MEF » mobilegroove

T-MOBILE CZECH STUDY SAYS SMS/MMS AD RESPONSE RATE 27 TIMES HIGHER THAN INTERNET BANNER CAMPAIGNS. The project confirmed the high response rates of SMS and MMS ads, based on campaigns from 22 advertisers, including Coca-Cola, Nestle, L'Oreal, Ford, Komercni banka and Eurolines. The most successful campaign had a response rate of almost 12 percent, while even the results of the least successful campaign were three times higher than the average response rate for Czech internet campaigns. Source The bottom line: These results highlight the potential of compelling, relevant and properly targeted messages. In particular, they illustrate how much more likely are consumers are to respond to SMS and MMS ads than simple Internet banners. Peggy adds: Mobile Advertising Research U.K. confirms this, but there's also a lot of mileage left in banners. For more on what makes for a great mobile advertising experience and a balanced value chain check back tomorrow for my take on a new-launch Hardees campaign. *** TOP APPLICATIONS ON THE APPLE APP STORE HAVE MORE THAN 1 MILLION USERS, according to AdMob's latest Mobile Metrics Report for May 2009. The report found that the most popular free applications in AdMob's iPhone network generated the majority of usage, with the top 5 percent of applications garnering more than 100,000 users in May, and some apps showing more than 1 million active users. A further 14 percent of applications had between 10,000 and 100,000 active users, while 54 percent of applications had less than 1,000. AdMob reached 15.1 million unique users through iPhone and iPod touch devices across 2,309 applications in May, with the average user accessing four applications. 44 percent of iPhone ad requests came from devices running the new version 3.0 of the iPhone OS, compared to just 1 percent of iPod touch requests. Source

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.