Who uses tablets and e-readers the most?

I thought it was my house as we are getting on the tablet bandwagon in so many ways.

Asian-Americans are avid users of new devices and are among the first  to buy tablets and e-readers. That group joins US Hispanics on the top rungs of the technology early-adoption ladder.

Here is usage information and insights according to e-Marketer’s estimate of US tablet users:

• 14.4% of Asians have used tablets monthly this year
• 12.6% of Hispanics and just over 10% of blacks and whites.
• The gap should narrow, but it will take until 2014 for whites in the US to reach the same tablets penetration level as Asian-Americans.

Another study by Florida State University also found that Asian-Americans have among the highest penetration for both tablets and e-readers:

• 14% e-reader penetration rate, Asians are about even with Spanish-speaking Hispanics (15%), and a few points behind Hispanics who are primarily English-speaking (20%).
•  Asians are on par with Hispanics in possession of tablets, with 17% of both groups reporting ownership.
• Asians’ aspirational intentions for these devices are also high, with 35% saying they plan to have tablets within the next year.
• Spanish-speaking Hispanics have the highest intention to purchase tablets, at 41%. Non-Hispanic whites have the lowest intention to
  acquire tablets (22%).

Reasons for early adoption among Asian-Americans, who comprise about 6% of the US population, according to the study author  Felipe Korzenny, Ph.D.:

• They are more educated than average and have higher annual incomes than other minorities.
• Those two factors make them more technologically innovative types of people.
• Age makes no difference in emerging-device adoption among Asian-Americans.

So, if these groups are your target, you need to get thinking about how your and news content , conversations and community is being created and deployed on this  growing  technological platform among all groups of men and women.

In fact, JWT has created this insightful list about what marketers need to know about tablet content. (You may recall JWT produced a smart social media tuneup checklist this year too).

Social tools and technologies continue to seep into many organizations, transforming business processes and raising performance.

That’s the key insight from a recent McKinsey study (its fifth annual) on corporations and social tools and technologies.

Additionally, McKinsey & Company found that:

• Companies are improving their mastery of social technologies to enhance operations and exploit new market opportunities.
• Social technologies can boost a company’s financial performance and market share.
• Executives say that their companies are using them to increase their agility and to manage organizational complexity.
• Many believe that if organizational barriers to the use of social technologies diminish, they could form the core of entirely new business processes that may radically improve performance.

Additional insights and statistics include:

• 72% report that companies are deploying at least one technology, and more than 40% say that social networking and blogs are now in use.
• These technologies are being deployed across sectors, at the high level of 86% percent of the respondents’ companies in high tech and telecommunications, but at 62% of companies even in the energy industry.
• Levels of reported benefits not only remain high when respondents’ organizations use social tools for internal purposes but have also increased among those that use them for communicating with customers or for integration with partners and suppliers.

McKinsey also counsels:

1. Senior executives should think strategically about how social technologies can support business processes by helping organizations to navigate the external environment and to forge stronger links with customers and vendors.
2. Companies should integrate social technologies into the workflow and use them to optimize internal processes will, these results suggest, provide additional competitive benefits.
3. Don’t rest on your laurels — competition will increase as the adoption of social tools and technologies rises and as progressive companies use them to improve their processes. Integrating Web technologies into the daily workflow, the McKinsey results suggest, is the most effective way to maintain competitive position or become more networked.
4. Companies should prepare for more substantial disruptions. Since many executives believe that significant changes will occur as (or if) constraints on social tools and technologies are lifted, companies that can create change themselves—instead of reacting to it—are likely to benefit the most.

Social technologies are entering a fifth year in use among my clients and market, and I would expect to see even more advances in use and benefits next year, especially in B2B sectors. That is where customer integration and process improvements can be most effective and powerful.

My friend Gretchen Baker has started a coaching business, and she recommended this popular and enlightening book A Whole New Mind, Why Right Brainers Will Rule The Future by Daniel H. Pink. He also wrote the insightful Drive.

In A Whole New Mind, Pink describes a “seismic shift in our world today in which we are moving from an economy and society built on logical, linear, computer-like capabilities of the Information Age to an economy and society built on the inventive, empathic, big-picture capabilities of what’s rising in its place, the Conceptual Age.”

He describes the “six senses” on which professional succession and personal satisfaction will increasingly depend:

1. Not just function but also DESIGN – it’s no longer sufficient to create a product, a service, experience, or a lifestyle that’s merely functional. Today, it’s economically crucial and personally rewarding to create something that is also beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging.
2. Not just argument but also STORY – when our lives are brimming with information and data, it’s not enough to marshal an effective argument. Someone somehow will inevitably track down a counter weight to rebut your point. The essence of persuasion, communication and even self-understanding has become the ability also to fashion a compelling narrative.
3. Not just focus but also SYMPHONY — much of the Industrial and Information Age required focus and specialization. But as white-collar work gets routed to Asia and reduced to software, there’s a new premium on the opposite aptitude: putting the pieces together or what he calls Symphony. What’s in the greatest demand today isn’t analysis but synthesis – seeing a picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole.
4. Not just logic but also EMPATHY – the capacity for logical thought is one of the things that make us human. But in a world of ubiquitous information and advanced analytical tools, logic alone won’t do. What will distinguish those who thrive will be their ability to understand what makes their fellow men or women tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others.
5. Not just seriousness but also PLAY – ample evidence points to the enormous health and professional benefits of laughter, lightheartedness, games and humor. There is a time to be serious, of course. But too much sobriety can be bad for your career and worse for your general well-being. In the Conceptual Age, in work and in life, we all need to play.
6. Not just accumulation but also MEANING – we live in a world of breath-taking material plenty. That has freed hundreds of millions of people from day-to-day struggles and liberates us to pursue more significant desires: purpose, transcendence, and spiritual fulfillment.

Pink acknowledges that this vision may seem dreadful, suggesting a hostile takeover of normal life by a band of poseurs in black unitards. He feels that these high concepts, high-touch six abilities that now matter most are fundamentally human attributes.

He believes that these abilities have always comprised part of what it means to be human.  But after a few generations in the Information Age, these muscles have atrophied. Pink is convinced that anyone can master the six Conceptual Age senses.

What a fascinating way to look to the future. Thanks, Gretchen for recommending this compelling book.

The Muppets have always been a powerful brand. Now owned by Disney, the franchise of these loveable characters seemed to become dormant, almost retired.

That was until emerging Hollywood star Jason Segel Muppets’ passion motivated him to lobby (hard) Disney and Muppet folks to create a new movie which opened last weekend.

Like Jason, I loved the Muppets’ television show, a Monday night ritual (really) before studying at Ohio State. My passion was their off the wall humor. Jason’s passion comes from how Kermit inspired him as much as an actor as did Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart.

Jason and I are not alone as the movie featured Amy Adams as Segel’s girlfriend, Chris Cooper as the villain, Jack Black as the kidnapped celebrity host and cameos from stars including Mickey Rooney, Sarah Silverman, Alan Arkin, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Neil Patrick Harris and Zach Galifianakis.

In its first week, the movie earned about $42 million at the box office too.

After I watched the Muppets, I thought about the three brand building values they represent:

1. Entertain – Kermit and Ms. Piggy are about singing and dancing, and what and how does your brand entertain or make your customer feel better while or after using it? Is in it your social media, advertising or even packaging?
2. Experience– you leave the movie feeling good, so is your customer rewarded by using your brand, not in terms of loyalty, but in the distinctive benefit experience you provide? Do you have a clever demonstration or even app to showcase your brand point and even innovation or production process?
3. Engage – the movie is about connection and reconnection, so does your brand reach out and connect to our customer about your product, its benefits, trustworthiness and its value in their lives? What relevant proof or endorsement do you offer?

You may not be green or suave as Ms. Piggy, but you can use the Muppets to learn to how to use those three brand values more powerfully.

So, how are you entertaining, creating experiences and engaging your customers about your brand?

Business distractions, we all face them.

They can be as simple and frustrating as emails. Or they can be more complicated like your brand being kidnapped.

This happened to my friend Carol with a successful small business I discreetly call Love Food. Needless to say and understandably so, she was enraged.

She has invested her time, money, intellectual capital and sweat equity in Love Food, a comfort food idea that was gaining traction even in this challenging economy.

Then a major player in the food business I call Big Food stole her concept and even product names.

Food recipes and formulations can be hard to protect but she is pursuing her legal and PR options to protect her investment and combat Big Food.

Initially I counseled her on her business and PR options clarifying realistic business goals, establishing priorities, creating strategies, allocating resources (time and money) and evaluating her tolerance for the fight.

Most importantly, I asked Carol if she could afford this battle and how it might distract and disrupt her business, her life and her brand. She was seething for the fight. But I told her that we should both think about it for a few days.

She responded that she was ready to fight.

Upon reflection, I wasn’t.

I thought she might be better off engaging this distraction in a positive way. I value strategic counsel (usually mine the most) but why spend your resources on complicating and intensifying a distraction rather than creatively and positively solving the problem and possibly losing a relationship?

So, I thought Carol needed to direct her energy to answering these questions:

1. What would you gain from accomplishing your goal?
2. What would you lose (time, money, reputation, relationship) in accomplishing your goal?
3. Are you milking or building your brand?
4. If you were in your competitor’s place how you would engage this fight?
5. How much of your resources do you really have to invest in this battle?
6. How much of this would result in you winning the battle/ losing the war (brand and organization building)?
7. What is the primary point of your business and is that happening separate of this?
8. Do you know and understand that Big Food customers are Love Food customers?
9. If answer is yes, then how can you collaborate with them (others) to build your brand?

I am all for defending your brand, but at what cost?  I was reminded of this post that offered valuable advice on when to save a brand.

So, are you letting simple or complicated issues distract your brand? What can you do to evaluate them and convert your thinking into building versus milking your brand?

What questions do you ask yourself and is getting angry and getting caught up in trivialities that really are the wrong point?