What we do and how we do it

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Fonejacker widget allows users to appear in sketches

source-brandrepublic.com

LONDON - E4.com has released a new widget allowing viewers to appear in one of the show's sketches.

The flash application, by digital engagement agency Kerb, allows users to upload their picture, which is then used in one of three scenarios.

The final clip can be saved and emailed to friends.

Jody Smith, editor of E4.com, said: "We wanted to create something fun and viral for the new series of Fonejacker that users can take away from E4.com and place on their social network profiles."

The new season of Fonejacker airs at 10pm on Wednesday on E4, and the widget will be available for a six-month period through the E4.com website.

Unilever mounts mobile 'rant' campaign for Peperami

source-brandrepublic.com

LONDON - Unilever is supporting the launch of Peperami.mobi, the snack brand's first mobile internet presence, with 'Animal Attacks', a rant-generator.

Consumers text the word 'animal' to a short code to receive a link to the mobile site where they can access the free application, created by AKQA.

Users compile phrases to create a call from the Peperami Animal, which is delivered to a specified number. Within five minutes, an explanatory follow-up text message is sent.

The mobile site also offers downloadable wallpapers and ringtones. AKQA created a digital ad campaign to support the feature, using online ads and search optimisation to drive consumers to the .mobi site.

The short code also appears on a 20-second TV ad by Lowe, set to run for seven weeks.

Can quick response codes jump start mobile marketing?

source-brandrepublic.com

LONDON - If there is one word that the mobile marketing industry is fed up with hearing, it's 'potential'. It is not that mobile is lacking in it as a marketing channel; the problem is that it seems to be permanently stuck at the 'potential' stage, forever waiting for the big idea that will open up mobile marketing and bring mobile campaigns from some of the world's biggest brands to the masses.

While marketers wait, each January brings the promise from excited industry insiders that the next 12 months will be the 'year of mobile'.

There is, however, a groundswell of opinion that the hallowed 'big idea' may well have already arrived, in the form of quick response (QR) codes. These are two-dimensional barcodes that form a bridge between printed material and the mobile internet. Their use is already widespread in Japan, and some pundits believe it could soon become a popular marketing tool in the UK. Moreover, since Google launched its ZXing (pronounced zebra crossing) barcode reader for the JDME, JZSE and Android mobile platforms, the idea has begun to gain credence.

To the untrained eye, the codes look like random black-and-white patterns contained within square boxes. But to the owner of a mobile phone with a QR code reader, they are shortcuts to mobile internet sites. On taking a photo of a QR code with a camera phone, the consumer will be guided to branded content linked specifically to that code.

Simon McMaster, director of digital, Tequila London, describes the practice as 'urban bookmarking'. 'One big problem that brands have is taking someone from the offline environment and getting them to remember the URL of your website,' he explains. 'QR codes solve that problem by providing a direct link between the offline and the online worlds.'

A number of campaigns using QR are already in progress, and more are in the pipeline. Howard Furr-Barton, managing director of online marketing agency Brand Attention, cites the example of Propertyfinder.mobi, which will use QR codes on estate agents' 'for sale' boards to enable consumers to download photos and information about the relevant property to their mobile there and then. BUPA, too, is preparing a package that will allow consumers to purchase travel insurance instantly via their mobile by photographing QR codes on posters at airports.

In addition, Central Manchester Hospitals is in discussion with Brand Attention to incorporate the use of QR codes in a digital signage project at a £500m complex due to open in 2009. Visitors to the hospital would be able to snap a sign-mounted QR code relating to a particular part of the building to access directions to the relevant department.

However, these campaigns are not the first examples of such technology in action in the UK. In 2006, 20:20 London used mobile image recognition as part of a sophisticated multichannel viral campaign to promote the PSP game Gangs of London. Similarly, QR codes were used to promote the 2007 DVD release of the film 28 Weeks Later, as well as a single release for the Pet Shop Boys.

In December, The Sun ran an eight-page pull-out on QR codes, including details of how to download a reader. News Group Newspapers head of mobile advertising, Ian Samuel, says it was part of the publishing group's commitment to delivering its content across print, online and mobile. 'We saw QR codes as an efficient way to enable advertisers to make their press advertising more interactive, like the red button for newspapers,' says Samuel. He adds that 11,000 readers downloaded the QR Code reader - enough to convince the newspaper to consider using the technology again.

Despite this rash of activity, not everyone is convinced that the codes are the answer to mobile marketing's problem. One of the most commonly cited issues is that of reach.

'Recent Nokia handsets support QR codes, but beyond that, it is very limited,' explains Chris Bourke, managing director of mobile agency Aerodeon. 'We know from our experiences with Java downloads that certain demographics are reluctant to download software to their mobiles, and it is likely that the same reluctance will apply to the software needed to read QR codes.'

Some also claim that the codes present few genuinely unexplored opportunities. 'Marketers have been placing shortcodes and keywords on above-the-line material to great effect for years, and QR codes add little to the mix that cannot already be achieved by more traditional mobile techniques,' argues Tim Dunn, marketing services director at Mobile Interactive Group.

He also rejects the idea that QR codes are destined to take off in Europe simply because they have in Japan, where high-speed mobile data networks have been ubiquitous for many years and high-end browsers, handset applications and consumer uptake have grown with them. 'QR codes are a neat-looking idea, but the need for Java software is a big hurdle for UK users,' he adds.

Even for those more impressed by the technological theory, there remains a potential conundrum. 'Which comes first - advertisers needing QR codes to attract users to their mobile sites, or consumers seeking a utility that benefits them?' asks Robert Thurner, commercial director at mobile agency Incentivated. 'For the consumer to want a code-reader on their phone, there have to be enough existing codes that they want to access.'

Those driving the technology in the UK are working to surmount the software barrier. As Dunn points out, it is possible to send a photograph of a QR code as an MMS picture message and receive a reply with a link to the mobile internet site, sidestepping the need to download a barcode-reader.

A further complication is that, although the term is used generically, QR codes are just one of several types of mobile barcodes including Aztec, Upcode, Data Matrix and Microsoft's High Capacity Colour Barcode - none of which is compatible with any of the others.

Thomas Curwen, planning director at ad agency Publicis Dialog, began evangelising the technology to his clients after encountering mobile barcodes in Japan in 2004. However, he recognised the problems that would be caused by the numerous incompatible versions of the technology, and in February 2007 Publicis Groupe joined up with other companies including Nokia, HP and Qualcomm to form the Mobile Codes Consortium (MC2).

For the past year, MC2 has been lobbying for a unified standard for mobile barcodes, and in December it persuaded the GSM Association (GSMA) and the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) to commit to seeking a worldwide mobile barcode standard.

'We hope that the OMA and GSMA will encourage the industry to adopt a single standard that allows [nearly] all code readers to read [nearly] all codes,' says Curwen. 'This will also increase the likelihood that phones are sold with readers pre-installed, and will deliver a technology that helps the marketing industry to extend the measurement and response aspects of the internet to match the reach and impact of traditional display advertising.'

Mobile industry insiders believe that consumers will not care which technology wins out, as long as it works. But Nigel Dean, head of interactive sales for mobile network O2 , agrees with Curwen about the need for a unified standard. 'We have spoken to a lot of agencies in the mobile space and everyone is agreed that it will not work until there is a standard,' he says. 'Once we have that, we can start explaining to consumers what it means,how it will benefit them, and how it will make their lives different.'

That is quite a brief for a squiggly black-and-white square. But if the mobile marketing industry really wants to stop all the empty murmur about 'potential', it is probably not far short of what will be required.

Case study: Kerrang

Last year, Emap ran a QR code promotion in its heavy-metal music title Kerrang. The campaign was set up by Squiggly Square, an agent for i-nigma, which produces QR code-reader applications for mobiles.

Readers were invited to text the word 'Kerrang' to a shortcode to request the code-reader, which enabled them to scan a barcode on an ad for the band Pendulum that appeared in the magazine.

The code linked to a mobile site where users could access free wallpapers and download Pendulum's single for a fee. 'In effect, what we did was to turn the magazine into a broadcast medium,' says Chris Shepperson, head of market for entertain-ment across Q, Mojo, Kerrang and Empire magazines.

Emap has not released figures for the number of readers who downloaded the code-reader, but Shepperson is confident that the response will have been strong.

'We think this was a really good offer,' he says. 'It enabled readers to go beyond the pages of the magazine and access music content on their mobile, even if they were sitting on a train or somewhere else where they couldn't get online.'

KLM Launches Viral Campaign Stop The Hassle

source-viralblog.com

January 29th, 2008 |

Like Unilever with their viral campaigns Dove Evolution and Dove Onslaught, also KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is tapping into viral and social media optimization again. Not very strange if, you take a look at the very successful viral campaign KLM Fly For Fortune.

Tribal DDB re-created VanMcCoy’s disco hit ‘Do The Hustle’ into ‘Stop The Hassle’, to promote KLM.com. Central part of this Pan European KLM campaign, is the micro-website Stop The Hassle, where afro headed host Mike invites internet users to upload and share their daily hassles (photos and videos), since ‘a hassle shared, is a hassle halved’.

Goal of this campaign is to raise the awareness of KLM.com and to link KLM’s brand value convenience (hassle-free) to KLM.com Social media optimization, seeding and viral tracking of this campaign is done by ViralTracker and online media by mediaegde:cia.

lastminute.com introduces mobile restaurant booking service

eyefortravel.com

Published: 18 Aug 2008

lastminute.com's Labs team has launched the beta version of its first mobile application FoneFood, a European-wide multi-lingual restaurant table reservation service.

The service is available at http://m.lastminute.com/fonefood. The user can access this by logging on to Internet via mobile phone or sending SMS.

"This is in fact is a new way to book a table at a restaurant. Enter a place, see nearby restaurants, click to book, all from your phone. We have restaurants all over Europe. You could even book one before you travel. And, even better, there's often offers and discounts, like half-price deals. There's English and Swedish versions at the moment, and more languages to follow," shared Pablo Alvarez, Group Innovation Manager, lastminute.com.

Alvarez added that the company is going to improve the service on an ongoing basis based on the feedback from the users.

How does it work?

Type in a place, and the service will list nearby restaurants. When user chooses one, click to book a table. This is followed by a display of dates and availability (time). User receives a confirmation by text and email.

At some restaurants, the company has special deals, like cheap fixed-price menus or 50 percent-off deals.

Mobile phones to save airlines, by exposing passengers

source-theregister.co.uk

How much privacy would you give up for cheaper flights?

---

Airline travel is set to get even more unpleasant, as hapless airline passengers face being hounded through airports by online advertisers as well as security, customs and perfume touting duty free sales staff.

The airline industry could save $600m a year by tracking passengers through airports and punting ads to their mobiles, along with their tickets and boarding passes, according to a report from airline industry tech supplier SITA.

The prediction comes in a report from SITA, distributed at its Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels last. It gains a little credibility by including research from Cambridge University, though SITA are the one's who would like to provide the technology.

The tracking idea could be done in conjunction with the network operators, in much the same way commercial tracking happens now. At present customers receive an SMS asking them if they're OK with the idea, and if they don’t say no then the third party (in this case the airport) gains access to instant information about the location of the phone, and hence that of the user. That generally gives rough information, though the density of cells within an airport should give locations within a hundred meters or so.

If working with the operators is too much effort, or more accuracy is desired, then airlines could use the technique Path Technologies is already deploying in shopping centres - airports being a cross between a shopping centre and an open prison these days anyway. Path Technologies track handsets, not their owners, but a link could be established during the check-in procedure.

Knowing where all the passengers are could save valuable time chasing them down when they should be boarding. Your correspondent's boss at Swiss Telecom had a policy of never going to the gate until his name had been called twice; the stares of the other passengers on boarding are cause to give up a lot of privacy.

Checking in could also be delegated to the mobile phone, in much the same way that many airlines operate online check-in. Using a phone would also allow an electronic boarding pass to be issued direct to the phone. This is already happening in Japan using FeliCa handsets and could be an application for NFC, though a lower-tech solution could just display a bar-code on an existing handset (as offered by Mobiqa).

But SITA reckons mobile phones won't just cut costs and reduce paper work, they could also increase revenue. In a trial punters hanging around Manchester Airport spent 45 per cent more if money-off vouchers were sent to their mobiles. Combined with the tracking technology the opportunities are endless.

Of course, SITA is hardly an uninterested party in this, investing more than $100m during 2008 into finding new reasons for the air industry to spend more money on technology. ®

Bank of America campaign targets students for mobile banking

source-mobilemarketer.com

Money on mobile

Bank of America has introduced a financial awareness campaign designed to educate students to take control of their finances and discover mobile banking in this upcoming academic year.

The “Morris on Campus, Life According to an Upperclassman” campaign provides college students with tips on how to navigate campus life, including money matters, through Webisodes, additional online content and offline communication pieces.

“One of the interesting findings in the survey is that students don’t do a lot of mobile banking or online banking, which is surprising given that Generation Y is very technology savvy,” said Diane Wagner, Chicago-based spokeswoman for Bank of America.

“We think it’s very important for students away from home for the first time to keep track of their finances and mobile alerts are a great way for them to do just that,” she said.

The national effort aims to help address a recent Bank of America-sponsored survey finding where nearly four in 10 college-aged students (38 percent) reported they can use help in managing their money.

BoA AOK

Bank of America spokesman Morris will introduce students to Bank of America’s new Student Package, a suite of banking products designed specifically for students.

“Students can sign up for a variety alerts to be sent to their phone, including notifications when one of their balances dips below a certain threshold,” Ms. Wagner said. “We want to help them use technology in an easy convenient way while they’re on the go.

“In this day and age students have their mobile phone with them all the time,” she said.

Be Money on Campus contest

Morris will also point students to helpful financial resources, such as the Student Financial Handbook, a downloadable guide that provides students with easy to understand explanations and advice on an array of financial topics.

“College students are a very good demographic that we’re going after,” Ms. Wagner said.

“If you’re a freshman and it’s the first time you’re away from home, you may be getting your first checking account and dealing with a lot of expenses you haven’t had before such as books, supplies, room and board, and phone bills," she said.

“It’s like Banking 101, we’re providing them with basic steps they can take for budgeting and financial planning so they’re prepared and not caught off guard."

The Morris on Campus site can be found at www.bankofamerica.com/oncampus.

In addition to the Bank of America Web site and the campaign portals, the financial institution is spreading the word about the campaign with banner ads on various Web sites and point-of-sale calls-to-action at banking centers and ATM machines nationwide.

“This is a great opportunity to reach out to this segment of our customer base and educate them about mobile banking,” Ms. Wagner said. “It’s a great way for them to keep track of their finances, be savvy and know what they’ve got in the bank before they spend to avoid overdraft situations.”

To continue the dialogue among students concerning their finances, Bank of America has teamed with Farnoosh Torabi, senior correspondent for TheStreet.com and author of "You're So Money" to conduct the national Be Money on Campus contest.

The BMOC contest offers college students a chance to win $25,000 by sharing their best financial tips related to on and off-campus life.

Bank of America’s “Bank with Confidence” survey findings reveal important insights into the viewpoints college students have about their money and finances.

Nine in 10 students (91 percent) feel prepared to manage their finances in the upcoming semester.

Nearly eight in 10 (78 percent) report feeling "knowledgeable" to "very knowledgeable" about saving.
Two out of three (67 percent) feel similarly about balancing their checking accounts.

More than three in four (77 percent) turn to their parents for financial information and advice. One-third (34 percent) discuss finances more than once a week.

However, four in 10 students (42 percent) reported having overdrawn their checking account.

And, surprisingly for Generation Y, one in three students (30 percent) reported not being knowledgeable about online banking and two-thirds (64 percent) were not familiar with mobile banking.

“Using your mobile phone for banking was unheard of until a few years ago,” Ms. Wagner said. “We want to show college students that it’s a great, fun way to look at financial education and get on a budget to save for things that might have importance to you.”

More than four in 10 students (42 percent) say they don’t feel the need to talk to their parents about money, and one in four (25 percent) add they don’t want their parents judging how they spend their money

The survey was conducted by Braun Research via telephone from July 16 to August 13, 2008 of 300 nationally representative U.S. college students ages 18-25 and 300 parents of U.S. college students ages 18-25.

The Student Package, an all-inclusive product suite, includes free online banking service and mobile banking, available to students 18 years and older. These services let customers check balances, receive text and email alerts, transfer funds and pay bills 24/7.

For Bank of America Mobile Banking, you may be charged web access fees by your wireless carrier. Web Access is needed to use mobile banking.

Mobile banking payees and transferees must be previously set up in online banking.

Bank of America is helping educate students on how to develop sound financial decision making with tools like the Student Financial Handbook, Ultimate Money Skills, Making College Financial Planning Count and The Essentials: Your Guide to Credit.

Bank of America serves more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and an online banking service with more than 25 million active users.

“With our mobile banking, we’ve already reached 1 million people,” Ms. Wagner said. “Mobile banking is a win-win extension of how we can bring our products and services to this Facebook/MySpace generation.”

The Writing's On The Wall

Y! Live, taking it back to the desktop!

source-adobe.com

Democratizing broadcast on AIR

Y! Live lets users display, hack, and mashup live video streams on websites or client applications and embed them into blogs, websites, and social networking pages. On Y! Live, there are limitless channels for many-to-many broadcasting and for tuning into other people’s channels. The video and audio are in real time, so as a user is watching someone’s channel or broadcasting their own, they can interact chat-room style with other co-viewers.



“Our plans for the Adobe AIR Y! Live application are that it will give users that precious ‘always-on’ experience that we want to offer to the semi-professional target audience. People won’t inadvertently close the application or navigate away from it,” says Quoc.

With the persistent presence of an Adobe AIR application, not only does Yahoo! better seal its brand, but users benefit from desktop notifications to stay constantly aware of when a Y! Live connection starts a broadcast or undergoes a change in status. “The notion of combining live TV and social interaction beyond the confines of a browser is paramount to us,” says Ted Chen, Senior Director, Business Development, Yahoo!.

Orange Balloon Race by Poke & i-level

The first ever Balloon Race Across the Internet. Players sign up for Balloons that then float across sites that have been submitted by their owners. The Balloon that travels the furthest wins. Simple. It's actually over now but well worth having a look at the creative concept!!

http://www.playballoonacy.com/

Jun 25

IAB UK's Top 5 Mobile Sites!

source - IABUK.net

The best the mobile internet currently offers

Wednesday, 20 August 2008

The mobile internet is finally taking off and while it’s still slim pickings for great content, some gems are starting to shine through. The IAB's programme manager, Jack Wallington, has listed the sites and downloadable tools he feels are currently some of the best available for your mobile. Interestingly enough, the best offerings are mobile counterparts of desktop offerings and they’re all free to use.

1. Google Maps

What is it? A downloadable application that then loads maps and directions from the internet.

Why so special? It is a showcase for usefulness on the move. No matter where you are, you now have a map of your area and the ability to see directions from A to B. So you should theoretically never get lost again!

Best version? Any mobile version is ace and fast loading. The better your phone though, the more options are made available by the technology. For instance, the iPhone’s GPS offers you a mini TomTom style travel guide.

Advertising? If your company site is set-up to appear in Google Maps, your company will appear on the mobile version too.

2. Kizoom.mobi

What is it? Kizoom.mobi is a mobile site that is linked to the UK’s live train information. It allows you to look up train departures, arrivals and all other journey information from changes to delays and even cancellations.

Why so special? It’s useful, fast and simple! Anyone that travels by train should bookmark this site ready for travel info and that inevitable delay. It uses live information so you’ll be more up-to-date than the train drivers themselves in terms of your arrival times.

Best version? All are great and fast loading. iPhone version is slightly easier to navigate.

Advertising? Click-to-call links to local taxi firms. This could be expanded to display and other useful local information.

3. Facebook and MySpace

What is it? Social networking sites on the move! Now you can access stripped down versions of Facebook, MySpace and other social networks wherever you are.

Why so special? The world loves socialising online and mobile versions of social networks allow us to communicate anywhere. As the likes of Facebook are used for updating people on our current activities, whereabouts and plans for the weekend, an actual need for mobile networking has been created.

Best version? Again, they’re all good! Obviously the better the phone, the better the options but no matter the phone you have you can still get the best of the networks. They’re fast loading and carry all of the essential info you’ll need.

Advertising? Strangely enough, none of the networking sites have advertising on their mobile sites yet. There are obvious opportunities here though such as branding on display ads and directing traffic through links.

4. Zenbe lists

What is it? A downloadable application for the iPhone that allows you to create a list, add items and then check them off.

Why so special? Zenbe is special because it’s so basic yet so handy. You can share your lists with friends and family so that they can add items and check them off. It’s also available online as a website so you can work with your lists from your desk too. The desktop version has far more options so there is lots of room for new features in the near future.

Best version? It’s only available on the iPhone at the moment, which is a big limitation if you want to use the shared lists feature. Hopefully this will be addressed soon.

Advertising? None yet, but potential for product offers and display ads.

5. Email

What is it? It’s your personal or work email on your phone. Arguably email could be number one on this list but fear of accessing work email in the middle of the night knocks it down a peg or two!


Why so special? It’s nothing new, Blackberries have offered email on phones for years, but it’s still fab. It means you never need to worry about missing important emails and, with the introduction of calendars, important meetings. Mobile email lets you read, reply and delete emails. The latest phones let you view Word, PDF, Excel, Powerpoint and other types of documents too. Pretty nifty.

Best version? Any form of smart phone offers great email access but you can still read them on normal phones too.

Advertising? Email marketing can be carried out on mobile phones too. The high end phones will render HTML emails, but for maximum accessibility, as with desktop computers, use plain text.

Other notable mobile sites

• Amazon has a fantastic mobile site that will allow you to compare product prices and reviews while you’re out shopping or even buy the products using your existing account.
• All of the search engines including Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google now have quick, usable mobile equivalents.
• The mobile operators have a wealth of content on their own portals.
• BBC is upping the stakes with a mobile version of their website plus a mobile version of iPlayer for the iPhone. The iPlayer only really works when connected to WiFi though, so it’s not truly mobile just yet.

Finally, don’t forget the IAB has a mobile website too with useful contact information, industry news, stats and more: mobile.iabuk.net

Radio interview: Dusan Hamlin on Mobile Music and Youth

Source- mobileyouth.org

Radio Interview Link

Graham Brown from mobileYouth talks to Dusan Hamlin from Inside Mobile about how agencies are using mobile music to reach out to young consumers

Presentation -MTV Asia, Being Young

A short presentation about MTV Asia's views on social networking and the changing online habits of youth.

MTV Asia "Being Young"

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: networking social)

Podcast- mobileYouth Trends TV - Orange and 3 - how are they marketing to youth?

Source- mobileyouth.org

Graham Brown talks to Ged Carroll from Waggener Edstrom about how Orange and 3 are evolving their marketing strategies to better work with the young consumer.

SMS Costs Clip Twitters Wings

Source- textually.org

Twitter abruptly turns off SMS alerts to users outside USA, Canada and India, reports 160characters.org.

The costs of sending free SMS to subscribers without an obvious business model has finally taken its toll on Twitter and it has turned off text message alerts to everyone outside USA, Canada and India.

Changes for Some SMS Users—Good and Bad News - Twitter Blog

Mapping out the future of location-based advertising?

source- mycustomer.com

Location-based advertising via the mobile phone has long been a dream for the marketing community, but it has been scuppered by a combination of technology and privacy issues. However, with mobile phone manufacturers embedding GPS technology into handsets, and Nokia making headlines with its acquisition of NAVTEQ and directory assistance companies, are we on the cusp of a viable location-based advertising model?

By Neil Davey, editor

For most organisations, the mobile phone represents their single greatest untapped marketing and CRM opportunity. Mobile phone penetration has reached saturation point and yet the ability to meaningfully connect with the consumer and deliver value through the platform has fallen woefully short of expectations. There are some notable exceptions of course. Airlines have proven adept at using the mobile phone via the likes of SMS check-in and flight alerts. And some banks have also been inventive, sending out SMS to customers when their credit cards have been used as a security measure. Meanwhile, as mobile phones have evolved to become media-rich, so marketers have increasingly woven these capabilities into competitions and promotions, delivering exclusive multimedia content to consumers.

"If you're looking at a map on a phone, it is usually of the area that you're in, so therefore it would be quite natural for that map to be populated with offers and deals in the area."

Russell Buckley

But by and large, firms have yet to use the humble mobile phone to its great potential, and particularly so in terms of location-based services – a field that has been hotly anticipated for some 10 years or so but has still yet to deliver. "Mobile at its core is anytime, anywhere, always-on, always-available, but location takes a step away from the experience and allows the consumer to find what they are looking for without having to input their address, it just automatically locates it," says Laura Marriott, president of the Mobile Marketing Association. "So you take a step out of the process and make it easier for the consumer to access the information more quickly."

Nevertheless, efforts to deliver location-based content have to date had limited success. It is now common for live events and venues such as the UK's Carling Academies to encourage attendees to receive updates and offers via Bluetooth capabilities, and in this environment the practice has proven fairly popular. Yet attempts to deliver location-based services have not had the desired effect – for a variety of reasons.

Issues surrounding privacy have represented the most serious obstacle to a location-based revolution for marketing. The mobile is a very personal tool, and whilst this is a great strength, it is also a great weakness. Any push-based marketing initiatives, such as SMS-based alerts, are undermined by the knowledge that whilst consumers may be happy to opt-in to the communication today, they may not be so happy to receive the message the next day. Quite simply, in this kind of campaign, there is no way to know how the customer will respond to receiving your message.

"Spam isn't necessarily about permission, it is about how the recipient feels when he receives it," emphasises Russell Buckley, a leading practitioner, speaker and commentator on mobile marketing, and chair of the Mobile Marketing Association for EMEA. "And as a marketer you have no idea what context they are gong to receive it in."

With marketers keen to avoid a scenario where annoyed customers withdraw their marketing permission, various companies have instead turned their attention to encouraging consumers to pull alerts, for instance visitors to a shopping mall requesting a company send them information about special offers. But this has hardly set the world alight. "It's not every effective because first of all people forget that it exists and how to interact, whether that be by a text message or short code," continues Buckley. "And secondly, if you don't do your job properly as a marketer and you haven't got the content that they want on a particular day then the chances are they won't try again."

"So there has never really been a seamless technology solution. And even when you get over this - and Bluetooth is an example that could work around the technology - there are still issues."

Mobile phone evolution

But if we've learnt anything, it is that the mobile phone revolution is built upon mobile phone evolution. Technology such as video cameras are now commonly embedded into handsets whilst improved user interfaces and screen sizes have also opened up new and compelling applications. Now, having witnessed the substantial growth in personal navigation device sales over the past 12-18 months, operators and handset vendors are looking to tap into this latent demand – a move which will have major implications for location-based advertising.

"We're actually beginning to see deployments and uptake in consumer adoption. Now is the time for location-based services applications."

Laura Marriott, Mobile Marketing Association

"Handset vendors are increasingly putting in GPS modules, so the accuracy of positioning systems in hand moves beyond what we have with Cell ID, where the accuracy is based upon how close the cells are together and how well that can triangulate," explains Nitesh Patel, a senior analyst in the global wireless practice of Strategy Analytics. "GPS obviously offers better, more accurate functionality and handset vendors are now building the actual software for navigation into the terminal. Nokia Maps is one example and Sony Ericsson is working with Wayfinder to put that software on their handset."

This mapping technology opens up enticing opportunities for a market straining at the bit for a location-based advertising model. "Maps get over some of the issues experienced to date, because if you're looking at a map on a phone, it is usually of the area that you're in, so therefore it would be quite natural for that map to be populated with offers and deals in the area," says Buckley. "And if there aren't any offers and deals it is not blindingly obvious like a pull-based service and the consumer won't notice because he is actually using the mapping service. Therefore, this approach is perhaps indicative of the future."

Patel is in agreement. "It is gaining a growing amount of traction simply because when consumers receive advertising one of the complaints is that if it is not relevant then it is spam," he explains. "Location ties into that whole relevancy aspect of it if you're carrying the handset around with you. So we're seeing developments by a number of companies in this area, focusing on tying in location and navigation into search, whereby you request a location or search on a key word and it brings up results and as an added value you also get directions on how to get there and incentives as well."

On the move

In perhaps the biggest indication of the direction the sector is taking, in October last year Nokia followed up its acquisition of a large number of directory assistance companies across Europe by buying up location-based services firm NAVTEQ. The industry is now holding its breath for the handset firm to marry those two plays together.

But Nokia is not alone. Google is pursuing its mobile strategy through Android and is doing business with several phone companies. Navigation device manufacturer TomTom is nearing the acquisition of its main map supplier Tele Atlas. And social mapping application firm Loopt has partnered with CBS Mobile in the United States and is reportedly already undertaking a location-based advertising pilot scheme.

Marriott is sharing in the excitement of these developments. "I started in location services in 1998 and we've been talking about location services for a long time," she emphasises. "But now we're actually beginning to see deployments and uptake in consumer adoption. Now is the time for location-based services applications."

"Location services are coming. But if you want to see immediate success in mobile marketing stick with the tried and true."

Laura Marriott, Mobile Marketing Association

So is the path finally clear for location-based advertising to make its mark on the map? Unfortunately – as is so often the case – some problems are still clouding the issue. "The technology barriers are pretty much minimal now," says Patel. "In the US, especially, on CDMA networks, penetration of GPS is quite high so that is not really a problem in those markets. It is more a case of doing it correctly for the consumers and, on the supply side, getting merchants and other players in the value chain too."

Buckley agrees. "The big challenge for whoever launches the service is that if you have location-based services you have to find a way of populating that inventory with advertising offers – and that is pretty challenging in its own right because most shops are local and you will have to manage that whole sales inventory of hundreds and thousands of retails and all the different offers they want to make at the specific times they want them made," he says. "You are talking about hundreds of millions of variables and just the artificial intelligence that you would need to apply to get the right product to the right person at the right time is quite mind boggling. Just the database management is a hugely challenging, let alone the physical going out and getting the offers in the first place."

Indeed, few are more aware of the problems that this could present than Buckley, who was part of the founding management team of ZagMe – a pioneer in this field – back in 2000. Recruiting some 85,000 consumers and running around 1,500 campaigns for the likes of Burger King, Reebok and The Body Shop over SMS, the initiative experienced significant logistical issues that would be relevant to any similar programme today.

"When we were at ZagMe we were only supporting two different locations and it used to take a team of five people two days to plan all the different offers - and that is just on two locations," he explains. "So if you multiply that by 5,000 you can understand that it is very complicated. I hate to sound so sceptical about it because it is something I really want to see happen and it is something that has a lot of potential in the future but once you start thinking about it is not as easy as it seems."

Still some wrinkles

Whilst location-based advertising looks to be finally taking shape – with mapping potentially representing the key to the future – it seems there are still wrinkles to be ironed out. Of course, for those marketers who have been eyeing location-based advertising for 10 years or so, waiting a little longer will seem to be of little consequence. However, in the meantime there are other opportunities that are up and running for them to explore.

"My message would be 'watch this space'," says Marriott of location-based advertising. "See how it develops. But start with the technologies and strategic opportunities that are already mainstream, things like text-based mobile marketing, text-based mobile advertising, mobile websites. Location services are coming. But if you want to see immediate success in mobile marketing stick with the tried and true."

Indeed, such is the fervour surrounding location-based advertising, that perhaps existing mobile phone CRM and marketing initiatives are being overshadowed. Buckley believes that if firms really want to tap into the mobile phone's potential they need do little more than start focusing on the here and now.

"To an extent it seems a shame that a lot of people are focused on what might happen in five years time rather than what is achievable now," he concludes. "It is easy to understand the principles of location-based services – I am walking past a shop and I get an offer – and that sounds really exciting and futuristic. But there is an awful lot that they can already do in terms of the mobile as both a marketing tool and a CRM tool – but they are not."

Click here for Russell Buckley's report on location-based advertising, 'Location based marketing – theory and practice'.

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MyCustomer.com 20-Jun-2008
Story read 2133 times

User Comments: 3

NaviKite Application Provides USER CONTROLLED Location Based Ads

MJ Nash 04-Jul-2008 @ 03:36AM

Our newest application, NaviKite, is a mobile brand manager that allows the user to define the brands that can solicit them. By incorporating GPS technology and an always on network, users will benefit from the valuable offers that brands can provide while filtering them based on their own preference at any given time. NaviKite will launch in Q3 2008 on the second generation iPhone and Google phone.
MJ Nash, Chief Strategy Officer, WanderSmart Technologies, www.wandersmart.net

Location-Based Ads Are Here Today

B S 24-Jun-2008 @ 05:46AM

Great article. Clearly Russell has faced the true challenge of location-based advertising -- configuring, distributing, managing and reporting on location-relevant creative and campaigns at scale.

At 1020 Placecast, we have been operating a location-relevant ad network across WiFi, fixed broadband and mobile for over a year and a half at scale, which is only technically and economically feasible by leveraging our proprietary technology platform which manages each impression as a unique piece of perishable inventory, specific to time and location. While on the surface it seems easy, it's actually extremely difficult.

Another misconception is that location-based advertising must be interruptive and forced on the user (yes mythical Starbucks coupon example, I'm looking at you). We leverage location as another critical piece of context that can make advertising more relevant and integrated into the user experience, rather than more intrusive to users.

Regarding sales, we have spent over 18 months building a direct sales force and educating agencies on how Placecast targets audiences using the vector of “place” -- the combination of location and what Placecast knows about that location at that time. Once again, it sounds easy but in practice it's extremely difficult due to how media is bought and sold. However, once advertisers have seen the performance and the scale at which Placecast operates their skepticism is answered.

There’s a long road ahead, but we can say that the value of location has already been proven. Now we just need the carriers, Google, Nokia and Apple to push the market for LBS forward!

Mobile location based services is finally coming ...

Elibom Noitacol 21-Jun-2008 @ 01:54AM

I agree with most of the points in this article. I think this really is a good article with forward thinking... However, even though so many people start talking about LBS, not many of them really understand what is the mobile LBS. What are the fundamental limits and potentials of it? I guess a good review can be found in

http://to.swang.googlepages.com/lbs

FYI

Is the mobile phone ready for the marketing mix?

Source- mycustomer.com

Once only deployed by leading-edge brands from the entertainment sector, the mobile phone is now finding a place in the marketing strategies of an increasing number of businesses. So how are some of these firms using mobile marketing - and where are there still concerns over its present viability?

By Neil Davey, editor

The mobile phone's increasing potential as a marketing channel is forcing marketers to ring in the changes. Originally only the domain of a few leading-edge brands from the entertainment sector, now a growing number of firms are exploring the mobile channel as a part of their marketing mix.

A study by Airwide revealed that the number of brands planning SMS and MMS mobile marketing/advertising has doubled over the past year to 28 percent, and the same study also claimed that many brands are planning to increase the proportion of the budget allocated to mobile campaigns.

A study by Airwide revealed that the number of brands planning SMS and MMS mobile marketing/advertising has doubled over the past year to 28 percent.

Coca-Cola in particular has long been a vocal advocate of mobile marketing. As long ago as 2005, the company was stating its faith in the future value of the channel, even suggesting that as a medium it would compete with TV. Speaking in November 2005, then Coca-Cola marketing manager James Eadie, said that it ought to be "phenomenally powerful and more important than TV… we should be spending 50 percent of our marketing budget [on mobile] within decades."

Only months later Coca-Cola had hit the streets of Spain with more than 50 Smart cars enabled with Bluetooth devices that sent free content to nearby users. As part of the 'Coca-Cola on the go' campaign, consumers merely needed to be near the car to be able to download music, wallpapers and Coca-Cola customised games.

"Coca-Cola wanted to reach consumers aged between 15-17 years old," explains Alberto Benbunan Garzon, business development director for Mobile Dreams Factory, the agency that worked with Coca-Cola on the campaign. "We branded the Smart cars with Coca-Cola, put Bluetooth antennas in the cars and put them at the exit of schools so that when the schools closed the leavers could receive free branded content. People aged 15-17 received the message and the campaign received coverage in the news. Overall, the campaign lasted three months, with different schools, different music, and we reached a lot of people."

Subsequent campaigns have seen Coca-Cola continue to explore the mobile phone's potential as a marketing platform. And it isn't alone.

“The clear difference in this market over the past twelve months has been the embrace of mobile marketing as an integral part of cross-media brand campaigns,” suggests ABI Research director Michael Wolf. “Mobile is no longer off-limits in the minds of advertisers, but is instead seen as a very personal way to reach consumers who can be incentivised through information services and compelling content, as well as through more directly relevant and targeted messaging.”

The real thing?

But the mobile marketing issue isn't cut and dried. One business that has witnessed both the benefits and shortcomings of the platform is Unilever.

In May last year, Lynx for Men, the Unilever deodorant, launched a new advertising campaign designed to increase awareness of the brand – particularly amongst the hard to reach 16-24 bracket of males that has traditionally been difficult to influence through advertising channels. Offering groups of mates the chance to stake their claim as the ultimate 'Lynx players' – the team best at pulling ladies – the competition saw entrants across the UK competing in regional finals before being whisked off to the five-day 'Boom Chicka Wah Wah' Rally in Florida for the grand final.

Alongside traditional marketing channels like posters and press, mobile advertising also formed an important part of the campaign according to Rachel Bristow, marketing communications and buying director at Unilever.

"We were driving consumers to a WAP site through posters and press, and adverts on the 3 and O2 websites," she explains. "There you could request updates and text alerts and download ringtones and wallpaper of the Lynx Lynxes – stunning girls who were part of the campaign to find the Lynx players. Ultimately we wanted as many groups of guys putting themselves forward to be the best players and the mobile was a perfect way to deliver some additional content, keep them updated, but also create some buzz and pub banter – these guys would have something on their phone that they could show to their mates."

"Further down the line, I'm sure mobile marketing could be a consistent part of the marketing mix. But this depends on the phone charges."

Rachel Bristow, marketing communications and buying director, Unilever

Whilst the campaign wasn't Lynx's first foray into the world of mobile advertising, it was the first time that it used the mobile phone as a platform for a marketing pull campaign. "We have done other mobile advertising in the past, but more focused on pushing messages to consumers," says Bristow. "We have trialled some in-game advertising, when consumers are downloading games to their phones. But this was the first time we were actually asking consumers to opt-in and actively sign up – from which you should get better engagement and marketing results."

The campaign as a whole was a success, with the mobile being an important contributor. Overall, over 10,000 people registered for updates off of the WAP site on to their mobile phones, and Lynx enjoyed a 14 percent clickthrough rate from 3 and O2 to its WAP site.

The results have been sufficient for Bristow to acknowledge the qualities of mobile marketing – and of the possibility of the mobile channel featuring in future Lynx campaigns. But at the same time, there are some reservations.

Despite high mobile phone penetration in the UK and other obvious benefits of the platform, Bristow suggests there are several factors inhibiting it from being exploited to its full potential.

"You can send a lot of additional content and personalise it; you can send updates cheaply and quickly; and you can have a two-way relationship because there is an opportunity to have a two-way conversation," she explains. "Further down the line, I'm sure mobile marketing could be a consistent part of the marketing mix. But this depends on the phone charges – how much it costs consumers to access the web via the phone and how much it costs to download content like videos onto your phone.

"Because of the costs, millions of people aren't doing these at the moment in the UK. It's a major consideration for consumers and therefore a consideration for companies. But I'm sure that as these various charges drop, people using the functionality on their phone will increase."

Indeed, with a new generation of 3G handsets allowing a superior user experience of content downloads and mobile internet, and mobile operators increasingly offering flat-rate data charges, the mobile phone is sure to offer more rewarding opportunities for marketing in the future.

Stymied by some short-term platform-related issues, it may still only be on the cusp of the marketing mainstream. But, as forecast by Coca-Cola in 2005, it looks increasingly likely that the future will prove mobile marketing to be the real thing.

Mobile marketing: Permission accomplished?

source- mycustomer.com

While mobile marketing is becoming an increasingly popular addition to the marketers’ arsenal, how can organisations tackle the sticky issue of permission and still maximise its potential? Verity Gough reports.

By Verity Gough, staff writer

When it comes to marketing, the fact that the mobile phone is so personal is both an enormous strength and weakness. With mobile penetration so high, it is a channel that enables access to the population. And mobile marketing has indeed proven to be a popular means of reaching out to clients, building brand awareness, creating loyalty and driving customers’ purchase decisions.

"Self regulation is generally better than nothing and if it can be handled better by the industry, it is generally a better route."
Russell Buckley

But brands are also well aware that whilst unsolicited contact by the mobile phone is generally viewed as a big no-no, even those who have opted-in to mobile marketing can easily receive a message at the wrong time and choose to remove permission forever.

Brands are confused - and consumers feel abused. After the time that has been spent acquainting themselves with the mobile platform, it is an unwelcome - albeit necessary - hurdle to overcome. "I think we have resolved the technology issues, now we are at a point when we just need to make sure we are doing the right thing for the customer," says Laura Marriott, president of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

According to Russell Buckley, a leading practitioner, speaker and commentator on mobile marketing, and chair of the MMA for EMEA, it’s all about building your databases so you have a targeted client list, which should mean a reduced drop-off rate. “The best way of doing this is asking 'what can I say to my potential customers; why would they sign up with me?' Once you have done that, you can start the conversation with the consumer and gain their trust and permission,” he says.

However, he does point out that you still have to make sure everything you say to them is still acceptable and welcome - otherwise they will withdraw permission, signalling the end of the relationship.

Push me, pull you

The key to success is keeping the content relevant and adding value to the customer. This means the consumer will happily sign-up and you can be sure you are not pestering them. Buckley gives the example of British Airways, which utilises push-based text messages (where unsolicited content is sent via SMS) to inform its customers about delays. “The information is relevant, and adds that essential value and permission isn’t really an issue,” he explains.

"I think we have resolved the technology issues, now we are at a point when we just need to make sure we are doing the right thing for the customer."


Laura Marriott, Mobile Marketing Association

However, while banks, travel companies, mobile phone providers and member-based organisations can rest happy in the knowledge their messages are appropriate and useful, the death knell is already sounding for push-based mobile marketing. Not only do consumers have to opt-in, but while they may be happy to receive texts one day, the next they might just find the alert plain irritating.

“Spam isn’t always necessarily about permission; it is about how the recipient feels when he gets it,” says Buckley. “As a marketer, you have no way of knowing what context they are going to receive it in or what mood they are in.”

The issues with push-messages have meant marketers have looked at other ways of attracting potential customers. Pull-based messages – where the consumer is ‘invited’ via a poster, TV or print ad campaign to text a code to retrieve content – do not have the problems associated with permission as it is the customer choosing to reach-out to the advertiser. However, Buckley adds that relevance remains imperative. “The content they receive needs to be worth it, otherwise they will lose interest,” he says.

The legislation game

There is presently no current legislation covering this form of marketing in the EU. Bodies such as the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) have put guidelines in place but they are voluntary and simply provide members with a code for best practice. A number of European directives covering mobile marketing and data protection also exist but, again, mobile marketing remains a particularly grey area when it comes to the law, leaving it open to exploitation.

“In the very early days of mobile marketing the more unscrupulous marketers were just getting hold of any old phone numbers and spamming them, which upset an awful lot of consumers,” says Buckley. “Even now, we are often asked ‘where can I buy my list from’ and the answer is ‘don’t’.”

Mobile CRM specialist Christian Wettre believes a good marketer should not wait for legislation but should pre-empt it. “If you are a serious marketer, you know legislation will be coming and it will most likely be similar to other email marketing regulations,” he explains.

Wettre recommends taking the opportunity before regulations become widespread to do some narrow tests so that when they arrive, marketers are ready and able to operate without breaching any new laws. “Use it as a time to learn about it, experiment, see what kind of results you get and see how people react,” he advises. “But do this in fairly small batches to get the best results.”

Near and far

As mobile marketing evolves, marketers are still coming up with new ways to keep up with technology developments and reach new customers. Otherwise known as Bluetooth campaigns, proximity marketing works by sending a customer a message requesting permission to send them further content. It is typically run in conjunction with a poster or advertising medium in the vicinity, prompting the consumer to activate a code via their phone.

"You can turn off Bluetooth or make it undiscoverable, but it isn’t very granular. You can either give your permission to everybody or nobody."
Russell Buckley

Like pull messages, getting consumers to opt-in isn’t a problem, but just because the content from one source may be relevant to the recipient, it doesn’t mean that everything is. “Essentially it becomes an open market,” says Buckley. “You can turn off Bluetooth or make it undiscoverable, but it isn’t very granular. You can either give your permission to everybody or nobody.”

Another new trend that Wettre believes will become more prevalent is location-based marketing, which will most likely be operated thorough the telephone carriers. “The technology is available to make yourself relevant,” he enthuses. “Not every company is going to be relevant to a customer but in terms of the geography of the recipient, it can make you relevant.

“If we know someone is in London, we can send lots of content such as tourism information, restaurant review guides, hotel information and so on. Providing you add a link in the SMS to opt-out.” Proximity and location-based marketing are, as yet, unaffected by legislation.

Who’s calling the shots?

There are clearly a number of concerns around consumer privacy and certainly more questions than answers. Managing these issues is going to be paramount to the success of using location services. And while the technology issues have been ironed out, the next stage is to ensure that consumers are protected. The question is whether governments will step in before the industry can get its own backyard in order.

"There are still some concerns that we need to solve as an industry around consumer privacy and when we can contact them and when we cannot," concedes Marriott. "So there are some guidelines that we need to put in place as an industry to ensure that we protect that customer experience."

“If the MMA comes up with a code which is acceptable to legislators, maybe [the Government] won’t need to legislate after all,” Buckley suggests. “Self regulation is generally better than nothing and if it can be handled better by the industry, it is generally a better route.”

Certainly the marketing community is hoping to get a handle on the mobile phone sooner rather than later - and turn its weaknesses into strengths.

Mobile Marketing 101 from Deepspace Mobile

source- maximumcmo.com

Paul Isakson once again provides a stellar presentation on What’s Next in Marketing…this time focusing on the topic of Mobile Marketing. His agency space150 recently hosted a small event called Deepspace Mobile that took a look at the ever-evolving … and always Next Big Thing … topic of mobile marketing.

Please see the videos below!

Chuck Levine's Mobile Presentation

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Key Note/ Introduction - Chuck Levine

Designing for Mobile - Todd Bartz

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Todd Bartz

Ds Mobile Ecosystem 081408

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Mark Jensen and Kelly Johnson

Marketing The Mobile Web - Derek Van Nostran - weather.com

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Marketing The Mobile Web- Derek van Nostren, weather.com

Millennial Mobile Media Capabilities 8.08

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Millennial Mobile Media Capabilities

Admob Mobile Metrics

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Ad Mob Mobile Metrics

Platform A Mobile July 2008

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Platform A mobile

Ad Infuse Overview Brief 2008

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Ad Infuse Overload