Imagine Steve, Bill, the Google Boys, Warren (Buffet) and myself get together to chat about 2010 and the Telco space. Warren is not really in the mood for TMT investments but he is listening. Bill believes that Windows will finally make a play in the mobile space with their first good product – Windows Mobile 7.0. The rest smile and say ‘good luck’ to him because being good most of your handset suppliers like HTC are now with the Google Boys and Android.
The Google boys look puzzled but excited. They brought to the chat more than 50 devices with Android for 2010. However they’ve not got enough apps and transactions yet (why is Steve managing to do this just with one device?) and it is still unclear how long it will take for mobile advertising to become a reality. There is still not enough money on mobile search, “… No worries, we just bought AdMob and there is lots of room for smaller companies to play in this space and find interesting niches and then we will buy them”. How many companies will they buy in 2010?
Warren is watching the Advercontent (advertising based games and applications) space, but just watching and learning and maybe China, India, Brazil and South Africa is where real scale will happen for this (paired with finally fast enough networks and accessible medium end handsets, we can imagine the big smiles of the Huawei and ZTE fellas). The internet boys don’t make any money on social media but he does believe mobile in these territories may be the place to monetize social media (content, analytics, location based). He also took several calls to listen to some interesting ventures on m-payments and micro-transactions in Africa and the Middle East. Hmmmmm
Why did we not invite Nokia to the meeting? They are too busy sorting out their house. It is true, first they shout OVI for president, now Symbian is not good enough, and now instead of embracing Android or buying Palm OS they are going to create another Linux based OS!!! Now we start understanding why they did not come today or they are not going to WMC 2010
Hey the RIM boys got to the meeting late. The rest have already divided the mass market application space between them and some upcoming startups. However vertical oriented apps is going to be an upcoming segment and the blackberry device is king here. Can their OS and their app store be a business oriented apps thriving space and take upcoming tech young companies on the ride. Warren is listening and nods
Where is Steve? Did he leave to launch another Apple phone or they were just getting ready to open up the app store next year. We agree to give him the 2009 champion, will he win again in 2010?
As we were walking out the room, Warren says ‘What about the operators?’ I said we need to get together again for lunch to figure that one out.
Carrying on from our last newsletter – this list looks at popular apps for Android phones
- Barcode Scanner – now integrated with Google Search. There are any number of uses from price comparisons to updating your wine blog
- Places Directory – from Google, it’s free and this aggregates ratings and reviews from any number of sites like Qype, wapedia, Top Table. This came out before augmented reality was a buzzword
- RoboDefense Free – It’s still the best Tower Defence game on Android. Each game has 100 turns – you have 20 lives but earn cash to spend on rockets.
Find all these Apps and more at www.androlib.com
We are about to send out the end of year newsletter with special focus on mobile marketing in Spain. Signup for a copy http://bit.ly/5kf2to
Sounds like good news in the UK market ‘opening’ up to more distribution channels for the iPhone. Tesco’s annouced it plans to start selling the iPhone by the end of the year and promised to add value to the market, where prices are stagnating between O2 and Orange.
What this probably means is that Tesco will be just another distributor like the Carphone Warehouse — and so it didn’t seem clear if customers will have a choice of O2 or Orange.
It would be more exciting in the UK if Tesco have made their own deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone and allow customers to connect to the Tesco Mobile MVNO.
An Interview with Mr. Murat Gurkas, Director of VAS and Marketing Division in Eagle Mobile
“Seria A” and “Primera” on your mobile, with Eagle Mobile
Eagle Mobile, the most innovative GSM operator, continues to surprise its subscribers with the newest services which have never been seen in Albania before. GolatLive3D service enables Eagle’s subscribers to watch the Live goals of all Italian “Serie A” and Spanish “La Lega” Goal videos.
The Director of the Vas-Marketing Division at Eagle Mobile, Mr. Murat Gurkas explain to our newspaper “Sporti Shqiptar” the details of this service offered only by this company in Albania.
What is the newest service of Eagle Mobile and what will it bring to the Albanian sports fans?
The moment they were expected has come, there is no need to spend all your weekend, watching TV to see the goals of your favorite teams, or go to a café to watch it. Through this GolatLive3D service all Eagle Mobile football fans can watch the live goals of Milan, Inter, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and all other Italian and Spanish football teams’ matches of 2009-2010 season on their mobile.
The users can download the 3D Live Goals video in a few minutes after the goal has been scored.
They also have the possibility to subscribe to more than one team. These videos are produced through an advanced technology which enables realistic 3Dimensional views of players, stadium, audiences, etc.
Eagle’s transparent and customer oriented approach doesn’t allow its subscribers to pay any hidden costs such as Internet and doesn’t allow non supported phones to subscribe this service. Also if the match ends with a draw, subscribers will not pay any weekly fee.
To subscribe to the service “GolatLive3D” of Italian and Spanish football teams send: ABONOHU and the name of your favorite team to 55159 for example “ABONOHU MILAN”
To unsubscribe from this service send a text ANULLO and the name of your favorite team to 55159 for example “ANULLO MILAN”
How much would it cost for these service Albanian sports fans?
Price of the service is 120 ALL (vat included)/week. Once the first goal of the chosen team is scored the charging is performed.
They are charged only once in the week independently by the number of the goals scored. Subscription and Unsubscription and GPRS (Internet) usage of this service are free of charge.
How will the customers have this service?
All the sports lovers will have the chance to Easy sign up via SMS; Also They can check the phone compatibility before subscription; Weekly recurring subscription for the team they follow. They can get 30 sec video goals even if the goal is by the opposing team. And there will be no charge if no goals are scored (the score is zero – zero). For more details about the service please visit www.eaglemobile.al
What other benefits provides this service?
Advertising and Branding opportunities are another chance for several businesses. GolatLive3D is the perfect value added content, as it enables our partners and brands to advertise and reach their target audience.
The number of Africans who use their cell phones to access the internet now exceeds the number of those who rely on traditional desktop means of connecting to the World Wide Web.
PC and broadband penetration rates are very low while mobile penetration keeps growing. In Opera Software’s October 2008 “ State of the Mobile Web report”, South Africa ranks 6th and Egypt ranks 8th in the global Top 10 for mobile internet usage, ahead of many Western countries.
Today almost 29% of South Africans use mobile UGC services/content on a daily basis and by the end of 2013, the total South African mobile UGC revenue will reach a total of $476 million (JBB Research). Although Facebook is the most popular mobile South African site today, two local names MXit and The Grid have become a driving force for the South African mobile UGC services market today.
MXit, which stands for message exchange, provides a free instant messaging application for both computers and mobile phones. It has also recently tried to extend the brand into what they call MXit lifestyle including music, social networking, and more. Their latest innovative entertainment product has been the launch of their first instant messaging book, ‘Emily and the battle of the veil’, which sells for an equivalent 50 euro cents. Since its launch in 2005, MXit has attracted more than 15 million users across the developing world. South Africa is by far their largest market with over 7 millions users.
The Grid is a location-based social network, enabling subscribers to locate their friends on a map, chat via instant messaging, and share geo-tagged content. Lately it has been focusing on creating social interactions around content. Although Vodacom Ventures is the The Grid’s main funding source, it is wisely open to use by all South African operators and is actually being launched in countries where Vodacom is not present. Today it has more than a million users after less than a year in operation and is expanding into Tanzania and Nigeria, among other African countries
The future? At mmCHANNEL we believe and invest in Application Protocol Interface (API) connectivity and building social interactions around content for these and similar social media sites (take a look at East Africa’s first mobile social media community, Sembuse). In our opinion, these social media sites are going to become key outlets for mobile advertising, customer surveys, content consumption, and financial services in the near future. Location-based services, pricing flexibility, and viral marketing make the mobile social media space an African story. Stay tuned.
Mobile games provide media companies with an effective way to promote digital content, products and brands to vital segments of their base.
Advergaming-on-the-fly makes it easy to develop your own game. With the net result of boosting brand impact from unique and engaging mobile game experiences.
Games are a rapidly developing segment of the global mobile market. The impact from iPhone and improved handset capabilities mark an important turning point. This means more people buying smartphones or feature-phones.
Mobile has become a way to express your personality and lifestyle and more importantly to provide entertainment when hanging out with friends, waiting around or travelling. Advertisers and agencies benefit from advergaming with effective, measurable and non-intrusive solutions to connect with their audience when they are immerse in mobile leisure.
Mobile advergaming will…
- Complement your advertising scope with a new medium with penetration indexes above other media like TV or radio.
- Allow you to interact with the user: making phone calls, participate in a ranking online, send SMS or collect data.
- Create advertising mixed with entertainment, as the advertiser’s brand appears throughout the game
- Create a community around the brand, shared and connected with main social networks such Facebook.
mmCHANNEL and its sister company Unkasoft are experienced partners for helping you to build your mobile apps, games or website. We’ve worked with over 100 household brands and their ad and creative agencies.
Watch our short clip on Mobile Advergaming
Should you be worried that you don’t have an iPhone app? Do you know if you’re website works on a mobile? what about mobile SEO? It is very important for CEO’s and CMO’s to add mobile to their communications and marketing strategy.
The fact that most companies have yet to build a mobile website shows you are not alone and many companies want to know what they should do first. Build an app. Build a mobile strategy or do something. Considering each three …
Build an app
Answer Yes to these questions and you’ll know that building an app is right for you:
- Is your company always first to market?
- Do you want to get some PR effect?
- Interested in winning a Mobile or Advertising industry Award
Choosing iPhone is the natural option for good PR or awards material. We build apps and games for iPhone and any other smartphones
Build a strategy
Want to understand mobile better, then consider how ‘mobile’ fits in your marketing mix. Could you get better PR? Leverage a viral campaign? Link mobile to your social media approach? Or want smartphone users to find your brand. We then suggest you build a mobile website and maybe build an app too.
Do something
Yes actually, doing something is a strategy – build a mobile friendly site, build an app and start to learn from them. Stay motivated and maybe expect the same results as the early web pioneers. Once you’ve done something you’ll still need to promote it.
For your next discussion on mobile advertising, apps and strategy – give mmCHANNEL a call. We’ll be happy to setup a workshop to help you get mobile.
mmCHANNEL, has launched the new 3D Football video goals alert service for Eagle Mobile, Albania.
The new mobile video alerts cover goals from all teams in the premier leagues in Spain and Italy. Customers choose the team they want to follow and after subscribing to the service they get sent a 30 second video of every goal when their team is playing.
The mobile video goals will be available to all Eagle Mobile customers. Customers can find out about the service on the company website.
Benefits to customer
- Easy sign up via SMS
- Weekly, recurring subscription for the team they follow
- Get sent 30 sec video goals even if the goal is by the opposing team
- No charge if no goals are scored (the score is zero – zero)
- Each goal includes written comments – team names, current score, who scored, time of the goal
mmCHANNEL special edition AfricaCom newsletter – You can get your copy here … http://eepurl.com/eLPw
