access: mobile September Issue by Nick Lane

Inspiring brands to communicate with the mobile consumer September 2011

Permission-based marketing An industry split over growth prospects

Mobile Consumer Trends Update Our data shows Android surging, but iPhone still leads usage

Also in this issue OpenMarket White Paper: Mobile payments and crediting / Poynt / The Workshop Challenge / Guest column: Essence on mobiles / Gee W Bush and Toe-Knee Blair on mobile ad opt-in / Data points ... www.mobilesquared.co.uk www.mobilesquared.co.uk

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editorial Nick Lane, chief strategy analyst nick@mobilesquared.co.uk Tel: (44) 118 977 6902 Mob: (44) 7976 057 052 Skype: nick-lane1 Gavin Patterson, chief markets analyst gavin@mobilesquared.co.uk Tel: (44) 1904 675 945 Mob: (44) 7940 272 941 Skype: gav.patterson Caroline Baldwin, reporter & researcher caroline@mobilesquared.co.uk Tel: (44) 118 979 5610 Skype: cl_baldwin1 Becci Price, PR & marketing becci@mobilesquared.co.uk Tel: (44) 118 979 5610 Skype: becci_p Aman Toor, client services manager aman@mobilesquared.co.uk Tel: (44) 118 977 6902 How to find us: mobileSQUARED HQ, St Pauls Clock House, Wokingham. Berkshire, RG41 1EX, UK ISSN no. 1759-6483 Published in the UK 12 times per year in pdf format

Welcome to the first issue of our rebranded monthly magazine - access: mobile. Our new branding will also be rolled out across commercial events, the weekly research and analysis updates, under the guise of access: mobileROADSHOW and access: mobileWEEKLY . The single branding will see our access: mobile portfolio focus on connecting brands and businesses with mobile consumers. Our data, research, knowledge and insight will cover mobile marketing and advertising, social media, internet, entertainment, content and apps. To celebrate our rebranding, mobileSQUARED is running a competition giving away sponsorship worth £10,000. The winner will receive Gold Sponsorship and a Keynote presentation at our access: mobileROADSHOW event in London on Nov 9th. How do you enter? It’s very simple – we want to hear about your/your clients’ most successful mobile consumer case study to drive mobile interaction, awareness and/ or revenues. It could be on apps, online, WAP, a campaign, social media, a branding proposition, retail… you name it. The submission judged to be The Best of the Best will win. Simple! Rules and guidelines are now up on our website: www.mobilesquared.co.uk In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading access: mobile. In this issue, you will find an extract from our first Mobile Consumer Trends quarterly update, featuring headline data and forecasts based on 2Q11 consumer panel research covering the usage of mobile internet, applications, advertising, opt-in marketing and commerce. Future issues will explore each of these five areas in greater detail - including breakouts by age, gender, location and device type. You will also find exclusive analysis of permission-based marketing, extracts from one of our recent White Papers on mobile payment and crediting, the latest news, data and analysis from our website, guest articles and the Workshop Challenge where mobile advertising experts battle it out to create the best mobile ad campaign and sit atop our leader board think Top Gear’s star in a reasonably priced car! Finally, I’d like to wish a welcome return to our covert analysts, Gee W Bush & Toe-Knee Blair, who are still searching for the mobile advertising revenues of mass construction, while in the October issue it will be nice to see the appearance of our new number-cruncher extraordinaire, Bruce Foresight ... to see the appearance, nice!

No part of this publication may be copied, photocopied or duplicated without prior written permission from the publisher, D2 Mobile Ltd

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is a trading name of mobile D2 Mobile Ltd. SQUARED

The mobileSQUARED team offers unique forecasting, analysis, research and insight on the mobile market, providing highly focused reports and bespoke intelligence. We tailor our approach to the requirements of each project and use our network of global network of contacts. Our extensive market knowledge stems from years covering the mobile industry meaning that we’re in a position to respond immediately to market developments. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed by individual contributors may not personally reflect the views of D2 Mobile Ltd. Whilst reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the information and content of this publication was correct as at the date of first publication, neither D2 Mobile Ltd nor any person engaged or employed by D2 Mobile Ltd accepts any liability for any errors, omissions or other inaccuracies. Readers should independently verify any facts and figures as no liability can be accepted in this regard. Readers assume full responsibility and risk accordingly for their use of such information and content.

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Feature - Permission-based marketing Data - Smartphone usage Column - Gee W Bush and Toe-Knee Blair Analysis - Mobile Consumer Trends Workshop Challenge News roundup Data - Apps and burgers Company profile - Poynt White Paper - OpenMarket Column - Matt Issacs from Essence

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feature

Permission-based marketing: An industry split over prospects for growth Permission-based marketing (PBM) is on the rise as more and more brands and businesses, not to mention the operator community, realise the potential of using text to communicate with consumers is more direct and more likely to be read than email. However, the mobile marketing industry appears to be split over just how fast PBM will grow over the next 12-24 months. While a number of companies are predicting significant growth in the sector, others claim some of the biggest spenders have undergone enforced cutbacks and that will stifle growth in the near-term. One of the most salient points to arise, is that in developed mobile markets between 30-40% of companies are using mobile, and PBM in particular. While the need for education around PBM remains critical to secure growth, there is undoubtedly an enormous potential.

Alastair Shortland, CEO of Txtlocal, which provide bulk SMS and mobile marketing services, claims to have 75,000 businesses using the service and expects a significant growth over the next 12 months. Similarly, Henry Cazalet, director of Text Marketer also thinks that mobile marketing is undergoing rapid, organic growth. “Mobile marketing, or PBM, has been around since 1998, but there aren’t that many companies using the mobile phone as a way to market; probably about 30% of the UK.” Additional research by mobileSQUARED suggests this figure could be low. The Direct Marketing Assocation (DMA) believes the figure is around 40%. Across Europe, for example, the penetration of PBM in companies is believed to be lower than in the UK. That means, the opportunity for PBM across Europe, is vast, with

anywhere between 60-70% of companies yet to adopt the medium. Cost and education Cazalet believes there’s still a huge amount of work to be done to educate companies about the power of PBM to their business. “The key word here is permission,” adds Cazalet “The reason why SMS marketing works so well is that it’s not really perceived as spam, because we don’t get spam onto our mobile as we do on our email. It’s only in the last 2 or 3 years that more and more companies have started to look at PBM and find out how and why it will work for them.” Any business can set up a mobile SMS campaign, from the very small SMEs and local pubs alerting a few of their regulars to special offers, to big brands such as Argos which boasts an opt-in database of over 6 million customers.

However, Mark Brill, CEO of Formation which offers SMS marketing through the channels Txt4ever and Text4everywhere, has a more cautious view of the immediate future of mobile marketing. “On the whole we are all experiencing growth,” he told mobileSQUARED. “The government was probably the single biggest spender in mobile in the UK this time last year, but they’re no longer in this position because of cutbacks. It’s not a case of saying it’s all growth, but there are areas which are not necessarily expanding.” This is also highlighted by Steven Bibby owner of Textanywhere, he says the economic situation continues to hamper companies. Brill agrees and highlights how the recessionary period has effected marketing and advertising, quoting one car manufacturer dropping their £20,000 mobile campaign, but keeping their existing TV advertising costing over £2 million. It might be a growth market, but businesses are still struggling,” says Bibby. “We’re getting new clients on board but apparently some clients are going by-the-way. It’s nothing to do with the SMS marketing side of things, they’re just generally going out of business.” Bibby, like all PBM service providers, has companies that can spend £5

a month and companies that spend £7,000 a month and upwards.

keting and change how and what users opt-in to receive via email.

“We’ll deal with your local pub, and we’ll deal with big brand names as well. The way I tend to explain it is that we’re a Post Office, where you get the little old ladies in to post their letters, but they might also be next to a major PLC company,” explains Bibby. “About 75% [of our customers] are the smaller businesses and 25% are the bigger businesses.”

But not everyone agrees with the resurrection of email marketing. Matt McNeill, CEO of Sign-Up.to, told mobileSQUARED that ”permissionbased marketing really is the only sustainable form of direct marketing which has a very long term future. It’s about making users aware that it’s a much more targeted tool than email. The clients who get the most out of it are the ones who plan in advance and know what they want to achieve from the campaign.”

Companies can start a PBM campaign with as little as £2. With SMS messages starting at an average of 3.7p per message, it is a cost which is not associated with an email campaign. A threat to SMS marketing? “Although the cost of sending a text message is peanuts, sending it to 10,000 people isn’t,” says Jon Mew, director of mobile operations at the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau). “It starts to become a more significant cost. The cost per-text message is obviously much higher than the cost per-thousand you would pay in an email advertising campaign.”Mew highlights that email marketing could be in for a resurgent period because of the number of users accessing their emails on their mobile devices. However, the consideration between SMS and email is the effectiveness of PBM versus no cost for email. For example, the reader rate of SMS is around 98%, whereas email reaches peaks of 20%, but is on average significantly lower. What’s more, now that emails are becoming as mobile as SMS, there could be a rebirth in email marketing which could also potentially threaten the success of SMS mar-

SMS spam The biggest deterrent for companies using PBM to communicate with their customers is the ever-present threat of being labelled a ‘spammer’, a legacy carried over from email marketing. Cazalet of Text Marketer is concerned about SMS hitting a critical mass and negatively affecting brands. “There’s a danger because the more companies that use these tools, the more texts we’ll all get. If all your local shops started texting you, it might be useful, but if it gets too much it will very quickly become a nightmare,” explains Cazalet. “You have to use SMS with caution and make sure it’s not about selling stuff the entire time, but using the mobile to get interesting nuggets of information across to people.” Explaining the SMS opt-in regime, Janine Paterson, solicitor for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), highlights that the DM Code of Practice states the general legal rule is that SMS marketing is opt-in, whereby marketers must proactively gain consent from consumers they want to contact through SMS. Marketers cannot send random, untargeted commercial communica-

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tions using data obtained in breach of data and privacy regulations. Bibby, from Textvertising, agrees and believes as long as a business sticks to what it does for a living, it works because that is what the consumer has opted in to. The issue that could potentially blight the success of PBM is the fact that companies can purchase vast mobile databases and deliver irrelevant marketing messages. “‘Have you had an accident in the past 12 months?’” highlights Bibby of a form of spam rife right now, “Now people are getting inundated with these text messages,” he adds. Regardless of the threat of spam or abusing mobile databases, the fact remains that SMS is the most powerful form of communication for a brand. Research by mobileSQUARED in 2010 revealed that over 95% of messages are read within 3 minutes. Put into a marcomms context, a company sending out an update to its opt-in databse of 10,000 will be read by 9,500 within minutes. “Even though everyone is poopooing SMS these days, from our experience it is still is the strongest engagement method,” says director of marketing at Velti, Kelaine Olvera. “Back in the 1990s there was a bit of spam, but that’s been controlled now, so people know when they get a text it’s going to be something of value to them.” Velti recently released statistics from a UK survey which confirmed that 50% of people who had received SMS marketing followed through to buy something from that text. Olvera believes the success of messaging is based on opt-in pro-

grammes, and compares the high response rates and conversion to the fact the messages are targeted and contextual. “When a consumer receives an SMS, the assumption is that they’ve opted into that programme so they want to hear from that retailer or operator because it’s interesting, so they’re going to click through,” she says.

Even though everyone is poo-pooing SMS these days, from our experience it is still is the strongest engagement method. Back in the 1990s there was a bit of spam, but that’s been controlled now, so people know when they get a text it’s going to be something of value to them. Olvera, director of marketing at Velti

Velti has worked with UK high-street retailer Argos in developing its mobile opt-in database of 6 million. “Customers of Argos who had texted in to reserve an item, but had never bought it, were kept on history,” says Olvera “So Argos are sitting on a lot of customer data and now what they’ve done is turned around and marketed to customers who showed interest in buying a particular item.” Location and vouchering The latest development in PBM, is the role of location. According to research by ad sales house JiWire, nearly 70% of UK consumers would opt-in to location-based services if they were to receive relevant content, compare to only 53% in the US. What’s more, 33% of UK consumers would be influenced by sales and promotions to visit new stores. In July 2011 mobile operator O2 launched Priority Moments, which serves location-based money saving offers from big brands straight to its customer database. O2 customers

opt in by either downloading an app, or visiting the website and agreeing to share their current location data. Mew from IAB points out that there is massive growth in vouchering as an added value to customers, which has developed from companies like Groupon. Adam Levene, chief strategy officer at Grapple agrees. “O2 have done a fantastic job of showing that operators do have a really strong role in the value chain, especially around permission-based marketing,” says Levene. “I think it’s really encouraging what they’ve done and as a first entry to the market it’s pretty strong. I think other operators will have to follow suit, they’ve all spent a lot of time on SMS and MMS because it’s a channel they own, but now they will start to bring more and more proposition through apps. Orange Wednesdays started via SMS and they then created an app for customers, but it was very limited because there are no constant offers from multiple brands. But they already went into apps to do that, because they realised it was a really good channel for them.” Other apps which have used location-based services to provide customers with added value is the app called Shoparazzi and MTV’s new Live & Local app which is based in the US. After concentrating on developing apps with coupon redemptions such as Local Sale Finder, the developer Geocast, which delivers solutions for location-based businesses to generate footfall and loyalty via mobile devices, have created Shoparazzi. The app aggregates sales from over 15,000 UK stores allowing consumers to find their closest bargains. “Our mission is to influence customer behaviour via smartphones. What we see is a real burning need for consumers to help them in the real world, where people still

do most of their shopping. 90%+ of their shopping is still done in the real world where people are buying real things. So we’re bridging that gap using smartphones,” explains Brad Liebmann, founder of Geocast. “The app learns what you like over time,” he continues. “So the more you use it, the more we can target to you. We’re able to use these learnings to tailor the sales and the offers to them.” Pushing marketing forward Even a well thought app can be forgotten among the vast choice in today’s market, in order to prevent this from happening, Levene recommends push notifications to gently remind customers of an offer they may wish to redeem, encouraging them to return to the app. He says, “Push alerts, in my opinion, are an evolution of direct marketing and SMS which reminds users how good the app is at providing ongoing value.” It works in the same way as an email or SMS marketing campaign: customers show interest in a brand by downloading their app and then they can opt-in to receive push alert messages regarding activity of the brand and the app. To find out a little more about the potential surrounding push notifications and mobile marketing, mobileSQUARED talks to US-based Urban Airship. This company partners with brands such as Verizon and Warner Bros. to create engaging mobile marketing campaigns through push notifications, rich media and in-app purchases. Vice president of growth, Dylan Boyd, describes how push notifications were originally created by Apple to alert users of any new content or goings on within the app. It is still a relatively new market with Urban Airship only launching them two years ago on some of the iPhone’s very first apps. “It’s changing the way people are using SMS messaging on devices. Facebook have just launched their own non-SMS notification app and Apple is soon to be launching a similar instant messaging service called iMessage. It’s an alternative

to sending messages over carriers, whose cost structures are quite high for companies and consumers using SMS,” explains Boyd.

Our mission is to influence customer behaviour via smartphones. What we see is a real burning need for consumers to help them in the real world, where people still do most of their shopping. 90%+ of their shopping is still done in the real world where people are buying real things. Liebmann, founder of Geocast

This new marketing tool is explicitly opt-in only, taking lessons from ten years of SMS and email marketing. Boyd describes it as a ‘complete closed loop, user controlled optin system’ with Apple and Google monitoring this over a strict set of rules. This means that notifications are also resilient to spam messaging, as notifications are automatically turned off when an app is downloaded. Once the app asks the user’s permission, the user can also set preferences to state what time of day they wish to receive notifications and detailing what types of messages they want to receive. This produces an extremely targeted form of marketing. These notifications also increase user visits to apps. ComScore pointed out earlier this year that Groupon and Living Social in the US claimed that 14% of users are engaging with an app after see-

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ing a push notification, while the Urban Airship client Dictionary.com increased its active user iPhone rate by 6%. However, Boyd says it is not just about encouraging users back to the app, “We’re trying to use push notifications to welcome users upfront, instead of encouraging them back with a notification which might just remind them to delete it anyway. We don’t want to lose them in the first place,” he adds. Apps or SMS? Both have the same rules It is clear to say that permissionbased marketing has come on a very long journey since its inception, through many different platforms and tools. Now with users becoming more reliant on mobile web and wifi, it is only natural for marketers to look at ways to utilise this technology. While at the same time Levene points out that there’s still a learning curve and many brands and businesses are jumping onto new technologies without thinking it through. He also interestingly adds, “Apps have leant themselves really well to big brands more than SMEs, and I think SMS is still a really good channel for SMEs - your starting to market to customers you already have and that becomes really valuable to them,” suggesting that SMS marketing will not disappear if marketing through apps becomes commonplace. With all new technologies, marketers must follow their direct marketing guidelines and use the tool correctly. Spam and irrelevant messaging will always be used as an abuse of the technology, but companies are only harming their own brand in the long term. Regardless of the tool and its simplicity or complexity, there is a simple ground rule brands must remember when using all forms of permission-based marketing: that customers who have opted-in to receive marketing deserve to be offered extra value and to be treated differently than a consumer on the street. caroline@mobilesquared.co.uk

data point: UK

50% smartphone penetration in 2011 MobileSQUARED forecasts the number of smartphones in the UK will have risen almost 200% from the end of 2009 to approximately 32.5 million by the end of this year. Around 30 million phones are sold every year in the UK and more than 50% of those are now smartphones. In fact, smartphones constitute the vast majority of postpaid (pay monthly) sales, while postpaid sales are also increasing in proportion to prepaid sales. This means the rate of smartphone growth is going to keep accelerating â&#x20AC;&#x201C; great news for all you mobile advertisers, marketers and brands! Over the same period, the number of featurephones in the market is expected to fall about 26% from 68 million in 2009. Android smartphone devices will obviously see the greatest bounce, up almost 2,000% from end-2009, with Apple up 306% and BlackBerry rising 185%. Meanwhile, the number of Symbian devices in the UK are estimated to have fallen around 30% over the 24-month period and will rank 4th behind Android, Apple and BlackBerry at the end of 2011 from 1st end-2009 and 3rd end-2010. Overall, the smartphone market share of total devices will be just shy of 40% by the end of this year, up

from 13.5% end-2009. Android will constitute 34% of total smartphones used, followed by Apple with 27% and BlackBerry with 24%. The numbers are even greater when applied to actual population penetration, with smartphones users growing from 18% of the population in 2009 to over 50% by the end of this year.

What next for Mr Jobs, Adopt a phone? Toe-Knee Blair Hey, Gee W, do you know what you have in common with Apple? Gee W Bush What? Toe-Knee Blair Until recently, you both had powerful jobs. Gee W Bush I do like Apples. I always like to consumerise a pair as part of my six a day. Toe-Knee Blair You mean an apple and a pear? Gee W Bush No, two apples. Toe-Knee Blair We’re not talking about the fruit Gee W, we’re talking about the company that has revolutionised the way people listen to music and use their mobile phones. Do you think Apple will continue to flourish after Steve Jobs has stepped down? Gee W Bush I always thought the man was an

idiot. If The Beatles came to me and said ‘sign me up’ I sure as hell woulda. What was he thinking about? In fact, when I was in the oral office, and Cheney and Rumsfeld presented me with the opportunity to sign up the next big thing, I almost bit their arm off I was so eager. Very strange though, as I never did find out what happened to The WMDs? Toe-Knee Blair I don’t think The WMDs were a band Gee W. Gee W Bush Certainly not in The Beatles’ league Toe-Knee. As for Steve Jobs, I think he should help with relocating unwanted mobile phones, like I’ve been doing for the past month. Very rewardering work indeed. Toe-Knee Blair Unwanted phones? Gee W, we’ve been In Search of Mobile Advertising Revenues of Mass Construction, and I fail to see what unwanted phones have to do with our latest mission on permission-based marketing. For the last month we’ve been looking at how brands are encouraging con-

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sumers to sign up to receive news and updates etc. In the UK, there are about 17 million mobile users that have signed up for these alerts on their mobile. I guess you could call it mobile ad opt-in. Gee W Bush No need to say it slowly Toe-Knee, I’m not stupidiserous. Say it how it is: Mobile adoption. And I think you can safely say that the number of phones with new owners is 17 million and 5. I’ve now rehomified a Nokia, given two iPhones to some visionary impaired friends, an HTC to Barb, and I’ve given an STD to Condoleesa Rice. Toe-Knee Blair Mobile ad opt-in is the process by which users allow brands to communicate with them using the mobile device. Mobile adoption is more likely to be a song played by The WMDs. Gee W Bush Well my good buddy, looks like we’re going to be busy. It’s going to take a mighty long time to oversee the returnarization of all those 17 million and 5 mobile phones.

mct update

Android surges, but iPhone still leads usage The following is an extract from Mobile Consumer Trends update: 4Q10-4Q11 looking at the headline data covering usage of mobile internet, apps, advertising, opt-in marketing and commerce over the 12 months to the end of the year. All figures and forecasts are taken form mobileSQUARED’s campaign planning database – Mobile Consumer Trends, and based on our latest quarterly consumer panel survey from 2Q11. The total number of mobile operator devices in the UK is expected to rise 2.3% from 81.04 million end-2010, to 82.91 million end-2011, with smartphone penetration of total devices increasing from 24.28% end-2010 (19.68 million) to 39.13% end-2011 (32.44 million). The number of smartphones in the UK is forecast to rise almost 65% over the period driven by the almost unstoppable adoption of Android, the youth segment usage of BlackBerry and, of course, the iPhone.

Mobile Internet

More importantly, however, these numbers mean that smartphone penetration measured by population numbers will rise from 32.22% in 2010 to 52.77% to end-2011 – an enormous watershed in terms of how we all communicate and interact with mobile digital media.

Although iPhones only accounted for 8% of the total devices in market end 2010, rising to 11% by the end of this year, they account for approximately one quarter of total mobile internet devices over the period. Android-based mobile internet usage will rise from 9.6% of total devices end 2010 to 28.7%, while BlackBerry will see a decline in mobile internet market share from 21.5% to 18.8% despite an overall growth in sales. The anomaly with BlackBerry is a result of extreme growth among 18-25 year olds (mainly the student population) who are primarily interested in the cheap BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) capabilities.

Android devices are forecast to grow from 2.71 million end 2010 to 11.16 million at the end of this year – more than one third of the total smartphones in market. iPhone is expected to drop from first place to second, growing from 6.4 million to 8.82 million, with BlackBerry dropping from second to third – growing from 5.62 million to 7.88 million. Symbian devices will continue to fall, with a slight upturn in numbers for both Microsoft and Others.

The total number of mobile internet users in the UK is forecast to grow almost 40% from 21.57 million end 2010 to 30.2 million at the end of this year, driven by the burgeoning trade in smartphones. Moreover, the accelerating take-up of devices running on the Android, iOS and BlackBerry operating systems will see the smartphone penetration of mobile internet users also rise sharply - from 58% end 2010 to 74% end 2011.

Despite rapid growth in unit sales over the period, mobileSQUARED be-

lieves BlackBerry is likely to see the same decline in sales it has witnessed across north America – and rumours of providing BBM to Android and, possibly, Apple is not going to help this.

Mobile Applications

App users in the UK are forecast to grow 51.2% from 16.69 million end10, to 25.24 million by the end this year. App usage will remain proportionately higher among owners of Apple devices, although the sheer volume of Android sales will see it just sneak ahead in term of users by the end of the period. The majority of app users are obviously on smartphones, rising from 68% of the total end-10, to 80.5% at the end of this year. iPhone owners will account for 34.2% of all app users at the start of the period, falling to 31.2% end this year, while Android will increase from 11.2% to 31.3%. On a proportionate basis, 89.1% of total iPhone users downloaded and used apps end-10, rising to 89.4% by the end of this year, while Android will see app users grow from 69.1% of total ownership to 70.7% over the period. The disparity with mobile internet usage is not quite as marked, with 90% of iPhone owners using the mobile internet end-10 and 90.3% end-11, compared to 76.8% and 77.7% respectively on Android. The difference in app and Internet usage from Apple to Android is due to the vast number of different Android devices available, and varying price points, compared to Apple. Hence, low-end Android devices are still largely used as featurephones.

Mobile Commerce

Commerce numbers are estimated to grow 23% from 16.89 million end-10 to 20.76 million by the end of this year, with the growth unsurprisingly driven by smartphones. The penetration of smartphone

devices among total m-commerce users is expected to jump from 49% to 62% over the period. The iPhone remains the single most used device for m-commerce activities (the purchase of physical goods and services) accounting for 20% of total users end-10, and forecast to hit 25% end-11. Android owners only accounted for 5% of total m-commerce users at the end of last year, although the number is forecast to rise to 12% by end 2011, while other smartphones (including BlackBerry, Symbian, Microsoft and Others) will rise from 24% to 25% over the period. The penetration of m-commerce usage among iPhone owners is expected to rise from 53% to 59% over the period, while Android mcommerce penetration will fall from 31% to 22% due to the massive growth in the number of devices in the market as well as featurephone-type usage.

Mobile Advertising

devices accessing mobile ads driven primarily by BlackBerry. Furthermore, the proportion of total iPhone users who have acted on a mobile ad (either purchased as a result in-store, on PC, on mobile, or seen but not purchased) is forecast to grow from 49% to 67% over the period, while the proportion of total Android users will actually fall from 48% to 29% despite an almost 150% increase in the number of Android device users viewing mobile ads from 1.3 million to 3.24 million.

Mobile Opt-in

mobileSQUARED forecasts that opt-in users will grow 27.6% over the period from 13.5 million to 17.2 million as brands increasingly realise the power of mobile marketing. Initiatives such as O2 more, and its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Priority Momentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; scheme have gained tremendous traction in the market and consumers are increasingly likely to use mobile as a vehicle to discover and redeem offers.

Mobile advertising numbers are growing strongly, up 66% over the period from 10.82 million to 18 million. Smartphones again dominate the numbers, accounting for 77% of all eyeballs reached end-10 and 85% by the end of this year.

Mobile opt-in is the only area currently tracked by Mobile Consumer Trends where featurephone/other usage remains ahead of smartphones during the period, accounting for 68% of total users in 4Q10 and 61% in 4Q11.

The importance of the iPhone to developers is evident by the fact that 29% of all users viewing a mobile advert were on an Apple device end-10, and forecast to rise to 33% by the end of this year. Android users are expected to increase from 12% to 18%, with other smartphones falling slightly from 36% to 34%, despite an overall 57% growth in the number of other smartphone

Future issues of access: mobile will analyse usage of mobile internet, app, advertising, opt-in and commerce in much greater detail, leveraging our exclusive consumer research covering a panel of 3,000 18-64 year olds throughout the UK broken out by age, gender, location, device type and socio-economics. gavin@mobilesquared.co.uk

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workshop challenge

Pit your wits against your mob-ad peers Welcome to the first mobileSQUARED Workshop Challenge – our very own call to action for the mobile advertising industry. We want all you ad experts and vertising gurus to battle it out and create the best virtual mobile ad campaign in the hope that one day, you too, could sit atop our leader board.

Workshop Challenge league table

The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a mobile advertising campaign for the launch of a new beer aimed at the 24-44 year-old male segment. The budget for the campaign is US$100,000 and the aim is to reach as many eyeballs as possible – repeat eyeballs count as overspend and will not be included. You will find a list of costs associated with buying different types of mobile media on the adjacent form, and each campaign must adhere to the following:• Each campaign must create at least one destination site (app, website or landing page) • You must commit a minimum of US£10,000 to each of the three categories of mobile advertising on the form – namely Messaging, Mobile Display Advertising and Other Mobile Advertising • Mobile Display Advertising spend must be split between a minimum of three categories (i.e. sport, news and entertainment) You must decide how to spend the campaign budget to achieve these goals. For the purpose of this challenge, all display advertising is measured on a CPM basis and each campaign will be measured against 1 month of real mobile ad metrics (contributed by Orange Mobile Exposure 2010, an independent study conducted by TNS) to determine the audience reach. To start you off, we have published results from the Workshop Challenge held at our mobileSQUARED Roadshow: Europe event in London last year. The table is currently topped by Alex Miesl - chairman of Sponge Group, with Graham Darracott - founder of The Digital Parent Company (DPC), the only other contender to have reached more than 1 million eyeballs so far! Think you can do better than Alex and Graham? Then please download the entry form on our webiste, fill it in and email it back to us at editorial@mobilesquared. co.uk - You will win absolutely nothing other than the immeasurable kudos of being top of the league, the admiration of your friends and the long-standing enmity of industry colleagues.

in association with... www.mobilesquared.co.uk

news Handsets

Marketing and advertising

Handsets Teens lead UK smartphone penetration Ofcom claims that Britain is a “Nation addicted to smartphones” with just over a quarter of adults in the UK now using a smartphone. According to the telecoms regulator 27% of UK adults and almost a half of teenagers are now using smartphones, with 59% of users only acquiring their device in the past year. The communications market report claims the iPhone is the most popular brand with adults, while teens are loyal to RIM’s Blackberry devices which features the free instant messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger. According to mobileSQUARED’s Mobile Consumer Trends (MCT) database, there will be 32.44 million smartphones in the UK by the end of 2011 – equivalent to a population penetration of over 50%. 700 mil. smartphones by 2016 Shipments of touchscreen-only smartphones will hit 700 Million by 2016, says Juniper Research, making up to 72% of total smartphone shipments, compared to just over half in 2010. Juniper also predicted that 3D-enabled shipments will reach 80 million by 2016, thanks to the manufacturers HTC and LG. The company stated that global smartphone shipments will reach one billion per annum in 2016, up from 302 million in 2010, and economy smartphones will account for nearly one-third of shipments in five years. Meanwhile, research from IHS predicts that smartphones will make up a 54.5% share of the mobile market by 2015. The firm forecasts global smartphone shipments will hit 1.03 billion sooner than Juniper, in 2015, up from 478 million smartphones in 2011.

Marketing and advertising Priority Moments supercharges offers from big brands O2 has launched a supercharged version of their Priority Tickets, which turned the operator into the UK’s biggest sellers of gig and event

ROUND(UP) Apps and social media

tickets. O2 is now looking to extend this into the retail environment through O2 Priority Moments. The multi-million pound investment by O2 will see Priority Moments serving location-based money saving offers straight to the mobiles of their 22 million customers. It has already received support from brands such as Yo! Sushi, French Connection and Toni & Guy, with many more deals to follow. O2 claims that their customers could potentially save £105 per month by using an app which acquires their location through GPS. Other partners who have signed the deal with O2 to date include Hotel Chocolat, Essensuals, National Express, Fitness First and Viagogo. YouGov says mobile advertising is not working Despite the best efforts of mobile advertisers to target smartphone users in the UK, a YouGov poll shows that only 14% welcome ads when using mobile internet and even less on apps. Mobile advertisements are failing to connect with British consumers according to research of 2,082 participants conducted by YouGov. 88% of smartphone users say that they ignore mobile ads in applications because they find them intrusive, with 86% ignoring them on mobile web. Personalised and time-based ads preferred over location Sixty percent of smartphone users say they prefer to receive ads which are personalized by their interests rather than time and location-based promotions, according to Upstream. The mobile marketing firm surveyed 2,000 American adults and discovered that a further 17% preferred time-based promotions, while only 14% favored receiving promotions based on their location. Upstream also asked respondents which mobile advertising channel would most likely lead to a greater interaction; smartphone users indicated that mobile coupons were the most effective, followed closely by opt-in text messages, email received on a mobile phone, mobile website adverts, and internet search adverts.

Commerce

Ad agencies plans for rich media advertisements Big players in the mobile advertising space, Amobee and InMobi, have both recently turned to rich media developers to strengthen and harden their campaigns and performances. Amobee has announced a partnership with the digital content provider Cooliris to introduce 3D ad campaigns to mobile users on any device or network. Amobee says rich media advertising encourages user engagement and interactivity through entertaining experiences. Meanwhile, InMobi have also recently announced strategic developments in rich media advertising, after acquiring the developer Sprout. The Sprout acquisition will not concern 3D ads, but cross platform expandables, collapsible and interstitials that are vehicles for carrying engaging html format.

Apps and social media Facebook attempts to replace texting Facebook has launched an instant messaging service for mobile phones which aims to replace SMS. The service, which is similar to RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), is available as an app to download on iPhone and Android devices. Facebook has 750 million users globally who can already send messages through the Facebook website and the app for smartphones, although the Facebook Messenger is only available in the US at the moment. mobileSQAURED’s research shows there is real opportunity for the app in the US where 50% of the 150.2 million Facebook users already access the social network via their mobile. Of those mobile users, over 48 million Facebook mobile users access via iPhone or Android devices. Facebook is yet to reveal any plans to roll out this service to BlackBerry devices. $900 worth of free apps for Android users Amazon has given away over 100 apps between the end of March and the end of June, with each app having an average retail value of $2.36. This would see a potential customer

saving of $238 in this quarter, or around $900 over a one year period. Meanwhile, AndroidTapp has revealed that 72% of US users who download Amazon’s Free App of the Day then go on to spend $1-$10 per month in the Amazon App Store. 57% of the apps bought by consumers are games, many of which are featured on Amzon’s increasingly popular Test Drive, allowing consumers to try the app out on their computer before buying. P-TV and social media could generate $2.9 billion Mobile Interactive Group claims that there is a new opportunity to combine participation TV services and social media to generate $2.9 billion globally by 2016. The white paper research on trends and opportunities in participation TV (P-TV) services highlights how broadcasters should adopt a multi device and platform approach for interactive TV shows, such as Big Brother and Strictly Come Dancing, to ensure maximum viewer reach and engagement with the programme. The research revealed that 40% of British mobile consumers are using

their device while watching TV. This, coupled with the rise in social media, is creating an opportunity which MIG has dubbed ‘Social Participation TV’. 67% of people surveyed for the research said that the internet is the ideal way to interact with TV shows, with 50% of those stating that Facebook could be used to purchase and use P-TV services such as voting. Featurephone apps to make $1billion by 2016 Predictions from Ovum claim that revenues from featurephone apps will rise to $1 billion by 2016. The figures from Ovum’s latest market report claims that featurephone apps are becoming easier to produce and publish. It also points out that there is still a big market outside of the smartphone user base. However, mobileSQUARED forecasts a 50% population penetration of smartphones in the UK alone by the end of this year. This figure has risen almost 200% from the end of 2009, to around 32.5 million. Meanwhile, featurephones in the UK market will fall about 26% by the end of 2011, according to mobileSQUARED, from 68 million in 2009.

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Commerce 25% of smartphone users turn to mobile banking A survey revealed that a quarter of British smartphone and tablet users are embracing mobile banking due to its ease of access, yet many are still worried about security. The survey of 1,028 smartphone and tablet users conducted for Antenna by YouGov, discovered that 25% managed their finances through mobile banking services. However, security fears are still preventing many people from using the service, but less so for younger consumers who want to complete transactions quickly. Vodafone implements operator billing for Android Vodafone has launched an operator billing system for Android Market in the UK and Germnay, and will roll it out globally. This provides opportunities for developers to access the proportion of consumers who do not wish to provide card details which, Vodafone states, can be over 90% of the market in some countries. caroline@mobilesquared.co.uk

data point

Healthy downloads: Apps consumed at faster rate than nation’s favourite burger The world may love hamburgers, but according to Sybase, it loves apps even more. When Apple announced that its App Store had reached 15 billion app downloads after 3 years of operation, Sybase wondered if that was faster or slower than the Gold Standard for Incredible Growth, McDonald’s hamburgers?

updating its signs back in 1994 when it was nearing 100 billion burgers, saying it had better things to do (invent McRib sandwiches?). It took Maccy Ds almost 26 years to reach 15 billion burgers sold, and about 46 years to hit 100 billion.

McDonald’s signs used to read “billions and billions served.” It stopped

Both Apple and Google are projected to deliver 100 billion downloads in a fraction of the time it took McDonald’s to serve 100 billion hamburgers. That means Apple hit

the 15 billion mark about 9x faster than McDonald’s. And based on projections, Apple could hit 100 billion within five and a half years, or about 9x faster than McDonalds. However, Google’s store might hit 100 billion downloads as early as April next year, according to Sybase. The company says the gap between Apple and Google, and the rest of the mobile field, appears to be widening not narrowing

It’s an app, app world

company profile

Directory app Poynts beyond the US The development of location and the use of GPS on smartphones has opened up a whole new realm of advertising possibilities within the mobile market, and one company whose business plan rests solely on this technology is the Poynt Corporation. The Canadian company have developed a comprehensive local directory app which connects users with local businesses, retailers and events dependent on their location. Described as an ‘entertainment and utility tool’, the app has seven features including businesses, people, movies, events, gas prices, restaurants and weather – although in the UK this is limited to events, restaurants, businesses, movies and weather. The company provides a solution to the increased demand for on-the-go information requests, and also boast behavioural data of consumer intent, such as clicking to call and mapping directions. Over the last quarter Poynt has integrated and used viral media extensively to promote the app by allowing customers to ‘share’ Poynt with friends and publish their location via Facebook and Twitter. This viral advertising has proved powerful in helping its expansion into Europe and Australia, while hoping to roll out to India shortly. The business model - which is based on user queries, page views, advertising and transactions within the app – has seen a 178% revenue increase and a significant drop of net loss on last year. The company has also increased its user-base from 2.5 million to 8.5 million as of the end of June 2011 – a 240% increase in less than a year. Poynt has also entered a number of partnerships with companies including, Thompson Local, Cinemasource,

and Toptable in the UK to provide online restaurant reservations, reviews and listings within the app. Ad networds Adfonic in the UK and Navteq in the US also played a part in creating the directory of businesses which led to 1 billion consumer queries by March 2011. “In total, in the month of April, we had roughly 2.5 million UK searches, which illustrates that the growth has been part of an expanding global footprint” says Michelle Sklar, director of PR and marketing in Europe. “The average customer in Europe uses the app 10.9 times in a month, and our power users (2.5% of the user base) use the app about 68 times a month, practically twice a day,” claims Sklar. However, Poynt’s influence outside of the US is very limited, with only 200,000 users in the UK and a further 36,000 in the rest of Europe - France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Although growth in usage of the app has led it to become preloaded on some handsets in the US, and it recently launched in the UK with Virgin. The app was first launched on legacy handsets in 2002, allowing users to conduct a basic search of key words and post codes. The company was initially courted by Microsoft, but it was not until after winning the Blackberry Developer Challenge in 2009 and then the Super App Challenge in 2010, that Poynt truly gained the limelight. “The BlackBerry smartphone was really where the device and the user were in the best position. There was a major adoption on BlackBerry smartphone, as business travellers who were using their devices for more than to call, but to text, email and search. So that’s how we got

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started, from a very granular perspective,” says Sklar. Poynt’s journey from legacy handsets to smartphones has seen it now incorporate features such as augmented reality in the app. Poynt 360 uses the compass and mapping feature within a smartphone to list searches with pins drops on the map. When opening the camera, Poynt arrows on the ground direct users straight to a location, while tabs appear on the location that, when clicked, link directly to the listing. “Our iPhone users love it. In fact the idea for Poynt 360 came from a user after we ran a contest early last summer. People purchase iPhones because they like the bells and whistles of the iPhone, but how do you actually enable that technology to have a function in real life,” says Sklar. “Poynt 360 is a great showcase for augmented reality and iPhone users access it frequently.” caroline@mobilesquared.co.uk Company: Poynt Corporation President and CEO: Andrew Osis Founded: 2002 Headquarters: Calgary, Canada Employees: 11-50 Specialities: Location-based services, mobile applications, local advertising solutions Awards: Blackberry Super Apps Developer Challenge 2010, Most Innovative Consumer Application at GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Grand Prix EMEA Tournament 2009, BlackBerry Alliance Program’s EMEA Innovation Award in the Life on BlackBerry category 2009, BlackBerry Developer’s Challenge Grand Prize 2008 Announcements: Poynt Corporation Engages Liolios Group to Lead Investor Relations Program. Poynt Preloaded on Virgin Media in the United Kingdom. Poynt for Windows 7 launches in Germany, Italy, France and Spain

white paper

Mobile payment and crediting: enabling better consumer engagement M-commerce is big business in the UK with approximately 18.8 million mobile consumers now purchasing physical goods and services online via their mobile phones, according to the most recent consumer trends data from mobileSQUARED. At the same time, however, only around 20% of the UK’s top retailers have a mobileoptimised version of their website, meaning that many brands are missing out on the opportunity to properly engage with this burgeoning market and boost revenues. Many retailers are also not making use of micropayment solutions for smaller transactions up to the value of £10 – a level at which many mobile consumers make spontaneous decisions to purchase. Although credit card fees are relatively low, around 4% of the transaction value, the timely process of inputting the credit card number, expiry dates and address details would likely dissuade many mobile consumers from continuing with, or repeating, the process.

quick, simple and secure micropayments which are either added to their monthly bill or deducted from pre-pay credits. Users do not have to be pre-registered with payment providers such as Paypal, or input credit/debit card information via their mobile phone. ‘Payforit’ is the standard in-app, WAP and web purchasing solution for operator billing in the UK and is supported by all the major operating groups. Key findings from a survey of 1000 people conducted by mobileSQUARED for OpenMarket show that 67% of respondents said their main concern was having confidence that they would be charged correctly for the transaction and any personal details would be secure, while almost 55% thought that providing credit/debit card information through their mobile phone was a disincentive to making a mobile purchase.

The potential for m-commerce in the UK is enormous. According to MobileSQUARED’s Mobile Consumer Trends database, there was a total of 16.89 million m-commerce users in the UK at the end of 2010, equivalent to 21% penetration of the total 81.04 million devices in market. More importantly, however, 6.13 million mobile consumers said they did not make transactions above the value of £10 through their mobile phone – highlighting the explicit opportunity for the mobile micropayment market.

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) last year published research saying that 31% of UK consumers who made a purchase via their mobile device did so due to an impulsive decision, while 25% liked the experimentation factor of purchasing via their mobile phone. The ‘on-the-move’ spontaneity of mobile dictates that checkout processes for any low-cost transactions should be equally quick - with a minimum of ‘clicks’ and input screens.

saying that it would actually be a disincentive to them purchasing online goods or services through their mobile. A total of 17.5% ‘strongly agreed’ that it would be a disincentive, while 36.2% ‘agreed’ that it would be a disincentive.

Mobile Payments Mobile network operator billing is a simple, quick, reliable, secure and easy to implement set of solutions (incorporating PSMS, Direct Operator Billing and ‘Payforit’), that enables micropayments by charging transactions to a users mobile phone account, either as an addition to a monthly contract, or as a deduction from the pre-pay balance.

This weight of opinion behind accuracy and security indicates that mobile consumers are less worried about recognising the ‘Payforit’ brand, or using more established names such as Paypal, or online payment sites verified by credit or debit card issuers, as they are about trusting that the payment mechanism itself is robust.

The standard in-app, WAP and web purchasing option for operator billing in the UK is ‘Payforit’ – which allows mobile consumers to make

In fact, there was an overwhelming reluctance to supply credit or debit card information via the mobile phone with 53.7% of respondents

Quick, simple and secure payment mechanisms such as ‘Payforit’ therefore enable brands and retailers to reach this segment of the m-commerce universe, while also allowing them to initiate conversations with the consumer through mobile marketing campaigns, such as mobile crediting. Although mobile may still not be a significant revenue stream for most retailers, it is increasingly being used as a marketing channel to engage with customers and boost demand either in store, or online, while building an opted-in mobile database.

Mobile crediting Mobile crediting is increasingly seen as a key component of mobile marketing to motivate consumers to engage with goods or services and engender brand loyalty. Mobile crediting can help drive brand relationships with their customers, influence purchase decisions and drive ‘talkability’ around a brand or product. It is also an innovative way of building a mobile opted-in database for future interaction around new or repeat campaigns.

from the same brand in the future, while 21% said they would view the brand more favourably.

Mobile marketing initiatives such as mobile crediting provide a low-cost mechanism for rewarding consumer loyalty while driving sales, increasing brand perception, goodwill and a willingness to engage with the brand in the future. The consumer engagement is simple: •Offer an incentive to customers, such as free credit applied automatically to their mobile bill when they make a purchase •Provide a redemption code and call to action •The appropriate mobile credit is then applied to the customer’s prepay or post-pay mobile operator account when the code is used. For example, in 2009 and 2010 Coca-Cola ran campaigns called ‘Gimme Credit’ targeting British teenagers with the offer of a 50p mobile credit on tens of millions of cans and bottles of Fanta, Sprite and Dr Pepper. Consumers texted a unique redemption code from the packaging to a five-digit short code, with the credit then being applied to their mobile pre-pay balance or post-pay account. Jude Brooks, Coca-Cola’s interactive manager, said ‘Gimme Credit’ was one of its most successful campaigns in terms of engaging with users. “Coca-Cola wouldn’t be interested in just buying a list of names and then sending out a load of messages,” she said. “If it’s an opted-in list for people who want to receive messages then why not use it? SMS is good as a marketing tool but not necessarily as an advertising tool.”

The results show that mobile credit is an incredibly effective technique for brands to build perception, loyalty and engagement with their customers. In fact, 75.6% of respondents indicated a positive response to brands offering mobile credits as part of a promotion – either directly affecting revenue or goodwill. A total of 30.6% said they would actually be ‘more likely to buy’ the brand’s products or services in the future, 20.8% said they would ‘view the brand more favourably’ in the future, while 17.7% said they would ‘recommend the promotion’ to a friend. A further 6.5% of our survey respondents would be happy for the brand to contact them with other promotions in future.

Conclusion The opportunity for brands and retailers to use operator billing as a method of driving revenues through micropayments is enormous. Micropayments not only offer ease of use for the consumer, overcoming the resistance to buy online via credit/ debit cards, but also provide the opportunity to leverage approximately 81 million devices in the UK to add revenue for a range of online goods and services. The IAB claims that 37% of mobile phone users have purchased a service or product direct to their mobile phone account. Within that, 32% paid for downloaded content, 21% used a shortcode to pay for a products or services, while 13% entered a phone number to pay for a product or service. Moreover, around 23 million people are now using their mobile phones to either make payments, research products and services or redeem coupons and discount codes – thereby enabling brands and retailers to use mobile as a direct marketing channel too. Mobile credit is an excellent mechanism for brands to open a direct communication with a consumer as it provides with impetus for the customer to actually contact the brand – not vice versa. If the brand is smart, it will capitalise on that opportunity and develop an opt-in database to ensure an ongoing relationship with the consumer. As we have already seen, over three quarters of survey respondents indicated a positive response to brands offering mobile credits as part of a promotion – either directly affecting revenue or goodwill, while nearly two thirds said that they would either buy, or be more likely to buy, products offering mobile credit as part of a promotion. If used effectively, an opt-in database can become a very powerful ally for brands to disseminate contextualised and relevant brand messages to the consumer. Clickthrough rates on messaging average over 25%, and can reach 60-70%, therefore offering the potential of becoming a very effective marketing and sales channel.

Over 60% of respondents surveyed for OpenMarket said they would be more likely to buy a product offering mobile credits, versus a similar competing product. Moreover, almost 31% said they would be more likely to buy products or services

-----------------------------------To download the White Paper in full please visit www.mobilesquared.co.uk

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guest column

The rise and rise of mobile devices by

Matt Isaacs, CEO, Essence

Smartphones have become such a ubiquitous part of popular culture that it’s hard to remember that the original iPhone was only launched in 2007, a mere 4 years ago. Without wanting to sound too dramatic this launch signalled a huge shift, not just for the handset manufacturing industry, but for the whole world. But what does it mean for the marketing industry, which has been inundated with digital developments over the past few years? As with any inventive development there is the temptation to jump on the bandwagon and create ‘industryfirst’ campaigns utilising the new technology. And these campaigns can be brilliant and impactful but, in my experience, they are shortlived; most of their value is in the wow-factor of being new rather than in supporting the brand’s long-term strategy. However, it is clear that the advances in mobile technology are here to stay; the challenge and opportunity is how we harness this real-time, anywhere connectivity. Smartphones are increasingly accessible to consumers in terms of cost and many people are using them as their primary point of access to the internet. This means that consumers are interacting with and consuming online content in a different way. Key to this is the fact that the mobile web is often

purpose-driven, consumers are not aimlessly browsing the internet on their mobile devices as much as they do on a PC or laptop, and they are often searching for something specific. This has an immediate impact on marketers and digital advertisers and it is important to ensure that key user journeys are optimised for mobile use. This is why mobile applications are becoming increasingly popular at the moment as it allows brands to strip back their website and present it in a new, more accessible format. There is currently an interesting industry debate about the benefits of apps v. mobile-optimised websites. And there are benefits to both; apps allow brands to gain a permanent presence in the hands of their consumers that can be hugely powerful, while having a web-optimised site allows you to reach a potentially wider audience and connect with consumers that might not be as familiar with your brand. It is hard to say which way the industry will go on this. Apps are big business and can deliver more wow factor than a mobile-optimised site, however, both channels are equally important and the relative merits of each should be considered on a case by case basis. So, should marketers be putting mobile at the heart of their strat-

egy? With so many routes to market available and an ever-increasing number of communications channels, it would be foolish to say that any one channel should be the leading factor in a marketing strategy. Mobile marketing is finally coming of age and is only set to get bigger. The next big thing on the mobile agenda is near-field communications. Similar to how brands have had to react to the increasing importance of social networks in people’s lives by introducing social commerce to help reach their audience, brands will look to find ways to use mobile for NFC; for example contactless payment and receiving vouchers for your favourite shop as you walk past will become the norm. Consumers also spend a significant proportion of time accessing social networks via their smartphones, meaning that soon the social web and the mobile web will merge into one and social commerce will look to target consumers through their phones with offers that are relevant to their real-time surroundings. Ultimately the popularity of Smartphones has been borne out of the real-time convenience that they offer, and it is this feeling of convenience that marketers need to capitalise on. matt.isaacs@essencedigital.com

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Inspiring brands to communicate with the mobile consumer

Roadshows

3 events to shape your mobile future access: mobile — Permission-Based Marketing, London, Oct 3rd in association with the

access: mobile Europe, London, November 9th / access: mobile US, New York, December 7th access:mobile Europe & US agendas cover: Utilising augmented reality; Building a successful longlife app; The best mobile strategy ever; Understanding the mobile consumer needs; Impact of HTML5; The top 5 mobile sites; The impact of mobile advertising on your brand; Location-location-location; Mobile media interaction and broadcasters; Social media: connected 24/7; How mobile worked for our brand; Publishing on multi-mobileplatforms; Making mobile technology work for your brand; Using coupons to deliver a value exchange; Making the mobile transaction; The Great Mobile Interaction debate, PLUS interactive workshops and extensive networking.

Speakers from: Qualcomm, Endemol, Smaato, AT&T, The History Channel, Museum of London, Golden Gekko, Eagle Eye, Somo, Velti, Mediacom, Sponge, Adfonic, O2, mobileSQUARED, MIG, The Daily Mirror, Orange, SinglePoint, 3M, MTV, Buzzcity, Digital Sunray Media,... more speakers to be announced.

access: mobile — Permission-Based Marketing covers: An exemplary example of opt-in marketing; PBM made easy; Building a business model for brands; Generating a 25% response rate; How to manage a PBM database; Getting the consumers’ permission; The opt-in opportunity; Marketing to 100% of devices; Generating exceptional content; How location can drive PBM; The app opt-in; Operators to dominate PBM?; Educating consumers

Speakers from: Alcatel-Lucent, Velti, IMImobile, MMA, Blyk, OpenMarket, Thomas Eggar, Somo, Mobext, BBC,