Mobile Media Summit - Los Angeles

Why Google Should Buy Snapchat

mike — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:59:54 +0000

Snapchat—isn’t that about sexting? We thought so, too. But it turns out there are a host of reasons why people might want to send a photo that isn’t stored permanently online. Detractors of Snapchat insist that the only reason why you’d want to send someone a throwaway picture is because it’s something dirty. Defenders insist that the real reason for disposable pictures is a generational shift in behavior: Kids who have grown up with Facebook ever-present in their lives are keenly aware that everything they share is watched and scrutinized. Tools like Snapchat give them freedom to share without consequences, to communicate without the pressure of every interaction being drenched with meaning. http://bit.ly/Wf12mi

Hearst Claims More Digital Subscribers Than Anybody

mike — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:58:29 +0000

Hearst Corp., publisher of Cosmopolitan, Elle and Road & Track among other titles, now has 800,000 paying digital subscribers, according to President David Carey. Carey (pictured) included the stat in a letter to employees at the company. The figure refers to monthly subscribers across all titles and via iPads, Nooks, Kindle Fires and Android devices for the end of 2012. Carey claims the figure is “the highest in the industry” and that more than 80% of those subscribers are new to Hearst. Conde Nast, one of Hearst’s biggest rivals, has 500,000 digital-only subscriber/single copy sales and 1.5 million customers who choose a print/digital combination, but “It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison because Hearst sells digital subs separately from print product while we offer ‘bundled’ content.” a rep says. Other industry competitors including Time Inc. and Meredith haven’t released their digital subscription figures. The New York Times claimed 592,000 digital subscribers in October 2012. http://on.mash.to/Ul6V1D

Top 10 Luxury Mobile Brands

mike — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:57:32 +0000

Luxury marketers added mobile-based utility or entertainment to cross-channel campaigns this year to gain exposure among savvy smartphone and tablet users. According to Luxury Daily, mobile touch points included in multi-channel efforts by luxury marketers helped to extend these campaigns onto a medium accessed daily by consumers. The best efforts of 2012 used the medium to reinforce status, while keeping the brand top of mind among the target audience. http://bit.ly/VwfWID.

Jell-O Mobilizes!

mike — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:56:39 +0000

Kraft Foods-owned Jell-O is encouraging consumers to learn more about its brand via a new mobile initiative that features recipes consumers can make using the company’s products. According to Mobile Marketer, the company is running the mobile campaign within Us Magazine’s mobile site. Jell-O has used mobile advertising in the past to drive user engagement. “The Jell-O mobile advertising campaign is generally well-designed and functional, with the ability to click on the banner ad to expand the ad unit to see the full recipe and flick between different pictures of the items,” said Simon Buckingham, CEO of Appitalism, New York. “It is useful to be able to see the amount of preparation time, total time including cooling and serving size that makes the recipe requires,” he said. “The recipes are very compelling to those viewers with a sweet tooth, and include items that most Jell-O eaters would not simply come up with themselves – they really show good uses of the product.” http://bit.ly/UcojLi

Capture: iPhone’s New Video Camera

mike — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:55:55 +0000

The launch of YouTube Capture, an iPhone-only app launched with little fanfare that will likely overtake the device’s default video camera. You may not have installed Capture yet — indeed, it took most of Monday for it to even show up in the App Store’s search results. But we’re betting you will; it is as essential to your iPhone experience as its corporate sister product, Google Maps for iOS 6, which has been downloaded 10 million times in a few days. Capture does what its name suggests: captures video instantly, and posts it to YouTube, with some neat enhancements, in a click or two. You can share the result to Twitter or Facebook, and it plays nice with the built-in Apple video library, syncing back and forth. The YouTube folks I talked to exuded an air of quiet confidence about the app Monday. “We think it serves a number of use cases a lot better [than the iPhone video camera],” said Andy Berkheimer, engineering manager. “Particularly spontaneity: when you see something going on, you want it. “You can configure the app in a mode where it’ll turn the camera on the minute you open it. It’s not set up that way, but if you want it to behave that way you can.” http://on.mash.to/V3pEha

M-Commerce Being Used for Big Ticket $$ Items

mike — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:54:43 +0000

PayPal this week revealed that the largest mobile transaction it has processed so far this year was for a $48,000 bulldozer. With consumers spending as much as $48,000 on purchases made via mobile, it is clear that the medium is not just for small-ticket purchases any longer. According to Mobile Commerce Daiuly, in the early days, many thought no one would use mobile for purchases other than small ticket items such as digital downloads. While several recent examples disprove this idea, the majority of consumers are still not comfortable making very large purchases via mobile. “As consumers increase their use of mobile and become more comfortable on devices, we are seeing that this is leading to higher purchase amounts,” said Claudia Lombana, shopping specialist at PayPal, San Jose, CA. “We are not seeing these every day, however. It comes down to the flexibility and convenience on mobile, which is unparalleled so people are becoming more comfortable making higher-end purchases,” she said. http://bit.ly/V3n5LU

Are Brands Delivering Mobile Relevance?

mike — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:22:51 +0000

The ability to deliver contextually relevant experiences is one of mobile’s big promises for marketers. According to Mobile Marketer, while many experiences have not lived up to these promises, there are signs that 2013 could see a significant jump forward. The ability to leverage not only the time of day and a user’s location – which marketers are getting better at all the time – but also a user’s behavior and preferences is key to strong contextual relevancy. However, marketers face internal as well external challenges to making this a reality. “I think most marketers are still failing to deliver strong contextual experiences on mobile devices,” said Thomas Husson, Paris-based analyst at Forrester Research. “I am not referring here to the advanced use of geo-fencing capabilities — there obviously have been great location-based campaigns,” he said. “By context, I also mean making the most of preferences stated by consumers and their past behaviors. http://bit.ly/12yojp6

Caution: Mobile Addiction Infographic!

mike — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:22:02 +0000

Are you one of the 29% of people who say they can’t live without their cellphones? According to a recent Pew Research study, people have a hard time breaking away from their cellphones — and their friends don’t help stop this addictive behavior. The study also shows that only 12% of cellphone owners say that people they know tell them when they’re spending too much time on their phone. But 39% of cellphone owners say their family, friends and acquaintances will complain if they don’t answers calls or texts fast enough. The study of 2,254 adults showed that 67% of cellphone owners check their phone for messages, alerts, or calls, even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating. Here’s another unhealthy habit — 44% of cell owners have slept with their cellphone next to their bed because they didn’t want to miss any calls or texts during the night. http://on.mash.to/123MSed

2013 Mobile Commerce Predictions

mike — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:21:20 +0000

As devices and network speeds improve and more brands take on a mobile-first approach, mcommerce will continue to accelerate and build momentum in 2013. This year, companies such as JCPenney – who promised to get rid of traditional point-of-sale mechanisms and incorporate mobile checkouts in-stores – have put mobile at the core of their marketing efforts. Mobile commerce has already grown more than imagined and although there are more leaps that need to be made, there is no doubt the space will make a bigger impact next year. “I predict that many retailers that started with quick and dirty transcoded sites will move to API-linked integrated solutions that leverage and extend their ecommerce operations into the mobile space,” said Wilson Kerr, vice president of business development and sales at Unbound Commerce, Boston. See predictions here: http://bit.ly/W0QAAW

Swarm, Amazon Price Comparison Tool Raises A Cool Mil$

mike — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 07:20:32 +0000

Despite a significant increase in the number of mobile-driven “Likes” on Facebook brand pages this year, many companies are still not optimizing their social experiences for mobile. According to Mobile Marketer, new research from social media solutions provider Friend2Friend’ found that while mobile “Likes” on brand pages have increased 500 percent since earlier this year, 7 out of 10 Facebook campaigns from large brands do not work on mobile. While there has been much discussion about Facebook needing to up its game in the mobile, the data suggests that brands also hold some of the responsibility for the inadequate mobile social experience. “We have really just hit the tipping point over the last six to 12 months in terms of mobile and social use,” said Roger Katz, CEO of Friend2Friend, Palo Alto, CA. http://bit.ly/RlIsxx