PR goes cellular

What one evolving technology means to us

Cell phones are old news. I honestly don’t know one person who doesn’t have one. My computer-illiterate, 89-year-old grandfather, left, has one (and he knows how to take pictures on it, too).

Only now are companies really starting to embrace all that a cell could be, though.

Think about it- we carry these things with us everywhere. I have minor panic attacks when I rummage around in my bag and can’t find it, thinking, “But what if someone tries to call me???”

Sure, we have the Internet on our cell phones. We have MP3 players, photos albums and games. But those are all entertainment-based things, many of which are stupid and unnecessary, as seen below.



But what we are seeing now is a business aspect, the possibility of people working from their cellphones instead of just playing.

Publishers in Japan are some of the first to successfully capitalize on the trend, as this article suggests. An entirely new literary genre is emerging in Asia- the cell phone novel- and although I can’t foresee this jumping across the Pacific anytime soon, it is food for thought.

These Japanese novelists are willing to become even closer with their cell phones, willing to squint at the tiny screen and peck away at a nearly non-existent keyboard as they let their creative juices flow.

What does this mean for corporate communications? Cell phones can be yet another way to communicate with our publics. We can move beyond the passé sense of this idea (literally talking on the device) and start to think of research, publicity and marketing via the cell phone.

I’m drawing a blank when it comes to providing concrete examples of how this would actually work (any thoughts???), but I do know that it has to be done tastefully and with our publics in mind. I want to throw my phone across the room every time I get a mass text from T-Mobile saying, “Free Halloween/Valentine’s/St. Patrick’s Day Ringtone!!!! Text asdjasdlajsd to 298293489234”.

This guy seems to be on the right track (it’s an old site, but just scroll down to see the predictions I’m talking about).

Technology like this and this give PR practitioners the ability to learn more about their publics- where they’re going and when, what they’re buying, etc. in a quicker and more effective way than traditional methods like surveys and polls.

Yes, this is a little creepy and no doubt will face many obstacles in terms of privacy laws (I’m not advocating Big Brother), but I think over time the creases will be smoothed out, revealing a completely new way of keeping our finger on the public pulse.