Regular readers will know (and appreciate) that I am typically involved in several projects that amplify the analysis I post here at MSearchGroove.
To date I am working on an in-depth mobile marketing report documenting best practice among brands and agencies in Europe. I am excited to include M&S, a U.K. retailer with a holistic and human approach to mobile commerce, and Lufthansa, a major German airline that combines convenience and community in an app that sets the bar. (My personal thanks here to Stephanie Renda at match2blue who has agreed to re-connect me with Lufthansa and provide her insights for my report.)
January 31, 2011
Posted in MobileGroove | No Comments »
The global prepaid market is growing faster than post-paid, but winning and retaining these customers is no longer about extending plain-vanilla telephony services to people on fixed budgets. The advance of smartphones and faster 4G networks forces mobile operators to get smarter about how they offer data services (that were traditionally offered to post-paid subscribers) to everyone.
A recent poll conducted by research firm Ovum (and commissioned by Amdocs) reveals the vast majority of service providers and operators can read the writing on the wall.
Some of the leading wireless analysts issued reports this week, covering everything from revenue projected from the combination of mobile, social and local, to the size of the app business in 2011 and beyond.
First, a look at what Forrester thinks (views I was privileged to hear first-hand from mobile consumer expert Julie Ask during a private mobile marketing summit near San Francisco, where I also had the opportunity to present my views).
January 28, 2011
Posted in Mobile Apps, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Research | 2 Comments »
Mobile commerce and shopping are fast becoming an integral part of our daily routine, a development that paves the way for online commerce giants and credit card companies to capture the lion's share of this exciting and lucrative market. Or so we think...
The explosion in mobile purchases also plays squarely in favor of mobile operator billing. In fact, operator billing may be the "missing link that allows a significant increase in commerce involving physical goods and services."
The Mobile Mavens are back for the first monthly podcast of 2011 with a look at how universities are harnessing mobile to connect with students. A raft of recent press and reports shows that universities are becoming more creative in how they use mobile - specifically text messaging -- to connect with Millennials on their mobile phones.
From alerts about course materials and exams to invitations to join mobile forums and continue class discussions, mobile is front of mind with an increasing number of institutions and educators.
BTW: A great way to keep up with this exciting progress is simply to follow #mlearncon (as I do) on Twitter. That's where the discussion that began around the awesome conference (of the same name) organized by eLearning Guild continues.
How can mobile operators cash in on the huge opportunities in the Indian mobile market? There is no silver-bullet solution. However, a more flexible approach to revenue share agreements would jumpstart services innovation and -- ultimately - benefit mobile operators (and everyone else in the value chain).
To drive this point home I recount observations from my most recent trip to India. I also summarize a raft of recent reports from leading analysts that describe (and quantify) the market for value-added services (VAS). Gartner, for example, predicts that the VAS market, including data, will grow from $3+ billion in 2010 (or 15 percent of the total mobile revenues) to $5+ billion in 2014 (or 21 percent).
