Cool Ambient Campaign – New York: Recalling 1993

This is a fantastic ambient campaign from the New Museum in NYC. It simply hijacked 5.000 pay phones all over New York City. Each of the phones is recalling a piece of history from 1993 when NYC was changing massively from a cultural and urban stand point. If you are in NYC, simply call 1-855-FOR-1993 from any NYC pay phone and just listen to what happened in 1993.

PS: Some more background of the campaign by Droga5 can be found here.

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Study Mobile Search: How it drives activities and conversions online and offline

We all experience on a daily business how mobile devices are changing our world. Mobiles become more and more our shopping companion, and with it mobile search becomes more and more popular to satisfy our needs. Google and Nielsen cooperated in a recent report to illustrate where and how people use mobile search, and what purchasing behaviour results from it.

Most mobile search activities happen in the afternoon and evening. However, the activities happen at home (68%) and not from “on-the-go” (17%). The driver for the activity is 81% the need for “speed and convenience”. Funnily enough people believe that doing a mobile search at home is easier than opening the computer (83%).

Google mobile search drives on and off

Concerning the types of mobile search, it varies still. People tend to do food and shopping “in-stores” versus finding travel information which is done from their office or while on-the-go. The interesting finding for marketers is that these searches drive users to do additional activities. 73% trigger additional actions after doing their mobile search.

Google mobile search triggers

The study makes clear that mobile searches are pushing fast online and offline activities. More than half of all mobile users do call a business, make a purchase and visit a store in the short time-period of only one hour. Furthermore, mobile searches becomes more and more impactful for businesses. Mobile searches trigger consumers for additional actions and conversions (73%). The respondents of the study also visited a retailer’s website (25%), shared information (18%) and visited a store (17%).

Google follow-up activities mobile search

Spot On!
Although this study might have some Google touch, the reports offers some good insight into the offline and online world and how it gets driven by mobile search. We should not be surprised to get further new mobile products from Google for users (mobile value-add) as well as for marketers (mobile ad products).

Which products would you like to see from Google for mobile search that don’t exist yet?

SoDA: Digital Trends Report 2013 (Slideshare)

SoDA (the Society of Digital Agencies) just recently presented their views and results of their annual Digital Marketing Outlook Survey. It offers some fresh insights and perspectives of how marketers might be turning their creative and technological knowledge into new concepts in their digital agencies. The report delivers thoughts around changing advertising markets, new organizational set-ups, latest technology and budget ideas for companies, brands and digital agencies in 2013. A very interesting resource…

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Study: Consumers prefer mobile apps to mobile websites

After yesterdays moderation of the dmexco Night Talks in Hamburg on “Mobile – The new first screen”, a recent study grabbed my attention this morning. It makes clear that users really are more into apps rather than mobile websites. According to the findings of the global study from Compuware Corporation, a technology performance company, 85% of consumers responded that they prefer mobile apps over mobile websites.

Although the latest InMobi study gives insights how people react to mobile advertising and why apps get into the centre of attention of the mobile user, the study from Compuware states that the reason why apps become so popular these days. The respondents said that they are “more convenient, faster and easier to navigate.” Furthermore, it adds some more findings…

“Mobile applications are thought to make life easier by streamlining calendars and grocery lists (…) offering entertainment while in line and making it easy to collaborate with co-workers. Consumers now associate apps with banking, paying bills, shopping, booking hotels and travel, as well as with staying productive and connected with both home and office tasks.”

The 3Rs of the social customer also become apparent in the choice of which apps will be downloaded to their mobiles. 84% of users say app store ratings are important in their decisions to download and install a mobile app. And there are some obvious reasons how apps need to deliver in order to be be benefitial…
– Easy access to product and store information
– Help planning and navigating trips
– The ability to communicate in real time

However, the benefits seem quite clear, there are also some complaints about mobile apps. The mobile users mentioned that they had…
– 62% a crash, freeze or error.
– 47% slow launch times.
– 40% an app which just would not launch.

Still tolerance is high when the app does not work immediately. 79% said, they would retry a mobile app only once or twice if it failed to work the first time. Still, companies and brands should be aware that the competitor is not too far away with their mobile app offering.

Compuware - Consumer reaction to bad apps

“With consumers expecting greater experiences with mobile apps now more than ever, fulfilling those expectations doesn’t just happen — it takes a conscious effort throughout every stage of the design and development process to get it right. Performance is a crucial contributor to providing a dependable mobile app user experience, so performance should be considered a key driver in the design process. Mobile applications need to focus on a core utility, and they need to be fast and reliable in order to be valuable.” Stephen Pierzchala, Technology Strategist, Compuware APM Center of Excellence.

It would be interesting to get your expectation on a good mobile app or website? What is your normal reaction when mobile apps don’t deliver to your expectation?

InMobi Global Study: Mobile media consumption outpacing TV, mobile ads drive sales

In prepapration of the first dmexco Night Talks moderation in Hamburg on “Mobile: The new first screen: reach, engage, measure, monetize”, sometimes studies fly into my mailbox which are reaching me just at the right time.

InMobi released their second wave research report on Mobile Media Consumption at Mobile World Congress. It covers some on-going overview on 14 countries on how we consume mobile content these days, and it obviously underlines the rapid growth of mobile media and the benefits of mobile advertising around the globe.

From a global perspective, mobile has reached the sweet spot in media consumption. It will generate its growth in the coming year predominantly via social media, search/download apps and search activities. In the 14 countries, humans spent from 7 hour media consumption (apart from other channels)…
1. Mobile 1,8 hours
2. PC 1,6 hours
3. TV 1,5 hours

The research piece shows that 50% of the average global mobile web users primarily use their mobiles now to go online. The average mobile web person uses 6.5 apps throughout a 30-day period.

But what does this mean for marketers?

The study states that globally, 54% of users discover mobile ads via apps, 40% on a search engine, 27% on a retailer website and 23% on a video website. It also makes clear that mobile is the touchpoint for finding new products and services. 3 out of 4 say mobile advertising has opened doors to something new. Almost every second say mobile ads have influenced them to buy mobile (46%) and almost the same amout (45%) say that mobile has mobile ads have influenced their purchase decision.

When seeing mobile ads, it is not that users don’t take any actions. It is actually the other way round. Mobile ads let users downloaded an app (80%), visit the advertiser’s website (67%), visit the store/retailer/business for additional information (52%), locate an advertiser on map (45%), or even take an immediate phone call (37%).

Mobile Media Consumption InMobi 2013

Spot On!
While I still have some marketers from media houses and brands in my ears, saying that apps and mobile ads don’t seem to be the right marketing approach, it seems they just did not find the right content approach to their users. The mobile commerce world is growing at speed of light and innovative retailers and brands should be well-prepared for it – and ideally have at least a click-to-call solution on their mobile website. It is not surprising that in these 14 countries 80% retailers say they plan to get the right approach to mobile in 2013.

How about you? Are you prepared for the mobile sales and marketing development? What experiences do you have so far with mobile ads?

PS: If you are interested in attending the dmexco discussion in Hamburg, please book your seat here.

Report: comScore unveils insights in main mobile development for 2013

comScore Mobile 2013In a recent report called “2013 Mobile Future in Focus” comScore released their outlook for mobile trends. The report shows the U.S. mobile and connected device landscape in 2012, which is meant to the set the stage for the international expansion of the mobile revolution. It offers insights into mobile media consumption, mobile networks, platforms, as well as OEMs. It also includes key mobile market insights from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, and Japan.

The report illustrates the following trends for the mobile year 2013…

Multi-mobile use shapes the “Brave New Digital World”
The U.S. is surpassing 125 million U.S. consumers and tablets in mobile consumption. More than 50 million own smart mobile devices which make consumers being always connected. Americans spend more than one out of every three minutes online on mobiles. Does this show the end of the desktop?

Smartphones surpass 50% penetration and start ‘Late Majority’ of adopters
In 2012 the U.S. smartphone market became the year of mobile by finally surpassed 50% market penetration. It enters the “late majority” stage of the technology adoption curve. Smartphone subscribers increased 29% from a year ago and 99% from two years ago. 72% of all newly-bought devices were smartphones.

comScore Mobile 2013 Smartphone Tablet Ownership

Android and iOS Control U.S. Smartphone Market
Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS dominate the U.S. smartphone landscape with almost 90% of the market today. The well-developed app ecosystems makes it even more difficult for competing platforms to narrow the gap.

Samsung makes splash in smartphone OEM market
Samsung strongly competes more and more with Apple that is still the leading smartphone OEM. The year-over-year increase of more than 100% from Samsung and a two-year increase of more than 400% shows how much they are challenging Apple. The gap between the two competitors is steadily narrowing though.

High-Speed mobile connectivity speeds up mobile content consumption
Wider availability of high-speed internet access has increased the average user’s media consumption experience. Default Wi-Fi accessibility for smartphones and tablets like in coffee shops contributes to the new workplace and a better browsing experience for users. But also the availability of better networks speed (4G and LTE technology) will leverage the mobile content adoption.

comScore Mobile 2013 Content Per Topic

Spot On!
The report shows that 2013 was kind of the “year of mobile”. With the rise of smartphone adoption to an over 50% penetration but also tablets becoming more prevalent, it seems that the world is moving more and more away from desktop internet usage. Mobile devices make up the digital media consumption of consumers these days. Obviously, marketers and media companies need to adapt their businesses to the emerging mobile multi-platform world but should also see the opportunity of mobile car technology (Google Glass Project), Augmented Reality (IKEA), QR codes (Adidas) or “mobile storytelling” (AUDI).

So now up to you. What has changed in your mobile adaption from last year? What are you missing in terms of mobile marketing development? And what would you be open for when marketers address you with mobile content?

BlogHer Study: Are woman the mobile 'Generation Now'…?

Millennials book their flights, hotels and probably would love to buy their drinks via their mobiles. They all get information in realtime. And the rest of the world? Do they also have acces to the world’s latest buzz, deals and chatter? One of the latest studies by the media network and publisher for women BlogHer states that our dependance on mobiles is massively increasing. Women manage and engage via our mobiles in all aspects of life – not important which generation it is. And if they don’t know, how can we know…?

They released some infographic that summarizes the results of their second annual consumer electronics study from December 2012. The stats are showing that we are all the mobile generation now. The study wanted to know when women of different ages usually buy electronic gadgets, what they love most about mobiles but also if fears accompany their mobile dependence.

BlogHer Study 2012 Mobile Gen

From these findings, they define three female mobile profiles…

The Recession Millennials (18-27 years old)
Unsurprisingly, Blogher describes Millennials as mobile natives. However, money stands in their way from diving into their early adopter reputation. Main fear? Their mobiles get stolen! Still, they are 31% more likely to “use a gadget until it doesn’t work anymore.”

The Gen X Early Adopters (28-45 years old)
The power-users and consumers are coming from the Gen X age. They love their mobiles for its capabilities to “do it all.” Standing between life and career, 25% said mobiles make them being more likely to be too distracted to focus on their family.

The Boomer Bargain-Hunters (46-64 years old)

Boomers want gadgets, but not for every price. They love hunting for bargains – and can wait 12 months for technical gadgets. Mobiles are their heartbeat. Still, data privacy has become one of their concerns.

Our question would be if this is not very much stereotyped. Or do you agree with this picture of the typical woman at different ages?

Mobile is maturing. The only question is "In which way…?"

Are we not all awaiting the “Year of Mobile”? Obviously, tablets and smartphones have made it become more sophisticated. However, most marketers still do not know how to approach this evolution from a strategic perspective. Understanding the bigger picture seems to become a leadership task. Who is using mobile tools on a daily basis? What are mobile business goals? Why do our employees need mobile and BYOD? Why is there an opportunity in using mobile to speed up business processes?

A new study by Compete describes for example who “Primary mobile users” on Twitter are. 57% are less likely to log into Twitter from their desktop than the average Twitter user. They check their updates and tweets more frequently than most other users. With 86% they are more likely to be active on Twitter several times a day than the average user. Smartphone apps are their entry point. However, 15% of the Primary mobile users” work on Twitter via their tablets predominantly.

Twitter Competer 2012

Furthermore, Mutual Mobile have created an interesting infographic which might offer some more insights, why enterprise mobility is essential for business development, where processes might get more impact through mobile, and how a company’s ROI might get the right boost with mobile.

Looking at the stats, it becomes obvious that the mobile priority increases with Chief Technology Officers (CTO), apart from dedicating greater resources to the mobile evolution when 94% of CTOs believe enterprise mobility will be important. Furthermore, 67% see mobile having more impact than the Internet did in the 1990s. Most important from an employees outlook is the fact that 65% understand more mobile support for employees as a critical priority.

Each and every business decision maker should see that mobile business leverages employees’ productivity (2X), quadruples margins and decreases customer churn by 20%. Private and business users are getting more and more engaged in mobile Internet activities. Mobile is maturing, the infographic states. Would you agree? And if so, do you have some more arguments why…?

Infographic_MutualMobile_Maturity_2013

TV Real-Time Translation: Closed Captioning and Google Translate

Although this translation vision still seems (and the hardware framework also looks) like early stages, it defines a translation reality that could become the future of Connected TVs. Easy Way Subtitles provides translation subtitles in any language for all people watching Brazilian TV through Closed Captioning technology combined with Google Translate via mobile devices. I cannot see this taking too long to become a real service via connected screens.

How about you…?

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Superbowl 2013 – 10 Funniest Commercials

YOu may not be the overall American Football fan. but as marketers, I would recommend taking the eight minutes and watch the commercials that make kind of the most noise on the web in terms of sharing. I am glad somebody, maybe CodByNight put them all together in one clip, and I did not have to search for all of them on YouTube.

Let us know which one you liked most…

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