Recently, we commented on the lack of activity around mobile device-based campaigns in the political space – surprising given the impending presidential election. We also noted that while things had been fairly quiet in the U.S., there were some innovative election-based services coming out of the U.K. With tomorrow being election day, we have seen a sudden influx of U.S.-based wireless players jumping on the bandwagon.

While seemingly last-minute, it makes perfect sense for the wireless industry to leverage the mobile device as a communications tool to cover the election results. According to an article in RCR Wireless News, a slew of election-based services will be offered tomorrow in hopes of exploiting the buzz around tomorrow’s race for the White House to attract mainstream consumers to the world of mobile content.

Some of the sites and services outlined in the article include: the partnership between Associated Press and U.S. Cellular to launch an on-deck site focused on election content; Campaign Tracker, a free app for Microsoft Windows Mobile-enabled phones from NewsGator, based on WashingtonPost.com and Newsweek content; and Slate.com’s interactive polling application for iPhones.

I think it’s safe to say that the paradigm shift in mobile politics has already begun, and it will be interesting to see where wireless providers take the election in 2012.

- Stacey Infantino

Bookmark to:

Yesterday Adrian Hall, Bytemobile chief marketing officer, participated in a panel session at the inaugural Mobile Content & Marketing Expo in San Jose, CA. Along with fellow panelists Doug Antone, chief executive officer, Networks In Motion; Frank Barbieri, chief executive officer, Transpera; and Susan Cashen, vice president of marketing, mywaves, Hall shared his thoughts on the panel topic, ‘How To Make Money From Mobile Content’. The session was moderated by Joe Laszlo, director of research at the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Read Debra Kaufman’s overview of the ‘How To Make Money From Mobile Content’ panel.

The Mobile Content & Marketing Expo is sponsored by JupitermediaEvents in conjunction with mediabistroevents and will run October 6-7, 2008 at the San Jose Marriott.

To learn more about this conference, visit: www.mobilecmexpo.com

- Stacey Infantino

Bookmark to:

http://www.rcrnews.com/article/20080804/VIDEO/548088684/VIDEO–Olympics-to-provide-vast-opportunity-for-mobile-content

The Olympic Games (summer and winter) come around every two years – virtually an instant in the 21st century pace of life. Two years in the mobile internet space, however, is an eon in terms of what can happen and what can change. During the last Olympics in 2006, mobile content and mobile advertising were still in their infancy, from both industry and consumer points of view. While many would argue that the industry is still lagging behind its true potential, the 2008 Olympics give us a benchmark opportunity to assess the progress of its evolution.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

A recent study suggests that consumers are “craving practical mobile content”. Over 90% of respondents in the online panel were interested in learning about the mobile Web. 50% were unaware that mobile-only sites even exist. There are some other interesting facts to glance through at your leisure:
http://www.adotas.com/2008/07/two-mobile-studies-provide-priceless-peek-into-consumers%E2%80%99-psyche/

To me, though, the first point is the most interesting. Users are now waking up to the possibility that the mobile Internet exists. We know that the Internet is great for immediacy, for instant gratification, for searching, for finding, for participating — but to date, these activities had to be conducted from our desks or laps. Now, add the human love affair that we have with our mobile devices — with us 24 hours a day — and we have a true recipe for change.

Mobile devices already serve us text and voice in an instantaneous way, wherever we may be. Our communications world is shrinking further still; now the global Internet can be in our pockets at any time and any place. Wow! I can hardly begin to imagine what might happen next. Can you?

Think of the changes that have occurred in business and commerce over the last 5-10 years due to the Internet. Think about how you now find out about things, order your holidays, book restaurant meals and theater tickets, and so on. Now, roll forward 18-24 months, and that power is now in your hands just three or four clicks away, wherever you are.

But the mobile device adds something unique: it is very personal. In theory, your service provider actually knows where you are at any time – therefore, it also knows where you have been. Because you are unique, the websites you have visited and the services you have used are also known. Is this a scary ‘big brother’ world or one in which the service provider respects the consumer but provides a new element of ‘contextual relevance’?

As people become aware of the promise and the threat that this convergence of computing and communications will bring, the debates will surely rage. Will this mark a new change in social and business interaction, the likes of which we have never seen before? What do you think?

- Graham Carey

Bookmark to: