• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, February 3, 2011

Interestingly, a significant percentage – 25% -- of U.S. smartphone owners don't know that they actually have a smartphone. They think it's simply an old-school, not-so-smart phone, er what we used to call cell phones.

How do I know this? Because Joy Liuzzo, the research guru at InsightExpress is telling us at the mobile summit.

Liuzzo, who did some special research for summit attendees, says this stat is one of the bombshells, and the reason it's so important is that that segment – a segment she calls the "pleasantly surprised smartphone owners" – behave more like regular phone users than smartphone users.

Liuzzo says that's important for marketers, agencies and mobile media folks, because there is a certain psychological disposition that this empowered, but smartphone ignorant segment has that is important to know, because they're not utilizing smartphone features the way cognizant smartphone users do.

For example, InsightExpress conducted some research during the 2010 holiday season, and found that 19% of smartphone users said they signed up to receive text message alerts from a brand vs. only 5% for non-smartphone users.

Liuzzo said those stats represent big implications for mobile marketers who want to communicate with consumers, and that as the smartphone becomes the standard. Actually Liuzzo said they already are, whether people know they have one or not.

"The smartphone now is The Phone," she declared.