The term is ‘smart-phones’ and everyone wants to have them. But the point is: how many of us really want or know how to use them? According to a recent Harris poll of over 2,000 American adults, very few are using their mobile devices to their full extent.

 The figures are absolutely astounding. 40% of the respondents say that they have never scanned their phones for any reason while 45% say that they do not have a phone with that capability even when they did. This means that only a meagre 5% people have used the scanning capabilities of their phones. Talk about latent potential.

 From the report, a few interesting trends emerge. According to the report:

There is comfort in youth - younger adults are more comfortable than those older with each item listed;

Men are more comfortable with each item than are women; and,

Those who have scanned their smart phone for any one of a number of reasons are more comfortable with each capability than are those who have never scanned their phone, or do not have a phone with that technology.

This is one of the most intelligent surveys done and foretell of latent opportunities for both the smart phone manufacturer and a brand out there.

 A smart phone today can do really smart things that can make life simpler for people in our ever busy life and these are features that keep increasing by the day. Yet the users, busy as s/he is with life, are not able to figure out how to use or keep pace with all the features.

 What does this mean and where does this lead to? There are two components to this: one is the manufacturer component and the other is a general brand component.

 From the manufacturer point of view, a company can see a real value addition in helping, informing or training the buyers of the various features of their products. One does not really need to give anything, but a simple web link where a consumer can click to watch a video of how to use the phone and where more videos can be added can really work. This will do two things: one is obviously help the consumer understand the product, and secondly it will engage and entertain him. In today’s world, people have a great affinity for videos – something that companies can work for their own advantage.

Secondly, it becomes the responsibility of brands to help customers understand their phone by enticing them with offers that force them to use features of their phones. If the phone manufacturer does not leverage on this, brands can and thus make a permanent place in the mind of the smart phone user by giving him or her an experience of understanding and thus be pleasured by his phone.