Do you remember your first cell phone? At the risk of dating myself, mine was a bag phone significantly larger than a shoe box. It weighed about 20 pounds and cost thousands of dollars to purchase. Minutes were very pricey. Driving up and down I-35 (my most-frequent route), there were more dead spaces than miles with signals. I had to think long and hard about whether to buy it, and those early bills often approached and at times exceeded $1,000 per month. Now virtually everyone is carrying one all the time. Once a luxury, cell phones are now commonplace. With 2.8 billion subscribers worldwide and 243 million in America alone, it is seldom that one goes out to eat, walks down the street, or even drives without seeing a cell phone in use. Now much more than just a voice communication tool, cell phones offer a variety of venues to connect with others, share information, schedule appointments, and access entertainment. It is clear that the ever changing cell phone and growing usage impacts our daily lives and economy. Americans tend to change cell phones roughly every 1.5 to 2 years and currently spend an average of $406 per new phone (not including service contracts or rebates). Over 25% of us carry more than one mobile device, and 86% of households have one or more cell phones—even higher than the percentage with landlines. The number of cell-phone-only households has grown significantly during the past decade with the most current government data indicating almost 14% of households are cell-only households compared to less than 1% in 2000. The average annual cell phone bill is rising (though it’s still far, far below the levels of those early days), largely due to the proliferation of new services. (Are you, like me, one of the unlucky parents caught by surprise by your teen’s astronomical texting charges?) In 2006, the average annual cell phone bill was $524 up 149% since 2001. Over the same period, traditional landlines dropped 21% to $542. While data is not yet available, researchers believe 2007 marks the first year households are likely to have spent more on cell phones than residential and pay-phone services. Counting corporate cell phone use, overall US spending on cell phones surpassed landlines several years ago. There is constant competition to produce the phone that does it all, most efficiently, and with the latest technology. The iPhone stole center stage when it came out earlier in 2007. People lined up to buy the new revolutionary technology at a price of nearly $600. Yet in the same year, T-Mobile came out with phones capable of making calls over Wi-Fi, something not even the iPhone could do. Constant competition means constant evolution of the cell phone. One new direction is marketing. Since they’re individualized and carried everywhere by consumers, cell phones have grabbed the attention of marketers. Marketing on mobile phones may seem invasive to some, but so far, mobile marketing is a supplementary form of highly targeted marketing that cell phone users can choose to receive. By opting in, users volunteer demographic information as well as phone use information. Currently limited due to the relative newness of the medium, much of the marketing is done in the form of SMS “short message service” where cell phone owners vote in polls, enter contests, or answer trivia advertised through other mediums (like the television show American Idol) with the choice of opting in to special cell phone marketing strategies. It can reach them at any moment of any day, most importantly when consumers are out actually making purchasing decisions. Initial response rates for mobile campaigns look promising, with a 5% click rate compared to 1% for conventional web ads. Due to the fact that mobile marketing is highly targeted and optional, ads have a greater chance of actually being read than marketing on the web. Estimates indicate mobile advertising will grow into a $1 billion-a-year market in just a few years. There is no doubt that mobile marketing will continue to explore options to reach consumers, but one needs not get too excited or defensive just yet. The truth is that while the latest and greatest phones offer capabilities that draw marketers in (video, Internet, texting, etc.), many Americans are still using older phones not Web-enabled and some even without text messaging. While these phones are expected to be replaced with more current editions, it will take time for the penetration of these phones to reach a number worthy of investing in a large amount of mobile marketing. What we are in now is a sort of trial and error period where marketers are interested, investing some, and trying to learn how to succeed in this new medium, what some now refer to as the “third screen.” I would hazard a guess that in the next decade or two, mobile communication technology will change almost beyond recognition. The opportunities for services ranging from marketing to business productivity tools are likely to grow by leaps and bounds. These new methods will doubtless make our current phones and services look as dated as my old bag phone would be today. Good news for those of us who can no longer imagine life without that constant source of contact.