Africa stands out as an exciting market for mobile marketing - provided brands learn to speak frankly (and often) to people about the products and services they offer. To achieve this agencies must develop more than effective mobile marketing campaigns; they must architect ongoing conversations aimed at reinforcing brand value and delivering people a simple and accessible brand experience. Jonathan McKay, Creative Director at Praekelt, a company that develops mobile solutions for developing markets, discusses the massive marketing opportunity in Africa and reveals (based on his first-hand experience with brands) the approaches that fly -- and fail.
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With over one billion people and a voracious appetite for mobile content and information of all kinds, Africa is more than a market poised for explosive growth in mobile marketing and communications. It is also a sandbox for innovation and approaches that get amazing mileage out of ordinary feature phones and simple text messaging.
Faced with a dramatic and continuous double-digit decline in the ‘average revenue per user’ (ARPU) mobile operators have to learn how to sell more services to more customers better. But don't think that broadcasting offers to an even broader subscriber base will do the trick. Alex Vratskides argues that operators will have to embrace other mobile marketing approaches to make a convincing (and personalized) pitch.
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A recent report from Wireless Intelligence reveals that ARPU across the 27 European Union countries has dropped by a staggering 20 percent over the last three years -- and the decline continues. While prices for voice calls continue to fall, consumer demand for data usage—most notably video—is on the rise. But it's hardly a reason for mobile operators to break out the champagne, since delivering data and video requires them to make significant investments in their network capabilities.
June 28, 2011
Posted in Guest columns, Mobile Marketing, Permission marketing | 1 Comment »
Last week I attended two conferences in New York (the Mobile Marketing Association’s Mobile Marketing Forum and Jeff Pulver’s 140 Characters Conference) that showed how far we’ve come in the mobile industry.
First, my report on the MMA event, which offered the audience of 700+ attendees a mix of introductory content and advanced material. There were many highlights although some sessions covered well-traveled ground and were targeted to those new to mobile. The buzz centered on smartphones, location-based services, privacy, and the spirited and ongoing apps vs. the mobile Web debate.
June 27, 2011
Posted in Mobile Marketing, Mobile Social Media | No Comments »
Mobile and social is a powerful combination. Add discount offers to the mix and the result is social shopping where interactivity with retailers, brands (and members of our social networks) is the rule. But does a lack of relevancy limit the chances for Groupon, LivingSocial and other daily deals in mobile? Lisa Ciangiulli looks at how companies like Groupon (and more importantly, mobile operators) could leverage permission marketing to deliver us mobile offers we really can't refuse.
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The tidal wave of interest and activity around the deal-of-the-day model popularized by voucher vendors like Groupon and LivingSocial would indicate a business model built around delivering people good bargains is a great idea.
Author: Alexander Vlasblom
The proliferation of connected devices and platforms has encouraged more than 120 companies and providers – including online retail giant Amazon – to establish an application storefront and get in on the action. More application stores may mean more choice for consumers, but it also turns up the pressure on application store providers to choose the right business model, one that that will bring them mass-market success and competitive advantage. Alexander Vlasblom reveals the characteristics of winning and competitive app stores.
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What matters most to developers as they learn to market and merchandize their apps? What separates successful app stores from
When Netsize published its first report (Application Store Billing) in May 2010, it was the first in the space to identify and document the characteristics of a winning and competitive app store. Based on a survey of 1,000+ mobile professionals and practitioners across 67 countries, the report concluded that the four C’s - Convenience, Compatibility, Choice, and Charging are the top enablers of application store success.
The advance of smartphones, the avalanche of apps and the heightened interest in mobile video, mobile barcodes and Augmented Reality are combining to take mobile marketing strategies and creatives to the next level. But are marketers and mobile operators getting ahead of themselves? Caroline Doussot argues there is plenty of mileage (and money) left in simple text messaging -- particularly when companies ask our permission (and preferences) first.
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While our mobile devices and smartphones may be chock-full of features and functionality and our screen displays may be crowded with a wide variety of mobile applications, consumers still depend on text messaging to connect with the world around them. Whether chatting with friends and members of their social networks, or receiving alerts from banks and favorite brands, text is people's primary communications tool.
June 20, 2011
Posted in Guest columns, Mobile Marketing, Permission marketing | 5 Comments »
