Poland uses celebrity ploy to sell iPhone

In Poland, apparently, the iPhone lacks the clout it has in the U.S. 

Orange, the dominant telecom in Poland, has hired actors to line up in front of Apple stores. The company hopes that the actors will pique consumers' interest, ultimately driving phone sales. (The new iPhone is scheduled to go on sale in Poland this Friday.)

Reuters has the full story.

"Old people" lead trend of photo messaging

comScore and M:Metrics report that photo messaging is gaining traction in the U.S. and around the world. Photo messaging in the U.S. has increased by 60% over last year. The growth is most pronounced in the teen and 35-plus age ranges. (Odd that the 24-35 demo is lagging its younger and elder couterparts.)

Surprisingly, in Europe the majority of growth is in the 55-plus demographic.

Read MediaBuyerPlanner's story covering these findings.

Some neat mobile stats

Here's to the marriage of mobile and music.
And here are some neat stats, thanks to M:Metrics:

--17.8 million people listened to mobile music in April, an audience that grew by 30 percent since December 2007.
--5.6 million, or 9.7 percent of, Verizon subscribers reported listening to mobile music, a rate that is 23 percent above the market average (7.9 percent)
--Sideloading is the dominant mode of mobile music consumption, with 13.9 million people reporting they consumed music this way.
--1.6 million, or 2.8 percent of, Verizon subscribers reported downloading music in the month, more than double the average of 1.3 percent. In total, 3 million people downloaded music in April.

Men's Health hits newsstands today with mobile-enabled ads

Men's Health and SnapTell's collaboration -- an issue of the magazine that features 100% "snap" enabled ads -- is now on sale. Take a photo of any one of the ads in the magazine, send it to SnapTell, and receive promotions in return. I'm looking forward to learning what kind of response the ads get.

The 18-24 set is twice as susceptible to mobile ads as general pop.

Marketing Charts reports that while the general population is only 6-7% affected by mobile ads, for the 18-24 demo, mobile ads are twice as effective. 14.2% report that mobile video ads influence their (tech) purchases, and 15.9% say that mobile text ads influence them.
Find out more about the 18-24 demo's mobile consumption.

Puma leverages mobile, getting people "together everywhere"

MediaPost reported yesterday on Puma's mobile campaign "Together Everywhere." The campaign acts on the concept that when it comes to mobile marketing, the campaign has to both give something valuable to the consumer, and use the platform for what it specifically offers. Banner advertising on a WAP site isn't as innovative or potentially effective as something that leverage's mobile's specific features. In this case, Puma gives Europeans watching the Union of European Football Associations Euro 2008 games the opportunity to conference call up to 10 different friends for free, getting everyone on the call together. This move not only ensures broad reach, but positive brand association.

What's holding up mobile marketing?

Motricity released finding from a survey today that points to the state of the industry and what's holding things back. Per the release:

· 40 percent of marketing agencies said they currently spend less than 2 percent on mobile marketing initiatives, however, one-third of the group said they expected to increase spending by more than 25 percent next year.

· 71 percent of the content providers and 58 percent of technology providers polled said that advertisers aren’t using mobile marketing and advertising because the channel is underdeveloped.

· 31 percent of wireless operators reported that they are looking for more information from the mobile ecosystem on the strategies used for executing mobile marketing campaigns.

· 49 percent of content providers and 36 percent of aggregators said that “targeting and demographics” are most critical to effective mobile marketing campaigns.

· 23 percent of wireless operators said they felt that content customization and personalization are the key to increasing mobile marketing.

· 48 percent of agencies said opt-ins or registrations are most important for demonstrating return-on-investment.

Per the bolded points, it looks like what many need is more information. Plenty of people and companies are working on providing that information, iMedia and The Mobile Word included.

Cheaper iPhone impossible to unlock

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the $200 iPhone will be harder to unlock than its predecessor. Hackers beware. Per the article:

"'It's looking pretty bleak for unlockers,' said John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones.com, a New York-based company that sells unlock codes for cell phones. After being warned away by AT&T's lawyers, it doesn't help unlock iPhones. Unlocking software is available free online.

Apple tried to secure the device technically with its software updates, but couldn't. It's the requirement that buyers of the new phone sign up for service in the store that will be hard to get around, McLaughlin said."

Apple finally unveils updated iPhone

This is some very exciting news -- some long-awaited and much anticipated news. Not only is the phone 3G-equipped, allowing users to surf the web at much quicker speeds than the ealier iPhone did, but the handset only costs $199. Considering the original iPhone launched at $600, this is a serious price cut. You can buy your new phone as early as July 11th -- as long as you're in one of the 20 countries where it will be on sale. Read the full WSJ article.

(Looks like Yahoo's prediction was pretty spot-on, except for the price tag, which is a very pleasant surprise.)

Jaguar finds mobile platform profitable

MediaPost ran a story yesterday on Jaguar's mobile campaign. Jaguar ran the campaign in conjunction with Yahoo and timed it to capitalize on the upcoming L.A. Auto Show's hype. If you're still looking for evidence of mobile marketing paying off, this article is worth reading.

Predictions of a 3G iPhone

Yahoo reports on the anticipated roll-out of a 3G iPhone.

Per Yahoo:

"What features will the new iPhone have?
Pretty much all we know for sure is that it'll support 3G. But based on the strength of the rumors, I'd say built-in GPS, more memory (potentially up to 32GB), and support for stereo Bluetooth headsets are almost certainly in the cards. Other rumored features being bandied about include video conferencing (I'm guessing one-way using AT&T's Video Share service, although two-way conferencing would be possible if the rumored front-facing camera is real), mobile TV (a rather nebulous rumor at this point), and tactile feedback for the touchscreen."

The story predicts the new model will cost in the $399 to $599 range, depending on storage capacity. Steve Jobs is anticipated to make an announcement regarding this model on June 9th.

Mobile ad recall on par with TV

Here's a neat story telling us that mobile banner ads -- with CPMs between $20 and $30 -- have the same brand recall as TV -- and they have 2 percent clickthrough rates, vs. 0.3 percent for online.

Nokia does it again

The company announced today that it will "offer free 12-month access to music from artists of Sony BMG, the world's second-biggest label, to buyers of its particular music phones, the world's top cellphone maker said on Tuesday."

Nokia ever sets the trend. Not only does Nokia's innovation keep it above water, but this move could help the music biz too, according to Reuters.

Men's Health magazine is fully snap-enabled

SnapTell has partnered with Men's Health to create an edition -- hitting newsstands on June 24th -- in which all the ads are snap-enabled. In other words, readers buy the magazine, sit down with said magazine, see first ad -- for Westin Hotels, say. They take a photo of the ad, send it to SnapTell and immediately get an offer to stay 3 nights at the Maui Westin Villas and get the fourth night free (or whatever the promotion or reply might be). Pretty neat. Every single ad in the print magazine will have this functionality.

I wonder if advertisers paid a premium to get this multimedia contact with readers. In any case, I think this is a first, and a pretty neat one at that.

UPDATE: NY Times reports on the minimal cost to the advertisers:

"For the advertisers, the effort is low-risk. Neither Rolling Stone, published by Wenner Media, or Men’s Health, published by Rodale, is charging advertisers extra for the feature. SnapTell, too, is charging the publishers only a promotional price, 'but the end business model here is we hope the magazines convince their advertisers to pay a little more for this extra feature, and we would then participate in the upside of the revenues,' said SnapTell’s chief executive, Gautam Bhargava.

"Advertisers said they were happy to give it a whirl, especially given the cheap price tag, even if they did not see an overwhelming response.

"'There really aren’t any benchmarks yet, and we are a test-and-learn company,' said Lisa Cochrane, vice president of marketing for Allstate. 'It's cool, it’s innovative and it's not a really big risk to us because there’s no additional cost.'"

Some things you may not need on your handset

I get quite a few press releases on mobile innovations and announcements -- I got one from AccuWeather.com today that made me chuckle -- silently.

Now you can read -- on your handset -- the blogs of meteorologists -- because when Perez Hilton fails to entertain, the next best thing is your favorite meteorologist's blog.

You can also get 15-day weather forecasts -- because the reliability of weather forecasts is so great that you can stretch out that prediction to any length of time, and it will have the same failure rate.

AccuWeather.com is, however, lauching some neat functions -- hour by hour forecasts and weather news. And it will continue to tell you how the weather will affect asthma sufferers and the like, all of which is pretty cool.

So a few of these launches may be a bit off base, but I'm not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Formatting your site for the iPhone

I was up at ad:tech SF last week to moderate a panel on "The Truth about Mobile Advertising and Branding" and a question came up: How, as a publisher, can you get a mobile presence on a limited budget? Well ion interactive might be the answer -- especially if you're looking to reach the iPhone set. They did a campaign for Constellation Energy. You can see the iPhone-optimized version here -- essentially, if you navigate to it from an iPhone, it can sense that and reformats appropriately. If you're navigating to the site from another device, whether PC or handheld, you get a different interface. Pretty cool.
Hyperfactory is another company that offers to take your website mobile on a budget.

Baby it's cold outside -- but I don't care!

The NY Times ran an article today on QR codes and snap technology and the issues that they present US-based users -- primarily being price-tag and technical hurdles. Apparently in Japan the process is much more seamless, and the technology is therefore much more popular.

But one very cool application of the technology is detailed by a student's experience with the Mobile Discovery test launch -- apparently you can scan a bus schedule to determine when the next bus will arrive -- the information is based on GPS, not an inaccurate timetable. So you don't have to wait outside in the cold for the bus to finally appear. I like it.

Gauging mobile's role in integrated marketing

Wondering just how effective mobile marketing is? ioglobal is working to get you answers. It is looking into how a mobile element affects a campaign that runs on TV and the internet.

Per Bob DeSena, GM, North America, ioglobal Inc.: "The Three Screen Trial will provide a 'live lab' to evaluate mobile's impact on both sales and brand health. Because of the unique characteristics of ioglobal's platform, we are able to respond to the industry's need for greater knowledge of integrated communications and the impact of different strategies on campaign outcomes."

I'm interested to see the numbers...

Mobile phones on planes

The latest word is that the EU will soon allow airline passengers to use their phones in-flight. (This could happen within the year.)

People still have concerns -- such as the price passengers might have to pay for this service, and the rules of the game -- aka acceptable in-flight phone etiquette.

Some airlines, such as Lufthansa, are sufficiently concerned with noise pollution that they will not allow mobile phone use. Lufthansa instead plans to equip its fleet with internet access, as it did between 2004 and 2006.

iPhone imposters

Sprint and Samsung are trying to pass as AT&T and Apple -- but they're failing.

Ovum reports that the new Samsung Instinct is no iPhone. Per Jan Dawson, VP, US Enterprise Practice, Ovum:

"Sprint's big announcement was around the Samsung Instinct, which is a clear iPhone competitor. But the devices on display at Sprint's launch event were running beta software which was glitchy and slow, and it was clear that - though they have some nifty features - these devices are not a match for the iPhone. AT&T itself, which has exclusive rights to the iPhone in the US, had another device which mimics certain aspects of the iPhone - the LG Vu - but it is another poor match for the device on everyone's minds. Of all the things that people love about the iPhone - the design, the UI, the browser, the ease of use - none of them were matched by most of the devices on display at CTIA, even though the manufacturers of those devices have been making phones for far longer than Apple. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 showed the most promise of any device I saw at CTIA, but it won't be launched for several months."

Meanwhile Nokia is launching its own iPhone competitor -- internally dubbed the "Tube." Considering Nokia's mobile savvy -- think the Enpocket acquisition, Nokia's social network Mosh and its iTunes rival Ovi -- I have more faith in this "competitor" to the iPhone than I do in the others -- although are we seeing a trend here of Nokia imitating Apple...?

Yahoo answers your call...

Even as Yahoo's death cries reverberate across the plains of new media, its mobile innovations continue to impress.

Yesterday Yahoo announced that as part of its oneSearch program Blackberry users will now be able to search the mobile web by speaking into their phones. They can go to m.yahoo.com/voice/ to download the service.

Searches might relate to flights, restaurants, news or websites. The user can switch between typing and speaking the query. Results will be returned within 5 to 20 seconds.

Yahoo teamed up with Vlingo of Cambridge, Mass. for the voice technology.

The WSJ covers mobile, and so do I...

Ever since Rupert Murdoch bought the WSJ I have been convinced that it has lost its purity. Now there is garish color on the site, now there are videos, now the WSJ covers the fact that Victoria Secret doesn't want to be so sexy anymore. Okay. Whatever.

But on a positive note, the WSJ is doing a pretty good job of covering interactive (and of being more interactive, although I'm torn on whether this is a positive) -- and of covering mobile. Within the last week 2 big headlines have surfaced on WSJ.

One: "Google Asks US to Open TV 'White Space' for Web" This story has been pretty well covered -- it's another move on Google's part to open up mobile -- in this case, unused airwaves -- for the purported benefit of all. Seems to be working so far.

Two: WSJ, NPR and others today cover the fact that struggling Motorola is splitting in two. Nothing the handset maker has produced since the Razr has reached similar heights of popularity. And, apparently, no one would step up to be head of the handset division when it was part of the Motorola company. Seems like a good time to take drastic measures. We'll see how it all pans out.

iPhone plateaus?

AdMob reported Tuesday that iPhone traffic on its network was flat in February. It postulated that the plateau could be a natural slowdown after growth driven by new iPhones purchased and received over the December holidays.

Neat things you can do with SMS

One, find out how many calories that Double-Double has (or not):
Text the restaurant (In-n-Out) and food item (Double-Double) to DIET1 (34381) -- you'll get back a text updating you on how much fat, protein and energy you're consuming -- all courtesy of Diet.com.

Two, find out flight details:
Text the airline you're taking and the flight number to GOOGLE (466453) -- your reply text will give you all the necessary flight details (delays, etc..)

Detroit goes mobile

Ad Age reports that General Motors is turning to new media, and mobile, to stretch its ad dollars over the years ahead. GM plans to take half of its $3 billion annual budget out of TV and invest that money in interactive (and DM) over the course of the next three years.

More carrier woes: Virgin

So we all know that Sprint is in a tough spot -- with, among other things, executives leaving right, left and center. Turns out Virgin isn't doing all that much better.

Wednesday Virgin announced that it had added 511,796 new customers in 2007 -- and that it made $1.2 billion, a 20 percent increase over 2006 revenues, making 2007 its first profitable year with $4.2 million in income.

The problem with what otherwise looks like good numbers is that Virgin underperformed analyst expectations -- particularly in the fourth quarter of 2007. Its stock price was $2.46 as of yesterday, down from its $15 IPO price in October 2007.

Meanwhile, Tracfone ("the largest US MVNO" per Ovum) grew its customer base by 711,000 in the fourth quarter of 2007 alone. It now has 9.5 million customers.

The moral of the story seems to be that competition is fierce. We thought Sprint had it bad, and it does, but it seems to take a lot in this industry to have it good. John Hadl of Brand in Hand looks to the proliferation of WiFi on handsets as yet another hurdle carriers will have to overcome. The industry is ever-changing, and the carriers are tasked with not only keeping up, but with looking ahead. Mobile marketers certainly are doing just that.

What is QuickPlay?

I spoke with the folks at QuickPlay last week. The company manages content and ads -- its clients are mobile operators and media companies. The company was founded in 2004 with the objective of marrying the carrier and media perspectives -- and with the mission of breaking down the barriers to mobile uptake and marketing.

The company's description:
"QuickPlay's OpenVideo service delivery platform for mobile carriers and content providers enables the delivery of mobile TV and Video in TODAY's networks -- with the ability to accommodate and scale for network evolution. The company's forte is content management, and working out the complicated revenue sharing issues as content moves from creator to service provider to consumer, and everything in between. And, of course, the subsequent reporting and analytics."

"Snap" technology

A roundup of the players in the space:

SnapTell
"SnapTell is a provider of image recognition-based mobile marketing solutions... Consumers can now use their camera phone easily to snap a picture of a DVD cover, send the picture to SnapTell using MMS messaging, and get back info about the movie on their cell phone." SnapTell seems to market itself primarily in the entertainment category.

MyClick
(Mentioned in the earlier pizza and mobile post)
Consumers install MyClick technology on their phones; when they take a photo of MyClick enabled content -- whether print, outdoor or internet -- they receive information on the product. (In the case of the Pizza Hut promotion, consumers could win discounts and prizes through this technology.) The company was launched in Hong Kong in 2006.

Mobot
Mobot claims that, "Designed to allow you to seamlessly integrate Mobot, no modifications are required to your existing visual media — no keywords, phone numbers, URLs, short codes, product codes, or bar codes are necessary. Mobot visual matching technology 'reads' the image and delivers a wide range of responses to the consumer."

Like the other services, Mobot requires that a consumer take a photo of an object and send it to Mobot in order to get the response the marketer has selected (which could be anything from getting a ringtone to a coupon to information on the object or brand.)

What is SinglePoint?

There are a ton of new companies showing up in the mobile space. I figured it would be helpful to include brief descriptions of some of the players -- so that you all know who's out there, and what they might offer you.

SinglePoint
"SinglePoint offers a full suite of services that make it fast and easy to create, launch and manage interactive TV campaigns that work. SinglePoint's services include mobile message connectivity, applications (such as voting, polling, sweepstakes, contests, alerts, coupons clips, and tips), reporting and analytics. Powering the overwhelming majority of mobile interactivity on North American television today, SinglePoint is engaged with an audience of more than 240 million mobile users."

Sprint: From $100 data plans to $29.5 billion loss

On the heels of an earlier announcement that it would offer an unlimited data plan for only $100 a month, Sprint has now announced a new handset that accesses data at network speeds -- it's called the Mogul. This is in advance of a WiMAXX launch scheduled for next month.

You'd think with all these new ideas and offerings Sprint would be a bright spot for investors, but its share price is now at $5.55 -- a 20-year-low for the company.

The New York Times offers a roundup of articles written on Sprint -- covering everything from its million-customer loss (over only 5 quarters), to layoffs, to its $29.5 billion loss.

Why so gloomy? I had Sprint as my carrier for a while -- and it was terrible. Sprint dropped more of my calls in a month than my new carrier, the more affordably priced T-Mobile, has in the 3 years I've subscribed. I was listening to an NPR program a week or so back, and it referred to the fact that mobile penetration in the U.S. is virtually at saturation. Now carriers have to get new customers by poaching them from the competition. But if your service is terrible, all these innovations are pretty much moot.

Nokia at it again

Nokia is carving out a significant chunk of the mobile industry to call its own. It is still a handset maker, but it has also bought Enpocket; it has launched both a social network, Mosh, and a rival to iTunes, Ovi.

While Motorola languishes, Nokia thrives.

Today we hear that Nokia has launched the Nokia Media Network -- a global ad network. It will serve ads on mobile sites by the likes of Hearst, Reuters, Discovery.

What is it with pizza and mobile?

Maybe it's the convenience factor, the fact that you can get pizza delivered to you almost no matter where you are, or when it is, that makes pizza a perfect fit for mobile marketing.

Regardless, there seems to be a predisposition among pizza makers to use mobile -- Papa John's ("a worldwide pizza chain") leapt into mobile with text ordering back in November. Now Pizza Hut is embracing camera phone technology. The company has teamed up with MyClick Media Limited to launch "Snap for Rewards." Consumers take photos of MyClick-functional images on Pizza Hut posters, print ads and internet ads and get discounts and prizes in return.

The campaign lasts through April 2nd, and will make awards of, among other things, "classy crystal decorations."

Money, money, money -- or mobile coupons

Mobile coupons seem to be the perfect mobile marketing application. McDonald's sends you a coupon for a McFlurry late on a summer's night in NYC -- you're out and about -- maybe in the neighborhood of a Mickey D's -- you're up for it -- off to McDonald's you go -- meanwhile, McDonald's has just scored one more customer. This actually was a campaign, launched way back in 2005.

There are constraints to this form of marketing -- McDonald's can't target the random passerby. But even without this type of location-based targeting, mobile couponing is a great way to reel in customers by getting directly onto their handsets at the right time.

iMedia published an article by Alan Chapell on mobile couponing in October 2006. It's a very good overview of how this type of mobile marketing works.

Yahoo outpacing Google in mobile?

Yahoo doesn't have much to boast about right now, even if Yang sees the Microsoft takeover attempt as a big 'ole compliment. But there is one area where Yahoo has some edge -- and that's mobile.

Yahoo has been working hard for a while now to shore up its mobile offensive. And it actually has done a better job of reaching out to handset providers and wireless carriers than Google, giving Yahoo search a boost on the mobile phone.

CNET covers this story, and gets into the nitty-gritty of how Google does mobile, here.

In the beginning...

I'm the mobile editor for imediaconnection.com; as such, I get a chance to talk with and meet some very smart people in the mobile world -- here are my musings on what develops and has developed in the mobile marketing space.