Village Profile Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us

Convergence

According to a new report from the Pew Research Internet & American Life Project Survey, a third of Internet users have accessed information wirelessly at home, at work, or while “out and about.”

Wireless devices with which people have logged onto the Internet include laptop computers, PDAs, web-enabled cell phones and smartphones (i.e., BlackBerrys, Treos).

The Pew survey results indicated that a quarter of all Internet users have a cell phone that connects to the internet wirelessly; one in eight use PDAs to make that wireless connection. Some 40 percent of Internet users under age 30 who connect to the Internet via laptop computer do so wirelessly; another 40 percent use their web-enabled cell phones; and 17 percent use wireless PDAs.

The “New Convergence” 2007
At the 2007 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), spoke about the “new convergence” taking place, forecasting that the consumer electronics industry will soar to $155 billion in 2007.

“Everything is becoming digital and everything with a digital heartbeat will get connected,” said Ed Zander, president and CEO of Motorola. “It truly is the Internet in your pocket.”

Converged communcations, mobile media, wireless, WiFi, WAP — the runaway train hurdling through the digital frontier shows no signs of slowing down; marketers are jumping on board at every stop.

The World is Going Mobile
The 24/7, worldwide connectivity available through these new technologies reiterates what we already know: we’re going mobile in almost every aspect of their lives. Consumers are spending less time with traditional media; businesses are seeking ways to reach those consumers through new media.

For example, Gen Y young adults, (ages 18-26) spend 25 percent less time watching TV than Gen X, and 50 percent less time than Baby Boomers. It’s predicted that well over $500 billion LESS will be spent on network television advertising this year.

ABI Research found that by 2011, some 250 million users will be making and receiving phone calls over converged fixed-mobile networks and access points — around 10 percent of households and 8 percent of enterprises. In 2006, North America achieved 93.2 percent wireless subscriber penetration.

An Internet Week survey found that traffic, gas prices and irritation with waiting in line are driving consumers to spend more time shopping online than ever before.

Another report indicates that 87 percent of consumers research products online prior to making a purchase. Consistently growing numbers of older adult consumers are regularly buying products online.

One in 10 consumers internationally now buys products and services through their cell phones. The onset of greater imaging capabilities through cell phones and other wireless handhelds will also boost sales.

Nokia’s new Ad Service will help advertisers target messages through mobile services and applications.

A Nokia spokesman noted that, “as advertisers struggle to reach personalized targeting with traditional media such as print and TV, mobile advertising is becoming an increasingly attractive channel for brands.”

Technology is so advanced that, as the CEO of Acuity Mobile points out, ads can be delivered instantly to web-enabled cell phone users who have agreed to accept them, when and where they expect. A consumer who has approved mobile ads from Jiffy Lube, for example, will receive one as he’s approaching a participating location — AND let him know if he’s due for an oil change!

The availability of such tools
will spur greater investment in new convergence marketing media, and likely grow beyond the dollars invested in traditional media as these new communications platforms and technologies emerge.

Reaching Target Markets
Identifying and researching target audiences is, and has been since the inception of commerce and trade, the bottom-line goal of successful marketing. Convergence technology allows marketers to deliver their sales messages to tightly targeted niche markets and core consumer clusters across multiple media platforms, much more cost effectively than traditional media ever could.

Even before the product rollout and ad campaign begin, research in the form of surveys, product evaluation, even focus groups — all can be conducted in a short period of time with immediate, measurable results through converged communication.

Traditional media may languish to some extent in the coming years, but the ad dollars it generated aren’t going away. The media conglomerates are pouring billions of dollars into new media to position themselves in a world of converging and converged communications.