Last week’s report that a Juniper Research study published earlier this has shown that user-generated content is predicted to have explosive growth in the mobile space in the coming years, generating revenues of over $5.7 billion in 2012 from $572 million this year has attracted a lot of attention in the industry.

 

UGC is undoubtedly, alongside mobile marketing, one of the hot topics of 2007 for the content industry. But while many people see this as a developed world phenomenon, where the well off and young dabble in gadgetry, some see the rise of UGC as being driven primarily by growth in developing countries and by blue collar workers in the west..
 
According to Kok Fung Lai, CEO of BuzzCity, “Users attracted to mobile social networking will be very different from those using similar sites on the PC, in terms of experience, preference, usage and spending patterns. Operators and mobile social networking sites should appreciate these differences, rather than trying to replicate the formulas currently working in the PC world.”

 

The issue this raises, in Lai’s view at least, is that most attempts to expand successful PC-based social networking sites to the mobile will have limited success. Most mobile social networkers are not familiar with big name PC social networking sites, he says. Similarly, operators need to understand that mobile users see mobile user generated content in a different light to user generated content on a PC. A mobile phone user will want something easy and quick to access; they are less likely to blog on their mobile but more likely to log onto a mobile dating service. The key to creating revenue from user generated content will be ensuring that it is contextually-relevant.

 

Lai makes an interesting point. One of the biggest pitfalls facing the mobile content industry is trying to merely adapt what works online to the mobile environment. It won’t work. For starters people are used to online being free – or very cheap. This is aneathma to anyone in the mobile space. The key to mobile – not least in UGC and community services – is in using mobile USPs (personalization, immediacy, individuality, ubiquity) to add value.

 

It is also very much an issue of looking at who uses mobile to do what. As Lai points out, there is a growing divide between those with and those without fixed broadband — not just between the developed and developing world, but also between ‘classes’ in developed countries — and mobile is, as it does in different countries, open up services to a whole new range of people. 

 

Yours

 

 

BBC Worldwide’s Digital Media division has signed a new content partnership with UK mobile operator O2.  Under the deal, BBC Worldwide will provide a range of branded mobile content to be sold through the O2 Active mobile portal.  The company will initially be providing O2 with video clips, wallpapers and ringtones from programme brands including The Office, Little Britain, Doctor Who, I'm Alan Partridge, and League of Gentlemen.
 
The O2 distribution deal with BBC Worldwide follows on from the recent appointment of Peter Mercier as head of mobile in the Digital Media division.
 
The partnership will initially see BBC Worldwide providing more than 300 individual pieces of content, with the range of programmes and formats expected to grow over time.
 
“O2 is the largest UK operator by subscriber numbers so this is clearly a great deal for us in terms of getting our content in front of consumers and demonstrating to our in-house and indie production partners how BBC Worldwide continues to innovate in the digital media sector,” says Mercier.
 
“We have access to some of the best known and most loved TV brands around so we can offer mobile content retailers a unique opportunity to reach out to consumers with truly compelling material and offer rights owners a one-stop shop for mobile content distribution in the UK and internationally.”

 

Grahame Riddell, Head of Strategic Content Partners, O2 UK, adds: “The programme brands that BBC Worldwide can bring on board are exactly what our customers are looking for – well recognised and compelling. We’re constantly looking for quality new content that will appeal to our customers and this deal paves the way for access to the wealth of material available from the BBC in a range of different and innovative formats.”  

 

 

America’s largest mobile network, Alltel Wireless has signed a deal with voice to screen messaging company SpinVox to offer the service to 12 million customers.

 

Alltel plans to launch SpinVox in the US in Q4 this year. Subscribers to the service will have their voice messages converted to text and sent directly to their cell phone. The service works with any SMS capable mobile handset and requires no software download.

 

At a glance, Alltel subscribers to the service will be able to not only see who called, but read what they said and, with one simple click -- choose to call or text back directly.

 

“This offering is part of our ongoing plan to continually enhance our customers’ wireless experience by providing useful and innovative solutions,” says Wade McGill, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Alltel.

 

The world’s first mobile shopping mall, 2shop4, has launched its trial service this week and is looking to revolutionise the way mobile users shop. 2shop4’s unique software has been developed by the Microsoft Certified Team, Evevoy Developments, and Hero-Solutions.
 
2shop4 will allow users to buy products instantly through the mobile internet and text codes. Shopping adverts for global brands, high street shops, supermarkets, travel agencies, sports and film tickets to name a few, will appear across multiple media outlets including bill boards, magazines, TV and online, advertising a 2shop4 Buy-Now code or keyword which shoppers can text to purchase goods.
 
The shopper texts the 2shop4 code or keyword; such as ‘Flowers’ to 84777 and receives a 2shop4 Buy-Now WAP advert direct to their mobile phone. The user then selects the advertised product and buys it via a secure payment system and the goods are delivered to their home.

 

Following an initial trial phase, 2shop4 will be launched in the UK in October, expectations of global services available within 2008. Evevoy is in talks with leading Global Advertising Network for exclusive rights to 2shop4. 2shop4’s mobile Buy Now shopping service will enhance the marketing and advertising campaigns of its clients.
 
Andrew Curry, Chairman of Evevoy is looking towards the Brand’s future: “2share4 is currently being developed for Buy-Now Stocks and Shares, which will include a brand charity loyalty programme. Evevoy team’s will continue to be the architect and developer of innovational, commercial and technological products by working with trusted brands as global strategic partners or VARs.”
 
2shop4 works on all UK mobile network operators and the system allows payments to be made with MasterCard, Maestro, Paypal, Visa, Delta and Switch. 2shop4 shopper lifestyle and gift profiling, keywords and codes can match clothing sizes, brands, products and services to the 2shop4 shopper needs. 

 

Read More 

 

Comment | Forward to a Friend 

The key to maximizing entertainment collateral is to allow for its distribution, as far as possible, across the broad range of 2.5 and 3G devices. And this is exactly what multimedia entertainment enabler Pocket Group is hoping to achieve following a deal with Tanla Mobile.

Tanla Mobile,  a next generation mobile applications, m-commerce and interactive services provider, will deliver multi-media entertainment services across their customer base. By connecting to Tanla’s carrier-grade technology platform the Pocket Group can deliver a variety of compelling media-rich content across a broad range of 2.5 and 3G mobile devices, helping leading entertainment companies to maximise their revenues from mobile distribution.   The Pocket Group will be offering content propositions across all mobile content platforms, including music, gaming and video downloads.
 
“When we evaluated delivery partners, our criteria included technical expertise, strength of carrier relationships and financial stability”, said Paul Swaddle, Marketing Director, Pocket Group.   “Tanla met all these requirements, and in addition, they are a company firmly committed to supporting our goal in delivering compelling mobile propositions”.
 
“This appointment is significant for Tanla Mobile”, added Gerry Drew, Head of Sales, Tanla Mobile. “Working closely with mobile operators, handset manufacturers and rights-owners means the Pocket Group is at the forefront of the mobile entertainment business, and this relationship underpins Tanla’s ability to power next generation mobile services”.

 

Comment | Forward to a Friend

Your mobile can increasingly help you do things these days. And thanks to Exclaim, a branded platform provider of wireless and web applications, it may even get you to Nirvana (or heaven, the promised land, Valhalla or whatever your preferred spiritual destination might be).

 

The company has launched MyFaith, the first multimedia mobile phone application to offer spiritual well-being and enlightenment from six major philosophies and religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism. As the latest addition to Exclaim's feature-rich MyApps suite, MyFaith is now available for download on most major mobile handset models, helping consumers create personalized, religiously oriented media content instantly and affordably, wherever they are.

 

"MyFaith is the first application in the mobile marketplace to provide a wealth of religious guidance and inspiration," says Jiren Parikh, Vice President and General Manager of Exclaim. "This addition to the MyApps' suite places the wisdom of the world's great religions into the pockets of consumers worldwide."

 

Exclaim's MyApps mobile lifestyle applications enable consumers to customize and have more fun with their phones, using rich media such as graphics, photos, videos, and talking avatars. The MyFaith application continues this tradition by providing a convenient way for customers to connect with their faith, as well as examine other faiths. MyFaith delivers compelling mobile content, including customizable Avatars, including priests, rabbis — though not presumably, Mohammed. There are also religious holiday calendars and prayers.

 

MyFaith has launched nationwide, and will be available on most wireless carriers in the United States by September, operating on BREW and Java handset models from Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, LG, Kyocera, and Sony Ericsson.

 

Read more
 

Comment | Forward to a Friend

Operators as far afield as Egypt, Malaysia, India and Hong Kong that have deployed BubbleTALK Voice SMS services from Bubble Motion, have started to see massive usage from their customers, as the success of the service keeps growing.  It now seems that many users of BubbleTALK have gone Voice SMS-crazy, with some individuals sending thousands of Voice SMS messages each month.

 

The top user last month made a record-breaking 3201 Bubble messages in a single month. Despite this huge number, this user was not alone in their high usage of the service, as many consumers have started to use BubbleTALK as their main form of communication.  In fact all top five BubbleTALK users racked up at least 67 Voice SMS messages every day, or 2000+ messages per month.  Even the 50th top user sent a massive 1200 Bubble messages a month.

 

Part of the attraction for customers is the ability to include more emotional content in a short message than other messaging services such as IM, SMS and email, which has made Voice SMS messaging a popular channel amongst the youth market.  Voice SMS has also proven very popular with many groups who find SMS inconvenient, as well as those whose first language is not supported by text entry on a phone keypad.

 

Sunil Coushik, President and Co-Founder of Bubble Motion said: "We have always known that BubbleTALK has great potential for operators as well as their customers, but these latest figures took even us by surprise. It seems that some customers of operators are spending most of their day sending BubbleTALK messages.  I just hope they are leaving enough time to eat and sleep!"

Read More
 

Comment | Forward to a Friend

 

---

If you would like to promote your event in this newsletter please email: marketing@contentfutures.com

 

UK, 50k+ benefits, bonus

Head of Mobile Content / Mobile Content Manager / Mobile Content Leader required by Market Leader, UK based.  As Head of Content you will be used to leading the content strategy/delivery, mobile maximisation, ROI, B2C, strong understanding of the mobile market, content acquisition and so on.  This is a strong leadership position within a rapidly growing, market leading environment and as so you must be confident in your existing knowledge but also keep abreast of all future developments and advise on strategies moving forward.

 

In return you will be offered the opportunity to progress rapidly within a highly successful profitable company which are taking the mobile world by storm. Fantastic team, Superb Support network, Autonomy over your area of expertise and the opportunity to make an industry name for yourself.

For more information and to apply please click here

 

If you would like to promote your jobs in this newsletter please email: jobs@contentfutures.com

 

 
The team behind the award winning and hugely successful ‘MyMag,’ ‘thebestof,’ and ‘Raring2go!’ franchises have launched their newest product – Quickie – a franchise business that taps into one of the biggest growth sectors in the UK – mobile phones.

 

The cheekily named Quickie, as a product, is in essence a giant coin-operated mobile phone charger that gives mobile phone batteries a powerful emergency charge in just 10 minutes. It costs £1 per charge and each machine can charge multiple phones at once. People can even use their phone whilst it is being charged. 

 

Announcing the launch, Nigel Botterill, CEO of N5, the company behind ‘Quickie’, explained: “Mobile phones have evolved so much over the last few years. We no longer use our phones to make a simple call, we take photos, videos, listen to music, download emails – all sorts of things, but all of which drain our phone’s battery power immensely.”

 

For more information please visit www.haveaquickie.co.uk

 

Mac’s GoMedia platform to power voting and music downloads Mobo Awards 20007 
 
Mobile media publisher MoMac has won the contract to power mobile voting, full track downloads from winners and nominees and a range of other content services for leading urban music event the Mobo Awards 2007.

 

The deal will see Mobo organisers using MoMac’s flagship, fully integrated publishing platform, GoMedia, to manage and deliver all of the branded mobile content including Mobo event news, music downloads, graphics as well as the latest interactive services which include voting for award entries via the mobile internet site, backstage gossip, competitions and what’s ‘hot or not’ on the awards night itself.

 
“Kanya King, Founder and CEO, Mobo Awards said:  “We are very pleased with our new partnership with MoMac - they are specialists in their field and very innovative, providing us with exactly what we need in support of and in preparation for our annual Awards Show at the O2 Arena on 19th September.”

 

For more information, please contact: tim@infomob.co.uk 

 

---

Price: £1490 (Single User) £1990 (Multi User) £2990 (Enterprise Wide)

 

This detailed report offers a complete analysis of the mobile user generated content market whilst providing vital forecast data on subscriber numbers and revenues up until 2012.

 

It segments the UGC market into three main categories including, Social networking, Dating/Chatrooms and Personal Content Delivery.  The report also comprises interviews with key players, focused case studies and analysis from representatives of some of the leading organisations involved in this promising sector. 

 

For more information and for the new whitepaper 'Mobile Content from the Masses' please visit the website