By: Erika Stevens
Like most professionals, I have a hard time turning off my marketing and loyalty mind when I leave work for the day, and even on overseas trips, like my recent trip to Ireland. I viewed this trip to Ireland as a prime opportunity to gain deeper insight into a different culture’s unique loyalty atmosphere. Unfortunately that deeper insight was that I have a serious iPhone addiction, and the different culture’s unique loyalty atmosphere is rooted firmly in drinks and food shared amongst friends at the local pub.
In an attempt to save money and break my mobile phone addiction, I decided that 10 days away from my smartphone would do me good. I struggled to go through my daily life unable to settle arguments with Wikipedia and fiendishly asked for the Wi-Fi password at each bed and breakfast to immediately post pictures on Tumblr, catch up with family and friends on Facebook and read the news on CNN. My mobile dependency became more apparent when contrasted with how little the people in rural Ireland seemed to care about mobile phones.
In the absence of my best friends, Yelp and Foursquare, I was clueless when it came to dining options and what to order. The situation that at first caused me to panic ended up being a great throwback to the days of person to person recommendations and loyalty marketing. Life without a smartphone pushed me to ask actual humans where to go to eat and what to order. It helped me to appreciate the way the proprietors of the bed and breakfasts have a sort of coalition program with the local businesses and restaurants in the town. They had business cards and menus and were always sure to remind us to tell them who had sent us. Without any actual loyalty cards or a specific loyalty program they are committed to creating loyalty to the businesses of their area.
It would be nice to say by the time I got back from my trip I found myself not even caring about my phone but the truth is when the plane touched down in Philly I turned on my phone to check-in to the airport and find a place to grab some food. It was good to challenge my dependence to the mobile world but I’m glad to be back to my smartphone-enhanced life.