Two very interesting interviews with Martin Sorrell, WPP CEO. Well woth a few minutes of your time.

The first, Sorrell is asked about the content and gives his views on why FREE does not work:

The second, he gives his views on the future of advertising:

Image by: Tendril

Welcome to the 241^st edition of Carnival of the Mobilists. This week it is again the turn of leading mobile strategist and marketer Martin Wilson of Indigo102 to provide his take on a week in mobile.

A week after celebrating its 5^th anniversary it is great to see the Carnival alive and well and conveying aspects of an industry that still continues to buzz with so many different vibes. A week in mobile is never a dull affair.

The working week came to a close in truly invigorating style with the Forum Oxford: Future Technologies Conference at the University of Oxford. On the promise of all the event presentations being made available online it is definitely worth making effort to sign up to the free forum – Forum Oxford: Next Generation Mobile Applications Panel). More in a moment…

An email from Nokia recieved – I can finally buy an N8, but not sure I want one now.

3 days to go…

Long time no see: Windows Mobile back from darkness. Aurélien Fonteneau, at ON, gives a round-up of the buzz surrounding the imminent release of Windows Phone 7. We get: Devices, Strengths and Weaknesses. And proclaims; I would definitely wait a few months before buying a Windows Phone an opinion I am not sure I agree I want one!

Beyond opportunity…

Mobile Marketing Association Mobile Forum Analysis @ Mobile Marketer. Peggy Ann-Salz, of mSearchGroove, gives us her take on the recent MMA event in London. Speakers included: Jay Altschuler, Unilever Global Communication Planning Director; Paul Berney, MMA CMO & Managing Director EMEA; and Jude Brooks of Coca Cola and touches on some of the latest consumer findings and insight from the likes of Lightspeed Research, Electronic Arts (EA) and Buzzcity.

Confidence critical…

How Mobile Operators Can Make The Grade. Lisa Ciangiulli, of Alcatel-Lucent Global Advertising Solutions. Lisa suggests that much of the reticence among mobile operators and companies across the mobile marketing ecosystem to seize the opportunity is not a matter of failing to understand the business benefits, but rather one of confidence.

 Shake-up time…

What if Tesco decided to really take on mobile? Helen Keegan, of Heroes of the Mobile Screen, provides a very interesting view on what mobile may look like if an organisation such as Tesco became serious…Well, the app store would be more focussed and better organised (simpler is better). Beyond the app store… How about if Tesco provided suppliers (be that FMCG, mobile apps, clothing, whatever) with a full-service marketing option. And… What about if Tesco were to take on some web 2.0 and mobile 2.0 principles. READ ON.

Context, or NOT…

Mobile context – As a road sign. Steven Hoober, Urges to think about users and think contextually. Mobile ‘Context’ is ever present in the ambitions of many when designing mobile applications, websites , interfaces and even phones. But somehow, it never gets really understood by many.

Finally…

A reach out from Holly Kolman, of MobiEnthusiast, seeking for expert contributors to share Breaking news about mobile App, Computer or Cloud technology.

 Forum Oxford

The 35 plus delegates were treated to some great presentations from a number of leading industry figures. Organised by Peter Holland and co-chaired by esteemed colleagues Ajit Jaokar and Tomi Ahonen, there was a lot for our industry to talk about - major shifts at Nokia, 3D mobile premiere, apps of course, and how social media is integrating with mobile.

Proceedings were kicked off by James Elles, Member of European Parliament (MEP). It was very it reassuring to hear an MEP speaking quite fluently about mobile and digital. However the audience was left feeling that it is a concern that government appears to be talking, not really acting.

Second up was an effervescent David Marutiak(@marutiak), of Vodafone. Topic: ‘Communities’ and what constitutes a community. “Communities” are supersets of social networks. You don’t need to be in the latter to be in the former. Despite an expectant audience, David stopped short of criticising Vodafone 360’s efforts to date except to suggest that one core learning is it is too complex for retail sales – sales cycle too long and user interface is too loaded.

The audience was treated to array of statistics by Chetan Sharma(@chetansharma), of Chetan Sharma Consulting, as a true authority in global stats and trends he gave an intriguing view on the next 10 years and 15 trends that matter. Global reallocation of advertising spend shifting Mobile = 5% by 2012, On-deck revenue set to rapidly decline from 60% in 2009 to 30% by 2012.

Jeanette Carlsson, of IBM Global Business services, gave a presentation of ‘Social Media on the Web’ and the influences of mobile. It was slightly bizarre by the fact that one could suggest that IBM clearly have a different view of mobile than many in the real world.

Jonny Bentwood(@JonnyBentwood), of Endelman, provided an interesting insight into how ideas spread? Idea Starters – Amplifiers – Adapters – Commentators – Viewers. Start by identifying the most influential sources to help boost a message, although the source may not be who and what you naturally think.

Simon Cavill, of mi-pay, gave us an amazing insight to the world of m-payment. Blowing the audience away with stats like; 20% of the GDP of Kenya goes through mobile phones. Proclaiming minutes on SIM cards are “the Euro of Africa”. Stunning!  Mobile is really making a difference to the developing world. Although in conversation later Simon was quick to point out that adoption in developed countries is going to be far more challenging.

Volker Hirsch(@vhirsch), of Scoreloop covered the ‘Economics of Applications’, a critic of the models, issues and insights in what to do…..Create Fanatics ……Keep it in Context.

Sean Mitchell, of Movidus, spoke of the intention of sharp to releasing a 3D handset in 2011 and then treated delegates to a demonstration of the latest in their 3D technology for mobile phones – mind blowing.

 Xi Sizhe, a 21 year old PHD student provided a great insight in to the environment in China, the drivers and where technology is going. Xi introduced us to the term ‘imovation’ – the ability to copy and innovate – and talked about the age of abundance of devices.

(Forum Oxford: Next Generation Mobile Applications Panel).

 

Martin Wilson – has been involved in digital media for over 14 years, during which time he gained a wealth of experience in the fixed line and mobile Internet, and a deep understanding of the local space. In January 2008, Martin established Indigo 102, an independent consultancy, to assist organisations (including digital advertising agencies, directory publishers, media owners and online service providers) take their brands – and value propositions – mobile. In this role Martin has supported the development and launch of mass market mobile services across three continents. You can contact Martin directly (martin@indigo102.com) and follow on Twitter (@indigo102).

Greetings and welcome to the 239th Carnival of the Mobilists.

This week Eric Chan (@mobileslate) hosts a double-shot of Carnival of Mobilists, all right before the 2010 CTIA Fall San Francisco Conference.

“First double-shot: Martin Wilson over at Indigo 102 starts us off and writes about the next Nokia and Intuit global alliance: Another nail in the coffin for directory publishers?

The opportunity in a real and trusted role as intermediary marketer for the small business is really up for grabs. I have always said that new players would emerge and stake a claim in this potentially very lucrative space – I am not convinced Google will dominate as many think, Nokia could well prevail if they play the right cards.

He also writes about Seven Shortcomings That Can Wreck Your Mobile Strategy

We concluded that many companies deserve high marks for trying to ‘think mobile’, but their execution is mediocre at best.”

 The full Carnival post: Here

Martin has spent almost 10 years involved in developing, marketing and commercialising mobile services and has developed an indepth knowledge. Having supported some of the world’s large media owners in developing mobile services his track record of delivery speaks for itself. Martin is a true expert in mobile who really understands how to open the mobile environment in an effective and often complimentary way for the organisations that he works.  If we can support you get in touch (martin@indigo102.com).

(Follow us on twitter: @indigo102)

Less is more with Microsoft Windows Phone 7

Will it work? ‘Mobile take-over’ is certainly is a situation that resonates with many people, but is it a real problem that will win over new consumers? The answer; may be if your partner was buying the device.

I think this is a relatively sad reflection of the market place. Lately we have seen so many organisations taking pot shots at each other, Apple at other handset manufacturers over its iPhone 4 ‘deathgrip’, Nokia at Apple and HTC during the 2010 NokiaWorld event and now Microsoft.

I have always questioned comparative marketing – it more often than not looks desperate, I feel this occasion is no different.

Microsoft have the opportunity to really showcase what they have done with Windows Phone 7 and re-invent themselves in mobile. They have to focus on the task in hand, have confidence in your products and stop the cheap pot shots mentality.    The advert in question below:

36% of UK Mobile Consumers plan to use the Mobile Internet in Next Year

The research shows high interest in mobile websites, with an average of 28% of European mobile consumers expecting to access websites once a week or more using their mobile phone over the next year. British mobile consumers emerged as the most likely to use the mobile Internet regularly, with 36% stating their intentions to do so over the next 12 months, followed by Germany at 27% and France at 20%.

Take a look a look at where we are today. In the UK, 14m consumers use the mobile internet, some 23% of time spent online is via a mobile device – this shows the reality of mobile. The issue is that today that less than 3% of businesses have a website optimised for a mobile, a staggering discord.

The research asked a 1,000 respondents in each country – Britian, France and Germany. Free access to websites on the mobile Internet emerged as a major driver for usage, with 56% of consumers in France and the UK, and 35% in Germany, stating that they would be very unlikely to use websites which charged them a fee. Fast loading times of websites to the mobile device and simple viewing and navigation were also key amongst French, German and British mobile consumers, with relevant and useful content whilst on the move also featuring highly for Germans.

Other key findings included:

• On average, 30% of mobile consumers (30% UK, 25% France and 36% Germany) were willing to receive alerts from websites of interest on their mobile phone, with 38% preferring these to be via SMS rather than email.

• Mobile search engines emerged as the most popular means of accessing websites on the mobile handset in all three countries, followed by bookmarking in the UK and France, and alerts and notifications in Germany.

The results show that there is a clear and growing market opportunity for the mobile Internet. Mobile is set to be a significant channel and key channel for marketers. However, organisations need to ensure that they deliver to the needs and expectations of a mobile audience.  Mobile is very different to the fixed online environment and is not about transfering your existing offer to a new screen. The mobile channel brings with it a whole load of new considerations – sadly something that many organisations are failing to grasp today. 

A recent European study, by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) and research partner, Lightspeed Research (www.lightspeedresearch.com), has found on average a quarter of consumers would be more likely to respond to advertising in any media if it allowed them to do so using their mobile device.

The findings of the study should be a wake-up call to advertising and media agencies. Mobile should be firmly in the mix when looking to develop campaigns. It is still amazing to see so many ambient campaigns that don’t carry a call to action that is compatible with a mobile. Many of those that carry web site addresses fail on the fact that the site is not optimised to mobile – very large pages sizes and full of graphics.

The research asked a 1,000 respondents in each country – Britian, France and Germany – about their awareness of and preferences for mobile response options and how mobile would enhance their engagement with advertising. Consumers of all age groups demonstrated high levels of awareness and response across multiple media delivery methods, including print media, cinema, radio, outdoor and in-store advertising.

Texting a keyword to a mobile short-code was cited as the preferred method to responding to an advert.

Television advertising was most frequently mentioned for its inclusion of mobile response mechanisms across all three markets, and was perceived by consumers to be the media where mobile response was most effective. UK consumers however emerged as being more likely to respond via mobile to adverts seen on a PC or laptop, while those seen in a print magazine or on a PC or laptop were most popular in France. Direct mail came out on top for consumer response via mobile in Germany.

Key findings included:

• On average, 25% of consumers (31% UK, 24% France and 20% Germany) felt that they would be more likely to respond to an advert that provided a mobile response cue.

• In the UK, mobile response advertising seen on a PC or laptop elicited a higher activity rate in the last month (25%) than other media. In France, print advertising or advertising delivered via a PC or laptop was the most popular (34%), while direct mail was ranked the highest in Germany (23%).

• Texting a keyword to a short-code was recognised as the best way to gain a response in all three countries, while going to a mobile site or calling a number were also popular across all markets.

Providing a response mechanism using mobile is the ideal way to increase the impact of any marketing activity. A mobile call to action enables consumers to engage with brands whenever they want, where ever they are – perfectly aligned to the increasingly mobile lives that many consumers now live. To capitalise marketers and agencies need to understand the value of mobile and more importantly how to integrate in a way that will really engage and add value to consumers, this second element far too many fail on.

 The latest column post from our Managing Director – Martin Wilson -  mSearchgroove; the leading source of analysis and commentary on mobile search, mobile advertising, and social media.  Seven Shortcomings That Can Wreck Your Mobile Strategy – Not just saying whats wrong, but suggesting solutions.

Link to post on msearchgroove: Here

Column post

A new ad for the Nokia N8 using a CellScope microscope has set a Guinness World Record for the “smallest stop-motion animation character in a film”.

The ad, by Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman Animations for Wieden + Kennedy London, features Dot, a 9mm girl who wakes up in a magical, magnified world to discover her surroundings are caving in around her.

She escapes the encroaching wave of destruction as her world unravels via a path made up of tiny, familiar objects such as coins, pins, pencil shavings, nuts and bolts, until she finds peace by knitting herself a blanket from the very matter that pursues her.

The shot then pulls away to show how small she is and to reveal the film was shot with a Nokia N8 and a microscope, called a Cellscope.

The tiny film has set a new world record for the smallest stopmotion animated character in a film.

Mark McCall and Richard Dorey, creatives at W+K, said: “Achieving our goal of setting a world record with a Nokia N8 is the perfect celebration of the campaign’s core message – its not technology, its what you do with it.”

The entire set was no more than a metre and a half long, all elements of which were used to help sell the scale of the project to the viewer.