Mobile and the network of me

February 15, 2008

Scott Hornstein is chief marketing officer of Wired Assets Corp.

The mobile phone is the most personal medium ever invented. No one but no one leaves home without it. A colleague called us to say he wouldn't be able to make a meeting. He had arrived at the airport without his wallet. But he had his mobile phone.

The mobile device is becoming a remote control for our lives, a tool that links the physical and digital worlds, giving each of us the power to turn on -- or off -- our own private network of information. We are hyper-connected, have the attention span of a gnat and are supremely independent in choosing when, where, how and why we will receive information or interact with a commercial enterprise.

That, in a nutshell, is the network of me.

The problem is how to get your message on the network of me. I've got five suggestions.

First, the technology must be cool. The more transparent, the cooler. Instant gratification is the order of the day. I've seen some mobile technology in the last month that makes my head spin.

Second, the customer (me) is in control. That means that each individual customer gets to decide what is valuable. And value is a moving target. Marketers want to see a linear sales process: make stuff, sell stuff, collect money. Customers live in a continuum, or lifecycle. Their needs and requirements change over time. The better we understand value, which involves customer satisfaction, the more our message will be heard (oh, you didn't hear my value proposition? Let me speak louder).

Third, respect my privacy. Not as you want it to be, but as I want it to be. Which means you take an ethical position, you publish it and you live by it. This, in my view, excludes most of the privacy policies I have read, which are legally worded tomes that, at the end of the day, say that the marketer can do anything they want at any time.

Fourth, be prepared to communicate when, where and how the customer wants. We can't always be in broadcast mode. The listening mode has got to be there, too. And when the customer speaks, it's more than just a suggestion.

Finally, mobile does not stand alone. It is part of your media mix. You must give me choices.

We can adapt and succeed or we can invite government oversight. In this election year, I'm sure the politicians would rather talk about mobile marketing than the real issues of the day.

Scott Hornstein is chief marketing officer of Wired Assets Data Corp., Greenwich, CT. Reach him at .