Telemedia Magazine Issue 29

issue 29

SHOW PREVIEW PAGE 23 Hotel Renaissance Amsterdam

Oct 12-14 2011

NAUGHTY NAUGHTY

Tackling the PRS fraud issue

TV TIMES

Locking on to interactive TV

In its own words

PPP talks about its new code

YAKETY YAK

Let's talk chat

G A T

t u o ab nts l l a me s ' It pay m-

PLUS Unlocking the sports business > making print interactive > engaging mobile advertising

12th to 14th October 2011 Renaissance Hotel Amsterdam The Netherlands www.wtevent.co.uk

Are you connecting consumers to the media, content and billing mechanisms they want?

This year we focus on what new applications and vertical sectors are benefiting most from Telemedia technologies and expertise.

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Solutions and strategies 4 Paid for / premium content 4 Mobile marketing and billing 4 Media, marketing and branding 4 Interactive services and data capture 4 The transition from online to “on the move�

Bringing together 4 Network Operators 4 Billing & Collection Companies 4 Technology & Service Providers 4 Aggregators & Resellers 4 Premium Content Publishers 4 App Development Companies 4 Media, Marketing & Data Owners

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features Dealing direct

In the start of our special look at payments, Paul Skeldon takes a look at the mobile payment market and assess where telemedia’s role might be going forward

New tools

As mobile commerce, especially in retail, starts to grow rapidly, a host of new payment tools are emerging. Paul Skeldon looks at three of the latest crop

Yakety yak

The chat business is one of the cornerstones of the telemedia industry, yet it tends to just quietly get on with it, not drawing too much attention to itself.

Sheldon Johns lifts the lid on this hidden gem

Riding the TV super-highway

App-titude

TV is no longer a one way street – it is increasingly becoming something that involves two, three, perhaps even four screens, interaction between shows and viewers and, of course, creating new revenue streams.

Matthew Leach looks at what is on offer

How will NFC really work?

Commercial broadcasters risk securing only half of their potential revenue if multi-screen strategies are not effectively monetised, warns Stephen Petheram, Marketing Director, PayWizard

In-app billing is set to revolutionise how consumers pay for media, games and, eventually, tangible goods.

David Sheridan explains

Operators think that NFC will open up the world of mobile payments to them and have merchants, banks, card companies and consumers flocking to be part of it. Think again, says John Strand

NFC: more than just payments

Think NFC and most people think payments, but contactless technology has so much more to offer than just this niche – and unproven – channel.

Carsten Kraus takes a look at what else is on offer

Flaming the fraudsters

Telemedia is an increasingly international and sophisticated business, but with that comes a growing risk of fraud and crime. Matthew Leach takes a look at its impact on the industry and how it can be combatted

Telemedia 23 World Amsterdam Preview Full details of what to look forward to at our international interactive media event, taking place in Amsterdam on 12-14 October. Featuring conference overview, sponsor and exhibitor details and that all important line up of networking events

The new oil?

A match made in heaven?

Using mobile, telemedia and billing is creating a whole new way of enjoying sporting events. And, as Matthew Leach discovers, it is big business for both the telemedia industry and the sports business world

Everything to play for

The gambling industry has really started to get the mobile bug. Here Simon Woolf charts how his company has embraced mobile and what it has delivered

Click the front page

Print media is finding a natural home online, thanks to better digital devices and the chance to be more interactive. Paul Skeldon looks at consumer thirst for these products and what sorts of new revenue streams they can bring

Don’t enrage, engage

On paper, mobile advertising has much to offer consumers and brands alike, but in practice efforts so far seem to be annoying consumers more than enticing them in. So what needs to change? Paul Skeldon reports

regulars 04 Comment Making the most of the boom in m-payments

TV 06 Opinion: Social second screening comes of age

Social 06 Opinion: Being a sport – with Twitter Marketing 07 Opinion: Augmented reality bites – and it makes ads all the better

07 Classified payments – how the

Opinion: Payments Germans do it on mobile

Regulation 09 Opinion: PPP assesses its own new code The Agenda 10 What the industry’s regulators and trade bodies have been up to

42 Directory The industry’s only listings of who does what

46 People Keeping tabs on the movers and shakers

telemedia issue 29

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Making the most of the boom in m-payments

paul skeldon

ith World Telemedia Amsterdam (12-14 October) just around the corner (see page 23) the link between media interaction, m-commerce and telemedia is very much at the forefront of the industy’s collective mind. And the glue that holds all this together is mobile payments – which not only forms a central pillar of the World Telemedia event, but also is the focus of this issue of Telemedia magazine.

We have, of course, focussed on billing and payments before, but this time something seems different. While we have no less than five features devoted to it (p12 – 19), it crops up in almost every other article in this issue, be that on fraud, TV services, sports and live events, m-gambling, print media and even advertising and marketing.

Using mobile to pay for things is suddenly the key element of the mobile services, and there is a battle raging around who will own that space. Network operators – and through them, telemedia companies – are in poll position, but the banks are also very keen on this space. As to are the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook. And there are, naturally, a wealth (geddit?) of third parties lining up with solutions that use some operator billing, some bank products and, in the case of White Cube, neither.

As we show on page 12 of this issue, one of the key tools in the operators’ armoury to try and command this space – something they have until the past few months seemed woefully unsure how to do – is to roll out direct operator billing services that essentially use PSMS, but which operate behind a simple one button click.

While these services – which also now encompass Transactional SMS, or TSMS, where this type of billing can be used to buy tangible goods – are basically PSMS, the operators have cannily upped the payout rates on them to around 90%, making them comparable to credit card for small value purchases and putting operators and telemedia billing service providers in with a chance of actually getting some mainstream merchant buy into mobile payments.

And this could be one of the key events of the year: the tie up between O2, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere in the UK to develop coherent cross network marketing and billing solutions is important, but this shift in operators willingness to take less money to create more revenue is, I think, even more significant.

In the last issue, social media dominated the stories we wrote, not least how their own virtual currencies could come to dominate the mobile payment space. In the intervening months, NFC and other technologies have also jockeyed for position in making mobile payments more attractive. The operators’ move to start making operator billing more accessible and workable, especially for merchants, could well head this off at the pass.

Of course, Facebook credits will still be used in Farmville et al, but in notion of them taking over more widely on mobile to buy things looks limited. NFC remains a pipe dream, with so many technology and infrastructure issues to contend with it will be years before it happens.

Instead, within a few months, it is likely that TSMS will start to become an accepted way of paying for things with mobile and will have usurped them all. The key now is to get on top of this and start looking for all those TSMS opportunities out there. See you in Amsterdam.

Make sure you renew your annual subscription to continue receiving Telemedia Magazine AND now you will get 10 issues of Telemedia-month into the bargain! www.telemedia-news.com/signup.html

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the small print

COMMENT

Directeur de la rédaction Paul Skeldon paul@telemediamagazine.com Art Director Victoria Wren victoria@whangdoodleland.com Contributors & Consultants Sheldon Johns, Andrew Darling, Peggy Ann Salz, Matthew Leach, Ritesh Gupta, Paul Dunone, Bruce Pharoah, Christabel Farrah, John Strand, Melvin de Vere, Victoria Hawes, Peter Welburn, Thea George Sales & Marketing info@telemediamagazine.com Production Director Annika Micheli annika@telemediamagazine.com Publisher Jarvis Todd jarvis@telemediamagazine.com To subscribe www.telemediamagazine.com

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ANALYSIS

Social second screening It comes as no surprise that a survey by Trilogy Communications has found that convergence of TV, Internet and mobile technology emerges as the biggest opportunity in the broadcast market, with social media becoming one of the key platforms that TV companies are looking to harness

A

Opinion Analysis

a true multi-channel voting experience.

The move marks the rebirth of TV voting on mobile and steers well away from PSMS. As attested in this magazine more than a year ago, the telecoms industry was caught napping with the SMS voting scandals of 2007 and has been so slow to respond to the problem that they have been simply by-passed by new tech.

Facebook here offers a compelling second screen interaction service that manages to tap into what was the just the fans talking amongst themselves and allows broadcasters – and in MIG’s case, a telemedia company – to monetise this social platform.

And MIG is not the only telemedia stalwart to cop on to this. Orca Digital has also caught the social-TV tie-up bug and has developed Showcaster, a technology that allows web TV shows to be broadcast professionally and socially.

“It offers Broadcast quality video, with optional pay-per-view via PayPal, SMS or Facebook Credits and can run in the client’s website, or on their Facebook page,” explains Stephen George, Orca Digital’s business development director. “It is also interactive, allowing the service owner or broadcaster to engage the audience.”

George continues: “It is really simple, but looks great and offers a huge enhancement to any broadcaster’s website – plus it can carry sponsors or other advertising round the edges, extending the advertising offering for the broadcaster around particular shows.”

Showcaster also includes the ability to add in chat services and a paywall so that broadcasters can create and monetise new service and keep fans engaged with shows between episodes or even between seasons of shows.

Adding text chat to the social programme stream makes it really interactive and adds a huge new level of value to the service, thinks George.

“The great thing about it is that it can also include chat services with the stars of shows and people who are taking part in that chat get “Chatting to David Beckham” or whoever appear in their status,” he adds.

Another twist to the tail of TV being augmented by the web is a new platform launched by Aspiro that allows telcos, broadcasters, content owners and advertisers to augment video by adding contextual, web-based interactive content and services to the live TV or Video on Demand services.

“The augmentation element opens a world of new possibilities through our services, as we can now offer our partners and third parties a direct opportunity to interact with users while they are watching video or TV. Providing this through HTML also makes it simple and quick to update the applications across all screens, which is key as consumer expectations are constantly climbing,” says Erling Paulsen, CEO of Aspiro TV.

&

s viewers increasingly become second and even third screeners – that is, for the uninitiated, watching TV while using a laptop, tablet or smartphone – the connection between social media and television has naturally grown. It is common to watch TV and find # trends on Twitter about the show you are watching as tens, hundreds or even thousands of people comment on what is going on.

Facebook similarly pulls in second screeners and is becoming something of a platform of choice among TV company execs to start to build the second wave of TV interaction services.

In fact as we move towards autumn/winter schedules, the role of Facebook plays in leading ‘reality’ TV shows is set to become established, certainly in the UK. UK Broadcaster Channel 5 and programme maker Endemol have developed a Facebook voting platform that will allow viewers to vote for contestants using Facebook Credits through MIG’s mVoy Engage platform, casting votes in real time through to the live show alongside traditional interactive voting methods.

The platform is also integrated into the Official Big Brother UK iPhone and Android applications offering

Opinion Analysis

TV

SOCIAL MEDIA

Being a sport As anyone who is a regular on Twitter knows, you get the breaking news there before anywhere else. OK, some of it turns out to be made up, but on the whole Twitter has become a de facto first port of call for news

H

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arnessing this is telemedia start-up Tweetsport, which uses the Tweetstream to bring sports fans a 360 degree realtime sport news coverage that takes them right to the heart of the action.

Using verified Twitter accounts, which offer unrivalled access to the instant reactions of top players and leading pundits, Tweetsport channels the viewpoints of managers, players, press, winners, losers, before, after and even during the match across a wide range of sports.

“Tweetsport is the sports lover’s free ticket to every sporting event,” explains Tweetsport founder and sports fanatic Eilidh Donaldson. “This gets them closer to the heart of the action than anything else. With Tweetsport they can really feel part of it – experiencing the tension as it builds; getting inside the players heads as they prepare for the final or deal with defeat; getting analysis and commentary by experts in their field; and breaking news which could change

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telemedia issue 29

the result.”

The website and App allow fans to get dynamic updates for all sports at once. Covering Football, Motorsport, Tennis, Golf, Rugby, Olympics, Cricket, Athletics, Cycling, Horse Racing and Swimming users can follow them all or use the filter to focus on one at a time.

But the concept need not be limited to sports and Donaldson recognizes that the service can be rolled out into any news vertical, taking the social scene and making it the vetted first port of call for any news for any news

group. Once again, social media is set to reshape how the industry works.

Opinion Analysis

ANALYSIS

MARKETING

Augmented Reality bites 18 months after we all wondered how AR would make any money, two marketing companies have created ad services that use the combination of smartphones and AR to create some interactive ads that really break the mould, finds Paul Skeldon

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iant UK department store Debenhams – something of a pioneer in the retail sector when it comes to using mobile – and leading confectionary brand Cadbury have both turned to augmented reality services as part of a new marketing push that sees the two companies looking to make mobile an engaging way of looking at what they do.

Debenhams has teamed up with Aurasma to use its augmented reality technology in its new advertising campaign, allowing consumers to point their Aurasma-enabled smartphone or tablet at the retailer’s latest print advertising and immediately fire up the company’s latest TV commercial on said device.

More than that, the ads on the smart device then allow consumers to interact with them and shop there and then from the screen with just a few pokes and prods with their fingers (the things that are really making digital digital IMHO).

Richard Cristofoli, marketing director at Debenhams, said: “No longer will traditional advertisements be static and limited in scope. Aurasma is enlivening them for the first time.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see these ads burst into life and offer customers the opportunity to shop immediately, in the moment, wherever they are.”

Cadbury, meanwhile, is has embraced the twin concepts of AR and gamification as part of its

autumn campaign in collaboration with blippar. In a world’s first, blippar – a free smart phone app that converts real world images, products and adverts into instantaneous virtual experiences – has allowed Cadbury to create an augmented reality game that anyone with a smart phone can play using its chocolaty product.

The game is activated by pointing a blipparenabled device at a Cadbury product – be that a Dairy Milk, Twirl or many others – and the introductory instruction screen of ‘Qwak Smack’ will ‘blipp’ from the wrapper on to your screen as if stuck to the bar.

The game itself, which lasts about high-octane 30 seconds, is quirky and childishly fun. The player is challenged to tap quacking cartoon ducks as they appear ‘out of the bar’ on an augmented-overlay on their device’s screen. The player can then submit their score to go into to a draw to win an array of prizes.

Sonia Carter, Head of Digital of Kraft Foods, which owns Cadbury, tells us that: “We loved blippar from the moment we saw it in action. We were blown away by the technology and we’re certain consumers will be. With one in three UK adults owning a smart phone the potential market for initiatives like this is huge and we are proud to be bringing this incredible technology to the masses.”

She continues: “It doesn’t seem all that long ago we were all marveling at what QR codes could do, but

Q

at checkout simply provide their mobile phone number. The amount is then directly billed to their respective mobile phone account. “mopay is by far the easiest way of paying online,” said Patrick Günther, CEO, Quoka. “With the ease and simplicity of providing a mobile phone number, consumers no longer have to provide 16-digit credit card numbers or names and addresses. Especially when talking about micro payments – which is the case with Quoka’s premium services – offering a fast and simple payment method is very important. Paying with mopay fully corresponds with our demand for maximum ease-of-use. mopay’s best-in-class payouts, professional business support and impressive customer portfolio convinced us to go with the European market leader.”

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uoka, Germany’s largest portal for classifieds, is set to integrate the mopay mobile payments platform into its existing portfolio of payment solutions to further increase consumer ease-of-use. mopay was selected out of a pitch with other renowned mobile payments providers.

Quoka.de ranks among the leading European web portals for buying and selling goods and is home to more than 3.5 million insertions. The site also counts more than 115.8 million page impressions per month. Quoka chose to implement mopay into its portal in order to react to the rising consumer demand for a fast and convenient way of booking premium options for online classifieds. Consumers who utilize mopay

PAYMENTS

Opinion Analysis

Classified payments information the classified ads industry has become one of the first to use mobile payments as a quick and easy way to charge for ads, and it’s going great guns in Germany

blippar’s ‘markerless image recognition’ technology takes the experience to a whole new level.”

The partnership between blippar and Cadbury has allowed the augmented reality app company to launch its platform by placing engaging demonstrations of their technology on every street corner in Britain – wherever confectionary is sold. blippar CEO and co-founder, Ambarish Mitra, explains: “The implications are enormous and we look forward to being at the forefront of delivering compelling AR experiences for users with other exciting brands.”

This sort of image-recognition enabled augmented reality is far from a gimmick, says Mitra, and will fundamentally change how consumers interact with their favourite real-world brands. “blippar has been built to bridge the gap from physical to digital and enable real-time interaction in mobile situations,” he says.

The blippar platform will also offer ‘blipps’ on everyday objects – from your oyster card through to your newspaper – and is set to grow to 1000s of listings via multiple brand partnerships in the pipeline.

Together, these two offerings mark the vanguard of a revolution in interactive and fun advertising.

While AR has been touted as a great tool for everything from playing games overlaid on the urban environment to finding your nearest restaurant, the tie up with image recognition and deep content – be it games or adverts in this case, but it could be anything – is the start of how all the clever mobile stuff we have been talking about for ages all comes together to start to make content, media, brands and more truly rich and deep.

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DO YOU TRUST YOUR PREMIUM RATE NUMBER PROVIDER? OUR CUSTOMERS DO ...

learn more at www.premium-rates.com

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telemedia issue 29

ANALYSIS

A

The new code When PPP officially launched its new Code of Practice and Registration Scheme for premium rate services (PRS) earlier this year, Chief Executive, Paul Whiteing did wonder what kind of story we would be telling come September when the new Code and Scheme officially came into force. Well, here it is… and the new Code is in force, I am eager to share what our new Registration Scheme has revealed – a diverse market and industry, attractive to international business and ranging from charities to cutting-edge creative companies.

Although our own market research had suggested that this was the case for a number of years – to see that confirmed, by data input by PRS providers themselves, was indeed satisfying.

Let me give Telemedia readers the highlights: • More than 2500 organisation registrations, with just over 10% of those (more than 250) being companies registered overseas; • More than 75 registrations from public limited

text after the successful introduction of this payment mechanism over the past few years.

Of course, I would urge all PRS providers operating in the UK market who have not yet registered with us to do so as a matter of priority. In fact, we will be sending formal warning letters to organisations whose registrations are outstanding in the next few weeks.

But that does not detract from my overwhelming belief that the UK PRS market is an innovative sector of the UK economy and has significant potential for growth. The number of overseas companies on our database indicates that international businesses see real benefit in the UK PRS market.

&

lthough both the New PPP Code and Scheme have been subject to extensive consultation with industry and wider stakeholders at every stage of the process, I still wondered what the outcome would be when it was introduced. Although the PRS industry itself had made the case for a mandatory Registration Scheme to improve transparency for those doing business in the market, there was still a part of me that thought perhaps we were too ambitious.

This is not just another iteration of PPP’s Code of Practice, it is a significant departure from all previous Codes. This new Code is designed for the digital age – and the Registration Scheme is much more far-reaching than anything we have done in our 25 years of regulating PRS. For the first time, both PPP and industry will get a comprehensive overview of the businesses involved in providing PRS to consumers.

While I completely concurred with David Clarke, one of our Board Members, when he said: “More than anything else I can remember in my time at PhonepayPlus, we have taken the industry with us on a radically new approach to regulation”, the task of registering providers throughout the valuechain remained a daunting one.

But, as 1 September quickly approached and the updated figures from our Registration Project Team grew more and more positive, I realised that I need not have worried. Because not only did we have a hardworking group of people at PhonepayPlus, we also had a great deal of support from the PRS industry – from the top tier networks, aggregators and providers passing on the need to register to their clients; to the trade bodies communicating the changes to their members; to the sole traders registering their single premium rate numbers in the new Scheme.

Now that September is here

Opinion Analysis

REGULATION

This is not just an iteration of PPP’s Code of Practice, it is a significant departure from all previous Codes. This new Code is designed for the digital age and is much more far-reaching than anything we’ve done in the past 25 years companies, with a strong showing from creative industries, including publishers, broadcasters and games developers; • More than 130 registrations from charities looking to roll out charitable giving via

As micropayments continue to gain traction with UK consumers and grow in importance for the UK digital and creative economies, the Registration Scheme will give us the best overview of the PRS market and help us and the PRS industry provide the best environment for both consumers and business.

When, ahead of 1 September, we asked Rory Maguire, Head of Payment Services at mobile network, Three, for his take on our new Registration Scheme, he obliged by saying: “The premium rate industry in the UK is one of the most vibrant in the world and is the most successful micropayment facility for UK consumers. The PhonepayPlus Registration Scheme allows for growth in this industry by providing disincentives for rogue players and improving confidence to consumers.”

A vote of confidence like that, for both the UK PRS industry and PhonepayPlus, is certainly appreciated. But, after seeing the Registration Scheme figures and after experiencing the support of the industry over the past couple of years, I truly do believe it is well-deserved.

We look forward to working with PRS providers in the coming months as they settle into the new regulatory framework.

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industry PPP

AIME

Of course the biggest news at PPP is the New Code and all the changes that that has initiated (see page 9). But aside from that, the regulator has been doing all its usual work.

Here are some of the highlights.

AIME Mobile Betting & Gaming Forum The £30bn Betting and Gaming sector, has been slow to harness the full power of the Mobile environment for consumer interaction and billing. The AIME Mobile Betting and Gaming Forum, launched earlier this year, has identified key steps to unlock growth, which will be explored through round table discussions with the key value chain participants.

In September the Forum’s Technology Infrastructure Working Group will be focusing on: • Joining up the Provider and Network Operator age verification processes • Developing direct-to-bill facilities to improve payouts • Documenting technical infrastructure needs and improving bandwidth for rich content In November the Forum’s Consumer Engagement Working Group will commence discussion on: • Social media integration and engaging with Facebook • Improving communication with the apps stores and improving the app approval processes • Developing consumer trust (including engaging with the mobile device manufacturers and networks)

Administrative charges from 1 September 2011 Following the recent review of its approach to setting administrative charges, PPP has concluded that the method for setting its charges to industry will remain as they are under the current Code of Practice (11th Edition, Amended April 2008). They have however been updated to reflect the latest budget and cost allocation arrangements.

These charges will apply to cases opened on, or after, 1 September and will be in line with PPP’s notice of 1 April 2011, which set out details as to how cases would be handled during the transition from the 11th to the 12th Edition of the Code of Practice (‘the Code’).

A relevant party found to be in breach of the Code may be invoiced for the administrative and legal costs of work undertaken by PhonepayPlus (‘the administrative charge’).

These include: • Non-payment of the administrative charge within the period specified by PhonepayPlus will be considered a breach of the Code and may result in further sanctions and/or legal action.

• PhonepayPlus may instruct a relevant Network operator or Level 1 provider to retain revenue, and/or not to provide further numbers, until the administrative charge is paid.

• PhonepayPlus may direct the relevant Network operator or Level 1 provider to pass any previously retained funds to it up to the value of the administrative charge owed.

So what are the new charges?

The new administrative charges reflect the current PhonepayPlus budget and associated new team structures.

Code Compliance Panel Tribunals Charges Per Adjudication Tribunal case £2,322 Per Oral Hearing Tribunal half-day £2,840 Per Oral Hearing Tribunal full-day £5,680 Per Emergency procedure consideration £220 Per application for a review £300 Per Case Management Direction £220

AIME Forward Look Group Identifying Opportunities Development of a payment map, to detail the social media landscape and how consumer interactions can be more effectively monetized, is in the advanced stages. The group is meeting on a quarterly basis with the next meeting in September, where Facebook will present to the group.

Payforit Working Group Increasing Sales Retention Further research is underway to understand the consumer Payforit experience and reduce drop off, building on the learning outcome of AIME’s recent analysis. Working Group activity continues to recommend improvements to support the growth of services using Payforit as a payment mechanic. Year on year Payforit growth is 45%. Payforit is also under the regulatory spotlight with recent Ofcom proposals, AIME is coordinating the industry response.

AIME Interactive Broadcast Forum AIME continued to work with broadcast members to put in place best practices which will support the growth of

interactive TV services. This includes greater understanding of network capability and processes to support the reintroduction of SMS to large scale voting events - and AIME UK broadcasters welcomed a tour of the Vodafone NOC during the summer. The dual promotion of fixed line numbering and voice shortcodes to address pricing transparency is also at an advanced stage of discussion with Ofcom.

Fixed Line Increase on the Cards Ofcom has given an assurance that Higher Rate PRS tariffs will be a top priority within the NTS Review following a meeting to discuss AIME’s Business Case. Pricing transparency, which is covered by the Review, is now the only brake on progress. AIME has received an added commitment that an increase to the maximum price points would be accelerated subject to conditions to be discussed at the next AIME Voice Services Working Group. Ofcom will be joining AIME at its October General Meeting to discuss the forward plan.

Regulatory Best Practice With the PhonepayPlus Registration Scheme now in operation, AIME is also monitoring the system’s functionality in practice. Following AIME’s quarterly meeting with PhonepayPlus, further guidance on marketing has been promised to provide clarity and to extend the use of data beyond the current 6 month cut off in a wider set of circumstances. AIME is also working with PPP to review the current £30 cap for live services.

AIME Charity Forum Produces Results The forum continues to work on driving growth of charities using interactive technologies, including: • Research – survey of UK charities to understand third sector technology needs • Educational / best practice guides (Gift Aid on Mobile) • Lobbying initiatives (VAT free on 09 numbers) • Dedicated website for charities (Online Central Information Repository for Interactive Technology) The work of the forum is showcased through the AIME Empowering the Charitable Sector with Interactive Technologies II Conference (15th September).

ACTION4 PhonepayPlus Drops 070 Case A new member of Action4 has recently had all breaches raised against it dropped by PhonepayPlus following a meeting between the regulator, the service provider, the network operator and Action4. A service provider recently joined Action4 as a result of PPP raising breaches against two 070 numbers operated by an information provider. Working closely with Action4, the service provider was able to demonstrate to PPP that the aspects of the “service” that were causing problems were not related to the 070 number which was being used entirely in line with Ofcom guidance. Having initially raised six potential breaches of the Code, PPP recognised that there was no case for the service provider to answer and dropped all breaches without taking the case to adjudication.

Liaising As an association, Action4 liaises with the many regulatory bodies, associations and organisations having a control or an interest in the Premium Rate Industry. By undertaking this promptly, efficiently and in an unbiased manner it frees its members’ time and resources, which are far better spent working and developing their core business whilst Action4 deals in a constructive way working towards the successful conclusion of relevant issues.

Code Compliance Action4 proactively works with its members to try to prevent breaches of the PhonepayPlus Code, educating them about Code provisions and the regulations by which they are they are bound.

Action4 is able to offer industry and regulatory knowledge which can, in many cases, avoid costly and unpleasant situations from arising.

Government and Consumers Action4 aims to meet with MPs to keep them informed about current industry issues and offer support and advice with any constituent enquiries they may encounter.

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industry MEF MEF elects new Asia board MEF, the global trade body for the mobile media industry with a dedicated focus on mobile commerce, today announces an expanded Asia board led by newly-elected Chair Colin Miles, EVP & co-founder, i-POP Networks Pte Ltd (an InternetQ Company). Reflecting the ongoing evolution of the industry, the MEF Asia Board also brings together leaders representing the wider ecosystem across Asia, including Admob, Hungama Mobile, IMImobile, InMobi, KPMG China, Maxis Communications Berhad, Mono Technology, Netbiscuits, Speedcast, Silverstreet and Tata Teleservices.

MEF Asia M-Commerce Guide Mobile commerce (M-Commerce) is built on several key technologies. Some are very well established while others are much newer and less common. Traditional means of consumers paying for content, goods and services, both on the device, such as ringtones, games and apps, and off the device, for example physical goods and vouchers, is changing. New opportunities for consumer engagement, along with advances in payment business models, are all raising interest in M-Commerce.

INMA

MMA

INMA European Conference The 2011 INMA European Conference October 19-21 in Lisbon/Cascais, held in cooperation with OPA Europe, will bring together a European audience to explore the best practices of European newsmedia companies as they aim to grow audience, advertising, and brand across platforms in a rebounding and profoundly changed economy. The conference theme will be “Stay Ahead Of Your Audiences.”

Pre-conference research and local media seminars will be held.

MMA Launches 2011 MMA Forum London The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has announced the initial line up of global brands that will be participating in the forthcoming MMA Forum London on October 4th-5th. The theme for this year’s event is the consumer’s centre stage role in the world of mobile marketing. Many of the world’s top marketers will be sharing their thoughts and experiences on how brands need to communicate with their customers in a world dominated by mobile interaction.

Held at the Congress Centre, London, the programme will include speakers from many different vertical sectors including automotive, banking, charities, food and drink, entertainment, FMCG, media, sport and technology, as well as delivering insight into global mobile marketing trends.

The event brings together leading marketers and agency heads from around the world, including China, India, Indonesia, Japan and North America and South Africa to share their experiences, challenges and successes in the mobile marketing field to create an event that is truly international in scope.

Speakers from BBC, Coca-Cola, Google, JetBlue Airways, La Redoute, Madhouse Inc, Mahou-San Miguel, Nokia, Unilever, The Economist Digital, The Weather Channel and Vodafone have already been confirmed, with more pioneering brands to be announced in the coming months.

INMA Audience Summit The INMA Audience Summit on 24-25 October 2011 in Las Vegas will focus on audience growth strategies in print, digital, mobile, and emerging platforms. Focus will be on the news eco-system, e-readers, membership programs, metrics, innovation, and the balance between legacy systems and multi-media.

INMA Seminario Latinoamericano Best practices in growing circulation and advertising among Latin American newspapers on 06-08 November 2011 in Bogotá, Colombia, is the focus of the INMA Latin America Seminar, designed for newspaper marketing professionals from throughout Spanish-speaking Latin America.

INMA South Asia Conference The INMA South Asia Conference is a market-leading event designed to capture strategic best practices and the practicalities of newspaper advertising sales for newspaper executives from the leading companies in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and others interested in this region. This fifth annual conference will be held in Bangalore with final dates and location to be determined.

Marcio Chaer Appointed New Managing Director for MMA LATAM Marcio Chaer has been appointed managing director for MMA LATAM (Mobile Marketing Association Latin America).

Marcio – who has more than ten years of experience in advertising, marketing, multimedia and telecommunication value-added services – will focus on the education of agencies and brands, and look to provide clear understanding of mobile marketing benefits, metrics and consumer privacy best practices.

Over the past five years Marcio has been dedicated to the digital and mobile markets, specializing in strategic consultancy services and new business development. The executive’s priority is to acquire more MMA LATAM members through actions that add value for the entire mobile marketing ecosystem.

Mojiva joins the MMA as a global premium member Mojiva (www.mojiva.com), the leading mobile ad network, and Mocean Mobile (www.moceanmobile.com), the mobile ad serving standard, has joined the MMA as a Global Premium Member.

Core to its membership, the leading mobile ad server, Mocean Mobile, will collaborate with the MMA to develop a mobile sales training program for publishers, which will be delivered cooperatively by mobile advertising veteran and General Manager for Mojiva Inc. North America, Tony Nethercutt and the MMA. This program will highlight the important aspects of selling mobile marketing, as well as how to effectively integrate it into an advertiser’s media budget.

The telemedia industry crosses so many business borders, its interests are tied up with a range of trade bodies and associations. Here we take a look who is doing what

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M-PAYMENTS

As mobile payments become ever more central to the m-commerce proposition, so telemedia billing should be onto a winner. But, it’s a crowded market with many opportunities and many pitfalls. In the start of our special look at payments, Paul Skeldon takes a look at the mobile payment market and assess where telemedia’s role might be

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hanks to the explosion in m-commerce and m-retail, mobile payments are one of the hottest tickets in town right now – and will form a large chunk of the conference programme at World Telemedia Amsterdam (see page 25) – with many established payment brands, banks, retailers and service providers all trying to muscle in on the space, it is becoming a fragmented but potentially huge market.

The statistics are awesome and, for analysts, for once not that far of the mark. Juniper Research predicts that almost half of global mobile subscribers – both in developed and developing nations - will pay by mobile for physical and digital goods and services by 2014. With more than 500 million people making m-payments on the Indian sub continent alone.

Drilling down, Portio Research estimates that there

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were 81.3 million people worldwide using their mobile device to make payments – including in-app payments, mobile ticketing and mobile coupons – in 2009. By the end of 2014, this is forecasted to rise to nearly 490 million, which is 8% of mobile subscribers.

The face value of goods purchased using m-payments was US$68.7 billion in 2009, rising to US$633.4 billion by end-2014 and the volume of m-payments (how much they spend) will be US$170 billion this year, growing to $630 billion by 2014. But this is only 5% of ecommerce retail sales.

But IDC believes that in EMEA, m-payments will take off slower than m-banking, forecasting that less than 13% of mobile subscribers will be registered to use m-payments and volume of m-payments will be no more than $125 billion.

And the telemedia industry needs to make sure that it finds itself at the heart of the action.

Direct operator billing PSMS is getting something of a makeover by operators as they work to gain a much needed footprint in the mobile payment’s space and the result – or one of the results – is surprising. Direct operator billing, as it is being dubbed, uses PSMS as a billing tool between mobile and online/m-web/apps to work as a trusted payment tool in the background when the user presses a single button to pay for something.

The trick is that, having been given a new name and stuck behind a button to make in-app purchases, operators have miraculously managed to bolster pay out rates from 65% on PSMS to 90% on direct operator billing. Game on.

“I think that there was a feeling about 18 months ago that SMS-based billing was on the way out,” says Danny Marino from txtnation, which is doing direct operator billing in Ireland and Denmark, with many other markets coming soon. “But the downturn has seen an increase in people wanting to do micropayments and to delay payment by putting it on their phone bill. This is making [SMS billing] important again.”

According to Marino, direct operator billing for digital goods is becoming huge without a huge amount of publicity. “It is already pretty big in the US and is slowly becoming available in Europe, driven by the fact that, at 90%, the payout rates are much more like credit card, so it’s more attractive.

Txtnation have direct connections in Ireland and the Nordics where direct operator billing is starting to take off and are looking to leverage connections in Portugal and The Netherlands to offer these

M-PAYMENTS

services. In France, meanwhile, Boku has launched direct carrier billing with French carriers Bouygues Telecom and SFR, a subsidiary of Vivendi, adding to existing direct billing with Orange France.

The partnership offers over an additional 32 million French customers the ability to pay for digital goods and services using only their existing wireless service account, with the charge appearing on their carrier bill. With this agreement, nearly all mobile users in France will benefit from BOKU direct carrier billing.

Bouygues Telecom and SFR are launching a new service enabling consumers to purchase goods online and use BOKU to pay with their mobile phone number. That service, Internet + Mobile allows a fully integrated 2-click purchase process that results in higher payouts and gives online merchants access to a full range of price points of up to 10 Euros.

Nearly all mobile customers in France can now pay for online content and virtual goods from participating merchants using the BOKU mobile payments service. A direct connection between the French carriers and BOKU provides value-added service to online consumers and merchants, including a secure payment mechanism that is convenient and easy to use, and that provides an alternative payment method for consumers, particularly those with limited access to credit or debit cards.

MovieStarPlanet is one merchant already taking advantage of the direct carrier billing relationship with SFR and Bouygues Telecom. “Purchasing Starcoins is now even easier with this partnership powering a safe, secure and convenient direct carrier billing option,” explains MovieStarPlanet’s CEO Claus Lykke Jensen. “User feedback and increased revenue clearly indicate how much people love the convenience of BOKU to pay via their mobile number. This new partnership will extend that convenience to many more loyal gamers in France.”

Transactional SMS The other side of the direct operator billing coin – and one that has massive potential for operators and telemedia billing players alike – is its appearance in what is becoming known as Transactional SMS (TSMS). TSMS uses the same principles as direct operator billing described above, but where direct operator billing is used to purchased digital goods, usually on the phone for use on the phone, TSMS takes the same tech and applies it to using the phone to buy real goods from apps or m-websites – or even from vending machines or ticket machines.

“This is an interesting development and starts to open merchants up to the use of mobile billing for real goods,” says txtNation’s Marino. “One of the key areas we are seeing it in is with vending machines.”

This is how it works with a vending machine: the user gets to a drink vending machine and decides to pay by TSMS. The vending machine as a product code or name next to each product and a shortcode on the front. The user texts COKE or the product number to 60999 and then, either gets a PIN back

by SMS that they use to get their goods or the machine, if connected, just vends the goods.

“We have one US user who keeps the price the same whether you are texting or paying cash as they have the margins to swallow the 10% operator charge,” says Marino. “But other vendors put a surcharge on for using mobile.

“We so far have no evidence that this affects sales,” he adds. “When we have done things online with surcharges for paying by mobile we finds that people just pay it, as it’s the only way they have to pay and they want the service – the same should apply here.”

Ticketing is also a natural fit for TSMS as the same process used for vending machines can be applied to ticket machines. Taking this idea further, TSMS and ticket machines can be used to buy tickets, especially for travel, using mobile, with mobile as the payment mechanism and then have the tickets delivered on to the handset.

While, for now, TSMS is largely the preserve of buying physical goods through digital channels, the fact that it has come about at all is to be hugely welcomed. Getting operators to raise out payment rates to 90% is a hugely significant move and starts to place them back in the race to secure mobile payment business in an ever-more m-retailing centric world.

Until now, operator billing simply wasn’t an option for retailers as they couldn’t afford to swallow the surcharge, nor could they change their prices if consumers were paying by mobile. This sets the field up for operator billing to become something that can be used in shops – and suddenly makes NFC (which is so far off as to almost be irrelevant. No really) seem unnecessary. Why mess about with new technology to make mobile payments work, when we have something that everyone can already use?

Using TSMS to buy your groceries is still some way off, but what we are seeing is the ground work being laid for making TSMS become part of the payments pantheon. Will it win out? Who can say, but it is certainly one to watch.

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New tools

M-PAYMENTS

As mobile commerce, especially in retail, starts to grow rapidly, a host of new payment tools are emerging. Paul Skeldon looks at three of the latest crop

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he opportunity to use mobile as a payment tool around m-commerce sites and in stores has long been known, but only now, thanks to smartphones and the growing awareness of m-commerce and m-retail, is it really gaining traction. And with conventional payment tools such as PSMS and even Payforit found wanting in many circumstances, a new crop of mobile payment tools are emerging.

• txt2buy is, as the name suggests, text-based.

However, like many of the new breed of payment mechanics, aimed at turning ads in direct sales channels. Retailers simply add a txt2buy call-to-action to their advertising and consumers can order instantly by sending the required keyword to the number displayed on the advert. Following a simple one-time registration process with txt2buy (similar to setting up a Paypal account) consumers can order items of their choice in as little as 45 seconds, making txt2buy one of the quickest ways to close a sale.

Not only is this breakthrough technology a faster, simpler way for customers to order products they want, retailers can also generate more sales by closing impulse purchases at the moment of engagement with the advertising exposure. This ensures the value of their advertising results in sales with their brand directly and not their competitors. txt2buy is already in early stage trials with some of the most established UK retail brands and is due to appear in mainstream advertising campaigns from as early as July 2011.

Marketing & Brand Director at txt2buy, Gordon Ellis-Brown, says: “txt2buy is a compelling new service that has the potential to revolutionise how retailers engage with a larger customer base, more than ever before. It is quickest way to close a sale, as consumers don’t need internet access to purchase – all they have to do is send a simple text.

“The fact that the service works with current technology means that there is no upfront investment, expensive software or training

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required. As well as measuring offline marketing spend, txt2buy is able to capture that data and offer massive opportunities for up-selling and cross selling,” adds Ellis-Brown.

• Mobile Money Network is trying to create a service that can handle not only direct from page purchases, but also direct from anything purchases – with one click. Again, the user has to pre-register – as does the merchant – but once that is done, the app can be used to simple send a code or scan a barcode and buy the item.

The phone number is tied to a payment card and the user’s address, so goods can be dispatched and no risk is taken by the merchant. The company – which has ex-M&S chief Sir Stuart Rose on its board – is also poised to launch an image recognition version, so that you simply point the app via the camera at something and it should let you buy it (I’ve seen it in action, it is awesome).

The key thing with these two payment tools is that they are moving the world of mobile payments everfurther away from PRS. Merchants are really not keen on PRS and the cut that operators take and so have so far largely shunned it. In its place a host of services that do require some sort of online pre-registration are coming into place that tie the phone to a card and then allow one-click payment.

• App55 and WorldPay, the new solution from App55, will allow retailers to use WorldPay to add a quick and seamless online checkout capability.

The white labelled solution provides retailers with the ability to offer a payment-by-password function, allowing their customers to make a purchase using any device, including mobile.

The flexibility of App55’s Card Hub lets retailers include payment-by-password from within their brand for current online business as well as mobile and social commerce.

“Businesses are looking to optimise online sales and exploit the possibilities emerging with the growth of m-commerce. Now they have a pay-by-password and mobile checkout capability supported by WorldPay who have real strength in depth and are leading the way in mobile payments,” commented Richard Beaton, CEO of App55.

M-PAYMENTS

App-titude In-app billing is becoming a testing ground for mobile payments and is set to revolutionise how consumers pay for media, games and, eventually perhaps, tangible goods. David Sheridan, former Director, market development, OpenMarket explains

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ne of the biggest challenges in mobile has long been the monetization of content. The fact that much content is currently accessed through apps only changes how content needs to be monetized and the demand to start getting apps to turn a profit is driving a new interest in in-app billing.

To date, if you want to pay for things inside iOS apps you have to use the iTunes store – and Apple will take around 30% of the ticket price. For all other apps, things are more murky. But as Android and other apps platforms start to become mainstream, solid in-app billing is more important than ever and more likely

than ever to gain mass appeal.

The challenge, however, is how to deliver in-app billing effectively. Card or account based payment tools mean leaving the app and content experience to complete often complicated registration documents before you can enjoy what you want to do in the app: it goes against the immediacy that is one of mobile’s key attributes.

But what if the in-app billing could be done directly on the phone, without having to interrupt the experience? This is where mobile billing tools such as the UK’s Payforit, are starting to gather momentum.

Companies such as media outlets or games companies are increasingly looking at how to monetize content within apps, looking to sell extras such as more content or, in the case of games, access to new levels or more equipment. To do this, however, is tricky with other billing tools as it means firing up a separate browser session outside the app and entering payment details then re starting the app to access the content.

For a media company looking to sell access, say, to some video content extra to a news story this can be

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very disruptive. Similarly, if you are in the middle of playing a game on your app on your handset and you want to buy the next level, leaving the game play, sorting out the payment and then trying to re-engage is a real buzz-kill and counter to the immediacy and ‘power or now’ that mobile brings.

Mobile payment based billing, however, offers a very handy way around this. Being native to the phone and operated from within the app, in-app billing offers users the chance to enhance and continue what they are doing on mobile while they are doing it. For media companies, games companies or any other content company using apps it offers a much better user experience that, ultimately, can lead to large numbers of incremental value added sales – if handled correctly.

In-app billing based on operator billing – so that the charge is made to the phone bill for things consumed on the phone within the app – is great in theory, but in practice there are a range of issues that have to be overcome to make it work. And at OpenMarket, we are striving to create the processes and practices that will make it work.

The key attributes of mobile in-app billing are that it has to identify the user correctly and verify who they are and to take the correct payment and apply it to their bill correctly – and these two things have to happen automatically and the click of a virtual button and be work perfectly every time.

The challenge all over Europe is to make these inapp transactions seamless and easy to the user and totally reliable to the merchant and the operator and this is more difficult than it sounds. It also needs to be offered by a trusted third party that can verify that the merchant is taking what they say they are going to take and that the user can cover the cost of what they are trying to buy.

There are, in essence, two related ways of making this happen.

The first way is based around one of hassle of signing up and then being able to click and pay without any more intervention thereafter, For example, when the user first clicks on the in-app billing tool, a web browser session is started, run by a trusted third party billing company such as OpenMarket, that can outline the privacy issues, the pricing and all other details of the payment service. It will also provide all the information about the app, let the user sign up for SMS receipts and offer information about how to stop the service and where to report problems. Once this is done the payment can be taken and the user returned to the app. From then on, whenever the user clicks in-app billing in the app again they simply pay

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and get an SMS receipt.

The other way of doing in-app billing is basically the same as the above, only this process happens every time the user clicks on in-app billing to pay.

The mobile networks would clearly prefer the second version as it allows for more rigorous protection of who is doing what with their phone bill and protects them as far as is possible from scams and problems.

In reality, the first version – the one-off trip to the third party website to get all the details – is by far the better user experience and is, frankly, the only way to do this that is better than some kind of card based payment.

So where are we with this in the real world? In the UK, Virgin Media is using in-app billing to let consumers access video content and extend access to pay per view services using this process. There are also several other merchants and vendors trialling the service in beta test, but the widespread adoption of this payment tool is really all resting on getting opera-

Mobile billing, being native to the phone and operated within the app, in-app billing offers users the chance to enhance and continue what they are doing on mobile while they are doing it tor buy in.

For this kind of billing to work, then all networks have to agree how it will work. Right now, the only billing tool we have in the UK where there is this pan-network concord is with Payforit and so OpenMarket is using that as the payment tool for our in-app billing.

But a branded payment tool is not the be all and end all of in-app billing. Many merchants want to brand the payments with their own brand – to encourage confidence in the payment tool – but until there is agreement with all networks as to how this can work, this is some way off.

Of course, in-app billing can be done using PSMS services, but these are flawed and open to reputationally damaging abuses and billing problems – as there is no third party verification of how the service works.

But it is early days and there is such demand for apps and, from the owners of those apps for monetizing opportunities, that in-app billing will become widespread. Initially for virtual and digital goods but, who knows, it may also eventually become a payment tool that can be used quickly and easily for all sorts of transactions.

M-PAYMENTS

Operators think that NFC will open up the world of mobile payments to them and have merchants, banks, card companies and consumers flocking to be part of it. Think again, says John Strand, senior analyst at Strand Consult

How will NFC really work in the mobile world?

new mobile phones that support NFC, and that will launch early in 2012, do not support the single wire protocol, which means they do not have the necessary security functionality that will enable them to be used for carrying and handling bank and credit card data.

Later in the year there will be mobile phones that support the single wire protocol, but the big questions are what role will mobile operators then play in this market, how much can they earn by selling mobile phones that support NFC to their customers and what number of people in the mobile busifuture business models will look like in this area? ness are talking about the role mobile Strand Consult has been closely monitoring NFC operators will play when mobile and we have published a number of reports that phones start supporting NFC, making it possible to embed bank cards, credit describe this area and its current standards. We have cards and other types of payment cards examined the ambitions that the GSMA has on behalf of the industry and made good use of our many years in mobile phones. When we read articles about this of experience from the financial sector to deduct what subject in the media, it is very obvious to us that a great many people have an extremely unrealistic view we believe will happen in this area in the short and medium term. about this new area of the mobile industry.

Our conclusion is very clear: many operators Let us start by making one thing very clear: the around the world currently have a totally unrealistic view about this business area and how it is developing. Quite simply one could say that the various marThe companies that issue credit cards – Visa, MasterCard and banks – are sitting very heavily on this market and are having difficulty seeing the advantage of mov- ket players in the mobile value chain have little or no understanding about the companies doing business in ing a plastic card onto a mobile phone. The largest single added value factor of the credit card and payments sector. moving a credit card onto a mobile phone is the convenience for the end user.

There are mobile operators in a number of counBut we believe when people examine or describe this market and the possibility tries that are currently dreaming about using the of NFC-based payment cards that reside on a mobile phone, they are overlooking a combination of NFC and SIM cards to create a new number of important factors: position for themselves on the traditional credit card 1. When you move credit card information from a piece of plastic over to a mobile phone, you are not making the plastic card obsolete. It will take a long time payment value chain and thereby ensure that they receive a share of the revenue being generated by before all point of sales have NFC terminals, which will mean that mobile phones credit cards today. will not replace plastic credit cards in the near future.

Our research concludes that while operators may 2. For security reasons NFC payments will primarily be used for smaller payhave large ambitions about the payment market, they ments, for example payments up to a limit of probably around 50 euro.

3. The logistical savings of having credit card information on mobile phones will are completely overlooking two factors that will have a great deal of influence on their business case: the therefore be marginal, as customers will still need their plastic cards as a supplecost-effectiveness of the traditional payment value ment for larger payments or when there is no NFC terminal.

4. Banks and credit card companies are currently unlikely to share revenue from chain; and the ability of operators to simplify or add value to that value chain by making it even more cost transactions with mobile operators, as they are having difficulty seeing where the efficient. mobile operators are actually adding value to their business.

In our opinion, operators have very little chance of 5. It is unlikely that retailers will want to pay more per transaction than they are already doing, as they are also having difficulty in seeing how mobile operators are improving the current cost effectiveness of the traditional payment value chain. adding value to their business.

One very interesting question is whether mobile 6. It is unlikely that customers will be willing to pay any significant amount per operators might be willing to actually pay banks and transaction just for having their bank card or credit card residing on their mobile credit card companies to embed their credit cards on phone.

This leaves us with a number of operators that believe they are entitled to a cen- mobile phones, to thereby create a business area for the mobile operators? We believe that this is a yes as tral role in this area, but where we are having difficulty seeing how they intend to it could save them a fortune in churn if nothing else. add value that the various parties involved would be willing to pay for?

A

Why should cards move to phones?

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Think NFC and most people think payments, but contactless technology has so much more to offer than just this niche – and unproven – channel. And retail is where contactless mobile services can really make an impact. Carsten Kraus, CEO and founder of Omikron Data Quality and FACT-Finder.com explains

NFC:

more than just payments

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here’s a lot of talk and hype about the arrival of cashless payment, and the integration of NFC (near field communication) technology into mobile devices to drive this. While this move looks increasingly likely to happen sooner rather than later, payment is just the tip of the iceberg for how NFC chips could revolutionise retail.

Mobiles are already seen by many as the bridge between the physical and online store, thanks to their ability to bring technology such as real-time searching and geo-location applications into the in-store retail experience. But with the arrival of NFC we will see a steep change in the interactivity on offer, and I believe these devices are likely to become deeply embedded within our – retail and otherwise – experiences both online and offline. How embedded? For example, by installing NFC chips into glasses you could be able to be sat in a bar and ordering or paying for your drinks by simply pressing your mobile against the glass.

Much of this technology is already available, and once the NFC ball starts rolling, it is a very small step to full blown interaction with almost any object around us, providing it has an NFC chip installed. You could even use it to unlock the door to your home or as a security pass for your office.

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Some interactions would require an extra level of security, and I think it won’t be long before we see this being built into mobile phones. For example, finger print recognition would be relatively straightforward to introduce into these devices, it just needs a cheap sensor and some computing power, which is already there. From here, a simple swipe of the finger across the phone’s screen will authenticate the user. I believe this will also be a necessity to enable larger payments to be made via NFC. Of course payment is the logical first step, as we move inevitably towards the cashless society. And with mobile phones already being so bound in to our lives, they are the natural home of the “digital wallet”.

Nobody is going to carry around two mobile devices when they can just carry one that does everything. On top of this, as the technology becomes more accepted, so the range of its application will spread. With the amount of profiling information that can be stored on these devices the opportunities are almost limitless. You could, for example, store information about what brands you like and choose to share this along with elements of your shopping history when you are in a bricks and mortar store.

By holding your phone up to sensors within these physical stores, you will be able to exchange information with the retailer, receiving anything from specifi-

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cally targeted coupons through to recommendations about what items you might be interested in. This means that it becomes a reciprocal arrangement, it’s not simply about transferring information to the store, you are getting something in return that is both useful and relevant to you.

It’s important to note that there are two key ways that NFC will differ from existing technology when it comes to marketing and retail. Firstly, by interacting with a store’s NFC points you are giving a much, much more accurate indication of where you are than any geo-location app, which can sometimes be inaccurate to 30 metres. Secondly, by holding your phone against something you are expressing your willingness to interact, effectively saying: “I want this”, whether it information, a coupon or to purchase an item. This makes NFC technology much more powerful than any other form of mobile-based activity.

From a marketer’s perspective this means that ad targeting or coupon targeting can be much more effective, as it’s not just about delivering coupons to someone when they are in a certain area, but instead delivering them when that customer is actively in shopper mode, cutting out the spam element that is prevalent in other location-based marketing activities. Of course, you would be able to opt in or out of receiving this type of information as part of your NFC settings.

By sharing information willingly in this way customers will be able to get better recommendations and feel more in control of their shopping experience. Crucially, this also allows the physical shopping environment to share some of the advantages of the online store. Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, if you went into a store regularly the owners would get to know you and more often than not, be able to recommend items that you would like based on your previous purchases. Today that is not the case in 99% of stores. Yet online, this information is readily available. In fact today online stores have far more knowledge about their customers than physical stores. Go to Amazon and you will get a raft of recommendations based on your previous purchases.

By sharing that knowledge through NFC interaction, physical stores would be able to replicate this and recommend items to their customers in much the same way. They would also have the additional advantage of being able to show you the physical product so you can touch it, feel, try it on or even smell it. In fact, by combining this with augmented reality, retailers could use the mobile to direct the customer straight to the items they select. This would be a hugely powerful tool for the physical retail space.

Furthermore, by then interacting directly with the item itself customers could see whether it was in stock

in their size or how long it would take to be delivered.

They could potentially even purchase the item on the spot, or for bigger products have them delivered directly to their home.

This is likely to create a whole new high street shopping experience, where there is more computer interaction and human interaction would move to a different level. Research has shown that just 13% of shoppers actively want face-to-face interaction on daily purchases, the rest of us want to find things on our own. Human interaction is sought, when you are unsure which item would be best for you, or require experts knowledge.

The above applications of NFC would allow customers to feel in control of their shopping journey the entire time as the recommendations are based on their own preferences. Ultimately, this means that recommendation engines are set to become an important and powerful part of the retail experience.

Payment will come first, indeed it is very probably the technology’s killer application, but NFC can – and will – be so much more.

Cannibalisation fears

While NFC and mobile generally has much to offer retailers, many are shying away from failing to embrace it, put off by the notion that doing so could steal valuable sales from an already ailing high street, claims m-commerce expert Gordon Ellis-Brown, marketing and m-commerce expert at txt2buy.

There is no doubt that the speed at which technology is advancing is revolutionizing the customer experience and retailers are feeling the pressure when it comes to releasing their own iPhone App or adding new functions to their ecommerce site.

However, whilst many are reluctant to take the plunge and invest already tight budgets into new marketing concepts, e-commerce experts at txt2buy believe that those who fail to do so through fear that it could take customers away from their high street stores, could also be putting potential sales at risk.

“Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is fast becoming a hot topic of interest for retailers due to the recent explosion of mobile apps into the market and the extending capability of handsets, but many retailers are reluctant to explore its benefits and would rather let others take the lead and watch from the sidelines before commiting their budgets to it,” explains Gordon Ellis-Brown, marketing and m-commerce expert at txt2buy.

Ellis-Brown says that whilst it can be argued that m-commerce is reducing the need for shopping via a bricks and mortar store, if handled correctly, m-commerce will not cannibalise your existing customer base.

“Embracing the potential of m-commerce will help create a truly multichannel strategy which will engage a far wider spectrum of customers than ever before and give you a platform to reach out to them, wherever and whenever they want to access and purchase your products or services. The answer lies in simplifying, not complicating, your marketing strategy and making sure m-commerce is relevant and aligned to support your objectives,” adds Ellis-Brown.

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TELECOMS

Flaming the fraudsters Telemedia is an increasingly international and sophisticated business, but with that comes a growing risk of fraud and crime. Ahead of our industry summit at World Telemedia Amsterdam on Fraud, Matthew Leach takes a look at its impact on the industry and how it can be combatted

A

s the telemedia industry becomes evermore global and complex, not only does its success grow but so do the risks of fraud. Fraud in the telemedia industry varies in complexity from the classic telecoms/subscription fraud, using stolen or fake documentation, to the more sophisticated hacking and hijacking of minutes.

Wherever there is vulnerability in the supply chain, the fraudster can strike. While the big players are able to absorb these losses, for those companies involved in more niche markets it could be the difference between

So what can you do?

To deal with the fraud issue operators are placing greater emphasis on ensuring customers and suppliers, such as app developers, are who they say they are. They are increasingly turning to companies like Experian to shore up breaches in security. “Operators don’t want to be too rigorous and make the process too manual, so automated id authentication systems are being used more to verify the two forms of ID required,” explains Tim Barber, director, telecoms market for EMEA at Experian.

“This system will not only verify documents, like a passport or driving licence, but will also validate that you are who you say you are.”

Experian’s fraud management system – called Hunter – alerts the operator’s account handler to strange calling patterns. Information about the customer’s credit history and authentication of ID allows the handler to make a decision as to a customers reliability. If a customer fails to pay his bill they can use this information to ascertain if it is a one-off or part of a more organised deception.

Barber says: “It makes sense for big operators to be trialing these systems because keeping people out in the first place and staying ahead of the game is going to be less costly in the long run. And the more you can store electronically the easier it is to see a certain pattern of behaviour. This is the key to defence.”

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the success or failure of their businesses.

In 2009 it was estimated that global fraud accounted for $150 billion in lost revenue for telecom operators.

While last year, the National Fraud Authority estimated total fraud costs in the UK at being more than £30 billion, with technology, media and telecommunications industry accounting for £948 million of that figure.

Fraud is big business and the telemedia industry must be proactive in countering this threat.

Identity One of the most common front-end challenges facing network operators is identity fraud. There are a number of ways the fraudster can use a contract phone obtained

by ID deception to steal money. For example a fraudster may open up a premium rate line or more recently, create an app, on a revenue-share basis with the provider or apps store owner. They would then call the number or download the app, as many times as possible, collect the money and disappear without paying the bill.

Stefan Robsen, Global VP Solutions at analytics company MDA (Lavastorm) believes it has taken the operators a while to face up to this problem. “Previously operators would never talk about fraud because to combat it meant putting in place systems and controls, and consumers don’t like people looking at their traffic,” he says. “This would lead to operators writing off extreme amounts of money. Now they come to us to acquire fraud management capabilities.”

Hacking Another massive headache for the telemedia industry is hacking, either into a business’s Private Branch Exchange (PBX) or into a network. PBX hacking involves the fraudster gaining access to a company’s telephony system and calling, often international or premium rate numbers, usually over the weekend to avoid detection. The fraudster makes the calls and the company is left footing the bill.

Ways of countering this threat include taking such basic measures as: making sure the default password has been changed, monitoring Direct Inwards System

TELECOMS

Access (DISA), deactivating functions on the system that are not needed, always checking your phone bill and investigating calls made outside business hours.

Stephane Allimant, Chief Executive of Atlas Telecom, believes network hacking is becoming an increasing problem. “Atlas has seen the hackers on the network four or five times in the last year,” he says. “We can see the traffic in the network, the maximum duration of the call, the maximum spend over a day or a month. But because we keep a close eye on it, in two years there have only been around 2000 minutes in dispute.”

Allimant insists vigilance and fast action is vital.

“There should be no pre-payment and no short payment and controlling the traffic is crucial to handling this issue,” he says. “If there is a problem, then block the numbers immediately, notify the customer who the numbers have been allocated to, and wait to see if the carrier, who has been sending the calls, are talking to the police.”

Hijacking A major threat affecting the international telecoms market is hijacking. Somewhere in the supply chain of carriers, between caller and termination point, the traffic is sucked away from the intended platform and the fraudster tries to replicate the service, usually quite badly, to fool the caller into staying on the line as long as possible.

The content is often of poor quality and not the service the caller was trying to access in the first place. As the customer has not received the service he paid for he will often go to the carrier or content provider and demand his money - making repeat business unlikely.

This method of fraud is sometimes carried out in collusion with an accomplice at the origin carrier who turns a blind eye when a percentage of calls are rerouted down the line. Unscrupulous carriers have also been known to send traffic to the wrong termination point, collecting a kick-back from the fraudster.

Allimant advises those who are the victim of this type of fraud to go down the legal route against carriers caught red handed taking fraudulent traffic. “Companies must constantly monitor and test, and when there is a problem tell the carriers ‘please revise your routing, this is a legal warning’,” he explains.

Hijacking not only affects the victim of the fraud, but also can have a detrimental effect on the telemedia industry as a whole. This practice has ruined terminations that used to work from everywhere in the world, resulting in the international market becoming more fragmented and therefore less attractive.

“Some carriers are really on top of it, others are not doing enough and then termination points are being

hijacked and killed. Hijackers are like parasites, if they suck all the goodness out of a plant it will die,” says Allimant. “If it is hijacked so much on one termination point no one will use it anymore.”

Chief Operating Officer for Kwak Telecom, Josef Bruckschloegl, sees the problem mainly aimed at the wholesale market. “They hijack the traffic and then offer wholesale below the interconnection market price, they have 100% mark up and don’t pay out,” he says.

“They don’t pay for customer services etc. and never terminate the numbers where they should.”

It is a problem which Bruckschloegl estimates is losing his company between 10 to 15 per cent of traffic a

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TELECOMS

year, and he advises companies within the wholesale community to “make sure the carrier has official documentation for the number ranges, which need to be checked by the collecting party”.

Arbitrage Traffic trading and arbitrage, while perfectly legal and often used by carriers to increase profit margins, have opened up new opportunities for fraudsters to operate.

The problem arises when traffic is sold on, often to overseas service providers from less regulated regions, such as Eastern Europe, who may themselves sell it on to increase their own margin. As the supply chain lengthens the opportunity for fraud increases. The fraudsters take the traffic at an agreed pay-out rate, collect the money locally from consumers, never pass it on and vanish. This practice is often linked to organised crime, which can make tracing the perpetrators both difficult and dangerous.

To avoid this scenario, companies must do a risk assessment, know who they are doing business with and if they have doubts contact the authorities. Law enforcement agencies such as Interpol must be brought in to investigate the criminals involved.

Atlas’s Allimant considers the way to beat the fraudsters is by securing the deals with the origin carrier and termination. He says: “Those that control the termination will survive and prosper. We think the way forward is a business model with a protected supply chain which will help to create high quality content. A walled-

In addition, in some cases there seems to be an unwillingness within the industry to work with the police. Bruckschloegl explains: “The feedback we get from the Swiss police is that some market players are denying co-operation with them, if they were more open the problem could be eradicated.”

There also seems to be some confusion within industry as to who is responsible for regulation on an international basis, many believing it to be the International Telecommunication Union. However when approached over the issue of fraud a spokesman for the ITU, Sanjay Acharya, insisted: “The ITU deals with building confidence in the use of networks and strengthening cybergarden business approach is the future.” security. However, law enforcement work lies in the Kwak’s Bruckschloegl believes that, until the big domain of national jurisdictions and with Interpol.” market players take the issue seriously, the situation will One thing is for certain, as fraudsters find increasingly worsen. “When talking to the big carriers, like AT&T sophisticated methods to get their hands on telemedia and BT, the resentment against premium rate businesses revenue, the industry players must take a tough line. is growing because the whole industry is not that far They must refuse to do business with suspected frauduremoved from fraud, and sometimes comes close to col- lent parties and send out a clear message saying ‘we laboration,” he says. “The premium rate industry must won’t accept fraud or pay out on fraudulent traffic and co-operate with the telecom operators and wholesale we will hand any information on fraud to the police’. If carriers to tighten up.” the problem is not addressed in this way there is a real Bruckschloegl makes an interesting point: for an danger that the industry’s image will be tainted beyond industry that makes money from communication, the repair resulting in decline in traffic and revenue that will reluctance of telcos to talk to each other, share ideas hit everyone hard. and information, and develop a strategy to fight fraud is worrying.

Matthew Leach is a freelance journalist based in London

One thing is for certain, as fraudsters find increasingly sophisticated ways to get their hands on telemedia revenue, the industry must take a tough line

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EXHIBITION, SEMINARS & NETWORKING 12-14 OCTOBER 2011 HOTEL RENAISSANCE, AMSTERDAM

Recession? What recession?

Despite the global recession – or depression if you are of a pessimistic bent – the telemedia business across Europe is booming. In the UK alone, PPP estimates the PRS market to be worth about £816millon. In Germany it is a billion Euro business, and we are seeing growth across all European markets. Slow growth, but growth nonetheless.

But recession is often a good thing for the telemedia industry. People don’t have the money they did to spend on big ticket items, but the gloom and despair of having to go without the big ticket items usually drives people to have a bit of a fluttered on micropayment-based services.

In recessions past that meant adult chat lines, but here in the 21st Century that means interactive media, social gaming, mobile gambling, mobile and online shopping and, believe it or not, charity donations. And adult chat services.

In fact the full gamut of micro-billable services that you can possibly imagine that can be accessed from a mobile, a phone or online are now all generating significant traffic and revenues.

Which is why World Telemedia Amsterdam (12-14 October) has joined forced with World Intertainment to put on two events in one, seeking to bring together the whole telemedia and European online communities from around the world to talk shop, learn about new services, technologies and trends and to, of course, mingle, network and do deals.

The central pillar of the event(s) is as ever the conference, which brings together a host of European speakers and panelists to offer a truly international take on what is happening in the telemedia world in terms of interactive media services, interactive and p-TV, social media, retail, m-commerce, billing and payments, as well as offering special insight into international networking, fraud prevention and of course regulation and legal issues.

Speaker from some of Europe’s leading telemedia SP brands will be on hand, along with network operators, media companies, retailers and developers to bring you the most up to date view of how your market is going to look in the coming 12 months. On the next few pages we offer a view of the conference and more to guide you round the show . For more details on all this as it develops, on the speakers and more, go to www.wtevent.co .uk. See you in Amsterdam.

Platinum Sponsor

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Media Partners

in association with TM

telemedia issue 29

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EXHIBITION, SEMINARS & NETWORKING 12-14 OCTOBER 2011 HOTEL RENAISSANCE, AMSTERDAM

dayone daytwo 15.00 – 17.00

INDUSTRY SUMMIT Fraud Prevention

Perhaps the biggest issue facing the telemedia industry –both your business and you personally – is fraud. Our panel of experts from across the value chain will look at solutions to new media fraud, learning from European best practice as we pull together the whole industry to meet this challenge Stephane Allimant, Atlas Interactive Josef Bruckschloegel, Kwak Telecom Lee Campion, O-Bit Telecom Mike Charlesworth, Mediatel Luke Blackwell, Carrier Solutions

15.00 – 17.00

INDUSTRY CLINICS European Legal & Regulatory Updates

Hear from leading regulators and governments from key markets around Europe on how the changing face of communications is calling for a radical overhaul of the way web, mobile and PRS are regulated – and learn what you need to be ready for Including Q&A session featuring PPP Action4 FST Ofcom

WORLD TELEMEDIA

EXPLOITING THE VERTICALS: 10.00 – 10.30

SETTING THE SCENE Exploiting the verticals What telemedia is doing successfully across vertical and regional markets and cross-pollinating ideas – the theme for the next two days Keynote Speaker TBC

10.30 – 11.30

The interactive media opportunity

10.30 – 10.45

PRESENTATION What the consumers want Darren Mark Noyce Founder, SKOPOS

10.45 -11.00

PRESENTATION How TV can monetise Facebook Stephen George, Orca Digital

11.00 – 11.15

PRESENTATION Making advertising interactive Speaker TBC, Mojiva

11.15 – 11.30

PRESENTATION Mobile marketing for entertainment Tom Horsey, Crazy4media

11.30 – 12.00

COFFEE & NETWORKING

12.00 – 13.00

The gaming, gambling and events market opportunity

• • • • • • •

Understanding and monetising social games Where online games become a mobile billing opportunity Gamification of content and marketing Gambling comes into its own Telemedia at live events Technology and devices – and their impact Case studies from across Europe

12.00 -12.10

PRESENTATION Going live

How to make interactive services at live events actually work Lee Booth, CEO, IMT

12.10-12.20

PRESENTATION Twitter and Sport: the perfect engagement?

Eilidh Donaldson, TweetSport.co.uk

12.20-13.00

PANEL DEBATE

featuring Bob Bentz, ATS Lee Booth, CEO, IMT Eilidh Donaldson, TweetSport.co.uk

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13.00 – 14.00 telemedia issue 29

LUNCH

EXHIBITION, SEMINARS & NETWORKING 12-14 OCTOBER 2011 HOTEL RENAISSANCE, AMSTERDAM

Telemedia at the heart of business 14.00 – 14.50

Strategies for developing media, marketing and content solutions

15.45 – 16.00 PANEL

Andy Rogers, Enteraction

• Telemedia drives m-commerce services • Travel, ticketing and coupons • The role of interactive services • Making sales from mobile marketing • In-store experience • Selling online with mobile payments Stephen Upstone, Velti Michiel Verberg, Whatser Bob Bentz, ATS

14.10 – 14.20

16.00 – 16.30

14.00 – 14.10

PRESENTATION Monetising media through virtual goods via games and social voting PRESENTATION Mobile social: the key to marketing interaction?

Michael de Souza, Vice President (Media), BuzzCity

14.20 – 14.30

The power of the barcode

How to use 2D barcodes to start the interactive journey Speaker TBC NeoMedia

14.30 – 14.40

Sing when you’re winning How mass calling is making a record for heroes Lee Booth, CEO, IMT

TEA & NETWORKING

16.30 – 17.30

Telemedia Essentials

The latest developments in • Chat • Dating • Psychic & Horoscope • Adult • Lifestyle Coaching • New services • Technology and devices – and their impact • Case studies from across Europe Speaker line up TBC

14.30 – 14.50 PANEL DEBATE

• The media world’s challenges and demands – and how to meet them • What marketeers want from mobile • Everything is content – so what works where?

• Where device, location and ‘second screening’ drive business • Technology and devices – and their impact Andy Rogers, Enteraction Michael de Souza, Vice President (Media), BuzzCity Lee Booth, CEO, IMT Speaker TBC NeoMedia

15.00 – 16.00

Opportunities in retail

15.00 – 15.15

PRESENTATION What opportunities exist in m-retail now that it is mainstream Looking at research into consumer behaviour around m-retail and m-commerce, we find out what opportunities m-commerce offers Stephen Upstone, Velti

15.15 – 15.30

PRESENTATION Social retailing

How Dutch start-up Whatser has cornered the market in using mobile social media to drive footfall and loyalty Michiel Verberg, Whatser

15.30 – 15.45

10.00 – 13.00

Search engine optimisation for the entertainment industry

• Understanding what customers are looking for… and on what platform • How to best invest your SEO budget • Getting round issues with adult search terms • Making SEO pan-European • Turning online SEO into mobile SEO • Getting the most from your SEM budget and exploiting future developments Full Speaker line up to be announced

14.00 – 17.00

Where next for print media in the entertainment space

• Turning your print business into a multiple-platform business • Leveraging social media • Where the web meets mobile and beyond • Apps verses M-web • What content for what device • Getting better advertising revenues from new media • Billing tools • Tracking your users Full Speaker line up to be announced

PRESENTATION Custom QR codes

What they are, how to use them and how they fit into the marketing mix for m-commerce Bob Bentz, ATS

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EXHIBITION, SEMINARS & NETWORKING 12-14 OCTOBER 2011 HOTEL RENAISSANCE, AMSTERDAM

daythree WORLD TELEMEDIA

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE: Telemedia billing, m-Payments & networking 11.00 – 11.50

Telemedia billing in the interactive world

• • • • • •

Does PRS still have a role?

Cutting operator margins Developing cross border billing PRS and in-app billing PRS as a marketing tool Telemedia billing and interaction

11.00-11.15

PRESENTATION SMS billing lives on

A look at how PSMS is becoming charge-2-mobile and Transactional SMS billing for goods and services Danny Marino, txtnation

11.15 – 11.50 PANEL DEBATE

12.00 – 13.00

Using new billing and payment solutions to expand your business

• What new billing tools are available – and how you can exploit them • Working with Apple, Google, Amazon and the new breed of sales channels • Understanding how M-Payments and m-wallets will change your business • Where to fit in with banks, operators and merchants

12.00 -12.15

PRESENTATION Today’s m-payments landscape and what works for your business A look at where m-payments is right now, what consumers want and how to implement it Gavin McConnon, BoxPay

12.15 – 13.00

Panel line up TBC

PANEL DEBATE Panel line up TBC

13.00 – 14.00

LUNCH & NETWORKING

14.00 – 15.00 11.00 – 13.00

Online and mobile marketing strategies

• Creating winning ad formats online • extending advertising and marketing to mobile • Leveraging social media • Where the web meets mobile • Creating the right campaigns for the right devices and user location • Getting better advertising revenues from new media • Making it interactive tools • Tracking your clicks Full Speaker line up to be announced

14.00 – 16.00

The evolution of TV on net and beyond

• Creating winning formats • Leveraging social media • Apps verses M-web • Where the web meets mobile • What content for what device • Getting better advertising revenues from new media • Billing tools • Tracking your users Full Speaker line up to be announced

Capitalising on domestic and international network capabilities • Understanding the ever changing world of network infrastructure • Choosing the right networks for your business and routes for your service • Making the most of the wholesale exchanges for voice and data • New gen networks and platform technologies for resellers and brokers • The affects of lower termination rates and the importance of value added services Stephane Allimant, Atlas Interactive Josef Bruckschloegel, Kwak Telecom Lee Campion, O-Bit Telecom Bob Bentz, ATS

For the latest information about the event and how to sign up

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www.wtevent.co.uk

telemedia issue 29

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telemedia issue 29

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CHAT

The chat business is one of the cornerstones of the telemedia industry, yet it tends to just quietly get on with things in the background, not drawing too much attention to itself. Sheldon Johns lifts the lid on this hidden gem

C

y t e Yak

hat is not dying,” declares Lorna Williamson, founder of Text121 Chat Group. “Nor will it while there are men around: and a whole load of new men come of age every day.” This bullish attitude exemplifies what the mood surrounding the adult chat business, which despite recession, changing technology, falling newspaper sales and shifting tastes continues to outperform most other sectors in the telemedia industry and to make people money.

Its secret is that it is something that there will always be a market for and that is perfectly suited to the technology available. It started as a PRS fixed line phone service, but unlike so many other voice only offerings, it has embraced the mobile age, taking the things extra to voice that mobile offers and blending them into an ever more sophisticated service offering.

While many men still call chat lines to talk to girls, text, MMS and video are all playing and increasing role in the mix of services on offer and making chat a vibrant offering. Many chat fulfilment houses offer a text as an ideal way to start chats, carry chats on from voice calls when it isn’t convenient to talk and to just get people in the mood.

The beauty is that it is a natural upsell from voice to text or vice versa as it lets people continue or escalate when previously they would have dropped off. And that is all money in the bank.

Advertising on digital and satellite TV and its online offerings will be the key for keeping and growing the chat customer base, as these services can now be accessed from anywhere

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But what is more interesting is the growing use of MMS within this voice and SMS mix in the chat world. MMS picture messaging never really took the public imagination in the mainstream as many in the mobile industry hoped it would. While it struggled to get any real mindshare, smartphones with email access, Skype access and social media came along and have, while not destroyed MMS, certainly eaten into its market share.

But in the chat world, MMS is something of a hit.

“What we do is we let the callers send pictures via MMS while they are chatting,” explains Williamson. “This has only got better has smartphone technology has improved the user interface.”

And the photos they get would turn your hair grey. But that aside this adds an important and lucrative new revenue stream into the chat mix, since it is an add on that not only nets cash in its own right, but also keeps the caller active for longer.

While MMS is adding a whole new dimension to the chat market, all eyes are on video services. A natural fit with mobile, video chat has long been touted as the way ahead for both chat and dating services, but on the mobile it has stuttered somewhat.

Orca Digital have long been in the business of running 3G video chat services – in fact the company used to be called 3GVX – and has seen the service boom and then plateau. “People still want to use it, but smartphones have sort of made that all a lot easier to do, often bypass us,” says Stephen George, business development director at Orca Digital. “It is a healthy business, but one that doesn’t deliver third parties the kind of value that SMS chat does. With video costing about £2 per minute and texts as low as 20p a shot some consumers don’t see the value.”

But video chat is a viable business and the adult end of the spectrum is where it will start to gain

k a y traction. “Video chat is still very alluring,” says George.

So where next for chat then? Well, many people have started to express doubts about its future as newspapers start to close or go digital and the advertising medium that has kept chat services going for so long starts to fade. But Williamson thinks that this is just a natural shift and that, while newspaper advertising maybe declining, TV and online TV access are starting to fill that void.

“Advertising on digital and satellite TV and its online offerings will be the key area for keeping and growing the chat customer base,” she says. “It doesn’t matter where you are you can access chat TV services from anywhere online and these will be driving people to use them.”

And TV also offers companies like Text121 Chat new opportunities. “We want to grow our moderation business into TV chat services,” says Williamson, “as we are really good at moderation and we know the chat business.

This will be a really strong area for the industry.”

Moderation of chatrooms around other services is also being seen as a new line of business, with online gambling services a key target. “Bingo chatrooms are becoming a big part of the online gambling market and running those – moderating as well as encouraging groups to play – is something we are looking very closely at bringing our experience to,” says Williamson.

Sheldon Johns is a freelance writer based in London

CHAT

Here come the girls

Lorna Williamson and Helen Allan used to be chat operators themselves, but set themselves up as a chat fulfilment company in 2004 with the aim of, as Williamson puts it, of being a chat employment agency. The key to their business – Text121 Chat – is to provide the girls and services to operators that have the platforms, shortcodes and business and it is proving to be a highly successful model.

At its peak the company was handling 1 million calls and texts a month and today is doing 22,000 texts a day. Messaging for adult chat services is what the company specialises in – along with moderation services, more of which in a moment – and aims to take all the headache of training and staff management off the hands of the service providers.

The girls have about 15 clients today spread over the UK, US, Australia and parts of Europe and have grown pretty much through word of mouth.

The advantage these chat fulfilment agencies bring the business is that they can focus on the delivery of the service, training of agents and keep everything within the bounds of ever-more stringent regulation.

“Every agent for every service gets a full manual of rules and they are rigorously tested and trained before they go live,” says Williamson.

“In fact we train about 100 girls a month and only 20 make it through to be operators. It is really tough because we have to get it right. I also make sure I work every single offering we have so that I know how each works and that we are meeting all the rules and regulations.”

The oldest operator Text121 Chat has is 77 (“she joined when she was 69, appropriately,” says Williamson) and typically the girls have to be able to answer each text in 11 seconds.

The company is one of a handful of chat fulfilment agencies set up and run by women that seek to just deliver the girls. These companies are usually run by women who come from the chat industry and have been operators themselves, but while that brings a wealth of experience, it can also cause problems.

“The biggest challenge we faced when we set up was that we were women,” says Williamson. “The blokes in the telemedia industry wouldn’t talk to us a first, but Helen will talk to anyone, so soon we had them on board.”

And now Text121 Chat is at the heart of the growing chat business. Next stop America, says Williamson, along with growing the moderation side of their business into more live TV chat and into the gambling and bingo chat rooms.

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television

TV is no longer a one way street – it is increasingly becoming something that involved two, three, perhaps even four screens, interaction between shows and viewers and of course creating new revenue streams. And, as we stand on the threshold of a truly interactive TV world, Matthew Leach looks at what is on offer

Riding the TV super-highway

T

here is a revolution afoot within the Interactive television industry and the buzzwords are ‘social media’, ‘engagement’ and ‘community’. Throw increased convergence of mobile, internet, and television into the mix and passively watching a television programme will soon be a thing of the past.

Although consumers will increasingly be able to access content when and where they want to, using a number of different viewing devices, it is not to say that

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appointment-to-view TV will no longer exist. In fact, popular reality TV shows such as X-Factor will increasingly become major social events in which the viewer can, for example, play along with the show, become the fourth judge on the panel, or swap comments on Facebook with the growing community that has built up around the programme.

According to Ed Boddington, Chief Executive of Harvest Media Group, and chairman of AIME, traditional TV interactive services, such as entering competitions and voting using telephone and SMS, will remain domi-

television

nant, at least in the short term. He insists, however, that “new media has brought new channels for interaction and new users. The key is to open as many channels of interaction as possible to make it as easy for the viewer to use interactive services”.

Patrick Bird, television and media consultant, uses ITV’s daytime offering as an example of how broadcasters are still using the traditional interactive TV services to good effect. “For say ‘Daybreak’ or ‘This Morning’ the interactivity is still very basic, involving ‘win a holiday’ type prizes. The revenue, using IVR premium rate telephony is subsidising the production of these daytime shows.”

However, there is an increased emphasis by broadcasters and programme makers to drive people online.

More value is being placed on building online communities, collecting valuable data and turning ‘viewers into customers’.

Pasa Mustafa, director and founder of East London productions, who worked on Channel 4’s hit show ‘Million Pound Drop’, explains: “We always think about the audience first, not the platform. We create ecosystems that push the viewer online and commercialise conversations around the show. This two-screen (TV and web) experience saw engagement up by 10% for Million Pound Drop.

“There needs to be engaging content available so that when viewers actively search out content to do with a particular show they get what they want,” Mustafa continues. “TV shows are marketing campaigns. And those shows that have built a community already have a foothold and an edge compared with other shows.”

It is this commercial edge through social media interaction that has been recognised by Channel 5, eager to recoup some of the £200 million spent on buying the Big Brother format from producer Endemol. In July the broadcaster, working with Endemol, Facebook and mobile agency Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), announced the launch of a Facebook app that allows the viewer to vote contestants out of the house. Using the Facebook credits payment system, viewers can buy votes, which can be used on their computer or smartphone. A month later the broadcaster announced that Big Brother catch-up content would be available on the iPad and iPhone apps dedicated to the reality show.

Research seems to bear out the broadcaster’s eagerness to monetise social media. According to a survey conducted by MIG: “Some 40% of mobile users are likely to be multi-tasking, using their phone while watching TV, with the majority of the multi-tasking occurring in the evenings and weekends, during peak TV times when online browsing decreases and mobile browsing grows.”

This provides a massive opportunity for interaction

through TV and mobile social networks. The study showed that Facebook would be a key driving force in shifting interactive audience behaviour away from phone calls and texts, which would become peripheral

There is an increased emphasis by broadcasters and programme makers to drive people online. More value is being placed on building online communities and collecting valuable data in the long term.

While 67% of respondents indicated that the internet was the ideal way to interact with TV shows, 50% of those said Facebook would be the preferred way to purchase and use participation TV services like voting.

MIG found that interactive events run via Facebook will generate $51.7 million (£32.04m) in the UK by 2012 and $2.9 billion globally by 2016.

Barry Houlihan, Chief Executive of MIG, says: “Social participation TV is a huge opportunity for MIG and our broadcast partners, with mobile the key enabler and engagement tool.”

The research also revealed that smartphone adoption would drive TV and mobile multi-tasking in the UK and US to create a more engaged audience. However, whether a viewer uses the more traditional IVR telephony or social media interaction using Facebook credits to participate and pay for interactive services, the key to growth and sustainability for the industry is trust between the viewer, brand and broadcaster.

Rob Weisz, MIG’s commercial director, insists the processes put in place by broadcasters are the fairest they have ever been. “Broadcasters will not run anything that could be construed as an unfair vote,” says Weisz. “They go through so much pain to make sure the system is compliant. Whether the viewers are tainted by it – scandals such as the Ant and Dec votingrigging in 2005 – I don’t know, but giving them the ability to interact means they can have their say and we should embrace this.”

As the methods with which to interact with TV shows grow, so to does the increasingly rich data that can be acquired and used by broadcasters and their sponsors. It is this increased measurability through interactivity that led Channel 4 Chief Executive David Abraham to state in a recent speech at the Royal Society Dinner – “Data is the new oil, or soil, of television”, he said. Facebook logon information and mobile phone specfic IP addresses all provide great data capture for TV advertisers, but the real challenge is knowing what to do with it.

Mustafa said: “Before we relied upon Barb

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(Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) data, now we have engagement times, likes, tweets, it is almost overwhelming.”

Weisz believes Facebook and the internet allows brands to have two-way conversation with the viewer/ consumer. “In the past we just had a telephone number and because of data protection you couldn’t contact them, now a whole new world has opened up,” he says.

The convergence of TV, internet and mobile has been perceived as the biggest opportunity in the broadcast market. In a recent survey conducted by Trilogy Communications 67% believed this was the case. The mass adoption of Connected TV – which on a Samsung Smart TV boasts such features as web browsing, 3D on demand, search and a dedicated app store – will, according to Mustafa, revolutionise the industry.

“Essentially there are two big players in the Connected TV market, Samsung and LG, and this is purely by default as they have 65% of the market share,” he says. “This means they have access to the biggest TV audience for Connected TV as they have the product out there.”

Mustafa estimates at least half the products currently being sold in the UK market are Connected TVs (activated) and by Christmas there will be about 1.5 million activated Connected TVs. However, once the Connected TVs are out there the key is to find that killer app to drive usage. “A lot of the content producers are refocusing iPhone apps for TV, but it has to be specifically designed for TV,” stresses Mustafa. “Just like the best iPhone apps are the ones that play to the phone’s strengths – something that can be used on the move – a TV app might have a more theatrical element.”

One app with a difference, to be launched in September, is the ValueBond app, billed as the first costfree giving app. Gareth Llewelyn, the managing partner of Blue Storm Media, is the creator. The app uses QR codes that the customer can use to scan with their mobile phone from a television screen, as well as websites and print media, making it a fascinating addition to the growing options of interactivity with TV. The app works with brands to formulate a call to action, once the consumer has download the app, he can scan the advert and receive, for example, free cinema tickets. Every time the code is scanned a donation is made on behalf of the brand to a charity – costing the user nothing but increasing the brand’s feel-good factor through corporate social responsibility.

“This app is great for interactive TV as the code allows the mobile phone user to interact with the programme in real time,” says Llewelyn. “The consumer could be directed to the brand’s website by a call to

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action, increasing brand awareness and providing valuable customer data for the advertiser.”

Social gaming or ‘gamefication’ provides further opportunities for interactive television. Although broadcasters have been tentative in exploring this genre, last year ITV made its move into the multi-million pound gaming marketplace by launching Corrie Nation on ITV. com and Facebook. The move was seen as key part of ITV’s strategy to generate new revenue streams, hoping to replicate the success of such games as FarmVille, produced by games developer Zynga, which boasts over 60 million monthly users.

In August of this year, Channel 4 stuck its toe in the social gaming water, by putting financial backing behind a game called ‘Beauty Town’, showing that broadcasters are seriously considering this market.

MIG’s Weisz explains: “Social gaming will provide new opportunities for broadcasters. We believe the

Google TV and Apple TV with apps are to be launched in the UK in 18 months and with smartphones and connected TV uptake of TV apps will soon reach critical mass world is moving towards an acknowledgement that social media gamification will eventually merge with traditional TV formats. The way TV companies can monetise this is to create games around their shows, increasing brand awareness. There is also in-game advertising, or you could sell credits to go up a level, or just pay to play.”

These are exciting times for interactive television.

Google TV and Apple TV with apps are to be launched in the UK in around 18 months time and with smartphone and Connected TV uptake soon to reach a critical mass, there is a growing feeling within the industry that the tipping point is close to being reached.

The more traditional interactive TV content, and the methods of billing for them, will not die out, but they will become increasingly peripheral as new ways to interact around programmes, mainly through social media, become prevalent. The challenge for those in the industry is to tap into and monetise this market. This will only happen if broadcasters, production companies and advertisers work together to provide engaging content that will offer the viewer a connected experience, where they are able to interact with the brand any time of day.

Matthew Leach is a freelance journalist based in London

television

The new oil?

Commercial broadcasters risk securing only half of their potential revenue if multi-screen strategies are not effectively monetised, warns Stephen Petheram, Marketing Director, PayWizard

C

ommercial broadcasters are facing some tough decisions as volatile advertising revenues are exacerbated by the proliferation of new entrants into the digital TV market and the surge in multi-screen viewing. In order to thrive long-term, they need to take steps to deepen their engagement with audiences and plug the advertising shortfall with sophisticated, multi-screen, user-addressed business models.

And the stakes are high. Some industry commentators have stated that commercial broadcasters risk securing only half of their potential revenue if multi-device strategies are not effectively monetised. Simultaneous viewing of content on companion devices is becoming the norm and engaging audiences away from the ad-funded content on their TV sets and asking them to pay for the privilege is a financial necessity. The challenge is to do it in a way that will work long-term.

Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham hit the nail on the head with his comments this summer on audience data being ‘the new oil’ and his concern that commercial broadcasters are being left out in the cold when it comes to audience data capture. Consumers will only pay for content if they feel that it enhances their viewing experience. Only by capturing and using ‘actionable’ consumer data to create flexible and relevant marketing offers, promotions, recommendations and discounts is a consumer going to pay up. Any old system can be forced to yield information, often in a useless and irrelevant form, so actionable data is indeed the commercial broadcasters’ equivalent of black gold.

I was struck by a related point on the under-monetisation of content made in a new White Paper from IHS Screen Digest entitled ‘Monetising Content in a Multi-Screen World’.

In the White Paper, author Merrick Kingston states that “although transactional views constituted just 1% of VOD views in 2010, these same views accounted for 63% of 2010 revenues. By contrast, FTV (Free to View), which accounted for

nearly all VOD views, generated only 24% of revenues.

Advertising in its current form – neither viewer nor device addressed – has not allowed providers to effectively monetize the large number of FTV VOD sessions.”

In order to monetise multi-screen as effectively as possible, commercial broadcasters need to encourage paid-for views in multiple, non-exclusive ways using a combination of recommendations and offers that are specific to each user and the devices he owns.

Support for off-line transactions is essential, as well as user-defined payment models that include new and emerging payment models such as: pay per multiday event, pay per daypart, season tickets, vouchers, promotions, transaction VoD and catch-up offers. The paid-for model can of course also be supplemented with device-optimised addressable advertising.

According to IHS Screen Digest, “recommendation engines and addressable marketing will be most effective if their suggestions can be tailored to a consumer’s consumption patterns and preferences across their different devices.

To accomplish this, these tools will depend upon data inputs that provide a holistic view of device-specific consumer behaviour.”

This tallies with my own view that commercial broadcasters require a sophisticated management system that filters multi-device transactions into a single presentation layer in real-time. This actionable data can then be used to make timely, useraddressed offers and recommendations to ensure that every opportunity to generate revenue can be seized.

In a sector where hundreds of millions of pounds of untapped pay revenue is sitting idly on the table, the ability to cut through the content ‘noise’ with a sophisticated payment solution that captures realtime, transactional information on consumer purchasing across multiple screens is essential.

Get the multi-platform experience wrong and commercial broadcasters risk relying on their weakening ad revenues for longer than they should. Windows of opportunity don’t stay open for long, and broadcasters won’t want to risk letting “too long” become “too late.”

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SPORT

A match made Using mobile, telemedia and billing is creating a whole new way of enjoying sporting events. And, as Matthew Leach discovers, it is big business for both the telemedia industry and the sports business world

S

port and the telemedia industry have the makings of a winning team. Both sides have much to gain from working together, and with the increase in smartphone usage and wireless-enabled stadiums, using a mobile for everything from ticketing to having the latest replica shirt delivered to your seat during the game, could soon be the norm.

Mobile ticketing is the starting point of the journey that could see fans’ in-stadium experience dramatically improve. Research seems to support this belief with a major increase in usage expected over the next four years, opening the door for more sporting goods and services to be sold via mobile.

Juniper Research believes that mobile phone users who adopt mobile ticketing will grow from a global average of 4.5% of total mobile users this year to 12.7% or 750 million users by 2015. A significant year on year increase is expected during this period. This will be driven by the availability of commercial mobile ticketing services and the early stages of Near Field Communication (NFC) commercialisation.

NFC, which allows transactions, data exchange and wireless connection between two devices a few centimetres apart, is widely thought to be the key driver that will transform a mobile into a payment mechanism.

This surge of interest in mobile ticketing can only help uptake of mobile services in the sporting environment. Lee Booth, chief executive of Intelligent Media Technologies (IMT), insists there are exciting times ahead. “We are starting to see a real understanding of the marketing opportunities that mobile and wireless technology can offer,” he says. “Ticketing will be the starting point of the revolution, but mobile ticketing and RFID (Radio Frequency identification) tagging is still cost heavy, so once micropayments and micro billing are working off the NFC, then mobile will be a ticketing and payment device as well.”

Using a device that can pre-order products such as your half-time food and drink will alleviate the hassle

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of queuing and enable the spectator to be back in his seat before the second half starts. Similarly, club shops become extremely busy on match days, which can deter potential customers. This means clubs are losing revenue. Browsing the club shop via your mobile and buying a product, which can either be picked up after the game or delivered to your seat during the match, would offer a convenience that people would be willing to pay a premium for.

Keith Brown, managing director of Paythru, which provides payment and ticketing solutions via the mobile phone, insists sports fans have been shortchanged for too long. “At the moment sports fans’ experience in terms of services, access to information etc. is inferior to the experience of the fan who is at home watching on TV – we want to change that,” he says.

“Supporters will soon be able to order their burger and coke via their mobiles and pay for it using Paythru billing. The supporter will be sent a code, which tells him which section to pick it up from. The code is punched in or scanned (killing off the code) and the fans receives their half-time snacks.”

Brown insists that there are too many commercial opportunities being missed because most of the match day interaction is concentrated in a small space of time. To offset this tiny window of opportunity and increase dwell time before and after a game, targeted offers, faster service and a secure and simple way of paying for them are a must.

For all this to work, the infrastructure within the stadium has to be up to the job, believes Booth. “As telemedia becomes more converged it is the Wi-Fi networks that are key,” he says. “However, if you talk to the big players, such as Vodafone, they are struggling to get people off 3G and onto rich media networks, which would enable them to pull more stats, for example in cricket which is stat heavy, and therefore increase the interactivity with the sports fan.”

Anthony Weller, managing director of AIB Wireless, is someone who knows all about wrestling with the problems of network coverage in stadiums. In his view “Football clubs assume supporters will be able to buy products and services wirelessly using 3G, but the 3G network can’t cope, especially when you have 20,000 people trying to access a service at the same time. Wi-Fi as a technology enables football clubs, for example, to interact with fans as long as they have a smartphone. It means football clubs can be in control,

SPORT

in heaven? rather than have a cellular operator running it,” he says.

One stadium that has no problem with coverage is the UK’s national stadium at Wembley. AIB worked alongside a partner to measure and design the multioperator Distributed Antenna System (DAS) deployed

by Everything Everywhere.

Weller explains: “The coverage at Wembley is amplified through antennas on the gantry and all five operators can plug in in the basement. It is an all-encompassing system for 89,000 people. Wherever you are in the stadium bowl you get a good level of service, making it one of the best connected stadiums in the world.”

Football is not the only sport that can benefit from wifi-enabled systems. Horse racing has also seen the benefits a wireless network can provide for betting.

AIB managed wifi networks at Ascot, which enabled the Tote (now Betfred) booths around the grandstand area to function wirelessly.

According to Weller: “The Tote booths rely on a wifi backbone. The system has data on runners, riders, latest odds etc. You can also have staff walking around the corporate areas taking bets on a portable wireless device. Ultimately you will be able to bet on your smartphone in the next few years. It will mean you spend more, bet more, lose more and contribute more revenue to racing.”

Betting on your mobile has come sooner than Weller thinks. In June, Betfair announced it was rolling out a new smartphone web-application called ‘Betfair Racing on your mobile’ at Ascot, combining full exchange betting with form, analysis, tips and a results service.

Betfair’s strategic move into the Apps market is being mirrored by other sports eager to develop new channels to increase their bottom line. In August, Edgbaston cricket ground, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, launched its own app offering live score updates, interviews with players and information about the ground to keep supporters engaged.

Cricket fans were encouraged to review the app on Edgbaston’s Facebook page, highlighting the venue’s understanding of social media interaction and how it can be a very powerful marketing tool.

Manchester United, who according to Forbes Magazine have an estimated market value of $1.86 billion, seem to understand the power and reach that delivering content over mobile networks can bring.

This August, United signed a three-year partnership with Beeline, Vietnam’s leading mobile telecoms company, covering Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Manchester United service is bolted on to the subscription and offers team news alerts and realtime updates, as well as rich media content such as goal footage.

Phil Townsend, Manchester United’s director of communications, says: “This [deal] is very important for the club as it allows us to provide content to thousands of fans without it being filtered by a sports editor. This type of service has been very successful commercially, enabling us to engage with the fans (estimated at 190 million across Asia) and keep their interest in the club, even though they may be thousands of miles away.”

However, despite the enthusiasm of top-flight football clubs to access and monetise new markets in Asia and the United States, there seems to be a reluctance to offer mobile services that could make a real difference to the supporter at home, whether they are at the game or not. Brown believes someone needs to make the first move.

He says: “In every business there are leaders and there are followers. Often big brands are not the leaders. They like to see the business model proven first.

Once one or two get it out there, and see it is making money, there will be a snowball effect.”

One thing is for sure, sports clubs must do more to engage with supporters not only on match days but during the rest of the week as well. This could be achieved by offering them, for example, discounted tickets or exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes interviews. Tapping into the tribalism and loyalty of supporters and monetising social media increasingly surrounding clubs, could be the cash cow of the future.

Paythru’s Brown is confident that the transformation of how we view sport will happen sooner rather than later. “We are very close to the tipping point because it is being driven by smartphones and data,” he says.

“We have seen a huge difference this year from last year in take up. The problem of getting a signal in the stadium is the only barrier [to mass adoption] but there are plenty of wifi companies out there able to provide the necessary infrastructure to make it work.”

Matthew Leach is a freelance journalist based in London

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GAMING

Everything to play for Following the T360/iGamingBusiness m-gambling summit in June, the gambling industry has really started to get the mobile bug. Here Simon Woolf, Head of Mobile Development at Rank Interactive, charts how his company has embraced mobile and what it has delivered

so compelling?

In January, Rank launched real money native iPhone and Android apps for the Mecca Bingo and Blue Square brands (see panel). The Mecca Bingo app was the first real money integrated bingo app allowing customers to play the same bingo games and join the same chat rooms as they do online.

Rank has subsequently released a Britain’s Got Talent version of the Bingo app on Android.

The Blue Square app, meanwhile, was developed to facilitate fast betting on the move, including an ver the past 12 months, Rank has made huge strides in step-changing its innovative live betting widget.

Non-transactional/social, native apps have also mobile channel including the acquisition of Rapid Mobile, bringing mobile been launched in the form of the physics-based development resource in-house. Rank Binglo App, which supporting the company’s Mecca After Dark sub-brand, and the Grosvenor Casinos now has a lot to offer in the mobile app, which features new club pages for Rank’s landspace and is seeing customer use grow rapidly and based casinos and information to enhance customencouragingly across the board. ers’ online and offline casino experience.

But first, what has the company done in mobile So far, the company has had more than 115,000 that has helped deliver services that customers find downloads of these native apps.

O

M-web spinning

Alongside this app strategy, Rank Interactive has also been working to enhance its mobile web portfolio and has developed bespoke iPhone and Android ‘games portals’ on the three brands. Customers on iPhone and Android devices can select their favourite games to appear in the carousel on their homescreen. The portal is automatically presented to customers visiting an m-website such as meccabingo. com on their device.

A new Blue Square web app has also been launched to coincide with the new football season with live matches presented in a concise format on the homescreen.

All the Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos mobile products contain a club/casino finder for customers to identify and contact their nearest land-

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GAMING

based establishment.

It’s worth noting that we will have several exciting new developments launching before the end of the year.

Numbers

With this growing array of app and m-web products, the company has seen more people play, rather than – as many fear – seeing mobile just a costly way to cannibalise their audience. The stakes on the Rank Interactive mobile channel have grown by over 150% year-on-year and customer numbers have grown by more than 200%. The major area of growth has been through gaming where Rank has seen huge growth of more than 400% year-on-year.

The company is now seeing up to 25% of stakes coming through the mobile channel on the Blue Square sportsbook. For Mecca, more than 20% of bingo revenue now comes through the bingo app.

Marketing

This year Rank Interactive has become far more active in marketing its mobile products. Activity has included proximity marketing campaigns with O2 sending bespoke messages to customers at events such as Cheltenham and the FA Cup Final.

Mobile has featured heavily within the Mecca TV campaigns and the company has also begun marketing within its land-based casinos and bingo clubs, including interactive mobile terminals in a selection of Grosvenor establishments.

Even the infamous Blue Square Balloon has been used to increase awareness and the company’s ‘Nap on the App’ segment on talkSPORT has proved very popular.

Rank has also recently launched Blue Square Fanzones at Riley’s Snooker venues, the first of a number of mobile partnerships in the pipeline.

CASE STUDY Mecca Bingo app

In early January 2011, Meccabingo.com launched the very first real money integrated native bingo app for iPhone and Android, enabling customers to play the same bingo game online and on mobile. Mecca Bingo customers can win jackpots, take part in the promotions and chat with all the other customers anytime, anywhere.

The app is free to download to all customers, currently it is available for the iPhone and Android, but will be rolled out to other platforms later this year.

Since launch, more than 65,000 customers have downloaded the app bingo app and currently more than 20% of all bingo stakes are coming from mobile customers. Not only has the app has driven bingo to a new market via the iPhone app store, but it has allowed existing customers to access the game at a time and in a location to suit them. We have promoted the app across our TV advertising, on emails and print in a move towards making mobile at the core of all our communication.

The key to the success of the Mecca Bingo’s latest mobile offering is its full integration with Mecca Bingo’s bingo network provider, Virtue Fusion. The work done to provide Mecca customers with mobile bingo was done externally to Virtue Fusion meaning not only is the app is the first of its kind to allow mobile users to play the same bingo games and win the same cash prizes available to online customers, but it is also exclusive to MeccaBingo.com.

The game also features a Mecca Bingo Club finder allowing Mecca to cross over the online/in club divide, in addition to a live bingo schedule with the option to pre-purchase tickets - vital for customers who don’t want to miss out on the latest big game.

The Mecca Bingo App is extremely easy to use, new players can register while existing players are able to log in using their existing account. Customers can deposit and withdraw from the app, update their account details and of course customers can also use the chat room to chat with their buddies who are playing the same game online. In essence the App can function as a stand alone game with a massive liquidity or can form part of the suite of games our online customers can use.

Following on from the success of the Mecca Bingo App, we then released a Birtian’s got Talent Android App to coincide with finals week on the live ITV Show.

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Click the front page

PRINT

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Print media is finding a natural home online, thanks to better digital devices and the chance to be more interactive.

Paul Skeldon looks at consumer thirst for these products and what sorts of new revenue streams they can bring

A

ccording to figures from Ofcom and the Association for Interactive Media and Entertainment (AIME) published earlier this year, revenues in the UK from premium-rate based interaction with media and marketing has grown over the past year to be worth some £810 million.

The print media sector has really embraced interaction services and the whole digital publishing paradigm. And it’s a natural enough fit on a number of levels. Print media has long had a link with the telemedia industry, offering interaction for its readers: much of the money made in the early days of telemedia centred on fulfilling the calls to adverts advertised in newspapers and magazines.

Then there are the cost implications of print. These days for all but the most successful titles, actually printing print media and distributing it is a huge cost – digital media offers the ideal way to distribute that content for a lot less, and to a potentially much wider audience geographically.

And finally there is the inherent interactivity of the web.

Anything digital, while more difficult to read on the toilet (well before the advent of the tablet), has

the extra advantage of being link-able to anything else on line and so can be rich, interactive and immersive.

So for these reasons digital print media is a win-winwin for the consumer and publisher alike. And it can also be a boon to advertisers who, through digital publications can also make their ads clickable.

Oh, and all of it can be tracked and analysed, so media buying is no longer such a hit and miss affair.

The key game changer has been the iPad (other tablets are available), which offers an ideal format for media consumption and takes the ideas of interaction and display to new heights. No wonder then that a study by digital publishing vendor YUDU Media finds that there is a rush to provide digital content to mobile platforms amongst publishers and that two thirds are planning to hit the iPad. The study also finds that the number of users publishing digital-only magazines (versus a digital version of an existing print magazine) will jump 44% in the next 12 months, while the number creating eBooks using digital publishing will increase by 60% in the next 12 months.

YUDU also found that the number planning to create digital publications for mobile platforms will grow significantly over the next 12 months. On iPhone it will grow four fold from 12.1% today to 47.7% in 12 months and on iPad from 15.5 to 56.9%.

Of those not currently developing digital publications for the iPad, almost 50% plan to within 12 months. Of those with no plans to develop digital publications for the iPad, their number one reason is, “no demand from readers.”

“We weren’t surprised that so many digital publishers were interested in mobile platforms, but we were surprised at the speed with which they plan to deploy editions for those platforms,” says Richard Stephenson, CEO of YUDU Media. “The number planning digital editions for the iPad, for example, outpaces even the number planning editions for the iPhone, even though at the time of the survey the iPad had only been on the market for four months. It seems that readers’ appetites for mobile content is more voracious than even we imagined.”

Stephenson notes: “The traditional model of creating digital editions for the web based on print magazine files seems to be trending downward, in favour of a

PRINT

new era, where organizations create digital editions from scratch that are designed to be consumed online – whether that’s on a desktop computer, laptop, netbook, iPad or some other mobile device.”

But many publishers are starting to shy away from just going down the iPad app route and looking as well (if not quite yet ‘instead of’) at how to leverage the power of the web to bring optimised mobile versions of the magazines and websites together on portable devices.

UK company the National Magazine Company is a prime example – and one that shows that its not just a boy thing – optimising its sites for mobile consumption for leading girl’s mag Company and lad’s muscle mag Men’s Health, with MIG. Driving brand engagement, encouraging interaction and data collection is key to the new mobile internet sites for both magazines, explains Sharon Douglas, Group Circulation and Marketing Director, NatMags.

“Users will be able to enter competitions; sign up for newsletters; order subscriptions with ‘click to call’ payment functionality and access content for free on sites optimised for smartphone, feature and traditional mobile handsets,” she says.

“Following a significant increase in traffic numbers to our websites via mobile devices, we identified a need to develop our internet sites so that they were not only optimised for mobile, but that our customers were getting the best service and experience possible.”

The NatMags-MIG deal is interesting in that it seeks to not only mobilise the publishers online offerings, but seeks to make them interactive and revenue generating through new channel, while also looking at how to leverage mobile advertising services offered by MIG’s sister company 4TH Screen.

Rob Weisz, MIG’s Commercial Director, explains: “It is important that mobile dovetails into and compliments NatMag’s existing digital strategy. The new sites for Company and Men’s Health take content feeds directly from Natmag CMS ensuring an up to date, engaging customer experience, specifically designed for mobile.”

Tina Taylor, Commercial Director, 4th Screen Advertising adds: “We are also selling premium mobile advertising across a mix of titles at NatMag, tailored specifically to cater for both male and female audiences.

The Natmag portfolio offers consumers a broad range of lifestyle sites, all of which have the capability to support targeted, rich media mobile advertising that engages readers, whilst also providing a great environment that encourages new advertisers into the mobile space.”

But this kind of digital publishing, with its advertising and revenue generating spin offs, is not limited to

the purely consumer market. In the b2b space a new publication called Mobiledotcomms has launched aimed squarely at the mobile industry and it is leveraging online technology to create a totally sharable, interactive business magazine.

And in France, Momac has developed a comprehensive, intelligent mobile portal for the foremost French economic publication L’Expansion. Users can now access L’Expansion headlines, economic and business news, job boards and more via the new technologically advanced mobile media site.

With rich media features, folding menus, video, image slide shows and articles, the mobile L’Expansion portal offers an ample and informative mobile version of the leading French monthly economics magazine.

Momac Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Milcent emphasises the incorporation of numerous rendering features as well as social media sharing options. “While the L’Expansion mobile site is designed to reach the entire mobile audience, there are certain elements that are particularly attractive to the magazine’s core professional and student readerships, and we’ve made sure those studies and ranking analysis are easily accessible via mobile,” he says. “Using latest HTML5 and mobile javascript techniques allows readers to make the most of L’Expansion content regardless of the user’s mobile device capabilities.”

Beating the gatekeeper

With all this going for it, it is no wonder that those seeking to position themselves as the gatekeepers of digital print are keen to extract their share of the revenue (we’re all looking at you Apple and your 30%). But solutions and ways around this exist that don’t mean just using the mobile web.

The success and popularity of the iPad has spurred publishers from all over the world to adopt the medium, despite Apple’s 30% commission charge. However, the strict Apple controls and long approval process has meant many large publishers have been struggling to find the right sales model, especially those with time-sensitive publications such as daily or weekly titles.

But ePublishing specialists YUDU Media claims to have a solution and has unveiled a demo video of its new iPad subscriptions feature. The new feature gives YUDU iPad app customers the option of selling packages of multiple titles from within their Apps, allowing their readers to subscribe in advance for a chosen period of time. Publishers can choose the packages that they wish to offer.

If readers wish to purchase a new iPad edition on the day of publishing, they can now do so by taking out a subscription. Thereafter the subscriber can access any publication that is pushed to the app until their period of access expires. The YUDU solution also allows publishers to add subscribers from other subscription systems and gives publishers the opportunity to bundle iPad and print subscriptions.

Richard Stephenson, CEO of YUDU says: “We’ve devised a solution that will enable publishers to sell subscriptions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod, an enormous breakthrough in mobile publishing that will help to make iPad sales a viable revenue growth strategy.”

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ADVERTISING

engage

On paper mobile advertising has much to offer consumers and brands alike, but in practice efforts so far seem to be annoying consumers more than enticing them in. So what needs to change? Paul Skeldon reports

A

Don’t enrage

dvertising may be ubiquitous on smartphones across network operators, yet, according to new research from YouGov, UK consumers grudgingly accept them as part of their dayto-day mobile experience with many considering them intrusive and many more ignoring them altogether.

Nearly 80% of smartphone users questioned by YouGov believe that mobile ads are intrusive. In addition to this only 5% think such ads are a good idea and welcome them. But most worryingly for advertisers is the general apathy smartphone users have toward ads, with the vast majority completely ignoring any kind of placement – 88% ignore ads on applications and 86% have ignored placements on the mobile internet.

Awareness of advertising on smartphones in the last three months, however, is high. Apple iPhone users and O2 and 3 customers are most likely to have seen ads – 46% of Apple users, 42% of O2 customers and 40% of 3 customers have received ad messages of some sort.

Active responses by smartphone users to ads remain very low. According to YouGov’s findings, few respondents click on a link in an ad – 6% from a text, 6% from an email, 4% from the mobile internet, 3% from an app, and 2% via an instant message. Even fewer users have bought a product or service as a result of advertising – 3% from a trusted text and 1% from advertising on an app.

However some 27% of respondents agree that they would welcome more advertising if it offered money off deals or special offers. 21% agree that they do not mind ads as long as they are relevant to them.

So all is not lost, but what can the advertising industry and the telemedia industry do to make mobile advertising work? After all, the promise was that such ads would be content heavy and something that consumers would want to share and engage with, not be annoyed by, as mobile is such a personal device.

“On the face of it, it looks very bleak indeed for mobile advertising with high consumer awareness, but equally high resentment, apathy and inaction,” says Adele Gritten, Head of Media Consulting at YouGov. “But the research shows that mobile ads really can provide brands with an effective vehicle to engage directly with audiences and drive actions.”

Gritten believes that marketers need to harness

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the higher level of personal engagement that mobile users have with their handsets to provide them with something truly unique, relevant and interesting.

“In particular money off deals and special offers will appeal to consumers,” she says. “Ad treatments must be more relevant and personal, and advertisers have to stop hoping that spam volume alone will drive response rates.”

This is borne out by another study, this time by Mojiva, a mobile ad network that specialises in making “big idea,” cross-platform mobile strategies come to life at scale, in its recently published Mobile Audience Guide (MAG) EMEA. With almost 60% of respondents now spending well over half their time “online” on mobile devices there is a growing interest in mobile advertising, with 58% clicking on an ad at least once a week. Those ads most likely to be successful were the ones encouraging interactivity (30%), animated banner ads were also popular (20%) followed by video ads (18%). Those least likely to stimulate interest were the expanding screen take-over type with only 2% in favour of this style.

And it seems as though music acts as a stimulus with 32% of people most likely to click through to an ad from a music group, followed by 13% from social/dating companies and 12% from sport. Less popular groups include traffic (1%) and restaurants and bars (2%).

When questioned about what mobile advertising prompted them to do, 48% said they would browse a website, 45% download a mobile application and 40% listen to music, with 33% requesting more information and 31% purchasing a product.

“The Mojiva MAG findings show that there is a growing acceptance of advertising in mobile by users, but it highlights the need for advertisers to make sure they are creating a rich and interactive experience for the consumer if they are to be successful,” said Amy Vale, Head of Marketing for Mojiva. “When advertisers do so, mobile users are seeking more information and developing a loyalty towards that brand as a result.” she says.

But it is good, old-fashioned money off deals that many think will really drive the mobile marketing and advertising market. After all, in these straightened times, even I would look at spam text marketing if it genuinely looked like it might give me money off something I actually wanted to buy.

According to a study by JiWire, Some 69% of the

ADVERTISING on-the-go UK mobile users have told a survey by JiWire that they are willing to share their location to receive more relevant content and information – and that includes marketing and advertising. In the US, 60% are willing to offer their location for better information.

According to the study, 31% said that the ability to compare prices is the most valuable aspect of mobile for shopping, but, when it comes to proximity, 29% want sales and promotions within one mile of a store, while 24% want promotions within 10 miles of the store. Some 38% prefer to receive local deals over email.

David Staas, senior vice president of marketing at JiWire, explains: “Local deals are increasingly an integral part of the mobile shopping experience, with 92% purchasing at least one deal per month. The growth in local deals is also being driven by sharing. Seventy five percent of the on-the-go audience is sharing deals regularly, up 21% from last quarter.

The most popular way to share is through email, word of mouth and Facebook. On average consumers are spending less than $50 on local deals, though overall men are more willing to spend more than women.”

So what does and doesn’t work?

For smartphone users in particular, basic banners remain the most recognised formats – 87% see them while browsing the mobile internet, and 80% while using apps, says a survey by YouGov into UK consumer attitudes to mobile advertising.

When browsing, recommended links to search (63%), rollover banners (51%), and special offers (47%), attract the most attention.

While using apps it is sponsored apps and games (45%), recommendations linked to apps (44%) and a full screen ad before an app is activated (38%) that are the next most recognised by smartphone users.

Embedding ads into applications is the most effective way to get messages to smartphone users – with 33% of respondents recognising placements every time they use an app, and 19% recalling ads on apps they use daily. Not surprisingly, Apple and HTC users are most likely to have been reached given their high use of apps.

Unsolicited text messaging, along with advertising on apps, is one of the main types of advertising or marketing smartphone owners have remembered receiving in the past three months, however they are not acted on by respondents.

It is evenly high across operators – 64% of Orange, 57% of O2, and 56% of T-Mobile and the same proportion of Vodafone users have all received unsolicited texts from advertisers in the last three months. Only 33% of 3 customers have received unwelcome text messages.

Despite the proportions of respondents who remember receiving unsolicited texts, 79% say that they generally receive these less often than once a month. When asked by YouGov how they deal with these messages, 53% state that they ignore the message and delete it.

However, figures from a separate study by Velti finds that almost 50% of consumers who had received a targeted SMS from a retailer or brand then went on to buy something from that specific retailer.

Velti’s research also shows how mobile advertising works well in harmony with other media marketing and advertising campaigns. 82% of consumers who used their mobile while watching TV researched further details around a product or service on their mobile devices after having seen an advertisement on TV.

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DIRECTORY 24 Seven Communications With a resolute and reliable infrastructure, 24 Seven Communications has established itself as a first class network, offering its customers the very best telephony service. Our specialised service offers designing bespoke IVR, intelligent call routing, call recording and call conferencing to name a few. We have built our own infrastructure to support our operations and to cater for the individual needs of our clients. Contact us for further information.

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PEOPLE Ex-Amazon boss joins mxData as chairman Pioneer in the delivery of live information to mobile devices, mxData has announced the appointment of ex-Amazon Managing Director Brian McBride as its first chairman. mxData delivers live information to a wide range of mobile, web and sat-nav devices through any operator onto any platform. Its highly successful range of apps include Tube Map, helping London’s travellers plan and navigate their journey underground and the award winning Traffic TV, providing drivers with live traffic data information from across the UK. McBride stepped down from Amazon. co.uk in January 2011 having previously held senior positions during a 25 year career in IBM, Dell Computers and T-Mobile where he was UK managing director. He has recently been appointed non-executive director of Monitise PLC, a leading player in mobile payments.

David James CEO, mxData, said: “I have admired Brian for many years and when it became clear we needed a chairman to take us to the next level he was the first name on our list. He is one of the best connected executives in the mobile, technology and retail sectors and we are honoured that he has accepted our offer to join us.”

Guardian News & Media appoints commercial video head Guardian News & Media (GNM), publisher of the Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk, has appointed Steve Folwell as business director, multimedia and brand extensions. Folwell, who moves from the role of Guardian Media Group’s (GMG) director of strategy and new ventures, will have a particular focus on video. He will report to GNM’s executive director - commercial, Adam Freeman. Folwell will be working closely with GNM’s editorial multimedia team to realise new commercial opportunities. He will also be responsible for establishing a small unit that will invest in new products and businesses under the Guardian brand, working with external organisations and entrepreneurs who bring specific expertise.

Veteran mobile marketer Buckley joins Eagle Eye Solutions Russell Buckley, former VP of Global Alliances at Google owned Admob, has today joined mobile voucher and redemption technology provider Eagle Eye Solutions as Chief Marketing Officer to expand Eagle Eye’s relationships with retailers and brands. Buckley joined AdMob in 2006 as its first employee, with the remit to launch the company in the EMEA region. Buckley had been working in mobile marketing

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since 2000 and was already a high profile figure, becoming well known via his blog, MobHappy. He subsequently was appointed to a worldwide spokesperson role for AdMob as VP of Global Alliances, before the company was acquired by Google for $750m in May 2010.

FremantleMedia Enterprises appoints Richard Beach as gambling product manager EMEA FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), one of the largest creators and producers of entertainment brands in the world, has today announced the appointment of Richard Beach as Gambling Product and Implementation Manager EMEA. Richard will be responsible for all product development and implementation across online, land-based and mobile channels and will report directly to Simon Murphy, who was recently appointed Head of Gambling for EMEA. Richard’s role will require a collaborative approach and will include building relationships with external game developers, platform providers and operators, as well as internal departments within the broader FME business.

Richard brings with him a wealth of industry experience and has held previous roles with land-based developer and platform provider Cyberview as well as leading land-based, online and mobile content provider IGT. He has worked with a number of major gambling operators and platform providers in both the UK and emerging European markets, launching industry leading online brands such as Rainbow Riches, Monopoly and Cleopatra.

Oxygen8 appoints new CEO for Ireland Oxygen8 Communications, a global mobile, voice and billing specialist, has appointed Ray Tierney as CEO of its Irish business. Tierney, formerly Sales Director for Ireland, will be responsible for further developing Oxygen8’s market leading position as a provider of mobile marketing and business communications solutions to leading blue-chip and media companies, in addition to government agencies in the Irish market. Specifically, he will be focusing on expanding Oxygen8’s professional services revenue stream which it offers in conjunction with its platform technology and global billing capability. Tierney will also continue in his role in assisting Oxygen8’s international expansion.

Telemedia magazine is part of a stable of media products covering the value chain for media and content companies, to third party service developers and providers to network operators and billing companies. Our products comprise: Telemedia-news.com an online news source, updated as the news happens and the home page for all we do

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Telemedia360 a monthly fully interactive PDF newsletter featuring comment and analysis behind the headlines and backed up with full web linkage and, new for 2010, video interviews

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