Required Reading: The Mobile Revolution Rings True

Dan Steinbock is an affiliate researcher at Columbia's Graduate School of Business and has traced the evolution and impact of mobile technology extensively. In The Mobile Revolution, Steinbock looks at the impact of mobility in consumer and business markets, strategy, and across all industries and offers a glimpse of what to expect in the future. CRM magazine's Colin Beasty spoke with Steinbock about his book. CRM magazine: In the book, you say marketing innovations have begun to play a key role in the mobile revolution. Can you elaborate on that? Steinbock: One of the surprises I found while researching the book was that the interface between marketing and mobile platforms isn't quite there yet. With mobile platforms you get two things. First, extraordinary reach. Everybody these days, at least those on the cutting edge markets, uses a mobile device, whether it's a phone, a handset, a PDA, whatever. Why? Because of the freedom of range and mobility they offer us. The second reason is intimacy. Mobile devices are a very intimate medium. So you have a medium on one hand that has extraordinary reach and is very intimate with its users. That combination in my mind is critical for marketers who want to achieve that highly targeted, individualized marketing they seek. CRM magazine: How do you think mobile technology has affected CRM and vice versa? Steinbock: I think to a great extent these are two communities that, except for a small community, don't communicate enough and aren't realizing each other's value. One is technology driven and the other is driven by marketers and call centers. One would think there is a beautiful interface, but it's hard to get people to communicate when their objectives are so different. From a historical sense, before the 1980s, mobile technology was driven by factors other than the businesses or consumers, such as the military. But in the 1980s businesses became the driving factor, and in the 1990s, it was the consumer who drove the trends in mobile technologies. So now we're just getting to the point where global trends between consumers and businesses are beginning to converge in this space. As that happens, CRM, especially with marketing, will begin to play a bigger role in driving the mobile market. CRM magazine: What do you think readers will find most interesting about your book? Steinbock: I think they will notice the interviews with the executives of the leading mobile vendors, such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola. I did a lot of work trying to get together companies that compete directly in this space. I think the interviews are interesting because they show what these companies have in common, what unites them instead of what separates them. I think that will provide readers with a road map where this industry is now and where it's going to move, and I think that's closer to marketing, and ultimately CRM. Other Page Turners:

Why do 95 percent of products fail to become brands, despite the billions spent annually in promotion, advertising, and PR? Why do even the best-known brands fail? Why is brand loyalty fading and customer dissatisfaction increasing? As a result of the increasing ineffectiveness of traditional marketing, CEOs and CFOs are demanding greater accountability and more sustainable results for their marketing investments. Nick Wreden, managing director of FusionBrand, explains how companies must find and keep the 20 percent of customers who generate 80 percent of their profits in his new book, Profit Brand.

wealth: $13 trillion. McDonald's, Kodak, and Avon are examples of companies that have learned to focus on women, and capture market share in the process. In The Power of the Purse, author Fara Warner reveals how these companies did it.

Today's market is a buyer's market. Customers know more about your company, and the competition, and even the smallest upstart companies than ever before. In Don't Just Relate--Advocate, Glen Urban explains the key to succeeding in today's highly competitive business world is a company's ability to build trust among customers who have more information, options, and sophistication than ever. They need to go beyond traditional relationship marketing to be true customer advocates that faithfully represent their customers' interests.