Tag Archives: cross media promotion

US Mobile Market: Mobile Ad Spending to reach $2.61 billion in 2012

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The rapid growth of mobile marketing spend in the US is projected to reach up to 80% this year 2012, an equivalent to $2.61 billion, according to eMarketer report. A notable figure of last year disclosed the impressive rise of mobile ad spending at $1.45 billion compared from the $769.6 million in 2010.

Two of the major contributing factors that led such an explosive growth are played by Google and Apple; with the former’s mobile search business and heightened interest in display inventory for both smartphones and tablets, and the latter’s widespread adoption of iPhones amounting to global sales of 37.04 million units in the last quarter of 2011.

“As mobile devices become a remote control for our lives, the more indispensable they become; the more they’re being used for search, to browse the web and use applications, and the more that drives up impressions and overall activity,” eMarketer’s Analyst Noah Elkin said.

Mobile search and display will account a growth this year, to include spending on banner and rich-media ads; and video to rise. However, SMS, MMS, and P2P messaging are seen to drop at 12.2% from 19.6%.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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More than a million Irish people now open to mobile ads – study

The number of Irish adults who own a smartphone has jumped by 20pc to 750,000 since the end of 2010, according to a new study, which also suggests that more than a million people are open to mobile ads, and that there is increasing openness to location-based advertising. Carried out by Behaviour & Attitudes for Return2Sender, the research into Irish smartphone trends suggests that, based on last year’s figures, ownership will grow by another 80,000 in the next six months.

Southeast Asia’s mobile Internet revolution is on track, according to new report

Mobile phones are on track to becoming the primary access point to the Internet in Southeast Asia, according to a new report from Nielsen. The analytics firm’s findings, taken from its inaugural Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report which was released today, show that Internet-capable phones are already rivalling laptops, desktop computers sand tablets as primary Internet access points in households across the region.

Mobile Marketing: The Next Frontier

Mobile marketing is a rapidly evolving trend that helps brands engage with people when, where and how they want. Get it right and you unlock fresh revenues and new ways to connect. Get it wrong and you can put consumers off forever. What’s the best way to start? We ask the experts

Mobile search, display spending surges in response to mobile web adoption

US mobile ad spending will grow 47% in 2012, reaching $1.8 billion, as marketers seek to capitalize on rising smart device and mobile web adoption. As on the desktop, search and display (banners, rich media and video) are emerging as the dominant mobile ad formats. “Mobile advertising is no longer a question of ‘if’ but of ‘when,’” said Noah Elkin, principal analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, “Mobile Advertising and Marketing: Moving to the Mainstream.” “A key factor pushing mobile advertising toward the mainstream is that mobile web access is fast becoming more the norm than the exception. This makes mobile a greater imperative than ever for marketers.”

Mobile coupon market to hit $43bn by 2016

A new report from Juniper Research says mobile apps are set to drive an explosion in the usage of coupon redemption by mobile. It says mobile coupons sit at the at the intersection of ads, payments and loyalty schemes, and are therefore ideally placed to profit from the boom in mobile commerce among bricks-and-mortar retailers. Juniper’s analysis certainly chimes with the general consensus among many in the mobile marketing space. The launch of Google Wallet is based around the belief that advertisers want to extend their advertising and CRM programmes to the mobile handset.

AdAsia 2011: Social, Local and Mobile – the three big shifts

The second session on ‘Decoding the new age consumer’ was all about numbers and new marketing models. Adil Zainulbhai, MD – India, McKinsey & Company Inc, started by drawing four different existing scenarios of developing global economies, the real scenario likely to emerge and the forces that will drive the forthcoming change and volatility. He said that it was a positive sign that about 59 per cent of the people had consensus on the emerging market development scenario; however volatility of markets, currencies and prices would remain high for the next few years to come.

Android share in Asia may hit 52% before year-end

Smartphones powered by Google’s Android may make much out of the telecom boom in the Asia-Pacific and grab up to 52 percent of the smartphone market share there before yearend, a research firm predicted. ABI Research said smartphone shipments in Asian markets will see a boost for Android-based smartphones, with market share increasing to 52 percent in 2011, up from just 16 percent in 2010.

Worldwide Mobile Phone Market Growth Picks Up: IDC

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 12.8 per cent in Q3, 2011, indicating a pick-up in growth after a sharp deceleration in growth rate in the second quarter ended June 30, over Q2, 2010, according to IT research firm IDC. The market growth had dropped to single digit level clocking just 9.8 per cent increase in Q2, 2011 over the year ago period due to weak feature phone market, which declined for the first time since Q3, 2009. In contrast, the total mobile market had grown 16.8 per cent in Q1, 2011.

Google chases brands, retailers as it ringfences mobile Web

As Apple continues on its quest to be the king of the applications world, Google is taking another route to the top – the mobile Web. Just because a desktop site can be viewed on a mobile phone does not mean it is mobile-friendly, Google said yesterday when it announced its newest initiative focused on driving innovation on the mobile Web. Mobile sites are designed for the small screen, with the needs of mobile users in mind.

A new wave in mobile commerce and content

Mobile content and mobile commerce have been industry buzzwords for several years with ongoing major developments ranging from the rise in global popularity of ringtones in 2003-04 (thanks to Crazy Frog) to the explosion in mobile applications in 2008-09 (thanks to Apple). Faster networks, smarter devices and the falling cost of phones and service plans have all fueled growth in mobile content and commerce. And now there is a new force changing the mobile industry: evolving mobile data-charging models.

 

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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How to choose a winning mobile strategy

The executives who make the decision on strategy already have first-hand experience and an existing relationship with their phone. They understand the importance of mobile and are constantly reminded by friends and family that its influence is becoming increasingly broad on all levels. Secondly, the numbers are simply impossible to ignore. Businesses are moving their strategies in line with the evolving user behavior and companies of all sizes and sectors are putting mobile at the center of their business strategy.

comScore Reports June 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

The study surveyed more than 30,000 U.S. mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3 percent market share. Google Android continued to gain ground in the smartphone market reaching 40.1 percent market share in June.

Nokia still top mobile maker in Q2, but Apple grows 142 percent y-o-y

According to the IDC’s worldwide mobile phone tracker, vendors shipped 365.4 million units in 2Q11 compared to 328.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. The 11.3-percent growth was lower than IDC’s forecast of 13.3 percent for the quarter and was also below the 16.8 percent growth in 1Q11. The feature phone market shrank 4 percent in 2Q11 when compared to 2Q10.

Nielsen Data Points to Continued Android Dominance in the US Smartphone Market

Google’s Android operating system isn’t backing down amid growing competition within the US smartphone market. Android now represents 39 percent of the US smartphone ownership market as of June 2011. That information comes from the latest Nielsen data. The data largely backs up the claims made three weeks ago by Google CEO Larry Page, who says Android-powered devices are being activated to the tune of 550,000 units a day.

8 in 10 Mobile Users Browse Products/Services

About eight in 10 (81%) US smartphone/tablet users browse or look for products and/or services with their mobile devices, according to the July 2011 Prosper Mobile Insights mobile survey. This was slightly more than the 80% who use their mobile devices to locate a store or store hours (more than one answer permitted). The top two choices among the eight offered respondents were about twice as popular as any other response. The next-most-popular mobile activity, researching specific products (56%), was performed by 43% fewer smartphone/tablet users. The only other activity performed by more than half of respondents was receiving text messages with special offers (53%).

Mobile Users Expand Their Search Habits

More than 91 million US consumers will use the internet through a mobile device at least monthly by the end of this year, eMarketer estimates, and research shows that the increase in on-the-go web usage goes hand in hand with more search activity for local content. According to research from comScore and the Local Search Association, 22% of all US mobile owners used search on their phone in January 2011, up from 16% a year earlier.

Apple Tops Nokia, Samsung to Become World’s Top Smartphone Maker

As evidenced by the fact that Apple now has more cash on hand than the US Treasury, Apple’s unprecedented growth continues and it doesn’t appear that even Nokia and Samsung can slow the momentum. According to a new report published Friday by Strategy Analytics, Apple is the new king of the global smartphone world.

Marketing is ‘moving to mobile devices’

Businesses aiming to achieve a complete customer view for marketing have been advised that more advertising spending is moving to mobile devices. Windsor Holden, the principal analyst at Juniper Research, said that while mobile advertising, which covers tablets, smartphones and cells, really took off in 2010, its potential has still yet to be realized.

TheTMSway made Hong Kong Tramway a real time interactive touch point

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As Martiros artist ad campaign made a hit at Hong Kong Tramway, mobile users were able to experience an exciting and personalized manner of meeting in person with the long hailed ‘one of the most successful and collected living contemporary Master Artists in the world’.

The Damina Gallery is a place that displays masterpieces of artists from US, Asia, and Europe – that includes Martiros, who is one of the most successful and collected living contemporary Master Artists in the world celebrating the love of life and freedom. With his art exhibits scheduled from May 9 to 28, 2011, all supporters of Martiros were invited to acquire for VIP invitations in an exciting and more personalized manners.

The interactive campaign, powered by TheTMSway via its telecom-free “touch point” system which associates   the new short codes (TMS Shortcodes) to the TMS code search engine (TMS Search), was launched and made a hit at the Hong Kong Tramway inviting all supporters to use the TMS code: VIP 2011 to receive a personalized invitation to meet Martiros in person. The call to action was: “visit TMSsearch.com on mobile to enter the code”.

Attached to the TMS code, an interactive (mobile) site was accessible where mobile users could watch videos as regards to Martiros and his works. Users were given also the privilege to specify a schedule of which they preferred to personally meet with the artist. The interactive site (automatically optimized for mobile and tablet devices) was also integrated with location map and social functionalities where all supporters can share the event to friends via emails or across Facebook and Twitter spheres.

From the tramway transformed into an interactive touch point, the campaign was ‘tagged’ by TMS to provide with real time metrics and data about user’s interaction, engagement, and social sharing behaviors.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Global mobile market grew almost 20pc from last year – research

The global mobile phone market grew by 19.8pc year over year in the first quarter of 2011, according to research from IDC. The research revealed that mobile vendors shipped 371.8m units in the first quarter of 2011, compared to 310.5m units in the first quarter of 2010. This growth was helped by the smartphone market, particularly in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan.

Mobile Marketing Association Extends Reach into China

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is extending its “footprint” into the largest, fastest growing mobile population in the world. On Monday, The Mobile Marketing Association announced the launch of its China Local Council to “serve the growing needs of mobile marketing in the country.”

Mobile advt industry to grow 300% in 3 yrs

With over 700-million people using mobile phones in India, the mobile advertising industry is expected to grow by around 300 per cent to reach a turnover of Rs 200 crore over the next 2-3 years, industry experts said. Mobile advertising is a form of advertising where marketers target mobile-users for marketing of their products and services.

Asia-Pacific mobile broadband market continues to grow

THE ASIA-PACIFIC (AP) mobile broadband market will hit revenues of $108 billion in 2015, driven by continued strong demand for Internet access on small-screen devices such as smartphones, a forecast report released by Ovum showed. The independent telecoms analyst found that revenue growth is not keeping pace with connections, highlighting the need for service providers to develop improved monetization strategies.

Offline businesses see faster Internet growth than online businesses

The British Retail Consortium has published its first Online Retail Monitor report today, showing a dramatic increase in mobile retail searches. Mobile search grew 181% in the first three months of the year and now accounts for 11% of all retail searches. This tallies with eBay’s commitment to mobile technology and the importance the place on mobile for the future.

Hungary mobile internet subscriptions grow to 1.39 mln in March

The number of mobile internet subscriptions in Hungary rose to 1.394 million in March from 1.350 million a month earlier, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) said on Tuesday. The number of active mobile internet subscriptions – those who used the service at some time during the previous three months – climbed to 1.073 million from 1.036 in March, NMHH said. Mobile internet subscribers transferred 1,383,000 gigabytes of data in March, down from 1,283,000 in February.

Digital media agencies should target young people, research shows

Digital media, social media and mobile marketing should be used to target the younger generation in developed countries outside the western world, experts in Kuala Lumpur have said.  Search marketing and online direct marketing campaigns must be designed with younger people in mind, as they are by far the main users of the internet in both static and mobile form, said Andreas Vogiatakis, managing director of the Omnicom Media Group.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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PLDT to buy 51.55% of Digitel

MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) – Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said on Tuesday it will take control of a rival firm as it seeks to solidify its leading position in a mature industry where a price war had eroded margins. PLDT, the country’s top telecommunications firm, said it forged a deal valued at P69.2 billion ($1.6 billion) to acquire 51.55% of third-ranked Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel).

Mobile tech brings big retail brands to rural India

WATCH: Sales representatives go from shop to shop in villages, taking orders and wiring them back to base via a mobile phone application Lawan is a long way from nowhere. The remote village is dry, hot and dusty. It is still morning, but the sun is already burning.

Declaration vs constitution in Turkey’s mobile market

Turkcell and Vodafone, the top two rivals in Turkey’s mobile phone operating market, blame each other for imitating the other party in recently launched ad campaigns inspired by the country’s upcoming general elections. Avea, the third player in the market, meanwhile, says the rivals are just promoting what they should already be doing

AT&T deal raises competition concerns

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — AT&T Inc.’s bid to acquire T-Mobile USA is sure to draw a stern look from federal regulators, but whether they try to block the $80 billion deal is far from clear. If the merger is allowed without any changes, AT&T would easily leapfrog Verizon Wireless to become the nation’s largest mobile phone company with 130 million customers. Those two companies combined would control 75% of the U.S. mobile market.

Kenya: mobile market looks to new profit channels

According to a new report published on Thursday, the volatile mobile market in Kenya and the continued price wars and changes by the country’s regulator has seen many operators look to value-generating channels in order to earn a profit. The report, published by Pyramid Research, says that private investment is expected to head in this direction in the near future. Kenya has been in the midst of a price battle between operators that has seen mobile phone costs dramatically reduced as individual companies attempt to outdo one another.

Lawmakers probe wireless carriers on location data

Two powerful lawmakers have asked the nation’s Tier 1 wireless carriers to explain how they collect, store and use the location data generated by subscribers’ mobile phones, putting a spotlight on a common wireless industry practice.

How mobile ties in with shopper behavior

This is the year that retailers will take back their stores through mobile commerce. Smartphone penetration nationwide is predicted to increase from 28 percent to an astounding 50 percent by year’s end. It is no surprise then that more people are shifting their daily activities, such as maintaining a calendar, making payments and entertainment purposes, to their mobile devices.

Nearly 90% of Chinese are phone subscribers

Of China’s 1.34 billion people, 1.17 billion (87%) now use a fixed line phone, or a mobile phone. However, the figures also show more Chinese are ditching fixed line phones in favor of mobile devices.  The number of mobile users rose nearly 20 million in the first two months of this year, while fixed line telecommunication companies lost 918,000.

New version of US consumer best practices for cross-carrier mobile content services

ORLANDO, US: Version 6.0 guidelines provide the industry-standard reference for the mobile marketing ecosystem, including the four largest US carriers; the US Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has released the latest version of its US Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services.

China’s Mobile TV Market Share Showing Incredible Growth

China’s mobile TV market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 51% during 2009-2013, says RNCOS in its research report. The global mobile TV market has been witnessing a significant growth for the past few years, on the back of its ability to stream the content from the television on the move. Presently, mobile TV services are available only in a limited number of countries, catering to the needs of the premium segment. However, the future will witness an increase in the number of mobile TV rollouts across the globe.

Mobile Analytics Poised for Strong Market Growth

AMBRIDGE, Mass., March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — While more than 90 percent of companies that provide mobile services say they want to incorporate mobile analytics into their business analysis, less than 20 percent currently do so, suggesting a potentially huge uptick in business for companies that offer mobile analytics tools, according to the latest report from Heavy Reading Mobile Networks Insider. Mobile Analytics: Strong Growth Potential Ahead evaluates the mobile analytics sector, focusing on market drivers, user demographics, and financial analysis, as well as market benefits and challenges.

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 Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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The Opportunity for Minority Firms: Go Mobile

African-Americans and Hispanics Over Index; Where Are You? If the motto of your niche firm is to go where the people are, the first place African-American and Hispanic firms should be going: mobile devices. Nielsen recently did a study that analyzed 60,000 cellphone bills over the course of a year and tracked mobile usage for voice and text. According to Nielsen: African-Americans use the most voice minutes — on average more than 1,300 a month. Hispanics are the next most talkative group, chatting an average of 826 minutes a month. Even Asians/Pacific Islanders, with 692 average monthly minutes, talk more than Whites, who use roughly 647 voice minutes a month. . . . African-Americans and Hispanics also text the most.

Online, mobile advertising see 14 percent growth in 2011, says Borrell Associates

Overall ad spending next year is expected to see moderate growth, but online and mobile advertising should see a sizable increase, according to the latest forecast from Borrell Associates.

The projection, part of the company’s “2011 Online Ad Spend Forecast by DMA,” predicts advertisers will increase spending by less than 5 percent next year compared to 2010, boosting total U.S. ad spending to $238.6 billion.

U.S. Location-Based Ad Market: $1.8B in 2015

ABI Research published last week a new report which forecasts that the location-aware advertising market will reach $1.8 billion in 2015 in the United States. In comparison, the total mobile advertising market will be $5 billion, showing that a sizeable part of the mobile advertising market will use a geo-location component. ABI Research recognizes that today “It’s still early days and there’s no single ‘right’ approach to location-based advertising,” says practice director Neil Strother. “This remains a very fragmented market that is full of experimentation.”

More than 50% of mobile users want location-aware advertising

According to a survey conducted by mobile media company JiWire, over 50% of mobile users would gladly receive location-aware advertising. Approximately, 39% would enjoy a location-based coupon or two if it was sent to their handset and a modest 36% would look forward to ads from stores that are in their immediate vicinity. Surprisingly, these shopping-oriented location services ranked higher than reviews, check-ins, and status updating.

Kenya gets low-priced smartphone

The quest for control of Kenya’s rapidly growing mobile Internet market has intensified with the launch by Chinese technology firm Huawei of a competitively priced smartphone that runs on Google’s Android operating system. Retailing at just Sh8,000, the Huawei IDEOS is the cheapest smartphone in the Kenyan market and is expected to deepen the penetration of Internet among the estimated 20 million Kenyan consumers of mobile phone services. Internet access has become the new battleground for Kenya’s four telecoms operators following the recent plummeting in voice call tariffs and the resulting decline in its importance as a revenue driver.

Use mobile to break through the holiday marketing clutter: AT&T panelist

NEW YORK – This holiday season will be the first where mobile will play a key role in shaping shopping and buying decisions for today’s convenience-seeking, bargain-hunting consumer, per the consensus at the Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus 2010. More Web-enabled smartphones in the market will play a critical role in influencing how consumers interact with content, marketing and commerce over the holidays.

Delivering a branded experience across all mobile channels is key: panelists

NEW YORK – Media brands are leaving no stone unturned to offer advertisers a package comprising mobile sites, applications, SMS alerts and social media integration. Panelists addressed advertising growth on their publications during the “Are Publishers and Broadcasters Providing an Advertiser-Friendly Environment for the Holidays?” panel. The panelists agreed that it is important to deliver a branding experience across all channels.

Consider brand objective before setting mobile holiday strategy: Mobile Marketing Summit

NEW YORK – More consumers will engage with mobile advertisements, Web sites, applications and mobile search functionality this holiday season, according to panelists at the Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus conference. Today’s shoppers are being trained to have the same expectations on mobile as they do on the wired Web. The panelists discussed why ads, SMS, mobile-optimized sites and applications matter for brand and customer experiences.

Google warned on China plans

Google’s technological lead over Baidu has eroded, the company’s former China head has said, highlighting the increasing challenges western internet companies face in the world’s most populous internet market. In an interview with the Financial Times, Kai-fu Lee said western internet companies had no chance in China unless they build a more nimble and flexible local presence and retain a strong technological edge. “Multinational players [must] hire the right senior people and empower them to have the flexibility to win [in China],” said Mr Lee, who resigned as president of Google’s operations in China a year ago.

Mobile web rises in popularity in the UK

LONDON: The mobile internet is rising in popularity among UK consumers, largely due to the increased penetration of smartphones like the iPhone and BlackBerry. According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), 30.1m adults access the web on a daily basis, an uptick from 16.5m in 2006. While penetration has now grown to 77%, or 38.3m individuals overall, there remain 9.2m Britons who have never been online. Approximately 17m adults stream TV content via this medium, with video-on-demand offerings operated by official broadcasters proving especially popular.

Email Dominates Mobile Web Usage

Site- and category-level data both show that email represents the largest share of US mobile internet activity, according to analysis from The Nielsen Company. Email Accounts for Roughly 40% of Mobile Web Use. Examining mobile internet usage at a granular level, Nielsen finds that in May 2010, email accounted for 38.5% of use at individual site level, and 41.5% of use at the broader category level (groupings of websites that offer similar types of content). The alternative site-level way of slicing the data still shows email to be, by far, the dominant sector in terms of mobile time, although this dominance shrinks by a few delta points to 38.5% from 41.6%.

Future of the Mobile Content Value Chain in Asia’s Emerging Markets

The mobile content and applications market is currently small, but it has significant potential to drive Asia’s emerging market operator non-voice revenues and ARPU. However, only some emerging market operators are yet to give this space the serious attention and resources it requires. So how will this market evolve? Ovum believes there are six key issues that will shape the future development of the market for mobile content and applications in such markets:

Mobile Marketing Strategies: Four insights to get started

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Being a neophyte into mobile marketing sphere is not that difficult provided that you have the right mobile content provider to execute the technicalities needed, and the more you’ll get used of such marketing channel, you’ll realize the uniqueness and practicalities it brings to your marketing results.

So if you are a new marketer in the mobile space and is uncertain of where and how to get started, a recent article from Marketing Sherpa’s Adam Sutton provides some insightful tips and strategies to guide you through the process…

by Adam T. Sutton, Reporter

Technology always increases in power and decreases in price over time. The multimillion-dollar supercomputer of yesterday is today’s five dollar pocket calculator. Mobile phone technology is no different.

More people carry smartphones than ever before:

o 31.9% of all mobile subscribers used a Web browser on a mobile device in the three months ending in May 2010, according to comScore. That’s up from 26% in comScore’s September 2009 three-month average.

o 30% downloaded a mobile app in the three months ending in May, compared to 6.7% in the September 2009 three-month average, according to comScore.

“We’re definitely past the discussion of whether mobile is mainstream. It’s here,” says Matthew Snyder, CEO and Founder, ADObjects, a mobile strategy consultancy and agency.

Snyder has worked in mobile and consumer electronics for more than two decades. He spent 12 years with Nokia and eight years with Sony, based mostly in Japan, a mobile technology hotspot. He now helps companies understand how mobile channels can improve business and marketing performance.

We spoke with Snyder to get his take on what marketers need to consider before testing mobile marketing initiatives. Here are the five insights he provided:

Insight #1. Start with a mobile Web presence

Snyder is a strong believer in the Web. The cornerstone of any mobile strategy should be a Web presence, he says, whether it is a single landing page or a full mobile site. Even if a marketer is experimenting with sending SMS messages, these messages should include a link to a page where mobile users can learn more.

Here are four types of mobile Web presences Snyder sees:

1. Mobile versions of existing sites

Companies have built mobile websites which offer nearly the same features as their traditional websites, but which are adapted to a handheld format. A textbook example is Facebook’s mobile website (see Useful Links below).

2. Plug-in-based mobile sites

Similar to the first category, blogs and websites based on WordPress, Drupal or similar open-source platforms can use free plug-ins which format sites for mobile audiences (see useful links below).

3. Mobile landing pages

As the name suggests, these single-page entities can be created quickly to add a mobile-Web presence to a marketing campaign.

4. Dedicated mobile sites

These sites are standalone, multi-page entities, not mobile versions of a traditional website. They have their own designs and strategies to meet the needs of mobile visitors.

Insight #2. Consider all mobile options

Mobile networks and devices provide a range of ways to reach an audience — such as text, voice and email. When your team is considering how best to incorporate mobile into its marketing, consider all the major possibilities:

- Short Message Service (SMS)

SMS is capable of sending minimal, text-based messages to your audience, which can include links to call a phone number or visit a website.

- Multimedia Message Service (MMS)

MMS is similar to SMS technology, but can also send content such as images, video and audio files such as ringtones.

- Voice

Mobile phones have click-to-call functionality that enables audiences to reach you directly, or to click to request a call from your team.

- Web

Similar to traditional Web browsing, the mobile Web is continually adding pages of content designed for easy access from handheld devices.

- Proximity marketing

Smartphones with GPS and similar technologies are capable of broadcasting locations. Some marketers are taking the opportunity to deliver ads to mobile users in specific locations, such as when they’re near brick-and-mortar stores.

- Applications

Computer programs specially designed for smartphones are widely available and have their own marketplaces. Some marketers have directly integrated campaigns into their audiences’ phones by designing and offering a branded mobile app.

- Content

Branded content — including ringtones, images, videos and ebooks — are just a few of the many different types of digital information marketers can provide in a mobile format.

- Email

As any business professional with a Blackberry will tell you, email is a mobile channel. People frequently receive and send digital letters through handheld devices.

Insight #3. Mobile does not stand alone

Mobile marketing does not succeed as an isolated channel, Snyder says. Instead, it works best when integrated with other channels and tactics to form a cross-platform strategy.

Examples include:
o Combining SMS or barcode calls-to-action in traditional advertising
o Mobile apps that integrate with television shows
o Mobile coupons for in-store sales

Mobile promotions should also be integrated with other channels. For example, mobile content should be promoted on your website — e.g. if you’re advertising a free whitepaper download and it’s available in a mobile format, mention this in your website ads.

“Mobile, in general, is the glue that connects all media,” Snyder says, “As smartphones become more prevalent, the more they will be associated and attached with existing media channels.”

Insight #4. Mobile requires a well-planned strategy

It can be tempting to quickly test proximity marketing or a mobile website just to see what happens. But mobile marketing initiatives should be carefully planned, Snyder says. Otherwise, you risk wasting time and money, and possibly damaging your brand.

Areas to consider:

- Overall marketing strategy

Mobile devices are extremely personal. Owners carry them everywhere, and during all stages of the buying process.

Given mobile’s “constantly-connected” attributes, you must understand the impact of making mobile information available throughout your entire marketing strategy. Your team should know:
o Which specific goals you want to achieve
o How the tactic will help achieve those goals
o What possible negative impact it could have

- Usage cases for your audience

Determine the ways in which your audience would, or already does, interact with your company on mobile devices. Put yourself in their shoes — how could they use a smartphone to learn more about you?

By checking your website’s analytics you may find mobile visitors are already accessing your site.

“I’ve seen anywhere from 5% to 20% of existing websites getting hit by phones today,” Snyder says.

- Media buying and budget

Your team also will have to consider where mobile marketing fits into its media budget and priorities. You will have to gauge investment and potential return while ensuring the overall media plan is capable of meeting its targets.

Some mobile channels are inexpensive to test. For example, your team could easily add a call-to-action to your traditional advertising to ask viewers to send you an SMS message or visit your mobile site. Others are more expensive, such as mobile applications, which can cost between $20,000 and $100,000 to develop a quality product, Snyder says.

Mobile marketing seen incredible for cost-effective cross-platform social media campaigns

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mobile market3Mobile marketing is revealed to become incredibly effective in the business marketplace for enhanced cost-effective, cross-platform social media campaigns, according to a study from LuxuryReach Inc. The study used surveys and polls in determining the core business groups outside of large brands, of which are also functioning as early as adaptors of mobile marketing technologies.  

Results found a large number of “big brands” and national corporations in the US using a diverse span of wireless marketing services such as: in-app advertising, mobile app creation, click to call campaigns, and geo-targeted messaging.

According to the LuxuryReach marketing firm, the interactive mobile media has become a way to reaching people at anytime, and of elsewhere, and that the platform permits them to engage in specific actions and behaviors while on the go. The mobile also enables the retail sector to customize marketing campaigns which instantly drive into purchasing behaviors. The mobile also provides an avenue for small brands to cross-market wireless campaigns with free social media endeavors resulting to low cost, high ROI achievements that any company can utilize. Read more