I found myself recently head nodding quite a bit to the latest webisode of Jaffe Juice TV.  Like so many other marketers out there I’ve questioned the predictable predictions that are made every year.  January: this is the year for mobile marketing… but come December: Well, maybe not.  But a recent research study shows that mobile marketing may finally be ready for its audience:

• Almost 15% of all media consumption now occurs via a mobile device
• Usage of mobile devices is over 80% at home, at work, and in “downtime”
• Mobile usage expected to grow by 60% over the next two years

Now, let’s take a step back and recognize that U.S. smartphone penetration is only around 15% to 19%, depending on the source you believe to be more accurate (comScore, CTIA, Nielsen, Palm), which translates into some 30 to 50 million people.  The good news is that the market is growing and it’s being driven not only by phones but by other mobile devices including netbooks.  And the market may be in for another huge shake up within a few weeks if rumors about an Apple tablet turn out to be true (read the latest from AppleInsider and engadget).

This may be the wake up call for marketers to develop a mobile marketing strategy if they haven’t already done so.  It doesn’t mean you need to carve out a budget and develop programs and tactics, just yet.  The first step should be to analyze the market opportunity that may exist within the short-term, say within the next 12 months and what the market may mean to you within 2 to 3 years.  While we can’t predict all of the products and services may exist then, understanding current trends can provide sufficient insight to point your resources in the right direction.

This is the third in a series of short posts related to The CMO Agenda research. Informed by recent CMO conversations and CMG Partners‘ collective experience helping top marketers develop marketing strategy, we have compiled a list of seven ideas or jump starters for further conversation. These are meant to spark discussion, ideas, and action as we all enter a difficult 2009.

For many companies, innovation means creating a new product, but this is only one of many potential growth drivers. As a lead marketer, your job is to get close to your customers and find other ways to innovate and deliver value – through service, new methods of distribution or new avenues of consumption.

How can you achieve this level of innovation?

A consistent and constant review of your business model and practices can reveal many new opportunities. In other organizations, culture is the driving force which allows for employees to surface new ideas. I recently heard from Jeffrey Phillips, VP of Sales and Marketing for OVO and author of Make us more Innovative. Jeffrey focuses primarily on innovation processes necessary to build a sustainable innovation capability.

Some examples of innovation:

A recent example of a innovative concept I heard was at an HVAC equipment manufacturer. The company leadership decided that they are in the “refrigerated air” business vs. the air conditioner product business. This shift is thinking has many different implications from R&D to value delivered. One idea for commercializing this concept is to sell the service of refrigerated air like a utility. This would increase the number of touchpoints with customers and involves a deeper understanding your customers’ businesses to deliver on this new business model. While this is an innovative idea, it has not been commercialized yet which should be the yardstick for actual innovation. 

You need creativity and invention, but until you can connect that creativity to the customer in the form of a product or a service that meaningfully changes their lives, I would argue you don’t yet have innovation. - A.G. Lafley, CEO of P&G in a recent BusinessWeek Interview

Another example that has been commercialized and can be seen in a grocery store near you — Red Box.  Red Box has redefined the video store rental model and all for $1 per day per movie. (Disclaimer: I use and love Red Box.) Red Box has a great value proposition that makes it difficult for the troubled Blockbuster to compete and is now in the sights of the CEO at Netflix as he states they are the chief rival now.

Mirror post at alanhart.wordpress.com

There was a great article yesterday in AdAge that talks to how McDonald’s has shifted away from national introductions of new offerings.  For the launch of the McCafe menu items, McDonald’s is relying on its franchise operators to manage and execute the initial marketing.

Based on our knowledge of McDonald’s, franchisees are likely being supported by McDonald’s regional marketing managers, who are there to oversee such efforts and ensure they’re in line with corporate branding.  But the fact that corporate is ceding control to franchise operators for such a significant product roll-out is a very noteworthy milestone.

Some franchise operators have even gone so far to develop websites to help customers within their footprint to check if they’re is a local McDonald’s already serving up McCafe items.

You can learn more about our thoughts around managing similar national and local marketing issues by reading our paper, Striking a Balance.

Earlier today I read a really interesting article on CNN.com on Carbon Motors, the designers of a new law enforcement vehicle that’s been getting a lot of press lately.

Unlike other law enforcement vehicles, the Carbon Motors car was developed with input from over 3,000 law enforcement professionals, and apparently it’s getting rave reviews from potential users and with good reason.  Rather than settle for a modified street legal car designed by engineers, the Carbon Motors car has been indirectly designed by other law enforcement officers.

One of the differentiating factors in Carbon Motors’ new product development process is its Carbon Council, which is “designed for our team to obtain honest and candid feedback from people who are either involved in the process or who drive the vehicles.”  There’s an open invitation online for anyone who qualifies.

For us, this case validates research and learnings we’ve accumulated through prior client projects on launching new products and services.  You may want to read one of our recently published papers, “Improving Product Launches” as well as what panelists at our most recent forum had to say about the importance of customer insight in the sucess of a product launch.

Check out photos from our most recent Executive Forum on product launch:

Last Thursday morning, CMG Partners hosted a panel discussion on why new product launches fail and how the launch process can be improved.  Almost 100 marketers from across DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland listened as our 4 panelists:  Kiera Hynninen of the National Geographic Channel, Chris Brozenick of Weatherbug, Jessie Merrell of Honest Tea and Mark McNealy of Intelevision  shared their views on what has worked and not worked in their product launches.  But some of the most intense conversation focused on the impact of our ongoing economic crisis on their product launches and how they are dealing with the new realities.

In the next few days, a more complete overview of the discussions will be published at www.cmgpartners.com, but to get you started, here’s some of the more provocative opening thoughts from the session:

• “A Darwinian process is under way. The weak are being taken out. There will be a drastic, painful process that will mandate reinvention. It will be drastic and dramatic for the individuals. But it will cause rebirth. Those with the next generation ideas will replace the older models.”

• “We should seize this opportunity in an aggressive way. What I see out there right now are brands going under, some of our strongest competitors are now gone. Innovation needs to be very strong right now. We can’t become stale in the marketplace. Now is the time to be innovative!”

• “Invest in R&D. You need to put effort into ideas…something that may stick today, may not have worked in the last few years. Invest to get a lot of new products out there and don’t be afraid to try new things.”

Let’s continue the conversation started  last week.  Post your ideas, thoughts and questions on what it takes to have sustainable, successful new product launches given today’s market realities.

This morning’s NY Times highlights just how powerful customers have become in determining what the messaging (or in this case the packaging) should be for a brand; Tropicana announced it is pulling its new packaging off the shelves to the cheers of joy to many OJ drinkers out there, myself included.

This is a great sign of the times.  Customers have become comfortable about speaking their mind and sharing their thoughts thanks to social media, and I’m not just talking about Facebook and Twitter.  It’s so easy now to share a news article or blog posting via email or through share widgets via Linkedin, Digg or Delicious, to name a few options.

But this puts companies in a precarious position. They need to adjust how they approach customers since customers can now generate a share of voice with enough magnitude to squash virtually any marketing or advertising campaign.  Just ask Motrin or Facebook, the two latest organizations to get squeezed by customers generating voice through social media.

Companies have yet to fully adjust to this brave new world, or to take advantage of it.  One area of particular opportunity is building “listening posts” of customer opinions into a company’s new product development or advertising development.  As companies such as Lego have proven, in some areas involving the customer in the new product development process can have a multitude of payoffs; in the product, in the buzz, in the loyalty of those participating.  But for most companies, the question is how to do this without hampering the ability to quickly go to market and without signaling the competition.  Does anyone out there have any examples of companies that have done this well?

I can be kind of a softy… I have to sympathize with Tropicana.  Yes, I’m one of their customers who silently disliked the new packaging, but after visiting the juice aisle this past weekend I noticed that packaging for most OJ cartons is really similar.  But when you have customers who have gotten used to something for quite a while, change can be unwelcome.

I had to share this ad that a colleague was raving about — thanks Erin!

The Bottom Line:

Target in this commercial holds true to their “Expect More. Pay less.” tagline. I am really impressed with the positive emotional message of how this value consciousness, we all are facing with the economy, can be an adventure of experience. Really classy and elegant versus the other brands out their hammering the rational side of savings. Target has something here we all can learn from.

Note: dual post from my personal blog The Ramblings of One Man…