Cell Life

Gosh.. this does not seem to end. I wish this went one way or the other and we were spared the glut of news around this on every tech board. Microsoft needs Yahoo to be anything in the internet space and it is as simple as that. For Yahoo it is a good exit plan. But for consumers and internet users, a merger is not good news. We want more competition rather than a few monopolizing the net. Regardless, I wish this would end and we can move onto some more interesting tech happenings and some new ideas in hot areas like mobile.

MT

I have been pondering over ever increasing hue and cry about mobile marketing, for a while.

I have been going around to people from US to Europe to India to Australia etc. etc. etc. asking about their views on top 10 points to consider in Mobile Marketing area. Received numerous responses.

To give out the results of this survey, I am putting my views and the results together in a white paper on the same…which will be out soon…

If any of you would like to get the same…please get in touch with us and we will send it promptly. Till then…keep reading and sharing your views/ comments…

VS

Our article “Mobile Strategy - The New Corporate Imperative” has been published in the most recent editions of The Smart Techie magazine and Silicon India magazines. The links are below :

http://www.thesmarttechie.com/magazine/fullstory.php/NOBH841638463

http://www.siliconindia.com/magazine/pay.php/DMKZ462464795

Happy Reading. The Smart Techie magazine (www.thesmarttechie.com) is the leading Indian magazine targeting technology professionals and executives. Silicon India (www.siliconindia.com) is the corresponding US magazine.

MT

ComScore, the online usage measurement firm, acquired M:Metrics, the mobile specialist in usage measurements for $44.3 million. This amounts to a market consolidation in mobile measurement industry and also a convergence of mobile usage reporting with general online measurements.

This makes ComScore a top firm in mobile measurement space - an area which has seen huge growth rates in recent times with advertisers desire to track and report on user adoption of mobile data services and advertising.

The Nielsen Co. is the other top player in this space.

MT

Microsoft is trying to buy your searches. The new program, dubbed Microsoft Live Search Cashback, sounds like some sort of cash rebate program similar to what you see in loyalty programs at retail stores or credit cards. Is it a wise move for Microsoft ? Will it turn the page for Microsoft vis-a-vis Google’s overwhelming market share in search business ?

We think the idea has some merit but for the most part it is an act of desperation. After all, searches are not for sale. People search in the hope to find good matches for their searches and advertisers go to search engines where they see consistent scalability and return on ad dollars. Microsoft has to do better on various other aspects of search like better searches, better ROI to advertisers, more relevant ads. Today, a small number of folks use Microsoft Live search - roughly 9.1% of US searches are done via Microsoft Live vs 61.6% for Google. Simply buying searches is not going to do it. This is classic Microsoft, if you can’t win on business model or innovation, use financial muscle to buy your way in. This may work but only in large partnership customers of Microsoft who will be hounded by Microsoft’s aggressive sales personnel to replace Google search box with MS Live search. For the vast majority of consumers and businesses however, their Google search box isn’t going away anytime soon.

MT

Activist investor Carl Icahn is forcing Yahoo to re-discuss a merger with Microsoft. Mr Icahn believes that Microsoft had an attractive offer which Yahoo should take. This is classic Wall Street influence on tech-centric Valley. When firms mature, they sometimes need to submit to stock market behemoths and can’t go their own way. Microsoft is interested as Yahoo might otherwise create a search outsourcing relationship with Google which would be not too pretty for the Redmond giant. Yahoo just concluded a test launch of Google search outsourcing which was a great success. Using that as a bulwark, CEO Jerry Yang of Yahoo declined the Microsoft offer earlier this month. Yahoo remains hot property and both Google and Microsoft want to keep it in their camp. Makes sense. Whichever camp Yahoo joins would get strengthened relative to that party’s prior position. The irony is that Microsoft is fighting so hard for a No 2 spot in an area (online advertising). Historically our friends from Redmond never settle for less than no 1.

MT

We just published a rich white paper on Mobile Advertising and Marketing on CellStrat website. Check it out under the link :

http://www.cellstrat.com/whitepapers.html

Let us know any comments.

Thanks

MT

I came across this term used to measure the revenue from ad spending. eCPM is “Effective Cost Per thousand impressions”. In layman terms, it means revenue per thousand impressions. Even more simply, it measures which ad formats or ad models lead to higher ad revenue. This metric creates a unit to measure ad revenue impact.

eCPM = (total earnings / impressions) x 1000

This metric assumes that 1000 impressions is a large enough sample to measure the impact accurately. 

Higher the eCPM, better the ad revenue from an ad format or ad model. This metric is relevant to firms developing ad platforms in print, online or mobile world. It helps them figure out what kind of ad platform, format and technology will lead to higher ad spending by advertisers for minimum no of impressions.

MT

Amol Sharma wrote an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121030196400479989.html?mod=rss_media_and_marketing&apl=y&r=529113) on the tools being used to measure the impact of Mobile Advertising and Application Usage. Mobile measurement firms M:Metrics, Nielsen and comScore are working on technology to electronically measure the mobile ad views and mobile application usage. So far these firms have relied on customer surveys to determine what applications and ads are being seen by mobile users - this has led to very imperfect scoring patterns for mobile campaign impact measurement. The issue is that mobile ad views and data usage statistics is in the domain of carriers networks and IT systems and the carriers are highly reluctant to share this information with mobile measurement firms or advertisers in fear of impinging on customer privacy, mobile spamming and customer dissatisfaction.

The traditional method of recording customer patterns are opt-in surveys which are highly subjective and depend on customer desire to share accurate data on their usage and preferences. The more sophisticated method involves electronic monitoring software running on phones or digging into the usage logs which carriers control. The monitoring software has to deal with a zillion phone styles and operating systems and needs carrier support which is always a dicey job.

Nobody has forgotten the spam and consumer privacy issues in the online world and the last thing carriers and consumers want is the same set of problems in the mobile space. But advertisers would like accurate measurements of customer usage patterns to see the return on ad-dollars. So we have the classic consumer privacy problem here.

What might make mobile advertising appealing to consumers such that they cozy up to the idea of information sharing ? Perhaps free services to go with advertising or high degree of ad personalization - all of these techniques require prospecting usage logs and customer data which carriers control and determining customer preferences and mobile web usage patterns.

Amol’s article mentions that more likely than not, customer surveys and electronic monitoring will co-exist even after another decade.

MT

Today, I had the opportunity to interview Mark Emery, Senior Director of Agency Relations, at Air2Web (www.air2web.com) - the premier mobile marketing solutions firm based in Atlanta, GA. Here is an excerpt from that session :

What is Air2Web ?

Mark : Air2Web is a Mobile Marketing Infrastructure and Solutions firm. Air2Web provides tools to ”promote, service and transact” to brands and ad agencies on the mobile phones. ‘Promote’ means customer acquisition campaigns, promoting products and services using mobile coupons, trivia, polls etc. ‘Service’ includes services like loyalty management, customer service management, some examples being store locator, account updates/alerts etc. ‘Transact’ includes purchases by consumers of content like ringtones, games, wallpapers etc.

Air2Web is technology ambivalent and works across all carriers, all devices etc.

Air2Web is not a mobile advertising firm but rather bills itself as a mobile marketing leader. The distinction is important because Air2web works with carriers, brands and agencies for running custom mobile marketing campaigns using its cutting-edge mobile platform. Air2Web does not sell ads or ad space as is the case with classic ad placement firms.

What kind of mobile channels Air2Web uses ?

Mark : Air2Web uses messaging / SMS as the primary platform for mobile marketing but also has done campaigns using WAP site banner ads, J2ME handheld applications etc.

Air2Web specializes in custom marketing campaigns using SMS as underlying technology but has several successful instances of custom WAP sites like Starbucks locator service, live Weather Channel doppler radar tracker etc. Air2Web can further personalize marketing campaigns if users opt-in for location sensitivity using their zip code transmission or via customer preference databases with brands.

What is the customer reaction to Air2Web marketing campaigns ?

Mark : Air2Web has seen very positive feedback from its marketing campaigns, one of the main reasons being that it is an opt-in “conversational” service as opposed to a broadcast platform. All Air2Web campaigns involve customer desire to review certain brand web sites, download specific content like ringtones or wallpapers or participate in promotions like coupons, gaming etc.

Why does Air2Web succeed with so many brands and agencies ?

Mark : Air2Web has a ready-made infrastructure platform with premium carrier partnerships in place. Air2web can launch marketing programs very quickly by sharing its pre-booked SMS shortcodes across a no of campaigns. Air2Web has standard pricing structures and clean packaging for brands and agencies.

How does Air2web measure customer impact for its campaigns ?

Mark : This is an area which is still maturing in mobile marketing world. Air2Web has measured the customer response via print campaigns run by brands like SelectComfort to track user response to various marketing techniques like coupon, shortcodes etc.

Also Air2Web does direct marketing campaigns on demand and on customer opt-in so it can track the profile of its audience and their interest in Air2Web campaigns.

What is the most effective strategy in mobile marketing ?

Mark : Opt-in by customers works best when it comes to consumer effectiveness. This is facilitated by users sending shortcode SMSes, participating in polls or downloading content on demand.

Who are your top competitors ?

Mark : Sybase (Mobile365), ipsh!, The Hyperfactory etc.

(CellStrat note : This market is fragmented. We feel it will consolidate at some point when there is critical mass)

What are some of your clients ?

Mark : Air2Web has a roster of blue chip clients eg AT&T, AmEx, UPS. PGATour, Walmart, FootLocker, Weather Channel, Domino’s, eTrade, eVite etc

What are Air2web strategic advantages ?

Mark : Premium partnerships with carriers, robust and ready mobile messaging solutions which scale rapidly, cross-carrier and cross-device support and partnership with agencies are some strategic differentiators for Air2web.

What are future growth areas in mobile marketing ?

Mark : There is blurring of lines from a technology perspective. SMS-based, on-device/J2ME, WAP sites, video streaming are all coming together as a comprehensive marketing strategy in the mobile world.

Thanks Mark for the time spent. Stimulating discussion and great ideas on mobile marketing.

 MT