If you think this sounds like a Mickey Mouse term, youre right. In the Internet commerce world, its the meshing of entertainment content with product information. Ralph Laurens Polo.com has employed it extensively, but the term was created at Disney World. In fact, Disney staff are trained to be “Merchantainment Hosts” or “merchantainers.” The goal is to create a positive experience for park visitors so they will be inclined to buy more goodies.
Of course, we’ve seen loads of merchantainment Apps on the iPhone, haven’t we – many branded “applications” or “games”, that actually lean heavily on the brand of the company that supplies the App (usually via a developer)…. this is a trend that I see set to continue – and now we have a name for it!
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career
when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has
now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the
next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas!
He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently
became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years
when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to
'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make
your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device)
isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question
of why you continue to use it...
His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and
infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the
occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience
in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with
regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.