Tagwhat Debuts Social Augmented Reality Experience, Allows Users To “Tag” The Physical World

I’m a huge fan of the augmented reality (AR) concept and the potential it provides.  With devices becoming more powerful and the technology in place to make it a reality, AR is at the forefront of mobile possibilities.

A shining example of which is a new startup called “Tagwhat,” which made its public debut today to offer what’s its calling “a new augmented reality (AR) experience that fuses the very best of mobile, augmented reality, and location-based social networking services for everyday use and appeal.”

At it’s core, Tagwhat is a fully functional social network, layered on top of the physical world and accessed by “tags” through an innovative augmented reality experience.  By simply holding up the camera view of a mobile device (iPhone or Android), geo-contextual tags from pre-selected friends and community members become visible.

Report: Mobile App Downloads To Peak In 2013, After That It’s All About The Mobile Web

A new report published by ABI Research suggests mobile app downloads from app stores will continue to rise until a peak in 2013, where the Mobile Web will take over as the primary source of mobile interaction.

According to ABI Research data, consumers downloaded some 2.4 billion applications from app stores last year, and the download rate will accelerate over the next few years until 2013 when smartphone downloads are expected to peak at just below seven billion.  At that point, the Mobile Web is predicted to take over.

According to senior analyst Mark Beccue, “App stores aren’t going away: following the 2013 peak in demand, the number of downloads in 2015 will have decreased only seven or eight percent.  But as our use of the mobile Internet evolves, demand will increasingly shift elsewhere.”

Placecast’s ShopAlerts Becomes Official Honoree Of 2010 Webby Awards For Best Use Of GPS Or Location

Placecast, who’s been piling up the awards for its innovative use of digital marketing to drive consumers to physical environments, has been named a Webby Award Official Honoree for 2010 in the “Best Use of GPS or Location Technology” category.

In creating the concept of “geo-fence marketing,” with its unique ShopAlerts location-based advertising solution, Placecast has won numerous awards already this year, including the top prize for innovation given by the National Retail Federation, the 2010 RACie award and “The BIG Minute of Innovation” award, led by the San Francisco Bay Area Interactive Group (SFBIG).

ShopAlerts is built on a proprietary location-based platform that allows advertisers to target consumers based on where they’re at and where they’re going, while maintaining the ability to reach those consumers across any connected device- the Web, email, mobile and WiFi.

Brand Loyalty Is Sinking, Can Mobile And The Likes Of Foursquare Be A Savior?

A new report published recently by comScore indicates a steep decline in consumer brand-loyalty over the past two years, leading the way for emerging concepts such as mobile marketing and mobile social concepts like that of Foursquare to pick up the slack.

The comScore study evaluated the change in brand loyalty within a number of consumer goods categories, including health & beauty aids, OTC medications, apparel, food, household products and housewares. As the economic downturn has continued, the percentage of shoppers who typically buy the brands they want most has steadily declined across the categories examined.  In March 2010, for example, less than 50 percent of shoppers reported purchasing the brand they want most.Social media, and especially location-based social media marketing is another tool that’s highly under-utilized by brands still.  The ecosystem slowly growing around services like Foursquare, Gowalla and others is creating a truly unique opportunity for brands to engage their audience on completely new levels and through concepts that consumers enjoy the most.

Though the use of direct branding through traditional channels was once sufficient in maintaining brand and customer loyalty, the landscape is perpetually shifting.  As comScore’s survey results suggest, consumers are shifting the way they see their favorite brands, and loyalty is decreasing by a sizable rate.  Utilizing in-direct branding through mobile and social media marketing can be a savior for brands if used properly, it’ll just involve thinking outside the box.

Pepsi rolls out multifaceted LBS mobile loyalty initiatives

Loot's a hoot

PepsiCo Inc. has debuted application-centered mobile initiatives to help its restaurant partners inspire customer loyalty and drive consumers to nearby locations. PepsiCo is working on two separate initiatives. There is an exclusive partnership with location-based mobile social networking application Foursquare and the launch of its own Pepsi Loot location-based application for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch. “Pepsi Loot is what we hope is going to be the first geo-based iPhone application that has a loyalty program associated with it,” said Margery Schelling, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo Foodservice, Purchase, NY. “Consumers on-the-go always have mobile devices with them, and when they are hungry, they can open Pepsi Loot on their iPhone and it shows them every Pepsi location in a certain area.

“The app tells them what type of food each restaurant serves, and they can share details on Twitter and Facebook,” she said. “App users can earn loyalty points by walking in and hitting ‘check in,’ and it’s geotargeted, so the app recognizes that they’re in the specific location and you earn loyalty points. “The Loot mobile loyalty program is available to every restaurant customer in the U.S. that pours Pepsi products—more than 200,000 locations across the country.” Earlier this year, Pepsi launched the Pepsi Refresh Project in an effort to refresh consumers’ perception of the brand, and this application is an extension of that initiative.

How the iPad changes the future of magazines and single-copy sales

Scott Dunlap, CEO of NearbyNow

If you want to understand the effect that Apple’s iPad will have on the magazine industry, you need look no further than the face of a publisher or editor in chief when you put one in their hands. It is beautiful, it is easy to use, and it can represent advertisers and editorial in breathtaking multimedia clarity.
Add to this the quantitative reality of the iPad – Apple expects 5 million will ship by December and application and ebook downloads in the high billions over the next two years, per ABI Research – and faces turn a familiar ghastly white remnant of the Internet circa 1997.
In short, it is here, it is real, and it is scary as all hell. The first question they ask of me, usually after a long pause to catch their breath, is “Soooo … what do we do now?” I have had a few weeks to use the iPad – I am writing this article on one now – and have spent time with iPad owners ranging from ages 12 to 60 to better understand how they discover and consume media from this new device.


As is often the case, you get a very different view of technology talking to people who already have invited it into their lives, rather than those who critique it from a distance. Early conclusions indicate a raised expectation of media consumption and access, and a willingness to pay a premium for it. Herein lies the challenge and opportunity for the magazine industry, in particular.

Green Party places app at center of election campaign strategy

Leading up to the elections in Britain, the Green Party launched an application that assesses whether voters agree with its policies, forming an integral part of the party’s broader election campaign.

The Green Party tapped Grapple to help it along the verification and submission process. The application, which took two weeks to build, is now accessible internationally on all major mobile handsets, including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Samsung, from major application stores or via text message.

Smirnoff and TimeOut join forces in their appvertising

Here is a great application created by TigerSpike for a branded experience from TimeOut and Smirnoff. A great collaboration to illustrate that consumers can get something cool for free. Its interesting to see that most of the best free applications in the app store comes from global brands. You can download and find out more about the app from timeout.com/smirnoff. Below is a short preview.

Nike is quick to give footballers a great iPad app

Not long after the launch of their iPhone app Nike is quick to port their app to iPad. Playing around with it, I realize that this makes more sense for a coach. With the help of Nike, Apple is now able to sell iPad as a great tool for the football coaches around the world. This is an app that really illustrates a valuable app for the consumer. I think Nike has illustrated a great way of including mobile marketing in their marketing mix. This application looks great and has a clear value. If you have managed to get your hands on an iPad and want to download it through the US app store, then you can download it from here.

Someone asked me what the average use is of an branded app. If you have a clue or stats, then please let me know and we can post the results or links here.

Barnes & Noble exec outlines mobile commerce strategy

A Barnes & Noble Inc. executive discussed the bookselling giant’s mobile commerce strategy in an exclusive interview with Mobile Commerce Daily. Banks should address mcommerce now and contactless payments later: Banks that are pushing to promote contactless payment technology are focusing on the wrong target and should switch their short-term focus to mcommerce, according to Ovum. Web sites may be losing affiliate revenue as mobile access increases Affiliates of networks like LinkShare and Commission Junction are not being properly compensated for traffic they refer when end-users are on mobile devices, according to MobForm. Mobile Entertainment Forum North America has launched a new mobile commerce initiative designed to help brands, content producers and retailers better understand how to leverage mobile to drive customer acquisition, retention and conversion. MobileCommerceDaily

Sony Pictures uses mobile to build buzz for Karate Kid film

In anticipation of the upcoming remake of "The Karate Kid" starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, Sony Pictures released a branded application for iPhone and a mobile campaign to support it.

The free game directly appeals to the studio’s movie-going demographic and its built-in social networking features are designed to virally raise awareness of the movie's upcoming release. Sony Pictures tapped Trigger Interactive to build the application, while Sony's agency of record Universal McCann (UM) placed the media buy, with Jirbo Inc.’s AdColony one of the many companies in the mix for the mobile ad campaign.

“We work with multiple film studios, as well as entertainment and media companies,” said Nikao Yang, executive vice president at AdColony, Los Angeles. “Film-studio clients want to drive brand awareness, product awareness and app downloads for whatever it is they are promoting.

Warner Bros. delivers movies via mobile

Consumers can now watch The Hangover on their mobile phones

Warner Bros. movies will now be available on HTC’s new Desire Android handset for T-Mobile USA customers. Saffron Digital, a video delivery platform, will be creating a promotional movie service for HTC and T-Mobile. The movie service will feature a host of Warner Bros. movies. “T-Mobile's Video On Demand service has really struck a chord with consumers,” said Shashi Fernando, CEO of Saffron Digital, London. “When they’re out and about they can watch on the mobile device or they can resume on a PC for a larger screen for longer viewing times. “They are able to access their film and TV anywhere, anytime, and this plays into T-Mobile's strategy of connecting the consumer wherever they are – through mobile and at home,” he said. “In this promotion with HTC and T-Mobile, HTC is able to differentiate its device and can offer T-Mobile an innovative tool to use in their partnership. “For T-Mobile, the HTC promotion highlights the value of the VOD+ service on a new device with great video capability.”

Mobile movies
T-Mobile customers buying the HTC Desire in the first month will be granted access to two complimentary Warner Bros. movies from a list of eight titles, which include "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince" and "The Hangover." Space will be available on a 48-hour rental basis, playable on the HTC Desire or on a PC. More Warner Bros. films will be added to the VOD service over the next few months. Working in partnership with both HTC and T-Mobile, Saffron Digital has created and will host a mobile Internet site for T-Mobile customers who have bought the HTC Desire. “In-store and poster promotions have displayed the mechanism by which customers can activate the service: T-Mobile users, having bought their HTC Desire, can simply text DESIRE to 3030,” Mr. Fernando said. “This generates a message back with a link to the complimentary Warner Bros movie service.

“Customers who do not use the SMS to activate the promotion will automatically be targeted by SMS from T-Mobile – again inviting them to link to the mobile Internet destination where the promotion is hosted,” he said.

Google exec to keynote Mobile Marketing Day March 4 in New York

A senior executive from Google will outline the online giant’s mobile plans and strategy this year at the 2^nd Mobile Marketing Day in New York, hosted by Mobile Marketer and the Direct Marketing Association.

“Google’s appearance at Mobile Marketing Day is proof that Fortune 500 companies understand the critical role mobile plays in multichannel marketing and retail,” said Mickey Alam Khan, editor in chief of Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily. “This year’s event follows on last year’s success, attracting top executives from the leading mobile firms to share strategy, tactics, case studies and best practice with marketers and agencies,” he said. “This daylong event is ideal for marketers to understand how to incorporate mobile in their marketing 

Hallmark unveils mobile strategy

Mobile love

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, Hallmark has beefed up its mobile offerings as an executive reveals in this exclusive interview with Mobile Marketer. The hoops&yoyo application, Fun @ Work, features games and videos, joins Hallmark’s other mobile initiatives, mobile greeting cards fromhttp://www.mobile.hallmark.com. Mobile Marketer’s Chris Harnick spoke with Mike Adams, Kansas City, MO-based manager of mobile at Hallmark, and Jodi Schade, vice president of licensing at Hallmark, about the greeting card giant’s mobile strategies.

What is Hallmark’s mobile strategy?
Mr. Adams: Hallmark is a company that helps people connect whenever and wherever they are, whether it's through the mail, through the computer or through a cell phone.

A Hallmark mobile card

What challenges does mobile address for Hallmark?
Mr. Adams: Hallmark Mobile Greetings were developed because we recognize that oftentimes people want to connect with one another right in the moment, wherever they are.

There was a gap of "in the moment" communications that this product can address.

The hoops&yoyo app

Hallmark launched Mobile Greetings in June 2009. There is also a steady rise in attention given to this property online through Facebook – over 76,000 hoops&yoyo fans on the official Fan Page – and a steady flow of traffic on the characters official blog. An iPhone app was the next logical step in expanding the awareness of the characters and their brand of humor.

Today’s generation and especially a growing mobile-friendly population expects the ability to access their favorite characters on all platforms and we wanted to make sure that happened quickly in the first quarter of 2010.

How are the offerings monetized, does the app feature ads?
Mr. Adams: Hallmark Mobile Greetings are $0.99.

The sender is only charged if the recipient opens the mobile greeting. The fees are billed as part of your monthly service-provider charges. The Hallmark Mobile Greetings application itself is available free of charge, though standard data rates may apply to download.

Ms. Schade: The hoops&yoyo iPhone app is free and was launched to build awareness of the hoops&yoyo brand.

Becks finds local Gigs on your mobile

I like the fact that we are starting to see more and more app trailers. This one comes from Becks, who have created a Gig Finder for iPod Touch and iPhones. This application lets you search after gigs near you. Its nicely integrated with YouTube, Google Maps and the email functionality. 

The guys at Becks have taken apvertising to heart and published a similar application for the folks down under. This app gives consumer the chance to get discount coupons at a local pub. Check it out on the Australian app store.

If you are done with Becks by now then I recomend that you take a look at this case study published by Insidemob.

Frisk Built QR Code

Well, I am a fan of QR or barc codes so I think this is a great creative idea from the marketing team at SETs. Check it out

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.