Smart Phones Are Here To Stay

I don't know if you've noticed yet, but mobile phones are transforming the world. At first it was little by little with the ability to e-mail, browse the internet and talk on the phone at the same time, and download entertaining apps, but recently mobile phones and tablets of all sorts have begun to integrate into every aspect of our lives, from entertainment to healthcare.

Mobile has become global if you haven't yet noticed. Thanks to social networking and factors like the accessibility of smart phones people are connecting ALL THE TIME. Brands have begun creating apps they know consumers will love, price them affordably, reward customers for various (real-time) behaviors and have begun engaging WITH them thanks so various social media sites. If you haven't yet embraced different mobile marketing tactics, you will soon be left in the dust by your key customers.

The market is also going to move towards mCommerce, mobile gaming/entertainment and the purchasing of virtual goods, so if you haven't started thinking about what you're going to do to stay on top, you'd better add mobile into your business strategy.

The most exciting key mobile trend for me has to be tracking where mobile health is going. Mobile health makes it easier for monitoring, diagnosis, wellness and with the adoption of tablets,  electronic health records and medical information will only get easier to track. Mobile health is going to be the biggest global  trend there is, especially thanks to easy solutions such as sending text messages to new mothers, drug addicts or patients with certain diseases.

Moral of the story? Jump on the mobile band wagon before it takes off without you...

Attaching Digital Content In Places You'd Never Expect...

If you haven’t heard of the latest and possibly greatest in the social media world… then you need to check out Yes the company name and website may seem slightly dirty, but the company creates barcodes that you can “stick” anywhere. A few major corporations (such as Pepsi) have faith in Stickybits and it might just be the next big thing in social media.

I understand the idea of scanning barcodes with an iPhone or android may seem pointless… But I can see where they’re trying to go with this. Pepsi is going to attach fun “bits and stories” to their barcodes on all Pepsi products, allowing consumers to read fun facts and stories about their products, as well as the ability to attach their own.

This whole idea could also revolutionize the health industry, as well as the food industry. Think about this: You’re walking through the grocery store trying to find a quick snack. You’re faced with 18 different choices of crackers, and want to figure out which ones taste the best, are overall the best for you, best price, etc… Instead of trying to make an educated guess all by your lonesome, you can scan the barcode and see what other people have to say about this. No, I do not recommend this while shopping for your entire list of things, but for certain products it could be really helpful to those corporations who choose to embrace this early on.

Another unique, yet highly innovative use of these are for business cards (pic). You can create a simple business card on the website and they print a barcode on the back of it. What could you use this for? Well, since the website allows you to attach anything to these codes, it’s easy to attach resumes, cover letters, previous work examples, websites to the code. Instead of handing over all of these documents, all a recruiter or acquaintance needs is a small card and the rest of your documents are already there.

Even though this company is still in the beginning stages, I will definitely keep my eye on them and see how they progress and morph into their next stage. Innovators surely need to keep an eye on this company, as well as think a step ahead for what they would like to do with such a company.