Intermission: Admob Acquires Adwhirl

Mail I received from Admob today, very interesting;

"Over the past several months we have listened closely to the developer community to better understand the role of mediation in the mobile ecosystem. As a developer myself, I definitely understand how mediation is a valuable tool for developers, and our goal at AdMob is to provide developers with choice and control over their inventory, and help them efficiently maximize their revenue.

We appreciate everyone's patience as we evaluated the mediation options that existed in the market and tried to work through what would be best for the industry. From my perspective as a developer, I realize that the lack of clarity in terms of the direction AdMob would take with mediation was not convenient for you. Unfortunately we could not share many details as we spoke with key mediation players due to the sensitive nature of these conversations. This evaluation process brought us to what I believe will be a key moment in the future of monetization tools for app developers.

I am happy to announce that AdMob has acquired AdWhirl, and in addition to maintaining AdWhirl's current functionality, we will soon offer iPhone application developers a much needed open source mediation solution.

Offering an open source solution will enable us to ensure advertisers and publishers a high quality experience with mobile advertising and publishing, and introduce an open, transparent choice into the market which has not existed to date. The open source solution will be available for all iPhone app developers and advertising networks, whether they currently work with AdMob directly or not.

We will have details regarding our open source solution, including the additional functionality we plan to offer, within the coming weeks. Developers currently using AdWhirl will soon have full support for AdMob ads. Developers with questions or feedback can continue to reach us at appdevfeedback@admob.com.

As always, AdMob's focus is on furthering the growth of the mobile ecosystem, and providing a comprehensive suite of tools for both advertisers and publishers is a critical part of this. This is an important milestone for us that builds on the publisher tools we've given publishers over the last year, such as House Ads, Download Tracking and rich media iPhone ad units. Our hope is that this open source mediation solution will further ensure that developers can easily and effectively promote their apps, monetize their traffic, and overall further the growth of their businesses. For those of you who are current AdMob partners, thank you for your business; and to those of you who will be new to AdMob, we're looking forward to working with you.

Omar"

What is Mobile Marketing - Actually? Part two

Part TWO

USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data)
Following on from Part ONE and messaging, USSD is a form of messaging that can be utilised across all handsets and is a solid tool for engaging with users. Practical application of utilisation of USSD is topping up of pre-paid airtime, setting up of one’s phone for WAP or Multimedia i.e. *123# (MTN) or *111# (Vodacom) and many other applications. The only problem I have with USSD is that it can be relatively clumsy for the user in the sense that one needs to have a form of reference to remember the USSD string which can be relatively long and if not used regularly by the users it’s sure to be forgotten.

CONTENT
Content has always been at the forefront in the multimedia space with the likes of ringtones, wallpapers and games and is commonly associated with a premium rated SMS SHORT-CODE which is used to manage the authorisation of the premium for the content you wish to download. In the Mobile Marketing space it is crucial to identify what sort of content you are providing i.e. an advert, instructional video, music, music video, wall papers etc.. And then make sure you provide it for free. The content element within mobile marketing generally forms part of the value add to users and with the success of social networks mobile offers a perfect platform to users to submit their own content.

APPLICATIONS
Applications are the talk of the town at the moment particularly with specific regard to the iPhone and Android based phones. There is a debate going round as to whether one should deploy applications or focus on mobile web however I’m not going to enter into that discussion here. Applications provide quick access to the online environment and as examples one can look at Facebook, The Grid, MxIt, FireID, Pocit, Fring, Nimbuzz, Google Maps, Vufone, and Gravity as classic examples. The only comment I have to make about an application is that although it is designed to operate 24/7 they generally use massive battery resource and if you have a couple of them running at the same time you’ll be charging your phone every hour or so. Applications are utilised (in my opinion) as glorified book marks based on what I have just mentioned above and as such ask yourself whether the money you are about to spend on application development, is justified – when in fact you could have a widget which fulfils the same or a similar role.

LOCATION BASED SERVICES
LBS although defined as a product should be viewed more as an extension of a service where location is relevant. I personally believe that this is the future for mobile services particularly in the tourism and events space however there is one complexity that is holding the uptake back a little – and that is the cost of the location look-up. What this translates to is an undefined cost to any brand or service provider... However I do believe that this will change in time to come.

VOUCHERS
Probably one of the most powerful mediums within the mobile marketing space is the ability to deliver a voucher to a user’s handset. A Voucher is a tool that can be used to encouraging users to fulfil a very specific call to action which means that it can be used to help drive impulse buying, and or provide value in the form of discounts. There are various types of Vouchers that can be utilised, SMS, MMS, Bar-Code) however the one element that has been prohibitive in this form of element truly taking wings is the ability of the retail outlet to redeem the voucher – securely without giving any margin for pilferation. I believe if the retail outlets get behind this form of medium and train their staff on the redemption processes we’ll see an upsurge in the utilisation of vouchers.

RESEARCH
This is another fascinating element in the mobile space and exceptionally powerful in that you have the ability to set up panels who in turn have the ability to set up their own networks or user groups. Considering the size of the mobile market it boggles my mind as to why Research companies have not adopted mobile research platforms fully as this environment can yield outstanding results in exceptionally quick periods of time. The mechanisms that can be used in this environment are; Mobile Online, SMS and USSD.

CRM/PROFILING
CRM/Profiling is a tool utilised for effectively engaging with customers and allows the brand to manage and track all levels of engagement. This tool provides for real-time information giving brands the ability to track and manage the success of the campaign. You are able to profile users in the mobile environment and understand their behaviour and trends allowing you to engage in a relevant manner with customers. It is important to note as with SMS that although you are able to profile your user - your level of engagement should always be non intrusive and at the same time relevant.

PORTALS
In this day and age it is hard to believe that there are people out there without a Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail address. The portal element is a handy mechanism that facilitates a mobile intranet type of environment allowing business or social groups/committees to communicate directly with each other without any other clutter.

BANNER ADVERTS
Mobile banner ad placement is generally used for acquisition of new customers by placing banner adverts on various platforms such as Admob, Buzz City, Vodafone Live, The Grid, MxIt etc. to encourage users to click through to the Online environment. This is one of the most important elements to any form of mobile marketing as this is the tool that gets users into your online environment. In Part 3 I’ll demonstrate how to effectively use this element within your mobile campaigns but now I am going to point out that not only are banner adverts used for acquisition but also within your own mobile environment if applied effectively they can be used to advertise a competition, highlight a news feed or drive traffic to specific areas within your Mobi-site (in essence becoming your own call to action element).
If you are intent on becoming a publisher and have 50,000 unique visitors a month then the banner advert within your Mobi-site could be used to derive additional revenues for you similarly to the online environment where you become a mobile online publisher. My only word of advice would be if you were to do that, please ensure that the adverts served are relevant to the content within your environment.

As you can see there are a number of elements one can use, either on their own or wrapped up to bolster the mobile campaign. There are a lot more elements and I could go into more detail but my objective is to provide an overview of what I do... and this has to be one of the longest elevator pitches I have ever delivered... look out for Part 3 - wrapping it all up.

What is Mobile Marketing - Actually?

When asked what I do for a living, and I respond; 'Mobile Media..... Mobile Marketing' which is generally followed by; 'you advertise on trailers? or ah.. bulk sms provider'. Sometimes I dive in headfirst to explain what Mobile is all about and other times I just nod... but today I've decided I'm going to break it down for those that are not in the know.

This piece will be delivered in 3 parts - as the mobile environment is quite complex as one has the ability to engage with over 20 different variables.

I'm going to cover most of the variables that are commercially available and utilised by both users and brands;

Part ONE

Mobile Online
If you have a website and not invested in a Mobi-site I have to ask why not? With the current activity of users in the mobile space it is crucial that you have a mobile version of your online space available to mobile users. The mobile online environment is a little more complex than the traditional online space in that there are 1000's more variances one needs to take into consideration (handset screen size, handset type, operating system, browser type and codec). You also should be aware that because of these variances your provider must be able to demonstrate how they handle device detection, trans-coding and image manipulation – on the fly - which ensures that regardless of who browses your mobile site, everyone will receive the site optimised to the handset with which they are browsing.

You also need to consider what your Mobile environment is going to offer to the user as the browsing habits off a mobile device are very different to those of a traditional online browser.
Keep it succinct and relevant to ensure a quick and easy browsing experience.

Within this environment you can incorporate anything your heart desires; content downloads (video and pictures), competitions, Viral campaigns, SMS (engagement), Mail, Competitions, Research, Vouchers, Portal's, Banner Adverts, Media, applications, CRM, Profiling, Catalogues, Information, and Location Based Services... a mechanism to truly engage with users that at the same time allows you to understand a bit about them.

Your mobile online environment should also be able to plug into your online environment in that if you are facilitating user generated content the mobile and online are asynchronous meaning; that content uploaded on the mobile platform is updated to the online platform and vice versa.

Messaging
There are various types of messaging that are available to be utilised in the mobile marketing space however the key factor here is the relevance of the message.

SMS
SPAM is an absolute no no and I would not recommend trying to use SMS as a medium to advertise with. Utilised effectively SMS is one of the most powerful mechanisms mobile has to offer. I'll give you an example; if you have taken your car in for a service, effective utilisation of this medium would be if you received a message confirming the car will be ready at a specific time together with the cost for the service and who to see when you arrive to pick your vehicle up.
Although there is no advertising per say, this type of engagement enforces a positive experience and indirectly builds brand perception.
SMS can be used to deliver notifications, direct engagement with customers and deliver the URL (link) to your Mobi-site.
Additional commonly utilised applications are premium rated SMS, which are utilised for entry into competitions, participation in events (Idols) for voting, and or contribution/subscription for a specific service.

MMS
This form of media is supposedly superior to SMS however I have my reservations as it is costly by comparison. The medium has the potential to deliver audio, graphics and text which means that you can deliver a high quality, informative bit of media to users. Although we have sent out lots of MMS' for and on behalf of various brands the response is never what we anticipate, the cost is expensive and almost in all cases the MMS is followed up by an SMS. I personally think that more effective utilisation can be delivered by sending the link to your Mobi-site where the user has the choice of engaging and the ability to access far more than an MMS can deliver, at a fraction of the cost. MMS is primarily also user generated so by providing branded MMS type postcards that could be personalised by users would be a relevant way of utilising MMS in the mobile space.

SHORT CODE
The SHORT CODE is an extension of the SMS family and is utilised primarily in the delivery of information as well as for competition participation.
Delivery of information;
By sending a [key word] + [your name] + [your email address] will result in content you wish to receive being delivered to your email address
By sending a [key word] you get access to content i.e. games, ringtones, wall papers etc.
By sending a [key word] you will receive a return SMS which contains a link to a Mobi-site
By sending a [key word] automatically enters the user into a competition

INSTANT MESSAGING
IM is an interesting element as it is relatively difficult to apply in the mobile online environment however if you have experienced Skype, Gtalk, ICQ, Twitter, Facebook etc and have utilised this from your handset you will know it is possible. The most effective mechanism of delivery is currently through running an application and a few that come to mind are The Grid, Nimbuzz, MxIt and Fring however there are a multitude of companies that offer this. Some companies have the ability to build IM into your Mobi-site which eliminates the need for development of an application and then the cost of marketing that application. IM is a great tool if you have a large user base and would like to afford them the opportunity of communicating with each other off your platform. Running applications and your mobile online environment continually eats significantly into battery time, users generally will revert to SMS unless they have scheduled time to meet up online.

PUSH MAIL
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Push Mail has to be Blackberry as they have successfully captured the business market with this service and their devices however this service is not limited to or restricted to Blackberry users. Push mail can be a standalone service one provides to mobile users where you can brand the mail address and synchronise with existing mail addresses.
One can also include this service within your mobile strategy and allow users engaging with the brand to have access to this and other services delivered through the Mobi-site.

In this edition of I've covered the online and messaging components - of which I am convinced you are well aware however at the end of the 3rd part I'll demonstrate how these elements can be utilised either stand alone or packaged together to deliver mobile marketing.

Acquiring a new customer base through the Mobile Medium

It's been a while since I have posted anything to this blog and the reason for that is pretty cliched in that we have been exceptionally busy rolling out various mobile initiatives. It has been quite an educational process too as the initiatives we have been involved in deploying have varied from a simple sms short code to full blown campaigns integrating television, radio, print, activations, online and mobile.

We have spent the last 18 months evangelising about the benefits of mobile but to actually see the results by comparison to the traditional media spend has been fantastic and a real testimony to what we have been sharing.

I'm going to talk about two campaigns, one is complete the other is still running however the ad spend has been the same and the resluts have been consistently similar.

Campaign A - used a mix of all media components to fulfill 2 objectives;
1) Get users to purchase the product
2) Get users to log on to the mobile environment

The mobile environment had information about the product, free content downloads in the form of video and wall paper, a kick ass competition as well as other elements such as the ability to refer a friend etc. Mobile advertising spend was allocated to 2 renowned networks - Admob and the other which I won't mention for various reasons which I'll get into a bit later suffice it to say has a specific purpose and a younger target market with phenomenal stats.

All traffic was directed to one point which was the mobile online space so from a measurement point of view it was very easy to track the performance of the 2 mediums.

The Ad spend in the Admob space was very small to say the least - in fact it was 30% less than what we would normally recommend and by comparison to the total media spend probably came in at around the 5% mark... so very low but what was fantastic to see was the level of interaction achieved off this one medium.

The number of unique visitors that visited the site as a direct result of this ad spend - 8442
The total number of unique visitors - 14757
The number of visitors that entered the competition - 7726
The number of referrals that were sent out by the unique visitors - 7839
The number of downloads - 5883

The cost of acquisition has come in at a very low cost by comparison to the total media spend.

Campaign B - used a mix of print, mobile and activations to fulfill 2 objectives
1) Get users to purchase the product
2) Get users to log on to the mobile environment which would generate awareness of the new product.

The mobile environment has very little information about the product, a compelling competition as well as other elements such as the ability to refer a friend, links to instant messaging and location based information etc. Mobile advertising spend was allocated to 2 renowned network - Admob and the The Grid.

As with Campaign A all traffic is directed to one point which is the mobile online space so from a measurement point of view it is very easy to track the performance of the 2 mediums.

I am specifically only going to be referencing Admob here as the Admob spend is complete and the engagement on The Grid is still in infancy however I will report on the outcome at the end of the campaign.

The spend in the Admob space has been exactly the same as in Campaign A (although we proposed significant more the client cut budgets drastically) but as you'll see the Admob results are significantly similar;

The number of unique visitors that visited the site as a direct result of this ad spend - 8318
The total number of unique visitors - 14604
The number of visitors that entered the competition - Still ongoing will report back on this at the end of the campaign
The number of referrals sent out to date by the unique visitors - 7709

For 2 completely different products and brands the response for the same amount of ad spend on Admob has been almost exactly the same and the cost of acquisition per customer is encouragingly low. The beauty about mobile is that going forward each of these brands now have close to 8000 new customers with whom they can engage at an absolutely negligible cost.

As a mobile acquisition medium Admob has proved it's metal to us and we will continue to utilise this medium in all acquisition and mobile advertising campaigns we are involved with. If you would like more information on this medium feel free to contact us.

We do hear very good reports on the outcome of Google Ad words and will be incorporating that medium into further campaigns to extend the reach and increase traction for brands.

For most mobile campaigns the question is always how do I attract a base of users or how can I engage with a base of users without spamming them. Each campaign objective and deployment being different;
the strategy applied is crucial to the outcome i.e. a viral campaign is the ultimate where the ad spend is negligible yet the traction huge however these campaigns are very difficult to implement as the uptake can never be guaranteed. It is possible though, to spend a little and include a viral element as a part of the campaign to bolster the acquisition process and reduce your spend.

1. Ensure you mobile online environment is actually a true mobile environment in that the site configures to all handsets. This is your first step.

2. Define the relevance of the mobile online space - without relevance the traction in that environment is going to be poor.

3. Define your acquisition strategy, and ensure you are in a position to manage it.

4. Deploy

5. Engage

Voila!

Powermonkey - eXplorer

I was given a power monkey – explorer kit a couple of months ago which I was thrilled about receiving. I reckon this is the quintessential tool for any mobile user in Africa as yesterday proved to demonstrate how effective this little device is.

Eskom with their newly renewed vigour to clamp down on outstanding payments decided that being 30 days late on a payment warranted switching off our electricity. This left me stranded for about 4 hours whilst I negotiated, pleaded and explained that the bill had been paid – they had just not accounted for it. Be that as it may in this time my phone and laptop ran dry of battery juice.

Ah ha time to test the new Power monkey I thought to myself ... and to my pleasant surprise it works. Well the battery pack recharged my device and the solar unit – well that was a little ineffective but I’m pegging that as a direct result of the weather which was overcast, wet and cold and on top of that it was late in the afternoon.

I have decided to give the tool a full test this morning and although I cannot use the Solar panel (as a result of the weather) the battery pack has proved to be exceptionally useful.

The pack comes with the following;

A battery pack (powermonkey-eXplorer unit)

Solar panel (slave)

Universal mains charger (which works in over 150 countries and has interchangeable heads for UK, USA, Japan, China, Australia and Europe.

Connecters for Nokia, Mini Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry, iPod, Sony PSP, USB connectivity, mini USB connectivity, female USB connectivity for smartphones, MP3 players, blue tooth headsets and Digital camera’s. Quite significant coverage!

The battery pack and solar power units are water resistant and the battery pack has an LCD display that displays the battery capacity and level of charge in the powermonkey.

It also caters for short circuit protection, over charging protection and over discharging protection.

All of this is packaged very well and can easily fit into my laptop bag... I’m pretty stoked that I have one of these in my arsenal of techno toys.

The good news is that they are pretty well priced so even in this “recession” of ours it’s not going to make too much of a dent.

You can contact Rene Winter or alternatively log on to www.powertraveller.co.za