Mobile Groove

Did Amazon’s Kindle Fire cost Apple some holiday iPad sales? Only Amazon knows. However, reports coming in over the last days indicate that Kindle Fire sales outpaced most analysts’ forecasts. What’s more, the new tablets device is seeing ad impressions grow at an average double-digit daily rate since its launch in the U.S. market in November, a data point that could mean the imminent release of the Kindle Fire in Europe could do more than burn up iPad sales. It may mark a seismic shift in how brands and sellers approach marketing in the mobile channel.

A raft of recent developments supports the observation that this device is indeed a game-changer, starting with buoyant sales numbers that have exceeded everyone’s expectations. Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente (via All Things Digital) has upped his original estimate of 4.5 million units sold last quarter to 5.5 million. Piper Jaffray is convinced Amazon is on track to sell 10-12 million Kindle devices (Kindle and Kindle Fire), up from the initial estimate of 9 million units. Meanwhile, analyst Tavis McCourt at Morgan Keegan has downgraded his iPad sales forecasts for the quarter from 16 million units to 13 million. (Again, sales lost to Kindle Fire.)

This year we have witnessed a seismic shift in how brands and agencies wield the power of mobile to deliver effective advertising, engage with consumers every stage of their daily journey and —ultimately — achieve business objectives that go beyond brand promotion and awareness to encourage commerce and continued customer loyalty.

The drivers are many and the impact is tremendous. The rise (and rise) of mobile retail, the advance of smartphones and connected devices, and the heightened interest among companies across all verticals (retail, automotive, finance, pharmaceutical — the works!) make it imperative for us as an industry and ecosystem to ask (and answer!) some tough questions.

It was the brands that told us with their increased marketing spends that 2010 was The Year of Mobile. Now consumers are the ones showing us through their actions — reaching for their mobile phones at every step of the consumer journey, from researching products to making purchases — that this is the Year of Mobile Commerce.

IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative has produced a new online retail benchmark study, research that compares Cyber Monday 2011 versus Cyber Monday 2010 and reveals some surprising trends. By way of background, these early holiday season findings are based on data from IBM Coremetrics Benchmark, an analytics-based, peer-level benchmarking solution that measures online marketing results, including real-time sales data from the web sites of more than 500 leading U.S. retailers. All of the data is aggregated and anonymous.

Mobile industry data points across 40+ countries, exclusive C-level interviews with over a dozen companies and organizations shaping our mobile future, three over-arching mobile mega-trends that define next year’s business agenda (and our society), and everything (!) you need to understand the state of mobile and prepare for the future.

True to its 10-year tradition the new Netsize Guide — titled Netsize Guide by Gemalto: Truly Mobile — offers us all this and more in one comprehensive industry resource, available from today for free download.

Who are the big-spenders in mobile advertising? In Q3 2011 the financial services sector jumped from third place in Q2 2011 to become the leading vertical in the U.S., ranked by mobile ad spend, followed by Entertainment, Retail & Restaurants, Telecoms and CPG (consumer packaged goods). Globally, finance placed number four.

This massive growth, with ad spend increasing over 356 percent year-over-year, confirms banks, insurance companies and credit card companies are aggressively usin…

People are increasingly relying on mobile for assistance to make a wide variety of product and purchase decisions, a seismic shift in behavior that spells opportunity for brands across all industry verticals, including automotive, retail, travel, finance, entertainment, pharmaceuticals and telecoms.

But there’s a catch. Marketers must develop solid advertising strategies that understand who their customers are, how they use their mobile devices and where campaigns can reach the…