Every Single One Of Us » mobilegroove

In brief: A look at value chain confusion, the impact on mobile advertising and Hardee’s blueprint that brings some order to the value chain and benefits to people, PLUS Jumptap’s CMO Paran Johar talks about targeting and how to leverage it – and I can’t resist connecting the dots in Jumptap’s recent announcements.

The mobile advertising value chain is riddled with questions and shortcomings at this early stage of the game. Uncertainty over who has what place at t…

I'm still in holding pattern on the mobile advertising campaign exclusive I've been offered (and which I also wrote about in the line-up in the MSG header). I can't go live with the details, but I can say it is interactive, interesting and involves a major maker of sports goods and apparel. It is also designed from the ground up to allow us to connect around the content we co-create, covering the bases for a campaign I am convinced will have significant impact. This brings me to Mobile Advertising Research UK and an update on an exciting opportunity for agencies and brands to stand up and be recognized for mobile marketing campaigns that set the bar. The EverySingleOneOfUs Mobile Campaign of the Year Award 2008/9 rewards mobile campaigns that demonstrate flair, creativity and - above all - benefit us (through relevancy, ease of interaction, or the value to the individual). For more information about the prestigious award and how you can enter your campaign for consideration, please click here. Judging will take place during Mobile Advertising UK, a one-day conference (June 15 in London) organized Camerjam Events that brings together a who's who of the U.K. mobile advertising industry in an open and frank exchange to identify the opportunities and the obstacles. How can companies create value and increase ROI? Is market education the key to driving mobile advertising growth? What is the ideal ecosystem? What metrics must mobile deliver? These are just a few of questions this event will address. In addition to conducting an interview (more of a fireside chat) with Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK, during the conference, I will also present key findings from Mobile Advertising UK. Regular readers will recall that MSG was commissioned to conduct the research project - endorsed by leading global mobile marketing organisations, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB Europe), the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) - to expertly document the state of the mobile advertising industry in the U.K., identify growth opportunities in the emerging mobile advertising marketplace, and benefit stakeholders, shareholders and consumers worldwide. The organizers have also invited me to help judge the mobile campaign of the year, joining a panel of esteemed colleagues and industry experts including Jonathan MacDonald, founder, Every Single One Of Us; Andrew Grill, mobile advertising evangelist and blogger at London Calling; and Alfie Dennen, co-founder of Moblog, a provider of mobile blogging software.

Regular readers will know and appreciate that I got the most out of my frequent flyer miles last year, speaking at over twenty industry events across three continents. This year, and with the help of Stuart Willett, Director, Business Development, MSG has reached a tipping point and I can focus on what I love most: Commenting on the industry and creating thought leadership in the form of white papers and research projects (I'm thinking here of Mobile Advertising U.K., a mobile advertising project undertaken by MSG together with AENEAS Consulting, and endorsed by the major mobile marketing organizations). In order to focus my efforts on these exciting new projects, I will not attend CTIA in Las Vegas this year. But nothing could keep me from speaking at ThinkMobile in New York (March 18-19). From the moment that Matthew Snyder - ThinkMobile Conference Chair and Founder & CEO of ADObjects, a strategic cross-media consultancy - contacted me to brainstorm on the program and speakers, I knew this event was going to set the bar. (I have known and highly respected Matthew for several years, dating back to the time that he was responsible for mobile search at Nokia. He has drawn on 20 years of experience and contacts to compile an impressive list of speakers, and the pieces are in place to be sure this inaugural event pushes the boundaries.) We not only identified individuals with something important to say; we also invited people we felt were most likely to make a lasting and significant contribution to the mobile industry. If you want to see the direction the industry is going, and connect with the people who are going to get us there, then this is THE event to attend.

Following up on a new report from Bernstein Research, I'm back with a closer examination of the research (which focuses on the U.S. market) and an exclusive podcast with Jeffrey Lindsay, senior analyst and lead author. My special thanks to Jeffrey for fitting this interview in between trips. A value-add in this particular podcast: Another perspective on the controversial question: What is the potential impact of a tie-up between Vodafone and Yahoo? Overall, the report is a good read. It covers all the bases, from mobile ad revenue predictions to estimates for mobile search revenues, and it recounts the results of a road test (Google vs. Yahoo) to determine (literally) which provider is getting more bang for the buck when it comes to paid search. Indeed, mobile search performance is at the top of my radar as Peggy Albright (founder of Albright Research and MSG associate) and I have just wrapped up a white paper comparing mobile voice services available on the iPhone. More importantly, we have moved into the final phase of our the Mobile Search Performance Report (MSPR), an industry-first quarterly report documenting the mobile search experience across a range of geographies, operators, and search engine providers, providing insight into the key performance metrics, such as click-distance and mobile advertising relevancy. While I may have my issues with some of the Bernstein report findings, there's no arguing the fact that Google controls a sizeable share of the U.S. mobile search market, and that despite the fact the search giant consistently delivers a poorer user experience (an observation based on MSPR findings as well as those reported by Mobile Commerce during a recent Mobile Search Master Class). Based on brand reach research (number of visitors to a search property divided by the estimated total of visitors ever to access the search category ever in a month) and comScore estimates (as reported in September 2008), Bernstein Research reckons Google had 62 percent of the U.S. market in January 2009. Yahoo came in second with 30 percent and Microsoft's Windows Live finished third with 11 percent. Listen to the podcast here. [19:21]

After collecting a slew of stats for my recent presentation on the state of the mobile Web (at the invitation of Qualcomm), as well as background for my upcoming mobile search white papers and on-going mobile advertising projects (such as Mobile Advertising U.K.), I am well aware of the importance of critical and credible data points. To make the numbers easy to find, and even easier to understand, I will collect and share them here on a regular basis. U.K. MOBILE INTERNET: A new report from eMarketer - true to its name always an excellent source of mobile marketing stats and insights. U.K. Mobile Internet connects the dots in mobile user behavior. How many users are there? Between just 7.2 million and 17.4 million, depending on the report you read. But the report conclusion is hardly subject to interpretation: The mobile Web is "gaining ground in the U.K., and soon the audience will be large and broad enough to interest mainstream advertisers." Key drivers: iPhone and similar high-end devices, cool new apps, and improved usability. Still, more of the same are sorely needed to increase the number of people using the mobile Web.

Will 2009 be the year of mobile advertising? In Germany the question isn't associated with market hype; it's linked to the realization that the climate and conditions are right in Germany for mobile marketing to finally and formally take-off. Gone are many of the legal and business hurdles that have stifled ideas and innovation, paving the way for home-grown mobile marketing companies - such as MindMatics AG, Netbiscuits GmbH, Smaato Inc., and YOC AG - to take their place among international giants. This overview names companies and some interesting stats - thanks again to Mark ("Mr. Mobile") Waechter, independent media consultant and head of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in Germany. Mobile World Congress (MWC) introduced me to some exciting German companies sure to leave their mark on mobile. Some (such as the amazing aki-aki) I met during my day judging the Mobile Peer Awards (the winner in the Emerging Startups category was Popcatcher, a Swedish company set to do for radio what TiVo did for TV). Others I connected with at the reception held by Smaato to announce the winner of the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2008 (which was DialPlus, by the way) and finalist companies: aka-aki, buzzd, Fishlabs, fring, FunkySexyCool, Peperoni, Qeep, Skout, TourSpot and Vayyoo. I also had a deliciously disruptive discussion with Harald Neidhardt, Smaato CMO & Co-Founder, during which I also learned more about m.LOVE, a path-breaking group of "mobile passionistas" Harald has brought together to discuss the future of mobile and ways how "mobile advertising, mobile social communities and the society find solutions to be more engaging in the mobile media of the future."