Mobile phones have reached critical mass in the United States, and the adoption of wireless data services and added features is growing, according to a new study that identifies mobile phone usage patterns. Enpocket, a New York-based mobile marketing company, unveiled findings on Thursday from its new quarterly study, the "U.S. Mobile Media Monitor," detailing shifts in consumer usage patterns to marketers and network operators. Key results from a survey of 1,000 telephone interviews conducted in late April by NOP World for Enpocket show that 53 percent of the U.S. adult population (110 million) owns a mobile phone, while one-third of these mobile phone users actively engage in text messaging or short message services (SMS). Rob Lawson, general manager-North America for Enpocket, says that the most surprising finding is consumers' rapid adoption of advanced mobile media applications like SMS, picture messaging, and wireless data/Internet services. "The carriers have done a very good job of promoting next-generation products," Lawson notes. Lawson says that text messaging, which is the most widely used mobile media application in the United States, should continue to grow during the next two to three years. SMS, like email, Lawson says, will soon become a routine communication channel. He notes that 78 percent of Europeans currently use text messaging, while it is only just beginning to be frequently used in the United States, where penetration is 35 percent among mobile phone users. The most popular mobile media application outside of text messaging is the downloading of ring tones, which has hit the 13 percent penetration mark within the last three months. Ring tone downloads are followed by wireless application protocol (WAP), or mobile Internet services, which currently reach 12 percent of mobile owners. The Enpocket report notes that 12 percent of mobile phone owners access the Internet from their cell phones in the United States. Lawson says the adoption of WAP-enabled services has spread significantly during the last year because technological innovations have added color and more compelling content. He says that Internet access over the cell phone is useful for checking weather, sports scores, and location information. "I think we'll see a lot of change there in the next 12 to 18 months; it's almost a surprise growth area," he says. Picture messaging is used by 8 percent of the mobile population, according to the report--which says that 21 percent of 18- to-25-year-olds with wireless phones use this service. Games downloading is also a new mobile media. The report indicates that only 4 percent of the mobile population downloads games--skewing 70 percent male, 83 percent under the age of 34--and, interestingly, 75 percent of mobile gamers earn less than $30K annually. The youngest forms of mobile media, according to the report, are text promotions and mobile marketing. Less than 2 percent of mobile phone users have accessed a text promotion for a TV show, an ad, a magazine, or radio show. Enpocket, which specializes in mobile marketing, primarily organizes mobile marketing campaigns via SMS and WAP. Lawson says that most of the company's U.S. campaigns are text-based. The majority of its WAP campaigns have run in Asia and Europe, where WAP penetration is higher. "Consumers are now adopting a whole range of [mobile] applications," Lawson says. "As the marketing industry gets increasingly fragmented, [mobile marketing] is becoming a compelling way to reach consumers."
Taking a page from the successful launch of 212, the New York metro area's interactive industry networking organization, people in the San Francisco Bay Area are preparing to start their own social and professional networking group, and will sign up potential members next week at the AdTech trade show. The Bay Area Interactive Group, dubbed "BIG," wants to reclaim San Francisco's rich interactive legacy, and is planning a kickoff event in September. It has a board, four committees, and a Web site that goes live on May 24 (www.sfbig.com). "The mission is to come together to talk thoughtfully about the challenges that interactive communications and marketing are facing," says John Durham, who serves as president of BIG's board and is president of Pericles Consulting, an online political marketing organization. "We want to network and explore [different topics]; we'll do programming, education, and social events." Brian Monahan, VP-media director at Universal McCann Interactive, San Francisco, and a BIG board member, says the group will help fill the void created after the dotcom meltdown. The Bay Area, birthplace of so many Internet-related businesses and ideas, had a networking group called the Society for Internet Advancement/SF (SIASF), but "it got so big, so fast, and was such a broad group of people that I think when things kind of went south, it didn't really have a loyal core to keep it going," Monahan says. Now, as the Internet media sector has picked up--and more importantly, grown up--BIG organizers say there is a need for such a group: "I think we want to remind people that the Bay Area was the birthplace of the interactive boom, and also retains an importance--given that we have all the technology that really fuels all these advancements," Monahan explains. In addition to Durham and Monahan, the BIG board includes: Susan Bratton, SVP, sales and marketing, Maven Networks; Lynn Ingham, regional sales manager, Crain Communications' Advertising Age; Scot McLernon, EVP, sales and marketing, CBSMarketWatch.com; and Doug Shirley, western sales, BusinessWeek Online Ex-officio members are Michael Caruso, president and founder of SIASF, and David Smith, president and media director, Mediasmith. BIG board members are securing sponsors for programming, and hope to offer some controversial speakers. "I always like leaving a meeting and getting people to think," Durham says. At the AdTech show May 24-26, BIG will have a table available to sign up potential members and distribute information. Dues are $50 for individuals; they are $500 for a group of up to 12 people within a company or agency. BIG committees are sponsorship, membership, events/activities, and communications. Durham said BIG will model itself after 212, as well as similar groups in Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle. "The energy of what 212 has done is really great," he says.
Since MediaDailyNews' In the Trenches series originated, we've offered a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the interactive ad industry as seen through the eyes of twelve diverse players, from technology developers to design aficionados. Starting with today's profile, we've spiffed up the look of the column to make it more relevant to our readers. Today's profile subject is Julie Tsai, a triathlete who strives for excellence in both her recreational and professional life at Dow Jones & Co.'s Wall Street Journal Online. In a true testament to the rapid transformation of publishing in the last few years, Julie's had five titles in the seven years she's worked for Dow Jones. Even more remarkable, she's managed to keep the same phone number the whole time. Starting as a graphic designer in the Journal's print marketing communications department, Julie made the leap to the WSJ.com in 1999 and now serves as director of marketing communications. In this role, she creates and manages the development of house ad campaigns, trade advertising efforts, and integrated sponsorship campaigns featured across Dow Jones properties including Barron's Online, StartupJournal, and OpinionJournal. Julie was responsible for coordinating the Journal's Future of Online Advertising campaign from concept to print and the Web. The campaign featured insights from online industry players including Mark McLaughlin, who at the time was president of Interpublic Group of Cos.' FCBi, and Nick Nyhan, president of Dynamic Logic. What are your favorite online destinations in the a.m.? I read what's in my inbox first, what gets fed to me by newsletters: MediaDaily News, OnlineJournal alerts, Adweek.com, AdAge.com, iMedia Connection, and BtoB Magazine. Because of my responsibilities in creating trade advertising and placing trade advertising, I want to know where my ads potentially would be. What other Web sites do you like to visit? I like to go to Triathlon sites. I've been doing Triathlons for three years. ... I've done over twelve. ... The highlight was last year doing a half Ironman in Hawaii. I get teased a lot. My coworkers will say, "Don't worry about Jules, she'll just swim there." Does the way you approach your training influence your work? There is a strong parallel in the nature of my day-to-day responsibilities and why those skills translate to being hooked on marathons/ triathlon training and the races themselves. Both require that ever-so-slightly obsessive-compulsive person who finds a way to warrant organization, planning, and detail in everything that they come across. Marketing roles, I think any fellow marketer would agree, entail all that thankless detail. What is the most challenging part of your job? The challenge is wanting to do all projects not just good, but produced and finished to a level of greatness. [A colleague of mine always says], "Don't let 'great' get in the way of 'good.'" It's a hard thing. What do you like best about your job; what keeps you interested? The product and the people. Working for such a great product that is so well-respected in the marketplace has a huge impact on my day-to-day activities. ... It's like being at a fun, edgy dot-com within the safe space of an [established] publisher. When will true media integration take place for advertisers? There's a barrage of media that's speaking towards that movement. Advertisers see that integration needs to happen. ... But the infrastructure behind that isn't set up yet at agencies so they can happily hold hands with the publisher. What's the most divisive online policy issue right now? Rich media. Speaking from a site with a paid subscriber base, we're more sensitive to the more blatant rich media that crosses over too far into content and user tolerance. But we also struggle with wanting to accept it because advertisers want to use it. Do you know someone who deserves a salute from MediaDailyNews' In the Trenches? Let us know! Contact Kate Kaye at kate@mediapost.com.