July 2005

Threshold News

The power of I don't know

“The CEO’s Secret Handbook” was a Business 2.0 cover story recently. The "secret handbook" turned out to be a somewhat underwhelming collection of common sense advice from Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. But Swanson’s advice on learning to say “I don’t know” did catch our eye: “Learn to say 'I don’t know.' If used when appropriate, it will be used often…. You are not expected to know the answer to everything. Smart people simply say 'I don’t know' – and go get an answer.”

On that same theme, in the June 27 issue of Fortune, management guru and best-selling author of Good to Great, Jim Collins says, “Great decisions begin with really great people and a simple statement: I don't know.”.

Finding the answer that follows “I don’t know” can present no small challenge, even for Threshold's really great clients. There are too many information sources to wade through, too much distorted data – whether deliberately or unintentionally distorted – and too many new search tools, techniques, and databases to try.

There’s no secret to what’s in Threshold Information’s handbook: the first step after “I don’t know” is “call Threshold to find out.” To support great decisions, there is no question too small or too broad. Let Threshold answer your questions about what is going on in the world outside your organization and turn your “I don’t know” into “I’ve got the answer.”

Opportunities In Business

The cell phone epidemic: business and social change opportunities

Mingling with a crowd at an urban street festival a couple of weekends ago, I was struck by the number of twenty-somethings and younger who were walking around with cell phones affixed to their ears. You may be thinking HELL-O! Where’s she been for the last couple of years? Yeah, I know …. but this time it hit me that there’s a whole deep cultural thing happening here. In this mobile world, new friendships are formed at warp speed, and for kids like my college-age daughter, on her own in a strange city for the summer, the cell phone has helped her form an instant temporary “family” unit. Keeping in touch with old friends is effortless, and checking in with mom and dad is more frequent.

So much for the social networking benefits of cell phone usage. Have you reviewed the business opportunity lately?

The scope of the epidemic: According to recently published mKids Study from NOP World, 75% of 15 to 18 year olds have cell phones. 85% of 18 to 24 year olds have cell phones, and even more remarkable 55% of seniors do. Overall mobile adoption in the U.S. has grown by 30% in the past year, with 70% of us now mobile, surpassing home internet users for the first time.

I’ve just learned to text message. Although I doubt I’ll use that feature much, 40% of other mobile users send and receive text “regularly,” with 18-34 year olds being the super-users. Other data and multimedia services are in their infancy, but are growing fast, too.

Marketing via cell: So how is the fastest growing mass medium being used for promotions and ads? In a word, cautiously.

In 2004, 13.5 million American Idol viewers keyed in the “short code” I-D-O-L-S to vote for their favorite performers. BrandWeek (June 27, 2005) reports that Coke, Pepsi, Claritin, and other consumer brands are learning to employ short codes in cell-based consumer promotions. For instance, instead of entering under-the-cap codes at Web sites, Pepsi drinkers punch the numbers into their cell phones and then type in the short code 46776 or G-O-P-R-O.

But the challenges to marketers who want to exploit the “third screen” in consumers’ lives (after TV and home PCs) are extreme. Only the very smartest campaigns will succeed. Besides the technical and design challenges of fitting content into such a small screen, there is the fact that unsolicited ads are seen as especially annoying. Unless the consumer really wants to see the message, it’s not going to get through. Teen People Magazine sends out weekly updates and news, along with ads and promos, to readers who have opted in. Teen People fully expects the campaign to succeed because young people who pass along their contact info in this manner are “an eager bunch.”

Cell phone finance: For some time, European and Asian mobile users have been able to point their cell phones at vending machines and buy a drink. Finally, the idea of cell phone as a wallet or credit or debit card may be closer than we think in the U.S. Several trials are in process or planned for locations in the U.S. and elsewhere.

One day soon utility bills, restaurant bills, amusement park fees, and more will be payable via cell phone. One appeal of this is that there are estimated to be 10 million to 20 million cell phone users in the U.S. who do not have bank accounts. These consumers may find wireless micropayments services appealing. And such a revolutionary approach to bill paying may be the perfect solution for the millions of cell phone users in developing countries, where financial systems and other supporting infrastructures are not firmly entrenched.

Cell phone price checking: In Japan, Amazon provides a cell phone download that converts one’s cell phone to a UPC scanner that links with Amazon pricing information. One can aim one’s cell phone at a product in a store to find out how much the same product would cost at Amazon.

Cell phone as a political and social change tool: A system has just been announced that allows charitable contributions to be made via one’s cell phone bill. Keying in a short code authorizes a cell phone carrier to contribute 25 cents a day to a particular charity. The donation is added to your cell phone bill. In return, the donor will receive regular updates from the charity.

In Toronto in September, a three day Mobile Active conference will explore the power of the cell phone as an organizing and campaign communication tool.

The recent worldwide, rocker-led Liv8 campaign to influence the G8 Scotland meeting asked viewers to sign petitions via cell phone text messaging.

To learn more about utilizing cell phone technology for communicating with your audience, these sites will get you started.

The Mobile Marketing Association is the premier global association that strives to stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technology.

Enpocket is a global mobile media company.

Aspiration connects nonprofit organizations with software and other technology solutions that help them better carry out their work. Their slogan is “Better Tools for a Better World.”

Opportunities in Technology

BIO2006: an industry dating game

It’s not too early to mark your calendar to attend BIO2006, an international biotech conference to be held in Chicago April 9 though April 12, 2006. 10,000 people from around the world will converge on the city to present papers, find research partners, and test the waters for investing in Illinois’ biotechnology community. The event is being planned and hosted by iBIO, the Illinois affiliate of the national Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

iBIO and other planners hope that the conference will ignite local biotech start-up activity and build on the state’s existing biotech strengths, especially in the pharma and agriculture communities. For those Threshold clients in the food and beverage industries, we would point out that the biotechnology food link extends beyond crops to the fermentation processes used to produce sweeteners, nutrients, and ingredients, as well as to the emerging field of nutrigenomics.

Ray Briscuso, Executive Director of BIO (Washington, DC), explains that these meetings are a sort of 'dating service' for potential biotech partners. The organization arranges hundreds of one-on-one meetings ahead of time, linking companies with like interests, and providing conference rooms and other support services for participants. Briscuso has remarked on the unique potential of the Midwest because of its large-scale manufacturing capability, especially in food and agriculture, which the East and West coast biotech centers don't have.

BIO2006 is being planned by iBIO (Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization), the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Coalition, and the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors. The State of Illinois has pitched in $1 million to help fund BIO2006 and another $4 million in support of the Illinois Technology Innovation Campus announced for the former Searle property in Skokie.

If you’d like to learn more about Illinois’ support of biotechnology, research potential partners, or track scientific developments in your areas of interest, call Dr. Alison Taylor, Director of Threshold Science, our team of highly qualified scientific, technical, and patent searchers.

BIO2005 took place in June in Philadelphia.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization represents the industry in Washington, informs the media, and provides business development services for members, large and small.

iBIO is the Illinois affiliate of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. iBIO’s mission is to secure for the Midwest Region recognition as one of the world’s great life sciences centers.

Illinois BIO members, an introduction to some of the firms with biotechnology interests that are based in Illinois. There are many others.

Illinois Science + Technology Park, a graphic overview of the Skokie site. Link backwards to explore Forest City’s other science parks.