Smaato » mobilegroove

Next week MSG's new contributor Eliza Dashwood takes the helm to summarize the industry stats and reports that matter most. In the meantime, Smaato, mobile ad optimizer and mobile advertising agency, has given MSG exclusive access to latest

Mobile advertising, location services couponing and crowd-sourcing are just a few of the hot topics we cover in exclusive interviews with the CEOs of Aloqa, Waze, and Yoose, companies that won the prestigious Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009.

In this series – a collaboration between MSG and Smaato, a mobile ad optimizer and mobile advertising company – the companies speak out on key mobile advertising trends and what we can likely expect from MWC this week. They also comment on the meetings with eight top-notch VCs – introductions that are a big part of the Smaato Award.

In brief: We have hard words and constructive advice for Nokia, hone in on what makes Flirtomatic a textbook case of how companies should approach mobile and discuss this year's deal flow. A preview of the upcoming podcast series looking at winners of the Smaato Mobile Advertising Awards 2009 (Flirtomatic, Aloqua, Waze, Yoose and SPBTV). We also raise our goblets of Rock to companies (rather than individuals) making mobile exciting: Spanish games start-up LemonQuest and the line-up of cool companies in Augmented Reality (specifically, GeoVector and Layar) and visual recognition (Kooaba). Mobile Groove -- the monthly podcast I produce with Inma Martinez, leading digital media strategist, "free radical" and advisor to venture capitalists -- is back. This time we kick off with a hard look at Nokia strategy and question the wisdom of its decision to sue Apple.

In brief: A rundown of upcoming projects, a call to developers and publishers to submit their coolest ad-enabled mobile website, application or game for consideration and compete for the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009; and a reminder to check out a new mobile advertising white paper explaining the nuts and bolts of ad optimization. Mobile advertising is the topic of the week at MSearchGroove. I'm attending the Mobile Marketing Forum Europe in Berlin; MSearchGroove has joined forces with research firm ÆNEAS Strategy to partner with the Mobile Marketing Association and undertake the organization's first pan-European research project examining the attitudes of mobile buyers; and Smaato, a pioneering mobile advertising company that operates a leading mobile ad optimization platform, has launched Mobile Advertising Award 2009, thus kicking of the search among the world's developers and publishes for outstanding innovation. After the success of competition last year, Smaato is back with a bigger and better Mobile Advertising Award 2009. As Harald Neidhardt, Smaato CMO & Co-Founder put it: "With more than 100 entrants in its first year we could not ask for more positive feedback. We think this is a clear indictor that there is a lot of creativity and positive energy in the ecosystem. The best is yet to come!" This year, the competition is divided into three categories of ad-enabled mobile solutions: iPhone, mobile website and applications, and games running on all other platforms. Participation is free and you can learn more about the application procedure here. Deadline for submissions is October 9th. The winner will be announced at the Mobile 2.0 Conference in San Francisco on October 15th. The winning companies in each category will be invited to attend Mobile World Congress, the leading mobile industry event, in Barcelona (February 15-18). In addition, Smaato will introduce these innovative publishers and developers to VC's at the partner level. Other prizes include a booth at the hugely successful mobile industry event M-Days in Munich (January 28-29, 2010) and free event tickets. MSearchGroove is proud to be a media partner and – on a personal note – I am honored to be named to the panel of judges.

In brief: The discussion of paid content comes to a head with Murdoch's decision to charge for content – no matter what. Is this prudent? What options are available to publishers? We take a look at some ideas and profile a path-breaking new concept from mobile visual search/recognition company Kooaba that may allow old media to leapfrog into new profits. Plus: an invitation to cool digital companies to contact me personally. Regular readers will know that I work with a variety of organizations and publications, evaluating companies and candidates for awards ranging from the Meffys (awarded by the Mobile Entertainment Forum to recognize excellence and innovation in mobile entertainment and services) to the Smaato Mobile Advertising Awards (recognizing the best in mobile Web and in-app advertising) to the EContent 100 (a list of the 100 companies that matter most in the digital content industry). I am proud that EContent named me to its panel of judges to evaluate the 100+ candidates across the categories: classification & taxonomy; collaboration; content commerce; content creation, production, & digital publishing; content delivery; content management; content security; fee-based info services; intranets & portals; mobile content; search engines & technologies; and social media. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the many mobile and Internet companies that have contacted me to be considered for inclusion in the list, and issue a final call for candidates. Round 1 of the judging wraps up on September 1, so please reach out to me this week. (Please note that your contacting me does not compel me to put any company name on the final list of contenders and, of course, in no way guarantees that any company will be named to the list.) This year my participation in the judging team has not only introduced me to a number of new mobile industry innovators (companies you'll see profiled on MSearchGroove in the coming weeks). It has also exposed me to new thinking about digital content creation and distribution. The industry is at a critical crossroads. A milestone that speaks volumes: the storm brewing the media and digital industries after Rupert Murdoch’s very public announcement (after posting record losses of $203 million last quarter) that his News Corporation intends to charge for online newspaper content. WILL WE PAY FOR CONTENT?

It's a busy next couple of days as I put the final finishing touches to my mobile advertising webinars. First is my contribution (together with Dusan Hamlin, Managing Director of the agency Inside Mobile) to Multi-Channel Advertising, a webinar taking place this Wednesday at 10:00 am CET (GMT +1:00), organized by Mobixell, a provider of a comprehensive range of mobile media solutions enabling service providers to deliver mobile messaging, mobile advertising, and mobile TV. (You can register here.) The webinar dovetails well with my mobile advertising projects, including Mobile Advertising Research U.K., a research project MSG has undertaken 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. It draws upon primary research, including in-depth interviews with 15+ mobile executives, agencies, and mobile networks, including an interview this week with Freddy Friedman, Mobixell Head of Advertising. With my MSG hat on I will also request a later briefing with Mobixell (for MSG) to discuss recent news, new customers, and the role of mobile in a multi-channel advertising strategy. I've also wrapped up my contribution to a series on audio-visual presentations on mobile advertising produced by Henry Stewart Talks (HST), which will likely go live in early June. HST, a company with a 35-year tradition, provides access to world class seminars by leading thinkers and authorities from around the globe in one online resource. The company commissioned me to summarize the findings of both volumes of my extremely popular mobile advertising white paper series (sponsored by Bango): Mobile Advertising for Newbies, which provides a how-to guide to mobile advertising and analytics; and Mobile Advertising For The Masses, which examines the market opportunity for running campaigns in a mobile social networks. I am pleased to have the opportunity (as part of HST's Marketing & Management series) to educate the marketplace about mobile advertising and the pivotal role of mobile analytics.