• by Mike Bloxham , Op-Ed Contributor, March 13, 2014

As the remote control is to TV, so is the mobile phone to our daily lives.
 
The remote has become the pivotal command and control device for the all the time we spend with TV.  It enables navigation, recording and an as yet limited but evolving level of onscreen interaction. As Smart TVs gain greater household penetration (and are actually connected), this will only increase.
 
Similarly, the mobile phone is our daily command and control center for the hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute flow of our daily lives. The difference is, its pervasiveness in terms of both utility and presence is that much greater.
 
We use it for everything — including an increasing amount of video consumption — and as such it is, along with the tablet, the ultimate multipurpose device.  To some extent, it represents all the challenges of cross-platform communications and marketing.
 
Unlike the TV, which is all about viewing, the mobile is about communicating, working, playing, viewing and listening.  Not to mention shopping and browsing the Web, navigating streets and performing any number of daily functions, like ordering take-out, checking the weather and even talking to other people.
 
It’s this diversity of application that has led to a situation in which the device is both practically and emotionally embedded in both our routine and our psyche as human beings.
 
It’s also why the opportunity for relating to mobile users goes so far beyond advertising.
 
The wider opportunity reflects the nature of the device and its use. It’s not only about advertising but about marketing in the broadest sense. (In this regard, the Mobile Marketing Association made a smart move when it didn’t follow the lead of many other industry bodies and call itself the Mobile Advertising Association.)
 
Despite continued predictions of rapid growth in ad revenues in the mobile space and reports that mobile ad spend is overtaking print in some markets (the UK), we’re ultimately going to see that conventional ad dollars are not where marketing will net out in mobile.

Instead, they will play a bit part in the overall mobile marketing mix that focuses on delivering a broad range of consumer experiences that are valued by both parties .