mobilegroove » Vodafone

LAST CHANCE: MSG Offers Guest Passes To Open Mobile Summit, THE Premier Deal-Making Event

Peggy Anne Salz — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:46:26 +0000

UPDATE: Today is the last day to register and get one of my specially discounted VIP passes.

Here’s a link that will take you straight there: https://www.openmobilesummit.com/lon/register/step1.aspx?dc=MSEARCHVIP

* * *

Now in its second year the Open Mobile Summit (May 26-27, London) covers all the bases to again set the bar. I attended and spoke at this exceptional event last June and was struck by to things: the sold-out crowd and the balanced mix of speakers and authorities from companies and organizations across the entire ecosystem.

Doing business (and making money) in an Open Mobile world will require new thinking and business models. The caliber (and variety) speakers my esteemed colleague, Robin Batt, Open Mobile Media Founder & Executive Producer, has brought together for this purpose will undoubtedly deliver the audience some answers.

This is not just another mobile conference; it’s an industry happening – which is why MSG is extremely proud to be a media sponsor. It’s rare to find such an impressive gathering of thought leaders in such an intimate setting, and I look forward to connecting with this year’s speakers (participants include Spotify, Gowalla, Admob, Ogilvy, AKQA, Yahoo, the BBC, Google, BSkyB, MTV, FT.com, Opera, Vodafone, O2, HTC, Nokia and more – and all at the top executive level.

It’s just four weeks away and there are limited seats remaining, so you should register now.

MSG has 5 guest passes at just GBP850 (retail GBP1395). If you’d like one, register here with VIP code MSEARCHVIP . https://www.openmobilesummit.com/lon/register/ (First come, first served.)

WHY ATTEND

Whether you’re a start-up or a media giant, Internet company or mobile operator, ad agency or software company, mobile and Internet convergence presents a huge opportunity. Over two days the Open Mobile Summit provides participants a clear vision of how the industry will evolve in the next 12-18 months, which – in our fast moving space – is invaluable.

At the Open Mobile Summit you can:

Understand the business drivers of all the players in this fast converging ecosystem – the key to finding a successful business model for your services
Explore all the hot topics –mobile advertising, the future of search and discovery on mobile, the role location and social, content monetization models and mobile payments, apps in the cloud vs. the mobile Web and the impact of the iPad, to name a few
Do business with all the influential people –operators, handset manufacturers, Internet and media giants, agencies, software and application start-ups
Meet with me (a little humor here, of course)

So, register as soon as possible to ensure your place – if you’re quick, you might get one of my specially discounted VIP passes.

Here’s a link that will take you straight there: https://www.openmobilesummit.com/lon/register/step1.aspx?dc=MSEARCHVIP

Apps or Browsers? Speak Out On The Touch Web; Contribute To Our Collective Vision

Peggy Anne Salz — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:29:16 +0000

Reams have been written about the impact of the Apple iPhone on content production and content creation. Yes, we should be excited about the avalanche of apps and content, but we must also cope with the hard reality that one Web presence may not be enough. In fact, it may be that we are witnessing the emergence of a new Internet – one focused on delivering us an awesome experience across a plethora of touchscreen devices from dozens of handset makers.

Indeed, the outcome of recent platform and device innovation is what Forrester’s Josh Bernoff calls the “Splinternet” (with a well-meant nod to Doc Searls and Rich Tehrani). As Bernoff points out in his blog: “The whole framework of the Web (and Web marketing) is based around the idea that everything is in a compatible format. Any browser, any computer, any connection, you see pretty much the same thing. Now with iPhones, Androids, Kindles, Tablets, and TVs connecting to the Web, that’s not true.”

Put another way, the age of divergence is upon us. Sure, the Internet used to be the one place that connected everything and where all things digital were findable, consumable and accessible. Not anymore.

Now we have fixed, mobile and touchscreen Internets – to name a few.

To complicate matters, each new device comes with its own business ecosystem. Touchscreen devices, in particular, have their own formats, technology and – more importantly – advertising networks.

This could be one reason why Google has tied up with AdMob, a company that can place advertising where Google can’t, namely in apps and across mobile websites. Against this backdrop, Google’s purchase of AdMob for $750 million in stock in November 2009 can be read as a confirmation that the touchscreen device Internet is much different from the rest. Not to be outdone, JumpTap also announced its intention to be an advertising platform for the iPad. (Specifically, Jumptap’s new integrated mobile ad solution will support Apple tablet-compatible ad units by the end of this month.)

MOBILE TOUCH WEB

Taptu — a mobile search company — has tracked this development from the start, becoming the only search company focused on indexing what it call the emerging Mobile Touch Web.

Taptu recently released a report documenting this new Web and the “2nd wave of content” coming online specifically designed for mobile touchscreen devices. Unlike other mobile Web content, this content stands out through finger-friendly layouts and light-weight pages that are faster to load over cellular networks.

The company – which began crawling and indexing the Mobile Touch Web in May 2009 – scans more than 100 million websites each month using specialized software that detects whether a site is a website or one specifically designed for the Mobile Touch Web. It counts a whopping 326,600 Mobile Touch Web sites, a number that far exceeds the 119,047 apps in the Apple App Store and 22,000 applications in the Android Market.

By the end of 2010, Taptu forecasts that the Mobile Touch Web will have grown to more than 500,000 sites, and exceed 1 million sites by the end of 2011.

Taptu’s research also suggests the Mobile Touch Web is entering the mainstream, and will evolve to deliver consumers the same excellent quality user experience they currently get with apps. (Expect to see this accelerate as industry efforts such as the Bondi Initiative provide developers access to deeper device functions such as geo-location and presence.)

IS IT APPS OR BROWSERS?

This worthwhile post from ReadWriteWeb analyzes the Taptu report findings and comments on the split between browser-based sites (social and shopping, for example) and apps (games and entertainment, for example).

My take: The choice (apps or browser) depends on your business model. As Taptu points out: “Many [Commerce] products and services do not really fit into Apple’s iTunes content-oriented billing system.” Thus, social and shopping services/experiences are a better fit with the mobile Web. At the other end of the spectrum, gaming and entertainment content is perhaps better delivered as an app, “since apps deliver a much richer, more interactive gaming experience than the casual games available on the Mobile Web.”

The good news: it’s getting easier for publishers to create rich touchscreen users experiences in the browser without having to create platform specific applications. Even better: for many types of apps (commerce, for example), the economics of software development and publishing favors the Web development route.

The challenge: the Mobile Touch Web, though growing vigorously as Taptu shows, is not the only game in town. Thus, the pressure is on companies everywhere in the ecosystem (content owners, developers, publishers, advertisers) to re-think their strategies and adopt their business models to the existence of the Splinternet. This means creating a balance of touch-friendly content for touchscreen devices and the emerging Mobile Touch Web, while not losing site of the opportunities offered by the other Internets.

We face tough choices, but hoping for the Internet to become a unified place where everything is accessible and connected (again) is not an option.

YOUR VOICE/VISION REQUIRED (!)

Taptu recently joined MSG’s roster of partners and supporters, a relationship that will see MSG host an open discussion of the Mobile Touch Web via a Taptu microsite on MSG.

In the meantime, I am pleased to formally announce my collaboration with Taptu to identify and amplify voices/visions that best describe the impact this new Mobile Touch Web will have on our daily lives.

To this end I have spent the last weeks connecting with mobilists/futurists/experts to get their pick of the three ways the Mobile Touch Web changes all the rules. The result is a path-breaking presentation that illustrates how touch potentially changes information access, super-charges advertising/marketing and revolutionizes content creation, SEO and user experience. (By way of background, the inspiration for this project is Mobile Trends 2020, the phenomenal presentation created and curated by Rudy de Waele at m-trends that was viewed over 46,000 (!) times.)

My sincere thanks for inputs/insights to Hugh Griffiths, Saverio Romeo (Frost & Sullivan), Tomi Ahonen (author), Mike Short (Telefónica Europe), Jonathan MacDonald (JME.net/ Fluid), Dave Moreau (Fonestarz), Mark Curtis (Flirtomatic), Neil MacDonald (Nuance), Dennis Bournique (WAP REVIEW), Carl Uminski (Somo), Daniel Appelquist (Vodafone), and Alfred De Rose (Tego Interactive) for input and insights! I also look forward to input from Russell Buckley (AdMob) and Peter Vesterbacka.

Now I am opening up the project to EVERYONE EVERYWHERE.

I invite YOU to submit your ideas for consideration. The most visionary/thought-provoking views will be included in a collaborative vision of the Mobile Touch Web. DEADLINE: end-FRIDAY (February 26).

I hope you will submit three bullet points/observations that sum up how the Mobile Touch Web will likely impact our lives/lifestyles/experiences/ecosystems/businesses – the works!

Here’s a Taptu presentation to get you started – and you can download the full report here...

Introducing The Mobile Touch Web

View more presentations from Taptu Touch Search.

Knowledge is most valuable and impactful when we share it – so I hope YOU will get involved! Email your views/vision to peggy@msearchgroove.com.

Disclaimer: Taptu is an MSG supporter.

PODCAST: ChangingWorlds Reveals Real Impact Of Personalization On Mobile Advertising CTRs; Google Shows Mobile Advertising Is Hot (Again), But Will Personalization Make The Market Sizzle?

Peggy Anne Salz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:51:15 +0000

In brief: The MSG special report on content/advertising personalization continues with ChangingWorlds, an Amdocs company, and includes a review of the company’s recent road test of personalized mobile advertising across more than 200,000 people over a four-month period.

In preparation for my own industry report on personalization and recommendation I have spent the last weeks interviewing a who’s who of industry players and their customers (mobile operators/service providers), companies that are connecting the bread crumb trail we leave behind (browsing behavior, personal preferences, purchasing patterns) with an aim to delivering the right content/ad to the right person. Even better it’s in the right context. We’re not there yet, but the race is on.

My research uncovered a slew of companies sharpening their focus on collecting/collating/combining subscriber intelligence – mostly in partnership with mobile operators — for the delivery of content and advertising individuals are likely to appreciate based on their interests and those of their community. This special report profiles the players at the top of my radar

ADMOB, GOOGLE & DATA

I’ll have my take on the Google acquisition of AdMob later this week (doing a few more calls with sources). But if Google snapping up AdMob is the equivalent of the “shot heard round the world” for mobile advertising, then expect the battle to be fought on the territory at the intersection between content and context (the space where players can offer/boost reach AND targeting) will have the competitive edge. Granted, Google benefits from AdMob’s ability to deliver improved targeting, its deep understanding of mobile and expertise in formats that go beyond banners, but the end-game is all about intelligence.

This insightful post from Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus, an interactive marketing agency, sums it up best:

“With the acquisition of AdMob, Google now has access to usage data of many of the most popular mobile apps — especially the apps in the iTunes App Store. For iPhones. If Google is taking on Apple for mobile OS market share, they just scored a huge competitive advantage. Google will know more details than ever about how people are using iPhone apps, how they are engaging with advertising within those apps, and users loyalty to those apps.”

So, if mobile advertising is hot, then expect the mobile personalization space to sizzle.

AMDOCS CHANGINGWORLDS CORPORATE DNA

The timing couldn’t be better to continue MSG’s special podcast series on the top players in personalization. We kicked off with segments on Openwave and Bytemobile, and continue with Amdocs ChangingWorlds, an Irish provider of personalization technology that was recently acquired by Amdocs and is now part of Amdocs Interactive.

By way of background, Amdocs ChangingWorlds’ flagship offer is its ClixSmart platform – a solution designed to provide individual consumers with “proactive recommendation of content based on their preferences and context.” In a nutshell, ChangingWorlds’ ClixSmart platform includes a variety of solutions in areas such as content recommendation, mobile search and mobile advertising. Sitting at the core of this platform is a profiling and personalization engine that is capable of capturing subscriber intelligence by automatically monitoring the implicit behavior of how users use and navigate the mobile Web. The solution has been deployed by 50+ mobile operators around the world.

Data from Amdocs ChangingWorlds demonstrates that mobile operator customers that have deployed its personalization technology see an improvement in their bottom line and in the quality of the mobile Internet experience they provide. But it’s not just about delivering content people are likely to appreciate; it’s about the wider opportunities around enabling the delivery of more relevant mobile advertising.

PODCAST INTERVIEW

To this end Amdocs ChangingWorlds has developed Ad Personalizer, a solution that brings advertising into play, combining the company’s own Relevance Engine with the learned preferences of mobile users to identify, select and deliver more relevant advertising. But does it optimize inventory throughput and click-through rates (CTR)? I can’t judge from my vantage point (I’m hoping to get more from my interviews with mobile operators). But I can deep-dive into some stats and a study of relevance in mobile advertising to understand the technology and the results.

I caught up with Stephen Oman, Amdocs ChangingWorlds Worldwide Director Sales Engineering,to talk about the purpose of mobile advertising, the value of personalization and the impact of the open mobile Web (off-portal and the proliferation of app stores) on both. In part 1 of this two-part podcast series Stephen walks us through some surprising findings and key data points.

PROFILING: By looking at individual profiles and profiles of like-minded people Amdocs ChangingWorlds builds up a an Ad Signature, “a blueprint of an advertisement that describes the audience that is responsive to this particular advertisement based on who sees the ad, who clicks on the ad and who ignores the ad.” Because the system learns in real-time, it can change the ads shown people on the fly. “We take into consideration that user preferences change over time and this is where the artificial intelligence-based profiling really has its strength.” Picking up clues on what people like and dislike “we can determine which audience is right for the message.”

RESEARCH RESULTS: Stephen deep-dives in to the methodology and findings of a study looking at the behavior of 200,000 people over a four-month period. The data is more pertinent now than ever because it underlines the pivotal importance of personalization in the scheme of things. The takeaway: personalized targeted adverts are, on average, almost twice as effective as traditional ad targeting (according to where the individual lives, for example).

TELEFONICA O2 & VODAFONE: Stephen tells me both mobile operators reported a positive knock-on effect after implementing personalization. On-portal browsing showed an increase, as did the rate of opt-in to receive personalized services. In the case of Telefonica O2, “over 95 percent of mobile subscribers have opted in to receive these personalized services.”

My take: When it comes to turning mobile advertising into a viable business, relevancy (not reach) will likely separate the leaders from the also-rans. Targeting may not be a must-have of marketing messages on platforms such as the PC, but on our mobile phones (personal devices) the rules of engagement are shaping up to be quite different. My various mobile advertising research projects (which have included survey of real people) and my current ebook (where I interview players up and down the value chain) arrive at a similar conclusion: solutions that can connect the dots to deliver/draw our attention to content/apps/advertising that are in tune with our individual preferences will have a central role in the strategies pursued by mobile operators, mobile content/app retailers – and a slew of companies in between. The opportunity I hear less about is mobile CRM. It’s great to deliver a targeted message but the ability to adapt the message to an individual’s evolving tastes/preferences/desires is surely the approach that clinches the deal.

The MSG special report on personalization technologies continues next month with Part 2 of the interview with Stephen Oman.

After that we look at the all-new Novarra, a company that has cleverly and quietly aligned its server/micro-browser capabilities to focus on a much broader agenda. It’s all about providing operators, handset makers and Internet brands the technology and know-how to create new services and revenue streams (with the help of in-network intelligence, mobile Internet click-stream analytics and context information from Novarra).

Listen to the Amdocs ChangingWorlds podcast here. [16:05]

PODCAST: Bytemobile CMO Adrian Hall: Operators’ Can Win On Personalization; Does A Widget Bar Do One Better Than An App Store?

MSG DEBUT VIDEO: Xiam Talks Targeting & Filtering; Make Way For The Personalized Web!

GUEST COLUMN:Using Personalization To Pump Up The Volume & Increase The Value Of The Mobile Internet

Disclaimer: ChangingWorlds is not an MSG supporter. However, MSG has published a by-lined thought leadership column authored by a ChangingWorlds senior executive. MSG has also participated in an invitation-only thought leadership event organized by Amdocs.

AUDIO INTERVIEW: Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy UK Vice Chairman, Reveals Why Mobile Is Essential; Why Google Is Running Scared PLUS First Results From Mobile Advertising U.K. Research

Peggy Anne Salz — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:40:54 +0000

Back from Mobile Advertising UK in London with new and practical insights into mobile advertising and extremely positive feedback on my report findings.

Regular readers will recall that MSG was commissioned to conduct Mobile Advertising UK, a research project research endorsed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), to expertly document the state of the mobile advertising industry in the U.K. and identify growth opportunities in the emerging mobile advertising marketplace. The report – which combines valuable consumer insights gathered by ÆNEAS Strategy Consulting and Management (coordinated by my esteemed colleagues Tarik Fawzi and Atva van Zanten) and qualitative research based on 20+ interviews with operators, enablers, agencies, and brands contributed by MSG – will be formally released in July.

In the meantime, allow me to share some of the key findings and data points based on an online survey of 1,000+ UK mobile users. (And please follow along in the complete presentation below via SlideShare, and listen in to this audio interview via The Really Mobile Project, where I put some of the stats into perspective.)

Mobile Advertising Research UK 15 06 2009

View more OpenOffice presentations from psalz.

At a glance:

Today the mobile advertising market in the U.K. totals nearly GBP 30 million ($48 million).
Mobile advertising accounts for only 0.16 percent of the total advertising market – which is where Internet advertising was in 1998.
ÆNEAS Strategy forecasts that mobile advertising will see accelerated growth in four years and so account for a significant portion of advertising spending. Drivers include: A calculated growth rate of 99 percent in 2008 vs. 2007; the overall shift towards digital advertising; and increased demand for targeting, reach, and a medium that -like no other – allows advertisers to identify and track unique visitors. (For more on this unique capability and the benefits I encourage you to read my own road test of mobile analytics solutions.)
Only 32 percent of those surveyed have a positive attitude about receiving advertising on their mobile phone. However, 64 percent said they would accept advertising is they are properly incentivized, and 70 percent said they would accept mobile advertising if they are incentivized AND in control.
The majority of those surveyed felt 5 advertising messages per day was the limit of what they would accept.

Unsurprisingly, youth are most familiar with mobile advertising channels (specifically rich media such as MMS and in-game advertising (approaches we know from the likes of Unkasoft). What’s more a whopping 84 percent of youth surveyed has a positive attitude toward mobile advertising if incentivized. The bottom line: Acceptance of mobile advertising is right up there with TV and other more traditional media IF we can get our head around what incentives to offer and develop the mechanisms that put people in control.

No clue on the right incentives, but it’s not a given that companies need to offer cash to capture people’s attention. In the fireside chat I recorded with Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy UK Vice Chairman, we discuss the value of branded utilities and life-simplifying services. Will people accept advertising if the pay-off is less stress/more convenience? It sure looks that way!

Rory Sutherland audio interview

A highlight for both me and the audience was the entertaining and educational fireside chat with Rory, whose interest in -well – us and the finer points of behavioral psychology brought much-needed balance and big-picture vision to the discussion. As he points out in this recent opinion column in New Media Age: The job at hand is to use ideas to turn human understanding into business advantage. During our interview he made it clear that mobile is a medium perfectly suited to achieve just this goal. (Listen to the audio interview here. It’s 28:40 – but time flies when you’re having fun – and this sheer genius!

A few excerpts that made us think:

YES WE CAN!: Mobile can change people’s behavior – primarily because it takes the heavy-lifting out of doing things we might not do otherwise. Case in point: Charity. A moment of “epiphany” for Rory was the huge response to SMS campaigns asking for donations, although we have assumed that youth is not a demographic to give so generously. As he put it: “If this technology can change behavior that significantly, then who cares how good it is at advertising. Advertising is about changing opinions as a half-way house to changing their behavior.” The bottom line: If you can change people’s behavior from the get-go with mobile, then it deserves a top-notch spot in our campaigns.

LIFE-SIMPLYING: Rory’s message: Don’t dismiss branded utility because it’s unglamorous. Being brandedly useful is key. (And here is an example from Rory’s Twitter feed that illustrates this approach. The IBM Scout is a branded app that helps people get the most out of the Wimbledon 2009 Championships, providing live coverage of just about everything.

COUCH POTATOES: Let’s face it – many of us are. Rory figured this out when he was watching a line of cars at a drive-in ordering fast-food. Not one got out of the car to order at the counter – even though it was empty. Connect the dots, and it’s clear we are all a bit lazy. Apply this observation on basic human behavior to mobile and you have a powerful combination indeed! We will likely reach to the medium at hand (the personal device we have with us at all times) because it’s more convenient. “Channel preference almost trumps brand preference.” Some people may prefer Pizza Hut, but if they can order from Dominos by text, then they will likely switch for this reason. The bottom line: “Modality and modal preferences seem in a weird way to trump other things.”

WHAT’S THE POINT?: We have lost sight of what mobile can do. (A point that also came out in the research I conducted.) We’re hung up on old models and enamored of new technology, and we are missing some big opportunities. Imagine using text campaigns to encourage impulse savings instead of impulse buying. Or how about a brand that simply harnesses mobile to improve listening? As Rory pointed out: “Advertising is talking and listening. That’s a perfectly reasonable form of marketing, and mobile brilliant and you can do it in real-time.”

METRICS: We have become prisoners of our own metrics. To show us how ridiculous our obsession has become, Rory compares media buyers to alcoholics. “Alcoholics buy booze on a single metric: How much alcohol do I get per pound (GBP), and this is how media buyers buy media.”

MOBILE MATTERS: “Mobile has been the medium of first resort and dangerous to neglect it which is probably why Google has been scared. Search has been the first place you go on the Web and mobile preempts this in some respects.”

By way of background, Rory’s bio:

Born in Usk, Monmouthshire in 1965, Rory read Classics at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before joining Ogilvy as a Graduate Trainee in 1988. After 18 months spent as the world’s worst account handler (as a desperate remedial measure he was once booked onto a time management course, but got the date wrong) Rory became a copywriter in June 1990. He has worked on Amex, BT, Compaq, Microsoft, IBM, BUPA, easyJet, Unilever, winning a few awards along the way. He was appointed Creative Director of OgilvyOne in 1997 and ECD in 1998. In 2005 he was appointed Vice Chairman on the Ogilvy Group in the UK in recognition of his improved timekeeping.

By an amazing stroke of luck (his brother is an academic) Rory first used the Internet in 1987. Hence he had the advantage in 1994 of knowing what it was and what it might do a few years ahead of many colleagues. Most people would have combined this knowledge of marketing and technology to make a fortune; not Rory. Instead he became the first Briton to have his credit card details stolen online, thereby losing £22.45.

In his spare time, Rory collects self-aggrandizing job titles. He was President of the Direct Jury at Cannes in 2007, and was elected President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in 2009. He is also the Technology Correspondent of the Spectator, the world’s oldest English language magazine. At quiet moments in the proceedings over the next few days you may like to pay a furtive visit to his blog at http://snipr.com/da9bq

Rory is married with twin daughters of 7 (Hetty and Millie) and lives in the former home of Napoleon III in Brasted in Kent. Unfortunately in the attic.

Listen to the podcast here.

DATA POINTS: Vodafone Opens Up To Developers; Orange Traffic Hits New High; U.K. Mobile Advertising Research & Stats; Is Fremium Sustainable?

Mark Hawkins — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:21:59 +0000

VODAFONE OPENS: On Tuesday, Vodafone announced that it will stimulate a new generation of mobile Internet applications by providing Internet service developers with a single point of access to their global customer base. With direct access to Vodafone’s billing system and controlled access to other network capabilities such as location awareness, content partners will be able to reach all customers on their mobile devices.

Conducted through the global Joint Innovation Lab (JIL), which also includes Verizon Wireless, the initiative is designed to help developers create widgets for an audience of up to one billion customers across the four JIL partner networks.

This has been widely heralded as Vodafone’s venture into the app store market. Only after the APIs are released to developers will it be any easier to tell if Vodafone has a good chance of emulating the success of Apple’s original. (Source)

The bottom line: Betavine, Vodafone’s open source developer community will also need to play a key role in feeding out information and supporting developers.

***

VODAFONE MOBILE AD RESULTS: Vodafone announced on Wednesday that it had fulfilled its ambition to open up mobile advertising services to 18 operating company markets in the last 18 months. It reports strong revenue growth from mobile advertising services was experienced during 2008/9, and plans to continue the roll out, expanding the type of mobile advertising services and their reach.

Over the last year, Vodafone Marketing Solutions has run over 2000 campaigns across its global footprint for hundreds of global brands. According to Vodafone, these brands are enjoying considerable success with mobile banner campaigns and newer mobile advertising formats such as branded content, sponsored alerts, opt-in push messaging and advertising on service based text messages.

Vodafone says it will continue to invest in its advertising offering over the coming year by adding to its global reach through affiliates and partners- “including operators such as mobilkom, Proximus, Vodacom, and China Mobile” – and by seeking to extend the number, type and effectiveness of its advertising service portfolio. (Source)

The bottom line: These developments in mobile advertising can only be good for a still nascent, yet evidently burgeoning market with many new technologies to explore. As the technologies and partnerships develop, together with mobile Internet usage and penetration of sophisticated handsets, so will the numbers exposed to mobile advertising.

***

ORANGE TRAFFIC: Orange revealed record mobile Internet traffic levels. As a study by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) showed, the U.K. mobile ad market was worth GBP28.6 million in 2008.

The Orange World portal counted 3.25 million unique users between December and February 2009, a 26 percent increase on its previous Orange Digital Media Index (ODMI) study for the three months from July 2008.

Social networking continued to gain popularity, averaging more than 940,000 monthly unique visitors to sites such as Bebo and Facebook, each viewing an average of 397 pages a month. (Source)

The bottom line: This goes to show that mobile Internet traffic is strong outside the top two operators, with mobile Internet consumers increasingly happy to mimic their PC-browsing habits on the smaller screen. The statistics do seem generally skewed to a younger demographic. It would be interesting to see increased demographic granularity on these browsing statistics, and discover where older age groups head to for their mobile internet content.

***

IN-APP ADVERTISING: In-application up-selling is set to exceed $14billion by 2014, according to the latest Juniper Research report. Juniper says the “fremium” business model, in which free-to-download applications are monetized through subsequent micropayments from within the application, will become increasingly prevalent.

The iPhone is set to support in-app billing later this year as part of its operating system v3.0 upgrade, and Juniper expects other app stores to follow suit. (Source)

The bottom line: It should be interesting to observe the support in-app billing receives and how it is adopted. We are currently asked to pay to upgrade an application to the full advertising-free version, but this will ask us to pay to unlock new content such as the next level of a mobile game, or the most up-to-date video highlights of a match. Will it be an interruptive nuisance and create a negative user experience; or provide a compelling value added benefit to already appreciated applications? Watch this space, and check out this post for more commentary.

***

U.K. MOBILE AD SPEND: The U.K. mobile advertising spend rose to GBP28.6 million ($44 million) in 2008, higher than expected, according to a study from the digital marketing trade body Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Spending doubled in size on a like for like basis in 2008, jumping 99.2 percent year on year
Mobile ad spend was divided evenly between mobile display advertising (49.8 percent) and paid-for-search advertising on the mobile web 50.2 percent.
Mobile display, including banners, text links, tenancies pre/post roll and in game ads, accounted for £14.2 million ($22 million) in 2008
Paid-for search reached an estimated GBP14.4 million ($22 million).

The larger than anticipated spend was put down to several factors: A bigger audience, a better mobile user experience, increased mobile Internet usage – especially in social networking, better handsets, and growing mobile departments in U.K. media agencies. (Source)

Following a similar theme, comScore’s M:Metrics reported last Friday that 45 percent more U.K. advertisers ran mobile Internet banner campaigns in the six-month period ending March 2009, compared to the six months prior.

The bottom line: These statistics illustrate that far from being a neglected medium, U.K. brands are committing budget to targeted mobile advertising, which is reaching an ever-increasing audience. If many of these are only still trials and the total spends remain modest, then the figures produced when brands properly begin campaigns should make for compelling reading.

Open Rules! Open Mobile Summit Asks The Right Questions; Special Offer For MSG Readers

Peggy Anne Salz — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:22:41 +0000

You know the specter of the downturn has hit mobile when a super power like Google claims it can’t attend participate in industry events because of budget constraints.

However, smart companies know that a sluggish economy spell opportunity for businesses that know how to move forward when the economy is standing still. Indeed, the doom-and-gloom mood hasn’t stopped 50+ industry heavyweights from around the world from meeting in London in June for an executive brainstorm about the future profit opportunities in an open mobile world.

I am reminded of the recent MSG podcast with Tom Huseby, Managing Partner, SeaPoint Ventures, and his observation that there is plenty of money and opportunity in mobile, but it’s up to entrepreneurs to structure their good ideas so VCs get it. Mobile has enjoyed an exceptionally high growth trajectory and even the credit crunch can’t discourage VCs from investing. “On the whole, venture capitalists have not run out of money. The bars are high and it’s difficult, but my gosh, my advice to entrepreneurs is keep working on your idea until it does appeal to the money, or don’t use the money to do it.” What has VCs excited? Open systems, open storefronts and open operators – and lots of apps.

Against this backdrop, the timing couldn’t be better for an industry event sharply focused on what open is (and isn’t). Yes, it’s about new and increasingly open business ecosystems (where mobile operators can still play a central role provided they play according to the new rules). But open means much more. It’s about the convergence of platforms and devices to blur the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds, and transform communication, content, advertising, search and retail.

More importantly, open is about the shift from command-control to coordinate-cultivate, a seismic shift in how we do business and make money.

How do we get there from here? What models are sustainable and which are hype? There are no easy answers. However, the Open Mobile Summit (June 10-11 in London), produced by Robin Batt, an independent consultant with 13 years experience in the space, certainly covers all the bases to offer attendees insights that will allow them to take charge of the wave of change rather than be crashed by it. (In fact, even Google is attending!)

I was so impressed by the line-up of topics and top-notch speakers that I immediately signed on to be a premiere media sponsor and moderate the session on mobile advertising. I am pleased to report I now have 5 heavily discount passes to share with readers at just £995, valid until 26 May. VIP code: MSG. Register here http://www.openmobilesummit.com

The Open Mobile Summit, like the emerging value chain it represents, brings together world-class speakers from mobile operators, handset OEMs, wireless software houses, and Internet and applications companies, to explore how to profit in an open mobile economy. I hope you will join me and senior executives from T-Mobile, Vodafone, TeliaSonera, O2, Google, Nokia, Yahoo, RIM, Acer, LG, Motorola, and Symbian – plus a mix of VCs and industry analysts at this powerful cross-industry networking event.

The Open Mobile Summit provides an executive summary on all the key strategic developments – and growth areas – in mobile today. Including:

App Stores: Fad or Future?
Who will own the mobile desktop?
Beyond the phone
Internet vs made-for mobile
Future of the Operator Deck
Inter-connected Entertainment
Mobile Advertising
Where’s the value in open mobile
How to monetize mobile Internet
Open APIs and Smart Pipes

Full agenda here http://www.openmobilesummit.com/agenda.aspx

Speakers include:

Operators:

Christopher Schläffer, Group Product & Innovation Officer, Deutsche Telekom * Keynote Speaker
Kenneth Karlberg, President Business Area Mobility Services, TeliaSonera * Keynote Speaker
Yves Maitre, SVP Devices, Orange
Dr Mike Short, Vice President R&D, Telefonica O2 Europe
Hossein Moiin, Fellow Mobility, British Telecom
Tanya Field, Director, Mobile Data Group, Telefonica O2
Pieter Knook, Director Internet Services, Vodafone
Ed Candy, Former CTO, 3
Nabeel Mardi, VP Device Development, T-Mobile International
Christiane Vejlø, Head of Innovation, 3 Denmark
Chris Bruce, GM, BT Openzone
Geraldine Wilson, CEO, Truphone
Martin Wrigley, Director Technology, Orange

Devices:

Alan Brenner, SVP, RIM * Keynote Speaker
Christy Wyatt, Vice President, Software Platforms and Ecosystem, Motorola * Keynote Speaker
Aymer de Lencquesaing, Senior Corporate VP, Acer
Marco Argenti, VP Media, Nokia
Jin-Sung Choi, VP Mobile Communications, LG Electronics
Jon ‘maddog’ Hall, Chief Advocate, openmoko

Internet / Applications:

Hugo Barra, Global Director Mobile Applications, Google
Mitch Lazar, MD, Yahoo! Mobile, Europe
Frank Keeling, MD Europe, Glu Mobile
Steve Ives, CEO, Taptu
Ray Anderson, CEO, Bango
Paran Johar, CMO, JumpTap
Ted Wugofski, CTO, Handmark
Russell Buckley, VP Alliances Admob / Chair MMA
Ilja Laurs, CEO, GetJar
Jakob Berg, CEO, Popcatcher
Rob Lewis, CEO, Omnifone
Sean Kane, Head of Mobile, Bebo Inc

Software and Silicon:

Lee Williams, Executive Director, Symbian Foundation * Keynote Speaker
Morgan Gillis, Executive Director, LiMo Foundation
Kiyo Oishi, CEO, Access Systems * Keynote Speaker
Rich Green, former EVP, Sun Microsystems
Jon S von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera
Jay Sullivan, VP, Mozilla Foundation
Enrico Salvatori, SVP & GM, Qualcomm Europe
Gil Rosen, Vice President – Strategic Initiatives & Customer Experience, Amdocs Interactive

Analysts and Organizations:

Henry Stevens, Entertainment and Media Director, GSMA
Philipp Diebert, Executive Program Manager, NGMN
Tim Raby, MD, OMTP
Mike Grant, Partner, Analysys Mason
Matt Hatton, Principal Analyst, Analysys Mason
Caroline Gabriel, Rethink Research
Simon Torrance, CEO, STL Partners / Telco 2.0
Philipp Hoschka, Deputy Director, w3c
Peggy Salz, Editor, MSearchGroove
Ajit Jaokar, Founder, Futuretext
Stewart Anderton, Principal Consultant, Ovum
Robert Andrews, Editor, paidContent:UK

Content / Media / Agency:

Christian Lindholm, Partner, Fjord
Scott Seaborn, Head of Mobile, Ogilvy Group UK
Sunil Gundeira, VP Mobile, Disney EMEA
Barney Wragg, Independent Media Consultant
Rob Unsworth, VP, Digital Chocolate

Investment community:

Rajeev Chand, Managing Director Wireless, Rutberg & Co
Rod Hall, Executive Director European Comms, JP Morgan
Kaj-Erik Relander, Partner, Accel Partners
James Enck, Senior Partner, mCapital

I hope to see you there, and if you want to catch-up or meet-up, then please reach out to me at peggy@msearchgroove.com – or schedule a slot with my PA Andrea Henninge (andrea@msearchgroove.com).

MSG Joins With Every Single One Of Us; Undertakes Path-Breaking Mobile Advertising Research, Endorsed By Global Marketing Organizations

Peggy Anne Salz — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:23:08 +0000

The press release goes out on the wire tomorrow a.m. (I’m personally distributing it via MSG partner RealWire), but my colleagues have allowed me a little scoop on this one. Every Single One Of Us, a global effort aggregating knowledge, and authorizing best practice and methodologies that ensure optimal mobile advertising user experience, is kicking off the Mobile Advertising U.K. research project, which I’m proud to report also has the endorsement of three leading global mobile marketing organizations: The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK), and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

Following an RFP (Request For Proposal), MSG was selected from among five research and consulting companies to take the lead role in Mobile Advertising U.K., conducting in-depth primary and secondary research — including one-on-one interviews with 25+ executives at a mix of agencies, enablers, and operators in the U.K. — as well as online and mobile surveys of U.K. consumers. This ambitious and far-reaching project will be coordinated by ÆNEAS Strategy Consulting and Management, an international consultancy firm founded by my esteemed colleague Tarik Fawzi that has driven the development of innovative mobile advertising strategies on behalf of players in the emerging business ecosystem since 2004.

Our research will be the first such project to include the views of both advertisers and consumers, thus providing the industry qualitative and quantitative insights into trends and attitudes. As we point out in the chart below, which shows the USPs of a range of mobile advertising research, our collaboration will quite literally set the bar.

To an extent, Mobile Advertising U.K. will follow the blueprint of Mobile Advertising Netherlands, a mobile advertising research project spearheaded by Tarik and his team that was sponsored by some 20+ companies including GroupM, a leading media investment management operation; telecom vendor Alcatel-Lucent; mobile operators and service providers Vodafone, T-Mobile, KPN, and Blyk; and full-service media agencies Starcom, Marvellous, MADS, Webads, DQ&A, Mindshare, Icemobile, and Mediaedge:CIA.

As Tarik put it in a press statement: “Following our success in the Netherlands, we are ready to rumble, and roll this out across Europe and the U.S., starting with the U.K., and later Germany. We are pleased to be working with Every Single One Of Us and MSearchGroove, and to have the endorsement of three of the leading global marketing organizations, strengthening us in our mission to make advertising mobile.”

Connect the dots, and it’s clear this is not about creating yet another mobile advertising research report. It’s about encouraging discussions about emerging business models, industry issues, and areas of growth to help companies engage with potential consumers and ultimately drive mobile advertising revenues and positive results.

Why?

Because the success of mobile advertising and subsidized models based on delivery of content, applications, and services, is dependent upon the willingness of participants to accept advertising on their mobile devices. Ultimately, users demand advertising that relates to their interests and is tailored to their specific needs. Anything else – as Every Single One Of Us founder Jonathan MacDonald is apt to point out - “will be perceived as ’spam’, which degrades the experience, increases the likelihood of churn, and breeds a distinct lack of trust.”

To build end-user trust, Every Single One Of Us calls on companies involved in the mobile advertising ecosystem to ensure content is delivered in accordance with the 3Ps: Permission (people will decide what brand messages they interact with); Privacy (people will decide where their data is collected and how it is used); and Preference (people will decide what content they find relevant).

The research project stage will conclude by the end of Q2 2009, and findings will be presented on June 25 in London, as part of a larger mobile advertising industry event organized by James Cameron, who has started his own events company to roll out a range of conferences, seminars and master-classes based on the findings and work of Every Single One of Us.

All of us at MSG wish James all the best in his new endeavor!

Disclaimer: MSG has partnered with Every Single One Of Us to conduct mobile advertising research in the U.K. and Gemany.