ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

IBM exec: Everything that is social will be mobile

SAN DIEGO ? An IBM executive at the MobileCon conference said that social is inherently becoming mobile and existing applications will have to be reconceived and repackaged because of this.

During the ?Meet the Power Players? keynote session, the executive addressed the growing role that mobile is playing for both enterprises and users. The executive also discussed how the medium has changed over the past few years and how it will make even more of an impact going forward.

?We see examples of people trying to paste social and mobile on top of their initiatives,? said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president of global business services at IBM. 

?While that?s a great way to experiment, that?s not the change we?re talking about here,? she said. ?It?s not just about shrinking apps, but rebuilding them from the ground up.?

Think mobile
Although mobile has been overlooked by quite a lot of marketers over the past years, there is no doubt that the medium is changing the way both marketers and users consume content.

Companies are constantly on the pursuit for the next big thing and mobile provides them with an endless ability to create and keep creating.

The space is being upended by the twin forces of mobile and social, per Ms. Kralingen.

Both mediums have made quite a splash in the wireless industry and when married together, they create a big impact, especially for marketers.

Mobile is being adopted eight times faster than the Internet and smartphone shipments have outpaced PCs.

Additionally, mobile is changing the way that consumers pay for goods and purchases.

With this in mind, marketers can no longer overlook the medium. Now is the time to implement the channel into their overall marketing tactics.

All about social
Nowadays, everything is social.  And, over the past few months, everything has gradually become mobile as well.

Gone are the days when marketers solely used one medium to interact with consumers.

Companies are marrying the two together to drive user engagement and connect with new consumers on a much deeper level.

Marketers need to stop looking at what their competitors are doing and create a mobile and social initiative from the ground-up ? whether that centers around a mobile application, a mobile campaign or any other promotion.

New era
According to Ms. Kralingen, the generation of cognitive systems is coming and because of this, the world is being transformed by data.

Moreover, there is a new economic premise. During the 20th century, it was all about extracting value from scarce information.

Now, it is all about creating value from abundant information.

Social networks are not just for socializing ? they are engines of trust and the basis of essential relationships. 

According to Ms. Kralingen, the world transformed by data reworks the work for everyone.

?From my view, it?s all about that capability to quickly experiment, trial and pilot to scale,? Ms. Kralingen said.

?We need to look inside for the next breakthrough in value,? she said. 

Final Take