Posts Tagged ‘Mobile trends’

Bell and Telus to start selling iPhones as early as next month

It started out as rumors yesterday and before the day has even come to an end I am seeing “almost” official news that says the iPhone will soon be available on Bell and Telus.

It has been a known fact that both Bell and Telus have been advancing their 3G technology but the news that they will be ready earlier than anticipated is definitely a surprise to many.   My personal opinion is that both companies have seen what the iPhone has done for Rogers and the Canadian mobile industry as a whole and they knew that they had to get there fast.   This says a lot about Bell and Telus and their ability to speed through innovation when it seems necessary but it says more for Apple as a company that creates markets.   Apple is not a company that tries to gain market share, they are a company that creates their own markets and then enjoys the fruits of its work.  Congratulations to Apple for single-handedly developing a market for mobile data consumption.

CTIA Wireless 2009

CTIA Wireless 2009 event is one of the most global mobile events that takes place in Las Vegas this between April 1- April 3.   The event will be filled many people from different . The event is the convergence of more than 1,000 exhibiting companies, dozens of industries, and over 40,000 professionals from 125 countries all working toward the common goal of revolutionizing wireless.

The even attracts from  many domains:

  • Application/Software Developers & Providers
  • CLECs & LECs
  • Consultants
  • Content Providers/Aggregators
  • Dealers/Retailers
  • Distributors/Resellers/VARs
  • Engineers
  • Enterprise/Corporate/SOHO End-Users
  • Entertainment
  • Field Sales & Service
  • Internet Service Providers - ISPs
  • Manufacturers
  • OEMs
  • System Integrators
  • Wireless Service Providers (Narrow/ Broadband PCS, Cellular, CDPD, ESMR)

KeyNote Sessions will include:

  1. Steve Largent(President & CEO CTIA–The Wireless Association
  2. Robert Dotson (2009 CTIA Chairman, President & CEO,T-Mobile USA )
  3. Mike Lazaridis (President & Co-Chief Executive Officer, Research In Motion)
  4. Ivan Seidenberg (Chairman & CEO, Verizon Communications
  5. Robert Bach (President, Entertainment & Devices Division Microsoft Corporation
  6. Benjamin Wolff (Co-Chairman, Clearwire Corporation)
  7. Eric J. Topol, M.D. (Director, Scripps Translational Science Institute, Chief Academic Officer, Scripps Health)
  8. The honorable AL GORE (45th Vice President of the United States)

algore_200w

The speaker all look very interesting and we (Plastic Mobile Agency) are looking forward to this great event that allows the world to come together and share mobile innovation.

See you all there!

- Melody Adhami

Mobile Marketing Day in New York, April 28, 2009

Its interesting to see that “Mobile Marketing Day” has gained the popularity to demand repeated series.

“The first Mobile Marketing Day [on Feb. 26] proved that there is a tremendous thirst for knowledge on mobile marketing and its role in generating brand awareness and leads,” said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer, New York.  As such the Direct Marketing Association has decided to continue the series on April 28, 2009.   “This upcoming event is part of a series of deeper dives into mobile” continued Mickey Alam Khan.  The event is being referred to as “Mobile Marketing for Agencies and Media Buyers”.

The event will be held in New York to discuss the marketing issues that surround today’s market place.  The event is of interest to media buyers, agencies and their brands.

We are more and more faced with brands today that are understanding that the more sophisticated handsets, data plans and customers are begging to expect fully integrated campaigns from companies and their brands.

The agenda is seen below and the content comes from Mobile Marketer.

Mobile Marketing for Agencies and Media Buyers
DMA Mobile Marketing Day
Sponsored by Napean (publisher of Mobile Marketer) and DMA Mobile Marketing Council
Date: Tuesday, April 28
Venue: Direct Marketing Association Seminar Center, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, 13th floor, New York, NY 10036

Agenda of content and confirmed speakers

8 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
Registration and light breakfast

8:45 a.m. – 9 a.m.
Welcome Address
The address will welcome delegates, give a brief background on DMA Mobile Marketing Day, the importance of mobile marketing in agencies’ multichannel plans for clients and what the delegates should get out of this daylong event.

Speaker:
Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Mobile Marketer

9 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Why Mobile Must be Included in a Multichannel Marketing Campaign
In today’s environment where almost all working-age consumers have mobile phones with anywhere from SMS texting to Internet capability, including the mobile channel is a must for multichannel marketing plans. Mobile’s unique quality is how it gives legs to other channels including retail, print, online, television, outdoor, radio, direct mail and insert media. Now is the time to develop integrated mobile ad campaigns and build opt-in mobile programs to lock in consumer loyalty in this new era of marketing.

Speakers:
Jonathan Shar, general manager and senior vice president, Time Inc.’s CNNMoney.com
Michael Bayle, senior director of global mobile advertising, Yahoo!
Thom Kennon, vice president of strategic planning, Wunderman
Richard Ting, executive creative director and vice president of mobile and emerging platforms, R/GA
Moderator:
Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Mobile Marketer

10 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Essential Elements of Mobile Marketing
What is mobile marketing and how is it different from mobile advertising, what goes into a typical campaign – banner ad, SMS, mobile Web site, search, application and coupons – and which tactic is appropriate for the overall strategy. A quick rundown on the ABCs of mobile marketing.

Speakers:
Dean Macri, CEO of Cielo Mobile
Matthew Valleskey, marketing communications for mobile services, NeuStar
Michael J. Becker, executive vice president of business development, iLoop Mobile
Moderator:
Giselle Abramovich, associate editor, Mobile Marketer

11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
How to Create and Execute a Mobile Marketing Campaign
While mobile is not as complicated as commonly assumed, it does require special skill sets and understanding of the wireless carrier environment and the permission process. But it is easily added to existing CRM efforts or print, television, radio and outdoor campaigns. SMS texts, banner ads and coupons have proven effective in cross-channel marketing for marketers across categories.

Speakers:
Jordan Berman, vice president of media innovation, AT&T Ad Solutions
Michael Foschetti, managing director, Mobisix
Shira Simmonds, president, Ping Mobile
Moderator:
Dan Butcher, staff reporter, Mobile Marketer

11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Sponsored Lunch break

1 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Planning and Buying Media for Mobile
Fragmentation of media has made life difficult for media planners and buyers. On top of the number of cable channels and publisher Web sites, here comes mobile with its own ecosystem and quirks. As mobile buys become more commonplace, media planners and buyers will be expected to have skills to place ads on mobile Web sites as well as make decisions on SMS programs and other efforts for branding or lead generation.

Speakers:
Boris Fridman, CEO, Crisp Wireless
Patricia Clark, regional vice president of sales, 4Info
Eric Litman, chairman/CEO, Medialets
Moderator:
Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Mobile Marketer

2 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Tracking and Measuring a Mobile Campaign’s Performance
The campaign’s out the door – did it work, did mobile consumers click through the banner ad, did they click to call, did they visit the landing page, did they opt into the SMS offer? These questions and many others are uppermost on the minds of agencies and media planners and buyers called to account for their media decisions. Tracking and measuring a mobile campaign’s effectiveness is key in these times when every media dollar is expected to stretch and ROI is an expectation.

Speakers:
Adam Kerr, vice president for North America, Bango
Manny Gonzalez, senior director of mobile technologies, Keynote Systems
Mack McKelvey, vice president of marketing, Millennial Media
Moderator:
Giselle Abramovich, associate editor, Mobile Marketer

3 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Building a Loyalty Program with Mobile
The mobile channel’s optimal use is as a CRM tool. SMS, available on 99 percent of all mobile phones, is the favored vehicle for brands seeking to add a mobile component to their mail and online loyalty programs. Consumers are increasingly gravitating to the use of SMS for offers, discounts, coupons and incentives. But the use of SMS must be tempered with the right double opt-in permissions.

Speakers:
Gregg Smith, CEO, Acuity Mobile
Josh Herman, global multichannel marketing innovation leader, Acxiom
Jeannette Kocsis, vice president of digital strategy and media, Harte-Hanks
Moderator:
Dan Butcher, staff reporter, Mobile Marketer

4 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Legal Do’s and Don’ts with Mobile Marketing Campaigns
In addition to best practices, there are several laws to keep in mind before deploying a mobile campaign. Regulations governing consumer outreach and database-building through mobile advertising and marketing differ from other channels. In fact, the laws are evolving with no little help from state attorneys general concerned about fair advertising practices. SMS, privacy policies, carrier regulations, mobile ads – all require thought before signing off.

Speakers:
Andrew B. Lustigman, principal attorney, The Lustigman Firm
Gonzalo Mon, attorney, Kelley Drye & Warren
Gary Schwartz, president, Impact Mobile
Moderator:
Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief, Mobile Marketer

5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Sponsored Networking Cocktail Hour
Delegates can network and mingle with speakers, moderators and sponsors


Can we finally define engagement?

Watching the television has somehow become a thing of the past for me.  I don’t have cable television and I am not usually interested in watching anything on TV unless its the talk of the town.

For instance, the Oscars.  I watch the oscars mainly because the rest of the North American world does and I will not be able to keep conversations for at least a week thereafter.  So I watched it this year…but on the internet on some not very legal site.  That is not the interesting part however.  Before I found the live broadcasted show, I ran into an interesting website that was based around the oscars and all people did was post twitter like comments about the oscars.  It was great for me because I hadn’t found the live televised site yet and I was hearing all about the winners, the clothing, the jokes and even the facial expressions.  The part that blew me away was that I even received comments about the ads that were being served.  In some cases, in a given time frame there was more then one ad since the web has no national boundaries and I was likely listening to an American and a Canadian ad being served.

I normally don’t find myself so interested in a particular forum but this was LIVE and it was exactly about the topic I was searching for.   It kept me occupied for at least the better part of an hour and I was so amused that people were in front of her television sets, fully engaged in what they were watching and they felt the need to share.   That was the first moment where I felt that advertising is about to change and in a big way.   We have been hearing all about it, in all the new media events and all the upcoming advertising trends…but this was the first time I truly saw it.

So what is advertising become and what is this change I speak about?  Well for one thing, the meaning of engagement can once and for all be defined.  Those people on that forum were truly engaged with the ads.  In fact so engaged, they felt the need to share it with others.  This is were we are headed and the growth of the mobile smartphone industry is going to take us there even faster.  Twitter-like applications will allow people to share their views about everything and ads will be there and will be ready to be discussed.  Only one challenge comes to mind and its not a  new one but with these trends the challenge is even greater.  The ability for the ads to be heard and to be discussed.  Advertisers will be more pressed to incorporate topics that will draw interest and discussions.  As difficult as this may seem, those that get the formula write will see numbers unparalleled.   Without national boundaries and without the limitations of time and space, an advertisers market becomes none other than the entire world.

INQ 1 triumphs over competitors LG, Nokia and RIM

It was an exciting time at the 14th Global Mobile Awards where INQ, a fairly new entrant in the Mobile Device industry has triumphed over some of its much larger competitors such a  LG, Nokia, RIM.

Their first ever handset, INQ 1 has won this years award for the ‘Best Mobile Handset or Device’.  Their strategy was simple:  revolutionize the industry by putting all your web and mobile contacts in one place at a cheap price.  Ok so that is definitely an oversimplification but that is exactly what they did.

Impressive Features:

  • simple user interface
  • Self-explanatory icons and easy option menus
  • Integration with popular Web services such as Facebook.
  • Facebook intergratin allows for automatic integrattion of  contact details with phone contacts
  • Friends profile pictures show up when you call or they call you (fun feature)
  • Access to Windows Live messenger for IM use
  • Access to Skype to make VoIP calls
  • Shows who is online and then allows contact with them via the three Web-based services.
  • ability to add widgets to the start page allowing for customization

The most impressive of the features is obviously the integration with social media. There is a lot to be said about this award and its winner.  It shows the direction and trend of the mobile industry and the incorporation with social mediums such as Facebook.

I can go on about move of the facinating features but you can also see a video demo of the features and functionality of the INQ 1 below.

At the 14th  Global Mobile Awards in Barcelona, ‘Best Mobile and Device’ award winner:

Mobile World Congress Feb 16-19 in Barcelona

This week in Barcelona the GSMA Mobile World Congress is taking place.  Other than seeing the beautiful city of Barcelona, the GSMA allows the leaders of Mobile companies around the world to come together at the worlds largest Mobile Exhibition.   Some of the various industries include mobile operators, equipment vendors, internet professions as well as the folks in entertainment.

This years, about 50,000 people are expected to attend this mobile events to discuss business, reveal this years trends and shape the industry overall.  This is a big year for this even as many experts are calling 2008 and 2009 the Mobile years.

Along with the exhibition itself, there are some important awards and Galas. At this years 14th Mobile Global Awards, the winners wer announced and can be found below and also at the GSMA Newsroom:

THE 2009 GLOBAL MOBILE AWARDS WINNERS

Best Mobile Game
Winner: Gameloft - Real Football 2009
- Highly Commended: Digital Chocolate - AvaPeeps: FlirtNation

Best Mobile Music or Video Service
Winner: BBC iPlayer on Mobile

Best Mobile Advertising Service
Winner: Turkcell - Tonla Kazan

Best Mobile TV Service
Winner: MobiTV - MobiTV

Best Mobile Enterprise Product or Service
Winner: Vodafone - Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited

Best Mobile Internet Service
Winner: Nokia - Nokia Sports Tracker

Best Mobile Money Service
Winner: Safaricom and Vodafone - M-PESA

Best Mobile Handset or Device
Winner: INQ - INQ1
- Highly Commended: Nokia - Nokia E71
- Highly Commended: T-Mobile - T-Mobile G1

Best Broadcast Commercial
Winner: KT Freetel – ‘Show is…’

Best Mobile Brand Campaign
Winner: R/GA London - Nokia Urbanista Diaries

Best Use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development
Winner: Nuance Communications - Airtel-T9 India Consumer Vernacular Messaging Campaigns

Best Network Technology Advance
Winner: Nokia Siemens Networks - Flexi Multimode BTS Software defined HSPA/LTE

Best Service Delivery Platform
Winner: NewBay Software - LifeCache Social Networking Solution 2.0

Best Billing & Customer Care Solution
Winner: Expert System - COGITO Answers

Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough
Winner: RIM - BlackBerry Storm 9500 SurePress Screen

The Green Mobile Award
Winner: Smart Communications - Alternative Power for Cell Sites program

GSMA’s CEO Award for Outstanding Environmental Contribution
Winner: Nokia

Government Leadership Award
Winner: The Government of France

GSMA Chairman’s Award
Winner: Research in Motion (RIM)

THE 2009 MOBILE INNOVATION GLOBAL AWARD CHAMPION

Winner: Cootek, China (Most Innovative Wireless Device-centric Technology)

THE 2009 MOBILE INNOVATION GLOBAL AWARD COMPETITION – EMEA TOURNAMENT

Global Finalist: Advanced Receiver Technologies, USA
Global Finalist: Intivation, Netherlands

And the five category winners are:

Most Innovative Wireless Device-centric Technology

  • Intivation, Netherlands

Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure or Platform

  • Sunbay, Switzerland

Most Innovative Mobile Application in a Vertical Market

  • WorldMate, USA

Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service

  • Mobile Nordic AS, Norway

Most Innovative True Mobile Start-Up

  • Advanced Receiver Technologies, USA

If you are interested in finding out more about the Mobile World Congress and Mobile trends in general,  visit their site for a live feed during some portions of the events.

Valentine’s day is around the corner-Say “I love you”

With Valentine’s day just around the corner, many people are finding creative ways to say “I LOVE YOU”. E-cards have been around for many years but the new trend throughout the world is what I’m calling “m-cards”.  Mobile MMS messages that send a personal greeting to your loved one.  The old saying goes ” a picture is worth a thousand words”. With the growing popularity of MMS messaging, m-cards are the future of card giving..the green-way to express your emotions. UK based company Sharpcards is doing just that.

http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2009/02/sharpcards-gears-up-for-valentines-day-surge.html

Mobile Blog site launched

We are happy to announce that we are launching our blog site and plan to keep our visitors up to date with the most recent trends in the Mobile industry.  Check back for daily updates on the exciting world of Mobile Marketing.