Towards the end of this week a very revealing image started to circulate. In actual fact two. The juxtaposition of two images, eight years apart, of the crowd outside The Vatican was another piece of evidence that the mobile device has become a permanent addition to our every move.

The majority of us in western markets use a "smart-phone" from the first wake up alarm of the day to the final check of email / scores / the weather forecast at night and every conceivable step in-between. They have made citizen journalists of us all and allow us to transact wherever, whenever. I've now started to leave my SBUX payment cards at home and use the phone screen instead. It's a logical step to start investing more and more of our lives to a device which can, if used correctly, help us get the most our of the day, and night.

I believe that brands do not have to fully engage the mobile platform but they do need to know what parts of it they will exploit and have strong reasons as to why they can ignore other aspects. First rule - you need a customer base that ~~wants~~ desires to engage with your product on the move.

Turning back to that image again there is also a challenge to the manufacturers. Witness the travails of new owners of the iPhone 5, arguably the most delicate smart-phone ever made. Seemingly designed to be admired but not to join battle in the pockets, handbags and on the hard pavements of everyday life !