Smaato Mobile Advertising Awards 2009 – The Search for the Best Mobile Websites, Mobile Games, and Mobile Applications Continues

Smaato, a pioneer in the field of mobile advertising, has announced the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009. The event was a great success last year and garnered a lot of attention. The event had more than 100 entrants and the feedback was mostly positive. Considering the fact that the event was first-of-its-kind, the reception was quite good. So, the company has decided to make the event bigger and better this year.

The competition has been divided into three different categories – iPhone, Mobile Applications (including games), and Mobile Web. The participation is free and it does not cost you a dime. If you think your mobile website, application, or game is really cool, you can participate in this event. The deadline for submissions ends on the 9th of October, 2009. You can find more details here.

A winner will be chosen from each category and all three winners will be invited to be a part of Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona. Also, just like last year, Smaato will introduce the winners to the VCs who attend the event. Additional prizes include free tickets for Mobile World Congress, exhibition stands at M Days 2010 in Munich, and more. If you remember, Dial Plus was the winner at last year’s event and it has gone on to become very popular in a relatively short period of time.

Smaato has formed an impressive jury which includes some well known names from Mobile Marketer, Mobile Entertainment, VentureBeat, Mobile Monday, Infinita, Norwest Venture Partners, MSearchGroove, MobiAdNews, and more.

Like I have repeatedly said, events like this are very good for mobile advertising industry as they promote healthy competition and innovation. Most importantly, for up and coming mobile startups, events like these could be a great launch pad. So, in my opinion, these types of events are a sign of the growth of mobile advertising as an industry.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Mobile Events.

0 comments.

Customer-centric Mobile Advertising in 2020?

A recent report from OgilvyOne and Acision predicts an interesting scenario for mobile advertising in 2020.

The report says that in about a decade from now, in 2020, mobile phone advertising will be a lot more people-centric. Mobile advertisers, instead of spamming the inbox of the end user with random ads, will start delivering personalized ads which will be customized according to the end user’s preferences and tastes. In other words, the end user will determine what comes into his mobile phone. Since the content will be personalized and useful, a lot of people will be glad to opt into mobile advertising campaigns.

The report also says that the proliferation of 3G and 4G networks will fuel mobile advertising’s growth significantly. It will make services like mobile web, mobile social networking, and mobile TV, which are currently used only by a small percentage of mobile users, a lot more accessible for a large number of mobile users.

The report also goes on to add that the market will not be controlled by a handful of mobile operators in 2020. It is likely to become segmented and a lot of operators might consider offering ad-funded services. This could very well lead to a cohesive, symbiotic environment where both mobile operators and service providers complement each other and offer a lot of value for the end user.

Basically, the report pretty much sums up what I have been trying to say for a while now. If you need a little primer, you can check out this post. The future of mobile advertising, despite the objection of privacy champions, looks bright. In fact, it looks so bright that you can’t even look at it directly unless you are wearing shades.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

4 comments.

Virgin Mobile Promotes its Mobile Web Services Aggressively

I just saw the latest Virgin Mobile ad on YouTube. They have come up with this ad to promote their mobile web services. I have to tell you; the ad looks quite good. Rumor has it that the company has spent millions on its ‘powerful stuff’ promotional campaign which includes this internet ad as well. The promotional campaign includes ads for every popular medium including TV, online, and the print medium.

The ad is named Fantastic Journey. It is aesthetically shot and is very colorful. The important thing to be noted in this ad is that it does not boast of any celebrity. It is simple, yet appealing. When I watched it for the first time, I couldn’t help but think of Virgin Mobile’s last advertising campaign which involved celebrities like Pamela Anderson, Kate Moss, and Buster Rhymes. This time around, the company has decided to stay away from the glitz and glamour of celebrities and focus on delivering the right message to the viewers.

The underlying message of this ad is that mobile internet can brighten up your life and help you forget the monotonies of your everyday life. Virgin Media authorities have stated that they wanted to reach their core audience on an emotional level and give them a glimpse of the colorful world of mobile web. A world which can bring free video clips, music, movie trailers, games, and social media right to their mobile phone screen. This is the reason why they stayed away from celebrities as they wanted people to get the message without getting distracted by the presence of celebrities.

It is really interesting to see that a major telecom company like Virgin Mobile is spending millions of pounds to promote their mobile web services. It just goes to show that mobile internet might as well be the next big thing. Considering the rate at which it is growing, it could happen sooner than later.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

3 comments.

Entertainment Sector Tops Mobile Ad Spending

A recent metrics report from Millennial Media has the details about the recent trends in mobile ad spending. According to the report, entertainment is the sector which tops the list as far as mobile ad spending is concerned.

The report also says that 2/3rd of the money spent on entertainment was spent by movie studios for promoting their movies. Major movie studios in Hollywood have been spending a considerable amount of money on mobile ads of late. If you have a high end cell phone like the iPhone or any other web enabled phone for that matter, you could have seen ads for movies like Star Trek, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Fast & Furious 4. Since the response for such mobile campaigns is usually good, movie studios these days do not think twice to spend money on mobile advertising.

For the regular readers of this blog, this news might not be surprising, as we have already discussed this issue here, here, and here.

Apart from movies, a considerable amount has been spent on games (16% of the total spending), TV (9% of the total spending), music (4% of the total spending), and other things (7% of the total spending) that people are interested in.

One of the things to be noted here is that there has been a considerable change in the way mobile advertising is perceived by large companies in the entertainment industry lately. Earlier, the amount spent on mobile marketing campaigns was very little and it was usually for ringtones and stuff like that. Now, movie studios and television studios are coming up with mobile marketing campaigns to promote their movies, sitcoms, and reality TV shows. This just goes to show that a lot of people are slowly beginning to understand that mobile ad campaigns, when done the right way, can give very good results.

Apart from this, a lot of brands are turning their attention towards mobile ads to drive traffic to their mobile sites and enhance their presence in the mobile world. In my opinion, this is a good sign of things to come in the future. A lot of companies have developed mobile sites to help their readers access the websites they want right from their mobile phone. Since mobile web is becoming increasingly popular and the number of high end mobile users is growing fast, it is a good idea for big companies and popular brands to have their own mobile sites. This issue, as some of you might remember, has been already discussed in this blog.

The report also says that Apple iPhone and iPod Touch continue to dominate the mobile ad market by getting the lion’s share of ad impressions. However, it should be noted that other mobile phones like Samsung Instinct are giving a tough competition to Apple in terms of ad impressions.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

3 comments.

The Future of 3G and 4G Services - A Detailed Look

Wanna hear something really incredible? According to TeleGeography, by the year 2013, the addressable market for 3G and 4G mobile services will be, hold your breath, somewhere around 4.5 billion people. In other words, nearly one third of all mobile users in the world will have access to these high speed mobile networks. That is right folks. An unbelievably big number – 4.5 billion wireless subscribers.

It is expected that more than 95% of wireless subscribers in Western Europe will have access to 3G and 4G services in 2013, which is nothing short of amazing. Europe still continues to be the leader as far as mobile market is concerned. Nearly 90% of mobile users in the U.S. and Canada, more than 80% of users in Latin America and Eastern Europe, 70% of users in the Middle East and Africa, and 60% of users in the Asia Pacific region will have access to these next generation cellular services. While it could be said that this is a highly optimistic prediction, the possibility of such an occurrence definitely cannot be ruled out considering the rate at which mobile web and other mobile related services are growing.

I have often argued that India and China are the countries to look for when it comes to mobile services because of their huge population and rapidly developing economies. Now, looking at the numbers above, some of you might wonder why only 60% of users in Asia are expected to have access to 3G and 4G services. The reason is not hard to fathom. The population of China and India is so big that it is nearly impossible for mobile service providers to expand their networks to that extent in such a small period of time. So, even if only 60% of wireless users access 3G and 4G services, it is still a huge achievement.

The most important thing about this news is that it hints at the possibility of a global network of mobile phone users connected by the invisible web of 3G and 4G networks. This, in my opinion, could result in the explosive growth of mobile social networking. The ability to access social networking sites right from their mobile phone at the click of a button is something that every other mobile user, particularly teens and young adults, wants. While this news is certainly exciting, it is not that big of a surprise to me. After all, it is something that we all knew was going to happen sooner than later, isn’t it?

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Social Networking, Mobile Web.

2 comments.

Older »