BRANDING UNBOUND

Priceline.com Goes Wireless

There's a certain symmetry in the announcement that Priceline.com is going wireless.

It was, after all, William Shatner, who used to travel to far away places and futz around with hand held wireless communicators that would inspire today's flip phones.

Now, The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Priceline, the outfit for whom Shatner has played goofy/creepy spokesguy, is futzing around with hand held wireless communicators inspired by the devices Shatner used to sport, for those who travel to far away places.

We really don't want to know what his TJ Hooker and The Practice years might inspire.

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Is 'Nextwall' Future of Real World Social Networking/Shopping?

nextwall is an interactive "graffiti wall" in the Karo district of Hamburg - and it may just represent the future of real world social networking and social shopping.

The wall, about 30-meters long,  enables artists to create their own street art. But QR Codes, Bluetooth, object recognition and RFID technologies enable passersby to download content to their mobile phones that explain the artist's approach and the idea behind the art. There's even technology that enables people to spray virtual spray paint - creating 3D, free-floating graffiti that can only be seen through special glasses.

And when people snap photos of the nextwall, QR codes send along vouchers for neighborhood cafés and shops. Other technologies enable passersby to add their own comments or jokes.

In essence, the wall becomes a geographic social network where people interact with content from others, and can access special offers from, and comment on, nearby stores, via mobile phone.

Lots and lots of potential.

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ABI Research: Over 90 Million 4G Subscribers By 2013 - What Does It Mean To Mobile Content & Marketing?

Just when most people are just starting to understand the term "3G," ABI Research is predicting we'll see 90 million 4G subscribers worldwide by 2013.

If you want to know what that might mean to mobile marketing and content of all kinds, check out this interview I conducted five years ago with Alex Lightman, CEO of Charmed Technology and the man who coined the term, in "Fighting Words From A Father of 4G."

According to Lightman, the stakes are even higher than you may think.

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"Jackass" Jumps Into New Mobile Movie

We've all seen at least one jackass try to pull off a mobile marketing stunt.

Now it's time for the real thing.

Australian media is reporting that "Jackass 2.5" will launch on the Telstra mobile network beginning next month - two weeks before it launches on DVD.

According to reports, Telstra hopes the release will attract more viewers to its movie services as well as its growing library of mobile content.

The movie, which has been cut to allow it to be rated as MA 15, will be available to view online for free and on phones at the same time as the March 13 DVD release.

MTV, which broadcasts the gross-out "Jackass" TV series in Australia, is hoping it will also help to attract subscribers.

As Tom Armstrong, vice-president of business development for MTV in Australia puts it:  "We are always looking at new ways of distribution. This is an experiment to see if there are other ways to get products to market, not just through DVD and cinema."

Read all about it, here.

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Get Some Nuts: Snickers & Mr. T Aim To Satisfy With Mobile Content Site

"Pitty the fool who got no nuts"  - or so says Mr. T, courtesy of Snickers.

Just got word that Snickers is back with Mr. T. for TV and interactive effort that includes a new mobile content site where users can "Get Some Nuts" with the download of Mr. T ringtones and wallpapers. Along the way, they can enter the "Get Some Nuts Challenge" for the chance to win a free Wii.

Kinda gives new meaning to the name "T Mobile."

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Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Edition Sizzles On Your Cell Phone

You're about to have some one of the world's most beautiful women in the palm of your hand.

Sports Illustrated has announced it's bringing this year's fabled Swimsuit Issue to mobile phones through a dedicated channel at mobile video portal mywaves.com.

Not sure further commentary is necessary.

But if you want to read more, go here.

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New York Times Wants You To 'ShifD' Your Content With New Mobile App

The Grey Lady's got a thing for mobile.

The New York Times company has announced it has launched ShifD, an unfortunately named application with some really cool functionality.

With ShifD, users can seamlessly shift content between their computers to mobile devices. The app, in beta now, simultaneously saves content to a user's ShifD account and makes it available on multiple devices.

As Michael Zimbalist, vice president, research and development operations puts it: "ShifD is an experiment in giving users the power to bring their content with them by easily shifting it among all of their Web-enabled devices. We see a future for device-independent media, with convergence around the user experience and not any particular delivery platform. Developing services that allow users to access content wherever they are and on whichever device they choose is an important part of our strategy."

In BRANDING UNBOUND the book, I talk to Martin Nisenholtz, the chief executive officer of New York Times Digital, about the Times Company's designs on mobile.

Needless to say, the New York Times wants to be a multi-platform play v. a print-only play.

ShifD certainly won't hurt the effort - as long as New York Times content is among the sort that gets seriously ShifD'd.

Read more about BRANDING UNBOUND the book, here.

Get into ShifD, here.

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Rick Mathieson.com

 

MobiTV Releases Mobile Television Advertising & Viewership Data

MobiTV is on the move.

The Emeryville, Calif.-based company released its mobile television advertising and viewership data today.

As it stands now, there are more than 60 million handsets enabled with the MobiTV service in the U.S. market and three million plus subscriptions.

According to recent interactive tests,  users of the MobiTV service engaged with ads they viewed through the service "at a rate 300 percent above direct response industry standards."

Hmmm. That last statement is a positive sounding way to spin very low numbers - but credit MobiTV with trying.

According to MobiTV, viewers of the MobiTV service move readily from watching 30-second television ads to taking action to learn more about products and offers through click-to- dial invitations; deep links to WAP sites; viewing advertiser-branded channels for a deeper brand experience and much more. In fact, MobiTV saw several branded channels gain in popularity with usage that rivaled some of their premium channels.

"Using MobiTV's advertising platform and branded channel experiences, advertisers now have the ability to go beyond simply targeting their audiences on mobile phones, they can create compelling, branded entertainment experiences that connect viewers with their products and offers in a new and compelling way," said Jack Hallahan, vice president, advertising and brand partnerships, MobiTV.

"This year will see mobile video ads become significant to the small screen medium, answering many of mobile advertising's challenges by providing easier to find and more focused opportunities."

Other data from the study:

• 9% of MobiTV's users watch in their office or home with a "watching apparatus"   -- 43% of parent users utilize the MobiTV service to entertain kids in the car   -- 67% of users have shown the MobiTV service at a party or other social      gathering   -- 85% of MobiTV's users say they watch more TV at home since signing up      for the MobiTV service.

• MobiTV reaches more than three million adult viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, who subscribe to more than 50 live TV channels and/or digital music. Key audience demographic and psychographic data points include:

  • They love television -- They are highly mobile -- They are technophiles, trend setters, mavens who drive tech purchases, both within corporations and amongst their friends   -- They are 67% male and 33% female   -- 82% are between the ages of 18 and 39 and the remaining 18% are 40 years of age and older.

MobiTV collected the above usage and advertising data and metrics from its proprietary mobile advertising platform during H2 of 2007.

All of this sounds great. But I have my doubts that mobile television has quite the growth potential the the industry hopes for. Note that the data does not include churn rate or actual usage on a daily or even monthly basis.

I'm not picking on MobiTV - it's an innovative company with really great capabilities, especially in the realm of branded content, which I delve into in-depth in BRANDING UNBOUND the book with MobiTV founder Paul Scanlon.

It's just that I think the category needs a game changer - much more SlingBox-like capabilities. New projection technologies wouldn't hurt. Or some other advance nobody's thought of yet.

Still - if you're on the go and just have to catch that live news or sports cast, nothing's going to fit the bill like MobiTV.

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Billboard Network Enables Consumers To Request Ad-Supported Content Via Mobile Phone

Interesting piece in today's New York Times about Akoo, a network of digital billboards that enable consumers to pluck content via mobile phone.

Akoo (pronounced AH-koo) enables passersby to send a text message to a shortcode on the billboard to instantly download requested content - a viral video, music, what have you - to their mobile phone.

In BRANDING UNBOUND the book, Forrester Research's Phil Magney tells me this is the wave of the future. "You go to a kiosk...and literally choose a movie or some other form of content, and it's downloaded wirelessly" for a fee or ad-supported. 

Consumers can also register with Akoo to receive promotional offers, and the system certainly will be put to use in pure advertising scenarios.

To that end, the company has conducted trials with McDonald's. In one test in 2001, a 14-day trial at a Chicago restaurant helped increase sales 17%.

"I can't see how marketers in today's environment couldn't look at something like this and say it completely makes sense," Ross Dobson, managing partner for digital, direct and analytics at Mullen tells the pub.

Neither can I - as evidenced by examples from Yahoo, Nike, McDonald's, Bravissimo, most major movie studios and many others here in the blog and in the book.

But not everyone's bullish.

Bill Reynolds, VP for agency Erwin-Penland, tells the pub: "These installations initially attract consumer attention, but much of it is for the novelty effect. Many of these will wear out pretty quickly, so it will be a challenge to keep them fresh and engaging."

To which we say, that's the whole idea behind a digital billboard, isn't it?

For the Times piece, click here.

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ADWEEK: More Campaigns Going Mobile - But Technology Limitations Persist

Speaking of ADWEEK, this week's issue has a piece on how many marketers are still trying to figure out how to make the most of mobile marketing.

"Agencies and brands are still learning about what can be created in the mobile space," Richard Ting, executive creative director of mobile and emerging media/applications at R/GA in New York, tells the pub. In Ting's view, the fragmented landscape with ever-changing carrier and handset restrictions has made designing for mobile "a difficult proposition," he explains, and "working with carriers is always a long and arduous process that often stifles the creative and launch of mobile programs."

"Because most phones have different capabilities, there is a disparate technological gap with the phones that are in market right now," adds Angela Kosniewski, an account director for Toyota's Scion brand at Attik, San Francisco. "With our target being the youth market, there is concern on our end: How would we deliver the best quality to our target?" She points to inconsistent video - and Web-streaming capabilities that would alter the quality of the experience from user to user, depending on what type of cell phone and service they use. "We'll shoot something in HD, and it comes out grainy."

Some think the new capabilities introduced with Apple's iPhone may point to a more compelling future.

But as I point out in BRANDING UNBOUND the book, mobile's so much more powerful than just replicating what's available on the wireline Internet. In the book, I look at many powerful ways Scion and R/GA clients like Nike - and many, many more - are already making the most of the mobile medium, without having to worry about the technological limitations of this new medium.

Smart campaigns use mobile as an activation mechanism - using things like simple user-initiated (v. opt-in) text messaging and links to enable consumers to interact with, and transact with, the brands they know and trust, right at the point of impression.

The next wave of technology will make it all even more powerful, with many of the technical wizardry agencies want to day, but with many new capabilities that will put make simple "mobile web" concepts seem downright rudimentary.

Read the ADWEEK piece here.

And start getting the real scoop, here.

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