A few days ago I did a radio interview with Maria Reitan of PurseStrings, a show about marketing to women. Because I get totally nervous when it comes to live media of any type (the irony, I know), I jotted down some rather extensive and meticulous notes beforehand. After all, I can’t be expected to answer tough questions like “Tell us about Channel V Media?” on the spot like that… (Hopefully I’ll nail that one some day.)

As these things go, I didn’t end up saying anything I wrote down, but there were a few good points—I think—so, I figure why not share them here?

If you’re interested in listening to me blab on about marketing for 20 minutes, you can do that here. (The magic starts at around the 10-minute mark.) If you’re interested in reading a transcript-of-things-I-didn’t-actually-say-but-would-have-liked-to, that is directly below…

Welcome to the show. Tell us about Channel V Media, which you founded just five short years ago.

We’re a digital marketing and PR shop in Manhattan. In terms of services, we do everything from web and mobile development to brand strategy, PR, social and content. A typical client might come to us looking for one of these things, but we try to shift their focus from tactics to outcomes: brand awareness, audience generation…market domination. That sorta thing.

Our clients span the spectrum–we work with b2b and b2c clients, so anything from a huge ad agency or law firm to green products, CPG brands, restaurant chains, technology, new apps, and beyond…

What led you to establish Channel V Media? And what do you think has led to your company having so much success in such a short amount of time?

My partner Kate Fleming and I were both working at traditional PR firm where we both saw a ton of untapped potential for content and online media. That firm was really good at what they did, but they only did one thing (PR). Meanwhile, it was clear that media was expanding to include blogging, social media, etc.–new and different ways of expanding brands’ presences and voices. I was also writing two top secret blogs at the time and seeing ridiculous traction there–opportunities, exposure, offers from publishers–and there was no denying the potential this could offer our clients. By limiting ourselves to only PR, we felt we were at the mercy of whatever our clients’ did to the rest of their brands. And often they weren’t doing very good things…

Regarding success: our secret is doing really good work and being honest. Oh, and understanding our clients’ businesses. These things probably seem cliche, but they’re not common. We hear all the time that no other firms a prospect has talked to asked them what their revenue streams were or questioned their poor branding. To us, that’s mind boggling. How can we support your business if we don’t understand it? We can’t.

And of course, sometimes the whole honesty thing backfires on us considering some people don’t like criticism–”your website is a liability,” “you’re not newsworthy,” “you don’t seem authentic,” etc.–but that’s how we’ve grown our business. We realized that we could get a client in the Wall Street Journal or on the Today Show, but if the client’s web presence was a mess or there was no way for new visitors to connect with them, then they would deem PR ineffective. So yeah, those are our tricks and I guess they’re working since we’ve accidentally become a 100% referral business.

Let’s talk about agencies and the “I” word. Agencies are all talking about “integration.” PR agencies, ad agencies, even digital agencies. What’s your take on integration and how do you decide what discipline “leads” to solve client problems?

Well, we’re basically the epitome of integration. It’s really just a way of life over here; it defines everything we do, although I don’t think we ever really use that word because it sounds too business-y. Or like a buzzword.

I think that most agencies that talk about integration are usually those who are trying to build on a core competency–like what you said: PR, advertising, or digital. The difference between them and us is that everything we do is our core competency and we don’t really lead with one over the other. Clients and brands that bank on the idea that they can just focus on one marketing discipline–say, Public Relations–are never satisfied. They’re never going to get what they want because it all has to work together–and it has to integrate with non-marketing efforts like sales, product development, and so forth. Brands with a bunch of disparate agencies, each handling different things–that can be a mess too. With us, it’s all tightly controlled and on the same page.

“Social” is changing every day. A new way to engage with consumers seems to pop up every week. What tools are you working with right now that you feel are doing a good job of creating that level of engagement brands are seeking with and through consumers?

Blogging will always be a go-to for us. That’s always in style over here. The type of blog posts that readers gravitate toward is always changing though–from long to short; from text-heavy to image-driven; and so on. We extend blog content and other content using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And we also like Pinterest and Instagram for imagery. Those are all the obvious ones, of course–but that’s exactly why we like them: they’ve reached critical mass. There are a million things out there that have really cool capabilities or cutting edge layouts–and we like to toy with those on our own time, but when it comes to our work for brands, we we stick to what’s going to get them the most exposure rather than what’s the coolest or newest.

Oh, and we do a lot of mobile. That’s good for engagement. If done right, that is. (That’s the perennial disclaimer.)

What’s the next big thing? Everyone wants to be one step ahead of the next Facebook or Pinterest.

Becoming your own thing is always the next big thing. Not being dependent on anybody else . Getting people to come to you. The social sites are the launching-off points for that, not the end goal. That’s where you go and cast the net, but you always want to bring people back to you.

Conversely, what’s on the decline? And has Twitter peaked?

I think Twitter needs some quality control but it hasn’t peaked. Everyone thinks it has peaked because it’s annoying. Or because they’ve finally figured it out. It’s no longer a mystery or a novelty, so they want the next big thing. (I mean, they’ll let anyone in this party!) I think that if anything, people are becoming more dependent on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

The stuff on the decline, unfortunately, are the cool platforms that can’t compete with these guys. It’s like when Starbucks came in and wiped out every unique coffee shop in the country. I seriously can’t find a good one to go to…

Content is king now more than ever. Consumer generated content is coveted by many brands. How do you light that fire under consumers to get them to participate in a big way?

There are contrived ways that feel icky, like always posing boring questions on social media and letting the responses poor in, or holding lackluster video contests and giveaway. But their are also authentic ways. I’ve always liked brands that let fans personalize something–like the Simpsonize me thing or the M&M-n-izer thingamajig from a while back–but really, the ideal way is to create a product or service that people want to talk about or somehow align with.

A brand like Spanx, for instance, is solving a huge problem for women, and as a result, women talk about it unprompted. All. The. Time. As Zig Ziglar used to say–”the best way to get what you want is to help people get what they want.” Spanx has figured out what its audience wants and it helps them get there. And their audience returns the favor. So if you want consumer generated content, I think the key is less about figuring out how you can get people to do specific stuff for you and more about how to figure out how you can do stuff for them. And then be open to what comes from there rather than setting your sites on a specific format like video or stories or whatever.

What about branded content? What do companies need to consider before pushing out content via YouTube, their own sites, etc? What should the goal be with branded content?

Before touching any piece of content, brands and marketers seriously need to ask themselves: would complex human beings with diverse personalities and emotions watch, read, or listen to this? Or is it better suited for lifeless robots? If the latter, step away from the content! I feel like companies forget that the people they’re trying to reach are, well…people. We tell our b2b clients that all the time: “Just because your subject matter is technical, doesn’t mean it has to be boring.” You can do really entertaining stuff around any topic. And should. Especially if you’re slapping your brand on it.

How important is design? Do consumers just want the information or is it critical that it comes in a great looking package?

It’s like asking how important good looks are. People will say they’re immune–and maybe they try to be–but they’re not. We’re all superficial to some extent, even if subconsciously. I don’t think that great design is crucial (although we strive for it), but good design is. Bad design will simply eliminate prospects and opportunities.

In regard to packaging–I was talking to Stefan Sagmeister a few months ago–he’s kind of a god of product design (whatever that means). He said that the products that need the best packaging are those like water or vodka–things that non-discerning consumers truly can’t tell apart aside from the packaging. This has stuck with me. It applies to my business and to my clients’ businesses. Professional services, consumer packaged goods, whatever–if on the surface you have no visible differentiator, and you do the same thing as the other guys, the only way the consumer can tell you apart is in how you present and position yourself. This affects visual design, tone, and beyond…

What trends are you keeping a close eye on as we roll into 2013?

I’m actually always looking at the people and brands that do their own thing and don’t follow trends. These are the ones that create the trends. Once something’s a trend, it’s out of style for those leading the pack. Of course, leading the pack isn’t always the goal. I just happen to appreciate those who are.

The best marketing strategy is the one that addresses actual business problems, not just the messaging, positioning, and communication ones. While not a lot of marketing agencies are given free reign to come in and clean up house, let’s pretend for a minute that they are.

Here are a few specific ways healthcare marketers, in particular, can take a preferred tactic to the next level…

Ten years ago, being green was great for marketing. It was unique, it was innovative, it was thoughtful…it was a real marketplace differentiator. Now it’s simply expected.

So what does this mean for marketers? It means they’re back to square one: they need to have a great product—not just a green one.

Read CVM’s Latest article on the cliche of green marketing at MediaPost.

I love it when people share great stuff on social media. Thanks to friends, family, and acquaintances, I’ve stumbled across this, this, and plenty of other gems.

Due to many self-introduced layers of filtering, my Facebook, Twitter, etc. feeds are filled with content from people I know I like.  That’s layer #1.  Layer #2?  I like to think that most of these people are somewhat discerning when it comes to endorsing content online—of all the things they watch and read every day, they usually only post those things they particularly liked…rather than everything they’ve seen/read.  So by the time I actually see their posts (layer #3), I know they’ve been pre-vetted and pre-approved. In other words, if they went to the trouble of actively posting something, there’s a good chance it’s something I’m going to like.

Sure, people also actively choose to post things I’m neutral or indifferent to, but every so often, there’s something really awesome.  LOL awesome.  Crying laughing awesome. ROFLing awesome, even. (And all posts are better when I’ve had a bit too much wine, which *might* have been the case when I watched/listened to the two things above…)

All of which brings me around to the Washington Post Social Reader. In case you’re not familiar with it, here’s the gist (from the About copy):

Washington Post Social Reader is a free app that lets you read news on Facebook — discover what your friends are reading and let friends know what you’re reading, too!…. Once you’re in the app, everything you read will be visible to your social network.

Seems like it might be kind of okay, right? People you like sharing content they like? That’s the theory but, oh, Lord, it’s a monster.  Like all my least favorite social apps, its default setting is “share EVERYTHING.”  Because EVERYTHING you read is just that interesting.

Needless to say, I can’t bring myself to sign up for it, even for research purposes, but here’s what I’ve gathered…

1. Unless you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to opt out of sharing, you share everything you read.
2. Every time you read something through the reader, you have to actively opt out in order to keep your reading habits private.
3. Barring the previous two activities, everyone you’re connected to on social media will get an update from you every time you read something—from the mundane to the inane.

Lucky the rest of us!  What would my life have been without knowledge of Snooki’s difficult decision of whether or not to pose pregnant and naked on a magazine cover?

Yep, now instead of great stuff, I have to feel embarrassed for my friends every time I log into Facebook.  Miley Cyrus’s new slutty phase!  How has Kate Winslet aged since Titanic?!  Rock-hard abs in five days! Celebrities’ plastic surgery disasters!  Don’t get me wrong—it’s not that I don’t read the same crap too sometimes.  But no one needs to know about it.

Really, shouldn’t social sharing be about introducing other people to cool stuff they might not have discovered on their own?

So a plea… a please…

To the Washington Post, show you’re really interested in being social—and not exploitive—by making privacy the default. More people might actually use you, and maybe even share what they read sometimes. And maybe we’ll all come back to believing you actually publish real news.

And, in the meantime, to everyone else:  Don’t—whether by design or accident—think it’s a good idea to share everything you read. Nobody wants to be embarrassed for you.

Now back to this fascinating piece on Kate Middleton’s fascinators…

You remember flash mobs, don’t you? A group of people show up at a predetermined place and time—the northeast Christopher St. station entrance (6:00 sharp, Friday night); the halal stand on 39th and Lex (12:30, Wednesday); Madison Square Garden, next to the hawkers and left of the cab line (tonight, 7:30)—and momentarily wreak havoc to draw attention to whatever it is they’re trying to draw attention to.

A cash mob is like that, only different. One part social, another part commerce, and several more parts marketing, a cash mob is—dare I say—a more civilized kind of an affair. It’s a flash mob without the singing, dancing, and inevitable states of undress. It’s Groupon without the coupon. It’s hand-to-hand commerce (a term I coined right before your eyes!): the act of exchanging money for a commodity or experience in real-time. It’s product awareness, a self-selecting gathering of brand advocates, a loyalty-building exercise, old-fashioned personalization…an aggregation of people, which makes it literally social.

And it tends to last longer than a flash mob! Whereas time is of the essence with a flash mob (in and out in 3 minutes flat—or before getting caught!), a cash mob tends to be more flexible.

Instead of donning costumes, blasting music and chanting singalongs, participants commit to spending a certain amount of money (usually at least $20). Since the first one took place last August in Buffalo, NY, cash mobs have been popping up in various cities throughout the US and Europe. Their popularity is based on the basic fact that people like getting involved with things that support local businesses and strengthen neighborhoods.

What’s the point?

Cash mobs didn’t emerge as a way to save struggling businesses. Instead, they promote awareness of smaller, independent outfits, as well as sharpen the relationship between commerce and community. While the emphasis is currently on brick-and-mortar, ma-and-pop shops, the concept could easily extend to the virtual sphere. After all, there’s no reason an online business that hosts commercial transactions and community interactions can’t one day find itself at the receiving end of a cash mob “bump.”

I went to a cash mob in the East Village two weeks ago, at a diner that’s been around for well over 40 years. The mob was supposed to arrive at 6PM, but a sizable crowd didn’t form until well over an hour later. No matter: the important thing was that the place was packed that night, and the owner made some serious coin.

It’s fair to say that there’s an inherently social element to cash mobs; not only during but afterwards, as mob participants will often head over to a local bar or café afterwards to catch up with old friends—or make new ones.

How it works:

So far the organization of cash mobs has been pretty grassroots; www.cash-mobs.com is a centralized online hub that provides information and news on upcoming events, but the folks behind it aren’t really “in charge” of the phenomenon.

Typically, the business owner is contacted ahead of time, to ensure there’s enough inventory available for the onrush of shoppers. Any in-store promotion of the event is at the owner’s discretion. Word gets out via Twitter, Facebook or other forms of social media—and a list of active cities can be found here.

Needless to say, it’s something to keep an eye on…

Note: National Cash Mob Day is tomorrow, March 24th, so check one out in your area and see for yourself what’s going on!

Austin, Texas is a special place, a small island of liberal sanity—or insanity—thriving, somehow, in the red-state South. The city motto, “Keep Austin Weird”, is a brilliant bit of branding that gives the locals a license, along with some encouragement, to be different. And perhaps more importantly, the motto lets visitors know what to expect because, yes, Austin is different. And for the tens of thousands of visitors at the annual South By Southwest conference, the city’s DNA offers a great mix of music, food, weather and people. All of these elements are front and center at SXSW.

For the uninitiated, SXSW (or simply “South By” for the regulars) is a ten-day overload of film and interactive/digital (first five days), and then film and music (next five days). I had been to SXSW before, but only for the music portion. This year, I would attend portions of both, in roles both professional and personal—work and play.

I learned a lot in 8 days, and here are a few rules.

Rule #1: Go to SXSW! Seems obvious, right? You have to go there to experience it. But, without a doubt, that was my biggest take away from SXSW 2012: to always go…to never again miss this amazing, and absolutely crucial, event. I’m a New Yorker, and like many NYers, I often work way too hard. It’s easy to get so caught up in your clients, projects and daily to-dos, that a full week away in Austin, Texas seems impossible, and perhaps a bit indulgent. But here’s the thing. You have to go. You have to indulge. Almost nothing you’re doing in your New York office, will be as important as the business you’ll gain, the people you’ll meet, and the experiences you’ll have at SXSW.

Rule #2: Eat! Also obvious, right? Depends who you ask. Before this year’s conference one tech reporter who I follow on Twitter suggested that you should eat a big breakfast at SXSW because you never know when you’ll eat again. This advice isn’t totally without merit. SXSW is non-stop, and at any given moment, there will be things, often multiple things, that you should (and will want to) be doing. But to rank Austin food as a low priority, is a major mistake. First of all, food is fuel. And to keep up with the frenetic pace of SX, you’ll need fuel. But in Austin, the food is so much more than just fuel. The city has a food scene that, in my view, is as good as any in the country.  Austin, yes Austin, Texas, features one of my favorite sushi restaurants in the country, and of course, front and center, is the best barbeque you’ll ever eat.  Which brings me to lesson 2a: before you go to Austin, do a little homework. Two sources for the latest and greatest in the Austin food scene are Addie Broyles (@broylesa), food writer at the Austin American Statesman, and Immaculate Infatuation (@immaculateinfat), two New York guys who have the inside track on culinary hot spots throughout the country.

JMueller BBQ 1502 South First Austin, TX 78704

Rule #3: Drink! …in Moderation! SXSW is work, yes, but it’s also a great big party. And where’s there’s a party, there’s booze. At almost every turn at SX there’s a cold beer (usually free) that’s being offered to you. It’s Austin and it’s hot outside, so a cold beer almost always seems like a great idea. But these free beers add up, and if you’re not careful, you can easily reach 6 (or more) beers by dinnertime. This overconsumption can lead to two things: passing out early or getting sloppy—and neither is good. Passing out early is a shame (you’ll miss stuff) and getting sloppy is worse. Unless you’re off with friends, you’re going to be meeting people at SXSW, and you’ll want to be on your game. Slurring your words in front of a reporter, potential investor or future employer is never a good look, but it happens. Don’t be that guy. Party, have a blast, but don’t go overboard.

Rule #4: Go overboard. Ok, what the heck? I just said don’t do this. But hey, it’s SXSW, and sometimes the situation demands it. Like when you’re at a Jack White concert and Bill Murray wants to buy you shots. Which is exactly what happened to my friends from Paste Magazine this year. And to paraphrase a line from Ghostbusters: When Bill Murray asks you if you want to do shots, you say YES! I’ll let the Paste editor-in-chief Josh Jackson’s Facebook status tell the tale:

CRAZY NIGHT: Sorry to name drop but I just got back from a Jack White concert for 500 people, where John C. Reilly (good-naturedly) chewed me out about a Paste review I don’t remember, I did shots (and danced on a bar) with Bill Murray and had Jason Sudeikis use my hand as his drum during Seven Nation Army (he was making out with Olivia Wilde all night). I spoke briefly to Norah Jones and saw James Mercer (after watching The Shins earlier in the evening).

Rule #5: Talk to everyone. Networking is not only expected at SX, but it could be the conference’s primary and most valuable function. SX is an idea festival, populated by interesting and intelligent people from all over the country. And you’re constantly moving from place to place. When you finally do sit down, inevitably there will be someone new sitting next to you, someone who is in all likelihood (you guessed it) interesting and intelligent. Put away your mobile device and talk to that person. It could be your next client, employer, or friend. Another thing to note: rule #5 (talk to everyone) frequently overlaps with rule #2 (eat!). My first meal at this year’s SXSW was at a sushi bar where we met locals (who we would hang out with later in the week), editors from a Chicago newspaper, and various business people and entrepreneurs from around the country. Food is a terrific ice-breaker, and whether it’s a sushi bar or a picnic table at an outdoor barbecue, take the time to meet your neighbors whenever possible. Lastly, the bars at the hotels downtown are another outstanding spot to meet people. The Four Seasons, The Hilton, The Omni, The Marriott, they’re all crawling with people you may want to meet—and the hotel bar is the place to do it. Need to charge your phone for an hour? Do it here and not at some random outlet in the Convention Center.

Rule #6: Plan in advance. There’s a lot to do at SX, so the more you’re able to plan in advance the better experience you’re likely to have. The good people at SXSW designed a great app that has all the events and information in one easy-to-find location. This was massively helpful. Download it, study the events, and map out your plan before you ever get to Austin. Next, find out who else is going to SX. You’ll likely have some friends who you know will be there, but chances are, you’ll have many more friends who you didn’t know were going to be there. Use your social media channels to ask around and find out who else is going. The bigger network of contacts you have going down there, the more dots you can connect, and the more people you can meet while you’re there. Secondly, feel free to reach out to people you don’t know in advance of SX, particularly people of influence. If some hard-to-reach CEO, reporter, or venture capitalist is holding a panel discussion at SX, send that person an email in advance discussing the panel (what you’re looking forward to hearing, a question you may have, etc), and you’re likely to get a response. Now, if and when you meet that person at SX, you have already made contact, and have your proverbial “in”. What do you want to see? Who do you want to meet? Planning in advance will help you get the most out of SXSW.

Rule #7: Forget your plan. Again with the contradictions! But yes, forget your plan. Or at least don’t be afraid to. It’s impossible to anticipate every surprise twist and turn of SXSW—and there will be many. Being overly devoted to a strict schedule will rob you of these surprises, and that would be a mistake. Stay open to meeting people you didn’t expect to meet, wander into lectures you hadn’t planned on hearing. See bands you’ve never seen before. And sometimes, when your body is craving some fish tacos, put the day on hold and go get some fish tacos.

Rule #8: Keep Austin Weird. This one is very important.

Mark Ballard is Media Director at Channel V Media, a New York City-based media and marketing agency that specializes in merging traditional and digital platforms.

We’re not big conference people around here. We have a difficult time justifying the need to attend any gathering described as a “networking event.” And as much as we love (and are pretty darn good at) doing what we do for a living, it’s the rare occasion that we define our roles in life by it. It’s not that we’re anti-social or snobby—at least we hope we’re not—it’s that we seek (and therefore find) learning opportunities all around us daily. We indulge in the opportunity to speak to strangers in any environment (without the scarlet letter of a “Hi, My name is…” sticker). And we don’t want to be limited by others’ preconceived notions—positive or negative—of our career choices before getting to know us.

So, considering Manhattan is currently alive with the hungry energy of people finally ready to conduct business for the first time in months, I’ve been mentally bracing myself for run-ins with the dreaded question: “What do you do?” It’s the lowest Darwinian filter out there, and it just so happens to reign supreme this time of year.

Here are some popular known translations:

“What can you do for me?”
“Are you a potential customer?”
“Your worth is dependent on your answer, so think carefully before answering.”
“I’m under the misguided impression that what people do for a living says something about who they are as a person.”
(“I actually don’t care who you are as a person, so there.”)
“My sole role in talking to a person is advancing my career.”
“I have nothing better to talk about.”

Of course, not everyone who asks this is guilty as charged. There are a few forgivable translations:

“This is what I think you want me to ask you.”
“This is what I’m supposed to ask people in this type of environment.”
“I’m just breaking the ice before I ask you something that actually matters, which I plan to do next.”
“I’m shy, awkward and/or don’t thrive in social settings”

To be fair, my translations of these translations could mean the following about me:

“I’m building an identity out of bucking this horrible trend.”
“I’m not playing very nice on the conference playground.”
“I have adopted a holier than thou attitude, and am unfairly judging people for relying on pedestrian (yet harmless!) conversation tactics.”
“I take myself too seriously.”

But there are also the forgivable translations:

“I think people have more to offer and sometimes it’s nice to recognize that, independent of time/place.”
“I don’t want to be pigeonholed into a 2D caricature based on my career, and I’m extending you the same courtesy.”
“I may be interested in speaking to you even if you aren’t a prospect, you won’t advance my career somehow, or your job won’t somehow benefit me.”
“I have a hard time taking anything seriously—myself, my career and your job included.”

Okay, so I’m not without my opinions or hyper analyses of the otherwise mundane… But I’m taking one for the team here! I’ve heard so many people say, so many times, that they can’t stand this very question, yet I then hear the Exact. Same. People. posing the Exact. Same. Question. most likely due to a) lacking a better one, b) their perceived social obligations/peer pressure (everyone else is doing it!), or c) the fact that they’ve resigned to it/life as a whole.

So to be clear, it’s not that I refuse to answer this question, that I would ever dream of dismissing someone else—everyone else—for posing it, or that I become blindly disinterested in speaking to those who do; it’s more so that I dream of a world with more thoughtful conversation starters—custom talking points born of a unique mix of circumstances, surroundings, and social instincts. Is that so wrong?

I’m also not saying that we shouldn’t be out there networking. (That wouldn’t be very savvy business advice, now would it?) It’s more so that we shouldn’t dismiss or overlook the importance of meaningful human relationships in the face of making money. The two don’t need to be—and simply shouldn’t be!—mutually exclusive. The bad habit of asking surface questions that don’t get to the root of anything that matters limits the ability to form relationships that do. And there’s no reason that we shouldn’t have good relationships with the people we work with (yet a lot of reasons why we should).

So here’s the challenge, conference goers, networking event attendees, and people who just like to talk about work outside of work in non-work settings: go beyond the job title. Be that guy/gal who stands out in the crowd by quickly tapping into the things that matter. Welcome conversations that unearth peoples’ values, inner thoughts, and interests, and offer them a chance to demonstrate the way they naturally interact with people/the world. Show that your interest transcends your new acquaintance’s ability to make you money. Be genuine.

There’s no need to make an insulting blanket statement about the marketing and revenue potential of mobile apps and sites, or to launch into endless exposition about these new platforms’ expansive reach. These things are a given, and marketers and non-marketers alike know they need to get in on the action. It’s the what, the how and the why that are less clearly-defined.

The mobile world is a different place for different business types—from b-to-b service providers to direct-to-consumer vendors, from customer service-based operations to brick and mortar retailers— there’s no one foolproof approach or strategy for using mobile platforms. And there’s no strict format for the sites and apps one can create. There is, however, a quickly-evolving list of best practices, not to mention, a few guidelines for deciding which property-type makes the most sense.

The What.

To build a mobile app or a mobile site—that is (or should be) the question. As a quick and somewhat black and white rule of thumb, a mobile site is a good option for those companies and brands that can support and/or achieve their business objectives using a condensed, mobile-optimized version of their website. A mobile app, on the other hand, is a great way for a brand or business to demonstrate its key value through technology that simplifies its customers’ lives while simultaneously supporting its overall brand platform (thus getting customers to use their services more and become more loyal to their brand). Apps and mobiles sites, however, are not mutually exclusive. An app is a more abstract and targeted concept, whereas a mobile site is more straightforward and can afford to be a bit broader.

The Why.

Depending on the nature and objectives of the business or brand, mobile initiatives should serve at least one of three purposes: as a brand extension (i.e., increased visibility and reach), as a brand enhancer (i.e., a new and exciting way to talk about or present the offering at hand), or as its number one home base and commerce center (i.e., the business is mobile-based, both in terms of its commerce center and overall brand).

The How.

The key to a good mobile site is that it places the core offerings of the business’s online site front and center, so that on-the-go users have quick access to key features and services. The key to a good app is that it simplifies the user’s life somehow—so if a company/brand can do that while promoting their own business platform (thus getting customers to use their services more and become more loyal to their brand), they’ve essentially won.

Many big box retailers, restaurants, and brick-and-mortar shops, as well as the crowd-sourcing services that cater to them, are paving the way for burgeoning mobile marketers, and are therefore a good group to learn from when mapping out a savvy approach.

The two primary ways these businesses are getting in on the mobile app action are:

1. by creating their own apps to reward customers for proximity, frequency, or otherwise; or
2. by jumping on the bandwagon with crowd-centric service apps like Groupon, foursquare, shopkick, yelp, Bizzy, and others that reward customers with significant discounts for the same. (Groupon’s iPhone and Android apps were downloaded 5 million times alone in their first nine months of existence, and the benefits of this were passed on directly to the businesses partnering with them.)

According to Mobile Marketer, Chipotle’s ordering app was downloaded almost 750,000 within its first few months. That certainly had to equate to some extra business, and it easily offset the investment necessary to develop the app in the first place. Carl’s Junior’s app, on the other hand, doesn’t accept orders but it offers users a branded foursquare-like experience, great graphics, and a chance to spin their “Wheel of Awesome” with every fourth check-in (where a spin lands the user a different reward…and rewards no doubt land Carl’s Junior loyal return customers). Of course, for smaller businesses, this illuminates a key concern: the companies developing great apps are often those with bigger budgets.

Because budget constraints are top of mind to many smaller retailers, restaurants and shops, piggybacking off of the group apps like Groupon and foursquare is a very cost- and strategy-effective option, and therefore what a lot of them are doing.

This means two things as far as opportunity and cost go:

1. There is a ton of opportunity for non-big box retailers, restaurants, shops, or service provider to make a splash with a great mobile app…because at this point, there are so few that have their own apps. And of the ones that do, the quality is often questionable.
2. Many of the big group sites make their API (or software specifications, services and resources) available to the public so that developers can develop with their technology and integrate their features into their own apps and sites. This is an easy way to piggy back onto the trends that consumers are attracted to, but in a way that’s branded (by the issuing company) with additional functionality (such as shopping opportunities or the like), and at a price potentially a lot lower than trying to reproduce a similar experience from scratch.

In terms of the opportunity cost of not getting in on the mobile action, well, considering the numbers already presented, as well as the fact that foursquare alone had 381 million store, restaurant, and other venue check-ins in 2010, it seems suffice to say that ignoring the various cost-effective options out there may be the most expensive option of all.

A few days ago I attended the Vivienne Tam fashion show with a friend. Her company was a sponsor, so we got the star treatment—backstage access, front-row seats, all that. While doing our thing backstage, I spotted a tall, blonde model (what are the chances?), surrounded by photographers. She was posing with an iPhone that had a thing popping out of it. In one pose she seemed to be blowing on the thing like it was a dandelion. In the next, it looked like she was getting ready to take a bite from a digital lollipop.

When we went to sit down, I shuffled through the red folder on my seat only to find that it included one of the things, along with an explanation. The thing was the new Square—created by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and designed, this particular version at least, by Vivenne Tam. The square is a “revolutionary service that enables anyone to accept credit cards.” Just stick the Square card reader into your mobile device—iPhone, iPad or Droid, for now—and voilà, you are now able to swipe credit cards and run your own mobile business. It seemed cool enough, but only for a second. Isn’t the whole point of mobile to be convenient?  Is the average person—the casual vendor, the late night bar tab-splitter or everyday garage-sale merchant (all of whom comprise the brand’s target audience)—really going to remember to carry this little device around with them? And risk looking a little odd as they transform their phone into a kiosk? (I do believe this is grounds for a bar brawl in some states.)

While the idea of accepting credit cards with a smart phone is a great one, it’s definitely not a new one.  We have clients who use their phones and tablets to sell books at conferences and process payments at tradeshows, and there are thousands of entrepreneurs out there who rely solely on their phones/tablets to sell their wares on the go. This has been going on for a while, yet it’s never required plugging anything into the device itself. That’s because there are already plenty of apps out there that allow you to accept credit cards…without a thing sticking out of your phone.

I immediately thought about the old “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercial where the PC (John Hodgman) has a web cam taped to his head to illustrate the silliness of having basic accessories sticking out of your computer when they can be built in. The commercial came out a little over four years ago, and from that point on, the idea of having anything stick out of your computer became antiquated. When Apple launched the iPhone, they no doubt carried over this vision, with only a few exceptions: headphones, the Apple TV cord, and apps that absolutely require the outside assistance of an accessory (like a portable blood pressure cuff, because apparently there are some things that even the iPhone can’t accomplish on its own).

Hell, according to Adrants, there’s now even an app that allows you to turn your iPhone into a vibrator…and not even that requires a cord. Now, that’s what I call innovation.

But there’s no way that Vivienne and Jack (can I call ya that?) didn’t take all of this into consideration going into Square.  So, I did a little research to figure out what, if anything, makes this tangible little device a wise addition to an otherwise virtual market…

From what I can tell, Square’s current market differentiators are three-fold:

But these differentiators don’t negate Square’s fatal flaw, which is the fact that it’s a thing that plugs into the actual device. This flaw will no doubt be its demise, and a goldmine to the company that resolves it. Perhaps Apple themselves? Enter NFC (Near Field Communications), a technology that is actually being built into new versions of mobile devices and will eliminate the need for plugin-type solutions like Square. (I knew it!)

Ah, that felt good…

So, while the Square is true to Vivienne’s platform (she’s applied her admittedly stunning aesthetics to other technology, like the netbook, and supports women in their pursuit of growing their businesses), and falls in line with the type of project we’ve come to expect from Jack (technological stuff)—it’s completely off-platform for Apple products, which is half the puzzle. Or the missing piece, in this case.

This all, of course, begs the question: Why would Vivienne and Jack create an accessory that’s so obviously antithetical to Apple’s vision? Well, because there’s a market for it—at least in the short term. Until people realize that they don’t need it, there’s something satisfying about this tangible and useful little thing. It’s also pretty aesthetically pleasing with its “Double Happiness” design and all.

Instead of launching into a list of 10 things one must take into consideration when designing device-specific mobile apps and accessories, I’m just going to keep it simple: when developing your next app, think not only about your platform, think also about the device’s platform—whether the iPhone, iPad, Droid, Blackberry, whatever it is.

All of that said, I’m sure Viv and Jack will see success with this. There are thousands of potential vendors out there who will think this is a fabulous innovation. It’s portable, it’s convenient…it’s totally unnecessary (and pretty costly when you start to add up the cost for each transaction). But, oh well, there are plenty of people who don’t know any better, and they’re the ones who will simply eat this thing up.