The television allowed companies to send ads directly to consumers' living rooms, and the computer allowed them to start interacting with their customers. The third screen-the mobile device-changes the game in an even more radical way. The birth of m-commerce is not just about using the phone to pay for something. it is revolutionising the entire buying process based on location. Marketing has now become hyper-local. Author Chuck Martin explains how in this, the age of the smartphone - and now the tablet - the nature of marketing is changing as well, creating a new system of participatory advertising in which untetheredA" customers and forward-thinking companies must exchange valuable information within the cloud.A" In Singapore, for example, a mobile app has been developed that maps the insides of shopping malls so advertisers can target customers based on their exact location and shopping habits. M-commerce is also heating up in Europe with Italian and Swedish buyers warming most to the idea. Regardless of where buyers are located-or whether they're purchasing or just browsing-companies need to come up to speed on how to reach them. This essential guide allows businesses to keep up-and soar ahead-in the new world of m-commerce.

Chuck Martin is director of the Center for Media Research in New York, the CEO of NFI Research, an avid public speaker and the author of eight business books, including NYT business best seller The Digital Estate as well as Net Future, SMARTS and Work Your Strengths. With more than 26,000 Twitter followers, Chuck is an established social media expert and has also appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox and ABC-TV News Now. He served as brand manager for the Mobile Insider Summit (August 2010 in Lake Tahoe, NV). Visit his website and his blog at www.nfiresearch.com and his blog at http://www.thesocialcmo.com/blog/