2006 was the year of connecting.  Some call it social networking. Time named it You.

2007 is the year of conversing.  Some call it consumer-generation.  Others like the term co-creation.  Wired named it crowdsourcing.

2008 will be the year of circulating.  Some call it mobile marketing.  Others refer to it as location-based (LB) services, media and/or marketing.  It currently lacks a fancy name.

Circulation - literally meaning free movement or passage through a system - has been on the minds of marketers and media for quite some time.  Today, we call our efforts ”mobile content”, and some of us have shown investing in the mobile infrastructure can pay off.  However, because the current infrastructure has so many limitations, greate examples of mobile content still elude us. 

But 2008 will see mobile devices come into their own.  The technology being unveiled today will start to impact how everyday people choose which company (and brand) to patron tomorrow.

Everyone’s favorite example of this is the iPhone.  It has a mishmash of applications that make it more of a mobile computer than phone.  People can seek out coffee shops using Google maps and GPS synchronization.  The opportunities for Starbucks to get in the middle of this are endless.  And they will…in 2008.

But the iPhone is just a piece of a larger puzzle still being put together.  Other parts include geo-positioning devices in cars, RFID tags embedded in products and places (and people), the further expansion of WiFi, mobile media access, mobile barcode recognition, and all the related applications and services that come with it. 

Combined, they allow us to take our social networks and desires to co-create to the streets.  We will commune, we will converse, and we will do it without constraint.

Examples of Location-Based Services/Media

Mobile Touring by Ubilabs

MobileTouring is an authoring tool for tours. Anybody (you, your company, a city’s convention/visitor’s bureau, etc.) can set points of interest online and enrich them with a photo and short text information. In turn, anyone that has the system uploaded on their mobile phone can create customized tour specific to their needs.  No more dirty headsets at museums.  No need for three+ travel books fore each city you visit.

Bar Code Scanners by NeoMedia

Scanner:                                                      Phone with Code:

Neomedia has deployed mobile phone scanners at concerts around Europe. Fans and concert goers purchase electronic tickets over the Internet and instantly receive a text message containing a two dimensional code (Data Matrix or 2D) on their mobile phone. The code can easily be scanned at the concert’s point of entry by mobile scanners for immediate event access. In doing so, NeoMedia demonstrates the use of optically processed mobile codes for real-world financial transactions.

Explorer v3 by Node

The Node Explorer is a small handheld computer with stereo headphones which is connected to a central server.  The Explorer’s integrated GPS location sensor is able to pinpoint the exact location of its user, triggering images (still and video) and broadcast sound and video, in a targeted format (e.g., content can be customized by language, age group, particular interests, special needs, etc.)

Examples of Location-Based Marketing

Got any?  I’m sure all of us will next year.