The Third Screen

The television allowed companies to send ads directly to consumers' living rooms, and the computer allowed them to start interacting with their customers. The third screen-the mobile device-changes the game in an even more radical way. The birth of m-commerce is not just about using the phone to pay for something. it is revolutionising the entire buying process based on location. Marketing has now become hyper-local. Author Chuck Martin explains how in this, the age of the smartphone - and now the tablet - the nature of marketing is changing as well, creating a new system of participatory advertising in which untetheredA customers and forward-thinking companies must exchange valuable information within the cloud.A In Singapore, for example, a mobile app has been developed that maps the insides of shopping malls so advertisers can target customers based on their exact location and shopping habits. M-commerce is also heating up in Europe with Italian and Swedish buyers warming most to the idea. Regardless of where buyers are located-or whether they're purchasing or just browsing-companies need to come up to speed on how to reach them. This essential guide allows businesses to keep up-and soar ahead-in the new world of m-commerce.