Mobile Groove

I am honored to have had the opportunity (for the third consecutive year) to be on the judging panels for the Meffys Mobile Entertainment Awards (categories: Search & Discovery and Advertising Campaign). The Meffys are run by the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) and correctly dubbed the ‘Oscars of the mobile entertainment industry.’ Today I spent much of the day with colleagues David Murphy (Mobile Marketing Magazine), Pip Brooking (Media and Marketing), Jim Cook (MobiAdNews), Helen Keegan (Beep Marketing/Technokitten) reviewing the candidates in the two categories – albeit virtually since I was in my office near Cologne in Germany and they were gathered at the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) office in London.

In previous years I was most excited about the companies in the Search & Discovery category because I have purposely focused my career and this site on analyzing tools and technologies that assist us in seeking information/content relevant to our queries and in tune with our personal context. However, this time it was the progressive approaches to mobile advertising that grabbed my attention and won my respect.

(By way of background, last year the Meffys for the Search category recognized Gracenote, specifically Gracenote’s Mobile Music Platform, as a path-breaking way to enjoy and discover music on our mobile phones. During the last Mobile World Congress, I connected with Jim Hollingsworth, Gracenote Senior VP, Sales & Marketing, on behalf of MSG and bnetTV for a demo of this super-cool service. The video interview pops up at random in the bnetTV jukebox in the sidebar, so I encourage you to tune in when it comes around. This sector profile from Mobile Entertainment is also a help if you need a primer on the Music ID market, where Gracenote and Shazam are top contenders.)

I cannot divulge the mobile advertising campaign shortlist, nor can I deep dive into individual brands/campaigns/agencies. (The short list is slated for release next week.) But I can highlight the larger mobile advertising trends and models that merit a closer look.

What is different this year? Brands and agencies are much higher on the learning curve because they have got past the hype to ask the key question: What is the place of mobile in mobile advertising?

Is it ‘just another screen’? Or is it THE screen to rule them all? (More specifically, is it the 7^th Mass Media, as author and consultant Tomi Ahonen observes? Or is it the remote control to our lives as Alan Moore, likewise a renowned author and consultant, reminds us in his comprehensive white paper, The glittering allure of the mobile society? Or is it something else?

The jury is out on this one. (In fact, it remains a central question I ask brands, agencies, operators and enablers daily as part of the Mobile Advertising Research U.K. project). There are no easy answers, but I was truly encouraged by the number and variety of mobile advertising campaigns that successfully harnessed the unique characteristics of mobile to deliver a message that resonated with the target audience.

Back as promised with an exclusive podcast to connect the dots in the recent raft of announcements and get the inside track on Scanbuy strategy. Indeed, there are a lot of open questions since Scanbuy, a leader in mobile marketing solutions based on barcodes, surprised the industry in early April with the decision to make the specs for the company’s proprietary EZcode 2D barcode symbology “globally available.” What does this really mean and what structures will Scanbuy put in place to see this through?

These are just a few of the questions I explore with Jonathan Bulkeley, Scanbuy CEO. (Personal thanks to David Javitch, Scanbuy VP of Marketing, for streamlining my request and arranging the podcast, the first such in-depth interview since the announcement.)

To fully understand the significance of Scanbuy’s decision, it’s important to review the events and announcements that have effectively dealt companies up and down the mobile barcode business ecosystem (Scanbuy included) a new hand of cards.

First came the decision in February by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to re-examine the patent claims filed by NeoMedia Technologies, a provider of barcode scanning solutions. The move prompted NeoMedia to push forward in March on a patent licensing program and tie up with other vendors (3GVision, Mobile Discovery, Mobile Tag, and NeuStar) in a pilot program based on open standards in a bid to show interoperability between the technologies out there and – more importantly – position NeuStar, a short code registry, as a central clearinghouse in the middle. More about this model and Jonathan’s own take in the podcast.

In a special contribution from Mippin, a mobile portal providing mobile phone internet users access and enhanced discovery of optimized content for mobile phones, we look at Mippin Mobilizer, the company’s PC-based tool allowing publishers – including MSG – to mobilize and monetize web content to target new and existing internet traffic from mobile phones. Justin Baker, Mippin Marketing Manager, explains the process of mobilizing MSG step-by-step.

When Peggy recounted the main points of her recent – and extremely pragmatic –mobile advertising white paper and hinted that the next step might be to mobilize MSG, we decided the timing was right to provide publishers with a how-to guide to mobilizing their content using MSG as a real-life example.

And what better time that the week of Mobile World Congress (MWC), an event that showcases the best in the mobile space and celebrates an astounding 4 billion connections.

Behind the scenes, sparks continue to fly, prompted by the MSG exclusive interview with Jonathan Bulkeley, Scanbuy CEO. His only formal response to a recent and controversial CTIA white paper — work-in-progress that outlines the ecosystem and infrastructure needed to make 2D barcodes a viable business – counts 8 11 in-depth comments from industry insiders and executives. It will take a few design tweaks before comments feature on the MSG home page, but the debate is too good to miss. Check out the discussion here and the post that started it all here.

This week I wrap up some of the most interesting interviews in my career. It’s been over a month of collecting facts, figures and vision from 25+ mobile executives and luminaries, in-depth information that will be the foundation of the Netsize Guide 2009, which I am writing as we speak.

Is convergence the end-game? Will mobile advertising foot the bill for mobile content and apps? What is the real value of location? How can companies remain relevant to their customers? Are mobile operators -well- outdated? These are just a few of the questions I have the freedom to explore in the guide with the full support of George Yaryura, Netsize Strategic Marketing Manager. Our goal: To co-create a highly accessible and valuable publication for mobile professionals and practitioners. I must keep the keep the details of these interviews confidential until the Netsize Guide is formally released at Mobile World Congress. But I can share my take of the megatrends that matter and the industry developments that merit a closer look.

Top of my list is mobile barcodes.