Do you think the people talked about bank notes when they emerged in 1861 the way that we talk about mobile payments today? Were they proclaiming that 1862 would be the "year of cash"? That's how I feel about the way we bring mobile payments into the conversation - like it needs to have higher status than the way we've paid for things forever. It doesn't, it is just another form of paying. 3 years from now it will just be another option at the pump. What makes mobile payments interesting are the...
Jan 22, 2015
Does print survive? This seems like a very important question but, in reality, the only people asking it these days are the guys doing print. The rest of the world seems to have moved on and by moving on I mean moved to digital or mobile. The truth is that print and digital are just forms of the same thing but the thing that has changed more dramatically than the way we consume media is the way it is created and shared. This is where the conversation with GigaOm Senior writer Mathew Ingram moves...
Jan 21, 2015
Disruption and change were the key themes at the annual "Big Show" - NRF in New York last week. On the news that Target and Sony are closing down all their stores in Canada and the rumours of the demise of Radio Shack, Chuck offers his thoughts on what he witnessed at NRF. He also highlights the thing that no one is talking about to each other - but they are to him.
Jan 20, 2015
Welcome to episode #217. On the show: Panasonic reinvents the retail shelf; the Locr platform; Moovit closes $50m to help public transportation; Snapchat for business?; Deehubs makes us all vandals; Softcard deflating?; Uber Cargo launches in Hong Kong; RetailNext and StepsAway; Path Talk pretty; Je Suis Charlie app. Our special guest is Jonathan Berlin of Iconeme. Full show notes can be found here ....
Jan 19, 2015
This is our first (of seven) dives into our 2015 predictions (watch the overview here) and we start with beacons. Those little peel-and-stick bluetooth transmitters that emerged in the second half of 2014 in retail will go far beyond their origins in 2015. We both weigh in on where we think they will be by the end of the year and what the industry will look to them to do - beyond pushing deals and annoying customers....
Jan 15, 2015
Remember that old saying "hang out your shingle"? It meant to start up a business because the only type of business that could be conceived was one that required a physical place. The saying derived from truth back then and lots of companies were born into that world as shingle owning retail locations. Physical stores. All those years ago it was how business was done. We all know that has changed in incredible ways - for the consumer. For those retailers that still cling to the shingle part of t...
Jan 14, 2015
There was a distinctly blue layer over CES this year - as in Bluetooth. What is old is new again and bluetooth is one of those protocols that never really caught on when it arrived but it seems to now have hit its stride. Chuck explains what the importance of the emerging bluetooth ecosystem is on beacons and highlights some of the products he saw while walking the halls of the bluetooth pavilion....
Jan 13, 2015
Welcome to episode #216. On the show: WiFi Aware; The RealTalk app; GM's At Your Service; TapSense for Apple Watch; Robots invade Lowe's; Jawbone wants corporations to move more; VoucherPages launches an app; Yummly + Instacart = 1 hour ingredient delivery; Skyhook partners with FiLIP Technologies; Piste.io 3D maps of ski hills. Our guest this week is Woycjech Gryc, founder of Canopy Labs Full show notes can be found here....
Jan 12, 2015
It is that time of the year again - the dreaded new year's resolution. Our resolutions usually hover around 3 things: Health, wealth and education. Today we look at using mobile technologies to stimulate your brain and to enhance learning. These resources are, for the most part, free and accessible from any device you may carry. Make 2015 your year of learning with these resources.
Jan 09, 2015
We are now a full week into 2015 - how are those resolutions going? Every new year brings an onslaught of predictions and, well, we are no different. This is the first of 8 (yes 8!) shows on what to expect in 2015. We start off here with an overview of our 7 predictions and will follow up each of the next 7 weeks with a deeper dive into each one of them. For now, here (along with everyone else) are our things to watch out for in 2015 if you are a part of the mobile marketing world (incidentally,...
Jan 08, 2015
There are times when I look down at my vibrating watch or hear that universal notification ping on our desktop or tablet and wonder if all this tech, all this mobile, has really made us more productive. I mean, I get 150 emails a day and process 10 of them to satisfaction. I get 500 text messages, 100 DMs and a bunch of notifications from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. All these notifications are telling me something, adding to my task list or just cluttering up my mind. Am I right? Ar...
Jan 07, 2015
Joyful. That's how I would classify Amazon's mobile shopping season. Fearful is how I would think of it if I was any other retailer who hasn't embraced mobile yet. Amazon released their mobile shopping stats for the holidays and it is dominated by mobile. Chuck runs down the key numbers for us here and gives us his experience with a Bed Bath & Beyond store that lost his business to Amazon - a warning to all retailers. My favourite stat? On Cyber Monday, 18 toys per second were sold from the ...
Jan 06, 2015
Welcome to episode #215. On the show: Danish sensors; PlaceIQ + Starcom partner on SMGMaps; VIPLocum; TempleRun in virtual reality; LuceX3 builds your conscience into a vending machine; SiriusXM targets the connected car; Red/Green app helps plan your social life; Cicret bracelet moves the screen to your skin; Favoire supports social good; Ubudu powers bluetooth mesh network. Plus, the killer app for virtual reality & why beacon data is hard to quantify. Full show notes can be found here ....
Jan 05, 2015
Chuck is heading to CES and gives us a comparison of what it was like last year and what he expects it to be like this year. Plus, he highlights some of the things he will be focused on while in Las Vegas.
Jan 04, 2015
This is one of the greatest questions any entrepreneur and business person can ponder: Will the smartphone still be the form factor of choice in 5 years? Or, if you are an opportunist, the question would be what is the NEXT opportunity after smartphones? This is the question that Greg asked me as he took over the show. We'd like to know your answer. What will you be staring into in 5 years?...
Jan 02, 2015
Welcome to episode #214. This is our annual predictions show - a look ahead at the key trends and companies to watch in 2015. We tap into key trends that will emerge in the industry, companies that will thrive and, of course, the companies that will struggle in 2015. Full show notes can be found here...
Dec 29, 2014
In late October, McDonalds got into the beacon game. Not all McDonalds, just 17 of them in the Columbus, Georgia area. The results were good enough to prompt them to expand the rollout to another 263 locations. Chuck summarizes the results from the first 17 stores and answers the question about why beacons and why not just hand out coupons instead.
Dec 23, 2014
Welcome to episode #213. On the show: Factual adds dashboards; State Farm helps identify cars; StreetPong while you wait to cross; Real-time trading platforms from Lamar and Posterscope; Is Foursquare working with Twitter?; Get to orbit with PocketQube; Scandic brings the hotel room to you; RoyalMail gets into 3D printing; M&A news from TuneCore, Qualcomm and Movido plus our resource of the week is the Simon Venture Group accelerator. Full show notes can be found here ....
Dec 22, 2014
There isn't a business on earth that isn't trying to increase the amount of money their customers spend with them. Well, maybe there are but they won't be in business for long. The thing is, there are so many tools that can be used to do this that give value to the business AND their customers and leave both feeling great at the end. SMS is one of those tools and Greg walks us through something he calls the "Cash Back Formula" that works to help increase the average spend while giving a discount...
Dec 19, 2014
It is that time of the year again - the dreaded new year's resolution. Our resolutions usually hover around 3 things: Health, wealth and relationships. Today, we are tackling health and we highlight 3 mobile apps and services that can help you watch what you eat, move more and get fit.
Dec 18, 2014
Inspired. That's how I left this episode. Completely inspired. Jordan Fliegel is the founder of CoachUp, a company that helps match athletes (or wanna be athletes) with professional coaches. Not just any type of coach but some of the most elite athletes-turned-coaches in the United States. His company has attracted over 13,000 coaches and they are all available to help you achieve your athletic goals. With the growing popularity of coaching applications strewn across mobile - where the emphasis ...
Dec 17, 2014
If you've ever been watching a movie and wondered what brand of watch the lead was wearing or what car they were driving or where they were eating lunch then The Take is for you. Chuck explains how this app brings you a little closer to being a part of the movie experience while cataloging and selling the brands found inside a film.
Dec 16, 2014
Welcome to episode #212. On the show: Live deals on posters; TGI Fridays' drone attack; Health Insurance benefits with Misfit; Search as signal by Mindshare and Google; Leave your stuff at the Hyatt - in Australia; Maps on clothes with Monochome; Feed America with Jawbone and Quaker Oats; Pop-up Libraries; Smart screens by Photon and Panasonic; eBay Australia's 24-hour Christmas Windows. Full show notes can be found here...
Dec 15, 2014
Stuck for great ideas for Christmas presents? Ian Klassen joins us from a Starbucks in Seattle to show us how 4 companies can help you find and personalize gifts that will be cherished, eaten or worn by your loved ones. Yes, eaten.
Dec 12, 2014
Do you know what the true cost is of your app? Not the baked costs - labour, assets, distribution, marketing - those are easy and visible. The costs we are talking about are the subtle ones that have the biggest impact. Battery consumption, data consumption, processor consumption. They are killers when it comes to the cost of experience and need to be part of your equation when looking to build a successful app. Here's why you should be considering these as you build and refine your app....
Dec 11, 2014
David Senior doesn't hold back. He is the co-founder of a new kind of service that helps put your upcoming meetings in context called Lowdown. We get to that in this episode, as well as their newest app release called Here, but the real reason you NEED to watch or listen to this episode is for the truth. The truth about how difficult it is to find good advice that is worth listening to. The truth about how hard it is to build a company with staying power in this era of temporary companies. How h...
Dec 10, 2014
Here is the definitive number for you in the ongoing "mobile app versus mobile web" battle being waged in retail provided by Skava: 90% of revenue comes from the mobile web. That is a crazy high number that really does show the importance of nailing that experience for your customers. The problem? If you are a retailer you still need both the mobile web AND a mobile app - unless you can afford to give up the other 10% of revenue (and 15% of visits) that come via the app. These numbers, and more,...
Dec 09, 2014
Welcome to episode #211. On the show: Snapchat opens geofilters to everyone; Barclay's Bank enlists beacons to help customers with disabilities; Cab Share Canada launches; Girl Scout's launch their cookie-finder app; Proxama + Exterion bring beacons to the bus; KLM's "Cover Greetings" campaign; Location Guard for FireFox; The Neighbrhds app; Liberty Stores builds app on Instagram for customer loyalty; Target + Google's Art Copy & code program. Special guest is Michael Provenzano of Vistar Me...
Dec 08, 2014
The countdown is on to Christmas - signalled by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you were out there you know that insanity that comes with it. Sometimes you win with great deals and sometimes you don't. We cover 3 products that you can use right now to help ensure you will receive the best price on your products. Shopping doesn't have to be war, these 3 products will equip you with the information you need to make the right tactical strikes and get home before the crowds descend....
Dec 05, 2014
Cross-promotion, which involves the practice of setting up apps that promote each other to their audiences, is a wonderful, free way to promote your app. In practice, app developers advertise each other’s apps via advertising placements within those apps. It’s a perfect approach for app developers on a tight budget, And, although there’s no real currency being exchanged between the app developers using this model, the app downloads this promotion strategy can drive are certainly money in the ban...
Dec 04, 2014
