29/11/2010

Budweiser brings live sports connectivity to fruition via mobile ad campaign


Budweiser created a cross-platform in-application advertising program, pushing its Bar Finder campaign to sports enthusiasts in the United States and Canada.

The ads ran within Canadian sports publisher ScoreMobile’s smartphone applications for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices. The campaign launched in the midst of all of the South Africa 2010 Olympics excitement, positioning Bar Finder for ScoreMobile as the new, pocket-size, social coordinator for sports fans.

“Recognizing that Budweiser drinkers are sports fanatics, we wanted to provide them with the ability to seek out and enjoy the greatest sports bars across Canada where they can cheer on their home team while enjoying the king of beers,” said Ben Seaton, Toronto-based marketing manager for Canada at Budweiser.

“By teaming up with ScoreMobile, we're aligning ourselves with a truly credible sports content provider, delivering an innovative digital solution that resonates strongly with our increasingly connected drinker,” he said.

An extension of The Score’s leading free mobile sports application, Bar Finder for ScoreMobile is a category-first that pairs sports television listings with location-based information.

The experience gives users access to TV listings for live sporting events on all major networks, maps and distances to local bars across Canada where the games are available for viewing, highlighting bars participating in seasonal promotions.

All of these features are available by simply downloading the latest version of ScoreMobile on either iPhone, Android or BlackBerry smartphones.

With more than 50 million monthly page views and more than three and a half-million downloads to date, ScoreMobile provides Budweiser’s Bar Finder with reach.

For Budweiser, ScoreMobile developed a functionality to sit prominently within its mobile application, ScoreMobile.

The Bar Finder offers users a complete, up-to-date listing of licensees within a user’s current area and information on the games being carried that day.

Further, valuable information on specials and promotions is also easily available within the application.

All of these information sources working in tandem provide consumers with a resource for linking the two things they love: sports and socializing.

Budeweiser is targeting males who are legal drinking age in Canada, ages 19-29.

Budweiser ran 300x50 mobile leaderboards, created by Brandsell + Co.

When consumers clicked on the ad, they were taken to an app-within-an-app experience.

“One of the great opportunities that theScore’s Bar Finder affords is the ability to be very specific to each account, so the specials and promotions that were highlighted varied significantly based upon the partner’s preference, resulting in customized and relevant messaging, which is of significant value to our accounts and customers across Canada,” Mr. Seaton said

24/11/2010

Digital Advertising is Driving Growth of Traditional Media

Traditional advertising investments in television, print, radio and out-of-home are projected to grow only 1.8% but digital advertising investments in these media will grow by an estimated 28%, spurring total 3.6% growth in traditional media categories, according to Jack Myers Media Business Report's Media Vision 2020: Media, Advertising and Marketing Economic Health Report 2010-2020. The Report projects total 2010 U.S. marketing communications and advertising investments will grow 3.2% to $601.5 billion. The full report is available to Jack Myers subscribers. The newly recalibrated data includes 57 media and marketing categories and, for the first time in any advertising analysis, breaks down digital and traditional investments for 14 traditional media and marketing categories.

Consumer print magazine advertising is projected to increase 1.0%, but magazine publishers' digital advertising is estimated to increase 8.5% to nearly one billion dollars, driving magazine publishers' combined growth to 1.4%.

The new Myers Report includes detailed data on advertiser investments in Online Originated Display Advertising, Online Originated Video Content & Advertising, Mobile & Apps Advertising, Satellite/Internet Radio Advertising, Interactive/VOD/Addressable TV Advertising, Point-of-Influence/GPS Advertising, Videogame Advertising, Social Media/Word-of-Mouth/Conversational Marketing, Offline Public Relations, Branded Entertainment/Product Placement, Search Marketing (Online/Mobile), Experiential/Event Marketing, Cinema Advertising and Out-of-Home/Place-Based Advertising.

The report eliminates the traditional barriers between above and below-the-line marketing budgets. Marketers are integrating their budget allocations to reflect the increasing cross-over between their marketing and sales functions, which have historically been separated. This trend is especially apparent in social media, which is growing 50% to $1.2 billion in 2010. (Most Facebook advertising is accounted for within the new Online Originated Display Advertising category, is which increasing 9.2%.)

In early December, Jack Myers Media Business Report will release forecasts for 2011 and 2012, with long-term forecasts for both traditional and digital investments through 2020. While the data has been aggregated from multiple sources, the digital spending estimates for traditional media are based on primary research and input from industry experts. Since this is the first effort to develop such detailed insights, readers are encouraged to share insights and comments on the accuracy of this data.

Mobile Ad Revenue to Grow Tenfold to $24.1 Billion by 2015

Mobile advertising revenue will rise tenfold to about $24.1 billion by 2015, with much of that growth coming from China and India, according to Informa Telecoms & Media.

Informa “believes that the global mobile-advertising market was worth $2.3 billion in 2009,” Shailendra Pandey, a senior analyst with London-based consultant Informa, said in an report today. The Asia Pacific Developing region will account for the largest share by 2015, at 30.9 percent, driven by “strong growth” from China and India, Pandey said. The Asia Pacific Developed region, including Japan and South Korea, will fall to 21.7 percent from about 43.6 percent this year.

Google Inc. and Apple Inc. have both bought mobile advertising businesses in the past year to take advantage of consumers’ increasing use of mobile devices to buy goods and services. Google bought Admob in May for $750 million and Apple paid more than $200 million for Quattro Wireless in January.

“Successful companies that have unique and attractive technology for mobile advertising,” will become takeover targets for companies such as Google, Apple, Nokia Oyj and Yahoo! Inc, Pandey said. Apple’s iAd network, which was started in July, “will force its rivals to speed up their own mobile advertising strategies, particularly Google, which has completed its acquisition of AdMob,” he said.

North America will account for 18 percent of the market in 2015, with Latin America at 6.4 percent and Western Europe 8.6 percent, according to the report.

“The mobile advertising industry has now moved beyond the trial and experimental phase and many advertisers and brands are now spending significant sums on running mobile campaigns each month,” Pandey said.

23/11/2010

Amazon launches mobile price-comparison engine that threatens store retailers


Amazon is letting consumers compare in-store prices with those from Amazon.com and other online merchants via an iPhone application that poses a threat to store retailers.

The Price Check application lets consumers search across different categories including toys and consumer electronics. Customers can scan a bar code, snap a picture or say or type a product name to receive instant prices for that particular item.

After scanning the bar code, the application displays prices sorted from lowest to highest.

In addition, consumers can take a picture of a product and match it to books, DVDs, CDs and video games.

Users who do not want to scan a bar code or take a picture can say the name of the product and get matches and pricing information or they can search the product and get the same results.

Right at your doorstep
After finding the product they need, consumers can buy it with one click and have it delivered directly to their doorstep.

Additionally, the application includes access to Amazon’s shopping features, including customer reviews, sharing items via Twitter, Facebook, SMS or email and immediate purchasing.

22/11/2010

The Economist debuts iPad, iPhone app for subscribers


The Economist is letting digital and print subscribers fully access its iPad and iPhone application as well as get a weekly sample of articles chosen specifically by the editor.

Users who do not have a subscription can purchase full issues of the publication via in-application purchases each week. Once a user downloads an issue, they can read the newspaper in full without an Internet connection.

“We want our readers to be able to read us wherever and however they want, and for an increasing number of people that means via a digital device,” said Oscar Grut, managing director of digital editions at The Economist, London.

“People who read their news and analysis on mobile digital devices will be attracted to the greater variety of ways to enjoy The Economist – on your iPad, on your iPhone, in audio, online, on Kindle and on Zinio – as well as in print, of course, where our circulation has grown every year for the last 30 years at least,” he said.

“Our goal with the iPad and iPhone apps is to deliver the same Economist content, in the same weekly package as print, through this new medium. We have redesigned the newspaper completely to make the most of the devices, while retaining that Economist feel – and like in print, it's free from distractions.”

AgaveApps built the iPhone application and TigerSpike built the iPad application for The Economist.

Each issue features a full audio edition, with all articles read by professional newscasters.

“We decided to integrate our popular audio edition into both apps, with all articles from the print edition read by professional newscasters, and synced to each article,” Mr. Grut said. “This lets readers switch easily between reading and listening to our articles.

“We did this because is struck us that audio is such a natural fit for portable digital devices, particularly the iPhone and iPod Touch,” he said.

The Economist is getting the word out about their new applications by putting promotional cover wraps on all issues, emailing news of the launch to subscribers and other contacts and its regional teams are also planning regional campaigns.

Mobile reading
Currently, users can read the publication in print, online, on iPhone, iPad, Kindle and Zinio.

The company is talking with other potential platform partners and looking at new platforms on launch on, including Android and BlackBerry.

“Our print circulation has continued to increase despite the turmoil in some parts of the print industry,” Mr. Grut said. “Our readers have, until now, generally preferred The Economist in print, but that is changing dramatically with tablets and smartphones, which are perfect for reading and listening to our kind of publication.

“This is one of the very exciting aspects of our apps,” he said. “We are obsessed, first and foremost, with creating elegant applications that deliver a wonderful, immersive reading experience to our customers,” he said. “I think we have succeeded in this mission.

“And by grabbing our readers' attention in this way, we offer a unique advertising opportunity to our clients to reach an engaged audience with beautiful full screen ads and rich media advertising.”

19/11/2010

Mobile rich media achieves 2.5 times higher interaction than standard banners

LOS ANGELES – Mobile rich media can be an incredibly immersive experience, but can also be considered intrusive by consumers if the ads are served at the wrong time, per panelists at the Mobile Marketing Association’s Mobile Marketing Forum.

By definition, mobile rich media consists of advertisements that often include interactive graphics, audio or video within an expandable ad or full-screen takeover. Unlike static or animated banner advertisements, rich media enables users to interact with the banner without leaving the page on which it appears.

“As a marketer, Microsoft looks at rich media as a broad way of saying immersive brand experience,” said Barbara Williams, global practice leader of mobile marketing at Microsoft, Redmond, WA.

“Rich media is anything within an ad experience that takes the advertisement beyond a static banner that lands on a mobile Web page,” she said.

“It’s a broad term but it comes down to immersive brand experiences.”


Pandora's mobile users have increased
Opportunities/challenges
When done correctly, rich media can be a valuable experience to consumers.

But, when not done right, it can bring a negative impact on the brand and can be considered very intrusive.

“There are good and bad examples of how users react to rich media,” said Stephanie Vautravers, director of mobile advertising at CNN, Atlanta. “So if you get a text alert for some breaking news and click to go and find out more, we won’t serve an ad because that could annoy the user that is trying to get this information now.

“They want to see that news item so we won’t interrupt that,” she said.

It is very important to think through users’ navigation. Where are they going? What are they doing at this particular destination (mobile site or app) and then decide when it would be best to serve up an ad.

Ms. Williams said that Microsoft is currently running a mobile rich-media campaign that leads to an HTML5 site.

“We are seeing a 5 percent click through on that rich media unit,” Ms. Williams said. “The is a huge impact and we are seeing that we can push campaign objectives within the ad unit.”

Rich media instead of Web?
CNN's Ms. Vautravers said that she is surprised about how many advertising clients do not have a mobile site.

Many think that because rich media is such an immersive experience, a mobile site is not needed.

A mobile site is important regardless.

Although rich media is an immersive experience, it is important to let consumers go deeper.

“Always let them go and explore broader options via a mobile Web site,” Ms. Williams said.

“Mobile Web and rich media go hand in hand,” she said. “They are complementary.”

User experience
Per Ms. Vautravers, it is the job of the publishers to educate brands and agencies on what is going to be a really terrible user experience.

In some cases, for a promotion that has an expiration date, a brand can use rich media.

In place of sending someone to a mobile site, a brand can use rich media. In that instance it can replace a mobile Web site temporarily.

Cheryl Lucanegro, senior vice president of ad sales at Pandora, Indianapolis, IN, said that what Pandora considers to be rich media is very different than other publishers.

“We are a personalized radio service and so rich media is anytime a user is interacting with an ad,” Ms. Lucanegro said. “We use audio messaging a lot because sometimes when you are listening to Pandora the phone is not in hand.

“We use a lot of expandables and ads that roll up like a window shade, but the music continues to play,” she said.

“Top Chef” ran a rich-media ad campaign via Pandora where consumers clicked to watch a video.

At the end of the video ad, consumers could add the show to their calendar.

“This is not only a creative rich-media ad, but it also takes advantage of the phone’s native functionality,” Ms. Lucanegro said.

Ms. Lucanegro also said that mobile rich media can achieve 2.5 times higher interaction than standard banners.

Future of rich media
Mobile commerce-enabled rich media ads are going to be big, per Ms. Vautravers.

Rich media is increasingly going to serve as a means of supporting a brand’s evergreen strategy.

Augmented reality and location are what excite Ms. Williams in rich media. Both will probably play exciting roles in the future.

Ms. Lucanegro expects more True Blood-like stunt ads in the future (see story).

“These are great if you are in the right environment,” Ms. Lucanegro said. “Those are going to be a lot of fun."

Digitas exec says more than 80pc of clients doing mobile

LOS ANGELES – A Digitas executive discussed mobile’s role in today’s purchase and relationship funnel, including the art and science of constructing actionable customer journeys and how to get results at scale during a presentation at the Mobile Marketing Association’s Mobile Marketing Forum.

Chia Chen, senior vice president of marketing at Digitas, Boston, said that 80-plus percent of clients are doing something in mobile. That is not surprising, since based on the current rate of change and adoption, the mobile Web will be bigger than desktop Internet usage by 2012, according to Morgan Stanley.

“Brands matter more when they actively connect to people’s lives in the moment,” Mr. Chen said.

Talking to clients, Digitas finds that brands are eager to get into mobile.

Digitas provides the framework for how to think about mobile.

“What really matters is that mobile is personal,” Mr. Chen said. “Mobile is every addressable channel.

“Always on means always reachable,” he said.

It is important that a brand’s mobile initiatives be highly relevant to the person and to the moment. This means powerful creative ideas that span channels and deliver instant value.

CRM in mobile
Digitas’ heritage is around CRM and results-oriented marketing.

The agency has a huge amount of expertise in dealing with data and it segments customers based on their profiles and purchase history.

“But that gets trumped with the data of what they are doing in that specific moment,” Mr. Chen said.

“Creative must span channels and integrate among all the various channels that are activated with mobile,” he said. “You have to deliver instant value and you have to have a concept that really surrounds them.”

Tools to define the customer journey
A large part is really contingent on the art of planning in a way that is very specific.

It is about really getting into how people’s daily lives unfold and when they may actually need you to be active with them.

The first step is defining the connections profile. What do they like? How do they consume media and what are they looking for in terms of entertainment?

Do they research online before purchasing and what are their passions from a media perspective?

Based on this information, Mr. Chen says marketers can then decide what the best channels would be to reach them with.

“A lot of what we do in marketing is interruptive messaging,” Mr. Chen said. “We have to figure out the right moments and what they are interested in.”

The next step in defining the customer journey is organizing engagement. Think about how to raise awareness and associations about the brand.

Research and consideration is also key to defining the customer journey. It consists of developing opinions and a short list.

Think of ways to use mobile to influence the target at the moment of the purchase decision.

Loyalty and advocacy is the last part. Encourage repeat purchases and word of mouth.

Case study - Enfamil
Enfamil is a baby formula. This category is really interesting in terms of the customer journey.

Moms are pregnant and then the decision is made on what formula to use during infancy.

Enfamil needs to be there with the customer from pregnancy until the first few days after birth.

The brand needs to be part of the target’s journey into motherhood.

Pregnancy today is a connected social happening. Expectant moms are on their mobile devices right through delivery.

They are texting, emailing and searching for information and they get their info through the mobile device. Enfamil was absent there.

Digitas suggested a mobile Web and a paid search campaign and integrated mobile into the overall digital strategy.

“The mobile Web site has been very effective for them and has been embraced by moms,” Mr. Chen said.

18/11/2010

Android ad impressions pull even with Apple’s iOS: Millennial Media


For the first time, Google’s Android tied with Apple’s iOS as the largest smartphone OS on Millennial Media’s mobile ad network, with an 8 percent increase month-over-month and 37 percent impression share overall.

According to Millennial’s October 2010 Mobile Mix report, Apple, the leading device manufacturer on its network for the last 13 months, also accounted for a 37 percent share of impressions. Those numbers are another indication of how quickly Android’s market share is growing.

“Month to month, we have continued to see the rapid growth of the Android platform,” said Mack McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing at Millennial Media, Baltimore. “For the first time in October, we actually saw Android smartphone impressions on our network tie iOS smartphone impressions at number one, each capturing 37 percent share.

“Our clients’ savvy cross-platform buys have enabled them to reach their target audiences at scale, regardless of device or OS type,” she said.

Nokia to enable contactless payments next year


Nokia, the world’s leading handset manufacturer, has confirmed it will activate the contactless payment technology in its C7 handset in 2011.

The phone launched last month with the hardware built in, allowing customers to purchase items by swiping their phone across an electronic reader.

Nokia has confirmed a software upgrade early next year will activate the near-field communication (NFC) chip. NFC is a short-range wireless system that allows data to be transferred between devices, much like the system used by Transport for London’s Oyster.

Adoption of the technology is set to increase in 2011 as the mobile industry’s main players begin introducing it in their handsets and operating systems.

Nokia wouldn’t confirm which financial and retail brands it would be partnering with to enable use of the technology.

In 2008 it trialled the service with partners AEG, Barclaycard, O2, Transport for London, TranSys and Visa Europe, with participants able to purchase items in stores such as Eat, Krispy Kreme and Books Etc using a Nokia 6131 handset.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced this week that NFC software will be included in the next update of Google’s smartphone operating system, Android 2.3, although many current Android handsets won’t have the hardware to use the technology.

Mobile and retail brands have, until now, resisted NFC technology because of concerns over financial and data security if customers lose or have their handsets stolen, as well as the infrastructure costs of installing readers in retail outlets.

Barclaycard has partnered with Transport for London for its Oyster credit card, which uses NFC. The financial services company also announced a partnership with Orange this year. Retailer Boots trialled its contactless payment system last year in connection with MasterCard.

Following the launch of its O2 Money brand earlier in the year, the mobile operator is looking to expand its financial services team with a focus on developing NFC technology.

Vodafone is also expected to explore opportunities with mobile payments in the UK following the success of its M-PESA service overseas.

17/11/2010

Disney merges offline, online with Google Goggles mobile campaign


Google is working with five brands—Disney, Buick, Diageo, T-Mobile and Delta Airlines—to extend some of their offline marketing to the mobile Web via its image recognition application.

About a year ago, the search giant launched Google Goggles, an Android application that lets consumers search the Web for information by taking pictures of paintings, landmarks or products with their mobile devices. As part of a Google Goggles marketing experiment, the five participating brands have “Goggles-enabled” some of their print ads, movie posters and other media.

“This is something new and exciting we’re trying out for the first time—this is uncharted territory,” said Aaron Stein, New York-based spokesman for Google. “The goal was really to Goggles-enable ads that are not online and use Goggles to make it possible for consumers to interact with those brands online.

“Consumers can scan a Buick ad and learn more about the brand through this experiment,” he said. “I think it’s too early to speculate as to what this will turn into, but we’re really excited about this announcement and this is the just the tip of the iceberg.

“The purpose of Google Goggles is to expand the ways you can search from your mobile phone—you can get information in different ways with your phone, input text queries, voice search and with Google Goggles you can do an image search, and this is really just an extension of that.”


Five big brands tap Google Goggles for multichannel image recognition campaigns
Google eyes
Disney, Buick, Diageo, T-Mobile and Delta Airlines are partnering with Google as part of their efforts to make traditional media interactive and more trackable.

When consumers take pictures of these print ads, movie posters and other media with Google Goggles, they will be recognized by the application and users will have the option of clicking-through directly to a mobile destination from the brand.

Google said that it developed Goggles so that people could more easily explore the world around them with a mobile device.


Google Goggles enables mobile search by sight
In this experiment, Google is applying the same principles and the same technology by “Goggles-enabling” advertisements and other media, and offering to link consumers to the mobile sites from these brands.

“People have already been scanning products with Goggles, so we saw an existing demand for this,” Mr. Stein said. “We’re letting people learn more about those brands by enabling movie posters, print ads and other media with Goggles interactivity.”

Brands' use of Goggles
Walt Disney Pictures Goggles-enabled out-of-home posters for its upcoming film “Tron Legacy.”

When consumers take a picture of the poster, they are immediately redirected to the Tron Legacy microsite on the mobile Web.

Consumers are then encouraged to view the trailer for the film.

Diageo said that it wants to provide on-the-go consumers with product information, offers, recipes or other content wherever they may need it, and Google Goggles is one way to do so, connecting various touch points.

Mobile is the one common tool that everyone has with them at all times, per Diageo.

When consumers launch Goggles and take a picture of a print ad from Buick, they are redirected to the relevant content on Buick’s mobile site.

When consumers scan this "Goggles-enabled" Buick ad with Google Goggles, they can connect directly with Buick's mobile experience.

The Buick Lacrosse is one model that the automaker is promoting via the Goggles campaign.

Buick said that it is participating in the Google Goggles marketing experiment to create a richer, deeper brand experience for consumers that view its traditional advertising.

BMW Launches First User-Generated iAd

BMW of North America is running the first user-generated iAD promoting the launch of the BMW X3. The focus of the ad plays off of BMW's built-to-order program for the new car. Essentially viewers - like actual customers - imagine their dream car and then build it. While the next step in this process for paying customers is to have their customized BMW delivered to their driveway, viewers get a virtual road test of their custom designed car. Each “dream car” in the ad was selected from real submissions on the BMW USA Facebook page.

The 'shake' feature on iPhone and iPod touch lets users to browse the dreams - all riffs on how the car will change a life - as well as the X3 color options. Viewers then submit their own dream, which can then be shared with the BMW community through the iAd. They have the X3's 70 million unique configurations on the iAd to play with starting with colors and wheels that can be changed, the vehicle's angle, interior options, and even the environment, which can move from a cityscape to mountains. Viewers then drive their cars by browsing video content and downloading images from a gallery of hi-res wallpapers.

Once they have had their fun with the iAd, the viewer taps the close button and returns to the app they were using.

Rocky Start

The first several months of iAd’s launch has been characterized by some great media play, and then quiet, behind-the-scenes disgruntlement on the part of some advertisers. Of the 17 ad partners that launched with the iAd in June, only two - Unilever and Nissan - had iAd campaigns running for much of July. These reasons have included the tight control Apple is keeping over the creative process which has added weeks to the process. Then there is the expense - $1 million a package - that has no doubt deterred more advertisers from signing up, at least until the results of these early adopters become clear. Apple has also worried some companies with its insistence of keeping control of the customer relationship and its stinginess with analytics information.

Compelled

Marketers, though, are forging ahead with the iAd, with BMW being the latest example. One namely, is that the click through rates and other engagement metrics are much higher than compared to other online ad formats. A Nissan spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that its iAd "has driven exceptional results to date" with the rate of users tapping on the banner five times the click-through-rate of the online campaign.

Google's new phone software supports mobile payment

(Reuters) - Google Inc's next version of its Android smartphone software will support a technology that lets people use their handsets, instead of credit cards, to pay for goods at restaurants and stores.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt showed off a yet-to-be-released phone on Monday with a special chip that allows consumers to quickly pay for items by tapping the phone against a special terminal.

Schmidt said support for the technology, dubbed Near Field Communications, will be integrated into the next version of its Android software, "Gingerbread", which he said will be introduced in a few weeks.

"One way to think about it is, this could replace your credit card," Schmidt said, speaking at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco.

Google had no immediate plans to develop any of its own mobile applications to take advantage of such payment capabilities, but Schmidt expected other companies to do so.

"My guess is that there are going to be 500 new startups in the mobile payment space as these platforms emerge," Schmidt said. He added that Google would partner with traditional credit card industry players, like payment processors, rather than compete with them.

While NFC technology has been available for years, interoperability with Google's Android software should make the technology more widespread. Google's Android was the second most popular smartphone operating system in the third quarter, according to industry research firm Gartner, behind Nokia's Symbian and ahead of Apple Inc's iOS software, which is used on the iPhone.

In a roundtable briefing with reporters, Schmidt said Google's ability to marry its smartphone software with Internet-based services enabled features like turn-by-turn driving directions and real-time foreign language translation, which distinguished it from rivals' offerings.

"We would argue that our platform is better for applications that are network-resident and that need that kind of power," Schmidt said.

Google, which controls roughly two-thirds of the Internet search market, is increasingly competing with Apple and with social networking giant Facebook.

Earlier on Monday, Facebook unveiled a revamped version of its messaging system that could make it increasingly competitive with Web-based email systems like Google's Gmail and Yahoo Inc's mail service.

Asked about Facebook's potential effect on Gmail, Schmidt said that additional competition would be beneficial, and chided the press for focusing too much on the competition between Google and other technology companies.

"You all are focused on the competition, as opposed to the fact that the market's getting larger," Schmidt said. "And there's no question that more entrants into communications technologies, mobile technologies and so forth, bring more people in."

16/11/2010

Starbucks is 2010 Mobile Marketer of the Year


Starbucks Coffee Co. has been named 2010 Mobile Marketer of the Year, the highest accolade in mobile advertising, marketing and media.

Based on the nominations received from readers and submissions from this publication's editorial team, Mobile Marketer is convinced that Starbucks serves as a role model for marketers for its outstanding use of mobile as a marketing medium.

“Starbucks has proved that soigné marketing across all mobile channels is possible, tying customer branding, acquisition and retention initiatives into a strategic effort worth admiring from near and far,” said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily, New York.

“The coffee giant is most commonly associated with a coupon to drive traffic in-store, but an analysis of its efforts will show that Starbucks taps mobile for the medium's strengths: location, timeliness and immediacy, convenience and measurability,” he said.

“Starbucks’ brilliant mobile marketing, from conception to execution and measurement in a multichannel context, makes it a no-brainer for 2010 Mobile Marketer of the Year.”

Starbucks is driving sales of its Via Ready Brew via location-based mobile marketing
The Mobile Marketer of the Year is the most prestigious honor for smart, strategic and creative mobile marketing. Team Obama won the honor in 2008 and Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. in 2009.

Starbucks shaped the mobile marketing industry this year, serving as an exemplar to other brands and encouraging agencies and service providers.

“Starbucks has clearly shown that it is a pioneer in the mobile space and a brand that has realized the importance of mobile," said Paul Gelb, director and mobile practice lead at Razorfish, New York. "It always distinguishes itself with the level of insight it has into its consumers and the way it is able to create an experience that attracts and maintains a loyal consumer base.

Starbucks ad in the Pandora iPad app
"Given the nature of its business and the length of time people spend in its locations, and how people use Starbucks for numerous types of computing, whether it be using a laptop or, often, a mobile phone, the brand has made its offering a beacon for that, leveraging a wide variety of mobile experiences," he said.

Here is a breakdown of Starbucks' work in the mobile space, and why it is mobile top dog.

Building lists of loyalists
Starbucks is highly focused on building a qualified database of respondents to mobile campaigns.

The opt-in list is gold, since the churn rate with mobile phone numbers is minimal compared with email or postal addresses.

In October, Starbucks was among the first brands on board for a six-month trial powered by Placecast that relies on consumers opting-in to receive relevant messages based on age, gender, interests and – for the first time – their location.

When opted-in, consumers that are found to be within a geofenced area owned by Starbucks receive a text message offering them money off Starbucks Via Ready Brew at a nearby branch.

One mobile coupon from Starbucks offers consumers money off of their Via purchase.

The brand believes that, by offering discounts for customers who are close to supermarkets and its coffee shops where Starbucks Via Ready Brew is sold, it will encourage brand loyalty and drive foot traffic.

This promotion allows Starbucks to save the list of loyalists and remarket to them in the future.

Well-performing efforts
Starbucks consistently achieves a high rate of response to campaigns, thus proving deft use of calls to action and targeted marketing.

For example, Starbucks-owned Seattle’s Best Coffee’s mobile advertising campaign to promote its new canned iced coffee drove 139,000 users to the brand’s mobile site.

The vast variety of mobile ad units succeeded in driving consumers to an interactive landing experience compatible with thousands of mobile devices.

The advertising creative was outstanding, as the ad imagery conveyed the brand attributes and engendered high click-throughs.

The campaign included executions such as standard banners, animated multi-panel banners, text links, in-application expandable banners and full-page interactive interstitials.

Comcast rolls out TV app for iPad


CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Comcast Corp. said Monday that it will unveil an application for Apple Inc.’s iPad that allows Comcast digital subscribers to watch movies and TV shows on the tablet device, starting next month.

The first version of the Xfinity TV app will be available on Apple’s iTunes Store this week.

Users will be able to use Xfinity TV to program their digital video recorders, browse content by keyword or title, create a watchlist of favorite shows, and share viewing choices with others via social networks.

Comcast's announcement comes at a time of slowing subscriber growth for cable, satellite and phone companies that provide video services.

Last week, The Diffusion Group, a research firm, issued a survey stating that broadband users who own or are likely to purchase an iPad in the next few months are “significantly more likely” than other broadband customers to cancel or downgrade their service over the next six months.

Xfinity TV is also an extension of the “TV Everywhere” strategy, championed by Time Warner Inc. and Comcast, which seeks to tie online viewership of shows to a paid subscription. There has been concern that people will cancel their cable subscriptions and use free video services such as Hulu to satisfy much of their entertainment needs.

10 Ways for E-mail Marketers to Survive Facebook Messages


As expected, Facebook introduced Monday new communication channels for its users - including a @facebook.com.

Among the upgrades, users can tailor communication channels for each person in their network - that is, they can indicate a certain friend will receive an IM instead of an email because that is the platform she prefers. Once that information is inputted, the user simply chooses the name and types a message.

The biggest change, though, will likely be the @facebook.com - a project that Facebook has reportedly been working on for many months. Depending on how widely it is adopted it has the potential to cause significant upheaval among email marketers.

Or maybe not. A series of quick chats with people in the industry suggest this may prove to be more beneficial than disruptive. Facebook email is a boon for marketers who want to collect and measure data across multiple channels, says Tom Sather, director, Professional Services at Return Path.

He suggests:

1. Encouraging @facebook.com users to sign up via all channels. Facebook email will require permission from all marketers, so the typical rules of email deliverability are now gone.

2. Include SWYN (share with your network) and 'like' buttons in all of your emails, especially to your @facebook.com subscribers.

3. Using incentives to collect email data, encourage subscribers to sign up for emails. Offer exclusive deals for @facebook.com addresses and followers.

4. Start thinking about distinct strategies and content for both channels. “Sending the same content to both your Facebook fans and email list isn’t good enough anymore.

5. Integrating a shopping cart to @facebook.com emails - assuming the same functionality for Facebook pages is available to email.

6. Don’t cause too much upheaval as you implement these changes. That is Len Shneyder, senior product manager of Unica’s advice based on his premise that @facebook.com email itself is not likely to disrupt anything marketers are doing today. “It will be another domain and its importance will grow over time similarly to how Gmail grew over time. People are creatures of habit; I don't expect to see a huge migration to Facebook's email client, no tectonic shifts or anything like that. Quite the opposite, I think it'll be gradual and happen over time.”

Shneyder points out that when Gmail was launched there were the same concerns, that the world would change overnight. “The opposite was true, people migrated over time, and Gmail has grown in importance as a domain to be specifically addressed by marketers.”

7. Don’t think of it as email. That, in fact, is Facebook’s pitch for this product and one worth paying attention to, says Buddy Media CEO Mike Lazerow. "Facebook has the opportunity to make email, or more importantly personal communication, very relevant again by categorizing communication by closeness - family, company, networks, etc. and combining all forms of online messaging. By creating seamless integration across chat, IM and email and making it easier to have conversations within the Facebook eco-system, Facebook will grow the number of daily interactions among its users well beyond 4 billion.”

8. Watch for changes in the domain distribution of their email lists and how that might impact sending practices and deliverability, says Dave Lewis, Chief Marketing Officer of Message Systems. “Make no mistake, the combination of email, text and IM in a single, easily accessible inbox for Facebook’s nearly 550 million users takes channel convergence to a whole new level. Companies should monitor this development closely and be alert to how Facebook’s ‘social inbox’ prompts changes in customer communication behavior. Given the user’s ability to filter and segregate messages, clearly contextual relevance will become increasingly important to reaching those with a Facebook ‘social inbox.’

The big question is whether customers will view the Facebook inbox as their home for just social interactions or use it in lieu of the services of other mailbox providers for all their digital messaging.”

9. Email marketers should also be mindful of the priority or purpose that customers assign to different email addresses, Lewis says. “These points alone are important because they’ll require changes to data acquisition and management strategies as marketers seek to capture the ‘best’ addresses and link various addresses and other elements in their databases. But at a higher level, companies will need to also be attuned to the implications on cross-channel messaging to ensure the effectiveness of their ongoing customer communications.”

10. Don’t overestimate the bite it will take out of Google, says Thomas Harpointner, CEO of AIS Media. “Since the Facebook messaging system is modeled after chat, and designed to be less formal and personal, it's aimed at the social consumer and will not replace business class email. It will however take a bite out of AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.” But Gmail’s integration into Google Voice - a service Facebook can't match (for now).

15/11/2010

Mobile ads four-to-five times more effective than online ads

Mobile advertising is four-to-five times more effective than online advertising on average, according to an InsightExpress presentation at a Microsoft workshop.

When measuring a marketer’s mobile efforts, there are two pieces that are the most critical: campaign effectives and making sure that the Web sites and landing pages are mobile-optimized. Focusing on campaign effectiveness, InsightExpress measures unaided awareness, aided awareness, ad awareness, message association, brand favorability and purchase intent, and mobile outperforms online across the board.

“Mobile versus online is not necessarily apples to apples, but it’s simply a basis of comparison, and we’ve found that mobile advertising is four-to-five times as effective as online,” said Joy Liuzzo, Washington-based senior director of mobile research at InsightExpress, said at the Microsoft mobile marketing workshop last week at the software giant's headquarters.

“That’s due to various factors, including lack of clutter in mobile, typically one ad per page, and the mobile pages themselves typically do not have a lot of stuff going on—they tend to be very clean," she said.

“Also, the proportion of the ad on a mobile screen is greater, so it gets more share of eyeballs. We found that folks doing activities on their smartphones are as positively engaged as when they are doing something on their computer, so it’s a perfect storm of why mobile advertising works so well right now.

Joy Liuzzo is senior director of marketing and mobile research at InsightExpress
“We've seen this increase in certain mobile ad campaigns, because they’re not just static banners anymore, they’re more engaging—engagement is the secret sauce of mobile.”

An InsightExpress study of a campaign from an automaker found that mobile increased feature awareness (the control group was 13 percent, those exposed to the ad were 23.7 percent and those who engaged with the ad were 44.9 percent) and purchase intent/consideration (control 14.1 percent, exposed 29 percent, engaged 34.7).

Hence, conversations are shifting.

While there are a lot of feature phones out there, a high percentage of people who are interacting with mobile marketing campaigns are smartphone users.

Looking at consumers ages 25-34, about 50 percent of them have smartphoens, so the reach is getting there.

Text messaging still has the most reach, because both smartphones and feature phones are SMS-enabled.

But when marketers look at the mobile Internet, applications, video and social networking, the large majority of traffic is coming from smartphone users, which is a different audience altogether.

Ms. Liuzzo said that mobile is not a one-trick pony and that everything works comparatively well across the board.

While applications are hot, mobile Web is the workhorse and mobile video is still nascent but already very impactful.

When marketers make the applications versus mobile Internet distinction, they should realize that consumers with smartphones use both. They cannot live by applications alone.

“When it comes down to consumers, they are flowing in between apps and the mobile Internet, not making a choice of one or the other,” Ms. Liuzzo said. “There are a couple of areas where the mobile Internet is leading the charge.”

For example, among merchants and retailers that have a mobile commerce presence, 50 percent have a mobile Internet site only, 12 percent have an application only and 39 percent have both a mobile Web site and an application.

Ms. Liuzzo offered another interesting insight: social pressure drives mobile adoption.

Consumers take note of what all or most of their family and friends are doing on mobile, and it tends to be monkey-see, monkey-do.

“The fact that we have so many folks doing these activities using their handsets, that will encourage more folks to do them as well, and it will keep going on and on and gathering momentum,” Ms. Liuzzo said.

For example, 82 percent of consumers have used their mobile phones in a store, 55 percent in a doctor’s office or hospital, 17 percent during a movie at the theater, 14 percent while flying on a plane and 7 percent during church service.

Around 17 percent of mobile users have shown a clerk in a store a picture of a product on their mobile phone, saying in effect “I want this please,” which is a new shopping behavior that is surprisingly being driven by men.

Thirty-four percent of men ages 25-34 and 29 percent of men ages 35-44 have done so.

Ms. Liuzzo calls men the forgotten shopper, and they overindex for mobile shopping behavior.

“When you start to look at who is driving the behaviors using their mobile devices in store, it is primarily men ages 25-34,” Ms. Liuzzo said. “Men are now showing these new behaviors—‘I’m in a store, and I’m going to use my mobile to find out what I need and get information.

“If their behaviors are out there, as a marketer or merchant you take advantage of them as much as possible.”

Kraft Foods supports no-mobile-left-behind strategy for brand push


REDMOND, WA – During a presentation at a Microsoft workshop, an agency executive at Meredith Corp.’s The Hyperfactory revealed how Kraft Foods Inc. integrates mobile into its overall strategy to drive acquisition, engagement, brand support and product trial among high-value target consumers.

When formulating its multichannel strategy, Kraft’s planning and preparation is geared toward consumers’ shopping behavior and driving them in-store with its brand top of mind. Its mobile initiatives include a mobile Web site, 2D bar codes, SMS programs in English and Spanish, mobile coupons, applications for various smartphone platforms and Apple’s iPad, as well as mobile advertising and sponsorships.

“Kraft, a CPG mass-market client with a great history, touches all of our lives in many different ways, and it has looked at the mobile channel holistically and integrated it into everything it does,” said Geoffrey Handley, cofounder of The Hyperfactory, New York.

“The brand has covered everything from a technology perspective and from a business objective perspective and asked ‘How do we integrate mobile?’ he said.

“Kraft is incorporating mobile calls-to-action on packaging—whether it is an SMS keyword and short code or 2D bar codes—various apps—one for recipes, one for moms and one for kids. There’s a huge the amount of stuff that they’ve done in mobile, all based on the no-mobile-left-behind principle.

The Kraft Big Fork Little Fork iPad app went live in the App Store in June
“That’s at the top of everything we do with them—‘This is the consumers’ channel of communication, and we are not going to alienate someone because they have a different type of phone’—and they’ve seen fantastic returns on their mobile investment.”

Headquartered in Northfield, IL, Kraft Foods is the largest food and beverage marketer nationwide. It markets many brands in more than 155 countries.

Eleven of the Kraft brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Kraft, Cadbury, Oscar Mayer, Maxwell House, Nabisco, Oreo, Philadelphia Creme Cheese, Jacobs, Milka, LU and Trident.

Kraft is sponsoring the Better Homes and Garden mobile site

Start with idea, not tech
When helping Kraft formulate its objective lead strategy, Mr. Handley stressed that the idea should drive the marketing program, not the technology. It is important to be technology-agnostic to cast the widest net and reach the most consumers.

In addition, it is not just about the activation—always ask what about the engagement? What happens when consumers get to the experience?

When looking at how mobile fits in with all of a brand’s touchpoints, keep in mind the core CRM initiatives and how mobile can be used to attain scale and inspire loyalty.

Brands should look to support as many mobile platforms as possible to get that scale.

Mobile is becoming increasingly social and vice versa. Mr. Handley dubbed the trend “mo-cial.”

Key objectives for any marketer are driving purchase intent and influencing purchase decisions while consumers are in store. Mobile is a key medium marketers can use to reach those objectives.

Brands, especially those with the resources of Kraft, must not be too timid, but rather focus on innovation to stay ahead of competitors. Marketers can do so much more in the mobile space than just simple banners that drive to a landing page.

Seven pillars of Kraft's mobile strategy
Mr. Handley shared seven pillars of Kraft Foods' mobile strategy for this year and next:

No. 1: Leverage mobile to support the brand’s core CRM strategy in content creation and distribution across all channels.

No. 2: Integrate mobile into loyalty, scale and advocacy programs.

No. 3: Create a portfolio of compelling mobile content platforms ranging from the simple and inspirational to the deep and functional.

No. 4: Launch mobile-social tools and experiences to tie mobile and digital CRM.

No. 5: Achieve reach and scale—no mobile left behind.

No. 6: Own personalized mobile purchase cycle and in-store experience—from inspiration to purchase.

No. 7: Place clever innovation bets to be ahead of the game—next-generation technology platforms and creative campaigns.

“What you end up with Kraft is a completely different mobile experience based on who you are,” Mr. Handley said.

“The iFood Assistant iPhone app has gotten a ton of downloads and a lot of attention, but most people don’t realize that it is also available for BlackBerry, Symbian, Android and Windows Phone 7, as well as the mobile Web," he said.

“Kraft has mobile properties in English, French, Spanish, et cetera, with different content for those different audiences and those different target groups. The Spanish version of the mobile Web site is the most used version, but there is no Spanish language app.

“The stats dictated that the mobile Web was the way to go a year ago, but that’s already changed—we’re not going with an iPhone app, but we’re looking to support other platforms that Hispanics use more."

Apple’s iAd: First European Brands To Be Named This Week


Six months after launch, some more international expansion for Apple’s iAd advertising platform. This week, Apple is reportedly set to announce its first European partners for iAd. The news follows on the heels of last week’s deal to take iAds to Japan, in partnership with Japanese agency Dentsu.

The European launch of iAd has not come without hiccups. The report notes that Apple had “twice delayed” the iAd launch in recent weeks. And it has been willing to bend on its $1 million minimum campaign spend rule in order to attract top brands to the platform. Two or three campaigns are likely to run in early December, but most will not go live until early next year, it says.

According to analysts at mobileSQUARED, the ‘big five’ European mobile markets of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK will together generate a combined €88 million ($120 million) in revenues from mobile advertising in 2010. That’s a league behind Japan, which is expected to have some $1 billion in mobile advertising revenues; and the U.S. market, which it says is around one-third the size of Japan’s (analysts at Smaato put the U.S. figure somewhat higher, at nearly $800 million).

Still, signing on some European brands would still be a significant move for Apple, not least to demonstrate that the iAd platform is continuing to gain momentum.

iAd, which went live nearly six months ago, has been the relative slow burner in Apple’s wireless business. After Apple boasted it had already booked some $60 million in iAd advertising at launch, it then went a little quiet, giving iAd only a passing mention in its last quarterly presentation.

That stands in contrast to the blazing success of Apple’s devices. Apple says the iPhone sold “well over three million” devices in its first three weeks of launch this past summer.

14/11/2010

Mobile Browsers Do It In The Evening

Adfonic, the European-based global mobile advertising marketplace, says that advertisers could be missing out on a growing mobile audience during the evening.

An analysis of Adfonic’s real-time hourly click patterns reveals that traffic starts to build from around 6pm and continues to rise throughout the evening, before peaking at midnight.

It also appears that the early morning offers potential for mobile advertisers, as an increasing number of people wake up and immediately spend time surfing the net on their smartphones. Both of these peaks in smartphone traffic coincide with dips in online traffic, traditionally seen as dead times for online advertising, revealing a clear opportunity for advertisers to reach incremental audiences through mobile.

“Analysis of our data shows that among iPhone, iPad and other smartphone traffic, there is a growth in ‘sofa’ and ‘bed’ surfing, as users switch from TV watching to mobile browsing in the commercial breaks or between programmes,” says Adfonic CMO, Paul Childs. “Many seem to prefer their smartphone, to engage with social media or to download apps for example, to a good book when they go to bed.”

Adfonic’s analysis also reveals that most smartphone users connect over wi-fi in the evenings rather than via their cellular data connection. This is reflected in a high level of app downloads. The same is not true during a smaller surfing peak through the morning commuter period, however, where app downloads are lower, due to the lack of a good connection.

“It appears that most brands are still missing a trick and are yet to tap into the full advertising potential of mobile,” says Childs. “As people switch off from TV advertising and spend less of the evening in front of a PC, the smartphone and tablet devices like the iPad are becoming the media of choice for spontaneous internet access. They also open up exciting new opportunities to cross-link TV and online campaigns with mobile devices and content, and the possibility to engage more effectively with consumers through richer mobile ad units.”

Adfonic’s real-time reporting and analytics is also able to map clicks across the UK, and reveals that contrary to popular opinion, iPhone, Android and iPad penetration is not confined to the London area. Adfonic’s figures show usage is now nationwide, with heavy concentrations around all major urban conurbations.

“What is clear from this research is that smartphone and tablet devices are changing the habits of the digital audience,” adds Childs. “As well as immediate and constant online access, they allow consumers to interact with brands in new ways that TV and laptops simply cannot compete with. The opportunity for advertisers to reach and engage with new audiences is huge and offers great potential for the mobile industry to leverage.”

Having launched just over a year ago, Adfonic now has over 2,000 publishers within its network, generating earnings from an average of 3,000 live ad campaigns per month, including major advertiser brands such as Yell.com, Peugeot and Sky. Adfonic says the number of ad impressions served through its network is set to reach 2bn per month over the next quarter.

13/11/2010

Apple's iAd Helping Rivals


Apple Inc.'s iAd interactive mobile ad service is having an unintended impact on rivals: It's largely helping their businesses by generating broader advertiser interest in mobile phones and gadgets.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled plans for the iAd service during a product event in April.

When Apple launched iAd last July, some industry executives worried that they would lose mobile advertising business to the Cupertino, Calif., company. Competitive concerns were sparked after the July rollout of iAd included commitments from top brands such as Unilever PLC and Nissan Co. to pay $1 million or more to have interactive ads placed inside iPhone and IPod touch apps.

But instead of losing business, ad executives say Apple's entry into the market is giving them a boost. That's because iAds has gotten big marketers to pay attention to mobile advertising in the first place

Apple has "brought sexiness to mobile ads," said Carnet Williams, chief executive of San Francisco-based Sprout Inc., which helps create and deliver interactive ads. Mr. Williams said it has gotten roughly four times as many calls from publishers and agencies since Apple turned the spotlight on iAds.

Until recently, the mobile advertising market was a small fraction of the $25.1 billion U.S. online advertising market, according to researcher eMarketer. Now that's changing as Apple has joined pre-existing providers of interactive mobile ads, such as Google Inc.'s AdMob unit, in offering ads that let consumers play a mini-game or interact with the ad without having to leave or the close the app they were using. Google said during its third quarter earnings call that mobile advertising is adding $1 billion annually in revenue.

Some ad executives say Apple's foray into mobile advertising particularly spurred marketers to boost their spending in the broader category. And not all those dollars are being allocated from digital budgets, with some coming from more traditional ad spending like TV or direct response, said Phuc Truong, managing director at Mobext, a mobile ad agency owned by French ad company Havas SA. Its clients include Sears Holdings Corp., regional McDonald's Corp. co-ops, and Exxon Mobil Corp.

Alexandre Mars, head of mobile for Publicis Groupe SA, adds Apple's cachet with big brands has helped legitimize the entire market. "The mobile marketing business is different now," said Mr. Mars, noting that none of the other mobile advertising companies could have attracted the interest that Apple has gotten from top brands.

Yet many ad agencies and brands find Apple's rates too high, giving competitors like Google, Medialets Inc., Crisp Wireless Inc. and 4INFO Inc. an opening to grow their businesses by offering cheaper rates to do similar things. People familiar with the matter have said Apple requires a minimum $1 million iAd commitment, but rival agencies said they can put together an ad campaign for as little as tens of thousands of dollars.

"A seven-figure mobile media spend historically has been few and far between, so if we're able to create a beautiful unit similar to the iAd but without the spending commitment, that's always a good alternative," said Mr. Truong.

12/11/2010

Estee Lauder, Tiffany & Co., Macy’s ads prove iPad is canvas for engagement


Top-notch brands such as Estee Lauder, Tiffany & Co., FedEx, Macy’s and Nestle are finding that the iPad is changing the print advertising landscape, allowing for more engaging and interactive experiences.

These brands are all print advertisers in the 20th anniversary issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine, which has launched an iPad version to commemorate the occasion. The brands have all added interactive elements to the digital versions of their ads, proving just how effective the iPad is at providing engaging experiences.

“The iPad represents a real opportunity for advertisers," said Gael Towey, chief creative and editorial director at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, New York. "They want to reach a new audience too, and in a more immersive way.

"Now they can, by using the same tools that are available to editors to create an entirely new and exciting experience for consumers," she said.

Created with Adobe’s digital publishing technology, Martha Stewart Living’s edition for the iPad re-imagines for the digital age one of the world’s most recognized mass-market consumer lifestyle titles.

Featuring all original content, the application brings together the inspiring ideas, practical how-to information and beautiful photography that distinguish the Martha Stewart Living brand.

Innovative functionality includes scrolling recipes, slide shows, videos, audio, animation and panoramas.

NAVTEQ Location-Based Marketing Campaign Sees 20% CTR, 40% Post-Click Engagement


NAVTEQ announced today that a first-of-its-kind location-based marketing campaign for O2 in the U.K.netted impressive results across the board.

The campaign leveraged NAVTEQ’s newly launched “LocationPoint” LBS marketing platform to promote the chance to win free concert tickets to a local concert or special event. NAVTEQ, in conjunction with high-quality Ovi Maps, delivered location-aware ads to Nokia smartphone users as they approached one of more than a dozen O2 concert venues throughout the U.K.

Campaign results show an impressive initial click-through rate of 20%, while a further impressive 40% of consumers visited the attached mobile Website to register to win or clicked on a map showing the venue location. In addition, 16% requested an Ovi Map orienting or directing them to the venue. The campaign is another early win for NAVTEQ which is making huge strides in leveraging its navigation-centric network to deliver highly targeted location-based ads.

“NAVTEQ lets advertisers intelligently tap into the rich potential of mobile for branding and advertising,” said David Barker, NAVTEQ Director Ad Sales Europe and Africa. “NAVTEQ’s LocationPoint advertising services is the solution that allows big destinations like O2 to drive consumers in their doors—and do it in ways that can be measured to show proof of return on investment.”

Survey: 75% Of Mobile YouTube Users Say Mobile Is Their Primary Means Of Access


Google today released the results of a new survey of mobile YouTube users that indicate an overwhelming preference for accessing mobile video content via mobile devices.

In response to a growing number of people accessing their videos through m.youtube.com, Google issued a survey on the mobile site which received over 16,000 responses. Of which, 75% say that their mobile is the number one device they use to watch YouTube videos. Furthermore, the survey shows 70% of respondents use the mobile YouTube site at least once per day.

Other findings indicate that 58% of users spend 20+ minutes per visit and that 38% are happy to say that their Online use of YouTube is being replaced by YouTube Mobile. Of course, the results of the survey are obviously self-serving to Google, as the results were posted on its “Google Mobile Ads Blog.” The post goes on to say “however, these results may not be as surprising when you learn that, according to Nielsen, YouTube Mobile is the #1 video viewing mobile website in the US, with more than 7.1MM monthly unique users.”

The search giant took the opportunity to promote its “daily roadblock” ads as well. ”Advertisers can now own 100% share-of-voice on YouTube Mobile by purchasing a daily roadblock and owning all available ad impressions for 24 hours. Ads run on the Search, Browse and Home pages of the mobile website.”

11/11/2010

Playboy breaks location-based mobile initiative to engage trendsetters


Hugh Hefner’s adult entertainment brand Playboy Enterprises Inc. has unveiled Playboy Scout, a nightlife application enhanced with location-triggered content delivery.

Using Xtify Inc.’s geo-location push notification technology, Playboy Scout is available on Android phones nationwide and will soon be launched on other smartphone platforms. The Scout application presents Playboy’s audience with exclusive nightlife-oriented offers and information about events, clubs, and bars which have been reviewed and recommended by Playboy’s editors, and delivers push notifications to users when they are in proximity of venues of interest.

“Playboy has always been an authority in the nightlife space, with entertainment content that is even more relevant when unleashed from the confines of a computer or magazine,” said Paul Lee, managing director of new digital venturesa at Playboy Enterprises, Chicago. “Playboy is leveraging its respected editorial content and expertise on new digital platforms to extend the Playboy brand in the nightlife arena.

“The mobile phone is the one device people have with them constantly, in their pocket or their purse,” he said. “Brands not thinking about reaching their customers via the mobile device are going to get left behind—that said, mobile applications have to be continually relevant to the consumer or they'll cease to be used.

“Xtify's technology allows us to reach the consumer at the time and place in which the message we're sending is most relevant, and to easily send location-triggered notifications even when the app is closed on the consumer's phone.”

Mobile App Development Grows Sharply


The number of mobile applications developed by advertisers/marketers in 2010 increased significantly year-over-year, according to a new report from Millennial Media. When asked the number of mobile applications they developed in 2010 compared to 2009, advertisers participating stated growth in every area.

In particular, advertisers developing 20-50 apps stated an astounding jump 1,975% jump from four in 2009 to 83 in 2010. Conversely, the number of advertisers who did not develop a single application decreased 42% year-over-year (from 19 in 2009 to 11 in 2010).

10/11/2010

IAB, MMA collaborate on industry standards for measuring mobile Web ad delivery


To standardize key metrics for the mobile interactive industry, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Mobile Marketing Association have released “Mobile Web Advertising Measurement Guidelines” for public comment.

Developed with the assistance of the Media Rating Council, the guidelines will provide a framework to govern how ad impressions are counted on the mobile Web.

Please click here to view the guidelines

Mobile audience metrics from ABC Interactive

The Audit Bureau of Circulations’ recent partnership with Spreed Inc. is yet another indication that audience metrics are helping publishers take mobile advertising to the next level.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations’ interactive unit, ABCi, is teaming with Toronto-based Spreed to provide independently audited mobile usage data generated from smart phones, ereaders and mobile browsers. The announcement follows ABCi’s recent review of Spreed’s mobile application platform, confirming it meets the necessary prerequisites as part of the ABCi audit process.

"As the mobile advertising market continues to grow in the U.S. and Canada, we are receiving more interest in verified mobile metrics from our members,” said Kammi Altig, manager of communications at ACBi, Arlington Heights, IL.