Customer Service, iPhone, Combat Churn for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint Nextel

Credit good customer service for Verizon's traditionally low churn, customer appetite for the iPhone for AT&T's performance, and improved customer service for Sprint Nextel's better performance of late.

Mobile Churn Issues: the Youth Element

Churn is a big problem for mobile and all other service providers because younger users simply are less loyal than older users.

Older Adults: Social Media Use Doubles

While social media use has grown dramatically across all age groups, older users have been especially enthusiastic over the past year about embracing new networking tools. Social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22 percent in April 2009 to 42 percent in May 2010.

Between April 2009 and May 2010, social networking use among internet users ages 50-64 grew by 88 percent--from 25 percent to 47 percent.

During the same period, use among those ages 65 and older grew 100 percent--from 13 percent to 26 percent.

By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13 percent—from 76 percent to 86 percent.

Older Adults and Social Media | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project

Verizon Encourages Mobile Substitution, in Some Markets

You might it a bit jarring to see Verizon encouraging customers to replace their landline phone service with mobile service. But there's a good explanation. Verizon operates landline networks in only part of the country. It operates wireless networks nationwide.

So Verizon actually gains if it can convince a landline voice customer outside its wired network service area to switch to the Verizon wireless service. Sprint and T-Mobile USA have an even-easier position. Since neither firm owns any fixed access network assets, both firms likewise can encourage wireless substitution without risking any cannibalization of existing revenues or customer base.

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Marketing Spending to Rise

Chief marketing officers surveyed recently by Professor Christine Moorman at Duke's Fuqua School of Business reported that on average their budgets would increase 9.2 percent, a much larger increase than any of the other surveys done in the past two years. Spending on social media also is rising, as you might well expect.

New CMO Survey Reports Marketing Spending to Rise

Borders Drops Prices Of Kobo And Aluratek Devices

Borders is cutting the prices of its leading e-book reading devices, the Kobo and Aluratek to $129 and $99.99 respectively. The Kobo was previously priced at $149.99 and the Aluratek was priced at $119.99.

Borders also says Velocity Micro’s Android-based Cruz Reader R101 and Cruz Tablet T103 are now available for preorder on Borders.com for $199 and $299 respectively. Borders is currently offering 1.5 million titles through its e-book readers.

As E-Book Wars Heat Up, Borders Drops Prices Of Kobo And Aluratek Devices

Customer Service, iPhone, Combat Churn for Verizon, AT&T and Sprint Nextel

Credit good customer service for Verizon's traditionally low churn, customer appetite for the iPhone for AT&T's performance, and improved customer service for Sprint Nextel's better performance of late.

Is Mobile Search Marketing Finally Here?

Mobile search marketing expert Michael Martin says 2010 is the year when mobile takes off. Aside from a general caveat that anointing any year as the "Year of X" has generally been a contrary indicator, Martin does point out that conversion rates for mobile devices is at least four times higher for local searches, than from other types of browsers.

The reason is that with mobile devices, most people aren't really doing 'search' for research purposes, but doing 'finding' for something close that will meet an immediate need. That makes sense.

Is Mobile Search Marketing Finally Here?

iPads are Content Consumption Devices, Studies Find

A survey by copywriting firm Cooper Murphy Webb found that iPad owners use them largely for entertainment purposes.

Almost a quarter of respondents said it had become their primary entertainment device, ahead of TV and trailing PCs by just nine percentage points.

To a large extent, iPads and possibly other tablets compete with e-book readers, gaming consoles, mobile phones and TVs more than other PC form factors.

The iPad was considered the top delivery method for newspapers and magazines, and its popularity for books was even greater. Some 41 percent of iPad owners preferred to read on the device, compared to 36 percent of respondents who liked hard copies better.

Also, iPads were the top gaming device for owners of the tablets, beating out consoles by two percentage points.

A study by Ball State University researchers suggests new iPad users deem it best for leisure activities, not content creation.

How iPad Usage is Shaping Up - eMarketer

Clearwire "Rover": Marketing is the Chief Innovation

Clearwire's new "Rover" prepaid mobile broadband service is ultimately about marketing success, rather than any innovation in the physical or network realm.

Perhaps the most-significant aspect of the plan is not so much the "prepaid" angle but the attempt to create a new "lifestyle" brand aimed at the 18-to-24 demographic.

"Rover" will be available anywhere Clearwire offers service, but the distinctiveness of the service does not lie in its use of mobile Wi-Fi hotspots (other carriers already sell them), or even speed, as Clearwire already sells mobile broadband on a postpaid basis.

Prepaid availability is the bigger story, as well as the range of options offered. The $5 a day and $20 a week plans will tend to stand out in a market that basically relies on two postpaid or prepaid buckets, differentiated mostly by the price and the bandwidth caps each uses.

Some might argue the "4G" network is what makes it different, and there is some truth to that position, though the distinctiveness will not last much longer, as Verizon Wireless plans to launch its own 4G network later in 2010, and AT&T likely will launch in 2011. Also, to the extent "speed" is seen as the differentiator, even T-Mobile USA's HSPA+ network is going to offer speeds so close to Clearwire's typical downlink speeds that "4G," in and off itself, might not offer as much differentiation as it once did.

In an effort to create the new brand, Clearwire is positioning the service using the www.evology.com site that will try and create a  "Life @ 4G" image.

Rover-sponsored athletes and music artists will be profiled, showing how Rover influences their careers and lives as they live "Life @ 4G." Sporting a Rover wingsuit, base jumper JT Holmes, who travels up to 150 mph during freefall proximity flying, lives life with the Rover Puck and no strings attached.

Rover also will introduce a badging system that rewards users for participating in Rover activities. For example, the "Trendsetter" badge recognizes early adopters of Rover in each market, and the "Friends with Benefits" badge acknowledges users who refer friends to the Rover service. Badges have become wildly popular on location-based apps and are expected to resonate with the youth consumer and motivate usage.

Rover is about marketing prowess, not some fundamental new network feature, pricing breakthrough, user interface or payment plans.

Clearwire Introduces "Rover" Prepaid Mobile Broadband Service

The service is aimed at the 18 to 24 age demographic and features "no-contract" service.

Do's and Don'ts for Search Campaigns

There are some basic rules for nearly all paid search and organic search campaigns, says Julie Batten, Vice President, Media Strategy atKlick Communications.

Do's and Don'ts for Your Search Campaigns

"Clicks" or "Branding"?

People disagree about the value of "clicks" as a measure of ad effectiveness.

Clicks were the great promise of online media. While traditional advertising could only be measured by sampling, surveys, and other guestimation methods, online advertising was sold as being completely accountable.

These days, there is robust debate about the value of clicks (responses) compared to more-traditional "branding" value. Both are values, ClickZ says.

Sometimes advertisers want to drive traffic; other times they want to build or reinforce brand reputation.

The Great Click Debate

Cisco May Be Making A Run For Skype

Cisco has made an offer to acquire Skype before they complete their IPO process, Techcrunch reports.

Cisco May Be Making A Run For Skype

Is "Social Consumption" a New Trend

You might call it a new "green awareness," a perhaps-permanent change in consumption patterns or something else, but there might be a new trend towards renting, or sharing, physical goods that are infrequently required.

ZipCar is one obvious example, and rental goods of all sorts have always been popular in some contexts. People rent hotel rooms, cars, heavy equipment and all sorts of other products they use infrequently, or situationally, rather than buying them.

What might be new is use of new social networks to arrange the transactions.

Ping - Renting Out Home Belongings Over the Internet - NYTimes.com