What is UR txt msg str@tegy?

Two years ago my daughter, Anna, sent me her first text message. She borrowed her older brother’s mobile phone and composed this question, “Where R U?” When the message arrived I was happy to know that she was thinking about me. My initial thought was to reply, “@ wrk”. Before sending a response, however, I considered the real meaning of my daughter’s question. I knew that my daughter was not actually interested in my physical location. She did not care if I was at my office, a client’s office, or a restaurant. She really wanted to know when I would be home. She wanted to know when she would see me. She cared about timing, not location. I replied, “@ wrk, b home in 30.”

As I meet with people in large enterprises throughout the U.S., I often ask the same question, “Where R U?” My question, like my daughter’s, is context sensitive. The broader meaning of the question is “Where is your text message strategy?” Or more pointedly, when will your organization begin using text messaging and other mobile messaging services in your marketing, customer care, and collections processes? Like my daughter, I am not asking about geography or political positioning, rather I am asking about timing? And, I have found that very few organizations in 2008 can answer this basic text messaging question.

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