Shifting my mind from wines, sports stars, great food and quirky wine makers back to mobile marketing takes some effort. It takes a little more preparation and research after a nice two week layoff, the excitement of new projects and meeting an all too fascinating girl.

These are the sort of life altering pressures previously unknown to me as I drifted through my daily tasks completely oblivious to a life divorced from my laptop and mobile phone.

That was two weeks ago. Now suddenly things have changed. The previously ordinary and sometimes tedious 24 hour days seem slightly more hastened. Somehow it seems that there are now about 30 minutes to every hour and to top it all off, I now have load shedding to negotiate as well.

I’m a structured person. Albeit not meticulously organised, I still place a great amount of emphasis on planning my days ahead. I’m not your spur of the moment person and nothing irks me more than having to adjust my schedule at the last minute because “life happens” or whatever.

I like knowing things. For instance, when I meet a girl, the best part of the encounter for me would be to immediately sense the attraction (if any), to have a communications platform carefully crafted already and full well know what to expect at least a couple of days in advance.

You’d think that my life is boring, but I’ll have you know that the amount of adrenaline that rushes to my brain on more occasions than I care to divulge is often enough to deem the main character’s super powers from Pushing Daisies not worthy of the airtime on M-Net.

If it hadn’t happened yet, you’d probably soon end up wondering what exactly all this has to do with mobile marketing. The answer would be, well, nothing. But also everything.

You see, if some clever, outside the box thinking nut job at Eskom cared enough about the load shedding crisis that is paralysing our tourism industry, halves our economy and exponentially increases our traffic congestion, then a simple paid for sms service on load shedding times, reminders and ad hoc notifications on changes to their scheduled downtime would suffice.

I wouldn’t be rushing from the office at 5pm last night to make it to the gym, the shop to get dinner, manage to cook it, devour it, shower, check my mails and read 4 lines of The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO before the electricity is supposed to kneel before the electro empire’s command at 8pm.

You guessed it. With great anticipation, slightly elevated breath from all the mayhem and trembling like Larry Hagman first thing in the morning because he hasn’t had his remedy yet, 8pm came and went like the promise of competitive fuel prices and reasonable bank charges.

It was 9:30pm when I realised I was still waiting. Doing absolutely nothing, except waiting. Waiting for Eskom to deliver on their promise of another romantic solo act with blue scented candles, a room exceeding 30 degrees and a declaration of war against those bloodsucking mosquitoes.

The lights were on, literally. But no one was home.

Come to think of it, I probably could’ve called that girl.

Shoprite (Checkers), lower prices you can trust. But what about convenience? Competitive prices inevitably mean more feet through the store, higher demands from consumers and longer checkout queues.

In a number of articles in the past I have expressed my disdain about the lack of convenience of many product and service suppliers. A complete marketing strategy features a great product, with effective advertising and marketing campaigns that reaches a relevant audience, but without convenience perfectly nestled at the base of any campaign, the purpose is defeated for all practical reasons.

The more human beings are exposed to convenience, the more convenience they demand. And it is up to the smart marketers to help their clients move toward that.

So when I first read about ShopRite (unfortunately not ours in South Africa, but keep reading) taking shopping carts (the actual in store shopping carts) to an even more convenient level, I was quite impressed.

They have implemented a digital MediaCart in their shops for their loyalty card holders which enable their shoppers to type in their shopping list at home and then when they swipe their cards on the MediaCart the list will display. As the shoppers then scan their items and place it inside the cart, the console will display a running price tally.

The MediaCart also has a built in infrared unit that provides feedback on the location of the shopper. This data is useful for marketers, product suppliers and store arrangement purposes in particular.

It also serves as advertising medium as product suppliers could display relevant in store advertisements to the shoppers’ benefit, depending on their location in the store, items in the cart and preferred brands that have been chosen.

Best of all, when the shopper is done, there is no need for them to stand in line to pay for the groceries, as that would only defeat the purpose. A simple swipe of the card an electronic transaction then debits their account.

For the in store shopping experience, my CLR (Convenience Level Ratings) returned a solid 8/10.

We’re rapidly approaching the festive season and most of us cringe at the dreaded prospect of Christmas shopping. With 38 days left to crunch time I’m sure many businesses are working on strategies to establish some client loyalty over the silly season.

These often include give-aways, drastically reduced cost on products and services or a sincere best wishes and happy returns message to show them you really care.

As with most things this time of the year however, these courtesy messages are often left to the last minute due to unfinished work and your own rush to get the business to a state where you’ll feel comfortable breaking away for a couple of days.

When you think of mobile, it helps thinking about an always on, always nearby, personal communications device. Come Christmas time and New Year, we all curse at the service providers for not being able to deliver our messages to loved ones.

In fact, so personal are our mobile phones, that we sometimes feel neglected not receiving that special text message from that special person during the holiday seasons, right?

What better communication device then to initiate client communications? Corporate relations rely on e-mails, professional meetings and monotonous telephone calls. But customer relations are personal and we need to treat it as such. Sending your top clients a text message over Christmas shows them you really do think about them and value their business.

It establishes a communications platform for future promotions, news and latest developments. Once you have managed to obtain entry to your clients’ personal channel, maintaining those relationships become much easier and ensure the type of brand affinity that sets you apart from your competitors.

Mobile platforms enable anyone to manage, compile and execute these mobile campaigns within a stringent time frame. It is a cost effective way to keep close to your clients, to show them you value their support and that above all, that the relationship is so much more than just about the money.

The biggest gift you receive this Christmas might just be the one you give your clients.

I need to have a dental checkup soon. I haven’t been the most loyal occupant of the dentist’s chair and I must admit I’ve been thinking about this for a while.

But, and I’m sure many would agree, my dentist just isn’t the sort of guy I’d add as a friend on Facebook. I’ve been sold the lie of “This won’t hurt one bit” more times than I’ve been told that girls like bald men. (I get that a lot)

Thank goodness for the nice reception lady, because once you pass her door your sudden need for a toilet indicates that trouble is imminent.

Therefore, I think it is fair to say that dentists have the most difficult job in maintaining customer loyalty. There is just no way he can get away with: “The only dentist never to hurt you.” Blatant lie, we all know that.

Nor can his ad read: “I bought my new drill at the hardware store.” Honest maybe, but not smart advertising.

I’ve only once in my life recommended a dentist and that was when he managed to pull a tooth in 3 minutes without me noticing that it was done. However, the pain thereafter, the trickles of blood oozing down my throat and the inevitable tongue poking of tender flesh is not what I’d refer to as great after sales service.

What I would prefer is the ability to make the dentist appointment a more convenient process. I would appreciate it if they could remind me of appointments or follow up visits. Mobile communications enable them to reach me on my mobile phone at any given time.

It will save the receptionist ample of time in calling me, leaving a message and calling me back. She could schedule automatic text messages for my birthday, Christmas or during the Easter weekend. Urging me to drive safely because they need my money and to floss after a meal would be most welcome.

What if I could receive a yearly checkup reminder by text message since I’ve erased the date given by the dentist from memory the second I left his room? By allowing me to simply reply to the message with my name to schedule this appointment would ensure I commit to better dental care right there and then.

With our busy schedule we conveniently postpone making “minor” calls. And dentist appointments are last on my list of calls I’d like to make.

The morning before my appointment the platform will send out a text message to remind me of it so that I don’t double book my time.

Then, my personal favourite: Once you leave the dentist room a text message that says: “We know because of the anesthetics you won’t (be able to) talk to us, so here is a thank you for your visit. Enjoy the tingling sensation in three hours.”

Although the post is slightly tongue in cheek (excuse the pun), it is usually these little things that distinguish consumer brand preferences and their recommendation to friends. Not all brands are fun, sexy and creates a buzz simply by launching a new product, but often it is the little things that separates them from their competitors.

Mobile marketing present these businesses with a cost effective tool to personalise their relationship with their clients and more often than not, this is all we need.

“SUMMARY: Mobile marketing is on the verge of exploding as a specialty channel, but technology limitations and the marketplace aren’t quite in place yet. So do you want to be ahead of the curve or behind the times playing catch-up?”

I’d like to mash-up my article today a bit to cover most important sections pertaining to mobile, content distribution, convergence and creation.

While the marketplace isn’t exactly at the tipping point where mobile marketing is exploding onto the scene, it is important for businesses to identify technological trends and acknowledge the rapid pace at which it will happen.

When we look back at the dot.com crash in 2001, many never thought it realistic or even possible that the internet will again rise from the ashes and be a major role-player in business.

However, it has proven quite the contrary and it has escalated exponentially to where many marketers, I included, simply cannot see a way forward for businesses that does not converge their marketing strategies with online and wireless.

It simply cannot be ignored that consumers catch on to technological trends much quicker than businesses and marketing departments do. The irony of course is that most of these marketers are also consumers embracing technology, but due to reasons beyond scope simply do not manifest these societal trends into their marketing strategies.

Companies also often have the tendency to measure or require ROI to be measured in tangible monetary value. However, consumer demands have shifted as such that businesses need to rely on value added services more often to keep up retention numbers and have their consumers engage with their brand.

Content distribution is one such area where companies need to reevaluate consumer needs demands as many of them simply do not care for the company’s preferred method of distribution.

Many consumers do not wish and simply do not engage in newspaper formats anymore for sourcing of news.

They are on the go people and if media companies do not comprehend this shift and converge content distribution to mobile devices, their readership will simply shift to brands that do.

Financial & Advisory companies need to realise that these types of value added services aren’t luxuries, they are must-haves to keep their clients in the loop and informed at all times.

More prominent even are retailers. By advertising in magazines at extortionate pricing is failing to recognise that consumers spend the majority of their time on the internet and connected to their mobile phones.

These consumers not only prefer, but demand that product information be readily available to them or they will simply move on to brands that do provide these value added services.

The internet has enabled smaller businesses the same amount of access and opportunities to compete with the big corporates, whether they like it or not. It is often these smaller brands that also value innovation and manage to reach the sort of critical mass in a much shorter time span.

While the repercussions of failure to advance would probably not be felt immediately, it is absolutely crucial to understand that it is imminent. Moreover, it is critical to understand why it is going to happen.

These blogs serves a purpose, and it is not to deliver grandiose advice in search of your money. History suggests the patterns of the future and if the dot.com crash has served anything, it is that businesses have become smarter and have come to the inevitable conclusion that the future of business lies in smart marketing in the online and mobile arena.

They have learned through the mistakes of others. It is time to ask yourself whether you’d prefer to be the mistake someone else learns from, or whether you’d prefer to learn from the mistakes of others.

Many businesses reckon they know their clients purely based on their LSM statistics or purchasing habits. Others assume they intuitively know what their clients want and react as if it is in their best interest without genuinely aquiring their true needs.

To many businesses it is a money game. Get in, have your say, get out. Cheque is in the mail. Technically it is, but realistically it has always been about customer relations.

Sound customer relations instills brand loyalty. The sort of trust people strive for in their own personal relationships.

And when there’s money on the line, there are relationships hanging in the balance.

Businesses need to tread carefully as this video illustrates the typical relationship many businesses have with their customers.

If you find it funny, it’s because you know it is true.

Business these days is as much a personal affair as it is a monetary one. Ask any loyal customer what sets their preferred brand apart from others and you’ll find in most cases it is not cost, but a well sustained trust relationship.