Last week I was at a friend’s house  and chatted to their five-year-old daughter about what she likes doing. She liked books, films not so much, but she had no difficulty rattling off her four favourite websites and then, with the skill of an IT Support specialist, cut through the internet like butter in her pint sized laptop.

Death of Analogue TV

Her generation does not know a world without internet and by next year when Saorview turn all Irish broadcasting digital, she will not remember a time without digital television.  From a TV watchers point of view, this switch will not affect most who have signed up to some form of digital package already but there are consequences that have mobile communications companies squirming with excitement. The television airwaves can be used to send and upgrade mobile information and mobile marketing is an area many businesses are paying more and more attention.

Smart Phones and Mobile Marketing

Advertisers are working in a fast changing world. The traditional method of getting the ad out there and hoping for the best simply does not work anymore. Now the ads almost have to be as interactive as the web pages to gain attention and go viral. Mobile marketing (m-commerce) is paving the way ahead of any other delivery method for advertisers. 02 have spent a considerable amount in developing their mobile marketing department and have launched their targeted advertising for their customers. Where the soon to be cleared television airwaves are concerned, the mobile companies will be offered a generous slice of the soon to be unused television airwaves so there are two consequences;

1) We can expect more targeted advertising.

2) The good news for smart phone users is that internet services will become considerably faster.

So when my friend’s daughter grows up (unless we have some sort of communications apocalypse) information sharing will hopefully be as easy as breathing.

Between then and now television manufacturers will have to come up with ways to keep their audiences in their favourite chair. They acknowledge that the internet is eating into their customers enjoyment of television so they are beginning to adapt their products to reflect these changing consumer habits.

Smart Televisions

So television is entering a new phase where it is integrating the internet as part of the screen. You can now buy these televisions which have the capability to stream the internet. But people are slow to pick up on the idea. It is possible that in 2012 when Apple produce their iTV that it may encourage the sales of the current smart televisions on the market. The best trick will be to integrate social media, television and the internet, then the manufacturers would hold the attention of their customers who will be able to watch, comment and interact with live television and the rest of the world without leaving their favourite chair.

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