Add Shot - BigBike Group revs up San Diego's Mobile Scene

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I love my Starbucks and especially adding a shot of espresso when I want to get something done right then. Using that metaphor, San Diego based businesses have much to accomplish in 2013 and require an "add shot" to their marketing and advertising plans. As Creative Director, I want to run all of the best campaigns in San Diego County. As a visionary, I see where the solutions are and because I have the gift of research, I can execute like nobody's business.

My Partner's Work

Let's face it. Mobile is where it's at. Not tomorrow. Right now! I purposely coined "Add Shot" to not only serve as my agency's term to pitch the Mobile trifecta, which takes aim at the Mobile website, the Mobile app, and Mobile advertising, but also a brief manifesto of what's to come and the effects on my Client's bottom line.  I'm an agent of disruption, so at the risk of appearing wonkish I promise to drop data to support my claims.

By the way, how does your site look on an iphone or android? Does in conform to appear clean, clear, and legible like this (pic left)? While every other agency spends all year pushing for responsive web design that automatically adjusts to the users adjusts to fit the users screen resolution (which is really for blogs), BigBike Groups runs against the gain on this debate. One of our top focuses in 2013 is to release the best mobile specific websites with separate content to dramatically improve load time and feature API keys to improve brand connectivity and sharing. Why does this debate matter? A 2011 Compuware article titled "What Users Want From Mobile" states if your site does not load with 3 seconds 60% of them will leave and never come back. Mobile is an art. Companies selling products, food, and services deserve better.

Windows Phone

As Creative Director, getting the right mobile website matters for me to focus on #goodvertising and for my mobile ads to matter and produce the results that show my clients the money! Seriously, creating rich media ads including video ad units, gifs, and interstitials are challenging enough and they commanded a greater click through rate of 1.1% in 2010. So wasting a better CTR and that potential customer's trust on a slow loading site makes no sense to me and serves as the first opportunity to save the client money.

It's also apparent that device makers are fully aware of the culture influence on society their toys have and so do the users. Yet, did you know 2/3 of our time on mobile phones are used for non-communicative activities with the average American spending 94 minutes per day utilizing mobile apps vs. web-based consumption? Mashable called 2012 The Year of Mobile Advertising and the Atlantic covered the national acceleration of mobile advertising accurately.

BigBike Group Mobile Ad Campaign

As for popular apps go in San Diego, there is a rush for publishers to develop and launch to appease their subscribers and not lose ground on readership, however San Diego is so diverse. From the craft beer scene having an app to the local tourism app to the County Parks app, and everything in between, there's a niche for advertisers to fill and not worry of competing with 5 other ads of the same page. It just takes a good eye and a skilled firm to lead the way. Thus developing an app should also be no light conversation either. I believe a brand selling a product or aiming to increase employees engagement or creating a loyalty program or wanting to increase demand with a game, they  should have a Mobile app.

Also, did you know San Diego was dubbed the "Wireless Capital of the World" over Silicon Valley by Forbes Magazine just last year? It's true. Forbes tech contributor Mark Fidelman's June 27th piece pointed out the concentration of wireless employees in San Diego is 484 per 100,000 residents, compared to Silicon Valley's 375 per 100,000. Plus Novatel CEO Pete Leparulo's quote lends our mobile industry some credibility when he said, "San Diego for wireless technology is an amazing place. It's what I image Detroit was like during the heyday of inventiveness." Not bad, but what about San Diego's mobile market?

Well, besides the thousands of high wage employees of telecom companies that either carry a smartphone and or tablet device (just ask any Qualcomm employee), San Diego County has 3.1 million residents, 4000 square miles—and an ultra conservative estimate of 500,000 mobile devices in adult households according to Scarborough Research's *outdated stats from 2007, or closer to 1.5 million compared to National estimates of 52% released at CES. Yes, the range is wide, however the evidence is self evident.

I also believe its "The Year of The eWallet" for San Diego and advertising to the ewallet user will pay off in huge divided ends. I think there's clout here since Scarborough ranked San Diego as one of the top tech savvy cities in the country and the swipe of the mobile to pay for food, drinks, products, and more just completes the rave review.

Now, I'm not going to discuss my firm's strategies of how I present all of this and pitch, so that some young ad executive at a competing firm looking to prove something can turn around and copy me, but I will say to those who could be potential clients reading this... let's meet for coffee soon.    

Email me at yevesperez [at] gmail [dot] com or tweet me @frshprnzcleantc.

Still Getting Inspired by Nature to Sell Sustainability

On July 7th, 2011 I wrote the following for a Green Business website:


The Year of the Sustainable Sale: Getting Inspired by Nature to Sell Sustainability

Part One by @frshprnzcleantc
San Diego, CA, USA

Green businesses have a great deal to offer, but don’t always do a great job at selling it.  I’ve seen this over and over again, and wondered how we can do a better job at selling sustainability. So I’m developing sustainability sales training to teach others and I want to lead a national conversation so we can all benefit from shorter sale cycles.

About three months ago, I attended the Biomimicry Conference at the San Diego Zoo, which launched me onto a path to develop a better approach to selling Sustainability. At the conference the organizers pushed us to look at nature to solve our own challenges. My mission: Improve my sales techniques. The Result: I developed a craving for honey.

Sounds strange?  Perhaps.  But stick with me.

Biomimicry studies biological systems, processes, and elements to solve human business challenges.  Over the eons nature has evolved elegant solutions to many of the challenges businesses face today.  Example: The leaves of the lotus plant inspire dirt repellent paint, and termite mounds inspire energy efficient cooling of buildings.  The San Diego Zoo has partnered with the City of San Diego and local universities to become the world’s first biomimicry hub, encouraging more of us in the business world to turn to nature for inspiration.

My big break came months later when a green business owner friend said, "you're like a badger!"  No wonder I don't get invited to Christmas parties! It turns out the honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is more than just fierce and tenacious.  They are also collaborators, and are an inspiration for a better way of selling.

In looking for a rich meal of honey, the honey badger works together with a bird, the "greater honeyguide".  The greater honeyguide simply leads the badger to a beehive, and the badger breaks open the hive and eats the honey, allowing the honeyguide to eat as well. This is not a referral system... This is a “we both eat” system.

This type of relationship in nature is called mutualism, in which both animals benefit by working together.  There are many examples of mutualism in nature, but the inspiration of the honey badger provides green business owners a new direction as well.  

By working together with other businesses in a sale we can both eat the honey.  While many in the business world still follow the model of competition, a kill or be killed mentality, I say it’s not the only way to go if you choose to be financially sustainable.  Mutualism allows for my business to create opportunities for you, and for your business to naturally create sales opportunities for me.  By following the model of mutualism and looking for it in our sales environment, we can develop these opportunities, make the most of them, and save our energy for the hard part --- the close.


Check out more of my thoughts and quotes here: https://sites.google.com/site/therealyevesperez/Musings/yeves-perez-quotes


Learn more about me here: http://about.me/yevesperez