Earning Attention

as pointed out by Brian Morrissey at Adweek, in the wake of Google's $750 million acquisition of AdMob, everyone is running around declaring 2009 "the year of mobile."

Mobile has a long way to go before it's all neat and tidy, but certain pieces of the ecosystem have become fairly mature and deserve serious consideration in the marketing mix. More at ClickZ.

2009 Holiday Season To Date vs. Corresponding Days* in 2008 Non-Travel (Retail) Spending Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases Total U.S. – Home/Work/University Locations Source: comScore, Inc.
	Millions ($)
	2008	2009	Percent Change
November 1 – 27	$10,254	$10.570	3%
Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26)	$288	$318	10%
Black Friday (Nov. 27)	$534	$595	11%

There's been a lot of media coverage of the pricing wars between Amazon and Wal Mart this Holiday season. If this data from ComScore is any indication, that aggressive discounting seems to be paying off. It'll be interesting to see how the coming weeks shape up.

When it comes to consumer electronics, searches for smartphones rose 6% compared with last year; netbooks rose more than 60%; mini notebook computers, up more than 70%; and mini computers, up 40%.

Google data also shows that consumers are clearly continuing to hunt for deals, offers, coupons and sales. It's consistent with an interesting insight from eMarketer that colleague Joe Mele covered in his blog.

While deals may be what they're searching for, in a world where price comparison engines make it easy to find the best deal, retailers MUST focus on providing value beyond simply having the best price. Competitive pricing is table stakes. Now it's about a compelling and differentiated experience, both online and in brick 'n mortar stores.

Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg said Hulu is a six month wonder and that technology will ultimately bypass the current fascination with the online video service. "When you think of the change, look at Hulu and the dialogue and debate, and you say, O.K. this is in for the next eight to twelve months and in two years it won't matter because the world will have moved on."

UPDATE: Razorfish colleague Shiv Singh wrote a great blog post on this topic, outlining some of the key risks.

Retailers need to encourage usage of mobile apps: Study

January 23, 2009

Shopping for an opinion

Great data here. I think the hidden insight here is that consumers are already doing things like price comparisons, checking reviews, etc. - even though NO ONE has really made that an easy, fast and elegant experience. There is a tremendous opportunity for retailers to solve that problem, make it simple, and OWN hearts and minds as a result. The consumer demand is clear.

Ads for Dr. Scholl's ran on RMG Networks' Danoo during the Schering-Plough campaign.

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Touchscreen Smartphone Adoption 3 Months Ending August 2009 vs. August 2008 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers, Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
Device Type	Subscribers (000)
	Aug-08	Aug-09	Percent Change
Touchscreen	9,219	23,843	159%
Smartphone	20,735	33,779	63%