The Mobile Marketing Blog - TellMyCell

Going To Oktoberfest? There's A Check-In App For That

The Next Web's Location column has spotted an app that sounds great - or as they put it - "Munich. Oktoberfest. Check-in app. Heaven."

If you happen to be heading to Munich for 2010 Oktoberfest starting tomorrow (and why wouldn’t you be right?), then boy do we have the app for you. Developed in conjunction with the city government, the new Wiesn iPhone app  is a check-in app with a sole purpose – to help you find beer tents, communicate with others that are enjoying a stein, and of course to help you find ATMs so you can keep buying those steins.

Check out the app here. Head over to The Next Web to read more.

Microsoft Releases A New Bing Android App...On Verizon

Microsoft's recently released Bing app for Android comes with an interesting twist:

Microsoft August 30 released an official Bing for Mobile Android App for customers of Verizon Wireless, an exclusive arrangement that underscores how Android has become a significant mobile platform to rival Apple's iPhone.

Owners of Android-based smartphones such as the Motorola Droid, Droid 2, Droid X and the Droid Incredible can download the free application from the Verizon Wireless Marketplace.

...

The app is the latest step in Microsoft's $500 million deal to have Bing featured on Verizon smartphones and feature phones.

This pact was viewed as quite the coup when the companies announced it in January 2009.

The deal guaranteed customers could access voice and typed search queries, as well as location-aware searches to access maps, directions, traffic information, information on local businesses and other info from Microsoft Live Search, which has evolved to Bing.

Read more @ eWeek.

Hit Them Where They're Weak: Location

If the rumors that Google plans to become the ‘new Facebook’ with Google Me are true, then we suggest they use location to their advantage. In most areas Facebook rules over Google, but location is one thing that Google still holds over Facebook. With Google Maps, which is the most popular online mapping tool, Google dominates in that area.

“Right now, this is the biggest exploitable gap in Facebook’s armor that we can see for Google to exploit, and one that if done right, could change how we look at social networks.”

To read the entire article, click here.

New Trends Due To The Popularity Of The Mobile Phone

In recent polls, people have said that they would rather lose their wallets than their mobile phones. And now, with numerous smart phones on the market, people can do just about anything with the click of a few buttons. Here are some new growing trends due to the popularity of mobile phones.

1-Bargain Hunting: “Bargain hunting has become extremely popular with apps like RedLaser that allow users to scan product bar codes and discover its various prices at different retailers.”
2-Mobile Ticketing: “Mobile ticketing transactions are expected to exceed $100 billion world wide by 2012, according to a study released this month by Juniper Research.”
3-Marketing: “Text message marketing, where customers opt-in to receive news about deals or offer coupons, has been a widely adopted practice as it’s a direct way to engage with consumers that has a high likelihood of being read.”

Want to learn about more mobile trends? Read the entire article here.

To learn about mobile marketing, visit TellMyCell.

New Service Could Revolutionize The Way Indians Use Their Mobile Phones

Tens of millions of Indian mobile-phone users can gain access to the web by a new service developed by Hewlett-Packard's research division. This would give all of the people who are not fortunate enough to own computers the opportunity to search the internet.

“HP Labs' SiteOnMobile allows access to the internet using only SMS text messages and voice commands – potentially opening it to India's 600 million users of mostly low-end mobile phones. By issuing commands to so-called TaskLets – the servers of which are based in the cloud – users can perform tasks such as checking the status of an order, requesting a quotation or booking a doctor's appointment. "In countries like India and Africa, where as a business owner I have a website but the folks that have the PCs are the only ones that can access my website – now I can generate more business for myself with a bigger mobile market," adds a small business owner from India.

Read the entire article here.

STAT: Smartphone Traffic Is Up 193% In A Year

If anyone doubts that smartphones are the future of mobile in the United States, consider this:

In this month's report, AdMob compares February 2009 with February 2010 in the three categories of mobile devices it serves. The bottom line:

• Smartphones (like the iPhone): Up 193% year over year in absolute terms as their share of AdMob's traffic in an expanding market grew from 35% to 48%
• Feature phones (like most Samsung, Nokia and LG phones): Up 31% in absolute terms as the mobile Internet space expanded. But their share of AdMob's traffic fell from 58% to 35%
• Mobile Internet devices (chiefly the iPod touch, but also connected game systems like the Sony PSP and Nintendo DSi): Up 403% in absolute terms as their traffic share grew from about 7% to 17%.

Check this graph out:

Read more @ Fortune Brainstorm Tech.

Will Smartphones Save The Magazine Business

Today's New York Times has a fascinating article on how the current generation of Smartphones are allowing print magazines to add interactivity. The Kindle, the Nook, the Skiff, and whatever e-readers we see in the future may wind up (and we think they will) redefining the nature of the magazine. But that's a long way off. In the meantime, efforts like this may staunch the bleeding:

But the average consumer did not own a bar-code reader — until now. With the sudden ubiquity of smartphones, which have apps that can read bar codes, and cameraphones, which can easily snap pictures of icons, magazines like Esquire and InStyle are adding interactive graphics to their articles, while Entertainment Weekly and Star are including them in ads.

Meanwhile, publishers using text-messaging programs to try to enliven their pages are packing information into the messages and using reader responses to calibrate their coverage.

So what can we expect to see in the very near future?

In its March issue, Esquire will print Scanbuy codes in a spread on “The Esquire Collection” — “the 30 items a man would need to get through life,” said David Granger, editor in chief. Printed near each item will be a small code that looks like a group of black and white squares. Readers scan the code into an Internet-enabled phone, and the code takes them to a mobile menu that provides Esquire’s styling advice for the item and information on where to buy it.

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Mr. Bulkeley said that Esquire’s choice to introduce Scanbuy with its editorial pages, rather than with ads, made sense. “I think advertisers will see that and say, ‘Hey, can we do that too?’ But it is important for editorial to lead, to show advertisers they are supporting it, because there is an educational component necessary,” he said.

P.S. - We remember the CueCat - as a Wired subscriber back in the 90s, we got one of those for free.

Learn more about mobile coupons, SMS marketing, and more at TellMyCell. See our pricing plans and try the service for free.

Update - Joe Trippi (Who revolutionized campaigning via the Internet for Howard Dean in 2004) picks up on the story.

SMS Advertising To Reach $3.2 Billion Dollars In 2010

If J.P. Morgan's Imran Khan is correct, spending on SMS Advertising is going to lead the mobile marketing industry by a huge margin this year. The numbers are astounding:

Turn to 2010, and mobile advertising is, according to Kahn, forecast to grow 45 percent to $3.8 billion ($3.2 billion SMS advertising, $253 million mobile display, and $31 million mobile search.)

$3.2 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2009. That would 39% growth in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. So, does your business have a mobile marketing plan in place? No. Well the good news is, you can launch an SMS text messaging campaign on your own, at an affordable cost - even for the smallest of businesses.

Check out our SMS marketing plans at TellMyCell, which start at only $10 per month. Sign up in 60 seconds and try our service for free.

Wall Street Analysts Review The Google Nexus One's Prospects

The Wall Street Journal's Market Beat blog has rounded up some major Wall Street Analysts reactions to yesterday's unveiling of the Google Nexus One:

Susquehanna Financial: “As computing shifts from the PC to the phone, Google wants to remain an advertising leader. With its own phone, Google assures the device is Google-friendly, supporting its applications and advertising network, and optimized for Internet-usage. We note Google has had a history of developing competitive products with its customers, spurring their innovation and time to market (i.e., shopping, travel, and other vertical search efforts). By launching its own device while mobile advertising is still nascent, it has an opportunity to shape the future.”

Broadpoint.AmTech: Android head Andy Rubin indicated that while there is an opportunity for GOOG to make some margin on unit sales of the Nexus One, profit is not the primary objective of this effort. (We believe that GOOG would like to see its mobile hardware business grow into a large business, but will not state that as an objective for fear of damaging the Google brand if it does not work.)

Citigroup: We don’t believe selling SmartPhones will be a new, material source of revenue for the company. And since Google gives away the Android OS for free, we believe there is limited channel partner risk. In our opinion, Google developed its own SmartPhone to 1) Help accelerate mobile search, which will increase as SmartPhone penetration increases; 2) Showcase new technologies on the Android OS; and 3) Allow users to have more control over their own devices by customizing their mobile web and mobile apps (and not being governed by carrier or OEM restrictions) experiences.

Barclays Capital: “We believe Google could sell 5 - 6 million units in 2010 generating incremental revenue of $2.6 billion–$3.2 billion. We expect this revenue to be booked in Licensing and Other, but we are not updating our model at this time … However, given our assumption that Nexus One revenue would have low or no margins, our overall 2010 EBITDA margin for Google would come down from our 62.2% current estimate to ~55%.”

Goldman Sachs: “We do not view Google’s new device as a near-term threat to the iPhone 3GS as: 1) the price tag of the Nexus One does not seem aggressive enough to entice potential iPhone buyers;
2) Apple’s AppStore, which has over 115K applications and over 3 [billion] cumulative downloads to date, remains far ahead of competing app platforms; and 3) internationally, Nexus One’s availability seems limited at this point, with the unlocked version only available in three countries and Vodafone’s UK subsidy not starting for a few months.”

BofA Merrill: “We expect that Google will record $500+ in revenues per phone, and a low gross margin after subtracting the hardware costs. Therefore, hardware sales could be about EPS neutral (after software R&D), while additional search and applications activity could contribute to operating profit. A big potential side benefit for Google is that search and advertising on a Nexus One phone will not require revenue sharing with carriers or manufactures (such as Apple).”

Head over to the MarketBeat blog to learn more.

On The Mobile Web, Users Still Prefer Google To Bing...For Now

Microsoft's Bing search engine has had a great 2009, jumping to just over 10.3% of the US search market. Not resting on their laurels, Microsoft is targeting the mobile space, looking to turn things around. Right now, they are playing from behind:

Mobile phone users are considerably more interested in having access to Google compared to Bing, according to Strategy Analytics.

In “Facebook and Google Most Desired Brands for Mobile,” Strategy Analytics investigates interest in the ability to use various applications from mobile devices. Survey respondents said they desire the ability to access Google and Facebook from their mobile devices.

“The key finding is that Facebook and Google are the most desired brands to have on a mobile phone in both the U.S. and Britain,” said Chris Schreiner, senior analyst of user experience practice at Strategy Analytics, Boston.  

So what's Microsoft doing to close the gap? In short, they're focusing on local search, betting (we predict correctly) that when it comes to mobile search, most users are looking for local content. They recently released a slick Bing app for the iPhone, to compliment the apps already available for the BlackBerry and Windows Mobile platforms:

Users will be able to get turn-by-turn directions with Bing Maps, along with traffic information. The focus is on local results in other areas as well, with movie listings, weather and local businesses. Omitted from the app's home page is Bing Shopping. It's not clear whether Streetside, a feature of the Bing Maps Beta akin to Google's Street View, will make the leap.

Of course, the app can be used to search the Web, read the news, and look up recent and favorite searches. Matching Google's app, Bing also lets users search the Web by voice.

Other features include the ability to open multiple tabs within the Bing application, pushpins for saving locations and multiple locations shown on a single map.

If Microsoft is serious about the mobile space they need to release and Android app. They also need to either a) get their act together with Windows Mobile and release WM7, or b) give up on producing a mobile OS and focus on the mobile web and apps for other platforms that are so compelling you just have to use them. On the topic of having to use Bing:

BlackBerry smartphone users on Verizon Wireless’s U.S. cellular network may have noticed a small but significant change within their mobile web browsers in the past week or so: The only search engine option that’s currently available to some Verizon customers via their BlackBerry Browsers’ “Start” or “Go to” pages is now Microsoft Bing.

That's one way to gain marketshare, though it probably isn't a way to win fans...

You can read about a slew of other Bing mobile updates over at their blog.