Tag Archives: consumer engagement

Advertisers in Africa allot more than 50% of interactive marketing budgets in Mobile

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Some of the biggest success stories in the mobile space came from Africa with advertisers in the region spent more than 50% of its interactive advertising budgets to mobile, Starcom’s Ravi Kiran said.

mobile-marketingThe African region became a hot topic among marketers during the Mobile Conversations 2010 conference in India as Starcom’s Ravi Kiran cited some of the biggest success stories in the mobile space, which actually happened in the region. In an Afaqs article, Mr. Kiran substantiated his points saying that more than 50% of interactive budget for the African region got routed to mobile marketing, compared to Asia (2.5%) and 1.3% to US and Europe regions.

Explaining to this inspiring occurrence, he said that one has to look at the unique mobile marketing services that are being offered in the region. The mobile is also the only pan-African social infrastructure in the region, and how it is connecting the African market nowadays has become a case study worldwide.

There were some other points raised during the conference, and Kiran ended up with an enticing tip saying that a “simplified language is required to convince marketers to invest in the medium”. Whilst mobile marketing is treated as another format of marketing, the principles of traditional marketing have to be applied as well.

He added, “We should tell marketers about how it can be used for marketing instead of talking or explaining the technology behind it. Also, we should encourage marketers to experiment with mobile marketing with scale.”

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.

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?

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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MMA updates guidelines for cross-carrier mobile content

The Mobile Marketing Association updated its United States Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services. The guidelines are the industry standard for cross-carrier mobile services such as text messaging, multimedia messaging, short code programs, interactive voice response and mobile Web. The new 5.0 guidelines outline acceptable and unacceptable practices for all players in the U.S. ecosystem.

Mobile Advertising, SMS Can Achieve “More Than A 100% Response Rate,” Says Expert

Though it may be perceived as a bit over ambitious, mobile advertising is said to be capable of a “more than 100% response rate,” according to one industry expert. Speaking at an Internet trade expo, Marc Hyatt of Txtlocal substantiated his claim by using the example of SMS and the viral effect that marketers can experience using the medium, saying “consumers receiving SMS did much of the marketing work themselves.”

Nearly Half of Mobile Ads Served to Smartphones

Reporting from Millennial Media, a mobile advertising network that reaches 83% of US mobile subscribers, indicates that smartphones account for almost one-half of mobile ad impressions in the country. More subscribers may have feature phones, but they make up only about one-third of mobile ad views, likely because users have less interaction with advanced mobile content.

Mobile advertising bucks the downward spiral evident elsewhere

2009 was a bad year for the “traditional” advertising industry with a significant drop in advertising revenues recorded in TV, radio and the print media. However, in one specific area, mobile advertising, revenues grew by 32 per cent – once again proving that it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good. Martyn Warwick reports. A new survey undertaken by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers also shows that a sea change is underway.

Where’s mobile advertising?

Smart phone usage. All of this comes as Forrester Research estimates that of the some 277 million mobile phones currently in use in the United States, 17 percent are smart phones, defined as “a mobile phone or Internet-connected handheld device that uses a high-level operating system such as iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Web OS, Symbian, and any flavor of Linux including Android.” And the number is growing, with Nielsen reporting that 25 percent of all new cell phones sold are now smart phones.

Mobile email marketing will be driven by increase in commerce

The mobile marketing sector – including SMS and email marketing – will be driven by a growth in consumer spending via the channel, it has been claimed. According to a new study by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, total spending via mobile phones increased by 32 per cent last year – reaching £37.6 million. And the organisations believe this trend is set to continue.

Shopping by Mobile Creates an $8bn Opportunity for Mobile Advertising & Coupons, Juniper Report finds

A new report from Juniper Research has found that the mobile marketing and retail sector (comprising mobile advertising, coupons and smart posters) will exceed $8 billion by 2012 globally. The Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies report found that Retailers were already starting to exploit the mobile channel through advertising campaigns on the handset and by issuing money-off coupons. The market for these two activities alone is forecast grow by half in the next two years.

UK mobile advertising market grows 32% in 2009 to £37.6m

Despite a contraction in the advertising sector in 2009, total spend on mobile phone advertising in 2009 rocketed by 32% year on year to a new high of £37.6m, according to second, annual Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) – the trade body for digital marketing – and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study. While some brands and media owners cut back their investment in mobile advertising, the medium grew at a faster rate than predicted due to its exceptional targeting, immediacy and return on investment.

Why Apple’s tilt toward control over openness may hurt all

It is through this context that I view iPhone 4.0 and iAd as watershed moments for Apple’s mobile platform. If Apple continues to maintain a balance between control and openness, its path to becoming a dominant mobile platform will be unimpeded. However, if the balance it has achieved is disrupted, a rapid decline may be inevitable.

Web sites may be losing affiliate revenue as mobile access increases

Affiliates of networks like LinkShare and Commission Junction are not being properly compensated for traffic they refer when end-users are on mobile devices, according to MobForm. Per mobile publisher network MobForm, brands developing their mobile strategy may not have the full picture with respect to the restrictions that are currently in place preventing mobile affiliates from promoting their offers.

Mobile Entertainment Forum US produces webinar and guidebook to foster better understanding of m-commerce in entertainment sector

Hot on the heals of the Mobile Marketing Association coming over all ‘m-retailing’, the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) North America has set up a Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce) Initiative all of its own, to help brands, content producers and retailers better understand how to leverage the mobile phone to drive customer acquisition, retention, and conversion.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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New Study Shows the Mobile Web Will Rule by 2015

In a dense, 87-page report, Morgan Stanley analysts have charted the most important online trends and predicted the future of the Internet. In addition to forecasting more online shopping and showing the geographical distribution of Internet users, the study also shows a dramatic shift toward mobile web use. Including devices such as the Kindle, the iPhone, and other smartphones, web-enabled tablets, GPS systems, video games and wireless home appliances, the growth of the mobile web has been exponential — and we’re still just at the beginning of this cycle. Morgan Stanley’s analysts believe that, based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet use by 2015.

After Bruising Ad Battle, AT&T Looks to Rebrand as Lifestyle Company

Telecom to Integrate All Communications Under ‘Rethink Possible’ Theme, Introduce Updated Logo. AT&T is undertaking an ambitious rebranding effort under the banner “Rethink Possible” that includes a redesign that updates its trademark logo. The new theme attempts to position AT&T as a lifestyle company and elevate it from the recent ad sniping with rival Verizon. “Rethink Possible” will inform all advertising from the country’s fourth-largest spender going forward.

Ad Council advocates safe driving via mobile TV campaign

The Ad Council announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Show that the organization will run a new mobile digital television campaign to inform viewers that “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.” The nonprofit organization will run this campaign on mobile devices surrounding the July 4 holiday, when drunk driving fatalities spike. The Ad Council is making an effort to reach the younger demographics and raise public awareness about the issue. “We expect that the results of the showcase and in particular, the results of the Project Roadblock campaign, will provide compelling data that demonstrates the power of mobile DTV to engage with views and mobile DTV advertising to influence behavior,” said Abby Auerbach, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at the Television Bureau of Advertising, New York.

Mobile barcodes and tourism, together at last

3GVision is one of the global players when it comes to mobile barcodes – and it has announced a new service enabling guided phone tours in Glasgow. The trial service allows phone owners to download tours of the city direct to their phones.

McDonald’s pushes breakfast Dollar Menu with mobile campaign

Fast food giant McDonald’s is promoting its new Dollar Menu at breakfast via a rich-media mobile advertising campaign. Expandable banner ads are running within The Weather Channel iPhone application with the tagline, “The Dollar Menu is now at breakfast.”  “Our rich-media expandable ad units offer a breakthrough creative execution,” said Craig Etheridge, vice president of mobile advertising sales at The Weather Channel, Atlanta.

Why mobile is an imperative for brands in Asia: An interview with Gavin Marco, P&G

Procter & Gamble ran its first mobile campaign in Asia in 2002. Eight years on Asia still leads P&G’s mobile strategy. Not only is Asia the world’s most populous region, it’s also one of the most diverse. So while brands use cutting-edge mobile technology to engage with customers in Japan, they are also using basic SMS to connect with consumers in rural Indonesia (people it is almost impossible to reach through other channels).

Healthcare firms urged to use mobile marketing

Mobile marketing has been cited by an industry expert as one of the best ways for healthcare brands to attract more patients to use their services. Although firms in the sector as not as obviously focused on generating new customers as the likes of Apple or Wal-Mart, it is still essential for them to attract patients and retain existing ones, explained medical website design company Aurora. Daniel Gilbert, the company’s chief executive officer, said mobile marketing could be one of the ways that they look to go about doing this. He urged healthcare brands looking to get started in the mobile marketing sector, or wanting to increase their existing activities, to target their spending on “creating user-friendly, informative mobile websites”.

China 3G standard phone sales to surge

Sales of cellphones using China’s own 3G standard (TD-SCDMA) will grow 7-fold this year, boosted by China Mobile’s push of new phones and services, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Monday. The research firm did not unveil total sales estimates, but China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has said it had 3.4 million clients using its TD-SCDMA network last year when it opened the service. The technology’s teething problems, along with a lack of product offerings, have been major factors inhibiting the development of a national TD-SCDMA network by China Mobile.

How To Keep Customers Loyal With Coupons

In yesterday’s post about how small business owners can learn social media, I noted that webinars gave business owners a great way to learn from experts without forcing them to jet across country to do so. Coincidentally, Anita Campbell was part of a great webinar yesterday afternoon put on by the Verizon Small Business Center that focused on how to use coupons and social media to build customer loyalty.

Search engine mobile marketing ‘makes websites more visible’

Brands have been advised to use search engines in their mobile marketing strategies in order to make their mobile websites easier for consumers to locate. Search engine optimisation of mobile websites has yet to fully catch on with businesses, according to industry analyst Nick Beck, who compared it to the early days of the internet in the 1990s. In a column for Net Imperative, he commented: “Brands are building mobile sites but not considering how people will find them.” As a result, Mr Beck suggested that firms which use search engine mobile marketing techniques on their mobile websites will be able to reap the rewards in terms of having highly-visible pages.

Google CEO keen to start fight against Apple

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has hit back at US regulators saying it should have its AdMob acquisition approved following Apple’s entry into the online advertising market with iAds. On Friday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs launched a new mobile advertising platform that will run on the iphone, iPod Touch and iPad from this summer. The platform, called iAds, will directly compete with Google.

M-retailing market worth US$4.1bn in 2009, with strong growth to come, predicts Juniper Research

The mobile retail market is currently worth US$4.1 billion and is dominated by mobile coupons, finds a new report by Juniper Research, but is set to grow by an astounding 24% a year on average to be worth more than US$12 billion by 2015. But even these suitably buoyant ‘analyst numbers’ might actually be conservative, we at M-Retailing.net believe, because Juniper is only looking at mobile coupons – total redemption value of mobile coupons; mobile smart posters – total fees resulting from smart poster product information downloads and sales; and mobile advertising – total ad spend upon mobile distribution channels. It hasn’t (yet) looked at the revenue that will be generated through using mobile for actual purchases.

Mobile Search Tactics to Boost Your ROI

Mobile search is unique – the sheer size alone of the keyboard on a mobile device results in queries shorter than their online counterparts It’s an industry predicted to reach $3.3 billion in revenue by the year 2013, the reason you chose the bed-and-breakfast over the boutique hotel when your original hotel lost your reservation, and top of mind for marketers looking to capitalize on the growing number of consumers using the mobile web to make decisions on how to spend their money and time. It’s mobile advertising, and its mere existence, along with that of PDAs and smart phones, is changing the way consumers make decisions. As marketers realize the value of mobile advertising to influence brand awareness, word-of-mouth, and offline consumer behavior, many allocate their first mobile spend to paid search, or “pay-per-click” advertising, largely due to its track record as an accountable, highly-targeted way to market online.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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What will AT&T’s $1 billion buy for businesses?

Mobile operator AT&T announced details of a $1 billion investment plan today. This money is going to be put towards improving the services that AT&T offers to its enterprise customers around the world. So what does a billion get you these days? Read on for more detail. AT&T has offered five areas in which it is investing, but it can really be broken down into three: 1) Global 2) Network 3) Applications. Global – AT&T is looking to provide better services for businesses; both at home and abroad. So this won’t just be an America investment. Companies of all sizes, from SMEs in the States to multi-nationals, will be benefiting from this – including plans for additional sub sea cables to provide better service in the Caribbean and South America, and better communication performance from the US to both Asia Pacific and Europe.

Mobile internet usage soars past fixed web in Africa

It’s one of those ideas you hear repeated from all sources: mobile phones are the main way connecting to the internet in Africa. Now there are definite figures to back that claim. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has reported that use of mobile internet surpassed fixed internet in the last quarter of 2009 – and has extended its lead to 300,000 users in Q1 2010. According to the ITU, it wasn’t until the end of 2009 that mobile internet actually overtook fixed usage. African net surfers connecting through mobile phones or portable modems increased to 3.8 million at the end of the year, overtaking fixed by 100,000 people. It now reports that this figure has increased to 4.2 million, putting it 300,000 users ahead of the current 3.9 million fixed subscribers.

Region shifts to online and mobile media for news

Experts call 2010 the year of digital media. In the UAE, 49% of consumers use both the internet and print media .More than half in Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia use online sources. Consumers of digital and mobile media are expected to see growth that will confirm 2010 as the year of the digital, say industry reports. In line with global trends, the region’s news consumption, particularly in Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is shifting towards online and mobile media, as confirmed by experts According to the Arab Media Outlook 2009-2013 report, news consumption in the region is seeing an impressive shift to the usage of online media.

Companies Look to Take Advantage of Mobile Marketing Opportunities

Despite coming out of a recessionary year in which advertising and marketing budgets were slashed, mobile marketing remained steady, and in some cases showed gains. Financial institutions, however, lost ground to wireless operators, ISPs and merchants. SMS text remains the means to reach the greatest number of consumers, but the rapidly rising percentages of smartphone users and the success of the Apple app store has increased the need for developing a greater mobile web and in-application advertising presence. This report covers the mobile marketing and advertising landscape, including consumer likelihood, preferences and adoption of mobile marketing and location-based services, consumer methods of response, and segments to target.

Mobile Marketing Proves Profitable for Sports Franchises

Mobile marketing has proven a slam dunk for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NBA franchise that dabbled in the mobile space long before most others in the world of professional basketball. Beginning two years ago during the NBA Playoffs, the Cavs teamed with Phizzle to beta test a mobile alerts program that delivered a variety of exclusive downloadable content to basketball fans.  Since then, the initial trial run has evolved to help generate a cool 200k in incremental revenues on an annual basis.

Hotelier’s Web Analytics Action Plan: Turning Knowledge into ROI-Focused, Action-Oriented Results

Hospitality is an information intensive business. Hotel managers are exposed to numerous reports that touch upon practically every aspect of running a hotel. In addition to reports dealing with hotel operations, today’s hotel managers have another category to consider that has become vital to their property’s success—how their hotel website is performing. Forty-five percent of all hotel bookings in the U.S. will be generated via the Web in 2010. At least 62% of those will come from the direct online channel, i.e. the hotel branded website (71% for the top 30 hotel chains); therefore the “health” of the hotel website is vital to the survival of any hospitality company today, affecting E-Commerce Managers, Revenue Managers, Directors of Sales & Marketing, General Managers, owners, reservations departments and front desk clerks.

MABS joins global M-Commerce Summit

MANILA, Philippines – The Microenterprises Access to Banking Services (MABS) program of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) participated in the M-Commerce World Summit 2010 held last month in Singapore. The summit covered mobile money transfer and mobile money remittance, mobile payment and NFC technologies, mobile banking, banking the unbanked and microfinance services, and mobile marketing and advertising.

MABS regional manager for Mindanao Anthony Petalcorin discussed how mobile money worked well with microfinance in the Philippines.

Mobile App or Mobile Website?

Before you invest in mobile marketing consider your audience and the startup costs. NBC reported 58.2 million page views of its Winter Olympics programming on the mobile web and iPhone app through the first 11 days of coverage. If the thought of your prospects fixing their attention on your company anytime and anywhere through their mobile phones sounds appealing, you’ll be happy to know that the options for reaching consumers on mobile devices are growing broader and less expensive.

MMA Highlights Retail Mobile Marketing Growth

During CTIA Wireless 2010, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today commented on its commitment to advancing sustainable standards and best practices for retail mobile marketing through new member programs and leadership initiatives. “We’re already seeing significant buzz this year in the mobile retail space, with major brands delving into a variety of mobile marketing and commerce opportunities,” said Michael Becker, MMA North American Managing Director.  According to CTIA, more than 20 percent of the show’s attendees come from the retail space. In fact, this year’s event features a new exhibit area, called the Retail Zone, with more than 150 exhibitors.

Strategic tips for brand mobile marketing: CTIA panel

Some of the biggest businesses in the world have embraced mobile marketing to complement traditional forms of advertising and have incorporated it into their brand strategies. In the “Mobile Marketing for 2010 – Successful Brand Strategies” panel at International CTIA Wireless 2010 discussed best practices for mobile marketing for brands. “With mobile, there’s a lot of directions you can go,” said Bryan Seti, vice president of WaterCraft Group at Yamaha Motor Corp. “In our business, most of it is done in a four month window.

Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the UAE regions shift to online and mobile media for news

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Experts call 2010 the year of digital media. In an AFP report, 49% of consumers in UAE use both the internet and print media; and more than half in Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia use online sources.online-news

The industry experts confirmed that news consumption in these regions is increasing rapidly in favor to the digitals – the online and mobile media. According to the Arab Media Outlook 2009-2013 report, more than half of the news consumers in Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia depend on internet sources while 49% use the internet and print media in UAE.

As industry experts anticipate the online advertising growth in the region in the next three years, they started laying foundation of new business in the domain of digital and online marketing solutions.

In line to this trend, the mobile penetration in the region is extremely high, most especially in UAE and Egypt, according to Anna Gibbons, Business Director of neo@Ogilvy, OgilvyOne Middle East. Hence, the mobile media are also expected to become the new buzz in terms of attracting new consumers and in advertising spend as well. READ MORE

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Consumers Seek Mobile Promotion Input

Input Makes Mobile Promotions More Acceptable. Marketers who send consumers mobile promotions such as coupons and discounts have a significant amount of built-in resistance to overcome, writes MarketingCharts. The percentage of consumers who say they are fine with getting promotions slightly declined from 13% in December 2008 to 11% in February 2010. However, the percentage of consumers completely opposed to mobile promotions also declined in that time period, from 31% to 26%.

Mobile Marketing Association Launches Canadian Council

During CTIA Wireless 2010 held this week in Las Vegas, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) today announced the formal launch of its MMA Canada Council.  The launch reflects the latest in the MMA’s efforts to establish regional presence with local focus across the globe.  MMA Canada is led by Michael O’Farrell, Country Manager for the MMA, along with Canadian council co-chairs Ross Buchanan, Director, Digital & Relationship Marketing at MolsonCoors and Andrew Osmak, SVP, Business Development & New Ventures at LavaLife.

India & China to lead global telecom sector capex spend to over $ 224 bn by 2015

The demand for mobile services particularly in the developing markets such as Indian and China will fuel the capex of mobile service providers across the globe to scale over $ 224.5 billion by the year 2015, says a new research from market research firm, The Insight Research Corp.

Mobile Increasingly Important for Small Biz

One-fifth of small businesses “could not survive” without mobile. Mobile and wireless technologies such as smartphones, Wi-Fi hotspots and laptop data cards are becoming more important for small-business owners, according to the “Small Business Technology Poll” from AT&T. More than one-fifth of respondents said they could not be in business at all without wireless technologies, and a further 43% claimed it would be a major challenge. That makes mobile and wireless critical for about two-thirds of small businesses.

Travelers Love the Mobile Web, study

Once upon a time, you had to bring travel guides, maps and paper tickets on every trip. Today, you can just take your smartphone and get access to all of this information without having to lug a couple of books and magazines around with you. Today, according to a new study by analytics firm Compete, 38% of smartphone users conduct travel research on their devices and 28% use their phones to book at least some of their trips and travel activities.

Brands urged to spend more on mobile websites

Brands have been urged to invest more of their mobile marketing budgets in creating an internet site designed specifically for handset owners. Although advertisers are frequently becoming happier to spend money on mobile marketing, industry commentator Kunur Patel claimed they are often missing out on potential customers by focusing on creating apps.

BRIC Mobile Giants Begin to Mature

The BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China share large areas and populations, fast-growing economies and rapidly expanding technology markets. Mobile communications have surged in recent years as a cost-effective means of connecting consumers spread across great geographic expanses.

Internet mobile marketing set to boom by 2012

Internet mobile marketing is growing, especially in the platforms of the iPhone and Android platforms. In fact, reports say that the emerging market will account form more than a quarter of revenue from mobile apps by 2012. The report also forecasted that mobile app downloads are set to rise for over 50 billion within the next two years. Revenue from these downloads are forecasted to increase by 62 percent.

AT&T Global Messaging 50 plan drops international SMS costs

Today AT&T announced its new Global Messaging 50 package. The $10 per month subscription lets you send 50 text, IM, picture, or video messages from more than 90 countries. The service, clearly not for messaging addicts, charges $0.40 cents for every sent message past the allocated 50. That’s a $.10 savings over the typical $.50 international message cost, or $1.30 for MMS texts. The service kicks off on March 20th.

Mobile Web users increase to 69.9M: Study

The number of mobile Web users increased by 4 percent to 69.6 million in the United States in January, according to Millennial Media’s SMART report. The increase is up from 67 million users and Millennial Media’s unique audience reach increased by 6.88 percent in January, from 54.3 million to 58.1 million unique users month over month to an 83 percent reach of the mobile Web. In addition, there was a third-party study conducted on the growth of mobile fundraising and its audience’s demographic.

Indonesia sees mobile marketing to boom next year

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2Mobile marketing in Indonesia is seen to boom next year due to tight competition in the cellular phones business services providers offering new creative services as possible.

According to Sarwoto Atmosutarno, Chairman at Cellular Phone Provider Association (ATSI), the emergence of mobile marketing, as one of the newest mobile features, was a consequence of the tight competition felt among the 11 cellular providers operating in the country.

During his talk at the 2010 annual Markplus Conference, he said that Indonesia has 178 million registered cellular users, which is a big market for marketers to look into. In some studies, it is predicted that the cellular phone industry in the country would grow by about 10-12% next year.

“The studies also show that, in Jakarta, the SIM card ownership rate is currently about 1.2, meaning that many Jakartans own more than one cellular phone,” Sarwoto added.

This exceptional market should convince marketers to shift their marketing methods to mobile marketing, Sarwoto said. On other hand, the Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aprindo) chairman, Roy N. Mandey, said that mobile marketing would also help the retail sector to increase its sales. Read more