Do you know anyone who does not have a mobile phone? These days, it is much harder for us to find a person who does not own a mobile phone. Even elementary students carry their own mobile phone. We use a term “Phono Sapiens” to describe present when almost everyone on earth has a mobile device.

In 2018, Sears, one of the most famous American department store brand, announced its bankruptcy. The primary reason of Sears’s bankruptcy was Amazon. Today, people does not have to visit a department store for shopping. I do not remember when was the last time my father read a newspaper that is literally printed on the paper. I do not even see newspapers in the bank.

What is Phono Sapiens exactly?

Because of the development of smart phones, people can access to any information quickly from anywhere. Now people cannot live without a mobile devices. In British economic magazine “The Economist”, the term “Phono Sapiens” was used to describe a Homo Sapiens using smart phones. No one expected smart phones to evolve this fast. In 2019, now advertisement using mass media no longer shows good effect like before.

 

What is causing this change?

The main cause of dramatic changes to economy is a smart phone. By using a mobile device, spending pattern of consumers also changed. Since 2007 when Steven Jobs first announced iPhone, Phono Sapiens will be new targeted audience for all businesses. Because the primary resources where Phono Sapiens get information is a mobile, the best ways to let consumers to know about business are social media and website.

Majority of Phono Sapiens uses social media such as a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Therefore, posting a advertisement on the social media will be more cost-effective. By posting advertisement which links to business website on social media, business owners can get double traffic: one from social media and one from search engine like Google.

Now, off-line marketing is no longer effective compared to online marketing. Businesses that failed to catch up with online marketing using social media and website will gradually eliminated from business competition.