It’s all about the money, well digital wallet actually

It is amazing to think that my son will have as hazy memories of cash as I do of ‘old money’, if the latest research from Paypal proves to be true.  In the same way I can only really remember sixpences from the tooth fairy, by 2016 there will be no need for cash, credit cards or cheques on the high street. Paypal estimates that £2.5bn will go through as mobile retail payments in the UK that year and that will be just the beginning.

What is not quite so clear is whose digital wallet I will have in my pocket.  Visa is the latest brand to come out punching with V.me – love the name – being launched a fortnight ago.  Also out there fighting are other big financial players like American Express with Serve, MasterCard with its multiple collaborations strategy, the ‘disrupters’ such as Google (‘Google Wallet’), PayPal and Carphone Warehouse (Mobile Money Network) plus others perhaps yet to show their full hand (Amazon or Apple anyone?).  There are also some interesting innovating start ups in the US to keep an eye out for: Square and Dwolla to name just two.

The individual mobile operators are trialling showcase projects with RIM/Telefonica announcing just last week a test project in Spain.  But perhaps the more interesting news is that back in June major UK operators  – Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone – announced a joint venture (JV) to ‘bring together expertise and technology ’.  The JV already needs to fight off an anti-trust complaint from 3.  If this takes off, and means common standards, then this is good news all round.  But if the intention is to deliver another rival system, we have a serious contender to add to the mêlée.

Whichever way this one goes, there is a titanic battle ahead.  One thing you will quite quickly see is more partnerships as the above and more jostle for position.  Who wins the fight for your virtual wallet will partly be based on relationships with retail (retailers simply can’t support them all) and partly on who wins the hearts and minds of the lovely digital generations.  Making the service easy and perhaps more importantly, given the intention is for them all to be easy, delivering excellent digital customer service is going to be vital.  Not something the finance industries are traditionally noted for.

At this stage there is all to play for.  Watch this space.

English Rugby in Trouble?

We are now well into week three of ‘Rugbygate’ as stories of our boys and their antics continue to fill the tabloids and beyond.  Yet I find myself in a bit of a dichotomy.   Do I roll my eyes and think ‘they are Rugby boys: are you seriously surprised that they get drunk, are rude to women and do OTT things whilst out partying? That behaviour is as old as the hills.’  Or do I think ‘about time too’?  Perhaps the sport was relying too much on the former perception to see them through.

So when the media decided that now was the time to have their day with them the sport was unprepared.

On reflection you would think the RFU would have had a better plan.  It should have been forewarned by stories from the previous World Cup, plus the on-going scrutiny the media now puts other sports stars under.

The issues and crisis plans, if they are in place, are ineffective and must have been written from within their own rugby world.  A typical mistake.  We can but hope that this is the low point, that they will smarten up their act rapidly now and be able to bring attention back to the fact that the team has made the quarter finals.  They will have time after the World Cup to consider if and how attitudes and communications must change for the future.

As the old get younger, the young do indeed get older

Part of our market trackers training series looks at different audiences and the ways that the latest social media trends are reflecting their changing profiles.  Every generation thinks that kids grow up younger but the stats do indeed, in the case, back this idea up.

Ofcom’s recent report offers some useful insights.  74% of homes now have internet access. This suggests that beyond those who do not have the means to afford it, pretty much every home with a young family has access to the web.  This offers a whole world of new opportunities: 67% of 5-7s rising to 82% of 8-11s now use the internet at home.  That’s pretty much everyone interested, so it is universal access (or close to it).  Half of these parents think their children know more about the internet than they do.  So who is leading who here?

One direct indicator of getting older younger is tweens eagerness to get onto more teenage sites.  Around a third (34%) of children aged 8-12 who use the internet at home have a social networking profile on sites, like Facebook, which requires users to register as 13 or over.  That number is up 36% in a single year and no doubt will continue to rise whilst these sites continue to be popular with teenagers. One third of 8-11s (37%) rising to two thirds of 12-15s (66%) watch YouTube regularly.  And there is a whole education to be had just on YouTube.

Another insight is offered by research commissioned by Marketing Week.  It looks at brand awareness amongst kids.  Perhaps unsurprisingly more than 90% 6-10 year olds recognise popular kids FMCG brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Tropicana and Ribena, alongside other classics like Nike, Adidas and Disney.  Yet as kids grow from six to ten years old, grown up brands like BlackBerry and Apple become more important and child friendly brands fade in value and importance.  This is pretty young.  Before this I would have said perhaps between 8 and 12, not 6 to 10.  It is also fascinating to note that favourite ads for older kids in the age group include GoCompare, Cillit Bang and Webuyanycar – so products aimed at adults but all with catchy jingles.

All of this has important implications for us as marketers and makes for great onechocolate market trackers.

Was News International Twittered?

Whatever you think of the current firestorm swirling its way through our Parliament, media and police, the pace of this story itself is breath taking.  In less than two weeks it has upset the financial plans of a global powerbroker and looks set to transform how national institutions interact in the public interest too. 

Whilst the story itself has been driven no doubt by the ‘traditional’ 24/7 media, the sheer speed of the story’s development feels new.  The effect of social media?  Surely, yes when you consider how Twitter targeted News of the World’s advertisers.  Why? Both media and politicians can tell in real time if they are on the right track and where to go next with a story. 

Perhaps social media’s biggest contribution is the speed it can accelerate an issue,  in this case, to devastating effect.

In praise of mathletics

Anything that makes younger children actually want to do their homework is a good thing in my book.  My junior school aged son is fine when it comes to science – particularly if it involves live action experiments – or anything arty that demands a bit of ‘mod rock’ or much cardboard, paint and tape but getting him to do the basics can be more than challenging.  So bring on Mathletics, which has just been upgraded: I heart you.  Never has learning times tables for the nth time been so easy to make fun.

We’ve been rocking, rapping and mixing to times tables cartoon music videos (‘Times Table Toons’ no less), in the rainforest learning  algebra and decking out his avatar in the latest garb via credits he’s earned doing his math.  Ok, the last one isn’t quite learning maths.  The best thing however is playing live mathletics against other students his age from around the globe.  It’s all I can do to stop myself shouting out the answers as you see three or four kids doing mental maths in real time and racing against each other and the clock live on screen.  So simple, but such cool tech.  Love it.