The following post is an excerpt from Edelman Consumer Marketing’s 12on12, a compilation of essays from some of our consumer marketing leaders around the globe. We will be publishing an article from the series for the next four weeks. To read more essays from the 12on12 series, visit the Edelman Scribd Channel.

Riding Hong Kong’s shiny MTR subway trains, an observer is immediately struck by the number of commuters wired into (or playing with) their mobile phones. The city’s buses are Wi-Fi-enabled, and taxi drivers often have three or more mobile phones on their da…