A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that consumer usage of mobile coupons will generate close to $6 billion globally in retail redemption value by 2014.

Juniper Research’s new report - ‘Mobile Coupons & NFC Smart Posters: Strategies, Applications & Forecasts 2009-2014’ cautions that user apathy amongst the wider public, as well as lack of willingness to change and learn a new method of making financial transactions are potential stumbling blocks. This is despite NFC trial results which show very high levels of user acceptance.

“Marketers can use the mobile device as the ultimate personal marketing channel. It is almost permanently switched on and physically with the consumer. This makes a great opportunity for brands and marketing agencies to access clients immediately, driving footfall and encouraging an instant decision,” explained Howard Wilcox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research and lead report author.

Smart posters with embedded NFC tags will bring to life static billboards, creating immediate interaction between potential customers and their prospective purchases. By simply passing their device close to the tag, users can take away a coupon or product information that can result in purchase decisions.

Further findings from the Mobile Coupons and Smart Posters report include:

· ARPU from NFC coupons and smart posters will exceed ARPU from NFC payment transactions

· The vast majority of mobile coupon redemption value will be generated by the Far East & China, Western Europe and North America in 2014

NFC holds so much potential in changing the way we transact and engage with brands. It’s funny though because as much as industry experts claim how fast we are moving, I still see a huge barrier in acceptance both from a client level and consumer level.  Even such things as POS systems being able to scan the mobile barcodes itself has held back the ability to roll out mobile couponing on a mass level - let alone implementing NFC.  In the meantime, we are working with clients to find solutions around some of these barriers and have seen some great success in mobile coupon redemption across many campaigns.

Pretty sick demo of Layar which provides context-relevant data through the use of the compass, camera and GPS embedded within the phone. AR at it’s best and a look into how powerful mobile is.

As of late, I am finding a very interesting reaction to mobile marketing. Across the board, there seems to be a great interest in mobile and what it can do. However, in North America, it seems that there is still a great percentage of clients that while interested, remain hesitant to dip their foot in the “mobile pool”. As I have said before, I draw similar lines to where we were when online starting taking off. Many clients were interested but were hesitant to allocate budget to it. I’ve been involved in both movements (digital & mobile) from all perspectives - media buying/publishing, client and agency side. It was an uphill battle to prove that digital was the place to be (and sometimes continues to be, believe it or not) as it is today with mobile. We will eventually move to the headspace where mobile is just an obvious extension to an integrated campaign. In the interim, we have to keep telling story, showing the data, and pushing the power behind mobile marketing.

Below is a video grabbed from imedia connection. Watch as eight industry experts briefly discuss what’s holding the platform back.

Nine years ago, when I had my first foray into digital marketing, I remember the largest barrier we would see in the advertising world was that there was a large percentage of brands, companies and traditional media planners that would show no consideration to “online advertising”. We then started to see a movement where they would throw a minimal portion of the budget into online for “testing”. Thankfully I now rarely hear the word “hits” in relation to the number of views on a website, and digital or interactive advertising has evolved nicely and become a necessity in any integrated marketing plan.

However we are now embarking on a new journey and I see myself yet again part of an advertising movement that right now is in it’s infancy in Canada. Mobile marketing has gained great momentum in Asia, Europe with the US is following suite. Canada can be seen at the tail end with some great mobile evangelists pushing for change. There are, of course, many barriers that exist in the telecommunications industry that have prevented growth and are carrier specific. However day by day, we see positive changes in the industry, with our carriers, handsets, and with the adoption of mobile within Canada. A recent Harris / Decima survey has reported mobile penetration in Canada at 72% - up from 64% in 2006. With so many Canadians connected to their mobile phones, my obvious excitement stems from the opportunities we can potentially leverage in this new forum.

However, what I’m seeing is a lot of confusion in the marketplace in terms of how to leverage mobile. I am brought back to the early years of ‘online’ where people weren’t sure what to do and thought that a one off tiny test would prove the measure of the media. The same thing seems to be happening in mobile; confused and uncertain, tiny budgets are being allocated to “tests”. A one off SMS campaign, a voting application, a mobile banner campaign here and there. But that has never been my approach. To operate in such a fragmented way, will never resolve the original business problem and most definitely not demonstrate the true power and opportunity that mobile provides. Mobile should be viewed as one of the arms of an integrated marketing mix that has touch points across all forms of media that your target audience interacts with. Simply put, it is one part of the whole. We need to consider what the business opportunity or problem is, what are our marketing objectives, what type of experience do we want to enable? At that point, we will best be able to determine how to leverage mobile, in what way, and how it will interact, engage and flow with the other media vehicles in the communication plan.

As we did nine years ago, our success will be driven by how well we educate and inform our clients on mobile, the opportunities it opens up, and how we can begin to shape our communication with the consumer through one-to-one engagement and experiences.

Toshiba, Vodafone and Sony Ericsson are among 14 companies that have shown their support for the Android platform by joining the Open Handset Alliance. The other new members are: AKM Semiconductor, ARM, ASUSTek Computer, Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co, Softbank Mobile Corporation, and Teleca AB. They joing the founding members, who include Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola.

Alliance members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices. With these commitments, the Open Handset Alliance says it will continue to drive greater and faster innovation for the benefit of mobile users and everyone in the industry.

The new members will add to the momentum of Android device availability, it says, providing developers with an even greater opportunity to deploy compelling applications that will reach a global audience. As a result, consumers around the world will benefit from a superior mobile experience that features less expensive devices, more compelling services, rich Internet applications, and easier-to-use interfaces.

Can you get an Android handset in Canada?  Not as of yet, but apparently the T-Mobile G1 handset can be used in Canada if you don’t want to wait.  You would have to get it unlocked, put a Rogers SIM card in it, and use an iphone/data plan from Rogers.  After that you have to modify the APN settings and you are off to the races!  These are some exciting times in the mobile space and we are set for accelerated growth.