Events

5 questions with Forrester’s Vice President and Principal Analyst, Julie Ask

Becky Doles

People turn to their mobile phones for everything. Everyone now has the expectation of “I can get whatever, when I want, in my immediate context”.

As a brand and marketer, if you’re there for them, they will love you. If you are not, you will lose them. MobileBest means creating the best experience for your customer, across platforms and channels. People don’t look for things, they just expect it to be there.

We are hosting a three-city event series with Forrester to discuss how marketers can transform their strategy to meet the mobile mind shift to become MobileBest.

Julie Ask, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester, is a top mobile expert who has written more than 120 reports on mobile strategy and execution. Working with hundreds of clients in the Americas, Europe, and Asia on mobile strategy, she has advised executives in the retail, travel, financial services, consumer goods, and healthcare industries. Julie’s research has been cited in media including The Wall Street Journal, PBS, and NBC Nightly News.

We have five quick questions to kick off the MobileBest conversation with Julie. Join us in San Francisco to hear and discuss more ideas with other marketers and Julie.

  1. At the end of 2016 you outlined predictions for 2017. What predictions are you already seeing transform into reality as mobile becomes the face of digital?

Julie: Mobile is being funded as part of business strategies – not mobile budgets or even digital budgets.

  1. Mobile has evolved beyond just a project, channel, or initiative for commerce players. In all your research and conversations with marketers, what is one experience that really stands out in how the marketer is leveraging mobile to create a memorable moment for their customer?

Julie: Marketers are experimenting with manufacturing mobile moments by offering utility, education, or entertainment — not just branding or driving product consideration.

  1. What is one way consumer mobile experiences will evolve this year?

Julie: More web-based technologies such as Instant Apps and Progressive Web Apps.

  1. The features and functions of mobile apps are overkill for most mobile moments. What feature or function have you seen really make an impact in delivering the best consumer experience?

Julie: Engagement automation — so tools that combine systems of insight with systems of engagement to automate, orchestrate, and right-size engagement with consumers. A lot more engagement will happen on the home screen of the phone as we look forward.

  1. Creating perfect mobile moments will be an evolutionary process to get right, what is one thing marketers should do today to get started?

Julie: Think and act differently. Traditional digital marketers still look to do old things in new ways – they think in terms of segmenting, targeting, media buys and driving communication with consumers based on the needs of the business. They need to pivot towards one-to-one engagement that revolves around my needs on my time. Too many marketers see me as “a middle-aged woman living in San Francisco who eats out and spends money on travel.” They need to see me as “Julie who likes to eat Japanese on Wednesday nights and is looking for deals at SPG properties in new destinations.”

Join us for our Ask the Analyst event in San Francisco on April 27th to hear more about The Mobile Mind Shift from Julie and get a signed copy of her book!

Author
Becky Doles

Becky is the Senior Content Marketing Manager at TUNE. Before TUNE, she led a variety of marketing and communications projects at San Francisco startups. Becky received her bachelor's degree in English from Wake Forest University. After living nearly a decade in San Francisco and Seattle, she has returned to her home of Charleston, SC, where you can find her enjoying the sun and salt water with her family.

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