Smartphone

As the Gowalla/Foursquare (and now Facebook) battle rages on in pursuit of geo-location app dominance, what is truly exciting is looking at how this type of technology can be utilized in other social-based applications.

One area that’s coming on strong is mobile commerce. It seems like every day a new retailer or top B2C brand is unveiling a social/geo-location-based app that “sends” your phone a coupon or incentive based on where you are located at that exact moment. Starbucks, Target, McDonald’s, Gap are once again leading the way in this area. (Like I need any more incentive to go to Starbucks in the morning.)

Somewhat surprising, however, is the willingness of mobile users to give up their personal data just to get these digital coupons. A study done this past February by Small Business Trends said that 50% of 18-34 year olds would give their mobile number to a retailer in order to receive coupons. (You have to wonder how much higher that percentage is today, just six months later.)

But thanks to the growing pervasiveness of smartphones, the avalanche is definitely coming. And this upcoming holiday season is sure to be one to watch.

Another area I can’t wait to see materialize sooner rather than later is mobile payments. Bank of America announced this week that they’ll be doing a trial run on using smartphones in lieu of credit or debit cards.

With many financial institutions already adopting such timesavers as digital deposits and teller-free branches, one has to wonder if retail bank locations will soon be a thing of the past…

Speaking of the past, can you believe it has been almost 20 years since AT&T and Tom Selleck teased the world about the possibilities of mobile health records. Will it ever happen, who knows? But one thing’s for sure, the mobile space is transforming before our very eyes.

So what’s the next thing you’d like to see come to your smartphone?

Apple

With all the noise around the iPad, Adobe, iAd and Google, what is the meaning and impact of Apple becoming the world’s most valuable technology company? It appears that in gaining that lofty position, Apple may have lost a little of its soul.

Now there is simply no arguing that fact that Apple’s product design has not only outpaced the competition in the PC and mobile device realm — let’s face it — they have outpaced the imagination of the consumer. The world has started to bend around the Jobs-ian vision of gorgeous, light, mobile, entertaining, game-changing devices. But there’s a catch: other technology companies — even former allies — had better toe the line to the cool kids, or they will be shut out. Great. The evolution of personal technology has devolved back to the rules of junior high school.

Is seems that Mr. Think Different is out there trashing Adobe, one of the software companies that helped Apple bridge the gap between early cult-like devotion and its comeback as a consumer and business products company. Those of us in the advertising and design industry remember that Adobe made the leap to OS X with Apple and essentially secured the future of digital design on the Mac. I have no doubt that there are legitimate frustrations with Flash and it appeared Adobe was ready to address them. But never mind.

Meanwhile, out in the crazy parallel universe, Bill Gates, Chairman of the formerly most-hated technology company on the planet (I have no empirical data here, but come on) has joined forces with Warren Buffet to ask every billionaire in the world to give half their wealth to charity. Gates and his wife Melinda, in partnership with Buffet, may have more impact on the future of health, education and human welfare in the 21^st century than any president, prime minister, diplomat or general. As Mr. Jobs denies Google a chance to compete for mobile ad revenue, Bill gates defies expectations and brings his fortune and intellect to bear on educating the world’s children. Not that we have to root for Google, either. But the fact remains that Steve Jobs seems to promote an “us and them” universe, where you do not want to be left out.

The comparisons, both favorable and unfavorable, between Apple and Microsoft seem destined to continue as Steve Jobs determines what technologies we simply can’t live without.

Tony Hayward

I’ve sat on this thought for weeks because I wasn’t sure if the world really needed another commentary on Tony Hayward… but I need to get this off my chest. Are you kidding me??

I was as shocked and saddened as everyone when I first heard of the BP explosion. 11 men lost their lives and their families still grieve. 17 are still recovering from injuries. The resulting oil spill has taken over the Gulf and I’m repulsed by the video we see of the crud gushing into the water and onto the shore. The ecological devastation is still to be determined.

And I’m still sad, but I’m no longer shocked.

Check out my past posts and you’ll see I’m a champion of leader-driven corporate culture. So when I hear BP’s CEO, Tony Hayward, say things like

“What the hell did we do to deserve this?”

and

“The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean.”

and his famous

“I would like my life back.”

I come to believe that the company is being run by someone so out of touch and uncaring, that of course BP is going to have 760 “egregiously willful” safety violations. That he has fostered, in my opinion, a culture so focused on results and profit, that basic human decency is all but ignored.

You don’t have to ignore it, though. Newsweek and CNN have put together a listing of ways you can help. And a Google search offers up plenty more. In fact, you can turn this tragedy into a culture-building exercise for your organization. Rally around a cause and collectively contribute to making a difference.

And if you ever find yourself asking “are you kidding me?” regarding repeated statements or actions your leaders are making, it may be time to take your considerable talents elsewhere. Again, just my opinion.

Cultivating Culture

Hello again. If you’re new to my blog postings (all two of them!), may I suggest you take a couple minutes and check out Part 1 of this topic exploration on corporate culture. In it, I talk about what culture is and suggest ways to help define your company story. It sets this post up nicely (I think).

Here, I want to discuss the concept of culture change. I say “concept,” because each organization is so unique in its practices and goals that there’s really no easy formula to guarantee a positive culture shift. But I will attempt to lay out a broad roadmap that those not faint of heart might want to travel. But I warn you, it’ll be fraught with danger. Ok, maybe not danger (there’s really no need to be that dramatic) but it will be hard, frustrating and possibly take a long time.

The first thing I suggest is to get buy in from management. This can be tricky, depending on if the leadership agrees or not with your assessment of the culture. If you feel you might have a challenging time effecting change—due to roadblocks from above—then do your homework and build a case. You don’t want to walk in unprepared. Create informal focus groups and talk to employees and trusted members of your industry. If you can solicit information anonymously, then great, as folks tend to be a bit more honest in that format. Once you feel like you’ve got a good cross-section of data, analyze it with an eye towards specific improvement projects. And wear your skin thick. You asked for this, so don’t get bent out of shape at all the negative comments. Then buck up and advocate an action plan. Sell it into leadership and move forward, openly communicating with employees. Be as transparent as possible, communicating often and consistently on how these changes will benefit the WHOLE. I can’t stress the importance of this enough because you are going to face resistance. Remember, your culture is a reflection of your people. There’s a reason your culture is what it is. This is why it’s so hard. But change can happen, as long as you and your management teams are persistent and consistent. You just have to keep moving forward and repeat the exercise with the entire organization in mind. Broaden your focus groups. Get those that are resistant to change in your core group of change drivers. If you can get them on board, the rest will come easier. Continue to analyze your data and stay focused on a few items that will have the biggest impact. There’s most likely no need to start from scratch, and in fact, trying to do so will probably alienate the very folks you’re attempting to motivate. So, stay focused and take it chunk by chunk, story by story. And if you can, evolve your stories. Get people telling a different, more positive narrative about your organization. In time your culture as a whole will evolve, as well.

Or, you can just come work at SicolaMartin. We have a great culture.

Cultivating Culture

I’m HR and so I tend to talk a lot. Communication is a big part of what I do and knowing how to best communicate in a given situation is key. And although most of my conversations are done one-on-one (how I like it), I had an opportunity recently to share our company story with a larger audience… and it was enlightening.

I was invited to speak at an HR conference on corporate culture and to discuss ways that companies can learn to tell their story (I have it pretty easy, because SicolaMartin has a great story to tell). I also met folks from other great companies, like Rackspace and St. David’s, who—like SicolaMartin—score high on the culture scale. But I was a bit shocked to hear from so many whose companies seem to be suffering from an identity crisis. So I thought I would contribute a blog post (or two) on this topic of culture from HR’s perspective. It’s an area I am extremely passionate about. A passion inspired and nurtured by the leadership of SM. And it will also finally get that “she’s a slacker and has not written anything yet” statement off my page of the website.

Culture, in its most basic description, is your organization’s personality. Personality can be defined as the visible aspect of one’s character and develops over time based on preferences, choices and exposure to different experiences.

Your company has a personality. A culture already exists. Whether you like it or not is the question.

Before I go any further, let me tell you my point of view on HR’s role in an organization’s culture. We are there to support it, cultivate it, manage it and recruit into it… we make suggestions, offer insights and (if it’s a positive culture) use what the culture offers to inspire. BUT, we don’t create it. Or, in my opinion, we shouldn’t. Culture, at least long-term successfully sustained cultures, is created by the top leadership of the organization. If your C-levels aren’t exemplifying the culture you hope to communicate, then it’s going to be an uphill battle to get the employment force to believe in it. We’ve all experienced that, right? Without buy-in from above, it’s very difficult to get a program off the ground. It can be a challenge, though, selling it up because so much of culture is intangible. Sure, there are the things you can see that give you a quick read about a firm. The dress code. The work environment. You can ask about perks and hear about the benefit offerings. But that’s pretty surface.

It’s the things you can’t see that are usually the more powerful, but by nature, harder to define. And it’s these things that truly make up the cultural core of a company. It’s the values and beliefs, the attitudes and standards, the moods and worldviews of the people in the group.

And much of these views are created organically. I’m a big fan of organic growth and it can be an extremely positive thing. But, granted, there are some risks. On the “pro” side, organic implementation gives ownership to those instigating the change; it allows leadership to be perceived as open to new thinking and ideas. It can create loyalty among employees and most importantly, it creates its own story.

But you want that story to be a good one, so it’s HR’s role to support positive cultural momentum and redirect practices that could lead to opposing the company’s values and goals. And that’s the risk. If you just let it go with no management or cultivation, there’s no telling where your company’s story may end up. So, first, you have to know what the values and goals are. Does your company have a mission? Do you know what it is? Do your employees? This is how you can support a positive culture—by asking the right questions. Look to your industry. Advertising is fun and creative. We work hard, but we can also have Martians and critters (check out our website if you don’t know what I’m talking about). We make the complex compelling. That’s our story. Every employee knows that we turn marketing complexity into compelling ideas. But what’s your story? That’s the most important thing. Knowing who you are. Identifying your key talent and asking them what they like about working there. Where are they getting their motivation? Talk to clients and vendors. Get their perspective. Just make sure you’re being authentic with who you are. If the story you’re trying to tell is at odds with the reality, it’s going hurt your culture, morale and perception more than help.

But it’s not good enough to just know it. It has to be practiced and supported by management. If a core value is RESPECT, but a manager is disrespectful to an employee they supervise, and no action is taken on the part of HR or leadership, that value diminishes. That’s why it’s so important we stay engaged with our employees. Don’t ever underestimate the impact of word of mouth.

You’re not always going to be able to keep what’s repeated about your organization positive. I get that. But as HR, we can certainly manage it with that goal in mind. Even in exit interviews you can do your best to manage the transition and shoot for a positive result. You see, culture can’t only be good in the good times. Often, it’s in the down times that our true selves, our true culture, are revealed. In fact, it’s a strong culture that may help your company pull itself out of a downturn. That’s another experience SicolaMartin has had. We’re 25 years old…we’ve pretty much seen it all.

And although we have had to tweak our business model over the years to evolve with the times, we really haven’t had to make many changes to our core culture—thankfully—because culture change can be difficult and require a great deal of perseverance. But, if you find yourself at an organization in need of change, we’ll talk about some of the things you might be able to do to get that going in Part 2. Stay tuned.

Complex

It amazes me how often I read marketing materials and come away with no clear understanding of who the company is, what they do, or more importantly, why I should care. Admittedly, SicolaMartin often works with technology companies with highly complex products, so maybe it isn’t surprising that I occasionally get lost. I’m not the target audience, and sometimes I lack the technical background to understand. But I’m a marginally intelligent guy—shouldn’t I come away with something?

When I encounter convoluted copy, my first thought is “they need better messaging.” As the main messaging architect here at SicolaMartin, it may be that I’m the proverbial hammer, seeing every problem as the proverbial nail. But my experience has been that most companies could benefit from taking a closer look at the story they’re trying to tell.

So where do marketers go wrong when dealing with complex subjects? Occasionally the problem is omission of the obvious. Have we jumped straight past explaining “what it is” in favor of benefits? Are we describing a detail without having given context? Sometimes marketers spend so much time inside our own products that we assume basic things are understood when they may not be.

More often, though, the problem is not lack of information—it is too much information. The common mistake in complex marketing situations is to assume that listing all of the features, benefits or capabilities is necessary, if you don’t know which is most important. But all too often I see companies trying to say so many things—that they communicate nothing. This glut of information happens when nobody puts a stake in the ground to say “our product/company/service stands for THIS.” It happens because people are afraid of taking a risk. What if we focus on the wrong thing? But an unfocused message is no more effective (sometimes less effective) than an off target message.

The key to doing it right is to keep it simple. And if you worry that conveying your competitive differentiation requires details, remember that clear, uniquely articulated messages can separate you from the competition more effectively than a list of unique features. Think of any memorable tagline—“Just do it,” “Coke is it,” “The Ultimate Driving Machine,” etc.—it works not because nobody else could say it, but because nobody else *HAD* said it. It’s simple, clear and memorable. That’s what any set of marketing messages should be. And by keeping it clear and simple, you’re making it easier for audiences to connect to—and remember—your brand.

Bus

At approximately 11:02 last night I said, “Rita (I call myself Rita…no I don’t. Just kidding) you’ve got to just get on the bus and do it. No more ‘I wanna ride the bus someday,’ tomorrow is your day. Look up the schedule and ride.”

So this morning at 7:30, as I was listing reasons NOT to follow through, a small bird flew through my window and chirped, “Follow your dreams, get on the bus.” So I did. And NOW, instead of a list of reasons NOT to ride, I formulated a list of reasons why I WANT to ride the bus all the time:

1. The walks from my house to the bus and from the last stop to my office were brisk; just what I need in the morning. That and a couple shots of Cuervo. Ohhhh, Sarah!
2. Riding the bus reminded me of when I lived in New York. All these memories flooded back of being completely reliant on public transit. I remembered scurrying down the street every morning to 86th and Lexington, hopping on the 6 and flying to 51st street. I can still smell the lingering cigarette smoke from the tiny Hispanic girl that inevitably made her way in front of me at least 3 times a week on the walk across Park and Madison over to 30 Rockefeller Plaza…and yet, despite the fondness of those sights, sounds and cancer-inducing smells, I have no doubt or reservation that Austin > New York. By far.
3. I will save at least $8 million/year in gasoline if I ride the bus a couple of times a week.
4. Another reason I want to ride the bus is people watching…and randomly talking to (at) the people I’ve been staring at. Today I was nervous about missing my stop so I kept quiet and focused, but I have grandiose visions of becoming best friends with my fellow riders.
5. I want to ride the bus so I can bring donuts or breakfast tacos for people. I was on the bus with the same people for 20 minutes. No additions, no subtractions. Just me, Louie, Marie, Candice, Jared, Cathy, wait I’m making all these names up. But really, I think it would be SO fun to bring breakfast for my busmates! (DANGIT, my coworker just told me that you can’t have food or drink…hmm…maybe if I pass out tacos discretely he won’t notice. What can he do, throw me off?! Uhh, probably.)
6. The less I get behind the wheel of a vehicle, the better.
7. It will force me to get up when my alarm goes off because if I miss the bus, I have to wait 30 minutes for another one and well, I can’t do that.
8. It’s FREEING not having to weave in and out of traffic and flip people off while trying not to hit pregnant ladies as they cross the street—I just got to sit back and ride! PLUS, the reason I got to SIT is because two fine gentlemen gave up their seats so that I and another girl could sit down. I love that! Thank you, Ernie and Leon! Or whatever your names were!
9. Riding the bus is a good reminder that it’s not about me. I don’t have any control over how fast he drives, and I don’t have any control over whether or not the guy next to me bathes and/or deodorizes himself. That being said, riding the bus was a great test of my new deodorant. I smell like flowers and it was in the upper 80’s this morning so I think it passed the test.
10. Finally, the last reason I want to ride the bus is: IT’S FREE BECAUSE I’M A “STUDENT” (I’m going to school at night to get a degree in American Sign Language interpreting)!

British Petroleum

For the past 10 years, BP has positioned themselves as a “green” company — complete with the tagline, authored by Ogilvy, “Beyond Petroleum” — and a friendly-looking green logo, which could be described as a hybrid between a shining sun and a flower. And as today’s Washington Post notes, in the wake of potentially the worst oil spill in US history, they’re now faced with a daunting public relations problem.

Brand expert Lisa Merriam thinks the green sun is dead.

“The much-admired green sun BP brand died this week,” she tells us. “This is a brand that never left the marketing department. No matter what they said the company stood for, they never lived it. Despite all those smug ads about wind farms and being ‘Beyond Petroleum,’ this shows they are just like any other oil company — their green brand is as dead as all of the wildlife washing up on Louisiana shores.”

Could be.

It’s important to remember, however, that other brands have weathered potentially fatal incidents. Johnson & Johnson overcame the “Tylenol scare” in the early ’80s through one of the most aggressive recalls in history and their development of tamper-proof packaging, which transformed the industry (unfortunately, they’re currently facing another high-profile recall).

BP will undoubtedly have to rethink their logo and tagline — and their marketing efforts generally. But whether they can save their brand will depend on how aggressively and proactively they address the accident, and how forthcoming they are in its aftermath.

As such, BP’s chief executive should probably refrain from making any more comments like this.

“This is America — come on. We’re going to have lots of illegitimate claims. We all know that.”

Not off to a good start.

Chartered Society of Designers

The discussion about some type of professional accreditation/certification for designers has been ongoing since the mid-90s. The advent of the computer and intuitive design software has created an influx of untrained, low-cost “desktop publishers” that are creating unsatisfactory (this is the most professional descriptor I can come up with) work in all areas of design. But until now, we’ve relied on design schools to weed out those who probably should be doing something else.

Now, the Chartered Society of Designers in the United Kingdom, an organization similar to the American Institute of Graphic Arts in the U.S., has submitted an application to the British government to approve a system of certification for designers. The CSD itself already has an invitation-based certification program for its global membership (graduate, master and fellow) but it is not recognized or supported by any government. The new charter status they are proposing would put designers on the same level as CPAs and engineers.

CSD will accredit a range of competencies, creativity being just one. Assessment would be done by “peer review of designers qualified in their field.” There will be no insistence on any degree in any discipline: “a set of competencies need to be demonstrated–how designers come about those competencies is up to them.”

One of the biggest arguments for the certification is that it helps eliminate or reduce the number of cut-price merchants. It will no longer be a profession that anyone can do. It can also provide a level of service that is guaranteed by a chartered service.

In contrast, many designers believe that certification will make design too exclusive and that the assessment criteria and process would be based on the selection of an exclusive few. Further, the reason goes, the number of clients who care about good design is small compared to clients that just want a design at a low cost. Certification could also exclude designers that do not have the degree but have the right sensibility of creating good design.

The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada offers a nationally recognized certification. A designer with the MGDC/LGDC designation is recognized across Canada as a highly qualified professional with an excellent standard of work and ethical business conduct. According to their site, the certification offers a “pre-qualification” for prospective employers or contractors, a justification to higher hourly rates, and exclusive access to government projects.

I emphasize “recognized” because although it is accepted across the country, there is no legal proceeding for removing certification from an individual. Policing is done only by the professional organization. Also, if a designer’s certification is removed, they can still practice design. This is similar to an accountant that may not have a certificate, but can still prepare taxes and financial plans–they just can’t sign “CPA” next to their signature.

In a perfect world, certification would be a good way to boost the quality of education and work in design and advertising. But in reality, this is something that would take a long time and face many practical hurdles to implement. As designers, we should probably concede that some work–the desktop publishing variety–just doesn’t require a great deal of chops, and there are people out there perfectly suited to do that type of work.

Austin Commuter Challenge

Queen encouraged it, and here at SicolaMartin, we challenge people to do it, too. It’s called the Austin Commuter Challenge, and working with Bicycle Sport Shop and the City of Austin, we’re making it happen.

What is the Austin Commuter Challenge? It’s a way to encourage individuals, groups or families to drive less and bike more. To the corner store, the gym, school or work, all over Austin, people are turning the key for short little jaunts when they could just be turning their pedals. Saving the climate, getting some exercise, and putting themselves in the running (or riding, as the case may be) for over $1,000 in prizes that are up for grabs.

In 2009, roughly 300 Austin Commuter Challenge participants logged 28,000 miles and saved $12,320 in gas. This year, we’re hoping for even more.

To spread the word, SicolaMartin worked with the Bicycle Sport Shop to produce the event website. Compelling materials sure to gear up local cyclists. Want to commuter challenge yourself? The deadline for entry is April 30.

But you don’t have to be in Austin to enjoy the allure of the open pedal. Biking is a great way to get your exercise and get a close-up view of wherever you live. So, grab your friends, grab your helmet and hop on. The road awaits!

Gowalla

And why wouldn’t we? Gowalla is a location-based mobile social network for sharing your favorite places and events with your friends while discovering the world around you. It’s based around the concept of users checking in to locations as they go out for the evening, run errands, dine out or whatever else they may be doing in their cities or others that they visit.

Got a hankering for pizza, and want to try something new? Pull out your GPS-enabled Smartphone and take a virtual look around. With Gowalla, you can see what restaurants are near you, which of your friends has checked in there, and what they think about it.

With an estimated 2,536,800 monthly visits, Gowalla is blazing its own trail in the social media realm, and people are definitely taking notice.

At the 13th annual SXSW Web Awards, Gowalla was named best site in the Mobile category. But that’s not all. When the Austin American-Statesman presented 25 awards to Texas online luminaries who have made an impact in social media, this year’s overall winner was Josh Williams, Gowalla co-founder and CEO.

Congratulations, Gowalla! We look forward to shaping and sharing your exciting future.

Facebook

As the workday wound down last Thursday, my belly began rumbling. So I decided to turn to Yelp for some dinner suggestions. I was not prepared for the creepiness that I was about to encounter.

As I searched for the location of Austin’s latest trailer park delight, the page subtly shifted down and I thought, “Oh great, another obnoxious takeover ad,” (yes, I build ads just like that.) But what I found was much more interesting than the standard banner ad. There, in telltale Facebook blue, sat ME! My Facebook profile pic, my name! What the hell? I’m not a Yelp member and I’m a rather conservative FB user. No apps, few photos. I’m not a fan of anything! So, how does Yelp know my name? Why do they have my photo? And how do I get rid of this dirty, violated feeling?

The quick answer can be found in Facebook’s recent implementation of “Instant Personalization.” This feature allows partner websites to have access to some of your basic Facebook information for as long as you have an active session open with Facebook. Since I had logged into FB earlier in the day, Yelp was allowed to skim my name and profile pic. Of course you can opt out of this feature: go to Account > Privacy Settings> Applications and Websites and uncheck “Allow”–or just logout of Facebook when you’re done. What’s more interesting to me is how FB continues to push our comfort level with highly personalized advertising and sharing of information with advertisers.

On one hand I think this is really cool. That’s what this whole social networking thing is about right? Allowing you to connect disparate parts of your online life with all your friends and interests–one big happy online world. The ads you see are for products you might actually be interested in. Already, my Facebook friends know I gave that new Pho place 4 stars on Yelp and suddenly a restaurant that actually deserves customers has them. And on Yelp’s website I can see that my friend Devo loves this new SoCo fancy food trailer. So what’s the problem? Facebook and Yelp are just trying to connect me with new people and places and experiences. And the chances are they’ll do a pretty good job of it.

On the other hand, this is really creepy. I didn’t ask to have my food life and my Facebook life joined. I don’t want Facebook to know what sites I’m going to or where I spend my other Internet time! I don’t want to see my information (and it is MY information, right? Oh, that’s right, it isn’t) on other websites. I don’t want each of my 40 Firefox tabs to know what’s happening a few tabs over! I don’t want more websites to be pulling more information about me so they can sell me even more stuff! What the…????!!!!!!

But the good news for Facebook, and advertisers, is that this outrage will die. Users like me will opt out in the next few days as their friends post panicked “New Privacy Settings” statuses. If there is enough fury, perhaps Facebook and advertisers will find a way to make the integration a bit subtler. Sadly, or happily, I suspect some form of site-to-site integration is here to stay. And frankly, this looks like a great tool for advertisers and social media sites as both look for new ways to make good connections with consumers. Facebook will keep pushing the personal information envelope–and most users will come along for the ride. Maybe they’ll even enjoy it.

Art & Copy

When most people think about the advertising industry, they usually think of A&E’s “Mad Men.” They think of gorgeous, well-dressed men and women sipping fine bourbon and chain-smoking cigarettes during lunch. A documentary about the advertising business, Art & Copy, will hopefully change that.

Filmmaker Doug Pray focuses on some of the free-spirited advertising moguls of the ’70s and ’80s that changed the business: Mary Wells, George Lois, Hal Riney, Dan Wieden, and others. These are the people who brought “Where’s the beef?,” Just Do It,” and “Got milk?” into the nation’s collective consciousness. They believed that the best advertising is based on big, simple ideas and powerful emotions.

George Lois is the film’s funniest, and most memorable figure, especially when he reminisces about his work for Esquire magazine, Tommy Hilfiger and MTV. A particularly interesting tidbit was the story of when Lois urged Tommy Hilfiger (who at the time was unknown) to approve a campaign of comparing him to some of the great fashion designers of the twentieth century. Mr. Lois promised him a memorable campaign–Hilfiger just had to continue producing a product that lived up to the advertising.

The film gives such wonderful examples of pure American, in-your-face non-conformity that it spoils it all if its subject is reduced to selling shoes or airplane tickets. One executive aptly points out that Toulouse Lautrec only wanted to direct business to the Follies when he created his famous series of posters.  Modern ad campaigns morph into fine art when they are done right. Think about it. Are we really a better society because Domino’s saw a sharp spike in sales or Delta made the friendly skies friendlier with more comfortable economy seats?

Art & Copy was an inspiration for me to keep doing what I love. Advertising doesn’t have to be a gray block of copy, but can entertain as well as art. In the end, this film is a wonderful advertisement for advertisers.

On Saturday, February 20, an enthusiastic group of Sicola Martians came together at the Tony Burger Center for Marathon Kids, as thousands of elementary school students completed the final mile of a 26.2-mile marathon. Most adults can’t fathom completing a marathon, but these kids did it in spectacular fashion–and we were there to cheer them on.

As part of our agency-wide volunteer efforts in the community, this event was our first of 2010–and it was a blast. Although the weather was cold and drizzly, we were all smiles as we helped to encourage the children as they made their way around the track, celebrated them as they crossed the finish line, and had the honor of awarding medals and handing out stickers and water bottles–to go with congratulatory high fives.

Founded right here in Austin 13 years ago, Marathon Kids is an organization that encourages children to live a healthy and active lifestyle by running or walking 26.2 miles over a six-month period while eating healthy foods daily. Participants and their families are encouraged to not only log their miles, but also eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day for at least 26.2 days of each month. The organization has since expanded to seven additional markets around the country, so it was rewarding not only to support the pint-size marathoners, but also a home-grown organization.

I have to admit, as we cheered the kids through the final lap, passed out prizes, and cleaned up, the familiar cliché of volunteerism rang true: we got back way more than we put in. The chants of “We did it!” and the faces of the kids as they proudly adorned their hard-earned medals were well worth the few hours spent helping out. And getting to spend the morning with co-workers was an added, awesome bonus.

We’re getting ready to plan SicolaMartin’s next community outreach endeavor, and if future events are as rewarding as Marathon Kids, we are in for a really fun year. If you know of any volunteer opportunities that would be great for a group, please let us know.

As marketing and advertising agency SicolaMartin enters its 25^th year, founder and CEO Steve Martin today announced that he will be stepping down as CEO but will remain at the agency as non-executive Chairman, working on special assignments and serving as a senior advisor. He is succeeded by Cherie Cox, a 17-year veteran of the agency, who was chosen by both Martin and co-founder Tom Sicola in 2008 to be the agency’s President. As such, she has already been leading day-to-day operations and business development since that time in partnership with Diane McKinnon, EVP and Executive Creative Director.

“I feel both pride and excitement about SicolaMartin’s next chapter. Tom Sicola and I shaped and built this agency over the years. But it is up to the next generation to carry it forward,” said Steve Martin. “We have carefully planned for this day and Cherie is not only prepared and proven, she is a gifted natural. She’s going to be fantastic,” he added.

Mrs. Cox joined SicolaMartin 17 years ago. Prior to her promotion to President two years ago, she was most recently the agency’s SVP, Managing Partner.

“We deeply appreciate the incredible commitment and influence that Steve has had at SicolaMartin and for our industry, and we are excited about the future. We have a strong and creative agency with great people, great clients and an amazing corporate culture,” said Cherie Cox.

Steve Martin has been a leading figure in the Austin advertising and business community for many years. Through his leadership, the agency has received countless creative and industry awards. In 2001, he was named Austin’s Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Supported by his personal commitment to a strong culture, SicolaMartin has made Texas Monthly’s list of Best Companies to Work for in Texas for the past 5 years. He has chaired or served on multiple boards and his pro-bono activities have included the American Cancer Society, the United Way, Austin Children’s Shelter, the Go Texan Program, Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas, and many others.

“This is the perfect way for me to continue to support the agency while allowing me time to focus more energy on pro-bono efforts and several special projects that I am extremely passionate about,” Martin added.

Austin, Texas-based SicolaMartin is an advertising and marketing agency that turns marketing complexities into compelling ideas. For more than 20 years, the agency has created powerful connections between brands and their customers in industries such as enterprise technology, consumer electronics, managed services, healthcare, telecom and supply chain management and logistics. Industry leaders, including AMD, Blu-ray Disc, McLane, SAP, Sybase and Dell have relied on SicolaMartin for innovative marketing solutions. For the past five years, SicolaMartin has been voted one of Best Companies to Work for in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine. The agency is a wholly owned subsidiary of Young & Rubicam Brands. For more information, visit http://www.sicolamartin.com .

I read a great article the other day about how Hyundai is becoming a major player in the auto industry. They are rapidly gaining market share and outselling their Asian rivals and U.S. competitors by a wide margin.

The catalyst for their progress is coming from the strong leadership by Chairman Mong-Koo Chung. He altered the direction of the company from making affordable, low-style cars to luxurious, high-quality vehicles. One big change is that he implemented one of the longest warranties in the business—10 years/100K miles—to further convince buyers that “cheap” and “Hyundai” were no longer synonymous.

Admittedly, I’d never given the company one second of consideration when car shopping. To me, they were lumped in with the Kias and Scions of the world—cutesy rides that you get for your kid when  he turns 16. Nothing more.

But even I couldn’t help notice their bold marketing strategies during the recent recession.

What we’re they doing, you ask? For the most part, Hyundai was essentially doing just one thing: they weren’t sitting around doing nothing.

While it’s easy to see why companies would rather save marketing dollars and sit the recession out, it’s also great to see Hyundai go the other direction.

As a marketer, it’s hard enough to stand out in an increasingly crowded playing field like automobiles. But what better opportunity could you possibly get than when everyone else is sitting on the sidelines? Hyundai not only increased their spending (and probably got a lot better placements and media rates), they also showed that it was possible to make car buying a viable option even in tight financial times.

Personally, I thought that their recent campaign where buyers could return their cars—no questions asked—if they lost their jobs was brilliant. It showed they had a heart. It proved they could make a hard financial decision easy. And better yet, it got tons of free PR from news services. That’s a win-win-win in my book.

Of course, they’re not the only company that has profited during hard economic times.

Our client, Sybase, also took advantage of the marketing slowdown to make a bold move right where you’d least expect it: Wall Street. Talk about the perfect storm. The financial capital was in the midst of a complete industry meltdown. Losses were in the trillions. Firms were going bankrupt. Thousands of people were losing their jobs. IT budgets, especially in this sector, all but disappeared.

But to Sybase, it was the perfect time to sell. Their risk analytics solutions delivered exactly what most of these financial and capital market firms needed: a way to get better data, faster, so they could make smarter decisions regarding trades, risk, compliance and more.

So they focused on generating awareness in provocative ways. With a multitude of highly-targeted placements like subway posters and bus panels around the Wall Street area, Sybase was able to catch their audience’s attention outside of the office. By using all copy layouts, the posters were designed to highlight some of the limitations they faced while doing business on a daily basis. One reads, “Your risk exposure changes by the second. But your data is hours old. Analyze that.”

The campaign was a resounding success. The ads made their audiences stop and think. It made traders ask their IT people if they were using Sybase. And for Sybase itself, it made cash registers ring—to the financial tune of seven consecutive record quarters.

Of course, if they had just reacted like everyone else and made the “smart” decision to pull back on their marketing investment, none of this would’ve happened.

Business Cards

Well, now I have your attention, right? No, we haven’t started posting personal ads on our site. But there has definitely been some soul-searching happening at SicolaMartin leading up to our 25^th anniversary in 2010.

It actually began more than a year ago, even before the full impact of the global recession was felt across our business. We looked in the mirror and saw a slightly fuzzy reflection. So we asked ourselves this question: “Who are we?” We asked our staff, our clients and our partners. With a rich heritage in the local community, strength in serving the global technology industry, and an amazing culture, were we doing a good job of communicating our value proposition? Call it a classic case of the cobbler’s children with tattered footwear. It was time to re-brand and re-position SicolaMartin.

Our team, almost to a person, describes themselves as problem solvers. All the time, every day, people here like to get up to their elbows in other people’s business to figure out how to make their marketing succeed. Not just make ads. Or web sites or videos. But really make a difference for our clients’ businesses. And as the tools of our trade continue to evolve—the proliferation of social networks and the emerging opportunities on mobile marketing are a great example—we have evolved too. Our clients demand a wide array of services, so we must be extremely facile. The emerging and converging global communications channels require a digital business platform with better tools and measures, so we have invested in our infrastructure and leveraged the power of our network. Comprehensive services, digital focus, results-driven—all the right pieces, but what makes us different?

This is the difference: The core of our business is addressing the highly complex marketing challenges that come with our clients in industries such as hi-tech, financial services, supply-chain logistics and health care. We provide compelling solutions to help achieve business results. Each client has unique issues and opportunities. And the kinds of things we market rarely have the “shiny object” quality that makes it easy to appeal to the reptile part of the human brain (food, shelter, love, shoes—you know—the basics). We love that challenge. It motivates us to use the right and left sides of brains every day. Simply put, we make the complex compelling.

But our clients and our work are not the only things that make us different. We come to work every day in part because we truly believe in the people and the culture we have created here. We call ourselves Martians—a play on our agency moniker—and we live in world of playful space creatures and celestial bodies that reflect an essential attitude. We take our work very seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. And we love what do. And that culture has helped us weather the changing tides of business for 25 years. So not only have we articulated our positioning, but we have brought our Martian world to life in our visual identity.

Some might look at this branding exercise as an act of self-indulgence for an agency. But in an increasingly crowded and competitive world, clarity in your positioning is not a luxury. We know this is true for our clients, and it is true for us. This is not Mad Men, it’s Mars. Welcome to our planet.

Las Vegas

Last month, SicolaMartin attended the annual Association of Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchises (AKFCF) Trade Show in Las Vegas with our client, McLane. This year’s event was themed, “A Modern Renaissance: Shaping Our Future” and featured keynote speakers, seminars, and a franchisee-exclusive concert by John Fogerty.

Over the years, we’ve found that the McLane booth is always one of the main attractions at trade shows, due to their excellent customer relationships and always appealing booths. For this event, in the spirit of Vegas gaming, we designed McLane’s booth around an interactive basketball game. Winners received digital picture frames, and the top performer overall took home a flat-screen television. The booth was a big hit and attracted high traffic throughout AKFCF because of the popularity of the game and the friendly McLane teammates.

Overall, the 2010 AKFCF was a considerable success, thanks to McLane and SicolaMartin’s collaboration on a fun and engaging presence.

New Wave Ball

It’s a once in a lifetime party.

On Friday, March 5, our good friends at the Austin Children’s Shelter are puttin’ on the Ritz with an ’80s New Wave Ball.

Relive your dance hall days, when life was forever young and everyone was head over heels.

There’s a dance contest, a costume contest, celebrity judges, a silent auction, food and drinks — all set to totally killer 80s music by DJ Christian Barbuto.

Come on, Eileen. Let’s dance.

Old Spice

There’s no denying it. As an agency, Wieden+Kennedy is brilliant. And don’t get me wrong. I think their new Old Spice campaign is hilarious. And I’m not the only one. To quote fellow Martian Sarah Coker’s Facebook status, “Dear Wieden+Kennedy, your Old Spice ‘man on a horse’ campaign makes me laugh so hard I herniate spinal discs. Thank you.”

But as funny as it is, something just bothers me about it. This is Old Spice we’re talking about. The aftershave of whistling sailors…the off-white ceramic bottle. My grandfather wore it when I was a kid, and some things are sacrosanct. Aren’t they?

Turns out they aren’t. While it has a firm place in the memories of my youth, I can’t really remember seeing or hearing any advertising for Old Spice in the last 20 or so years. In doing a little research, I was surprised to find out that Old Spice has been around since 1937. And that Proctor & Gamble bought the brand in 1990 for a cool $300 million—with the goal of taking its image younger.

And they did it—sort of—without me even knowing it. How? They let the Old Spice aftershave brand go stagnant, and turned their attention to deodorant. They re-focused on performance, launching Old Spice High Endurance deodorant in 1994. They targeted younger men, as young as junior high, with grassroots marketing. Like handing out samples at skateboarding events and sponsoring a contest for high-school football player of the year that got their product into locker rooms.

They did everything necessary to walk away from one category and into another one, with a completely new look and feel. And it worked. In my mind, I’ve split Old Spice into two brands. The stodgy aftershave from a bygone era, and the cooler, more modern deodorant and body wash. I literally think of them as two separate brands from two unrelated companies. But how long can I go on thinking this way?

Flash forward 20 years to an attractive, athletic man riding on a horse, with a hand full of diamonds, telling you that anything is possible when your man smells like Old Spice body wash and not like a lady. No mention of aftershave, even though in 2004, P&G was just beginning to acknowledge that they might be able to revive aftershave and cologne sales.

So, how long does it take to modernize such an iconic brand as Old Spice aftershave? Well, it’s been two decades, and it looks like they’re not quite there yet. According to their website, “Old Spice Cologne will still be around, even after nuclear fallout. If your grandfather hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist.”

Enter a half-hearted attempt at including their age-old aftershave into their hip, hilarious new brand. More clearly now than ever, Old Spice aftershave is an off-white ceramic bottle in a red and black plastic world. And, I don’t know why, but it makes me a little sad.

Super Bowl XVII

Every time the big game comes around, I can’t help but think of my Dad’s ten-second Ryder Truck Super Bowl spot.

I might be rationalizing a slew of character flaws and a couple decades of bad decisions here, but it was probably inevitable that I wound up in the advertising business: my father was a Mad Man.

Dad cut his teeth on Madison Avenue at N.W. Ayer in the 1960s, the storied agency that produced some of the last century’s most memorable campaigns, including “A diamond is forever,” (De Beers) “When it rains, it pours,” (Morton) and “Reach out and touch someone” (AT&T). His gig was media, his instrument was television—and he was a true virtuoso.

Even though Dad was a native of Brooklyn, by the early 1970s, the Big Apple had lost its luster for him. Think transit strikes, garbage strikes and Serpico and you get the picture. So he and Mom moved my two big sisters and me from the Jersey ’burbs to the town where they first met—Miami, Florida.

After a stint with Y&R, Dad wound up at Mike Sloan Advertising, a smallish shop known for its ingenious creative. One of Sloan’s clients at the time was Ryder, the Miami-based truck and supply chain company.

And this brings us to the Super Bowl of 1983. This was back when Super Bowl ads really started to matter—the year before Chiat/Day’s startling “1984” ad. Broadcast was still king. Cable was in its infancy, Betamax was battling VHS in the nascent home video market, and the Internet was still the stuff of movies like “WarGames” (which I still think is awesome, by the way).

Dad really wanted Ryder to have a Super Bowl spot that year. But after a series of planning meetings in the fall, it was clear he didn’t have the budget. NBC was charging $400,000 for a thirty-second spot, and Dad had to make about $1M last the entire year.

“What about a ten-second spot?” he thought to himself.

Encouraged, he approached the writer on the account and asked if the new 30-second creative could be converted into a ten.

“No,” was the reply.

(We writers are notoriously flexible when it comes to altering our already-perfect creative.)

Undaunted, Dad went to Mike Sloan himself, who gave the script another look. He decided Dad just might have something.

But now Dad had to sell the network—and NBC wasn’t buying. NBC was selling :30s and :60s during the Super Bowl, not :10s. Think about it. When was the last time you saw a ten-second Super Bowl ad? They’re about as commonplace as snow in Austin. The negotiations went back and forth for weeks, with little progress.

Meanwhile, the agency went ahead and shot the new creative, and the client was thrilled to have a Super Bowl buy. But my Dad still didn’t have his slot. The game was just a couple weeks away—and no one knew the pickle he was in. Dad tells me that the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl were pretty stressful for him, and I can only imagine the insane pressure he was under.

I’m still not really sure how he finally convinced NBC to run the thing, but he did. I think it had something to do with him giving the network a bigger chunk of Ryder’s business that year. Might’ve also been all the extra Hail Marys he said.

In my blissful childish ignorance, all I knew at the time was that my beloved Miami Dolphins were going to kick the stuffing out of the Washington Redskins. Luckily for our family, my Dad did a lot better than the Dolphins that year—and made a little Super Bowl history in the process.

Text Haiti

No, this is not another plea for the beleaguered nation (although feel free to help). This is the sea change that will make the wallet you tooled in leather arts & crafts at camp obsolete, once and for all.

Our phones are now truly the exoskeleton that holds up our daily lives. There is now almost zero friction between thought and action when it come to buying things, saying what’s on our minds, helping a good cause, expressing outrage or getting information.

But is that a good thing?

There’s no question that the outpouring for Haiti, in particular to the American Red Cross, has been extraordinary. The American Red Cross could not find the words to describe the outpouring of support. Tens of millions of dollars were raised for the relief effort through text messages in mere days, and it’s still going. Ironically, the ability to “address” a global catastrophe with a few buttons on your phone may actually disconnect us even further from the real toll—the human tragedy and the need to really engage with organizations trying help people—whether in Haiti or in our own communities. The same might be said for watching a star-studded telethon, but I’ll let that go (George Clooney please feel free to call my direct line if you would like to discuss).

I love the ubiquity of all the tools and information available on my iPhone, and how all that stuff supports both work and home life. But I realize that too often I am using the little screen as a shield. It’s almost as if there’s a thought bubble above all our heads: “Standing here in line doesn’t bother me because I am looking at important stuff on my phone.” Sometimes it is important, but what’s lost is the opportunity to look around. What is the right balance between our enabling technologies and enabling anti-social behavior? Are we more connected because we can react quickly to a humanitarian crisis with our smart phones and computers, or do we need to put down the gizmo and actually see the people and places that need our attention? I am challenging my own behavior and we’ll see where it takes me in 2010.

Our new location

After a memorable decade at the Omni building at 7^th and Brazos in downtown Austin, SicolaMartin just moved to the Capitol Tower, on 9^th and San Jacinto. Google Maps tells me the distance between these buildings is roughly 0.2 miles, or just around 1,000 feet.

But looking out the window from our new digs, it actually feels much closer. You sort of get the idea that, with a vigorous enough windup and decent wind at your back, you just might be able to hit the other building with a tennis ball.

So in light of this proximity, the last thing I expected after the move was to feel as though I’d just relocated to some previously unexplored exotic corner of the city.

It happened right away. Thanks to my new bus stop, I was walking by completely unfamiliar and interesting buildings. “What’s the Austin Club?” I wondered. “Why does that tower have a gigantic 1980s satellite dish?” I thought. Shortly after the move, with the help of an industrious co-worker (and again, Google Maps), I discovered a truly fantastic greasy spoon in the basement of a nearby government building ($2.00 bacon cheeseburgers!). Even on the days I drove to work, the one-way streets downtown forced me out of my automatic pilot and onto unfamiliar avenues.

I wasn’t alone. Other co-workers began reporting a similar response to the move. A fellow writer and native Austinite was amazed that she hadn’t walked by the governor’s mansion in years. An art director had swapped Subway for Quizno’s—apparently on a permanent basis. An interactive guy found a great dive bar (interactive guys are particularly adept at this—draw your own conclusions).

Where was all this great stuff hiding when we were just two blocks south at the Omni?

As a marketer, this experience reminded me that people are creatures of habit. Most of us are genetically hardwired to seek the comfort of the familiar. This is undoubtedly effective survival behavior—who knows what predators are lurking in that dark thicket? Much safer to stick to the path you always take back to the cave—or those really good nachos you always order. Changing behaviors is hard. Marketers have to think deeply about how to get people out of their comfort zones and to look at the world in a slightly different way—then create something that moves them to do so.

Another lesson I took away from our move: routine, though comforting, can be creatively stifling. It’s important to change things up, take some risks, get off the well-beaten path and experience new things. It’s not only good for your work—it’s good for you. And it’s not hard. It’s only two blocks away.

GoWalla

In my last article, I wrote about the potential of a mobile application to change user behavior, that the real opportunity for marketers was in finding ways to convert this new behavior into profit. I’ve got an application on my phone right now that has the ability to do just that. It is called “Gowalla,” and it is pretty dang cool.

So just what is Gowalla? In brief, it is a social-networking type application that uses my location to share information about where I am and what I’m doing. When I reach a particular location (Gowalla calls them “spots”), I use the application to “check in.” It uses GPS data to determine if I’m actually in the right location, and if I am, I’m allowed to check in. If I want, I can push that information directly to my Facebook page or Twitter account. And if I’ve told it to do so, it will also tell my friends who use Gowalla that I’ve just checked in.

All of Gowalla’s spots are user-generated (not populated from a database), and you can create your own. So if your favorite eatery, park, museum or sidewalk crack isn’t currently listed, you can add it and other people can find it, too. You can also add comments about the location. Say, for example, you’re having a bowl of noodles at Mekong River (which I did earlier today). You can comment about how yummy the noodles are. That information is stored, and when other users view the spot, they can see what I wrote. In that way, Gowalla builds a community of shared information about the locations Gowalla users frequent.

Gowalla also allows you to collect “stamps” at the locations you’ve visited, and they get placed in your “passport.” The really cool thing about that is that you have a record that is GPS verified. If friends don’t believe that you were at the Eiffel Tower last Thursday, you can prove it.

In and of itself, Gowalla’s a neat application that’s fun to play with. But the real potential power of the app is in how it can change behavior. I’ve already visited several new places downtown, simply because there’s a Gowalla spot there. And as a creature of habit, I really like seeing the restaurants that other folks have added. But it is in the potential for marketing applications that it gets really exciting. Imagine if – as a restaurant or shop owner – you could accurately verify how many times someone has been to your establishment, and reward them accordingly? What if you could push an offer to someone based on the location of their last check in? This functionality doesn’t yet exist in Gowalla – but it is hard not to get excited about the possibilities. As a user, I’d love to be rewarded for visiting the places I go anyway (or being incented to visit new places). As a marketer, I love the metrics inherent in what Gowalla already does.

Gowalla is one of hundreds of applications that have unrealized business applicability. The mobile application market is growing – with devices on a number of platforms (Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile) launching, or slated to launch. And though most of the applications that originate from a marketing organization are designed only to build brand equity, it is easy to imagine that changing. Just two weeks ago, Chris Wood wrote about coupons being the next trend in mobile marketing. Increasingly, I think we’ll see applications that are designed not just to encourage usage of the app itself, but designed to drive specific real-world behavior.

Mobile Coupon

Let’s face it. Coupons are a lot of work. You have go hunting for them, sifting through pages and pages of newspapers or direct mail. You have to clip them, then file them away in some probably unreliable system–if at all.

Then, if you actually get around to using them before they expire (which I almost never do), you have to remember to take them with you. And all that means that companies are spending lots of time, effort and money producing lots of coupons their customers never use—if they find them at all.

But all that might be changing with the advent of mobile coupons—coupons that are downloaded on mobile technology.

It’s happening more and more. Big national brands like Denny’s, Taco Bell, Walgreens, Office Depot and Quiznos are jumping on the mobile coupon bandwagon. And it’s easy to see why. The combination of GPS technology and smart platforms like the iPhone and Google’s Android-powered phones has given the one of the oldest marketing tools around new, exciting legs.

Unlike their low-tech paper counterparts, mobile coupons are everything their paper counterparts aren’t—incredibly convenient and uniquely spontaneous. Shoppers never have to worry about having them at the right time, because they always have their phones. They don’t have to remember the expiration dates, they don’t have to file them away, and best of all—no more clipping.

Maybe best of all, with the emergence of slick, user-friendly apps like Coupious and mobiQpons, finding coupons no longer will require scouring through reams of paper. All it will take is a touch of a button, and a user will see at a glance all the businesses that are running mobile coupon offers on a GPS-generated map. This will not only make mobile coupons that much easier to use, it’s hard to see how it won’t increase impulse buys and drive sales for the businesses that offer them.

Think of the possibilities. Imagine you’re out running errands and you decide that you want to get your car washed. Or let’s say you realize that you need to get your oil changed. The days of, “Shoot, I had a coupon for that but it’s at home”—are over. Now, you can instantly download coupons from businesses that offer oil changes and car washes near your current location—all at the touch of a button. And now, no matter where you go, if there’s a coupon being offered, you’ve always got it on you—even at the movies. Sprint just announced that it will offer mobile coupons on movie snacks at over 500 theatres across the country.

Is there any downside to mobile coupons?

Well for one, many consumers may still not be completely comfortable with GPS-enabled tech, and may be wary of businesses “knowing” where they are at any given moment.  They might be afraid of being bombarded by spam or text messages. And as convenient as finding mobile coupons are, because they’re not delivered by newspaper or direct mail, a good many of them may go unnoticed.

On the other hand, your mobile phone is the one thing that you carry all the time. Customers are now realizing all the capabilities they have right at their fingertips, and retailers are increasingly convinced that the technology will allow them to better reach customers and offer them greater benefits and better service.

And, with other location-based apps like Gowalla and Foursquare becoming increasingly popular, and people getting more accustomed to sharing their location data, it’s a pretty safe bet that mobile coupons are right on the cusp of making a big splash in mobile marketing.