What a country to spend a Spring Break. Part working with the community. Part chilling out. A few things have jumped out at me. The first is the inspiration of the people. Suffering through decades of civil war that ended in a most dramatic way. They just laid down their arms without a treaty in 1992 and haven't turned back to armed conflict since! Now they've elected a new leader and the hope is palpable. There's still a wide gap between the wealthy and the poor and the living conditions make it clear El Salvador is still a developing country. But the hope of the people is inspiring.
Next is their use of technology and the role of mobile in their lives. Here is where the difference when compared with the US is most dramatic.
Every family that I came across, even the ones who live in the most challenging conditions I have ever seen, use a cell phone. Land lines are non-existent. Texting is commonplace. I was always able to get a cell phone connection - all bars visible at all times as I was bouncing around in a van avoiding potholes on dirt roads that challenge Chicago's roads during the winter. Every village, no matter how small, had two things in common - cows wandering in the middle of the dirt road and mobile "top off" stations to load up with more minutes. The countryside was littered with cell phone towers, ensuring uninterrupted connection throughout the journey.
Mobile devices are a fabric of the El Salvadorian life. Yet marketers have yet to tap into mobile marketing. Perhaps it's because there's little in the way of marketing save for a few billboards.
As developing countries participate in the global economy, my bet is the large multi-national companies will bypass more traditional marketing techniques and leap to mobile marketing, similar to how land lines seem to have been forgotten in El Salvador.
Having also spent some time in Asia and Europe, it's clear that the global mobile phenomenon is ingrained in the lives of consumers. Japanese adoption of QR technology is but one example of how other countries are well ahead of the US mobile marketplace.
Companies who wish to market to this global audience should embrace mobile marketing - not as an experiment - as a pillar of their marketing efforts. Sure, you need to understand cultural and technology differences and adapt mobile solutions to the unique needs of each country. But global - even regional companies - risk becoming irrelevant by not investing in mobile marketing. El Salvadorians are but one example of the rich potential that awaits.
