Monthly Archives: May 2010

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Mobile Internet Content Coalition petitions FCC to promote open mobile Internet

The Mobile Internet Content Coalition, consisting of 4Info Inc., Myxer Inc. and mobileStorm Inc., is petitioning the Federal Communications Commission in support of opening up the mobile Internet. The MICC’s comments to the FCC, drafted by law firm Arent Fox LLP, take a stand in favor of providing “consumers access to the content of their choosing without improper interference by wireless providers.” The MICC also proposes that SMS and MMS also be considered under the umbrella of the mobile Internet.

How mobile is evolving the media business

The once-static media landscape is evolving with the advancement of mobile technology, giving advertisers more options. Whether it is through mobile sites, applications or the recent trend of 2D bar codes and image recognition, media brands are taking note and evolving with the ever-changing world of mobile. Publications such as Entertainment Weekly, W Magazine, Golf Magazine, GQ, Wired and Marie Claire have all integrated mobile in some aspect.

Are US carriers finally making mobile marketing a priority?

With their wireline business on the down slope and competition ramping up in the wireless space, U.S. carriers are seeking alternative revenue streams and engaging in mobile marketing like never before. However, carriers are still struggling to figure out which vendors to partner with, how much data to share, which policies to impose and which monetization models and ad units to use. In addition, the explosion of smartphone adoption has been a double-edged sword: increased data revenue but also overburdened networks and the migration of traffic from on-deck to off-deck.

Juniper forecasts retail mobile marketing to exceed $8 billion

Recent research by Juniper Research has found the mobile marketing and retail sector including mobile advertising, smart posters and coupons, will exceed $8 billion globally by 2012. The “Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies” report found that retailers are already starting to woo consumers via the mobile channel using mobile ads and coupons, and the market for these two activities alone is expected to grow by half over the next couple of years.

Stock Market Panic Brings Surge Of Traffic To Mobile Web

During one of the largest stock market plunges in American history, Online and mobile-based financial sites were brought to their knees yesterday under the weight of worrisome investors scrambling for information and answers. Portals like Yahoo and Google Finance went down hard after news broke that the stock market was losing equity fast for relatively unknown reasons, forcing people all of the world to take to their mobile devices and computers in search of additional information.

Mobile devices set to interact with TV: Analyst

As demand for connected devices expands, Internet-enabled televisions form a category poised for growth. According to new forecasts from ABI Research, the estimated 19 percent of flat-panel TVs shipping with Ethernet in 2010 will grow to 46 percent in 2013, and connectivity is expected to become a mainstream feature. “In terms of mobile devices and the primary screen I would say there are two primary motivations for connecting or linking the two devices,” said Michael Inouye, industry analyst of digital home at ABI Research, Oyster Bay, NY.

Why brands must have a 360-degree mobile Web strategy

A 360-degree mobile Web strategy spans far beyond just a mobile-optimized site and means that brands need to tie mobile to their traditional marketing. For example, email campaigns are generating a lot of conversion traffic for sites. Including a URL to a mobile site will factor in mobile email users and provide them with a better experience than just throwing them onto a wired Web site on their device.

How retailers can leverage SMS for inventory management

One of the most recent trends on the retail scene is the private sale for inventory management, and SMS can serve as a great tool to get customers in for one. Research shows that after 60 days, an item at a retail location has about a 15 percent chance of being sold. After 90 days this number drops to just 5 percent, and that is why retailers are relying on private sales to keep inventory moving.

HBO taps SMS to build database during Mayweather-Marquez fight

HBO used SMS to drive awareness and pay-per-view purchases of a recent Mayweather-Marquez boxing match and to generate opt-ins for its own mobile VIP club.

Mobile Handsets Grow 19% in Q1

Global shipments of mobile handsets grew 19% year-over-year during Q1 2010, according to ABI Research. In total, 303 million mobile handsets shipped worldwide during Q1 2010. This puts annual global mobile handset shipments on pace to reach about 1.3 billion in 2010. Strongest handset shipment growth was seen in the Middle East and Africa (20% year-over-year) followed by the Americas, particularly the US (11%). Europe, on the other hand, is languishing with single-digit growth. It is also notable that 3G handset shipments eclipsed 2G handset shipments globally.

Facebook, Twitter Post Strong March Growth

Facebook and Twitter clearly surpassed all other major social networks in US year-over-year growth during March 2010, according to data from The Nielsen Company. In March 2010, Facebook reported 117.1 million unique US users at home and work. This represented 69% year-over-year growth from 69.1 million unique US users in March 2009. While Twitter only reported 20.1 million unique US users in March 2010, this still represented strong 45% year-over-year growth from 13.8 million unique users in March 2009. It is also worth noting that Twitter had a negligible 520,000 unique users in March 2008.

Low Ad Recall but High Response for Location-Based Services

In 2009, digital advertising solutions provider Eyeblaster set out to go beyond the click and measure user engagement with online ads according to a broader set of actions dubbed “dwell.” Users dwell when they mouse over an ad, or interact with a rich media placement, for example. The company’s “Global Benchmark 2010” report analyzed dwell metrics for billions of rich media impressions served in 2009 and found that high dwell correlated with high engagement, brand-related searches and ultimately conversion.

TheTMSway, the leading mobile company, picks 2 Strategic VP from FOX / Newscorp

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TheTMSway, a Hong Kong based company which provides a platform of services to create, manage, and distribute mobile campaigns in real time from any media (online and offline) to worldwide targeted consumers, has announced today that it has appointed Jonathan Ellis, a Senior Vice President on Sales and Partnership at Fox Asia; and Ben Money, a Vice President on Research and Strategic Sales at Fox Asia to assume roles at TheTMSway, following the recent appointment of jonathanBernhard Glock, a former Media Chief at Procter and Gamble.

TheTMSway welcomes Jonathan Ellis as new CEO of TheTMSway, and Ben Money as Managing Director on Strategic Sales and Data Management. The two are new line ups of the company executives who will be based in Hong Kong. Jonathan Ellis will be in charge of the company’s strategy and business development with Frederick Saurat, Co-Founder of TheTMSway, and Bernhard Glock.

“We are a young company with strong technology assets and a clear vision about the future of the mobile as a medium which must be considered as a real time bridge between brand media campaigns and consumers. I believe the success of a company is largely based on its team and with Bernard Glock, John and Ben we are starting to create a Dream team”, said Frederick Saurat, Co-Founder of TheTMSway.

TheTMSway will also launch this quarter a customization of its platform of services dedicated to Social Network markets, offering brands a mother board to manage their social engagement through different social networking sites (SNS).  The platform will provide the tools to deliver mobile coupons, invitations, and rewards directly from social posts driving the audience to the point of sales or events.

Bernhard Glock and Jonathan Ellis will provide their expertise and vast knowledge in the industry to guide the company towards global growth. Meanwhile, Ben Money will lead the strategic responsibility to organize the TMS metrics and data ‘Factory’.

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About TheTMSway Ltd

TheTMSway (www.tmsshortcodes.com) is a Hong Kong based company which provides a platform to develop, monetize, and promote mobile business. Based on a new technology (a new search engine of shortcodes), Telco’s neutral for real time interaction between Media and Mobile Internet, TheTMSway connects brands to consumers using the Mobile Medium as “1 click” bridge to engage in conversation and deliver personal content (marketing or transaction). In complement to its self-service platform www.tmsshortcodes.com, TheTMSway provides premium services for media and global brands.

Retail Business: Mobile web gained traction to US women, 93% active to promo offers sent through mobile phones

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The US market revealed that women are actively engaging to retail-driven mobile promotions, with 93% of them look out for promo offers sent via mobile phones, the Internet Retailing reported.  retailers

A study conducted by miBuys found that 93% of women are actively looking out for promo offers sent through their phones, or on mobile web. In a report published at Internet Retailing, the study uncovers the women’s attitudes and usage to mobile web, and m-commerce on mobile web in particular, with time spent mostly focused on fashion, clothing, and accessories. The meal category, which was dubbed as lion’s share in the distribution of mobile coupons in the region, went down at third only.

A clear preference to mobile coupons related to retail goods and services went at 53% compared to dining at 16%. The mobile coupons relating to concerts and events became the second option at 21% – pronounced to be the most interesting area.

Meanwhile, Facebook and Yahoo Groups grabbed the top pick in the online community category with an approximate of 52% while 41% went to MySpace, and 23% to others.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Mobile can restore diminished brand loyalty caused by recession: Study

Due to the recessionary environment, consumers have been willing to forgo their favorite brands to cut household costs. Mobile represents a new access point for brand engagement and marketing opportunities. There has been a clear willingness to “trade down” to lower-priced brands over the past two years. According to research by comScore a decline in loyalty to consumer goods brands is typically one of the byproducts of a recession as consumers give greater consideration to price.

Consumer dependency on mobile devices increasing: InsightExpress

Forty-five percent of users check their mobile devices first thing in the morning, according to InsightExpress. The study showed a shift in three major mobile user profiles. Mobile Intensive, Mobile Casuals and Mobile Restrained represent the latest in mobile behavioral and attitudinal trends among consumers. “The Mobile Intensives segment, the group that is consuming the most content on mobile phones, is an incredibly attractive audience for advertisers,” said Joy Liuzzo, senior director, marketing and mobile research at InsightExpress, Stamford, CT.

Australians take to mobile internet

Nearly half of all Australian mobile phone users now own an internet-capable phone, but only a third accesses the web regularly on them, according to new research by The Nielsen Company. Australians’ ownership of internet phones now sits at 43 per cent, with 29 per cent regularly using it to search, email, find maps and to share their lives on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Even though people have an internet-enabled handset, some people aren’t necessarily using it.

Webinar: Applebee’s and MMA: Five Drivers Influencing Mobile Marketing This Year

As more marketers and retailers such as Applebee’s incorporate mobile into their multichannel plans and more consumers engage with content, marketing and commerce on their mobile devices, increased scrutiny and expectations are likely to result. In this free, hour-long webinar on Thursday, May 20 at 2 p.m. ET, Applebee’s executive Scott Fischer along with the top officials from the Mobile Marketing Association will outline the five factors that could propel the use of mobile.

Advertising Scene: Pepsi rolls out multifaceted LBS mobile loyalty initiatives

PepsiCo Inc. has debuted application-centered mobile initiatives to help its restaurant partners inspire customer loyalty and drive consumers to nearby locations. PepsiCo is working on two separate initiatives.

Indonesia: Bakrie Telecom issues $250 million debut bond

Indonesian mobile phone operator Bakrie Telecom sold $250 million worth of five-year bonds on Friday. The 144A high-yield notes, which are callable after three years, pay a semi-annual coupon of 11.5% and were re-offered at par, resulting in a yield of 11.5% as well. The maturity date has been set to May 7, 2015. Bakrie initially announced a deal roadshow on April 21 and on the following Monday (April 26) came out with guidance for a $250 million five-year issue with a yield in the area of 11%.

5 Keys For Successful Mobile Marketing

If the majority of your customers have cell phones, you might want to consider a mobile marketing strategy to reach them. Reaching out to your customers via text message is a great way to promote special offers and encourage further engagement with your brand. Choose a simple keyword that is easy to text. Most of your customers will join your mobile program by sending a text message to a short code number (5 or 6 digits) with a keyword to identify your program.

Smartphone Shipments Jump 50% During Q1

People want smartphones, as evident by a new report indicating global smartphone shipments totaled an estimated 54M units during Q1 2010, growing 50% from Q1 2009 when 36M units were shipped. The report, published by Strategy Analytics under the name “Global Smartphone Market Share Update,” also indicates Nokia shipped a record 21.5 million smartphones worldwide in Q1 2010, rising an above-average 57% from 13.7 million units a year earlier.

Mobile Marketing and Retail Sector to Exceed $8 Billion by 2012: Report

A recent research conducted by Juniper Research has found the mobile marketing and retail sector including mobile advertising, smart posters and coupons, will exceed $8 billion globally by 2012. The “Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies” report found that retailers have started exploiting mobile channel through advertising campaign on the handset and also by issuing free coupons.

Portals and directories lead mobile advertising spend in 2010: Study

Portals and directories, travel, entertainment and telecommunications lead mobile advertising spend in quarter one of 2010, according to Millennial Media. In the company’s one-year anniversary edition of its monthly Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting report, it focused on a number of trends observed from its ad servers and campaign data. In addition, the report showed that Blackberry smartphones dominate 12 of top 15 DMAs and the iPhone is tops in the Bay area.

Whitepaper: Mobile Marketing Predictions For The Next Five Years & Beyond

Dubbed “Mobile Marketing for Business – Part One – An Overview,” the new whitepaper does an excellent job at detailing the fundamentals of mobile marketing, current industry statistics, examples of “what’s working now,” current drawbacks and future predictions for the industry as a whole. The whitepaper details stats such as that mobile devices will surpass desktop Web browsing within five to ten years, citing the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) who states cell phone use is far higher than Internet use.

Industry News: Of budgets, Apple and mobile advertising

Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems intent on bludgeoning everyone to submission with his love-it-or-leave-it attitude to mobile. First it was the tight girdle around applications and now it’s his diktats on mobile advertising. Quite clearly, Mr. Jobs is taking advertising agencies, application developers, ad networks and advertisers on this rollercoaster ride, making each descent more frightening than the other. Does he know something that mobile marketers don’t?