Category Archives: Press Release

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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2012 Trends to Watch: Marketing

As customers increasingly embrace multichannel interactions, marketers will collaborate more across formerly siloed teams to ensure a consistent customer experience regardless of communication, device, or touchpoint. 2011 was a year of collaboration in marketing. Marketers worked more closely with their sales counterparts, partnered with IT to harness new technologies for customer engagement, and even joined forces across marketing silos to improve the multichannel customer experience.

Why Marketers May Finally Get on the Mobile Advertising Boat

While print media represents only 8% of consumer time spent, it accounts for 27% of marketers’ media spending. Mobile media, on the other hand, represents 8% of consume time, yet only .5% of marketers’ media spending. Why the disparity? I believe there are three reasons: 1) Mobile advertising has yet to show scalable reach that has a demonstrable ROI. The reach of print advertising is clearly known, and the way consumers interact with print ads has been well researched for decades.

Mobile Advertising and Marketing – 5th Edition: Mobile advertising to grow 15.2%

There are close to 6 billion active mobile subscriptions across the globe, which can be compared with about 2 billion Internet users. This underpins the vast potential of the mobile channel for advertising and marketing, being highly important for brands seeking to engage in communication with present and potential customers. Berg Insight estimates that the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market was € 2.61 billion in 2010, having experienced healthy growth throughout the financial crisis and the following recuperation. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 36.9 percent, the market is forecasted to be worth € 17.2 billion in 2016 – corresponding to 15.2 percent of the total digital advertising market. Mobile advertising is at the same time predicted to account for 3.8 percent of the total global ad spend for all media.

US mobile ad expenditure more than doubles to $2.1 billion in 2011, Google dominates, according to IDC

According to estimates by IDC, US $2.1 billion was spent on mobile advertising in the US in 2011. That’s more than double the expenditure in 2010. The split between mobile search and mobile display advertising spend is roughly 70:30. This is part of the reason that IDC attributes a massive 70 percent market share to Google (IDC describes Google as a “near monopoly” in search), but IDC believes Google is the market leader in display advertising in the US also. No other rival mobile ad network has more than 5 percent market share. Number two to six are Millennial Media, Apple, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Jumptap. All other networks have less than 1 percent share of the US market.

Trends for 2012: Asia-Pacific

India’s mobile market will take its first steps toward long-overdue consolidation. The market is much too crowded, with 17 mobile licensees, leading to extreme price competition and erosion of margins. The regulator’s intention to reduce SMS interconnection and roaming charges might be the final catalyst driving consolidation. Pyramid Research has found that large and small markets alike tend toward a three-to-four nationwide operator competitive environment. We expect initial consolidation to take place between 3G and non-3G license holders or for operators to seek alliances to achieve nationwide coverage.

Emotional Connections Key to 2011’s Best-Liked TV Ads

The best-liked new TV ads of 2011 reflected the value of traditional ad elements such as strong creative, simple and engaging messaging, and a solid emotional connection, according to December 2011 analysis from Nielsen. The most-liked ad, with a “likeability” index of 231, was a Super Bowl spot for Volkswagen’s Passat, in which a boy dressed as Darth Vader believes he used “the force” to turn on a car. The index score of 231 means that among viewers, Volkswagen’s ad proved to be 131% better-liked than the average new commercial during the January 1 – November 30 period.

Branding Time: Are Marketers Missing the Moment?

Do you know where your customers are? Data, networks, and content are becoming more and more intertwined. As the number of screens people have in their lives continues to grow, and new platforms and services ask people to take new actions in their daily lives, there are heightened demands on all of us. It seems that life in the networked world is, in many ways, far more complex than what many futurists — assuming that technology would simplify things for us — had imagined for the year 2011.

How data will impact 2012 for brands, merchants

The recognition of the value of data and its role in driving effectiveness. We are beginning to see increasing moves to bring offline data into the online arena, as this type of data is trusted and has long been the backbone of delivering traditional offline marketing campaigns. This move towards amalgamation is especially evident from the larger brands, who want to use these same audience definitions to deliver their online activity. For them it gives them the confidence they are reaching exactly the same audience on and offline, fostering real multi-channel marketing.

TMSfactory.com opens a self-service opportunity for local business to create, manage, and monetize mobile offers

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HONG KONG — TheTMSway announces today the release of an updated version of TMS Factory, the world’s one stop Mobile Marketing & Commerce shop for local business. After having provided self-service tools for mobile marketing, TMS now provides local merchants with solutions to create and sell deals on mobile.

After a first period of enthusiasm for daily (or group) deals in the mobile marketing sector, there has been a growing backlash against the model and the companies who are driving such offers. Some consumers are considering them as a form of ‘email spamming’ while some merchants are finding the process to be more akin to robbery than good business. High commission fees, branding concerns, and absence of analytics are just a few factors affecting local retailers and national brands to draw back from third-party platforms. TMS Factory aspires to address these concerns by enabling local businesses to create, monetize, and manage/control promotional and m-commerce campaigns.

TMS factory has built a simple and secured platform that offers local business owners the ability to easily create a mobile site (by completing simple template forms) with the “must have” tools for social commerce. This service is automatically optimized through different mobile operating systems, and enables consumers to land directly on a page with offers linked to an instant payment solution. The merchants can also provide consumers with different tools to localize venues on a map, to make reviews, to share the deal with friends via social media or to contact the local business via simple ‘click to call’ button.

Further, the platform provides merchants the ability to track conversion rates and measure the success of their deals through comprehensive analytics of campaign’s performance, level of engagement with consumers, demographic profiles, and recommendations. The TMS Factory user will take advantage of a “free set up” as TMS will only take a fee on successful transactions.

“Our goal is to help local businesses adopt into a technical-free mobile initiative where their focus will be managing and optimizing their campaigns. We provide them with ‘user-friendly’ tools to take control of all their needs in their mobile campaigns”, says Frederick Saurat, co-founder of TheTMSway.

TMS factory also provides a new and easy way to access directly to a mobile offer via a simple TMS code, (a new generation of free intelligent shortcodes associated to a new mobile search engine of code ‘TMS search’) which reduces the time of browsing at a mobile site and shortens long URL addresses (Example: TMS code: BURGER 1021 vs. http://www.burgerking.com.co/our_special_offer/coupon).

“Our recent tests done with TV broadcasters in Asia have shown an impressive result in terms of consumer adoption and inspired us more in our objective of making TMS become a new, and post SMS, standard to bring excitement in the new generation of phones,” adds Mr. Saurat.

“We are working already with major brands and media agencies to transform traditional media ad campaigns into real time ‘interactive touch points’ using TMS to bridge consumers; and now, with this new M-Commerce platform, we can propose to our clients to associate a ‘real time and personalized mobile deal’ to certain of their offline campaigns. At same time, consumers using TMS will be able to discover a new product, buy it at a privileged price, and recommend it to friends”, says Jonathan Ellis, CEO of TheTMSway.

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About TheTMSway

TheTMSway (www.thetmsway.com) is a Hong Kong based company that provides a platform for marketing and commerce in the internet post PC world, where consumers can be accessed at anytime and from anywhere using the mobiles and tablets as a “bridge” for interactions.

About TMSfactory

TMSfactory (www.tmsfactory.com) is a platform for self-service creation, management, and monetization of mobile contents/offers for merchants and local businesses. The platform is Telco-free, has an automatic optimization through all mobile operating system, and can be used and localized in different countries.

 

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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IAB urges advertisers to be more creative on mobile

The IAB has urged advertisers to be more creative in their approach to mobile advertising and shed the “one size fits all” approach for more integrated strategies. The IAB says that mobile should now be considered as a separated medium rather than an add on to digital and predicts that marketing and advertising spend on mobile devices will be worth £1bn in the UK by 2015, reaching £4.3bn (€5bn) in Western Europe.

Reaching the Right Audience—Ad Targeting Trends

The webinar addresses these key questions: What ad targeting methods are most effective? How can marketers best blend audience and content targeting? How can marketers best use data to identify the right audience? How does testing and measuring improve relevancy?

In mobile, rich media pushing clicks

Mobile may be pushing an increasing amount of online traffic, but new data from Jumptap indicates that rich media, specifically, is pushing mobile clicks. Their research, conducted in September, found that the use of rich media in mobile campaigns increased click-thrus for Retail, Restaurant, Electronics and Auto categories.

Mobile Internet access grows sharply

More than 50% of South Africans polled in a recent survey say that they access the Internet daily from their cellphones and more than 57% engaged in some form of banking or financial activity using mobile phones according to a report published by Fin24, based on an article from the South African Press Association (Sapa). Sapa says that the survey was conducted by the Mobile Entertainment Forum and polled about 8 000 people in nine countries. Of the South Africans questioned, 89% reported using their cellphones to research or purchase a product.

Mobile Ad Effectiveness Helps Drive Investment

Whether or not the “year of mobile” ever comes—or has already passed—mobile ad spending is on the rise, largely due to the increasing smartphone and mobile web populations. Mobile display ad effectiveness is another factor driving marketer investment. Studies from InsightExpress, MediaMind(formerly Eyeblaster), and, as of Q3 2011, Dynamic Logic, have all demonstrated mobile display advertising to be more effective than online display advertising.

3 design principles for the mobile Web

With more than 5.3 billion mobile users worldwide and consumers spending an average of 9.8 hours on their mobile devices every week, it is no wonder that mobile campaigns are becoming ever more crucial for brands and advertisers. The mobile applications market is forecast to earn $25 billion in revenue by 2015, from around $6.8 billion in 2010. Apps are undoubtedly a great way to engage audiences, whether by educating, entertaining or informing.

Live TV Shows Command Ad Spot Premiums

TV shows that viewers tend to watch live, rather than play back days later, command a premium for marketers, according to survey results released in October 2011 by Advertising Age. Results from the survey, which measures the costs of running a 30-second commercial in prime time, indicate that NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” now challenges Fox’s “American Idol” as the most expensive program for advertisers.

What marketers really want from mobile advertising

Earlier this year, eMarketer published research stating that only one-third of marketers ran mobile ad campaigns in 2010, going up to 50 percent in 2011. However, most are running mobile ads sporadically or do not tie them to a larger marketing campaign.

Mobile Growth Stats & Mobile Web Tips to Start Marketing

Did you know that the U.S. now has more wireless customer connections than people? There are currently estimated to be 327.6 million active wireless customer connections in the U.S. The nation’s population is estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be roughly 312 million. This means that today there are now more active broadband tablets, cell phones, and mobile devices than people in this country.

Baidu Profit Rises 80% as China Search-Engine Ad Sales Surge

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Baidu Inc., China’s biggest Internet company by market value, said third-quarter profit rose 80 percent, beating analysts’ estimates, as revenue from search- engine advertising surged. Net income attributable to Baidu climbed to 1.88 billion yuan ($296 million), or 5.38 yuan per American depositary receipt, compared with 1.05 billion yuan, or 3 yuan, a year earlier, Baidu said yesterday. That exceeded the 1.85 billion yuan average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Fox channel’s The Killing goes interactive with TMS

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The Killing’s TV interactive campaign invites all APAC fanatics to vote in real time, participate in an exciting competition, and get a chance of winning a Smartphone.

TheTMSway has entered into a partnership with Fox channel to make its suspense TV series “The Killing” real time interactive. The company provides a TMS code “FOX 2010” integrated into The Killing TV spot promo wherein viewers can enter in their phone (going to www.TMSsearch.com) to instantly access to the optimized and localized version of the show’s mobile interactive site.  The site enables Asian fanatics to interact, vote, watch previews of the series every week, and get a view of exclusive trailers, such as the Spielberg’s upcoming series (Terra Nova).

The voting functionality, provided by TMS, enables Asian audiences to participate to a poll question of who, among the characters, is the prime suspect in the killing of Rosie Larsen. Every week, the mobile site reveals the pulse of the Asia-Pacific audiences. TheTMSway has also integrated social tools in the mobile site to enable sharing or recommendation to friends via email, Facebook, and Twitter.

Providing this service to FOX, TMS enables the channel to access unto the real time high value metrics and data which provide a better understanding of the viewer community and give opportunity for the channel advertiser to access to a new generation of Interactive TV spots that leverage a localized and personalized conversation with viewers.

Entertainment is filled with excitement as Fox Channel will give Blackberry Torch 9800 Smartphone for the ten (10) lucky winners. The competition applies to audiences in the south Asian countries within the scope and broadcast coverage of Fox channel: Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Maldives.

TheTMSway (www.thetmsway.com) is the provider of TMS, a post SMS Telco-free  short code system that takes brands and all forms of media unto an exciting interactive ‘touch point’, enabling consumers to immediately interact with an offer or content and share it with friends.

The Killing TMS promo is running on FOXSEA (and FOX PHI). The campaign runs until November 2, 2011.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Mobile advertising will generate $1.2B in 2011: study

A new study from eMarketer predicts mobile advertising will generate $1.23 billion in the United States this year. The forecast also expects mobile advertising in the U.S. to reach $4.4 billion by 2015. The growth comes as mobile advertising gains steam as an effective way to target consumers thanks to the growth in smartphone and tablet ownership.

Numbers Forecast Booming Mobile Ad Future

The message at the Borrell Associates Local Mobile Advertising Conference in Chicago was a simple matter of proliferation: Ubiquitous mobile users pair up with growing local advertising dollars spent, close to 20% of that headed online. Media analyst Gordon Borrell projected that by 2015 up to two-thirds of local advertising will be served up on mobile.

Cross-media measurement is Holy Grail of mobile: IAB

In order for brands and retailers to allocate more of their marketing budgets to mobile, measurement and reliable methodologies to understand audience behavior and ad effectiveness must be put into place, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. According to the “State of Mobile Measurement,” study released by IAB, fragmentation, unclear standards and technology problems have held mobile from reaching its full potential. In order to get up to par, marketers have to create common measurement standards in mobile.

Smartphones, Mobile Internet Set Stage for Increased Mobile Ad Spend

By the end of this year, eMarketer estimates, 38% of US mobile users will have a smartphone and 41% will use the mobile internet at least once each month. These developments mean an increase in the opportunity for mobile advertising—and an increase in spending. eMarketer forecasts that advertisers will spend nearly $1.23 billion on mobile advertising this year in the US, up from $743 million last year and set to reach almost $4.4 billion by 2015. This includes spending on display ads (such as banners, rich media and video), search and messaging-based advertising, and covers ads viewed on both mobile phones and tablets.

How mobile advertising, content and commerce is changing Brazil

Emerging markets have experienced strong economical growth in the past several years, and four of the top five mobile markets are emerging markets: 1. China, 2. India, 3. U.S., 4. Russia, 5. Brazil. According to Anatel, the Brazilian regulatory agency that oversees wireless carriers, Brazil leads in terms of Latin American mobile penetration: Brazil 92 percent, Colombia 88 percent, Chile 75 percent, Argentina 72 percent and Mexico 63 percent.

Adidas campaign points to effectiveness of multiscreen advertising

Sportswear brand adidas ran a video-centric ad campaign across online, mobile and tablet devices. Carat is adidas’ agency of record. Carat tapped Google to extend the brand’s message to digital. “We partnered with Nielsen to measure the incremental impact of multiscreen advertising,” said Johanna Werther and Ben Chung, both part of the Google Mobile Ads Marketing team at Google, Mountain View, CA, in a blog post.

Global Web Ad Spend to Rise 33% by ‘13

Global internet advertising expenditures will rise about 33% between 2011 and 2013, according to [pdf] an October 2011 forecast from Zenith Optimedia. Internet ad spend is expected to total about $72.5 billion USD this year and reach $96.4 billion in 2013. Total global ad spend, forecast at $460.3 billion for 2011, is expected to grow about 11% to about $510.6 billion in 2013.

Apple’s mobile market share climbs in September

Apple’s iOS once again dominated the mobile OS market share picture in September, according to new data from Net Applications. The enterprise application maker and web monitoring company found that iOS accounted for 54.65 percent of mobile market share, up from just over 53 percent in August. The numbers mean that Apple’s iOS devices (including the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad) together make up more than half of all web use originating from mobile devices.

Mobile media needs ‘solid metrics’, says IAB

Cookies are unreliable; server logs are stymied; the ecosystem is fragmented and privacy concerns loom large – none of which changes the fact that mobile advertising needs a standardised set of measurements, according to a new IAB paper.

Mobile taking up increasing portion of consumers’ down time

Ad agencies that are designing digital marketing campaigns may reach more consumers if they include a mobile aspect to the mix, findings from a new survey suggest. CA Technologies commissioned a study that found due to the prevalence of mobile devices, users of smartphones and tablet computers are taking the usual “dead time” – the equivalent of about five and a half weeks – and using it more productively.

China Set for Explosive Ad Growth

While the US will still maintain a comfortable lead in ad spending in 2013, number three China’s spending will surge in the next two years,according to [pdf] an October 2011 forecast from Zenith Optimedia. China, expected to spend $26.1 billion USD on major media advertising this year, will increase that figure almost 49% to $38.5 billion in 2013. By comparison, the US will increase ad spend about 9%, from $151.7 billion this year to $166 billion in 2013. Number two Japan will also maintain its position, growing ad spend 3% from $46.1 billion to $47.6 billion.

Social Network Ad Revenues to Reach $10 Billion Worldwide in 2013

Worldwide social network ad revenues will reach $5.54 billion this year, eMarketer estimates, with just under half that amount, $2.74 billion, coming from the US market. Revenue growth is solidly in the double digits in the US, but even more rapid growth elsewhere will mean spending outside the country will account for a slightly greater share each year. By 2013, non-US revenues will make up 51.9% of the total, which will hit nearly $10 billion worldwide. In the US, social networks will make $4.81 billion from ads that year.

TheTMSway reveals a new generation of Shortcodes in the Philippines’ mobile landscape

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PHILIPPINES – TheTMSway, a mobile solutions provider, brings in the Philippines the TMS platform, a combined technology of new generation of shortcodes (TMSshortcodes.com) and a shortcode search engine (TMS search), both optimized for the new generation of mobile phones, which will take one-step ahead of the traditional SMS short code system in the region, and will increase the level of engagement between the business community and the Filipino consumers.

TMSshortcodes.com (www.tmsshortcodes.com) is a Telco-neutral open platform that allows the delivery of personalized mobile contents to the Filipino consumers by means of short codes – a method that upgrades the SMS shortcode (a system provided for the exchange of text message via old generation of mobile phones) to the TMS shortcode (a system optimized for URL messaging).

The TMS shortcode is composed of a root (branded keyword) and a unique numeric code (sample: ITV 1010), which can be entered into the search engine of shortcodes (TMS search) using consumer’s mobile phones or tablets. The action will take the consumers to a specific version of a mobile offer (site), automatically optimized for the devices used, location, and time of connection. i.e In the SMS shortcode system, consumers need to send a keyword like “ITV 1010” to a local number and get back an SMS with a clickable  link that  connects to a static site URL. With the TMS shortcode system, consumers simply enter the keyword “ITV 1010” to TMSsearch.com to get an instant personalized connection via a dynamic URL.

Using the platform, companies can generate a TMS shortcode, integrate it to any forms of communication channel, and connect the shortcode to the specific URL(s) of existing mobile site(s). The TMS platform, in an event of no existing mobile site, will allow companies to use a builder tool for them to create a new mobile site (mobile promotion or mobile coupons with the ‘must have tools’ in term of location and social recommendation) by filling a simple form.

The TMS technology is multichannel in terms of media placement wherein it can be fully integrated to any communication channels like print, television, promotional material, OOH and social media.   This multichannel functionality provides a practical and strategic approach among business enterprises into maximizing an engagement with the consumers and in leveraging active responses from them.

“The TMS platform (built for the internet in the post PC world) represents the “post SMS” generation for the brand-consumer relationship. In brand’s perspective, this Telco-neutral platform provides an easy way to create a bridge between consumers and interactive offers; while in the consumer’s side, it provides a user-friendly way and low cost opportunity to use mobile internet via an evolution from their SMS shortcode experience”, says Frederick Saurat, co-founder of TheTMSway.

Providing this new taste of interactive trend to the Filipino mobile users, the company takes a strong stance of bringing more life in the country’s business community. This condition is in proper timing with the emergence of mobile internet in the Philippines, and consequently, is viewed to support the increasing level of business-consumer engagement in the region.

Aside from the advancements that TMS technologies will bring into the country’s business-consumer relationship scene, the company also provides business enterprises the opportunity to plug in on TMS data & metrics analytics in order to measure the efficiency of all the communication channels integrated (tagged) with the TMS shortcodes including all traditional media such as print, TV, billboards and flyers.

“Measurement, especially on traditional media ad campaigns, is a key part of the ROI requested by advertisers. The Plug & play solution provided by TMS which can help determine the performances of each medium is a revolution that improves immediately any offline campaign’s accountability”, says Jonathan Ellis TheTMSway CEO.

The TMS system also provides an innovative solution to fight against privacy issues which have been building some walls between mobile technology providers and the consumer mass market.

“Our platform is designed to respecting the privacy of (Filipino) consumers. First, the system is based on a ‘pull’ concept (in which consumers will activate in order to initiate a relationship with a brand), and second, consumers need to specifically ‘opt-in’ when a brand is requesting for a personal data”, adds Frederick Saurat.

TMSshortcodes.com and TMSsearch.com are already used in some countries across the Asia-Pacific region, like Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

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About TheTMSway

TheTMSway (www.theTMSway.com) is the provider of  the TMS shortcodes gateway (a new generation of shortcodes optimized for URL messaging) and the TMS platform of services, for the internet of the post PC world, that enables consumers and brands to interact in real time from any media using mobile and tablets as a bridge to engage in personalized conversation.

About TMSshortcodes.com

TMSshortcodes.com (www.tmsshortcodes.com) is a Telecom-neutral platform used to create real time shortcodes for call to action campaigns, and optimized for URL messaging. The TMS shortcodes are instantly accessible by consumer via TMS search, the mobile search engine of shortcodes.

About TMS Search

TMS Search (www.TMSsearch.com) is the search engine of shortcodes that lets consumers access unto a personalized and optimized version of a mobile site (offer) at anytime. This shortcode search engine can easily be accessed via a simple mobile browser (and bookmarked through the consumers’ device) or via an app with compatible Smartphones.

The new version of TMSshortcodes.com has released a solution for mobile app developers to deliver their App to different mobile OS consumers with only 1 shortcode

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TheTMSway, a telco-free shortcodes provider, announced today the release of a new version of TMSshortcodes.com with a feature that is custom-made to address the global need for promoting Apps in response to the fragmentation of the device Operation Systems.

The latest feature within TMSshortcodes.com (www.tmsshortcodes.com) gives mobile (and tablets) app developers a solution that provides them access to the different (OS) versions of their APP via the use of just one shortcode.  By using the TMS open platform, a developer can come up with a unique shortcode and link it to the different and specific URLs (x1 per OS) of his new App.

“By way of illustration if we take the famous “Angry bird” App which was developed and deployed onto several platforms (iPhone, iPad, Android and tablets), the company behind the app. could use a shortcode like ‘BIRDS 123” to promote a direct access to the right app. version. Consumers using the code will land directly to the page where they can install the App for their specific devices. And if there is no version yet for their device, we can collect their data to alert them when the version will be available”, says Jonathan Ellis, the CEO of TheTMSway.

“We continue to provide cutting-edge solutions for both the marketing industry and mass consumer market. We are already working on the next step which will be the release of an App version of “TMS search”, the search engine of shortcodes, with personalized features and a vocal search functionality for the shortcodes” says Frederick Saurat, co-founder of TheTMSway.

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About TheTMSway

TheTMSway (www.thetmsway.com) is a company that provides solutions to facilitate and leverage the interaction between brands and consumers especially with regards to traditional media. The company provides a platform, TMS, with “plug and play” solutions to make “traditional media” ad campaigns real time interactive and social using mobile and tablet as an instant bridge to consumers. TMS provides the consumer with a personalized and localized offer, and the brand with a range of real time metrics and data. The TMS platform enables social promotion and social commerce to access offline media.

TheTMSway launches “TMSshortcodes.com” to disrupt the shortcodes marketing business with a Telco-independent new generation of shortcodes which are optimized for URL messaging between brands and consumers

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TMS shortcodes break the long-time barrier and limitation of today’s SMS shortcode technology. From a brand point of view they provide a simple way to deliver location based offers in real time. And consumers only need 1 click to get access to requested content avoiding the old fashion “double way” SMS mechanism. TMS shortcodes provide a user-friendly service adapted for the new generation of phones allowing brands and media to reach consumers instantly with personalized offers.

Hong Kong (11 October 2010) – TheTMSway announced today the global launch of TMSshortcodes.com – the first ever shortcodes technology which operates telecom independently. TMSshortcodes.com offers brands to instantly create a shortcode for a campaign and links it to mobile contents for URL messaging. This will allow consumers with an internet mobile phone to access a localized and personalized offer from any offline, online and social media vehicle.

The platform developed by TheTMSway links an editor of shortcodes to a new search engine of shortcodes. This enables the distribution of personalized offers to engage in instant conversations with consumers.

The editor of shortcodes (www.TMSshortcodes.com) allows a brand to create a numeric or a vanity (branded) shortcode, Telco independent. The editor links the shortcode to one or several mobile offers located per mobile Operating System (for example to distribute mobile app) or to provide location based offers in many different countries. TMS has also simplified the number of intermediaries to launch a campaign. It provides in the same place an end-to-end service to create mobile sites that are automatically optimized for all Operating Systems and to link them to shortcodes that can be easily associated to any brand media campaign.

The new search engine of shortcodes (TMSsearch.com) is accessible via a simple internet mobile browser (or an app). It is built to retrieve content and at the same time to analyze the consumer’s environment (handset, time and location) to deliver a correct and unique mobile offer (URL) in real time. In other words, consumers are entering the same shortcode in TMSsearch.com with different handsets, locations or time, will be able to access different offers via a unique Url ID which allows to track usage.

“The access to Internet via mobile is changing the way we use the Web; and both – real time factor – and – requested content delivery – are becoming the keys to connecting with 6 billion expected users worldwide. We are convinced that the best way for brands to use mobile is as a bridge between a media campaign and consumers. Following this, the new TMS shortcodes for Url messaging associated to the new generation of mobile internet phones can replace the SMS text messaging in the relationship between brand and consumers and definitively change the way we live and interact with media” said Jonathan Ellis the CEO of the company.

“I’m more than happy to see this platform become real after all these months of developments. We are also launching today some services for “call to action” marketing in association with this new shortcode technology but I believe that with the API we are delivering to the developer’s community, which enables them to use our technology to deliver instant personalized offers on mobile, the TMS shortcode can become a universal gateway to interact with the mobile community” added Frederick Saurat one of the founders of TheTMSway.

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About TheTMSway

TheTMSway, a Hong Kong based company, helps brands to develop mobile strategies providing a platform to develop distribute, monetize, and promote mobile business. With a technology based on a new generation of shortcodes, Telecom independent, allowing the distribution of location based offers, TheTMSway provides a unique solution to connect brands media campaigns to consumers using the mobile as a “1 click” bridge to engage in a conversation and deliver real time personalized content. www.tmsshortcodes.com

About TMSshortcodes.com

TMSshortcodes.com is a platform, provided by TheTMSway Company, to create shortcodes for URL messaging. The service allows a brand to create a numeric or branded code and to associate it to localized mobile offers. The TMS shortcodes used in “call to action” marketing provide consumers, using their mobile to enter a TMS code in TMSsearch.com, a unique Url ID to access instantly to a personalized version of a brand offer.

TheTMSWay allows Mobile coupons distribution from classic online marketing campaigns

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TheTMSWay continues to innovate in digital marketing with its Media to Mobile platform, launching 3 new services that provide easy ways to deliver a personal mobile offer (coupon, invitation, promotion or reward) to consumers directly from an online campaign.

The first service allows marketers to deliver mobile coupons from Email marketing, the second from standard Web banners, and the last from Video widgets.

The Email widget comprises a form where users can provide complete information required to receive in real time a free SMS (or email for Smartphones). The widget will be included in the email of the campaign via its URL. The SMS distribution is available in 160 countries (all Asia included) powered by a TMSfactory platform.

The mobile rebound (via SMS box) in the standard web banners allows consumers to enter their cell numbers to receive a direct offer. This pull servicing is based on CPC model, a complementary to the classic CPM model, which allows marketers to initiate a conversation with consumers via personal messages. TMS leverages this kind of service meeting the marketer’s expectations in terms of measurable investment returns – a point of which the classic ad banners and CPM model could not address upon.

TMS, on other hand, provides a video ad widget useful for real time sending of mobile coupons in return for feedback or poll answers. Using TMS, video ads campaign will become measurable as the platform is integrated with tools for marketer’s direct access to the data.

“With the global economic downturn we currently face, marketers tend to be more careful in asking for measurable campaign returns whilst on other hand, pushing consumers to become more receptive on discount coupons. In this win-win situation, the mobile displays a major medium to communicate with consumers; that is if we respect the rules of personal media calling on requested content distribution against actual push spam. At TMS, we believe that the bridging of mobile offers to online campaigns is a great opportunity that every marketer can take a look for huge consideration” says Frederick Saurat, one of TheTMSway founders.

Providing these new campaign services, TMS supports marketers in the creation of mobile offers using a Telco-neutral platform that is optimized to all mobile operating systems and can deliver the offer to worldwide mobile subscribers.

TMS and Toblerone featured in Mobile Marketer New York

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Yesterday, TMS and Toblerone were featured at Mobile Marker (NY). The article talked about the campaign project we have done for our client, Toblerone. Written by Dan Butcher, you can also read the story here.

Toblerone runs ‘Play it Forward, Share the Gratitude’ mobile campaign

A snapshot of the article in Mobile Marketer NY

By Dan Butcher

March 11, 2009

Kraft Foods’ Toblerone has lunched the ‘Play it, Forward it, Share the Gratitude’ mobile promotion targeting the digital generation—students and young workers.

The campaign encourages consumers to extend gratitude to loved ones by uploading mobile video and text messages and have them broadcasted on digital walls in Greenbelt and Bonifacio High Street in the Philippines. There is a Web site for the Toblerone ‘Play it, Forward it’ promotion with brand information, details about the promotion, upload and entry forms, desktop widgets, contact details and tallies of uploaded videos, texts and votes.

“The strategy behind the Toblerone campaign is to develop brand awareness for its new product—Fruit & Nut—directly to the location of targeted audiences using personal media—mobile and social networks,” said Frederick Saurat, cofounder of TheTMSway Ltd., Hong Kong.

“So far, the campaign has gained positive results in terms of imaging and ROI,” he said.

Toblerone is a chocolate bar made by Kraft Foods Switzerland. It is best known for its triangular chunks (representing the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps), its distinctive packaging, its prism shape (triangular prism or pentahedron) and its ubiquity in airport duty-free shops.

Complementing its self-service platform, TheTMSway provides services for media such as StarTV and TV5Monde; ad agencies Ogilvy, Mindshare, Starcom and Havas; and for brands such as Nike, Motorola and Citibank.

From the Toblerone campaign site, consumers can send their thank you videos and text messages to the mobile phones of families and friends.

For the contest, Toblerone will select the best thank you uploads with prizes for both video and text-message winners. Consumers can win an iPod Touch or an iPod Nano.

Photo shows Toblerones campaign site (left) and apps in Facebook (right)

Photo shows Toblerone's campaign site (left) and apps in Facebook (right)

The campaign is using the original 1D bar code on the candy’s packaging in order to connect to the TMS search engine. Submitting the ID code to the TMS search engine offers direct access to a discount mobile coupon.

TMS also created a social application for Toblerone’s campaign and placed it on two social networks—Facebook.com and Friendster.com.

Consumers can send a Toblerone reward from Facebook or Friendster to friends’ mobile phones.

The campaign is currently running.

“Our TMSfactory erases the pain of campaigns via new media by developing and synchronizing the campaigns to different platforms: the social networks (such as Friendster and Facebook) and the mobile (connected to different mobile operating systems) offering consumers a practical way to interact between the platforms,” Mr. Saurat said.

“Our factory provides our clients the data, statistics and analysis of their campaigns in real time,” he said. “This way, our clients can monitor how far their campaigns have impacted their target audiences and if goals are exactly achieved.”