2015 Readers' Choice Survey: Mobility
We are in a brave new world, which has gone beyond traditional media (television, radio, print) as a means to create and sustain brand imagery. Mobility, much like these media in their early days, is still evolving — and at breathtaking speed. Michael JP Forhez, practice director for Perficient Consumer Markets, lends his advice for using technology to keep up with the connected consumer.
Can you comment on this list?
Forhez: It’s not so simple to decide anymore, is it? What phone, with what technical attributes and the best plan to go with it? How much data, music and other entertainment can I download, and how many text messages can I send in a single month (not how many minutes can I talk) before blowing the budget?
You make a choice and then a year later a new phone comes out with greater capacity, followed by all those apps you want, taking up yet more memory! Yes, this is the age of the Connected Consumer, who is mobile all the time.
Last year my answer was AT&T and — full disclosure, I have been a loyal customer for 10 years now — I’d probably give the nod to this firm, notwithstanding Verizon’s satisfaction award. Why? In a word, scale, and because I get more of what I want, where and when I want it. The only surprise was when it tried to walk back its agreement for limitless data access for those of us who were fortunate to sign on early for that plan. Consumers, the Justice Department and, eventually, the carrier reversed that decision. The lesson; it’s always been about, and always will be about, the consumer!
How are consumer goods companies primarily using mobility today?
Forhez: Today, with a global population at approximately 8 billion people, 6.5 billion have a mobile phone. In the United States, 84 percent of mobile phones are now smartphones. According to a report from Forrester, by 2017, 60 percent of all domestic retail sales will involve the Internet in some way, either as a direct e-commerce transaction or as part of a shopper’s research.
The digital, social and mobile evolutions are shape-shifting almost every aspect of the consumer experience and, in the process, are creating new opportunities and challenges to engage them. The ripple effects of the phenomena are fueled by the rapid adoption of smartphones and explosion of mobile apps.
For manufacturers, who once mostly sold only to retailers, the implications are clear; you can no longer sell what can be made. You must make what can be sold. Conversely, for the retail trade, it’s no longer enough to efficiently sell what can be stocked. Merchants will need to stock what can be sold.
Complicating factors further, manufacturers are being driven by an economy where the connected consumer can and will buy your products wherever possible, whenever most convenient. This will require a deeper relationship built on sustained listening, adaptation, real-time interaction and authenticity versus the Mad Men era of clever advertising tag lines, accompanied by a merchandising edict of stack-it-high, watch-it-fly. Hail the consumer!