Mobile web is huge - says Nielson Mobile

A latest report from Nielson Mobile says that mobile internet has reached a tipping point. According to its latest survey, there are over 40 million active mobile internet users in the U.S. alone. And the number is growing steadily by the day. So, Nielson Mobile states that mobile internet, as an advertising medium, has reached a critical mass. What this means to advertisers is that they now have a very good market with a good demographic depth.

Now, this should not be surprising for anyone who’s been following the mobile web market closely. Mobile broadband usage has skyrocketed in the recent times and we’ve had report after report predicting just how big mobile web can be in the future. So, all I can say to people who doubted the potential of mobile web is – I told you so. In fact, I think there is still scope for a huge growth. As more and more people start using Apple iPhones, Blackberries, Nokia N95s, and other such phones, the number of mobile web users will increase exponentially. Already, over 80% of iPhone users surf the internet regularly from their phone. So, with more and more sophisticated devices coming into the market, we can expect further growth.

Now that we’ve heard the good news, can you predict which the most popular website among mobile internet users is? If you said Yahoo, give yourself a self-congratulatory pat on your back.

This again should not be very surprising for people following the mobile web market closely. Yahoo has made tremendous progress in the mobile web market and it’s not surprising that it enjoys great popularity among users. However, Google and Microsoft come in the second and third spots respectively and are not far away either.

Categories: Mobile Web.

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Microsoft to buy mobile software company MobiComp

The game of mergers and acquisitions is on for sure. After Nokia’s successful acquisition of Symbian, it’s now Microsoft’s turn to get into the act. Microsoft announced a few days back that it will buy MobiComp, a Portugal based mobile software maker.

MobiComp is particularly known for its apps related to data protection and sharing. MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, an app which stores and backs up mobile data, and MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, an app which connects the mobile phone with social networking communities on the web, are the two most important apps that Microsoft is said to be interested in integrating into its Windows Live Mobile.

Microsoft has not disclosed the cost of this acquisition and the terms of the deal.

I think this acquisition will do loads of good to Microsoft and will serve as a morale booster. Apple made news with 3G iPhone, Google is almost always in the news with Android, Yahoo is going great guns, and now Nokia has made headlines all over the world by buying Symbian. Microsoft needed something to get back into the limelight as far as the mobile market is concerned and it has come in the form of this acquisition. The competition, my friends, is only going to get more intense.

Categories: Microsoft.

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What does Nokia plan to do with Symbian?

Ever since Nokia acquired Symbian and announced that it will be made free of cost, a lot of questions have been raised. The most important question, and the most obvious one too, is the one about the hundreds of millions of dollars that Nokia stands to lose by giving away Symbian free of cost. But then, I’m surprised to notice that a lot of people can’t see the woods for the trees.

Nokia’s plans are very clear. It wants to put Google, Apple, Research In Motion, and Microsoft out of commission by making its open source software the most wanted and the most used mobile software in the world. What this open source software means to developers around the world is that they now have the opportunity to develop as many applications as possible. This will make Symbian handsets more popular than ever.

In my opinion, a lot of developers might prefer Symbian over Apple iPhone or Google Android. The reason is simple. The iPhone, as popular as it may be, is not exactly the market leader. And Google is yet to come up with Android. So, at this situation, developing apps for Symbian, which is the most popular mobile software as of now, sounds really sensible.

If developers around the world started building useful apps for Symbian handsets, it would make Symbian handsets even more popular than what they are right now and the sales will increase exponentially. In other words, Nokia will sell more mobile phones than what it does right now, thanks to this move. And that is exactly what Nokia wants.

Now, it will be interesting to see the reactions of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and RIM. Something’s gotta give. Let’s wait and watch.

Categories: Nokia.

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Ford’s innovative mobile marketing campaign in India

Okay folks, let me ask you a question.

You’re a billion dollar automobile company, you’ve just released a new, peppy edition of your car which appeals mostly to youngsters, and you want to grab the attention of young car enthusiasts all over the country. What do you do?

Simple. You do mobile marketing.

Ford did the exact same thing in India when it released its new Ford Ikon Music Edition car called the iKool. Ford used the services of MindShare, a mobile marketing company, to come up with a creative mobile marketing campaign for iKool. MindShare contacted Nokia and made an agreement to advertise on Airtel Live!, the WAP site of India’s leading mobile operator, Airtel. Airtel is part of Nokia Media Network and it readily agreed to this arrangement.

MindShare created an innovative, content rich WAP site for Ford iKool. Mobile users around the country were served with banner ads through Airtel Live!. Those who clicked on the banner ads were taken to the iKool WAP site where they had the chance to download mobile games, wallpapers, ringtones, and many more.

The response rate for this mobile marketing campaign was a terrific 8.58%. Especially, two content pages – “Services For You” and “News & Sports” – saw a phenomenal click through rate of 14%, which is unseen before.

Ford has actually set an important precedent, as far as I’m concerned. I still remember, when Ford came up with its new model called Fiesta in India about a year and a half back, it mostly relied on TV ads and newspaper and magazine coverage. Now, just within a couple of years, things have changed so much that it went straight to a mobile marketing company to get the job done. And the result was there for everyone to see, right?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Nokia to open Ad Labs to teach mobile marketing techniques

Nokia is planning to open a series of training labs called ‘Ad Labs’ which will teach traditional advertising agencies the art of mobile marketing. Nokia revealed its plans at the Cannes International Advertising Festival 2008. Mike Baker, the VP and the head of mobile advertising in Nokia, said that Nokia’s traditional advertising staff will benefit tremendously from this training and the long time goal is to make them competent enough to create highly targeted mobile marketing campaigns for their clients. To begin with, Nokia will start Ad Labs in Boston and London.

This is a very important move as far as Nokia is concerned. Of late, Nokia has been trying hard for an image makeover – from just a mobile manufacturer to a mobile marketing conglomerate. If you take a look at Nokia’s actions in the recent past, there is a definite pattern. It acquired Enpocket, developed its own mobile internet platform Ovi, it joined hands with France Telecom, and now it’s planning to open Ad Labs for mobile marketing training. Could it get any more obvious? Surprisingly, yours truly predicted a Nokia vs. Google scenario some time back and it seems it might come true after all. What do you say?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Nokia.

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