b) to imagine how any or all of these explosive possibilities might be useful to our customers. In that sense -- as always -- marketers remain the link between technology and its customers.

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The New Zipcar App Is A Windshield Into 2011 Marketing

Yesterday, Zipcar, Inc. – the popular car-sharing service – released a new App for the iPhone and iPod. This maneuver is target marketing at its best.

"Like so many urban dwellers today, more than 25 percent of Zipcar members live their life from their iPhones," said Scott Griffith, Zipcar chairman and CEO. "The new Zipcar App is a simple, fun and self-service technology that now allows millions of iPhone and iPod touch users to have on-the-go access to Zipcars around the globe."

This particular App underscores another marketing tenet, too: mobile marketing innovations can drive market share even as the market drives App development. In all cases, the iPhone and other smart phones win.

For example, the Zip App is so useful that Zipcar drivers who don’t have an iPhone will probably want one now. Meanwhile ease-of-use issues that may have stopped some eco-conscious urbanites from adopting the Zipcar life have been resolved. Users can get directions to their Zipcar. They can easily find a reserved car by telling the horn to honk. To get help during a reservation, just tap the App. For those who have not yet Zipcar-ed, no angst: even non-Zipsters can download the app and take it for a test drive.

Marketing Brillo thinks Mobile/Life interface technology like the Zipcar App will dominate the consumer marketplace within two years. So, hurry up and add "brainstorm an App" to your next marketing agenda. And while you're at it, get ready to "Draper that stuff" because that App could be your next market penetration breakthrough.

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Reminder to Marketers: Teen Life Happens at the Mobile Level

What do text messaging, encyclopedias, working from home, and marketing have in common. Everything, according to Susan Marshall, vice president of marketing at ChaCha (aka, “ur mobile BFF").

ChaChees — as the company’s users are called – can text a query to any one of ChaCha’s 55,000 “guides” – all of whom work at home and are on-call to answer questions. Marshall reports that teens have asked 150 million questions over the last 18 months.

For marketers “..The result is a comprehensive view into the psyche of a teen. They will be honest about what they want and marketers get a sense of how to direct some services towards them and direct the right kind of advertisements to them.” [Note: Teens ask most about sex, kissing, relationships, video game info, and -- the top "must-know" category -- humor.]

For the statistically inclined, consider these numbers from Marshall’s Media Post blog: Working on a baseline index of 100, teens use the Internet at a time-spent index of 82. Time spent using their mobile device for phone calls indexes at 67. Text usage goes off the charts at 338. There’s no end in sight. Marshall says, “We have found that 83% of the entire teen population texts, which is up 13% in the past year.”

Marketing Brillo sees a sub-text to all this: More work-from-home income opportunities. We like.

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Broadband Mobile's Fierce Factors: A Futurist Explains

Futurist Gerd Leonard notes that all content industries are “seriously challenged by the Internet’s disruptive forces.” All content industries -- television, print, broadcasting, entertainment -- and all current business models, copyright, and value traditions are in chaos already, but about to be upended further by exploding mobile device use.

On June 19, Gerd presented in Singapore at CMMA, where he noted that, "Together, broadband culture and mobility will redefine how we think about privacy, authorship, ownership, value selling and marketing, R&D and production, work, and education." Here are some notes from his presentation:

Gerd sites seven Fierce Factors of Mobile:
• first truly personal mass medium
• captures the social context of media consumption
• always within 1 meter reach
• always on, interconnected
• available at the exact point and time of inspiration
• built-in payment options
• offers most accurate audience measurement

Gerd notes that "selling copies" to make money is a dead deal.
1. When copies are free, you need to sell things that can’t be copied.” Kevin Kelly
2. Rather than changing the existing model, publishers are fumbling around for a solution that requires readers to fundamentally change their behavior.” Fat chance. Xark blog
3. Hoarding content is not a good move.
4. Attract, don’t enforce (that is, get your users hooked first, then ask for their money).

I've been struggling lately with defining what content actually is. Gerd has this to say about "Content in a Broadband Mobile Future."
• It's created by the users and shared
• It includes meta-content: the users’ data and click-streams layered around other professional content.
• It's professional content “appropriated” by users.
• It's the users themselves.

Fierce Mobile also includes the shift to "Freemium," a zeitgeist in which:
• Nobody pays actual $ anywhere.
• Everything "feels like it's free" because the payment is bundled or hidden and no individual payment decision is required every time.
• All users get real value free of charge, but a good percentage selects to buy premium offers.
• "Third party pay," in which someone else pays for my usage because they want access to me and my data, becomes commonplace.

Bottom line: The Future Mass Market is a Mass of Niches. The characteristics are personalization, customization, sharing, engagement, transparency, and participation.

Bottom line 2: The Mobile Consumption of Digital goods is the #1 growth story of the next decade.

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Marketing Musts in the 2009 Zeitgeist

As I continue to ponder futurist Ross Dawson’s trend map for 2009, I’m focusing on how these trends can inform marketers who stress over “what’s brewing out there?” Here’s the first five observations. Stay tuned. This Zeitgeist Hydra grows heads exponentially.

Uncertainty/anxiety demands Customer Reassurance. Bryan Landaburu cited a superb example of customer reassurance done right from electronics retailer Crutchfield.com. Amidst the economic meltdown, Crutchfield's founder and CEO sent a reassuring, sincere, frank, specific, and proactive email to customers on October 24, 2008. It doesn’t get better than this. Bigger point: If you haven't walked the walk, you'll suffer a fatal fall.

Ageing demands Security. At some point, getting older gets to be less about botoxing wrinkles and more about hanging onto the edge of a cliff. Will we be able to house and nourish ourselves, afford healthcare, drive a car, take a walk, go out to lunch occasionally? Baby Boomers and Their Parents says 50-somethings are not as well-off as their "Greatest Generation" parents -- a reality that's of over-arching concern. Message to marketers: products and services for folks concerned about the harsher side of ageing must answer the security call.

Flight to quality demands Sincere Response. One of the folks at Apocalypzia remembers a time when one of America’s leading retailers (to whom he consulted on quality control issues) scoffed when customers returned branded tools for bad performance. “The attitude was: There are always new customers coming in.” Today, with vastly declining sales, that company is surviving on its real estate ownership (how’s that working for you, folks?). Bottom line: No more marketing and customer-service silos. Today's customer will move on for good, but on her way out, she'll tell 100 people on Twitter how much she hates her consumer experience. (Note: If you don't believe it, try Googling "I hate Comcast," which currently pulls up 928,000 hits. Goodbye, Frank Eliason [who rarely tells us when Comcast is down in our area or why, but yaks about other stuff, grrrrr], hello Fios.

Global connectivity demands Agility and Flexibility. In Digital Marketing: Global Strategies, authors Jerry Wind and Vijay Mahajan say new business models must focus not on profits and returns, but on rapidly building market share and leveraging knowledge. In the Domino’s Pizza model, for example, location is irrelevant, customer interaction and ordering is by phone, the value proposition is speed, and database marketing and associated analytics are critical.

GRIN technologies demand concise, catchy copy. Marketing anything related to genetics, robotics, information technology, and nanotechnology is bound to confuse, challenge, and scare a lot of people—even smart people. For this, we need a new, shorter language, the awareness of which has been exploding in Twitter’s 140-character to mobile marketing’s 160-character messaging. Got nano?

Mobile: The Next Crazy-Making, Must-Know Marketing Skill

Kim Dushinski, founder of Mobile Marketing Profits and author of The Mobile Marketing Handbook, writes that, very soon, all businesses will have a mobile marketing presence. "Mobile" includes our cell phones, natch, but also refers to any sort of away-from-home device that can access the Internet through Wi-Fi: basic flip phone to smartphone to iPhone, PDAs, sub-laptop sized computers, even gaming units.

“It’s the new technology and it’s coming quickly,” she says, noting that in Asia it’s already omnipresent (check out Digital Korea). Over half the population of the planet has a mobile phone already and in some places mobile phone use is reportedly 100% (not sure how babies are using cell phones, at least not yet). In the U.S. only about 80% of us have cell. Overall, use is growing at 42% per year and is predicted to have a $7.6 billion impact by 2013.With its importance as the Seventh Mass Media (along with print, recording, cinema, radio, TV, and the Internet), marketers will be called upon now or sooner to fit mobile into the marketing strategy.

Success, of course, will depend on our finding something of value to provide customers via mobile. Target groups who are already mobile savvy include people under 30 (born with flying thumbs), business data plan users (who cares how much it costs?), and Latinos. Busy women top the up-and-coming market. Don’t try to sell stuff to mobile users, though. Younger groups especially are wary of advertising, marketing, and anything commercial, especially spammed text messages. In this market, we'll have to figure out how to make money when we're giving it (whatever "it" is) away.

To seduce mobile users, then, we'll need to offer something that will add value to whatever they're doing at the moment. For now, top mobile marketing strategies include location-specific information (addresses, driving directions, maps, storefront photos); timely information (pricing alerts, flight info); tips to make life easier (menu options, calorie counts); a financial incentive (coupons); entertainment (games, trivia, contests, recordings); and connection (social networking like OrbitzTLC).

B2C businesses have an edge in mobile marketing so far. Social media are the natural partner to mobile marketing, though, so here’s where service-based or information businesses have an edge. “Your focus will be about building a presence and staying connected to your customers,” Duschinski says.

Getting involved will be complicated. Mobile marketing is 100% opt-in, so we've got to find a way to persuade customers to ask for what we're offering, then make it easy for them to sign-on. Curiously, the move to mobile marketing may give more traditional strategies like direct mail a renewed raison d'etre.

When we get into serious mobile marketing, we'll need to partner with vendors who provide transcoding, 2D bar codes, connection aggregators, mobile platform providers, minature website design, abbreviated dialing codes, and a plethora of other mobile-specific technology. If you haven’t heard of “short codes,” you will.

Like social media, it's going to drive us crazy, but mobile marketing is sure to spawn new marketing strategies, which could be fun. For example, location-specific mobile marketing is already employing such old-fashioned tactics as billboards or people walking around in t-shirts that feature a message with a short code. Duschinski’s book, for example, imagines a t-shirt with “Want a FREE lunch?” on the front, and “Text LUNCH to 12345 [the short code]” on the back.

Finally, whatever else we do, our text messages will have to be 160 characters or less, so there’s sure to be even more work for copywriters who can say something significant in a few words.