By Mark Taylor, Managing Partner, Interactive Marketing Operations

The humble mobile phone is becoming less modest by the minute. What used to be a device that enabled us to make and receive calls has grown into something of a remote control for our lives. It’s an always on, multi-channel interactive communication device, which we increasingly use to entertain us, to see what our friends are up to, guide us, to alert or inform us. This, the most ubiquitous consumer electronics device the world has ever seen, is so intensely insinuated into the fabric of our lives that it knows where we are and what we are interested in at any given time.

There are currently 3 billion cell phones in the world, according to Frost & Sullivan in their report “Visions 2009 Paradigm Shifts in Mobile & Wireless Communications”. The U.S currently enjoys 88% penetration and will have 100% penetration in 2012 (I would argue that this will be before then – the end of 2010 even). It is true that the US penetration and growth numbers are lower and less dynamic than in Europe or Asia, but meaningful penetration always takes longer in really large populations. The makeup of the user base has also changed; we are way beyond the early adopters as breakthroughs in technology have opened up the market to all customer segments and demographics. Furthermore, growth in the critical emerging markets is exponential – in India there are 7 million new mobile subscribers per month.

The networks and the devices (even the most basic) are now good enough for more than voice communications. What wireless company doesn’t now have a 3G network? And consider the increased penetration of “Smartphones”, (almost 20% in Q4 2008 according to The Kelsey Group and IDC predicts that this will be in excess of 50% by 2012). While Apple has somewhat blazed the trail here, research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian or the new Palm Pre OS all foretell of the next inflection point we will see: the ever more sophisticated services that will emerge thanks to the massive strides made in device operating systems and user interface design.

Want proof that the mobile device has made the switch from simple communication devices to computational devices? Consider the success of the Apple App Store. In March of this year, Greg Joswiak, VP of iPhone marketing, said that users have now downloaded more than 800 million applications from the store — a 60% increase in two months. The number of apps available for download has now surpassed 25,000, many hundreds of which are related to health and wellness. Most recently, with the arrival of version 3.0 of the OS and the associated software development kit, companies are incorporating physical sensors into iPhone accessories to measure such factors as blood sugar levels for individual diabetes management. Furthermore, in its most recent Global Mobile Application Landscape report, Forrester Research predicted that healthcare related applications will be a significant part of the next wave of general mobile development.

So the audience is there, what about the marketing?

Mobile will play a significant role as an additional or complimentary channel for all kinds of sectors and products, from your next car to your favorite brand of toothpaste (in some corners of the world such as Europe and Asia Pacific this is clearly already true). In healthcare, on the other hand, the opportunity is blatantly still there to be quite simply revolutionary. Why is that? The relationship that we establish with the only truly personal communication device is unique and this will continue to be true as almost every imaginable function of the office and home entertainment center will be delivered to the personal communication devices in our pockets. It is this very special mix of the trust and dependency that we feel in relation to our mobile devices that make it the ideal channel to use to communicate anything of a personal nature – financial information can be included here, any information concerning our health most certainly is.

According to B.J. Fogg, a Stanford University researcher author of “Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do.”, this “special relationship” is partly due to the fact that we take them everywhere we go. People develop far closer attachments to their devices than to their home PCs or laptops. Those same PCs are also much more likely to be shared than a mobile device and therefore less truly personal. It is this intimacy that will provide healthcare companies with unrivalled possibilities to build and maintain one-to-one relationships with their customers and potential customers (and therefore to strengthen the mutual value exchange through individualized, interactive and value-added contacts). Healthcare companies can lead with mobile marketing initiatives throughout the consumer relationship cycle from awareness and customer acquisition (imagine a “tell me more” SMS short code or QCode on a package or print ad which would allow consumers to getinformation on the indications associated with that product or to automatically set up SMS reminders of when to take the medication), right through to post purchase support and loyalty. We are already seeing some adherence applications appearing for mobile, and the World Health Organization estimates that between 30 and 50% of medicines prescribed for long-term illness are not taken as directed.

5 Things to Keep In Mind:

1. Mobile is part of a multi-channel approach. As discussed, done correctly, the healthcare  industry can lead with mobile marketing, but it should not do only mobile marketing.

2. Go beyond SMS, there are hundreds of healthcare and lifestyle applications available for the 30 million iPhone and iTouch users – many more will see the light of day as Blackberry, Google and others get into the applications field.

3. More than ever, be relevant. The nature of the relationship between the consumer and the channel/device makes this more essential than ever.

4. Aim for response. Use the channel to start conversations not to blast messages.

5. As with any other initiative, establish clear measurable goals.

In short, the healthcare industry, which has never really set the world ablaze with its marketing leadership, may be best positioned to leverage one of the most important and impactful tools to create and extend deep and significant consumer relationships.

The healthcare industry must lead the charge in using a channel that might have been made for the types of interactions and conversations that the industry and its consumers are looking for. What is more personal to us as consumers than our health and well-being? What channel allows for more personalized interactions?

Let the revolution begin…

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