(Michael P. Smith)
The mobile industry is not sitting around waiting for the world’s newspapers and broadcasters to figure things out. They know that pricing and rate packages will only get them so far.

So they are venturing into content and advertising at breathtaking speed.

I did a whirlwind trip to Barcelona to speak at 3GSM World Congress, an amazing trade event. The event, billed as the world's biggest mobile communications conference and exhibition, is where top executives from mobile operators, equipment vendors, IT companies and entertainment providers meet to do business. I am not sure of the numbers this year, but I am guessing that they passed the 2006 event, which attracted 50,000 visitors, 962 exhibitors and 2,200 journalists.

My colleagues and family, who know I don’t do cell well, are still getting a kick out of the fact that I was invited there to be a keynote speaker of their CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) Forum. When I was invited, I thought there was nothing I could tell them because mobile is not my world. After looking at the industry, I realized they are moving very quickly to where newspapers, magazines, Online and broadcast have moved – toward understanding the customer experience.

At the Congress, I learned that 75 percent of the calls we make are to the same five people. (That explains those annoying commercials, huh?) In a presentation on the Global Mobil Mindset, I heard of “function fatigue,” meaning that consumers are overwhelmed with the numerous functions of the phone; “purchase pain,” which is the terrible experience customers have in cell phone stores with know-it-all or uninformed or unhelpful sales people; and PIM, personal information management. Without conducting research, my guess is that these would qualify as consumption inhibitors. So maybe I did have something to offer them.

I traced the Media Management Center and Readership Institute journey through customer experience, staring with our groundbreaking studies on the motivators and inhibitors to newspaper readership. I followed that with our research for the Magazine Publishers of America on the motivators and inhibitors of magazine readership. And concluded with The User Engagement Study for Online publishers. They found relevance in our analysis of the gaming industry and our efforts in broadcast television. Without suggesting that we have the answers for mobile, I concluded with questions we want to ask:

--New technologies are changing the way companies interact with customers and employees. The challenge is how to keep abreast of developments: What new applications are emerging? Which companies are breaking new ground? When and how should you employ these new technologies?

--What is the role of journalism in the new digital experience? How do social mission and social responsibility fit into the business plans of the new media? What role does geography play?

--How are mobile devices and social media — such as blogs, RSS, and social networking — changing consumers' expectations of the digital experience? What is the experience?

--How do the convergence of digital and personal environments — as in the cases of networked homes and socially connected, device-loving teens — change consumers' expectations of content and the brand?

--How should media companies use technologies to create emotional connections (experience) with customers?

Which emerging technologies — interactive TV, video, mobile devices, or behavioral targeting — hold the most promise for creating a more motivating digital experience?

How do brands stimulate word-of-mouth marketing through entertaining, intuitive, or personal experiences?