Mobile is hot right now.

It’s not exactly breaking news, we know. But just in case you haven’t considered integrating mobile into your communications strategies, here’s some recent facts and figures that might make you stop and think.

It’s everywhere you want to be: Apologies to Visa, but thanks to GPS technology, consumers’ favorite brands are literally everywhere they want to be. Mobile apps with geo-targeting technology allow consumers to interact with their favorite brands from anywhere in the world, whether it’s finding the nearest store or checking in at a local hot spot. In fact, companies will spend close to $4 billion on location-based mobile technologies by 2015.

It’s one-stop shopping: It’s not all ringtones and horoscopes. Consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with using their mobile phones to make non phone-related purchases, too. Ten percent of Americans use their phones to receive coupons and discounts or buy goods and services. The numbers go up for smartphone users. Half of iPhone and BlackBerry owners use their phones for mobile commerce.

It’s better than sex: Is that text message really that important? Apparently it is. According to the Retrevo Gadgetology study, one-in-10 Internet users under the age of 25 claims he or she would answer a text message during sex. One-in-four would even do so while using the restroom. When you gotta text, you gotta text.

It’s memorable: Mobile may be the third screen, but it certainly doesn’t finish last when it comes to advertising recall. Research firm Insight Express found mobile ads to be more effective than online ads in consumer ad awareness and message association. And, not only did consumers remember mobile ads, it turns out mobile ads are more likely than online ads to lead to greater purchase intent and brand favorability.

It’s a nonprofit money-maker: In the wake of January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, the American Red Cross raised $32 million through its text-to-give campaign – the most successful mobile philanthropy effort of all time. If there is anything good that can come out of the disaster, it’s that Americans have found a new means of donating to important causes. Almost one-in-five are more likely to text donations to their favorite nonprofits after hearing about Haiti's mobile fundraising success and 19 percent would prefer texting to alternative donation methods.

Toyotas and aspirin and lettuce! Oh my! These days, everywhere you look something else is being recalled. What is a company in crisis to do?

First, take a deep breath. Second, be glad you have a crisis preparedness plan in place.

You do have one, don’t you? You should. Mid-calamity is not the time to start developing one. Take advantage of today’s peace and quiet to prepare for tomorrow’s potential disaster.

And, be sure to consider the following when developing your company’s plan:

• Act quickly and take responsibility to “contain” the crisis.
• Your organizations will be on trial during the early stages of a crisis. If you wait for every last fact before taking action, you will be convicted in the “court of public opinion.” 
• Ensure your actions are consistent with your mission and values, and don’t forget to show empathy for what has happened.
• Organizations in crisis too often focus their communications on the minutiae of the crisis, event timelines, etc. and forget to share feelings (regret, sadness) about what has happened to critical audiences as a result of the crisis.
• Review your organization’s history to find prior damaging occurrences (similar past events, active litigation, etc.) that could be dredged up or leveraged for greater impact during the current crisis.
• Agree on how you’re going to address questions about this history, the impact it has on the current event or what it may suggest (i.e., the company did not sufficiently address a past problem).
• Use the media – traditional and new media – as information resources and communication vehicles.
• Both media and online resources can help organizations reach critical audiences quickly with a message about the crisis or can help correct damaging misinformation before it has any significant impact.
• Make time for media and online monitoring as well as monitoring for feedback from audiences with which you are communicating.
• Listen to what’s being said about your organization’s response to and communications about the crisis – this information may prompt valuable adjustments to communications strategy and messaging.

The Food Channel recently released its take on the Top Ten Foods of the Decade:

1. Sushi
2. Bacon
3. Cupcakes
4. Sliders
5. Gourmet burgers made with kobe or angus beef
6. Superfruits, such as acaí, pomegranate and blueberry
7. Oils, such as olive oils and truffle oils
8. Whole grains
9. Artisan foods, particularly in breads, cheeses and dark chocolates
10. Coffees and teas

While there may be agreement, or disagreement, with the actual foods named, it’s hard to dispute the fact that it is intriguing to look back over the past 10 years and see all we’ve gone through in the world of food and nutrition. The top foods were influenced by many factors, from the economy to industry to the environment and consumer education. In fact, The Food Channel also identified its own Top Ten Food Influences of the Decade – a list that may be even more interesting than the foods themselves:

1. Organic foods, along with Locavore and community supported agriculture
2. International cuisines
3. Food TV and Internet
4. Food safety
5. The economy and subsequent shift to home cooking
6. Fast casual restaurant concepts
7. Fair trade and artisan concepts in bread, chocolates, cheeses
8. Mobility/social media/Twitter notifications/underground dining
9. Mixology
10. Culinary education
    

Overall, it’s been an interesting – if not monumental – decade in the world of food. The proliferation of media and communication tools in combination with, or resulting in, the increasingly sophisticated American palates have been fascinating to live – and eat – through. As marketing professionals, it’s been exciting to see how food has influenced our society and the food industry. And as dietitians and nutritionists it’s been thrilling to see how food continues to become more entrenched in our lives and personal health. The intersection of this societal impact and greater attention to our health and well-being is hopefully something that will continue to grow and evolve and have a positive effect.

Some trends flagged to be tops for 2010 include increased simplicity, dining in, limiting salt, increasing whole grains, new beverages and carbon footprints. Certainly, all of these trends, and more, are things we must monitor when communicating with consumers and the industry. I’m also curious to see how many will simply be a fleeting fad and how many will stand the test of time and be on the “Top Ten” list of the next decade.

What foods or food influences would be on your top 10 list?

--Peggy O’Shea-Kochenbach, Vice President

Two-in-five American adults read a newspaper every day. An intriguing statistic, surely, but one you likely won’t find in a newspaper. Though it might be counterintuitive, this statistic was the result of an online survey, and as such, is subject to being easily dismissed by many of the nation’s top media outlets.

Why? Some of the most venerable papers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post – the list goes on – have strict standards when it comes to covering polling research. Specifically, they “do not publish most Internet polls.” They make a fair case for exclusion, noting that populations surveyed must be based on a probability sample; that is to say, each person in the population should have an equal chance of being selected. Typically, online survey researchers draw from a pre-recruited panel to respond to surveys and then weight the sample to align it statistically with the population being polled.

Random digit dial (RDD), or telephone polling, is believed by many, at least the Times and Post staff, to be the only way to accurately recruit a survey sample that mirrors the U.S. population. That’s because anyone can be reached by landline telephone. Right?

Wrong. In fact, as much as 20 percent of the population is now considered cell-phone only, something becoming a bit of a thorn in the side of RDD proponents. The cellular population is so burgeoning that researchers are forced to supplement RDD with custom samples of cell phone-only households to boost the accuracy of their samples.

To make things even more interesting, a recent study conducted by the Advertising Research Foundation compared RDD and online methodologies to see how each stacked up against demographic data from the U.S. Census. RDD showed no evidence of being more accurate than online methodologies and even turned out to be less accurate when it came to reporting respondents’ ages and cell-phone usages. This isn’t to say online surveys are the most accurate, but they certainly aren’t as “cheap and dirty” as once made out to be.

Nearly 80 percent of U.S. households have a computer with Internet access. And it's a number far more likely to increase than landline telephone usage, thanks in part to the Obama administration's efforts to provide high-speed Internet access to all. As our nation moves closer to realizing universal Internet access, perhaps it’s finally time for media to rethink their standards.

As any 21^st century PR practitioner will tell you, social media communications has taken on a role of greater importance when developing a comprehensive communications plan for your organization. But remember, establishing a social media presence means opening yourself up to potential attacks, warranted or not, from consumers who want their voices to be heard. To prepare yourself for this eventuality, you must develop a sound social media strategy comprising a careful mix of fact finding, message creation and strategic communication.

The new reality of an always-online, hyper-connected world is that there has been a major shift in how we help companies communicate with consumers. Blogger engagement and Facebook and Twitter strategies are no longer “nice to haves.” They’re absolutes! Three years ago, our proactive efforts primarily involved developing comprehensive communications programs that helped clients demonstrate their business actions to a core group of loyal consumers. We were able to create focused programs and engagement tactics that could be shared with stakeholders and media by following a planned schedule. Although that process still underlies the foundation of any solid communications platform, today it is critical to supplement it with a strategic and deliberate social media communications plan with a broader consumer focus.

It is important to take your time when crafting your online and social media plan. The best communications plans are structured to be implemented in a moment’s notice. And when done poorly, they can seriously damage your reputation almost overnight. Years of solid thinking and reams of messaging can easily be overtaken by scrambled, reactive efforts - often against attacks waged by just a few individuals with limited knowledge on the topic they’re vilifying.

So, what to do, and what not to do? There are a few critical things that must happen, especially when dealing with a consumer crisis:

Do:

• Monitor, monitor, monitor. It’s not enough just to be there. You must know what’s happening in your social media space.
• Respond, respond, respond - and quickly. The vast majority of online attackers can be easily educated and quickly appeased, and in some cases, might even become surprising allies. Ignoring commentary is the quickest way to start a firestorm, and responding fast can literally stop it in its tracks.
• Have a few clear key messages to reference. Keep messages factual and as objective as possible. Engaging in an online attack is not the time to “market” to the attacker.
  

Don’t:

• Ignore the comments. You don’t have to respond to everything, but when you see an opportunity to set the record straight, do so, and fast.
• Respond with the same message over and over again. Online communication should be authentic and come from a personalized “voice.”
• Patronize or antagonize. Be polite and respectful, but remain strong and confident.
• Shut down your Facebook page or Twitter handle. That will move the conversation into forums you can’t easily control.
  

Online engagement is an exciting opportunity to have a person-to-person dialogue in real time. With a solid online and social media communications strategy in place, you will be prepared for anything that comes your way, and more often than not, will come out on top.

--Lisen Syp, Senior Account Supervisor