Taking the “second screen” beyond television

The “second screen” is gaining momentum.

Watching television, once the epitome of passive media consumption, has become an interactive activity. Instead of sinking deeper and deeper into the sofa, people are sitting forward, smartphone or tablet in hand, finding engaging content related to what they’re watching and conversing with other fans of the same show.

This week and next, the producers of the ABC series Revenge are planning a to entice people to watch the last to episodes of the season when they are aired, rather than catching it later on DVR or online, by offering a stream of activities that will be made available through the… Read More »

Think about your customers’ just-in-time needs when setting mobile strategy

Any trend that gains enough momentum to become irreversible results in organizations of all kinds jumping on the bandwagon. One inevitable consequence is a surge of mediocrity. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about having a web page or a Facebook presence, using QR codes or Pinterest, or blogging or tweeting. For all the great resources about the shift to social business, only a fraction of organizations will do it well. Why?

Because talentless hacks anxious to capitalize on a trend, working for organizations that want to employ only the fastest and easiest way to make a buck, will always greatly outnumber creative minds… Read More »

Mobile search: The paradigm is shifting beneath our feet

Paradigm shift is one of those phrases so embraced by business that it eventually lost all meaning, ultimately becoming just another option on a Bullshit Bingo player card. Like most corporate jargon, though, it had its origins in a valid concept. A paradigm shift is a change in fundamental assumptions shared by the members of a community.

Watchmaking is the classic example of a paradigm shift. For decades, the Swiss dominated the field; with 65% of the world watch market and an unsurpassed reputation, the Swiss stood alone at the pinnacle of the field. With the advent of the digital watch, however, the Swiss saw its market share… Read More »

QR codes bring Chanukah blessings right to your menorah

I had the privilege last week of attending the biennial of the Union for Reform Judaism in Washington, D.C.. While there, I met David Gerber, a rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. For his graduate project, Gerber has launched The QR Project, an effort to bring meaningful content to smartphones.

We chatted outside the plenary hall about the irrevocable shift to mobile and the need for any institution—corporate, charitable, religious, whatever—to be ready to accommodate their stakeholders as rely more and more on their phones for online content. He gave me a couple samples of what he has in mind.… Read More »

Five ways to enhance communications with mobile multitasking

Americans with mobile devices are getting adept at multitasking, at least when it comes to the number of screens they manage. According to a mid-October report from Nielsen, 40 percent of American tablet and smartphone owners use their devices while watching television.

Most of that use has nothing to do with what’s on TV. They’re checking their email, surfing for unrelated content, dropped by Facebook or Twitter, looking up sports scores. But around 30%  percent of mobile users looked up information related to the show they were watching, some daily, some several times a week and some several times a month.

Some are just… Read More »

QR code case studies

A Business Insider post last week took QR codes to task, arguing they “can be confusing and can waste time. And as mobile technology progresses, they probably aren’t even necessary.”

The post, by former Forbes writer Dan Frommer, listed a variety of issues with QR codes to support the argument that communicators and marketers shouldn’t waste their time with them. Not a single one of those points was supported by statistics or research; it was just personal bias and opinion. I made that point in a tweet, noting that, on the flip side, I’d read a variety of case studies showing that QR codes work just fine.

A few people asked for… Read More »

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