Where Are the Visual "Amplifiers" for My Mobile Device?

I'm taking the train today, and bringing my BlackBerry Storm. I would have liked to read a PDF that I downloaded about sound reinforcement equipment. But I'm not going to try, even though the BB has a decent touch screen.

If they invented headphones to solve the problem of amplifying portable, personal sound, and now they've even got MP3 playing sunglasses (see image) can similar "visual amplifiers" be far behind?

Actually, they already have, I suppose. But I don't want to wear wired-up, clunky things like these glasses.

When is somebody going to invent cool, unobtrusive Bluetooth-type sunglasses that double as enhanced mobile device monitors? To magnify the imagery I want to see as the mobile phone becomes my primary computing device.

It would really be the primary device then. Glasses like that could shake up the category entirely. (I used to think Laser Projection was the answer, and in some cases it might be, but you still would be in need of a surface all the time.)

Maybe these glasses could even have sensors on them like they have in the new cars today (that alert you if you're too close to another vehicle, while you're distracted or falling asleep) so you could surf the web while walking! (Just kidding.)

Actually, that's the next phase, the RoboCop-like computer assisted visual display.

I'd pay something for either version of those. But it's got to be "cool."

I bet they're closer than we think.

Personal Data Integration Tools Raise the Quality Stakes for Everyone

The data stream integration powers of my new BlackBerry Storm (the best buggy phone I've ever owned), and the Flock Social Media Browser have captured my imagination.

I get messages from many sources (email, text, images, chats) in one interface in BlackBerry. While mobile! It has raised the stakes on the quality of inbound messages. With so many alerts going off, I've been more diligent than ever about unsubscribing from spammy newsletters and more.

Likewise I'm noticing with Flock that it is empowering me to integrate a variety of social media I had previously considered marginal. Such as Bebo.

As I return to these social media and run them side by side with other social media, the stakes are raised on differentiation and quality. What does each of these sites offer me that I don't have already from other sites, or the integrative functionalities of the browser itself?

My God, I think, who then is the competition for each of these sites? Not just other sites. But third-party application developers on each of these sites, and the like for the browsers. Plus a whole bunch of other people I'm not even able to comprehend at the moment, but will be sure to wow me in a few years, uh, make that weeks.

My God, I also think. I better be a power user myself if I am to keep up with the changes, and advise people on how to use this stuff for themselves or their business.

Cool, mind-boggling, intellectually challenging stuff!

Additional Thoughts on the "Marcomm Problem"

An additional thought or two on the "marcomm problem" described in the previous post.

When I was trained in management of creatives by the Harvard Management Mentor at one of my old jobs, I remember specifically a discussion in that online training about "divergent" and "convergent" as aspects of corporate creative.

"Divergent" is a term for pure creative imagination.

"Convergent" is the process of bringing the creative back in line with real business goals.

What I have learned in my time in corporate marcomm is that the tools I describe in the previous post: data, project management, change management, etc. are tools of convergence.

It's not immediately apparent that they are, because they feel like the bailiwick of engineers. But you can't converge the divergent by sheer charisma or will power alone. I've seen people try, but it just doesn't work. For one, you are always surrounded by too many stakeholders for that.

I relish the challenge of balancing the creative and the more data-driven, analytical side. It's an opportunity to grow, and experience all sorts of additional enhancements to your thinking.

To Solve Problems, Marcomm Organizations Must First Admit Them

I recently had a chance to consult on some marketing collateral documents for a major corporation. If you've been around the marcomm game long enough, you get used to spotting certain things; revealing signs of an organization suffering from budget and time constraints. This engagement was no different.

Some things I take note of when I see a document now:

Does the document immediately show you what the value proposition is? I mean, immediately? Quite often the answer is no. The reason is because to do that you have to have a great marriage of content and design, which the aforementioned constraints don't allow.

Most collateral is often copy heavy, packed with politically crafted paragraphs designed to appease product marketing teams internally.

The marketing managers creating the collateral, when they are not fending off such political intrusions, are juggling multiple roles, and have little expertise in crafting quality documents. They are writing their own first draft, or at least playing subject matter expert for a freelancer who knows little about the business.

The manager is also often playing junior graphic designer, raiding the corporate image repository, if there is one, or just their neighbor's or partner's collateral for some images. They don't commission unique photos or illustrations.

What things like this often underscore are the need for a skilled marketing services organization in house. But many marketing executives struggle to quantify the value of such organizations, and those skilled and product-knowledgeable employees are often the first against the wall when the layoff firing squad assembles.

So, what can be done? Well, a truly tech-savvy design firm can fill the void. But these firms have to market themselves well and show their value to executives, and cannot do that if the executives themselves don't have an ROI mindset and create a feedback loop.

And there's the rub, which I've seen all too often in marketing. It is too full of creatives who don't balance the other side of their brains. You have to focus on balancing creative excellence with data -- in the interest of fostering the creative and helping it survive.

You also have to be disciplined in marketing -- adopting the best practices of project management -- and many marketers are not. Isolated already from the customer, they are awash in internal politics that warp their messages. If you cannot prioritize and say no in marketing, seek and win change management consensus and managerial champions, you are doomed to failure.

To prioritize however, you have to have the courage to put the boss on the spot. You have to get him or her to know their business and communicate it to you. And you have to do that in a way that is diplomatic, yet effective.

That's why, as we read in marketing publications like BtoB magazine, the average CMO lasts just under 2 years. Because even their bosses don't know or can't communicate their priorities.

The challenges of marketing are highly personal, demanding a great deal from people. And a lot of people just get burned out because human limitations play themselves out in these high-pressure environments.

The first step to solving a problem, however, is admitting you have a problem. And most marketing organizations remain in serious denial.