The new plans announced by Rogers are not consistent with plans being offered south of the border by AT&T or in other countries where plans include unlimited data for around $30/month.

The Rogers iphone plan starts around $60 before system charges and other fees. It does include talk time… but only 150 minutes.  You also have a data limit of 400 megs of data… which is not a lot considering the iphone is heavily dependant on data for all their widgets and the average iphone user uses 8 of them on a regular basis.  

Americans on AT&T get 3 times more talk time and unlimited data for about the same price 

Even the Rogers heavy usage plan doesn’t offer unlimited data. Since the announcement and subsequent consumer backlash, they have now indicated that customers can use other “smartphone” plans instead of the announced iphone plans. For example, I could transfer my blackberry rates (~$100/month for data alone) to the iphone. Again, no big deal and still substantially more expensive than other iphone plans offered in other countries.

Wait at least a month if you still really want one and here’s why…

Bell just announced that they will be releasing the new Samsung Instinct on August 8th which will include an unlimited data plan. The Instinct is a touch-based phone like the iphone and offers many of the same features. The user experience isn’t quite as great as the iphone… but it’s a great alternative. Thanks to Kate for sending a tweet on that announcement yesterday!

I wouldn’t be surprised if Telus came out with a similar data plan for their HTC or other smartphone products too… which means Rogers will likely update their plans if they don’t reach their targets with the iphone.

There are two more reasons to wait to buy that iphone…

1. The Rogers deal to sell the iphone isn’t exclusive - which means another GSM provider can sell it. With at least one new carrier coming to Canada after the current spectrum auction finishes up in the next few weeks, it’s almost a certainty that they’ll be GSM based. Expect them to be in market later this year or early next
2. The iphone is a great device… but what makes it really super awesome are all the utilities, enhancements, and UI hacks available for those who were brave enough to jailbreak it.  As of today, there is no jailbreaking solution for the new 3G iphone… but it’s only a matter of time

If you haven’t made the dash to Buffalo or some other U.S. border town already to buy a first generation iphone, you can probably stand to wait a month or two for better rates and more flexibility in customizing & personalizing it.

In the meantime, feel free to join the following online petitions against the new Rogers plans:

• 
• Petitiononline.com

For many people, it’s Google all the way. Some people even find typing in a website into Google easier than remembering an exact URL in the address bar. It’s certainly a testament to the simplicity and power of their user interface.

Having said that, people are going beyond Google.  Nearly 50% of my total blog traffic now comes from search engines. Here’s a list of search engines in order of traffic volume to this site:

1. Google
2. Google Images
3. Windows Live
4. Yahoo!
5. Digg
6. Alexa
7. del.icio.us
8. Stumbleupon
9. AOL
10. Ask
11. Earth Link
12. MSN Search
13. Comet toolbar search
14. Icerocket

Although Google still clearly rules my reference traffic - does it rule yours too?

More importantly for marketers, does your search engine marketing (SEM) and optimization (SEO) strategy include most or all of the above?

It should be noted that rates for SEM in Canada are still relatively cheap when compared to the U.S. and other mature search markets.

Combined with a good SEO strategy, you can virtually own a category in a very short period of time

The future of search? It’s social and it’s mobile. But I already referenced that here.

Call it the natural beacon effect?

Whatever you want to call it, as a blogger or marketer you need to incorporate a facebook strategy as part of your overall marcom plan. 

Blogger tip: Add social bookmarking to your blog template so that people can tag your article to their favorite tool. Also include a twitter push so that everytime an article is published you will automatically tweet your followers with link.

Join me on August 19th as I present “marketing through social networks” - or the impact social media is having on event planning and communications at IncentiveWorks - Canada’s biggest meetings & promotions show.

You can learn more about the show & register here. Ironically, much of their content is served up as PDFs. How web 1.0

Most pitches suck. Mine usually don’t.

Here are some tips for those of you playing schedule battleship with me or another client for that pitch you need to sell to make those numbers in order to justify your job:

1. Confirm agenda / content before meeting. Before you spend all that time building the ultimate deck, presentation or pitch, make sure you are on the same page. There is nothing more irritating than having to sit through a presentation that is of no relevance
2. Confirm how much time you have - and stick to it. If you have an hour meeting, don’t use it all for your presentation. Allow for questions and interactions. Worse yet, don’t go over your alloted time. If the meeting is going really well and you are still running out of time, ask for a time check and confirm they can stay longer or suggest a follow-up time
3. Know your audience. A common mistake is to walk in to a room full of people and launch right into your pitch. Introduce yourself. Get to know the room - make a human connection first… and adjust your tone and approach accordingly
4. Read your audience. If they are checking their blackberries instead of making eye contact with you, chances are they are bored. Pick up the pace, ask a clarifying question, or just get to the point.
5. Practice. Practice. Practice. Your presentation should not be used as your presentation script. Practice at least 3 times before your presentation so that your comfort with the content and flow will be reflected in how it’s delivered
6. Bring your own projector - never expect your client to have one that is compatible with your computer… or assume that it will work
7. Bring your own internet connection. Most corporations are behind firewalls - so it’s silly to assume they’ll have open access for you. Get your own air card / toggle and be prepared if connecting to the net for a demo or whatever is required
8. Print a backup. Print may be dead - but it can save your presentation if you have technological issues
9. Bring your own power bar - it’s amazing how often the plug outlet is exactly 1 foot short of the table you are setting up on
10. Bring your own clicker - use a presentation clicker to advance the slides - this will free you from sitting / standing in one place

This six page PDF report is a must read for anybody wanting a preview into what the North American mobile market could look like in 5 years or less.

Although there are some variables unique to Japan, most of what they’ve accomplished is as a result of early adoption of high speed mobile networks (3G+), fixed data plans, and standards across all carriers for software adoption - all things that are just now falling into place for us in Canada.

There is also a 122 page detailed report available here for $3,000 for those with research budgets at their disposal!

Users can now self-select from 15 categories what types of ads they’d like to receive. For example, there are fashion, sports, and entertainment categories. An initial test of 20,000 users saw 82% make their own ad selection. CTR response rates in the test group was 3%.

This whole strategy is interesting and worth following over the coming months as it’s essentially taking the exact opposite approach of behavioural targeting which has been working great in other online channels.

If they can combine user behavioural targeting with self-selection, my bet is that response rates would improve even more. I would even test a subscription model for self-selecting “no-ads”.

Having said that, many mobile devices do not support cookies or other user tracking mechanisms, so trying out a self-selection model makes sense… for now.

Here’s a re-post of a video demo of their platform from this year’s world mobile congress:

Your new iphone is coming July 11th and it’s twice as fast as the one you bought in Buffalo a year ago and half the price - making this a device made for the masses.

It’s also coming with pretty much everything we were hoping for. My predictions were mostly right - 7.5 out of 9. The .5 was for saying the new phone would look different… I guessed that the new battery for 3G would make it a thicker device and we now know it will be thinner!

Some are disappointed that the new iphone isn’t coming with a front facing camera (for video chat), or a flash - or even a better camera. Nokia has a 5 meg camera with the N95… couldn’t we at least have a 3 meg camera?

Mobileme is a new feature that looks really interesting. Similar to other services i’ve seen such as SugarSync, Mobile me essentially allows you to synchronize your email, contacts, calendar and documents across multiple computers and your iphone. It also comes with push email - so like the blackberry, you will be instantly notified when email comes in. You even get your own login at me.com (I wonder how much they paid for that domain!) where you can access all your info through a web interface - much like MS Exchange today if you are on a corporate infrastructure.

Besides the business / enterprise updates, there wasn’t much to get excited about on the software front - but that’s ok. The official and non-official developer communities will fill in any missing pieces like they did with the first generation phone.

Having said that, it’s very cool that loopt is now part of the iphone 2.0 platform. Loopt is a mobile social networking platform that incorporates location. I blogged about this months ago here when i said the future of social networking is creepy. At the time i was more jazzed about a similar product from Alcatel called geopepper.

What is interesting is that Steve Jobs used the Treo 750 and Nokia N95 as comparison devices for loading webpages. It’s interesting because he didn’t mention 2 new products that will challenge Apple for downloading speed; the new blackberry bold and thunder (expected to be out this fall) as well as the new Nokia N96 which is a faster & updated version of the N95.

The new iphone, or iphone 2.0 or 3G iphone is a huge leap forward from the first version released over a year ago, but it’s still not the mostly technically advanced or sophisticated when compared to devices that are already on the market.

Having said that, who cares.

It’s not about the technology, it’s about the experience. Like I’ve said before, a great user experience will trump great technology and Apple has improved on something that was already pretty super awesome.

Why is that good news for Marketers?

Consider this… 98 percent of iphone users are browsing online, 94 percent are using email and 90 percent are texting. Approximately 80 percent are using 10 or more of the phone’s features.

For marketers who think mobile marketing is only about text 2 win campaigns, the introduction of the iphone and other competing products this year will make the mobile device a rich environment to acquire, retain, or grow customers beyond the 100,000 or so iphones that already migrated here in the last year.

The Rogers 3G network covers all the major city centres and / or about 60% of the country. It’s expected that the new iphone will be made available to 50 new markets this year - including Canada.

Back in April when Rogers announced that they had an exclusive to sell the iphones in Canada I made some predictions on what to expect.

Read those here and let’s compare notes in a few hours after the announcement!

The data is fresh - based on research from Feb 15 through May 15, 2008.

Here are 5 arbitrary highlights:

1. Average worldwide clickthrough rate for ads on the Greystripe mobile ad network is a remarkable 10.1%. This is around 6 times higher than average mobile banner ad programs
2. 47% of mobile gamers are between the age of 18-24. That number jumps to 75% when you look at 18-34
3. Men and women are pretty equally split in terms of usage (60/40)
4. 51% of gamers are the primary purchase decision makers in the household (although no word on whether living in your parents basement counts as a separate household or not)
5. Favorite types of mobile games (in order): Puzzles, Action, Arcade, Adventure, Mobile-Pets

Although no Canadian specific stats were made available in the detailed report, I’ve asked if any can be made available to be posted on this blog.

Marketers looking to reach the coveted 18-34 demographic should consider a test campaign using the mobile gaming channel.  With exponential growth in the console gaming advertising market over the last few years, mobile is a natural extension of that market.  

Greystripe is a leading ad-supported content distributor with over 65 million mobile game downloads to date. 

Click here to see my previous post on them from CTIA with a video demo of their product.

You can also request the full report by emailing insights @ greystripe dot com.