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No one, including those at Apple who created it, expected the App Store to become so robust and important in the lives of mobile users. POSSIBLE Mobile CEO Ben Reubenstein had one of the first 300 apps in the store and now leads a company working on some of the most popular apps, including ones developed for the PGA Tour, JetBlue and many Turner apps. Ben gives us his view of the next decade by reviewing events in the last one.

The hospitality industry still needs to put heads in beds, but how it goes about it has changed dramatically in the mobile era. Jason Craig, Director of Mobile Applications for International Hotels Group (IHG), shares ways to cater to varying customers and locales, and to build business. The lessons transfer well across all categories.

Gen Z'ers were born with a pacifier in one hand and mobile device in the other. Their media consumption is different in terms of day part, device, and source. But they aren't unreachable. Lessons on how to market to Gen Z are in this quick-hitting episode.

Just when we had this online and mobile thing nailed - yeah, right -- up came voice. Amazon has most driven this innovation and Dave Isbitski, the company's chief evangelist for Alexa and Echo, has taught tens of thousands. In this episode, Dave shares actionable steps to take for you to give voice to your brand. He also gives insight into consumer expectations around voice interfaces and how you should meet and even beat them.

Little irks me more than seeing someone refer to stats around mobile that are six months old or older. The practice is faulty and the individual is lazy. In this episode, consumer expert Lee Rainie makes us smart with the latest findings from the Pew Research Center. A listen will arm you to crush it in your next mobile programs.

A leading Google voice recently wrote a piece suggesting that now is the time to stop making excuses for mobile marketing failures or standing in place. I'll argue that the time was in 2013. Whatever. Where are we with mobile today and how can we use the answer to our advantage? The episode includes new case studies.

In a world upended by new technology and consumer behavior, it's still wise to rely on customer data and doing what has been successful for marketers for decades. Bruce Hershey, VP of Marketing at Tailored Brands, knows his customers at Men's Wearhouse and Jos A Bank like his job depends on it. Of course, it does. He shares how to make the info actionable as well as his views on "shiny objects" and how his team evaluates innovation.

Customers used to turn to desktops to accomplish more complicated banking chores. Now they insist on using their mobile devices. Fazir Ali, SVP, Digital Strategy, Product Management & Innovation for KeyBank, teaches us how to identify consumer needs and to meet and exceed them.

The "Year of Mobile" proclamations have finally ended. There is no doubt that mobile has become an increasingly important part of the marketing mix. But we have more work to do. Gartner's Noah Elkin returns in part 2 of my interview with actions to take to run more sophisticated mobile programs that amp up the return on investment.

Retail expert Ryan Craver returns to give us specific actions to take to sell more stuff in 2018. By all means, strengthen your app and web efforts, but also look for complementary efforts to go where many of your customers and prospects spend significant time.

Urine-testing toilets? Joe and Joanne Average don't even want you to know what's in their refrigerator. A look at what was on display at CES and what your customers and prospects are likely to say about them. Plus, actions to take to avoid chasing shiny objects.

Mobile became more important to marketers. That's the good news. But while marketers broadly agree that one-to-one communications with customers and prospects has nothing but upside, most are in the crawl stage which undoubtedly is adversely affecting their business outcomes. Gartner's Noah Elkin lays out the barriers in part one of a two-part episode. 

We all planned (OK, some of us planned) for the 2017 holiday shopping season. How did we do and what, pun intended, was left on the table? In Part 1 of a two-parter, retail industry expert Ryan Craver, a key voice in The Art of Mobile Persuasion book, gives us his insights and actionable advice.

Danielle Reubenstein, the POSSIBLE Mobile executive creative director, shares 10 years of app-making learnings. Here's a preview -- you'll be more successful pulling a rabbit out of a hat than attempting to build an app without strategy, teamwork, and an eye on business goals.

Whether you or your business - or both -- need a digital transformation is important to recognize, but then what? Last year's transformation playbook isn't the same as this years with the advances in augmented reality, AI, chatbots, voice, and more. Every day, Microsoft's Doug Gould helps people just like you figure this all out. Now he shares some actionable thoughts for podcast listeners. 

In the 10 years of the modern mobile era, apps that Ben Reubenstein and his team have built have been downloaded more than 100 million times. We went back to the POSSIBLE Mobile CEO to ask what changes are coming in decade two. Hint - while it's about scale, it is also about one-to-one connections. 

Frito-Lay North America Senior Director of Marketing Bart LaCount says that technology has changed how people purchase products and interact with each other. In this episode, he provides lessons for all marketers and encourages us to be curious and innovative and to take an audience first approach to deliver on personalization. 

The proliferation of mobile applications has spawned a new approach to digital analytics and user testing. Where previously these disciplines focused on behavior and user data within a large screen web browser, mobile applications live outside the browser and come in various screen sizes across many platforms. This presents unique challenges, but it also opens up new opportunities for data-driven optimization. Learn from Brad Gagne which actions are critical and what you should do first, then next. Brad, VP of Analytics for POSSIBLE Mobile, is a new colleague of Jeff's, who has joined the leading app-building company as a strategist.

By the time you've listened to this episode, Colin Gibbs of FierceWireless will have been pitched four more stories, including three with shiny objects and no there-there. Listen to the editor and longtime mobile observer tell us how mobile consumers want to act with brands. And discover actionable steps to make your mobile experiences more meaningful for your audiences and your business.

Ten years into the "it's on" mobile era - think the introduction of the smartphone -- marketers are still grappling with the changes in consumer behavior. Gartner's Noah Elkin has counseled brands since the beginning. In this episode, he shares the one thing that marketers must do to advance and prosper. And he provides insight on augmented reality, voice-enabled interactions, and the customer journey. And more.