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.