Sprite will turn your iPhone to a beat box with ZooZBeat

ZoozBeat from Sprite is a fun application for your iPhone and iPod touch, which you can download on the fruit company’s appstore. With this application you can experience your dreams to become a rapper. Sprite has teamed up with some of the hottest rappers in the US to give consumers the latest sounds. The application comes with limited tracks and to get more consumers are urged to text in. If you find this app on Android, let me know, it would be good to see if its up to par. I think the amusement factor of this application is so high that consumers would be willing to pay for it. Looking at the video below, demoing the application, you can clearly see that the guy is enjoying himself. Would be interesting to see if Sprite releases figures on the up-sell through texting. 

Coke Olympics invites mobile users to cheers for Team USA

As a part of Cokes sponsorship of the Winter Olypics the Coca Cola company decided to include mobile into the marketing mix. With the success of their mobile marketing campaign in the summer Olympics 08, they are confident that this is going to be a big hit.

Coke teamed up with NBC and created a mobile wap site featuring a six-pack of athletes, cokeopengames.com. For iphone and ipod touch users coke extended the mobile campaign with a fun and interactive application, the NBC Cheer App. With this application consumers can enjoy fun Olympic themes sounds, watch videos of Team USA and record their own cheers. 
I like the fact that we are starting to see advertisers creating content both on mobile web and apps. With the money spent to drive traffic to the mobile content, app or mobile web, its well worth while creating both so you reach a wider audience. Key thing to remember is to allocate budget for driving traffic to your content as well. Just putting a cool app on app store does not get you downloads. Remember there are over 100k apps in the app store.

I am sure that when Coke partnered up with NBC, they allocated a portion of the mobile budget into buying traffic on the NBC mobile sites.

Official Apple iPad

Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday unveiled the iPad, the widely and wildly anticipated tablet-style computer that he called "a truly magical and revolutionary product." "What this device does is extraordinary," Jobs said. "It is the best browsing experience you've ever had. ... It's unbelievably great ... way better than a laptop. Way better than a smartphone." The computer will act as a sort of missing link between the two. The model Jobs demonstrated at an invitation-only event in San Francisco operated without a hardware keyboard, with Jobs typing on what he described as a nearly full-size touchscreen keyboard. "It's a dream to type on," he said.

It has a nearly 10-inch screen, runs existing apps from the Apple apps store and is available in 16-gigabyte, 32-gigabyte and 64-gigabyte versions, according to Jobs. It will be about a half-inch thick and weigh about 1½ pounds. Jobs said the iPad will be lightning fast: "It screams," he told a crowd that included former Vice President Al Gore. The device will have a 1 GHz processor, an announcement that coaxed "oohs" and "ahs" from the audience.
Pricing will start at $499 for the 16-gigabyte version, $599 for the 32-gig version and $699 for the 64, Jobs said. Having 3G mobile access will cost an extra $130 on each, he said. Two mobile plans will be available through AT&T, and there will be no contracts, allowing customers to opt out at any time, according to Jobs. They are scheduled to begin shipping in 60 days.
Even though the Apple iPad won’t be available for another 60 or 90 days (depending on the model), Apple already has its official iPad website up and running.


In addition to showing off some of the applications, features and design and technical specifications, the website also features an eight-minute video with Apple’s design and development team discussing the device and showing it off. If you love Johnny Ive and well-produced promo videos, you’ll want to check it out!

83% Of Brands Clueless About Mobile Campaign Performance, 27% Don’t Use Analytics

Though a rush is on for brands to engage with mobile campaigns these days, it’s becoming clear that many are neglecting to acknowledge some of the most important aspects of running successful campaigns- namely campaign analytics and overall campaign performance monitoring.

Bango today published a new report in which it reveals that 83% of brands don’t use mobile specific analytical tools, leading to inaccurate data on campaign performance.  Of the few that said they do implement some form of campaign analytics, only 17% said they’d sourced a specialised mobile solution designed to measure mobile user behaviour accurately and consistently, while a surprising 27% admit to not implementing any analytics in their mobile campaigns whatsoever.

Any true marketer, whether engaged in mobile or not, should understand the vital role analytics play in overall campaign performance.  Bringing users into your campaign is only the first part, knowing what those users do after they click is the only way to better understand your audience and to gain valuable insight to better your overall campaign.

“The positive from this data is that mobile marketing is in growth mode, at a time when other forms of advertising are being squeezed hard,” said Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango.  “Yet 8 out of 10 of those surveyed do not take the essential step of implementing mobile analytics to capture accurate user data.  Accurate and comprehensive reporting is what will drive brands to focus more on their mobile marketing campaigns.”

Bango surveyed over 100 participants in a webinar run in late 2009, including brands, agencies and specialist mobile providers to better understand their use of analytical tools in mobile campaigns.  While over 90% of these brands said they will increase their mobile advertising investment in 2010, it’s clear they need to take a closer look at their mobile strategy to make sure all basis are covered, especially in terms of analytics.

Development And Overall Use Of Mobile Apps To Skyrocket In 2010

Mobile apps are big business these days.  Even though 2009 ushered in a wave of excitement and a rush of development for mobile applications, 2010 is set to be a breakout year in terms of marketers realizing the potential and overall usage by consumers.

A new report from DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless indicate mobile app investment should grow significantly this year, while spending on social apps, however, will grow stagnate even though more marketers have already developed the applications.

The study indicated that many marketers took a “wait and see” approach in 2009 in terms of a mobile app strategy, stating fewer than one-half of marketers created either a mobile or social app in 2009.  Most of those surveyed plan to invest in a mobile app this year, however, with the iPhone being the platform of choice, followed by Android.

In terms of social compared to mobile in regards to a favorable platform for branded apps, Facebook took a demanding lead — with 79.8% of respondents utilizing the platform over others — with the iPhone a close second at 62.1%.  Surprisingly, Android and Palm tied with 9.5% of respondents favoring the new OSs.

End-user engagement was the dominating cause for a brand’s interest in using social or mobile platforms for its apps, but social sites were perceived as better for many top goals- including engagement, audience targeting, branding potential and overall reach.  Mobile scored higher on both creative control and persistence however.

Niké True City

One thing that I am starting to realize, when looking at appvertising, is that its not only about creating a cool mobile app, you need to consider marketing that app as well to achieve the appropriate download rates. With this in mind we are starting to see cool app trailers pop up on You Tube and other video sites to boost app downloads.

Here is a great example were AKQA has gone the extra mile to create a cool video boosting their new Niké iPhone app. This is a user generated city guide with integrated QR codes. You can download the Niké True City from for iTunes and I have not been able to find it for Android yet. Any tips are appreciated. Integrating a friends functionality gives a great user experience and a personal touch to the application. What I like about this application, in particular, is that this is not just an app you play around with and then forget. This is a great usefull app that consumers will keep. Good job by AKQA.

The iPhone Finally Gets Live Video Streaming With Ustream

The Ustream Live Broadcaster has just gone live in the App Store tonight and yes, it allows you to stream live video from the iPhone to the web. And yes, it even works over a 3G connection. And yes, it’s awesome. While one of the key features of the iPhone 3GS was video recording capabilities, that was limited to recordings that were captured on your device and could be uploaded to the web after they were done recording. With the Ustream Live Broadcaster, you can easily record videos right to the web, and allow others to watch them as they’re being recorded. These videos can also be archived so that people can watch them later, if they choose.

Settings within the app also make it easy to automatically tweet out when you go live, as well as to do things like share the videos on Facebook and YouTube. The live broadcast can also send out your location, if you’re into that sort of thing. The app also allows for chatting with viewers, and yes/no polling. Ustream has long promised that it would be the first to allow for live video streaming on the iPhone, and it looks like they’ve finally come through — though almost a year after we first wrote about it. They’ve had an iPhone app out for a while, but it hasn’t had live capabilities until now.Qik has had a live-streaming app, but it was only an ad-hoc app, meaning it wasn’t available in the App Store. Find the Ustream Live Broadcaster in the App Store here for free

LG Launches Mobile Marketing Campaign for Avatar

LG is partnering with Twentieth Century Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment to create an elaborate marketing campaign teeming with mobile components to help promote the much-hyped upcoming release of Avatar. Naturally, a high-gloss, CGI-intense adventure flick like Avatar warrants a similarly high-tech promotional campaign, and that’s exactly what LG is promising to deliver in time for the film’s premiere. In addition to a number of visually striking television ads, LG is also introducing an interactive micro site, www.lgexpo.com, which includes exclusive movie content and a wide variety of digital offerings from the movie, which opens December 18th.

Avatar, with its unique story brought to life by Titanic director James Cameron, involves human “drivers” who have their consciousness projected onto an avatar, which is a remotely-controlled biological body capable of surviving in an alien world.

Google Starts Pushing Local QR-Codes For Business Listings

Google has begun a massive mobile marketing campaign surrounding Place Pages, the small pages that display info for local businesses on Google Maps. What’s interesting is that the centerpiece for the campaign is the use of QR-Codes.


Google is starting things off by sending QR-code decals to some 190,000 local businesses across the US. Google determined the most searched for and most clicked local Place Pages for the initial run, though a full release is imminent. The idea is that local businesses can display the QR-code prominently in their store windows for customers to be able to scan and retrieve info back on that business. When scanned, the QR codes retrieve things like a map, phone number, directions, address, reviews, and a link to the store’s website, which begs the questions- why would someone need that information if they’re already standing in front of the business?

Ogilvy gives iPhone a white christmas

So who better to kick start the christmas holiday mobile marketing than Ogilvy. With a simple application that gives consumers a chance to experience a white christmas.This is fun and simple application that illustrates that you don't have to complicate an application in order for it to be fun for the consumers. If you want to play arround with the application you can download it fromhere. Christmas is the time to be creative and giving. With this application consumers can give a snowlike feeling to their pictures and also easily share it with friends. If you are an Android user, thanks to one of our readers, you can download the application from here.

Adidas Mobile campaign by Marvellous

Hats of to BeMarvellous and Neue Digitale/Razorfish for creating a cool video to a mobile application for mobile marketing campaign for Adidas using mobile internet, mobile application and image recognition. Not much points in me babbling of and spoiling the video. Have a look.

Steve Jobs Approves Knocking Live Video App Personally

Normally whingeing gets you nowhere, but in a heartening turn of events, a developer's late-night email shot off to Steve Jobs yielded some surprising results.
Apple didn't approve of the use of a private API in Pointy Heads Software's Knocking Live Video app, which allows iPhone users to stream live video to each other over 3G and Wi-Fi. After pleading to Steve Jobs to reconsider their verdict, Apple got back to developer Brian Meehan the next morning, promising that his request was being taken seriously.
Three hours later, with the order reportedly coming "directly from the top," the Knocking Live Video was available on the App Store, where you can download it for free now. Until Apple sticks a forward-facing camera on the iPhone, it's not ideal for video chat, but as Jesus pointed out in his rant yesterday, Apple's likely biding its time until it can smell the video chat competition. Meehan's gone public with his story, telling Ars Technica that "Apple told me they are listening, and truly care about their developers and getting it right," giving hope to developers railing against them on the Apple Rejected Me hate-site, and hope for anyone wishing to use a private API in an app. With Apple loosening its grip in this instance, we could be seeing a lot more interesting apps launching soon.

Layering data on top of smartphones and computer screens is both a fad and the future.

Why layering data on top of smartphones and computer screens is both a fad and the future. You wouldn't immediately suspect that Yelp's iPhone app might be a gift bestowed upon us by a benevolent superhero from the future. Load it up and the program's in its Clark Kent garb -- a useful-enough guide to local restaurants, bars, and merchants. Then you notice a button labeled monocle in the right-hand corner. Hit it and the screen displays a live feed from the phone's camera, showing exactly what's in front of you -- with one big difference. Aim the camera at a local storefront and Yelp superimposes a star rating on the image. Use Monocle in a hot neighborhood, for instance, and point it at every restaurant for a quick appraisal of the best food in the area. Yelp's app is one of the first "augmented reality," or AR, programs to debut on the iPhone, and though it can be handy, it's most useful as a sign of what's to come. Throughout the summer, YouTube was the place to see a vision of that future, as programmers from San Francisco to Malmö, Sweden, uploaded demonstration videos depicting such feats as recognizing a face at your high-school reunion while his social-networking pages pop up, or traveling back in time to view the Colosseum as it once existed. And then there are the really forward-thinking ideas. Babak Parviz, a bio-nanotechnologist at the University of Washington, has been working on augmented-reality contact lenses that would layer computer graphics on everything around us -- in other words, we'd have Terminator eyes. "We have a vast amount of data on the Web, but today we see it on a flat screen," says Michael Zöllner, an augmented-reality researcher at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research. "It's only a small step to see all of it superimposed on our lives." Much of this sounds like a comic-book version of technology, and indeed, all of this buzz led the research firm Gartner to put AR on its "hype cycle" for emerging technologies -- well on its way to the "peak of inflated expectations."

Marketers are as much to blame as geeks for the overheated environment. To date, the most prominent AR practitioners have been ad agencies, and Best Buy, GE, and Procter & Gamble have run campaigns. Most of them, unsurprisingly, were more gimmicky than useful. The central questions: Will people take to this mode of navigating information in the same way they've embraced social networking? Or will augmented reality suffer the fate of online virtual worlds such as Second Life, which attracted a torrent of attention but proved too cumbersome? Whether augmented reality emerges through this hype cycle depends on both technologists and marketers to peel away the great expectations and find something real. Augmented reality isn't new. The technology has been used for years in military projects as well as public spectacles such as museum exhibits and trade-show booth demos. The yellow first-down line superimposed on televised football games is an example of augmented reality. So why all the chatter now? "There have been a couple of game-changing events," says Greg Davis, North American general manager of Total Immersion, a decade-old French company that built these first-generation AR installations. "Consumers have access to AR on their home PCs, and now on their mobile phones as well."

Although Apple still limits how far developers can go with AR -- in particular, the phone's programming system prohibits apps from performing sophisticated image analysis on input from the camera -- the new OS is expected to usher in a rush of augmented-reality apps.

Only 3 millon dollars for an Iphone! I want one!

If I had $3.2 million dollars to throw away on something like a phone, I’d much rather just build an army of robot carrier pigeons to deliver all my messages by hand. Some, I suppose, prefer a bit more rationale in their complete irrational purchases; thus the existence of this $3.2 million dollar iPhone.

Malibu rum branded app sees 2M downloads in six months

The game

Pernod Ricard's Malibu branded mobile application that was created to support the launch of its new Malibu Island Melon flavor has seen 2 million downloads. GetJar acted as a distribution channel for Malibu Rum’s Island Bowling, which was developed by digital agency Greatworks to help shift brand perceptions of Malibu. “If you look at the brand values of Malibu and what they are promoting,  having a game aspect to it on a personal device is another way of extending brand attributes,” said Patrick Mork, vice president of marketing at GetJar, San Francisco. “You may play some games TV and you may see online and television ads, but the  idea is Malibu is even with you on your phone.”

Bus fares bought on mobile phones

BUS company Arriva has become the first operator in the North West to introduce mobile phone ticketing. Customers will be able to buy daily, weekly and four-weekly tickets via their mobile phones following the launch of Arriva’s m-ticketing service. It will enable passengers on Arriva’s routes in Bolton to use their mobile phones to purchase tickets and then display them to the driver. Phil Stone, managing director of Arriva North West, said: “The mobile phone is an essential part of modern life and m-tickets will give additional flexibility and convenience to our customers. “The launch of m-ticketing across all our regions will mean that millions of bus journeys will be taken using the technology. We believe this represents the largest introduction of its type in the world. “Customers can buy tickets using their phone at anytime from wherever they happen to be. It saves them searching out the cash to buy a ticket and speeds up getting on the bus as they simply show the ticket on the phone display to the driver.” He added: “This approach has great advantages over some other mobile ticketing systems as we can roll it out across our networks without any downtime for vehicles or costly on-board technology. We believe the convenience of having the ticket on the mobile will encourage more customers to take up our multi-journey tickets.” The m-ticketing service is a free application that is downloaded directly on to customers’ phones. Once downloaded, it allows people to purchase a range of tickets. Tickets can be bought either directly through the application via a registered card or by purchasing credit from any PayPoint outlet either by cash or card.
People using the m-ticketing service can save 10 per cent off Arriva four-weekly saver tickets.
The m-ticketing technology can be operated on any GPRS-enabled phone and mobile network. The service also works on Blackberry smartphones and from early 2010 will be iPhone compatible as well.

Be a Marvellous Royal Navy Engineer Officer

The UK Royal Navy has shown great interests in mobile marketing and I have been impressed with their campaigns ever since the did a great viral text campaign a year or two ago. Now, here is a new application from the guys at Marvellous.

The iphone application (download here) gives interested prospects the challenge of 5 interactive mission which can occur in a the daily life of an Navy Engineer Officer. In the video below Patrick Hagenaar from Marvellous walks you through some of the ideas behind the mobile campaign. Great and fun concept, however limited to iPhone users and UK market. I would like to see it at least on Android as well. 

Apple And Android Now Make Up 75 Percent Of U.S. Smartphone Web Traffic

When it comes to the mobile Web, increasingly there are only two mobile platforms which matter: Apple and Android. According to AdMob’s October, 2009 mobile metrics report, the iPhone/iPod Touch and Android phones accounted for 75 percent of mobile Web traffic in the U.S., as measured by all the mobile ad requests it tracks. That number is up from a combined 65 percent in September, 2009.

The iPhone is miles ahead of everyone else, but Android is quickly rising as a strong second. While Android phones managed to increase their share from 17 percent in September, 2009 to 20 percent in October, 2009, the iPhone and iPod Touch gained even more, going from 48 percent to 55 percent share. Meanwhile, during that same month the Blackberry ’s mobile Web traffic share went down from 14 percent to 12 percent, and Palm’s webOS shrank from 10 percent to 5 percent (Ouch).

Bionic Eye Resurfaces as Fire Fighter in new Augmented Reality Game for the iPhone

Presselite Launched a new AR game:


Our new project has been revealed today, we are very proud to announce a new Augmented Reality game called Firefighter 360 for the iPhone 3GS. We actually used our Augmented Reality engine developed for Bionic Eye application to create this little game. In this life-saving fire-person shooter, you play as a firefighter, rather than gunning down enemies, you will have to douse virtual flames spreading very fast in your real environment. As you physically turn around 360 degrees with your iPhone, you have to methodically extinguish the flames you see, thanks to the camera. The fire itself isn’t just a static “enemy” to be dealt with. Flames will propagate and spread if you don’t put them down completely, the fire itself is capable of doing you harm if you’re not careful.

Chicago’s Field Museum mobile campaign sees 7,000 interactions

Chicago’s Field Museum used mobile to transform its traditional marketing efforts to promote its Real Pirates exhibit. The Field Museum set up multiple keywords – SKULL, CROSS, PIRATE, GOLD – that consumers could text to a short code. The museum launched a mobile treasure hunt, pushed mobile pirate facts and engaged consumers through a text contest. The museum leveraged its Web site, voice mail and marketing materials to promote the mobile campaign and achieved 7,000-plus text interactions.

“LSN Mobile implemented a three-fold strategy for The Field Museum,” said David Spear, executive vice president of LSN Mobile, Atlanta. "The first part was to extend the exhibit beyond the four walls of the museum. The second was to spark engagement with younger audiences and lastly, deliver knowledge about the exhibit. “Real Pirates is a fascinating National Geographic discovery because it tells the story of the first authentic pirate ship, The Whydah, to be pulled from the ocean floor in U.S. waters,” he said. “The Field Museum marketers saw a unique opportunity to incorporate mobile marketing with the exhibit to drive additional interaction among audiences before, during and after visiting the museum. “To this end, Real Pirates would be able to stay top of mind with audiences beyond just the initial visit.” 

Mobile Pirates!

The mobile initiative marked the museum’s first foray into mobile. “With more than 7,000 mobile interactions, this was a huge success that spotlighted a new means of marketing for a venerable property like The Field Museum,” Mr. Spears said. “There is no doubt that you’ll see mobile become an integrated component of future museum marketing campaigns.” Signage encouraged consumers to text-in to become the first to receive the latest exhibition news, updates, special offers and chances to win exclusive pirate prizes through their mobile phones. “Mobile provided the perfect distribution channel for the museum marketers to deliver exhibit knowledge in a highly relevant manner,” Mr. Spear said.