Off the heels of a successful rollout of the Apple iPad, Apple has unveiled the Apple iPhone 4.0.

While a prototype was discovered and authenticated earlier this year, questions still arise as to what Apple has up its sleeve. Will the company be able to raise the bar again within the smartphone realm, as top competitors like Google, Samsung and Motorola (for example) continue to close the gap in the uniqueness of the iPhone with similar products?

Does the new iPhone have enough “oomph” to propel it dramatically ahead of the competition again? Only time will tell if the public will embrace the fourth generation of the iPhone, but given Apple’s successful past, I am betting that the new version will be well received. What do you think?

I recently bought a new cell phone. I previously had a phone that let me do my email and instant messaging, but wouldn’t allow me to do much else. I learned a lot of important things during the process of buying a new phone. Most importantly I learned that I only TALK on my phone for about 83 minutes every month. (My husband, who supposedly hates cell phones, uses our other 1,317 minutes each month.) But I’m getting off topic…

When I realized how little I talk on my phone, I realized that I needed a newer phone that would allow me to do more STUFF on it. What else I needed to do on it wasn’t exactly clear, but how else could I justify the $219 we pay each month for our cell phones? (Two phones, both with data and 1,400 minutes.)

After the agonizing process of trying to find the perfect phone, I now own an Android Incredible. I’m still learning how to use it. In fact, I’m learning really important stuff about it every day. So far it’s helped me navigate to strange places across town and find a restaurant in the mall. I also now always know the five-day forecast. Yesterday I bought my first app for the phone. It is going to organize my entire life and I know it will be life changing. I have a long list of other apps that I want to find.

I didn’t grow up with a cell phone. I didn’t grow up with a computer, let alone email or the Internet. I didn’t grow up with a scanner, a fax machine, a color printer, or an iPod. I grew up with Trim Line phones, typewriters and record players. But in this day and age I use my phone to run my life. I use it for my email, instant messaging, my entire calendar, my grocery list, my to do list, Facebook updates, GPS navigation, the weather forecast, to name a few.

And that brings me—albeit in a roundabout way—to my point. Mobile banking. Clearly mobile banking is going to happen – it needs to happen. It’s a question of when, not if. Right now mobile banking isn’t on my list of things to do on my phone. For me to do mobile banking, I need my bank to receive all my bills electronically. And I want to be able to use my bank to do all my budgeting. Those two things would make mobile banking work for me. But right now I don’t want to pay bills remotely because all my bills are at home in a folder. Is there an App for that?

A popular payment method from Korea is coming to America: Visa is currently trialing contactless phone payments in San Francisco, CA. Phones fitted with small memory cards will become ‘electronic wallets’ that make transactions with store payment systems.

Visa, along with Apple, is also investigating applications that will ultimately allow customers to point their phone at an object and purchase it with a simple click.

A lack of technological infrastructure precludes American retailers and phone brands from rolling out contactless payments across the country anytime soon, but this does raise a host of issues. Paperless banking is one thing and the gradual disappearance of cash and checks is widely accepted.

However are cards to enjoy a short lived ascendancy? Will the contactless phone ultimately consume the debit/credit card? The ability for customers to point and purchase makes ‘on demand’ a reality in retail and has connotations of childish, impulsive, impatience.

In the wider retail world, impulsive purchases might be made in response to advertising installations or chip enabled billboards. Contactless phone payments are yet another example of the “right now” mentality that seems to permeate today’s society.

Some recent research suggests that executives have grown leery of Web 2.0 and are returning back to “the basics” of marketing. A survey in Marketingcharts.com and conducted by Anderson Analytics for the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) found that the number of members stating they were “sick” of Web 2.0 and related concepts like blogs and social networking doubled between 2008 and 2009.

Unfortunately, online social networking is not just a fad. According to a new Mintel study, Word of Mouth and Viral Marketing—April 2009, respondents aged 18-24 were twice as likely to mention online communities (43%) and video sites (40%) as generating information that led them to mention a product or service to others.

Web 2.0 is becoming more and more interactive. There are a number of new platforms that marketers can take advantage of to generate buzz and create dialogue with consumers:

“Gifts with Benefits” is a Facebook application that users can install to send others branded icons along with a product discount or free sample. Both the giver and receiver score a reward, so it’s a win-win.

Influencer Ads has expanded traditional banner advertising with “social networking functionality” that allows people to forward the ad on to others in their social networks.

Companies such as Whole Foods Market now use Twitter to respond to customer questions and comments. An examination of Whole Foods’ Twitter account reveals that customers (as well as media) utilize this resource to ask questions, and the company responds quickly.

Whether you like it or not, Web 2.0 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Might as well play nice.

While certain organizations can’t escape the spotlight at the moment (Toyota, the Vatican, Goldman Sachs), another company is enjoying the limelight as much as it can: Apple.

With the launch of the iPad considered a success, Apple appears to be on top of the world. While many within the company are celebrating a strong product launch, don’t assume that anyone is taking much of a break. Since the April 3, 2010 release of the iPad’s WiFi version, the company has been busy…to say the least. Apple plans to introduce a 3G version of the iPad in late April, but that’s hardly soon enough for admitted Apple fanatics.

Why don’t we discuss a few other impressive advancements from Apple?

Less than a week after the iPad release, Apple dropped the bomb that a new operating system for iPhones will be available to consumers as early as this summer. Not to mention that faster MacBook Pros will hit stores on April 13, 2010.

Add to that the recent buzz surrounding a patent application for 3D glasses, and Apple is poised to provide the public with enough tantalizing technological fare to leave them panting through the summer. The company is definitely unstoppable at this moment and consumers have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. Kudos to them.

The iPad is dominating our national attention, being described as the precursor to how we will use computers and communicate in the future. Whether you believe this or not, the iPad has inspired a flurry of innovation. Insurers are determined to get onboard.

This year, insurance companies continue to announce newly developed apps, targeting the majority toward auto policy holders. Last month, Travelers added itself to the list. Named “Auto Accident Help” for the iPhone and “Quick Connect” for the BlackBerry, Travelers apps are free for download. The apps can be used to ument the misfortunes of an auto accident, and if the incident is being documented by a Travelers policy holder, the auto claim process can be started immediately through the same app.

Many other insurance companies developed smartphone capabilities last year. Now, the trend is toward integrating insurance agents into the communication channel.

Universal American seems to have taken the lead by creating an app that lets the agent connect to its Lead Management System. In an email to agents, Universal American briefly talks about how the agent can manage and access active leads anywhere, at any time.

Additionally, Progressive proactively helps its agents develop an Internet presence. Progressive’s recent “Agency Reporter” tells agents how to improve Internet sales opportunitiesm including creating and optimizing a website and communicating via Twitter. Progressive writes about a discounted website development and hosting fee available to agents through its partnership with Web.com.

In a recent Mintel Comperemedia survey of agents, almost 25% responded that getting leads “is the biggest challenge [they] face as an insurance agent.” With this being the main struggle for agents, it seems that Universal American and Progressive have developed a couple of killer apps. The more insurance companies can help their agents find and nuture leads, the better they’ll do.

Already part of a very competitive market, Palm has its work cut out for it over the next few months. It’s attempting to add energy into the company’s sales, focus and branding. After worse-than-expected results for Q3 (a 19% decrease in shares to a 52-week low of $4.59), analysts are questioning if Palm’s stock price will hit $0 soon.

The company argues that despite high volume shipments to retailers, the product isn’t moving off the shelf because of lack of proper marketing and staff training. Palm is stating that retailers do not know the benefits of many of its phones, making it difficult to move product and in turn, change the downward trajectory in stock value. If this is the case, it seems education should be the key goal of Palm marketing and training, right?

It could be, however, that the product hasn’t fared well in comparison to other smartphones (iPhone, Blackberry) because it isn’t seen as a comparable product. How many consumers enter a phone retail location without an idea of the type of product they want? Not many, I’d assume.

So, is the issue an under-trained sales staff or that Palm hasn’t convinced the public that its product is superior to the top players in the market? If the company can’t do that, I agree with analysts that the company’s stock is going to continue to fall all the way to $0. The solution has to be in marketing and strategy, so hopefully Palm is revamping its strategy.

Most financial services companies are committed to the world of social media. But
what do specific groups think about financial companies on their social networking sites?

The older the respondent, the more likely they are to say that they use social networking only to connect with friends and family (70% of those 55+ vs. 50% of those 24 and younger). They are also more likely to say they ignore the advertising of financial companies (36% of those 55+ vs. 25% of those 25-34) and find it annoying (36% of those 55+ vs. 25% of those 25-34).

The good news is that these numbers do not tend to increase with income. The number of people who find financial advertising annoying actually drops off at income levels of $100k+.

So what does this mean? Financial companies may want to consider targeting by age on more specifically targeted sites. However, for social media overall, targeting by income will probably work best.

Offering coupons for local businesses like restaurants on social networking sites would be successful with 16% of consumers overall, but this drops off with age. The attractiveness of this incentive jumps substantially with incomes of $100k+. Providing incentives such as contests, promotional rates, etc. appeals to 11% overall. It similarly drops off with age but increases with income.

The percentage of respondents who agree that “the company donates to a cause I believe in” is an attractive incentive (8% overall), This drops off with age but jumps substantially with income over $100k. And the percentage who agree with the statement, “I feel more comfortable with a company after seeing it on a social networking site” (8% overall) drops off with age but is consistent across income groups.

I’m working on Mintel’s Social Media and Financial Services report right now (due to publish April 2010). I’ll keep you posted of other insights I find as I get deeper into the data.

We had a successful webinar yesterday; thanks to all who attended! Sorry about the sound difficulties at the beginning of the webinar.

Those of you who tuned in submitted tons of great questions about our financial services trend forecasts for this coming year. I’m crafting answers today and this weekend, so I hope to have them up on the blog by Monday. Please of course, feel free to use the comments field here if you’d like to submit more questions about our predictions.

In the meantime, Mintel Comperemedia’s fabulous marketing team has created a link to the webinar recording. You can either listen to it again (or for the first time if you missed it yesterday!) or you can download the slides to peruse at your own leisure. Click here to do so.

As social media networks continue to gain popularity, businesses are realizing the advantages of signing up for websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Companies have the ability to build their customer base, along with benefit from free marketing by using social media. Due to the constraints of the economy and its effects on marketing budgets, companies need to consider alternative ways to connect with consumers and maintain/increase business.

Let’s take airlines on Twitter, for example. It’s obvious these companies are adapting to the times and embracing the influences of social media. Airlines use Twitter to provide travel updates, promote special deals, disseminate company announcements and relay weather-related news. Companies within the airline industry also have the opportunity to connect with current and future customers in a non-invasive way, quickly and effectively.

In an industry that is as dynamic as air travel, dedicating energy to developing and maintaining social media accounts could greatly benefit business. Whether it be a savvy traveler or a savvy social media user, individuals will follow these forward-looking companies for key information and important updates.