As connectivity becomes ubiquitous, Yankee Group sees a new consumer emerging: one who wants all his digital experiences and activities to be sensibly and seamlessly portable. If we’re right about that, then businesses must adapt their digital offerings and services to the devices that Anywhere Consumers will use in the way they want to use them.

Is the Anywhere Consumer just this decade’s early adopter — a.k.a. the young, white, male geek? No. Quattro Wireless is a mobile advertising enabler focusing on helping publishers mobilize their online presence. Talking with CEO Andy Miller recently about the campaigns they develop and run with major U.S. consumer brands, he shared some clues of his own about the Anywhere Consumer:

• Anywhere Consumers are more likely to speak Spanish. Andy says their traffic shows a clear Hispanic skew compared to the mass U.S. online population. Why? Because for people without home-based broadband, their mobile connection is the internet link they depend on. Subscribers of pre-paid MVNOs like Leap Wireless and Boost contribute a disproportionate share of mobile marketing traffic today.
• Anywhere Consumers love the iPhone. “A sports marketing campaign we introduced before the winter holidays had respectable click-throughs,” said Miller. “But after Christmas, traffic surged in a big, big way. It was all driven by new iPhone users – just off the charts.” YG mobile marketing expert Linda Barrabee concurs: “iPhone traffic is definitely nuts. Those owners represent less than 1% of the U.S. base of mobile users, but they’re contributing more than 2.5% of mobile advertising traffic.” 

We’re working to paint a fuller picture of this fascinating new species. Stay tuned for an upcoming report from Josh Martin about what we’ve learned in the last year — and the changes needed to make digital activities successful with consumers who want to be anywhere. What clues do you see out there?