You no longer hear much about the “Year of Mobile.” For a while, whether it was 2007, 2009 or 2011, you could hardly avoid the phrase, which was usually followed by a breathy announcement about some killer mobile programming (never mind if the site lacked Responsive Web Design). But now the phrase has become almost quaint, as mobile communications inexorably moves to the core of PR and advertising, sans any prognostications from the media mystics.
An increasingly mobile-computing universe got a major shove Thursday, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Alphabet’s Google plans to fold its Chrome operating system for personal computers into its Android mobile operating system.
The company plans to unveil its new, single operating system in 2017, but expects to show off an early version next year, one person familiar with the plans told the Journal.
The move is a long-awaited recognition that the different computing approaches embodied by Android and Chrome are no longer relevant to Google, the Journal said.
For PR pros, the pending merger is another reminder that, when it comes to the user experience, they need to think in more holistic terms, as opposed to desktop versus mobile.
They also need to think about their company’s or their agency’s app strategy, and how their products and services can be converted to mobile apps. According to the Journal, the new version of Android will also give PC users access to Google’s Play store, which offers more than one million apps.
Abandon traditional content plans focused on a linear buyer progression and instead embrace a consumer journey where no matter which direction they travel, they get what they need, stressed marketing pro Ashley Faus during O'Dwyer's webinar Apr. 2.
Freelance marketers and the companies that hire them are both satisfied with the current work arrangements they have and anticipate the volume of freelance opportunities to increase in the future, according to new data on the growing freelance marketing economy.
Home Depot's new attempt to occupy two market positions at once will require careful positioning strategy and execution to make it work.
Verizon snags Peloton Interactive chief marketing officer Leslie Berland as its new CMO, effective Jan. 9. Berland succeeds Diego Scotti, who left Verizon earlier this year. 
Norm de Greve, who has been CMO at CVS Health since 2015, is taking the top marketing job at General Motors, effective July 31.
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