Most marketers have not forgotten the mass marketing principles and refuse to unlearn them for personal devices like mobiles which is increasingly becoming a marketing tool.

Off late, I have been bombarded with too many messages from retailers in India, just to inform me about their new arrivals or sale!  I dread to give away my mobile number to any retailer. The response from customers will only decrease over time if this is misused. It will become a case of message sent but just not seen at all - from OTS( Opportunity-to-See) to OTT( Opportunity-to-Trash) becoming huge!

E-marketer has an interesting research that tells a lot for grocery retailers but I do believe it is relevant for any marketer who's looking at the mobile medium.

Mobile is a great medium for dialogue, conversation and relationships. Don't treat it like a TV with lower costs of reach!

The world today has over 4.5 billion mobile phones and the number is growing rapidly. This provides customers with a device right in their hands to talk, access data, receive messages, network socially, check mails, and even download offers. This device now provides an unique opportunity for marketers to build very strong one-to-one engagement programs with customers using mobiles as a primary medium.This is going to lead to a whole set of data availability - downloaded apps, frequency of apps usage, offer downloads, redemption etc. enabling powerful mobile analytics and targeted behaviour-based campaign opportunities, enabling a whole new engagement platform between marketers and customers.

Take a look at the opportunity and how marketers need to leverage this opportunity.