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.

Kodak enters mobile arena with iPhone app

Kodak's mobile strategy is beginning to bloom

Photography, imaging and printing giant Eastman Kodak Co. has gone mobile with the launch of the free Kodak Pic Flick application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.

Developed in house, the application enables consumers to upload pictures to a Kodak W1020 Wireless Digital Frame or print them wirelessly on the Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One WiFi-enabled printer. The application is designed to drive sales of those products and increase brand affinity. Last year Kodak launched a mobile ski resort guide within the snowstories.kodak.com campaign. This year they start to also introduce true value services for their existing products.

“A lot of our connectivity strategy has to do with releasing images and making them available in more than a digital way, and this app allows images captured via iPhone and iPod touch to be transferred to a printer or a Kodak digital photo frame,” said Ruben Tellez, San Diego-based worldwide senior product manager of inkjet products in the consumer digital group at Eastman Kodak.

Letterbox Deals catalog taps QR codes for mobile campaign

Australian product coupon catalog Letterbox Deals ran a campaign to build awareness of its brand with Sydney households by giving away Dell notebook computers. 

Consumers had the option to enter a competition via a Web site or a QR code printed within the catalog. Of the 1.3 million Sydney households that received the Letterbox Deals catalog, 25 percent submitted their entry through the QR code. “The strategy of the campaign was to determine consumer behavior when confronted with new mobile technology and the effectiveness of a QR code as a call to action,” said Nick Gonios, commercial director of Inscribe, Sydney. Letterbox Deals is a coupon catalogue and Web site that helps consumers find coupons and deals on product and services near them. Insqribe is a real-time proximity mobile marketing platform using augmented reality and QR codes.