FluidNexus

Jamie Wells, from the mobilestance.com website, recently wrote a really great article entitled Andoid App ‘Fluid Nexus’ Aims to Move Mobile Messaging Off the Grid about the possibilities of Fluid Nexus in the world of marketing, a space that I have not thought much about. As I spoke about at the workshop, I’m quite interested in seeing how an application/object like Fluid Nexus is multiple, how it mutates in different contexts and is always partial depending on your point of view. Jamie’s article is great for this sort of perspective and I’m very thankful for this different point of view.

Why Marketers Should Care. By now you may be asking yourself, “Well that’s all well and good… but where is the clutter-clearing, super-interesting marketing application I was promised?” Well for me, it all starts at the end of the application’s official description, where Mr. Knauf and company, in an abrupt and seemingly self-conscious reaction to the aforementioned high-minded phraseology, come down from the clouds and throw the pragmatists in the audience this juicy bone: “Additionally, Fluid Nexus can be used as a hyperlocal message board, loosely attached to physical locations.”

The low hanging fruit here is clearly in the event marketing space – where countless applications for the technology easily come to mind. From basic messaging and exclusive mobile invites to celebrity chats and innovative crowd games. With this approach a marketer wouldn’t have to worry about wireless network coverage (a problem that comes up more than you’d think). Other benefits to the technology (over existing mobile messaging channels) include exclusivity (be in the know), cost (once the app is downloaded use is basically free to both the marketer and consumers alike) and the ever intangible and equally elusive “buzz factor.”