This post is a mix of my opinion and many great ideas from an article in the WSJ entitled “ The Fans Know Best ”.  . When advising our clients on community strategy, we often encounter a resistance to let go and an unreasonable expectation that “control” works. Hey, let’s face it. Communities are going to happen whether you like it or not. If you embrace some of the suggestions here, you can truly have significant impact on what people think about your company, your brand and your products. You accomplish this through participation, honesty and education. They are going to do it somewhere. MORE >>

While I continue to believe in the rapid growth of the mobile internet, I remain a skeptic about the future of Mobile TV.  There might be some niche applications for real-time mobile TV, such as some live sports events, but niches rarely justify building out an entire specialized network. recent article on Mobile TV in eMarketer , titled Mobile TV Faces Obstacles , makes the challenge clear, with the finding that only 13.5% of mobile users will pay for a mobile TV subscription. This is another example of technology in search of a market. mobile broadcast’s days are clearly numbered. MORE >>

2009 may even be the year that your Mom uses a mobile application on a regular basis! In 2007 we experienced some real progress toward the Mobile Broadband breakthrough, or the tipping point. believe we need to see progress in five areas for the breakthrough to really happen: Applications. Devices. Network Speeds. Affordable TCO (total cost of ownership). Battery Life. Of these categories, I believe we saw the biggest improvement in Devices , and the greatest near-term hope in Applications. The category-by-category progress for 2007 looked as follows: Category. Progress. Dashed Hopes. MORE >>

You may have suffered personally during this downturn. You may suffer more because it’s not going to be over soon. However, things are different in this downturn – different from the last one we experienced in 2001 – 2003. Because of these differences, we can take advantage of at least opportunities we now have that we didn’t have before. Opportunity #1 – Better data and data analysis tools   . zip codes. This data can be very interesting when looking at key geo-specific issues such as housing prices. Opportunity #2 – More ways to reach the prospect. Social media. Mobile devices. MORE >>

I listened to Steve Ballmer’s earnings call yesterday. MSFT is a client of ours – so I care about them). was quite intrigued with a hypothesis he put forward. The point he made was subtle, but significant. Steve said something like “the economy doesn’t rebound, it builds from a lower base”. That’s a very different perspective than I’ve heard from any economic pundits … and I’ve heard from a lot of them. What are the implications of his hypothesis – if true? Things as they are today just might stay the way they are for a very long time. becomes very, very significant. Products & Markets MORE >>