2013 is shaping up to be the biggest year for mobile so far, as more consumers than ever shift over to smartphones and tablets: 17.4 million iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas day alone

Since the introduction of the iPad, brands and marketers have been trying to understand how these devices will be used and how they will impact their marketing channels. From what we've seen, the impact has been far beyond what anyone really expected.

Every few weeks, my wife receives text messages from her hairdresser reminding her about appointments or checking if she would like to book an appointment via a special offer. This started a number of years ago and has become a welcome part of her life. This approach has now been adopted by a number of other local businesses we use. We now receive alerts about offers, sales, Christmas opening times and other activities. For us, it's a useful addition that we find far less intrusive than a phone call and more likely to be read than an email.

Too many businesses are ignoring mobile. While up until now many companies have 'got away with it', this situation is becoming increasingly untenable. Over a third of the UK adult population now use smart phones, with a similar percentage in the US, and the market is growing existentially.

We know that 2012 is set to be an exciting year when it comes to the mobile internet, as 2011 was nothing short of explosive. Across our own global mobile ad network alone over 126 billion were delivered in 2011 - almost two-and-a-half times more than 2010.

In today's global village atmosphere, it's easy to think that we are all citizens of the world and forget that when it comes to running our day to day lives, we are all local creatures.