Mobile video messaging as a marketing tool continues to gain ground, with participation in MMS (multimedia messaging service) and traditional SMS campaigns on iOS and Android devices doubling between April and October. The finding comes from a semiannual study by MMS provider Mogreet analyzing mobile messaging behavior based on data from 1 million subscribers and more than 5,000 campaigns. The company says it handles more than half of MMS messages delivered by businesses to consumers in the U.S. The iPhone and Android smartphones remain the most popular smartphone platforms for messaging. iOS users account for more than half of those opting into MMS and text-messaging campaigns, compared to 34% coming through Android phones. Those levels are up from 23.6%, and 16%, respectively, in April. BlackBerry accounted for 7% of opt-in messaging. Looking at device manufacturers, Apple drove half of commercial MMS and SMS messages, with Samsung a distant second, at 16%, followed by LG (9%), HTC (8%), Motorola (8%) and BlackBerry (5%). “Samsung’s continued presence on this list can, like Apple, can be credited to its new and innovative -- including lower priced options -- product offerings and partnerships with lower cost carriers,” noted the report. Among U.S. wireless carriers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless led the way, accounting for almost 60% of opt-in messaging traffic, down from 89% in April. Gaining at the expense of its larger rivals was Sprint, which increased its share of messaging to 19% from 8%. Unlike AT&T and Verizon, Sprint has maintained its unlimited data plan while adding the iPhone to its device lineup in late 2011. The Summer Olympics and 2012 election cycle also helped to drive messaging activity in the second half of 2012, with particular growth in industry categories including retail, media and entertainment. MMS is generally preferred for driving brand awareness via photos or video, while SMS is used for sponsored alerts. “We expect this trend to continue in 2013,” said Mogreet CEO James Citron, noting that MMS is now supported on 97% of U.S. mobile devices.
Take that, Instagram. Only days after Facebook's photo-sharing network Instagram removed support for posting its images directly into Twitter feeds, Twitter strikes back. With app updates the company is promising for iOS and Android today, Twitter gains the ability to apply filters and do in-app photo editing before posting. The Twitter blog last night announced the new feature and included a demo video. Users can apply one of eight filters and even preview how each affects the image in a grid. Images can be pinched and zoomed for cropping. The app can also apply an auto-enhancement. The arrival of the in-app editing feature firms up the growing divide and competition between Facebook/Instagram and Twitter. Last week Instagram stopped supporting the Twitter cards platform that made posting its images to Twitter feeds more seamless. As both companies ramp up their respective ad strategies, especially on mobile platforms, the era of good feeling and traffic sharing that typified the early years of social networking appears to be waning.
Are mobile and email a match made in heaven? Suggesting as much, new data shows that consumers are significantly more likely to open email on mobile devices -- 37% -- than through Webmail using a browser -- 30%. That’s according to findings from email specialist Return Path, which reports that mobile open share has increased 300% since 2010, and shows no sign of slowing, with four out of 10 emails sent being read on a mobile device. “The data shows a clear opportunity for marketers who take audience device and platform preference into consideration,” said Matt Blumberg, CEO of Return Path. Which sectors are benefiting most from the chemistry between mobile and email? Of all retail, consumer product and real estate emails sent and then opened, about 40% were opened on a mobile device, versus an email desktop client (like Outlook) or through webmail on a browser. The study also found that the type of information being reviewed could impact open rates on mobile devices, as a significant amount of banking-related emails -- 60% -- are still opened on desktops, probably for security reasons. Email users still make most of their online purchases through a desktop computer. Globally, the report also found a variance in mobile usage by region. More Americans open email on mobile devices than their European and South American counterparts. In most regions, Android and iOS dominate the mobile marketplace. Return Path also found that mobile behavior varies depending on the mobile operating system that consumers use. More Apple users are using their devices to open and read email than any other group, with the iPad seeing more growth in email opens when compared to the iPhone. Meanwhile, Windows Mobile saw an 85% increase in email opens since April, although the OS still only comprises 0.3% of all emails opened on a mobile device. "E-mail on Smartphone from Shutterstock"
Google Android may be in more people’s pockets by a wide margin worldwide, but Apple's iPhone and iOS ecosystem continue to rule the mobile ad economy, says Opera Software in its year-end report. In measuring over 40 billion monthly impressions to more than 10,000 mobile sites over the last year, Opera found that 44.4% of ad impressions still were going to iOS devices, compared to 29% to Android. The perennial battle between the two OSes over the effects of fragmentation continued to favor Apple. Within months of the iOS 6 upgrade release, 65% of Apple smartphones and tablets are running on the new software. Far and away the leader in mobile monetization this year has been the iPad, which Opera reports earning an eCPM of $3.60 consistently. And in another head-to-head match-up, this time between the iPhone 5 and Samsung’s strong contender the Galaxy S III, Apple maintains a lead. Just four months after the iPhone 5 launch, it is already responsible for 16.1% of iPhone device traffic, while the Samsung flagship phone gets 8% of Android traffic. Among content categories, music and video were the big winners in 2012. Opera cited high growth at companies like Pandora, Slacker Radio and Shazam, helping the music and video category generate 23.8% of all mobile ad impressions and about 15% of revenue. Sports was also on a fast track, growing from 4% of ad revenue at the beginning of the year to 14% by year’s end. Opera attributes the growth both to traffic increases and the use of more high value rich media units. Opera provides an ad platform to many of the largest mobile publishers, including CBS, MLB.com, News Corp, Bloomberg, Pandora and Shazam.
Developers of apps aimed at children still fail to inform parents about the apps' data collection practices, the Federal Trade Commission said on Monday. "Despite many high-visibility efforts to increase transparency in the mobile marketplace, little or no progress has been made," the FTC said in a new report examining apps for children. The agency will investigate whether app developers are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or engaging in unfair or deceptive practices. COPPA bans Web site operators from knowingly gathering personal information from children under 13 without their parents' permission. The report marks the second time this year that the FTC has warned app developers that they potentially violate COPPA by failing to notify parents about data collection. In February, when the FTC issued its prior report, the agency recommended that app developers use "simple and short" disclosures to state what information is collected. The FTC also advised app developers to alert parents if the app with social media allows for targeted advertising. The FTC said on Monday that only a "handful" of app developers were providing concise disclosures. "Most apps failed to provide basic information about what data would be collected from kids, how it would be used, and with whom it would be shared," the report states. "It is clear that more needs to be done in order to provide parents with greater transparency in the mobile app marketplace." For the report, FTC staff examined 200 Android apps and 200 iPhone apps aimed at children. Researchers found that most of the apps (around 60%) transmitted the device's identifier to a developer, ad network, analytics company or other outside party. Fourteen apps also transmitted geolocation data, telephone numbers, or both. Only 20% of the apps provided any information about their privacy practices -- either on a promotional page, developer site or within the app. The report mentioned that one app transmitted device identifiers, geolocation data and phone numbers to "multiple" ad networks -- even though it specifically stated it did not share or sell personal information to third parties, except to government agencies for security purposes. The FTC also said the majority of kids' apps -- 58% -- contained in-app advertising, but only 15% of all apps disclosed that information before they were downloaded. The commission currently is considering whether to update COPPA by banning companies from using behavioral targeting techniques on children younger than 13. Monday's report drew the attention of Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), who co-chair a House privacy caucus. "The FTC’s report clearly reveals that more must be done to arm parents with the most effective tools to protect their children when they are online," they said in a joint statement. "Children's personal information should not be secretly siphoned off by mobile apps without parents' knowledge or permission."
Consumer Reports spin-off magazine ShopSmart says it loaded up hundreds of sites and apps in order to find the most useful tools for consumers this holiday. Published in the January issue, the “Best Shopping Sites and Apps of the Year singled out five mobile downloads as exceptional. The five app winners were: CardStar, a loyalty card organizer Grocery Store Coupon Shopper coupon and special matching app RetailMeNot, the mobile iteration of the popular Web coupon finder ShopKick, the app that rewards use and works directly with retailers for in-store deals Walgreen’s, the drugstore’s app that can refill prescriptions and set medication reminders as well as access coupons and loyalty cards On the Web, ShopSmart cited CouponBlender.com, HandbagHeaven.com, MyGroceryDeals.com, TechBargains.com and TheBudgetBabe.com as exceptional resources.
Campus Tel Aviv, a Google program in Israel supporting the growth of start-ups, launched Monday to foster innovation in Internet technologies and mobile applications. The program will provide entrepreneurs a hub to develop and test new ideas, as well as Launch Pad, a two-week boot camp about product strategies, measurement tools and technology. The community support from a 1,500-square meter floor in a building won't necessarily provide funding, but rather invest time, resources and facilities. Collaborating partners include The Tel Aviv Angel Group, UpWest Labs, The Junction, The Zell Entrepreneurship Program, DC Elevator, and Meet. Google Israel relations manager developer Amir Shevat and Google new business development manager Eyal Miller will run the incubator devoted to entrepreneurs. The company will encourage innovation in Israel, something the Israeli government has been building on for years. In Israel, the Internet economy contributed 6.4% to the country's gross domestic product in 2009, but analyst firm McKinsey & Company estimates it will reach 8.5% by 2015. Israel is the world’s second-largest center of tech start-ups after Silicon Valley; Shevat points to the stats in a blog post. Aside from search, Google has supported Internet and mobile entrepreneurs in Israel through tech talks, events and hackathons. In early 2000, it helped companies build a technology corridor similar to California's Silicon Valley, where high-tech businesses could explore options. Israel's commercial tech revolution, however, began decades before, in the 1970s. Around that time, prior commercial endeavors focused on orange groves. Building a business is tough in any country. In India, nearly 25% of 379 tech startups launched this year shut down, according to a study from the startup incubator Microsoft Accelerator India, which launched earlier this year.
I have to admit that I have found some of the early marketing applications of augmented reality more than a little cheesy. I mean, how compelling is it to pose with a Brooklyn Decker overlay at the newsstand of your nearest Barnes & Noble? A couple of years ago, Esquire used this little stunt, combining geolocation, AR and its cover model. When you launched the Goldrun AR app in a B&N store at its newsstand a cutout of the model appeared in the camera view. I felt like an ass trying this one out. My wife refused to assist and just did the customary "I don't know him" trot in the opposite direction. It seemed reminiscent of low-end tourist traps -- posing with life-size standups of Ronald Reagan on Fisherman’s Wharf. And rather than make me feel more like that ideal Esquire metrosexual sophisticate, the exercise reduced me to a 15-year-old doofus appearing to shout out to his "buds," "hey look, dudes, me and Brooklyn Decker!" It made me want to join my wife trotting in the other direction. The basic technology and overlay techniques of Goldrun's AR app remain basically the same, but the approach is a bit more sophisticated now, says Goldrun CEO Vivian Rosenthal. "We shifted focus and call ourselves a mobile engagement platform around connecting brands and consumers through photographs," she says. For instance, for the Super Bowl-winning New York Giants and partner Tiffany and Co., the team’s Facebook page invites fans to use the Goldrun app to put on their own virtual Super Bowl ring or pose with the Lombardy trophy. “The photos are really ads posing as photos,” says Rosenthal. But rather than just being a mobilized version of the cheesy tourist photo, the program sparked fan creativity. People start playing with the overlay, often by posing with their own team jerseys or positioning the trophy to appear 20 feet tall, she says. “It becomes a creative form of expression.” They saw a similar effect in a campaign with Fox around the recent "Ice Age" animated film release. The cartoon characters in the AR overlays became elements in a creative toolset, with families cuddling around them or reducing them to palm-sized creatures in unexpected ways. For the client, the program just feeds the always-hungry social media mill. “The brand gets this incredible library of content that reflects its users,” she says. The images are all watermarked with the brand so it creates a real impression wherever the user spreads it. And the images are geo-tagged. “You can see where in the country people are engaging and which social networks they are using. It is a real-time market research tool.” Rosenthal says she is seeing brands like Kraft incorporating AR into the normal flow of social media and customer relations and offering regular calls to action around products. Clients are beginning to sign up for annual contracts so they can maintain a persistent dialogue using AR across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and elsewhere. There is something to be said for the value of the virtual tchotchke. I am sure that I am not the right target for this sort of thing. But the basic model reminds us how valuable it is to give consumers the simplest of toys to let them make of it what they will. Engagement is not just a matter of enveloping the consumer in "experiences" with rich and overwrought UI. The best engagement is powered by the user, not the marketer. Toss them a toy with open-ended possibilities. Let them supply the imagination, the effort, the tone and the meaning. The silly virtual tchotchke can become an occasion not for you to "augment" reality so much as for the customer to augment your brand and apply his own overlay of personalization, meaning, even irony. Sponsor the sandbox.
In case you missed it, there’s a war a-brewing for control of our photographic lives—a war being waged between Facebook and Twitter. Once half-jokingly dubbed “a photo sharing site with some chat attached” by noted VC Fred Wilson, Facebook stands as the reigning photographic champion, having gobbled up mobile photo champion Instagram in this year’s purported billion-dollar acquisition. Standing as the David to Facebook/Instagram’s Goliath would appear to be none other than Twitter, who is rumored to be close to launching photo features of its own. If you’re a travel marketer, you may have watched border skirmishes between these two with only passing interest. Now that Instagram has disabled photo viewing in Twitter, however, it may be time to pay a bit more attention. Photos are the lingua franca of social media. They transcend language, capture emotion, and root us to a social network unlike any other content. Study after study finds that photos generate 2x to 3x the amount of likes and shares of text-based content. And for that reason, they are digital gold to Facebook and Twitter—the holy grail of online content that increases user engagement, drives new visitor traffic, and builds user loyalty. The latest shot in the photographic turf war between Facebook and Twitter seems innocuous at first glance. Facebook’s Instagram now no longer supports photo viewing within Twitter. Instead, when a user tweets a photo via Instagram, it will appear as a link that followers will need to click in order to view the photo on Instagram. No big whoop, right? Not so fast. Instagram’s move, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch argues, is not in the best interests of users who want seamless photo sharing regardless of platform. Instead, it is a move driven solely by Facebook’s financial interests and desire to drive more traffic to its site. Twitter’s making similar moves. And so, we may be in the waning days of seamless, social media platform sharing with 2013 shaping up to be the year of the walled, social garden. The net impact of this shift is significant for travel marketers in numerous ways:
According to the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report, Americans spent more than 34 hours per week in front of a TV set in Q2, 2012, where they watched traditional TV, DVDs and played games. Most of the content from these activities was delivered to the TV set in a traditional manner, over broadcast, cable, satellite or telco connection, and a growing amount was delivered by Internet connection. Americans also added another five hours in front of the computer screen using the Internet, or watching video content, and an increasing amount of time using Smartphones this quarter. Average Time Spent Per Person Per Day (People 2+ in US TV HH) Time Spent Per Day (Hrs/Mins)Medium Q2 2010Q2 2011Q2 2012 Live TV 4:20 4:23 4:18 DVR playback 0:18 0:20 0:22 Video games 0:10 0:12 0:12 DVD playback 0:14 0:12 0:10 Source: Nielsen, November 2012 Tablets and Smartphones are proving to be novel, and potentially necessary utilities, to enable a new trans-generational community of connected consumers that crosses age, gender, race and ethnic lines to participate in the multitasking that used to be reserved for the young, or tech savvy elite. While tablets and Smartphones offer the freedom of mobility, close to 40% of Americans now use them while watching TV at least once a day, and twice as many do it at least once a month. Smartphones now have a market penetration greater than 50%, and tablets are already in nearly 20% of US TV homes. More than 39% of people use their Smartphone at least once a day while watching TV; 62% say they do this multiple times a week, and 84% do at least once a month. Additional simultaneous usage noted in the report includes: