Social media is a huge driver of wireless network traffic, accounting for an estimated 24% of the time Americans spend using their mobile phones. Facebook alone accounts for 18% of mobile minutes. The social network’s former marketing director, Randi Zuckerberg (sister of founder Mark Zuckerberg), recently outlined ten trends that she said “everyone is talking about in Silicon Valley.”
Zuckerberg spoke at Amdocs InTouch in Singapore, covered by Roberta Prescott. Several of the trends she outlined below suggest ways that mobile operators can leverage the value of their networks for enterprise clients. Others are relevant to carriers and their suppliers as they grow their own businesses.
1. We are all media companies
Zuckerberg said that the rise of social media means that almost every business needs to start thinking of itself as a media company. “Not only are you putting out product, you’re also entertaining and engaging your customers,” she said. She cited Red Bull’s space jump and Oreo’s “dunk in the dark” campaign, created in real time during the SuperBowl, as great examples of brands understanding their role as media companies.
2. Cars are the new phones
“Within the next two years you are going to see that cars are going to be the cool place for app developers to be paying their attention,” said Zuckerberg. It is quite possible that the next car you buy will connect directly to cellular networks. Already General Motors has announced plans to develop an LTE-enabled car, and Cisco is at work on technology to power self-driving cars.
3. Mobile everywhere
Zuckerberg said that consumers are ready to use their smartphones to do everything from paying their bills to unlocking and starting their cars to monitoring their homes and kids when they are away. In five years, you are going to be able to get any piece of content on anything around your home,” said Zuckerberg.
4. The rise of the entre-employee
This is a trend that some of the biggest companies in wireless, including AT&T, have already recognized. Zuckerberg says that with the barriers to entry so low for software startups, it is becoming “a challenge for big companies to maintain talent.” The solution for many is to harness that entrepreneurial energy and put it to work creating new products or services for the employer. Zuckerberg said that one common arrangement is for a large company to provide office space and seed funding for an employee’s startup idea in return for an equity stake in the venture.
5. The cloud has replaced our memory
“There’s no need to remember anything anymore because the cloud has replaced our memory,” said Zuckerberg. Consumers are lowering their expectations of privacy, and succumbing to the convenience of remote, accessible cloud storage of information.
6. Big data
“Really big data is nothing until you use it to personalize a user’s experience.” Mobile operators, of course, possess huge troves of data, but understanding and monetizing it can be a challenge. Zuckerberg pointed out that when personal data is used to understand a customer’s behavior patterns it opens up new opportunities, for example pushing traffic updates to people at the time of day when they normally call home before starting their commute.
7. Luxury on demand
Zuckerberg said businesses need to ask themselves, “Are there little bits of luxury you can provide to your consumers that they’ll be willing to pay a premium to have?” She pointed out that the mobile world is full of examples of successful ‘luxury on demand’ business models, from Uber to Rent the Runway.
8. Collaborative economy
“If someone has an excess of something, now they can sell it directly to someone instead of going through an intermediary company,” said Zuckerberg. Examples include selling free seats in your car, or hiring a person with more time than you have to do some of the tasks on your to-do list.
9. Gamification of everything
Zuckerberg said app developers are learning that games are the ultimate motivational tools, making it easier for people to do everything from waking up in the morning to losing weight. She discussed the intersection of gaming and social media, offering examples of apps that tweet your weight, or tell your Facebook friends when you are about to go exercise.
10. Time for a digital detox
Zuckerberg said that three out of five Americans admit to spending more time with their devices
than with their significant other. “It’s now become socially acceptable to never give anyone your undivided attention anymore,” said Zuckerberg. She said there are now hotels and yoga retreats that offer digital detox by collecting devices at the door and locking them away.
Zuckerberg noted that digital addiction can be very dangerous for those who text and drive, something she said 60% of Americans do. She said texting and driving is six times more dangerous than drunk driving, and applauded the work that carriers are doing to stop it. Auto responses to texts, and apps that shut down phones when they are traveling more than 20 miles an hour, are both great examples, she said.
Employees who are able to take a full detox come back more productive, Zuckerberg said. She said one company pays its employees a bonus if they do not take their phones on vacation.
