MOBILE WHITE PAPER 2013

HOW THE MOBILE MAJORITY HAS SHAPED THE FUTURE OF OUR NATION’S TOP COMPANIES.

SEPTEMBER 2013

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THE MOBILE TIPPING POINTHere is a mobile trivia question for you: What device was released in 1993 that has led to the advanced mobile era today? Answer: In 1993 IBM and BellSouth launched the very first “smartphone,” the Simon Personal Communicator, or Simon for short.1 That’s right, the first smartphone was created more than 20 years ago!

2 Smartphone Ownership, Pew Research Center, 2013

4 Smartphones, Tablets Drive Faster Growth in Ecommerce Sales, eMarketer, 2013

1 Microsoft Research, Simon Personal Communicator, 1993

3 More Than Half of us Have Smartphones, Giving Apple and Google Much to Smile About, Forbes, 2013

5 Number of Smartphones Tops One Billion, Strategy Analytics in The Telegraph, 2012

While Simon was the first of its kind, the iPhone, introduced by Apple on June 21, 2007, prompted the mobile market to explode. Now, six years later, we are swept up in the “modern smartphone era” and are itching to see what will take over next. Although 44% of Americans are still non-smartphone users,2 it is expected that 20-25 million of them will make the switch this year.3 How important is this to you and to your company? Huge. Why? Because by 2017, mobile devices will account for one-fourth of all online sales in the United States.4 And because by 2016, the number of mobile devices is predicted to reach 10 billion globally; thats 2.7 billion more than the number of people predicted to be living on earth at that time.5

As mobile usage expands, the “heads down culture” will only increase.

THE PHONE TOO SMART FOR ITS TIMELong before anyone knew the term “smartphone,” IBM and BellSouth partnered to create the IBM Simon Personal Communicator. It was a revolutionary device that combined a personal digital assistant (or PDAs, which were popular at the time) with a cell phone (which were starting to really gain traction in the market).

Each Simon came with a charging base station, two nickel-cadmium batteries and a protective leather cover. It had a stylus touch screen and ran on a version of the DOS operating system.

The Simon could make and receive cellular phone calls; and send and receive faxes, emails and cellular pages. It also included many of the features we take for granted in today’s smartphones, including an address book, calendar, appointment scheduler, calculator, world time clock, note pad with predictive text—it even had a digital music player.

The Simon launched in August 1993 and was discontinued due to low sales six months later. In that time, it sold 50,000 units. In comparison, the original iPhone activated 150,000+ units in three days.

While the Simon was ahead of its time, it had some major obstacles in its path to acceptance. The Simon weighed slightly more than a pound and was literally the size of a small brick. It needed to be charged every hour and some features required the user to manually replace a data card. Plus, the original price tag was $899 (that’s about $1,500 in 2013 dollars).

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The clear winner is the example on the right. With simplified navigation, large buttons optimized for tapping and clear calls to action, this responsive site delivers superior readability and a better user experience.

And customers agree. In fact, 76% of customers won’t even bother browsing your website unless it is mobile optimized. In addition to that, 30% of them will instead turn to a mobile-optimized website of a competitor.8

STRATEGYEven though mobile marketing has been in full swing for more than six years, only 25% of brands currently have a mobile strategy.6 This could be attested to the reality that 45% of companies rely solely on desktop sites to showcase their content.7 ”Solely” being the keyword. Having a mobile strategy can position your company ahead of the competition. It can grab the attention of your audience with a direct, customizable and rewarding solution, which can better connect you with your customers on the move, no matter where they are.

QUICK QUESTION Which website would you spend time browsing?

6 10 Interesting Digital Marketing Stats We’ve Seen this Week, Econsultancy, 2013

7 Adobe 2013 Digital Optimization Survey Results, Adobe, 2013

8 Web Trends Report Q1, Netbiscuits, 2013

EXAMPLES OF RESPONSIVE WEBSITESWant to see some examples of responsive web design? Check out the links below or scan the QR codes with your smartphone to see them now.

Hennes Payntercrisiscommunications.com

Human Archumanarc.com

Greater Cleveland Aquariumgreaterclevelandaquarium.com

BEFORE AFTER

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THE NUMBERSBy analyzing three very diverse top company lists, we were able to see where top companies are positioning themselves in the mobile market. It’s encouraging to see that the trends are finally catching on, slowly, but surely. We researched the following “Top Companies” lists for 2013• Top 50 Domestic Companies, Fortune 500• Top 50 Companies, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies9

• Top 100 Companies, Crain’s Chicago Business

When examining each company we looked at two different criteria. First, we discovered how many top company websites are mobile-optimized, and second, how many of these top companies have invested in a website created with responsive web design (RWD). The difference is that a mobile-optimized website has been specifically designed to fit the viewing area of a mobile device and is served up as an alternative to the company’s desktop site. This ultimately means the company has two different websites. A responsive website, however, is a single site that adapts to automatically fit the viewing area of the specific device being used. Responsive websites shrink and expand to allow for optimal viewing on desktop, tablet, smartphone and additional devices being released to the market.

The research we conducted yielded results that were surprising, to say the least. While reviewing the Crain’s Chicago Business list of top 100 companies, we discovered that 70% of these company websites were not mobile-optimized and 95% of them were not responsively designed.

46%Fortune 500

domestic

47%Fast

Company

28%Crain’s chicago

10% RWD 19% RWD 5% RWD

36%

10%

Top Companies- and -

Their Mobile Presence TOTAL RESULTSCompany websites optimized for mobile

TOTAL RESULTSWebsites using

responsive design

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

“�When�smartphones�first�hit�the�market,�companies rushed to update their sites for smaller screens. The same thing happened with the rise of tablets. Much of the industry has embraced responsive Web design, a solution to create a single site that adapts to multiple screen sizes. We know that responsive sites will outperform traditional sites on new devices- mobile, wearable or something entirely new.” Justin Smith Manager of User Experience Development thunder::tech

9 Only the top 43 sites were able to be evaluated in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2013 List

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TABLET USAGE VS. SMARTPHONE USAGEAre you in retail? Remember that statistic we threw out at you: One-fourth of all online sales in the United States will take place on a mobile device by 2017. Yes, this means smartphones, but more importantly it means tablets! It’s estimated that 125 million people, 78% of tablet owners, will use them to make purchases with more than 71% of all mobile retail sales conducted on a tablet over a smartphone.10

The main point: screen sizes, the shape of mobile devices and their primary uses will always be changing to better fit the needs of the consumer. As technology continues to evolve, so will the concept of mobility. Devices such as Google Glass are further proving that “mobile” no longer just refers to tablets and smartphones. Responsive Web design ensures your audience won’t drop off your website because they can’t read your copy or click on your tool bar, while also being more cost effective and less work for you.

TAKEAWAYS — INNOVATE TO PARTICIPATEJoin the fun; be a part of the conversation. If your company is going to stand out among the ground-breaking, modern companies of today, you must have a mobile strategy to compete. No matter the age of your company or the industry you’re in, no client, customer or employee will waste their time trying to read the copy on your desktop site on their smartphone. They’ll respond in a different way: they will move on. Now is the time to fully embrace mobile-optimized and responsive Web designed sites to assure that your company is best positioned to connect with your customers today, and well into the future.

10 Smartphones, Tablets Drive Faster Growth in Ecommerce Sales, eMarketer, 2013

MOM GOES MOBILERead our this addition to our Mobile White Paper series to meet the Mobile Mom and discover what marketers must know about them to harness their $2.4 trillion collective buying power.

Mother’s Little Helper In The Digital Age

thundertech.com/media/documents/thundertech-mobile-mom-report.pdf