Mobile Groove

Today (!) marks the launch of The Pulse, a new vodcast series produced by Rob Woodbridge, founder and owner of UNTETHER.tv, in collaboration with MobileGroove. We welcome our guest Gary Schwartz, CEO of Impact Mobile, Inc., North America Chair of the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) and author of THE IMPULSE ECONOMY, a book that examines the evolution and future opportunities around mobile commerce and transactions.

Gary’s no-holds-barred analysis of mobile’s impact on bricks-and-mortar retail suggests America’s shopping malls are in for tough times in 2012 as users move from price comparison apps to making real-life purchases using cloud checkout services. We also discuss how Kindle Fire is blazing through the U.S. (and soon Europe), building on the analysis I just posted this week on MobileGroove. What is the likely impact on mobile marketing and how are users in key countries already embracing this new type of connected device? Tune in and find out! (You can follow Gary and all the tweets related to his new book at @impulseeconomy).

Mobile apps isn’t the only game in town. Developers need think big-picture and focus efforts on multi-platform apps capable of connecting our devices and our experiences. This is the trend to watch for 2012 and why Mike Johns, CEO of Digital Mind State, and his views on the vast opportunities at the intersection of apps, TV and social media are more pertinent than ever.

We catch up with Mike to talk about his success brokering profitable business relationships between brands and urban/hip hop artists to deliver a 360 degree entertainment experience combining social media interaction and TV (Social TV) and mobile apps.

Indoor navigation — and services that map and understand our mobility patterns - lay the ground work for a slew of exciting new location services that combine advertising, marketing, couponing and analytics to deliver people offers they truly can’t refuse. What is the role of mobile operators? Where are the growth opportunities? These are just a few of the questions I explore with Phyllis Reuther, manager of the advanced analytics lab run by the major U.S. mobile operator Sprint.

How can the charitable sector can leverage mobile to connect with the public and collect donations on a massive scale? We talk with Andrew Darling, Associate Director of Market Development at OpenMarket, a company providing payment and messaging services to mobile retail and commerce clients worldwide. OpenMarket is also a driving force in efforts to help charities put together the approaches and platforms that will allow them to take donations and connect with the people who give to relief efforts and causes around the world.

The benefits and the business models around mobile are the topic of Empowering the Charitable Sector with Interactive Technology II (September 15, London). The all-day knowledge seminar organized by AIME (the Association for Interactive media & Entertainment) is already standing room only (!), an unexpectedly high attendance that tells us the topic strikes a chord with charities, advertising & marketing agencies, service providers, broadcasters, industry bodies and mobile operators–all the players that need to come together and work together to maximize the potential for all kinds of charities to use mobile.

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group and self-proclaimed “fan” of text messaging — advises marketers to focus on what matters most: getting the value exchange right.

There are no easy answers, but there are some questions that will help produce them. Ask yourself: “Would this [marketing/approach] annoy me?”. That’s a good start. “There are just basic rules of etiquette. You use different media judiciously and the ability to do that intelligently is one mark of a mature and intelligent service brand.”

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, a leading integrated advertising and marketing communications agency, challenges the view that mobile is somehow in its infancy and has yet to grow up and compete with the Big Boys (such as online, TV and print) that continue to account for the lion share of advertising spend.

As Rory sees it: the proper way to measure the importance (and effectiveness) of mobile in the marketing mix is not to look at spend. The cost of developing a brilliant text-based …