The dawn of a new mass media
Since its inception in 1964, International Data Group, has managed to stay ahead of its competition by remaining true to the corporate values established by its chairman, Pat McGovern.
- To remain dedicated to our mission of providing exceptional services on information technology.
- To show respect for the dignity of each individual.
- To invest in our people through training and career development.
- To produce products of the highest quality.
- To provide excellent customer service.
- To keep close to our customers and qualified prospects.
- To be responsive to changes in the marketplace.
- To keep our corporate staff lean.
- To encourage autonomy through locally managed business units.
- To foster an action-oriented “let’s try it attitude.”
By focusing on the changes in the marketplace, being close to our customers and having an agile company willing to try new approaches, over the last decade, IDG has been able to transform from being a print-centric to a web-centric organization.As EVP Interactive for IDG Communications, I consider the likely changes to our business over the next decade and it’s clear that, once again, the company will have to transition – this time to focus on information and services being delivered to our audiences via sophisticated mobile devices.According to the International Telecommunications Union there are over 3.3 billion mobile phone subscribers (2.6 billion unique users) – that’s not far off 50% of the world’s population. The mobile industry is already significantly larger than the internet with its 1.3 billion users and it continues to grow rapidly. There were 1.14 billion mobile phones shipped in 2007, according to IDC, and that number is expected to increase by 8.7% to 1.24 billion units in 2008.Driving growth will be shipments of mobile phones into emerging markets but there will be an increasing emphasis on replacement handsets. In South Korea and Japan, young adults replace their phones every 6 months resulting in a “spring” and “fall” fashion cycle. Growing faster than the overall mobile phone market is the segment of sophisticated mobile devices that employ a high-level operating system (HLOS) to run mobile applications. These devices are appealing to both to the prosumer market, which identifies the mobile device as a tool to improve personal efficiency as well as to enterprise users looking to improve corporate efficiency.Worldwide shipments of these sophisticated mobile devices, which are often referred to as “converged mobile devices” (CMDs), will grow from 124.6 million in 2007 to 376.2 million in 2012. CMDs accounted for 10.9% of all mobile phone shipments in 2007, up from 2.9% just three years prior. In 2007 in the United States shipments of mobile devices reached 181.9 million units of which 20.1 million (11.1%) were CMD shipments, an astonishing increase of 139.2% from 8.4 million units in 2006.Following on from print (newspapers, books and magazines), voice and music recordings, film/cinema, radio, TV/cable and recently the Internet, now mobile is the newest and most exciting mass media. Over the next few years, the mobile phone is on course to replace the PC as the primary device for getting online. Already 30% of worldwide Internet access is from mobile phones – but in certain countries such as Japan – it’s as high as 70%. We’re moving from the PC World to Personal Communications World.The scale and particular characteristics of this latest mass media means that it will be much more powerful than all its predecessors. The Internet added two unique benefits over previous media – social interactivity and search. Mobile goes even further – not only can all elements of existing media be delivered via mobile, there are additional advantages of mobile that makes it far superior to other media forms. These include:
- Personal. Mobile is so personal that we don’t even share our phones with those closest to us.
- Always-carried. Our mobile devices go with us everywhere – to the bedroom and to the bathroom – they’re always within an arm’s reach.
- Always-on. Mobile has the capability to be the ultimate news and alert media – faster by several magnitudes than any other media.
- Targeting. Mobile is the first mass media where every single consumer can be uniquely identified and content (and advertising) targeted to meet their interests.
- Payment and purchase channel. Mobile phones will become wallets offering alternatives to cash and credit cards.
- Creative Input device. With image and voice inputs users can create and share content via their mobile devices.
- Enhanced communications. On mobile devices, e-mail and instant messaging are complemented by SMS and MMS including visual communications.
The scale of the mobile market produces enormous economic opportunities for content creators and marketers and for those who can look beyond some of the keyboard and screen limitations to the “power” of the device. With the emergence of any new mass medium, there is a tendency to copy from legacy media models – however, this approach normally has a high failure rate. The new medium must make use of attributes not available in previous media.The ability of the Internet to allow users to interact has driven user generated content and online social and business networking. With the move to mobile, new applications and approaches to content and services will have to take heed of users very personal interaction with their mobile devices.We are seeing the dawn of a new medium – it feels a lot like the launch of the World Wide Web back in 1993. No one quite knows how things are going to turn out but everyone is sensing great potential and opportunity. As mobile usage continues to surge, IDG will be at the forefront – guiding users through the choices of hardware, software and services, developing content and services for our mobile audiences and working closely with marketers to find the most appropriate ways to engage with mobile users and to measure the impact of that engagement. It’s going to be a very exciting journey.
4 Comments
rexblog.com: Rex Hammock’s weblog » Blog Archive » I’m confused. Is it the dawn of a new mass medium? Or death? | Apr 17, 2008 1:43 pm
[...] Colin Crawford, Interactive EVP of the business-to-business media giant IDG, called Mobile devices the “dawn of a new mass medium,” and declared, “As mobile usage continues to surge, IDG will be at the forefront – guiding [...]
Jansen Pei | Aug 10, 2008 6:32 am
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