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Does the mobile industry need an Innovation Programme?

As this week’s top story reveals, the GSM Association is launching a quasi-competition-cum-innovation programme to seek out suitable mobile content and service offerings that can be put in front of venture capitalists in an attempt to bring a whole new raft of small and medium-sized companies in to the mobile market.

But does the industry really need this? There are already no end of third party content and service providers; there are already a raft of companies offering neat little mobile products; there are already a vast number of large, well backed companies offering services, content, social networking and more. There is, in short, no end of companies already working in the mobile space.

While I agree that the GSMA’s idea is a nice one, the real problem that dogs the mobile industry is the disproportionate control that the network operators exercise over what is distributed over mobile. For several years, operator portals have been the only way to distribute content and services. If you couldn’t get on those then you pretty much weren’t going to last.

The growing move to off deck offerings is slowly changing this, but until operators fully open up and effectively abandon the portal and embrace search — especially third party search — then no matter how much VC gets pumped in to the SME market, nothing much will change.

The key, as ever, is in sorting out billing. Flat rate data services will encourage search and discovery. WAP billing — and access to all other billing mechanics, such as credit card, PayPal and so on as you have on the web — will encourage sales. Only then can anyone assess the market and decide whether we need more third parties with more ideas. Let the consumer decide, but give them the chance to do so.

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GSMA Innovation Programme aims to speed up rollout of mobile products and services

The GSM Association (GSMA) has launched an ongoing programme to help the thousands of small and medium-sized companies developing innovative mobile products and services reach mobile operators and bring their innovations to end users.

The Mobile Innovation Programme is also designed to stimulate and showcase innovation around mobile services and better align innovators with the needs of the mobile industry and its customers.
 
Ahead of a new Mobile Innovation Summit at the GSMA’s Mobile Asia Congress in Macau in November, senior executives from mobile operators and venture capitalists will review submissions from innovators and identify the top 50 small companies targeting the mobile sector. These companies will have the opportunity to meet operators and investors at the Summit where the leading companies in four categories will be recognised at a Mobile Innovation Awards ceremony. Senior executives from KTF, SingTel, Smart, Softbank and Telenor will be among the judges for this inaugural awards event.
 
The review and judging process will be repeated for a further Innovation Summit to be held at the Mobile World Congress at Barcelona in February 2008 and again for standalone Summits to be held in other regions of the world later in that year.
 
“Technology advances and the mobile industry’s convergence with the Internet, entertainment sector, financial services and many other industries are enabling thousands of small companies to develop innovative applications, products and services for mobile users,” says Bill Gajda, Chief Commercial Officer of the GSMA, the global trade association for mobile operators. “But it is a major challenge for these small companies to effectively market their innovations to the more than 700 mobile operators worldwide and cross the chasm separating promising ideas from commercial success.”

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Mobile ads rapidly gaining popularity, but only if the content is targeted at the right audience, finds study

Despite the fact that mobile advertising is in its infancy, a study conducted for mobile marketing company MoMac reveals that as many as 13 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds have already responded to or clicked on a mobile advert. Given the limited inventory currently available for mobile advertising, and the relative rarity of mobile users being served mobile ads, the figures show the potential for a significant future up take, says MoMac. But only if the communication is delivered in the right way.

When it comes to mobile advertising formats, MoMac's research shows clear differences in the preferences of men and women and the different demographic groups. When on mobile sites, text based advertising links are the most popular (56%) with a clear female bias of 60 per cent compared to just 47 per cent of men. 

Picture or banner-based advertising was the second most popular option, favoured by 29 per cent overall and just under one in three 25 to 34 year olds.  Interestingly, video based advertising has a strong male bias with 22 per cent of men compared to just 12 per cent of women stating they would be most likely to respond to a video advert. Video formats were also more popular with younger mobile users selected by 23 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds, but only 12 per cent of the over 55s.

The research results also indicate that content providers will need to consider a number of payment models to appeal to the diverse groups of mobile users in the UK looking for content. The ad-funded model could become dominant with younger mobile users, with 47 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds preferring to access content for free in exchange for viewing advertising. Only 32 per cent of this group opted for a pay-as-you-download (PAYD) model and only 3.9 per cent stated they would want to pay for content via a subscription.

In contrast the PAYD method is more popular with older mobile users, with 55 per cent of those aged 45 and older opting to pay for content on demand, and also appeals more to women, with 54 per cent choosing PAYD compared to 41 per cent of men who are more open to advertising. 

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Paramount Pictures and Renault cars — two high profile marketing campaigns that have chosen to go mobile

Paramount Pictures and Renault cars have become two of the major brands spearheading the drive in UK mobile advertising market, with high profile campaigns run by ScreenTonic, Europe's leading mobile advertising company.

ScreenTonic has been running a high profile mobile advertising campaign, alongside other media, to launch the special edition Renault Clio by Rip Curl. The Renault ads are running across the Orange World, Mobizines, Digital Spy and Reporo mobile portals. Visitors clicking on the banners click through to a special mobile internet site which has a click to call option to order a brochure as well as providing video downloads.

This is the first mobile banner campaign Renault has launched in the UK and is also the first time a brand  uses click to call as the primary response mechanism.

"The fact that we are running major mobile advertising campaigns integral to multichannel promotions for leading global brands shows that mobile advertising has reached a tipping point in the UK," said Jana Eisenstein, who heads up ScreenTonic in the UK.  "The leading agencies and brands are looking closely at these high profile mobile campaigns and making moves to include mobile in future digital marketing plans."

ScreenTonic has been running banner ads as part of the promotional campaign for Shrek 3 by Paramount Pictures.  The Shrek 3 banner ads appear on the Orange World mobile portal and allow users to click through to Paramount Picture's mobile internet site offering information and free Shrek 3 downloads including video trailers, wallpapers and ringtones.

This is the fourth film release over the past year where Paramount Pictures has chosen mobile as part of its media plan and reflects its commitment to this new channel. The previous films include "You Me and Dupree", "Babel" and "Goodbye Bafana".

"We are seeing an increase in demand and bookings by major brands to advertise on Orange World, and we are now moving to the stage where leading advertisers and their agencies are including mobile as an element in their overall digital plan," says Steve Ricketts, Head of Third Party Services, Orange.

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Fremantle’s US mobile comedy channel gets boost as nationwide operator Helio picks it up

US mobile TV channel, Atomic Wedgie — owned by programme maker Fremantle Media and mobile technology company Mobliss — is to roll out on the Helio network across the US this month. The channel, which offers hours of original and repurposed short-form comedy programming, extends its reach to Helio’s premiere mobile service and its targeted customer base. The announcement coincides with FremantleMedia and Mobliss’ introduction of new, never-before-seen content and is on the eve of an aggressive online marketing campaign for the channel.

Atomic Wedgie offers users a menu of 12 different programmes to choose from with more than 150 mobile shorts to watch. The channel’s launch on Helio will include 50 new shorts for some of its most popular shows including Baywatch Babes, Secret Girlfriend and Bush Bites as well as the debut of all-new programming such as White People Dancing. All programming represents the channel’s mission to deliver “painfully funny original series, gut-busting TV moments and hot mobile babes”. 

“Our Members demand entertaining content on their high-end Helio devices, and Atomic Wedgie allows us to fulfill this hunger for hilarious video,” says Craig Shapiro, Head of Content Strategy and Acquisition at Helio. “We look forward to working with a partner that has so knowledgeably and carefully thought out a mobile video offering that will resonate with our Members – who will undoubtedly appreciate being able to laugh anytime and anywhere.”

FremantleMedia and Mobliss will further support the channel this summer with an online marketing campaign from M80. The agency will develop programs to build awareness for the comedy channel on a grassroots level.

“This is a pivotal moment for Atomic Wedgie. Helio brings the channel to a targeted group of early adopters who we feel will embrace its innovative content and enjoy the humor that our channel provides,” says Keith Hindle, Executive Vice President for FremantleMedia’s North American licensing team. “The launch is also perfectly timed to the premiere of some new hilarious programming and an intensive marketing campaign that will kick off this month.” 

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CNBC news channel added to pan-European mobile TV mix

Leading business news channel CNBC has become the flagship channel for mobile application developer and supplier ROK Entertainment’s pan-European mobile TV offering, giving users access to up to date business news on the move.

ROK, which specialises in the provision of high-quality live and on-demand mobile TV streamed over existing 2.5G and 3G networks, is currently deploying its white-label services to more than 30 selected mobile operators worldwide.
 
"We're delighted to have CNBC Europe as a flagship channel on ROK TV," says Jonathan kendrick, Chairman of ROK "as we know there is a huge and as-yet untapped demand for live and instantly-available business and financial news amongst our mobile TV customers."
 
The mobile TV market is forecast to grow into a multi-billion dollar industry within the next few years.
 
"There are 2.8 billion handsets in use worldwide at present - representing more viewable screens than all the TV sets, all the computer screens and all the cinema screens in the world combined," adds Kendrick "and it's vital we offer this fast-growing mobile TV market the very best content available, both live and on-demand. CNBC Europe fit's the bill magnificently as it allows subscribers to catch-up with the latest business news when on the move."
 
Commenting on the deal, Martin Kay of CNBC says that "ROK TV is a great partner for us to deploy our channel into dozens of mobile operators around the world because of its international reach, and because it is not limited to 3G operators."

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Italy’s Buongiorno buys iTouch to become global mobile entertainment player

Buongiorno, a leading multinational operating in the digital entertainment market, is paying Euro 141 million to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital of iTouch, the South African-founded mobile entertainment distributor, making Buongiorno the eleventh largest mobile entertainment, information, messaging and marketing supplier worldwide.

Buongiorno will pay Euro 129 million to iTouch shareholders, of which Euro 73.7 million in cash  and the remaining in shares. Additionally Buongiorno will absorb the current Euro 12 million net debt of iTouch.  Banca IMI (Intesa Sanpaolo Group) will arrange a Euro 115 million loan facility for Buongiorno to fund the transaction.

After the acquisition, Buongiorno will have a team of more than 1100 professionals in 20 countries and will deliver services in more than 40 countries. With 2006 pro-forma aggregated revenues of Euro 318 million and pro-forma EBITDA of Euro 39 million, the Company will become the largest worldwide player in the mobile value added sector.

“The acquisition of iTouch is another hugely important step in Buongiorno’s strategy to build a global organization. The two companies together have a truly worldwide footprint with a strong presence in many key markets including the US, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Benelux, Mexico and Brazil. Given its global presence, diversified product portfolio and complementary channels, the combined entity will be in a very strong position to benefit from the significant expected market growth in the Mobile Value Added Services sector,” says Mauro Del Rio, founder and Chairman of Buongiorno. 

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