My opinion on the below article:

I personally do not see a shift back to SMS advertising.  Working with one of the largest open mobile networks across Europe we see a huge increase in display and text link based advertising.  They work and work well.  Currently, SMS advertising can cost far too much.  CTR’s on SMS advertising generally are much less than display or text links. Therefore, SMS can cost an advertiser up to £200 CPM, whereas display and text links will vary from much lower CPM’s or CPC’s.  Whilst with SMS you can get reach that a branding campaign will demand, the majority of campaigns in the UK market this year have been DR.  Moving forward, I believe Network Operators will need to focus on more integrated campaigns across all mobile properties like: Display, Text Links, Video Pre & Post, Idle Screen, Voice Messages, SMS, MMS, Customer Service Messages and so on.

I believe agencies find mobile advertising a challenge because they are learning it is never just about selling an ad spot. Mobile advertising often forms part of a wider mobile marketing strategy tied in with CRM, Customer Acquisition and Engendering Loyalty.  In addition, it often forms part of a campaign that is integrated into traditional media which again presents further hurdles.  Therefore, when brands want and need to understand the entire spectrum and not just the advertising element many agencies struggle.    We can keep blaming lack of clarity on where the buying points are and lack of ad-serving capabilities and reporting but I think this is a weak argument.  All growing industries will have these kind of challenges.  The key should be more focused on how we can work better together, understand each others skills and how this can transform into combined positive output to the client.

To summarize, Mobile is so different to traditional media.  Historically speaking, it has always been ‘ONE FORMAT’ Print, Radio, TV or online.  Mobile is a whole world of different formats from one device to the next few thousand, all with different capabilities and don’t forget the users all come with different mindsets.  It requires specialist knowledge to effectively utilize this channel and understand the dynamics.  This is not knowledge that can be shared overnight and will take time for all to learn.

Whilst I agree it has been tough year from a recession perspective I would argue that mobile marketing and advertising budgets have grown and not been cut.  Well this is certainly what we are experiencing having a record year in the UK. As mobile budgets traditionally have been so small brands looked to cut budgets in TV, Print, Radio and Online. If anything mobile budgets have grown this year and I certainly would anticipate huge growth in 2009 from 2008.

This is not going to happen over night.  Online took a good part of 11 years.

by Global Telecoms Business

Mobile operators have extensive data about their customers, so why aren’t they earning more revenue from advertising? The market seems as far away as ever, according to key participants in the business


Jay Seaton of Airwide: Trying to force-fit ads to
thousands of different handsets is an issue

Mike Short of Telefónica: Mobile advertising is
going to have to have a debate about reach and
responsibility

John Rands of WIN: Sometimes an agency puts
together a campaign and will do mobile as well

Neil Wentworth of mCentric: Brands are in the
dark. They have no idea how to access people by mobile

Why has mobile advertising not had the stunning success that many have been forecasting for so long? For years the mobile industry has looked for ways to earn revenue by targeting its users with advertising — and there has even been a whole operator, Blyk, which wanted to cut call costs to zero if its customers simply checked a few ads every day.

But little has been achieved, even with smartphones that could, in theory, deliver high-quality content to phone users.

Indeed, says Nick Lane, chief analyst at research company MobileSquared, where operators are achieving anything it’s via the 15-year-old technology of SMS. “We spoke to 30-35 operators around the world,” says Lane. “Just over 60% said they used SMS messaging as the foundation for next generation messages. A lot of agencies are going back to SMS. There’s a shift away from what people were saying 12 months ago.”

James Tagg, head of mobile at ad agency Starcom MediaVest, agrees: “It’s been a very tough world for mobile advertising this year,” he says. The recession means advertising budgets have been cut around the world “and mobile was the first to be cut — massively”.

One of the reasons is that mobile advertising still earns small revenues for agencies, which employ few specialists in the medium. “Some have only two people covering mobile, compared with 30 for print advertising. There’s only so much those people can do until the money is there. We’re not losing money but we’re not making huge money.”

And behind that, “most clients don’t really understand mobile”, he adds. Now’s the time to remedy that, he says: begin to adjust now “and you’ll be in a lot better position in two years”.

One of the key problems is a lack of information on which to make decisions, says Stewart Goldberg, executive chairman of Business Logic System. “The operators don’t have the same demographics about their base that the TV companies have.”

Mike Short, vice president of Telefónica Europe disagrees: “Some of the demographics that we have is a lot better — but it’s in a different format.” The mobile industry is working via the GSM Association and mobile marketing analyst ComScore to remedy that. “We can do age, location and subject,” he says.

Lane is not convinced: “Traditional advertising is very visible,” he says. And potential advertisers can easily get information about how much it costs to advertise. “If you want a rate card [for mobile advertising] you have to go down a long dark tunnel and sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

There is widespread ignorance among potential advertisers, says Neil Wentworth, director of sales at mCentric, which runs a service delivery platform for the industry. “Brands are in the dark. They have no idea how to access people by mobile,” he says.

It is starting to shift in agencies, says Alistair Hill, a senior analyst ComScore. Its work with the GSMA is aimed at “simplifying the process of buying”, so that agencies can see metrics that allow them to compare different types of advertising — including mobile with conventional, if that is the term, online.

Mobile is too often an addition to an existing ad budget, complains John Rands, managing director of WIN, which describes itself as “a dynamic enabler of entertainment, information and interaction services”. Sometimes a brand or an agency puts together a campaign “and will do mobile as well”, he says: “It’s the ‘as well’, and that might mean just putting a text number in the corner.”

It’s better in some countries, says Goldberg. “In south-east Asia and Australia there are millions of transactions executed using two-way text.”

Simeon Coney, vice president of business development at Adaptive Mobile, adds that in South Africa mobile advertising is starting to dominate, because of an underdeveloped traditional media business.

Many customers see mobile advertising messages as spam. “What’s considered as spam is personal,” says Jay Seaton, chief marketing officer of Airwide.

Coney believes the industry has to be careful, as governments might impose rules about what can and can’t be sent. “Governments will be putting the onus on operators,” he warns. “It will be a real challenge to the industry.”

Short says: “We’d rather have a simple set of rules. Mobile advertising is going to have to have a debate about reach and responsibility.” Child protection and parental controls will have to feature in that debate, he adds. “It’s now getting to ministerial level.”

According to Hill of ComScore, mobile advertising is still some way behind online advertising. “Everything on the internet has become contextual,” he says.

Lane also believes that the parallels with PC-based advertising should not be ignored: “All we’re doing on the mobile is browsing: email and social networking, and news, sport and weather.”

Goldberg, who has just had to extend his daughter’s mobile package to 1,000 texts a month, says: “We should have 11-year-olds on the boards of our companies.” Though Hill retorts that “the average age of the mobile media user is 35”.

Gather any group of enthusiasts for mobile advertising together — and this group was at an event hosted by Airwide — and you’ll soon hear stories about mobile advertising successes.

Unfortunately, most of these stories date from those optimistic times before the recession: such as BMW sending its car customers in Germany localised weather warnings by MMS, complete with a picture of each customer’s car in the right colour.

In theory, the industry has the data that could be enormously useful to advertisers — but Short points out that one of the problems is the sheer volume of it.

Goldberg sympathises: “The amount of data on the network is huge — 120 million transactions a day.” That’s the figure for the UK. “You’d need data warehousing the size of small countries. Operators have the data, but extracting the data is a non-trivial exercise. It just can’t be done in real time.”

Short emphasises the scale of the challenge: “We know the location of 50 billion text messages a year,” he says.

But operators haven’t explored new opportunities, suggests Goldberg. They would know the identity of 150,000 people attending a grand prix or other sports event, he notes. There’s potential there to use information to send them messages.

Mobile advertising, in theory, is a lot more economical than television advertising — which reaches many more people than could possibly be interested in a deal. With mobile, “you offer a deal only to people to want to offer the deal to”, he says.

One of the problems is that there is an advanced market for advertising in developed countries, says Seaton. “In developed markets there’s not such a need to innovate.”

Smartphones, if anything, make life for mobile advertisers complicated — simply because there are so many, built with different standards. “The market’s evolving quickly, with lots of new handsets,” says Tagg.

Seaton notes that this is why in some markets advertisers have relied on the simple technology of text messaging. “Trying to force-fit ads to thousands of different handsets is an issue. That’s why we’ll be having the same advertising discussions in two years.”

Goldberg returns to the theme that the industry is ill-informed about mobile advertising: “Operators and suppliers need to educate agencies and brands,” he says. “Many just don’t know what you can do.” That, he adds, is “why text is so good” — advertisers do understand that.

So how should the market move? “It’s up to the operators to expose their assets,” says Seaton. “There will be thousands of opportunities. Application developers can leverage all the assets, not just the 15% of smartphones.”

But Lane concludes with a sceptical note: “There’s hardly any money in mobile advertising and it dominates all our conversations,” he concludes. GTB

URL Link to Global Telecoms Business:

http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Article/2346535/Operators-still-waiting-for-ad-revenue.html

R/GA was hired to brand Barnes & Noble’s new e-reader: the nook

R/GA worked with Barnes & Noble to create:

• the brand identity

• marketing plan

• retail materials

• online and print advertising

R/GA created the nook name and logo as well as the iconography and color palette on the device’s interface. The agency is also responsible for nook.com, in-store materials and print ads that were featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

This is a great example of agency transformation and the Future of Advertising Agencies. An originally digital agency now has become full-service agency, providing turnkey 360 degree marketing services. We should expect to see more of these examples…

——————————————————————————————————

Join us where we discuss the Future of Advertising at
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2090773&trk=hb_side_g

I’ve been a fan for many of the past years of the Johnnie Walkers live score updates on the www.smh.com.au (or the age.com.au and others) websites for all the Australian Test Match cricket games.

You know summer is really here and the cricket season is in full swing (*bliss*) when this feature starts appearing.  I especially enjoyed the download widget last year.

But this year as I tune in to hear Australia adequately (not brilliantly though) squeeze the life out of the West Indies bowlers on ABC Grandstand, I’ve noticed a massive leap-improvement of the Johnnie Walker offering.

This new enhancement has a lot of new information and live features at a touch of a button.

Pie charts, batting statistics, umpire statistics, newsworthy news flashes (FYI Hussey just past 17 Test 50’s) and much more all wrapped up in a new interface design.

Much less Johnnie Walker branding, but he’s still there walking….

The ONLY thing they now need to do is take the whole thing off and away from SMH/TheAge and put it onto NineMSN and get the rights to stream live video content through this branded application….or, do a deal with ABC Grandstand to stream their radio coverage….

It’d put a bit of a dent in productivity, but I’ve seen recent statistics that say workers in Australia do multi-millions of dollars of extra work for free for corporate Australia these days, so, you know, a bit of balance is called for!

I love it, and if you like cricket you’ll be a fan soon too.

Get the score live now here.

Mutually Exclusive is dedicated to providing strategic consulting services to the mutual banking market in Australia.

We operate across business, technology, marketing and public relations to ensure the ducks are lined up, so to speak.

Often we start our conversations around ‘what’s keeping you up at night?’ From here we work with you to determine the right approach for your business.

NEWSFLASH: BRANDS HAVE LOST CONTROL

Marketers no longer have total control over what their brands stand for. Gen Y are active participants in the brand narrative. No matter what you say to them, ultimately, they will decide what your brand means. Via Web backchannels (Twitter/Facebook/Digg) they control what your brand means to millions.

Classically, marketers would get their 4Ps in order and determine a positioning statement to set them apart from the competition. Then they would hammer their audiences with slogans and taglines that prop up their positioning. I propose that this may not be the best way to market brands today.

GOOD NEWS: YOU HAVE THE SAME TOOLS THEY DO

I’m not knocking the single-minded proposition or positioning statement. A brand should have a core “idea” or reason for its existence. What I am suggesting is that instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all brand proposition on all and sundry, marketers and advertisers should have a broader set of brand values that reveal different facets of the core proposition. Since consumers are going to expand the meaning of your brand whether you like it or not, you might as well broaden your brand territory – give them more space to play.

To do this:

1. Figure out your Core Brand Proposition. A statement. A word.
2. Expand your core brand definition by choosing related values, words, statements, the facets of your brand, to place within the green Brand Conversation Parameter. The green zone/parameter is where you want your brand to be or what you want it to be associated with. The red zone is the no go area for your brand.
3. Be a shepherd. Keep all brand communications you control within the green zone. Influence the ongoing conversation about your brand by users (whom you have no control over) by being vigilant online, creating spaces for offline and online activities and interaction, helping them discover and explore new facets of your brand, and so on. “Give us the tools, make it easy for us, and we will join your tribe” – Seth Godin.

Figure 1. Brand Conversation Parameters

Mutually Exclusive is dedicated to providing strategy and consulting services to the Australian mutual banking market: credit unions, mutual building societies and friendly societies.

Determined to put the competition back into banking for Australians, Mutually Exclusive works with mutual banking providers to improve their marketing, customer engagement, customer service, technology platforms and overall banking experience.

Social media begins to look less social as social business starts to become a serious play.

Google Buys AdMob For $750 Million In All Stock Deal www.admob.com/google

Today Search Engine Land has reported from Google’s API Blog that advertisers who use the v2009 API can now use up to 2 dynamic parameters in the ad copy. These ad parameters include numbers such as prices, discount percentages, quantities, etc.

For example, if you run an airline and you want to display the latest prices for a trip from New York to Los Angeles, you can do so using the API. The ad copy can read something like, “Fly from NY to LA for $249, Act Now, Only 3 Seat Left.”

The benefits of such an update are huge and are ultimately too big to ignore. If you’re selling online, show me one other advertising medium in which you can update the ads as quickly as you’re advertising the price and product on your website. By citing real time prices, deals and availbility, your conversions will undoubtedly increase as customers are drawn in by ads with attractive and relevant copy.

Ultimately, it is evident that for real gains, a basic PPC campaign just won’t cut the mustard.

LONDON, November 20 – Total Immersion, global leaders in augmented reality (AR) marketing are helping to give music purchases a new edge with their latest campaign for Universal Music TV/All Around The World artists N-Dubz. The project is Total Immersion’s first campaign for the music industry as AR starts to take off as the cutting-edge consumer experience-based marketing tool.

Platinum-selling group N-Dubz’ forthcoming album ‘Against All Odds’ out on November 16, on Universal Music TV/All Around the World features an augmented reality performance by the band, triggered from data embedded within the album artwork. When held in front of a home webcam, the artwork shows 3-D images of the band chatting to the viewer before giving an impromptu performance of the hit new single ‘I Need You’, all within the palm of their hand.

Consumers can turn the sleeve artwork around to view the band from alternative angles. The band members move as fluidly as they would if they were physically standing on the piece of paper being held.

Total Immersion UK sales director, Myles Peyton, says: “Augmented reality is really starting to take off as a marketing platform. Modern consumers are constantly seeking the latest brand experience and we believe the application of our groundbreaking technology within the marketing of a music CD will help to breathe a new lease of life into the physical music sales format.”

Buu-Kim Hoang-Le, Head of Digital & eCommerce, Universal Music TV, said: “We are always looking at innovative ways for our bands to engage with music fans. ‘Against All Odds’ is one of the most anticipated albums of the year, and we wanted fans to have a greater interactive experience with the album alongside the music.

“N-Dubz have a close relationship with their fans, and the fans play a huge part in their success. The augmented reality experience takes this further and brings fans a unique one-to-one experience with N-Dubz
live and interactive in their homes.”

Google plans to acquire Teracent, a startup that allows display ads to be customized for specific deliveries. Teracent’s Intelligent Display Advertising relies on machine-learning algorithms to select the optimal creative elements for each ad impression. The technology from Teracent can also be valuable for delivering Google’s mobile ads.

By Jennifer LeClaire at Newsfactor

On Monday, Google announced it plans to acquire yet another advertising company. The search giant has targeted Teracent, a San Mateo, Calif., startup that customizes display ads for different situations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Teracent’s trademarked Intelligent Display Advertising makes ads fully customizable to specific consumers and sites. The technology relies on machine-learning algorithms to decipher and select the optimal creative elements for each ad impression.

“As you know, we’ve been busy releasing new features and products to help improve display advertising on the web for everyone. We believe that Teracent’s technology fits neatly into these efforts,” Neal Mohan, Google’s vice president of product management, and Joerg Heilig, Google’s engineering director, wrote on the company blog.

An Important Mobile Feature

Teracent’s technology can pick and choose from thousands of display-ad creative elements in real time. Advertisers can change images, products, messages or colors. These variables can be optimized based on factors such as geographic location, language, the content of the web site, the time of day, or the past performance of different ads.

“This technology can help advertisers get better results from their display-ad campaigns,” Mohan and Heilig said. “In turn, this enables publishers to make more money from their ad space and delivers web users better ads and more ad-funded web content.”

Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, agrees that Teracent’s technology could bring Google users better display-advertising results — and he noted it’s an important capability in mobile advertising as well.

“The promise of mobile advertising is ‘right time, right ad, right place.’ In search, the user expresses that need or interest in the form of a query and you get an ad back that generally or directly satisfies that query,” Sterling said. “So search is not as much of an issue as display advertising, which has historically been static.”

Tying in AdMob

With mobile advertising, there are too many variables for human beings to manage. To fulfill the promise of right time, right ad, right place, a platform that mixes and matches creative elements and ad copy based on time of day and place is required, Sterling said. Teracent is that platform.

“Google has AdMob with all its publisher relationships and creative ad units, and now they’ve got a technology platform to allow some of those creative elements to be substituted based on these variables,” Sterling said. “That’s a pretty formidable combination.”

Google snapped up AdMob for $750 million in stock earlier this month. Google said the AdMob deal will help the company develop more effective tools for creating, serving and analyzing emerging mobile-ad formats. As this ecosystem continues to grow, Google expects the new marketing media to offer significant benefits. Like Microsoft and Yahoo, Google is looking to tap into a mobile advertising market that’s expected to grow to $5.7 billion by 2014.

URL Link to Newsfactor:

http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Google-Buys-Display-Ad-Technology/story.xhtml?story_id=113003MY4WFG