Coupons. Gift cards. Loyalty points. These tried-and-true tools of the retail trade might not be as sexy as other forms of marketing. But together they account for more than $165 billion in purchasing power ($110 billion in gift cards purchased, $48 billion in loyalty points earned, and more than $5 billion in product coupons redeemed). That’s almost as much as total e-commerce sales.

via The Coming Branded-Currency Revolution  – Harvard Business Review.

Dr. Kohane brought together the SMART Platforms Initiative an organization backed by doctors at both Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital to rethink electronic medical records and service design firm Fjord to redesign the paper growth chart as an app. And then they made it open source to shake things up.

via How An Age-Old Chart Is Redefining Health Care | Co.Design

So one month ago, that got us thinking: How long before we could get by using just our smartphones as our wallets? How long before we could ditch that fat piece of folded leather stuffed to the breaking point with credit cards, IDs, transit passes, cash, and printed coupons? How long before we could rely on just apps and NFC? Has the day already arrived? For the past month, I’ve been trying to find out.

via My Walletless Month: Happier, Healthier and Ready to Ditch Cash Forever | Wired.com.

A recent Google research project found that 80% of searches on smartphones are spontaneous, as opposed to planned, and nearly half of those are goal-oriented. Often those goals are purchases and, to Jonathan Alferness, this is evidence of mobile’s role as a bridge — and an extremely valuable one — from the digital world to the physical one.

via How Mobile Can Be A Bridge to In-Store Shopping | Digital – Advertising Age.

Minnesota is the home to an amazing advertising, marketing, and interactive development community – some would say that everyone who works the state that I call home is ‘Above Average’.

No other conference helps elevate Minnesota’s talent like the MIMA Summit.  It’s the biggest annual marketing and technology conference in the Midwest, presented by the oldest interactive marketing association in America. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I’m MIMA’s Vice President.  So, I have a soft spot in my heart for the organization – not to mention that I’m a bit of a Minnesota towny).  

This year’s theme is No Boundaries: The Rapid Evolution and Diversification of Digital Marketing featuring keynotes by gaming expert Jane McGonigal and former Apple chief evangelist and best selling author Guy Kawasaki, as well as over 32 sessions with an incredible roster of national speakers on digital leadership, mobile e-commerce, SEO, digital strategy, social media and more (breakfast, lunch and a happy hour included).

And, you’ll network with over 700 of the smartest interactive marketers around (I know most of these people and they’re good folks).  I’m attending and I hope you will join us.

via MIMA Summit 2012 with Guy Kawasaki & Jane McGonigal – Minneapolis, MN- October 10, 2012.