A slightly different round-up this month. First up, the eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that we’re a day early. That’s because we’re not looking back at the events of the past month, but of the past year, and in true ‘Review of the Year’ style, we’re doing it on the last day of the old year, rather than the first day of the new one.
What we’ve done is chosen one story from each of the past 12 months that we think throws some light on how the mobile marketing sector is developing, in an attempt to paint a picture of a typical year in the world of mobile. So if you’re sitting comfortably, we’ll begin…
Back in January 07, mobile ad marketplace AdMob reported that it had served no less than a billion mobile web ads in the previous six months. The figure compared favourably with that of 30 million ads for the six months prior to that, and no doubt made a few people sit up and look at mobile advertising a little more seriously.
February saw the mobile marketing industry decamp en masse, as usual, to Barcelona for 3GSM, and we took the opportunity to sit down and talk at length to Anil Malhotra, VP, Marketing & Alliances at Bango, one of the original mobile marketing pioneers. It was six years since Bango had launched its Bango Numbers concept, and while that failed to catch the imagination, it was great to hear how the company had re-invented itself and retained its position on the mobile marketing front-line.
In March, mobile Internet site developer Wapple launched Wapple Canvas, a DIY kit for building mobile websites. There are a few of these around now, and a number of automatic solutions that create a mobile site from a website’s RSS feed, but Wapple Canvas was the first that came to our attention, and remains one of the best.
In April, there was further evidence of the automotive industry’s enthusiasm for mobile when car maker Mercedes-Benz appointed mobile and web engagement company Ymogen to create, implement and manage all its passenger car mobile marketing and communications in 2007.
There’s something about mobile that the automotive industry likes, and when you have brands like Mercedes-Benz retaining an agency to run mobile campaigns, that’s got to be good news for the whole industry.
May saw the launch of Google Maps for the mobile phone. This looked like a killer app from the moment we first saw it, and half a year later, nothing has happened to change our mind. The joy of being able to get off a train or a bus in London with a vague idea where you’re going and pull up a detailed map on your mobile to help you navigate the last half a mile has to be experienced to be believed. You’ll never hunt for that dog-eared A-Z again.
In June, UK recruitment company Head Resourcing introduced what it claimed was the world’s first mobile-based recruitment service, HEADMobile. Users download a small Java application to their mobile phone, and can then get instant access from Head Resourcing to the latest listings in their sector, which can be viewed and forwarded to friends.
What we liked about this was the fact that it’s one more thing you can do with your phone. For all the hype about mobile advertising, we still firmly believe that useful everyday applications are what will get the great unwashed to start using their mobile for more than calling and texting. Once they get in the habit of doing so, it’s a slightly shorter leap of faith to expect them to start surfing the mobile Internet and clicking on the ads they see there.
Talking of useful applications, July saw the launch of a ‘Text a Tradesman’ service. The service, provided by Problem Solved, the UK directory of recommended and vetted tradespeople, and delivered by mobile agency Incentivated, enables consumers to text the name of the required service (e.g. PLUMBER) followed by their postcode, to a shortcode, to receive a message with the contact details of three reliable local tradespeople. Or you could just dig out the local paper and take your chances…
Once again, there’s nothing mind-blowing about this service; it’s just another good, common sense mobile application, and that’s why we like it.
On a less encouraging note, later the same month, Virgin Mobile announced that its Virgin Mobile TV service was to be pulled, following BT’s decision to axe its Movio service, which provided the bandwidth for the Virgin service. Proof if any were needed that you shouldn’t trust the phrase: “Build it and they will come” or anything else you hear in the movies for that matter.
In August, mobile email company Emoze unveiled what it claimed was the first true push mobile email service for Gmail users worldwide. Emoze made a lot of noise about its mobile email solutions in 2007, and no doubt will make a lot more in 2008. A lot of people still associate mobile email with one particular family of devices, but Emoze, and others, are on a mission to prove that there’s more to life than a Blackberry.
One of the most significant launches of the year came in September when Blyk, the world’s first ad-funded mobile network, went live. The concept is simple: agree to receive a couple of ads a day on your phone and you can have free talk time and texts. User numbers are still pretty small, and it’s too early to say what the future holds for Blyk, but the company certainly talks a good game, and the idea of targeting ads to self-profiling consumers is an interesting one. It will be interesting to see where Blyk is nine months from now, a year after launch.
October saw the Information Commissioner''s Office decide to update its guidance for marketers on the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. The updated guidance removed Bluetooth from the list of communication methods that require the user’s opt-in permission, opening up mobiles everywhere to a wave of Bluetooth marketing campaigns, or spam, depending on your point of view.
I can’t say I have noticed a massive ramp up in Bluetooth activity since the decision – maybe I don’t hang around the right bus shelters – but I did go through a period of a few days where I couldn’t walk through Waterloo Station in London without getting a message from Bose, which did start to annoy me, the second time it happened.
Last month, the Internet Advertising Bureau made its first serious move into the mobile space, with the formation of a dedicated Mobile Council, and a raft of other initiatives, including the first joint industry report: ‘Mobile Advertising: the Emerging UK Market’, produced in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The IAB has been a prime mover in driving online ad revenue growth. Its entry into the mobile space should be wholeheartedly welcomed.
Finally, earlier this month, mobile search and advertising solutions provider Medio Systems announced the availability of its performance-based Medio MobileNow Ad Network to advertisers and mobile publishers in the UK and beyond.
So mobile advertising, as at the beginning of the year, was in the news at the end of it. It’s where the hype is, and where some of the money is, thought perhaps not as much as everyone involved would like. Will 2008 be the year that mobile advertising becomes mainstream? Who knows, but if you want to find out, you know where to look…
A very Happy New Year to all our readers. Check back on Wednesday when we’ll resume our coverage of the mobile marketing ecosystem.
David Murphy
Editor