From USA Today.com Microsoft to launch paid search technology .
SEATTLE — Following the lead of Google and other online competitors, Microsoft plans to start selling sponsored links on its search Web pages.
Microsoft's move into this potentially lucrative area capitalizes on detailed demographic information the software company has gathered over the years, raising privacy concerns for some.
What most people fail to realize is that when they surf through the course of a normal day, they create more cookies on their computer than a Keebler factory.
Microsoft's paid search platform will provide detailed — but not personally identifiable — information, such as gender, age and location, for many people who use its search engine, allowing advertisers to target their ads to a specific audience.
So advertisers will be able to do a better job of catering to their potential customer?
Yusuf Mehdi, a corporate vice president with the MSN unit, said Microsoft has gathered this personal information by tracking users who have logged into its Hotmail e-mail program or other Microsoft Web sites, and then matching the data they provided with publicly known demographics, such as average income for a particular ZIP code.
The company uses computer addresses to track who's who, but Mehdi said it will not release names or other personally identifiable information.
For example, a car company could choose to have Microsoft display its sports car link when a man types in certain keywords, and a link to an SUV model when a woman uses the search criteria.
The only pitfall I see here is that an advertiser places an ad next to search query that is not relevant to the search. In this case you have abused the "trust" and are now just advertising based on demographics, not the search query.
Microsoft would then provide the company with detailed information about the demographics of the people who clicked on its ads.
Here's the troubling part, what does MSFT consider "detailed"?
Microsoft has made its name selling software, he said, and the new model of giving a product away and making money from advertising requires a steep learning curve.
Microsoft also has not yet done a good enough job of showing consumers why its MSN search engine is different enough from Google's and Yahoo's to warrant switching loyalties, he said.
There's an understatement.
"Microsoft is going to have to differentiate msn.com or MSN Search as a destination for consumers to come to," Garrity said.
Microsoft's paid search effort will be unveiled Wednesday at the company's annual MSN Strategic Account Summit, geared toward the online advertising industry.
I wonder if this trademark issue will be addressed. Advertisers are your bread and butter and you must accomodate them. There's a happy medium, do you want to know how?
At the same event last year, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer conceded that one of Microsoft's biggest missteps was not to use its in-house research and development staff to create a proprietary search engine earlier.
"That's probably the thing I feel worst about over the last few years — not making our own R&D investment," Ballmer said then.
Why not tackle the next big app for the Internet, local search. The advertising dollars will be endless and it can be your transtition to mobile search. There's an easy way to do it.
At this year's event on Microsoft's Redmond campus, speakers include Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Barry Diller, CEO of IAC/InterActive. But in a switch from previous years, Microsoft is not allowing journalists to attend the meeting.
I imagine the conversation between Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer went something like this. "Geez Steve, this year don't let any of Scoble's crazy blogger buddies in, we might actually get some constructive criticism"
Monday, March 21, 2005
People Magazine Goes Mobile
I was reading this week's People Magazine and noticed on the 3rd,4th page an advertisement for message alerts from People on your phone. I don't know if this is that new (not a regular People reader unless Jessica Simpson story is featured) but it is a great idea.
To get the hottest celebrity news to you phone text keyword ENTER to 72667 to join.
More details from People Magazine here.
To get the hottest celebrity news to you phone text keyword ENTER to 72667 to join.
More details from People Magazine here.
The Butler Has A New Home
From FT.com IAC near deal to buy Ask Jeeves for $1.9B .
IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet company headed by Barry Diller, is close to an agreement to acquire Ask Jeeves Inc., the nation’s fourth-largest search engine company, for about $1.9 billion, according to an executive involved in the negotiations.
An announcement could be made as early as today.
A couple things I wonder about. This trademark issue is hanging over the search engines. That will change the valuations of search. We are also coming to a slower time for ad spending, why buy it now?
Second, if a company really wanted to be ahead of the curve, instead of chasing it, they should be looking at search for mobile. Where are the companies that think outside the box?
Mobile search is inevitable. There are more screens involved than PC's and the traffic on it will surpass PC's too shortly.
I am reminded by the scene in GoodWill Hunting when Matt Damon says to Robin Williams. "You professors are alike. You surround yourself with all of these fancy books, only problem is, they're the wrong books".
IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet company headed by Barry Diller, is close to an agreement to acquire Ask Jeeves Inc., the nation’s fourth-largest search engine company, for about $1.9 billion, according to an executive involved in the negotiations.
An announcement could be made as early as today.
A couple things I wonder about. This trademark issue is hanging over the search engines. That will change the valuations of search. We are also coming to a slower time for ad spending, why buy it now?
Second, if a company really wanted to be ahead of the curve, instead of chasing it, they should be looking at search for mobile. Where are the companies that think outside the box?
Mobile search is inevitable. There are more screens involved than PC's and the traffic on it will surpass PC's too shortly.
I am reminded by the scene in GoodWill Hunting when Matt Damon says to Robin Williams. "You professors are alike. You surround yourself with all of these fancy books, only problem is, they're the wrong books".
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Search Marketing To Slow By 2007
Trees don't grow to the sky, although the "street" seems to think so.
From NetImperative Search marketing growth to slow by 2007.
Search engine marketing in Europe is set to increase by 65% this year, with EU1.4bn being spent on sponsored links and site optimisation, according to new research. However, the growth may cool by 2007 as rich media ads begin to dominate the Internet marketing landscape.
Personally I think there's a killer app that comes along that allows brands to bypass search engines. That will have a biggest impact.
The study, entitled “Europe’s Search Engine Marketing Forecast, 2004–2010” from Forrester Research, forecast that by 2010, European marketers will spend almost EU3bn, up from EU856 million in 2004 on search marketing.
However, the research firm found that there are indications that search marketing growth will slow by 2007, as it will be very difficult for some companies to pay for the heavy prices of paid ads against a possible backlash of consumers and clients.
In addition, the rise of rich media ads, enabled by increased residential broadband access, will pull ad spending away from other forms of offline and online advertising, causing the cost of keyword search to increase.
From NetImperative Search marketing growth to slow by 2007.
Search engine marketing in Europe is set to increase by 65% this year, with EU1.4bn being spent on sponsored links and site optimisation, according to new research. However, the growth may cool by 2007 as rich media ads begin to dominate the Internet marketing landscape.
Personally I think there's a killer app that comes along that allows brands to bypass search engines. That will have a biggest impact.
The study, entitled “Europe’s Search Engine Marketing Forecast, 2004–2010” from Forrester Research, forecast that by 2010, European marketers will spend almost EU3bn, up from EU856 million in 2004 on search marketing.
However, the research firm found that there are indications that search marketing growth will slow by 2007, as it will be very difficult for some companies to pay for the heavy prices of paid ads against a possible backlash of consumers and clients.
In addition, the rise of rich media ads, enabled by increased residential broadband access, will pull ad spending away from other forms of offline and online advertising, causing the cost of keyword search to increase.
The Voice Of The Trademark Grows Louder
From NMA.co.uk Brands threaten legal action as fear of search abuse grows.
This battle between brands and search engines is picking up steam as evidenced by the stories noting it daily now.
The UK search marketing industry may face a wave of trademark infringement cases as advertisers concerns about unethical behaviour on pay-per-click networks grow.
Hey Microsoft, do you want to know how to beat Google? .
Although networks such as Google, Overture and Espotting provide guidelines, there's currently no law that prevents companies from bidding on rival brand names.
As spend in search continues to rocket, brands are moving to protect themselves - as witnessed by recent news that top UK travel operators including Thomas Cook are taking steps to ban third parties from bidding on their brand names. Recent research by DoubleClick revealed that almost a fifth (18.1%) of Web searches are for specific brand names.
"We see this as a serious issue and have asked Google to stop companies that don't have any legitimate rights to use any of our brands from bidding on them," said Andrew Doe, head of ecommerce at Thomas Cook. "If it's not resolved, then we may have to take it a step further."
Google was unavailable to comment.
Research by new media design consultancy Nucleus, which specialises in the travel sector, reveals that over 50% of travel operators are victim to other firms bidding on their brand names.
The survey, to be published next week, used a sample of 158 tour operators. It reveals that in many cases companies are bidding on brand names but don't actually sell products for that brand.
It's not just the travel industry that's affected. Rhys Williams, associate director at MediaCom, said he's also seeing unethical behaviour in financial and other sectors, particularly where affiliates are concerned. He wants search companies to better police their networks.
"We have a number of clients that are starting to consult lawyers to get a view on what their legal position is," he said.
Karen Salomon, UK marketing and small business director at Overture, said, "We listen to people's concerns and can see why it's frustrating, but we're not in a position to monitor brands.
Search engines, there's a simple solution .
This battle between brands and search engines is picking up steam as evidenced by the stories noting it daily now.
The UK search marketing industry may face a wave of trademark infringement cases as advertisers concerns about unethical behaviour on pay-per-click networks grow.
Hey Microsoft, do you want to know how to beat Google? .
Although networks such as Google, Overture and Espotting provide guidelines, there's currently no law that prevents companies from bidding on rival brand names.
As spend in search continues to rocket, brands are moving to protect themselves - as witnessed by recent news that top UK travel operators including Thomas Cook are taking steps to ban third parties from bidding on their brand names. Recent research by DoubleClick revealed that almost a fifth (18.1%) of Web searches are for specific brand names.
"We see this as a serious issue and have asked Google to stop companies that don't have any legitimate rights to use any of our brands from bidding on them," said Andrew Doe, head of ecommerce at Thomas Cook. "If it's not resolved, then we may have to take it a step further."
Google was unavailable to comment.
Research by new media design consultancy Nucleus, which specialises in the travel sector, reveals that over 50% of travel operators are victim to other firms bidding on their brand names.
The survey, to be published next week, used a sample of 158 tour operators. It reveals that in many cases companies are bidding on brand names but don't actually sell products for that brand.
It's not just the travel industry that's affected. Rhys Williams, associate director at MediaCom, said he's also seeing unethical behaviour in financial and other sectors, particularly where affiliates are concerned. He wants search companies to better police their networks.
"We have a number of clients that are starting to consult lawyers to get a view on what their legal position is," he said.
Karen Salomon, UK marketing and small business director at Overture, said, "We listen to people's concerns and can see why it's frustrating, but we're not in a position to monitor brands.
Search engines, there's a simple solution .
Friday, March 18, 2005
Google, Yahoo VS. Trademarks..A Battle Ahead
I have been commenting on the battle brewing between trademarks and search engines of late. The increasing suits against search engines that involve misuse of a particular TM or brand will create a major shift in the revenue structure for search engines.
My take is that by the time search engines coordinate a fair revenue sharing model, there will be a way TM/brands can bypass a search engine to advertise altogether.
I think there's an elephant in the room and nobody wants to address it, well I will. In my posts I have been curious as to how much revenue from search engines is derived from brands/trademarks, I got my answer from a Pondering Primate reader.
From a study done by NameProtect last Fall. The statistics are very astonishing.
Accoring to NameProtect's Study
NameProtect Inc.®, a digital brand protection and Internet intelligence company, today released the results of an analysis of paid search engine listings whichinclude textual advertisements within standard search engine results.
The results—which analyzed search listings at search engines Google®and Yahoo!®for the top global trademarks—revealed extensive third party advertising on these trademarked terms, with close to half of the paid listings promoting a good or service that was either competitive in nature or involved a potential unlicensed or counterfeit use of the trademark.
The analysis was conducted using NameProtect’s newly launched AdTracker monitoring service, which monitors paid search listings across multiple searchengines on a subscription basis.
Because search engine results are a key way in which consumers find products and services online,the findings of this new NameProtect study should serve as a strong wake up call for major brand holding companies,” said Mark McLane, chief executive officer of NameProtect. “This activity, if leftunchecked, could have a very large impact on the strength of the trademarks involved and the overall visibility these companies have with their customers in the online world.”
NameProtect analyzed search results at search leaders Google and Yahoo on the trademarked term associated with each of the Top 100 Brands during week of August 2, 2004.
Analysis of the 1056 paid listings included the following:• 92% of the Top 100 Brands have third parties buying their identical trademark for paid search advertisements •
There were an average of 10.56 paid listings included in the results for each of the Top 100 Brands •
98% of the paid listings included the Top 100 Brand in the text (title or description) of the advertisement
This last finding--involving extensive use of the trademark in the text of the third party paidlistings—is of particular note, as the use of the trademark in the actual advertisement is often a critical factor in determining whether the listing violates the trademark rights of the affected company.
These results should leave no doubt in the mind of brand holding companies that paid searchlistings are having a significant impact on their trademarks, revenues, and overall enterprise value,”indicated Mr. McLane
My take is that by the time search engines coordinate a fair revenue sharing model, there will be a way TM/brands can bypass a search engine to advertise altogether.
I think there's an elephant in the room and nobody wants to address it, well I will. In my posts I have been curious as to how much revenue from search engines is derived from brands/trademarks, I got my answer from a Pondering Primate reader.
From a study done by NameProtect last Fall. The statistics are very astonishing.
Accoring to NameProtect's Study
NameProtect Inc.®, a digital brand protection and Internet intelligence company, today released the results of an analysis of paid search engine listings whichinclude textual advertisements within standard search engine results.
The results—which analyzed search listings at search engines Google®and Yahoo!®for the top global trademarks—revealed extensive third party advertising on these trademarked terms, with close to half of the paid listings promoting a good or service that was either competitive in nature or involved a potential unlicensed or counterfeit use of the trademark.
The analysis was conducted using NameProtect’s newly launched AdTracker monitoring service, which monitors paid search listings across multiple searchengines on a subscription basis.
Because search engine results are a key way in which consumers find products and services online,the findings of this new NameProtect study should serve as a strong wake up call for major brand holding companies,” said Mark McLane, chief executive officer of NameProtect. “This activity, if leftunchecked, could have a very large impact on the strength of the trademarks involved and the overall visibility these companies have with their customers in the online world.”
NameProtect analyzed search results at search leaders Google and Yahoo on the trademarked term associated with each of the Top 100 Brands during week of August 2, 2004.
Analysis of the 1056 paid listings included the following:• 92% of the Top 100 Brands have third parties buying their identical trademark for paid search advertisements •
There were an average of 10.56 paid listings included in the results for each of the Top 100 Brands •
98% of the paid listings included the Top 100 Brand in the text (title or description) of the advertisement
This last finding--involving extensive use of the trademark in the text of the third party paidlistings—is of particular note, as the use of the trademark in the actual advertisement is often a critical factor in determining whether the listing violates the trademark rights of the affected company.
These results should leave no doubt in the mind of brand holding companies that paid searchlistings are having a significant impact on their trademarks, revenues, and overall enterprise value,”indicated Mr. McLane
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Texting On The Rise
I don't know why I found myself laughing at this story. It's from a news agency that is clearly behind the curve when it comes to reporting and they are discussing the adoption of a new technology.
I wonder if they have even considered how to use it for their own benefit. Probably not.
(In my deeeeep voice) This is CNN.com Texting on the rise in US.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A quarter of American adults who have cell phones have used the devices' text-messaging features within the past month, a new study finds.
Usage correlates with age: 63 percent of cell phone users ages 18-27 have used text messaging compared with 31 percent for ages 28-39 and 7 percent for those over 60.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project also found that 28 percent of people who text message have received unsolicited commercial messages that way.
Text messaging allows cell phone users to receive and send short messages to other cell phone users or e-mail recipients. Services also are available to receive news alerts and other information through text messaging.
Also known as SMS, for Short Message Service, "texting" is highly popular in Europe and Asia but only starting to catch on in the United States.
Pssst, hey CNN you want to get in touch with more people? Offer a SMS alert service for certain keywords or topics. How about an alert system for breaking news? Send me an SMS of a topic that I'm interested in. I don't watch your channel but I would be interested in this. FOX News should do the same.
The only problem with CNN and their timely email for breaking news is that I just got an alert that a barrel of oil hit $50.
I wonder if they have even considered how to use it for their own benefit. Probably not.
(In my deeeeep voice) This is CNN.com Texting on the rise in US.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A quarter of American adults who have cell phones have used the devices' text-messaging features within the past month, a new study finds.
Usage correlates with age: 63 percent of cell phone users ages 18-27 have used text messaging compared with 31 percent for ages 28-39 and 7 percent for those over 60.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project also found that 28 percent of people who text message have received unsolicited commercial messages that way.
Text messaging allows cell phone users to receive and send short messages to other cell phone users or e-mail recipients. Services also are available to receive news alerts and other information through text messaging.
Also known as SMS, for Short Message Service, "texting" is highly popular in Europe and Asia but only starting to catch on in the United States.
Pssst, hey CNN you want to get in touch with more people? Offer a SMS alert service for certain keywords or topics. How about an alert system for breaking news? Send me an SMS of a topic that I'm interested in. I don't watch your channel but I would be interested in this. FOX News should do the same.
The only problem with CNN and their timely email for breaking news is that I just got an alert that a barrel of oil hit $50.
What If A Service Provider Had The Killer App
Interesting commentary from Mike Masnick at The Feature .
His story is about the battle between handset makers and mobile operators on customer ownership. I think you need to add a "killer app" (outside of the SP or phone manuf) that plays a key variable. You'll see in a minute.
The battle for the customer, though, is about to get much more complex. Thanks to things like smartphones and wireless broadband, the mobile space is increasingly merging with the overall technology and consumer electronics spaces -- and that means more players who all hope they can own the customer.
Witness, for example, the rumors from last week that the delay behind the Motorola iTunes phone was due to operators being worried they would get cut out of the transaction. While Motorola is now denying this story, and saying it has more to do with Apple's marketing plans, it was certainly a very believable story for many. In fact, such battles were predicted almost as soon as Motorola and Apple announced the deal to work together.
What if the mobile operator (service provider) also had a division that had a "killer app" that would not only get consumers to sign up for service, BUT could also force other consumers to install on every phone regardless of their service provider.
I know this sounds confusing but here's what I'm thinking.
I'm going to use Virgin Mobile in this example. A small service provider, but they are part of a huge conglomerate. Combine Virgin Mobile with a killer app from Virgin MegaStores (music downloading). Let's say either Virgin Mobile offers a downloadable program for your cellphone that allows music downloading to ANY phone that has this software. Downloading can be done via clicking on barcode or artist/song search.
If I'm the VM (Virgin Mobile) I might offer an unlimited download capability for $10.00 a month. For NON VIRGIN MOBILE users, a .99 per song. Make it so cost effective for users they will switch to VM service.
Access to Virgin MegaStores online music library using Virgin Mobile service creates an enormous opportunity and now gives Virgin more weight in customer "ownership" against the handset manufacturers.
What happens if a Sprint customer downloads the Virgin MusicClick program (hypothetical) to their phone and spends his data minutes downloading from the Virgin music library?
There's another thing I'm wondering. It relates to mobile advertising. Who's customer is it, and could there be a cross marketing idea?
Could Virgin Mobile advertise to the Sprint customer through the mobile now? Interesting conundrum.
I can't think of any other service providers that could offer such a unique and in demand content idea like this. Are there any SP's that you can think of like this?
Would it take a SP to license an online music database to offer this as well? With Virgin, two entities combined could offer a very powerful mobile content idea.
I discuss the power of this idea in my story The little Virgin that could .
Would love thoughts on this one.
His story is about the battle between handset makers and mobile operators on customer ownership. I think you need to add a "killer app" (outside of the SP or phone manuf) that plays a key variable. You'll see in a minute.
The battle for the customer, though, is about to get much more complex. Thanks to things like smartphones and wireless broadband, the mobile space is increasingly merging with the overall technology and consumer electronics spaces -- and that means more players who all hope they can own the customer.
Witness, for example, the rumors from last week that the delay behind the Motorola iTunes phone was due to operators being worried they would get cut out of the transaction. While Motorola is now denying this story, and saying it has more to do with Apple's marketing plans, it was certainly a very believable story for many. In fact, such battles were predicted almost as soon as Motorola and Apple announced the deal to work together.
What if the mobile operator (service provider) also had a division that had a "killer app" that would not only get consumers to sign up for service, BUT could also force other consumers to install on every phone regardless of their service provider.
I know this sounds confusing but here's what I'm thinking.
I'm going to use Virgin Mobile in this example. A small service provider, but they are part of a huge conglomerate. Combine Virgin Mobile with a killer app from Virgin MegaStores (music downloading). Let's say either Virgin Mobile offers a downloadable program for your cellphone that allows music downloading to ANY phone that has this software. Downloading can be done via clicking on barcode or artist/song search.
If I'm the VM (Virgin Mobile) I might offer an unlimited download capability for $10.00 a month. For NON VIRGIN MOBILE users, a .99 per song. Make it so cost effective for users they will switch to VM service.
Access to Virgin MegaStores online music library using Virgin Mobile service creates an enormous opportunity and now gives Virgin more weight in customer "ownership" against the handset manufacturers.
What happens if a Sprint customer downloads the Virgin MusicClick program (hypothetical) to their phone and spends his data minutes downloading from the Virgin music library?
There's another thing I'm wondering. It relates to mobile advertising. Who's customer is it, and could there be a cross marketing idea?
Could Virgin Mobile advertise to the Sprint customer through the mobile now? Interesting conundrum.
I can't think of any other service providers that could offer such a unique and in demand content idea like this. Are there any SP's that you can think of like this?
Would it take a SP to license an online music database to offer this as well? With Virgin, two entities combined could offer a very powerful mobile content idea.
I discuss the power of this idea in my story The little Virgin that could .
Would love thoughts on this one.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Google Loses TM Suit Again In France
This transformation is gaining speed. Trademark owners are realizing that a "search" versus a "navigation" are two different things. Search engines (in this case Google) should not be allowed to generate revenues from a a search query involving a trademark.
I have commented on this a number of times. I see this being a major disruption for revenues and how search engines display sponsored links. There will be a happy medium that allows a user to get to his targeted destination when using a trademark AND the search engine will be able to generate revenues from the brand name.
It's not hard to see how, but when. How many more cases of this will go to court before a compromise is made.
I would love to know a breakdown in percentage of dollars search engines generate from specific brand names. For example how much does Google generate per quarter off the most searched brand like Ebay. What if Ebay decided to take Google to court over the use of their TM?
Keep this in mind search engines, who provides the bulk of your revenues? You have to make these people (companies) happy. I know how you can.
From BBC News.com Google loses French court appeal .
Internet search engine Google has lost its appeal against a court ruling over trademark infringement brought about by two French travel companies.
Google must now pay 75,000 euros ($100,300; £52,000) in damages and costs to Luteciel and Viaticum.
A lawsuit was filed because Google users searching for the French firms found themselves directed instead to rival sponsored links.
Google's failure to follow the ruling quickly enough triggered the fine.
In October 2003, the French courts ordered the search engine to stop displaying rival sponsored links. The court said that Google had been guilty of "trademark counterfeiting".
Companies pay to have their websites linked to particular terms on Google.
Under Google policy, if it is judged that an advertiser uses a trademarked term as a "keyword trigger", those words are taken out of its campaign.
In my opinion if a trademark word is used in a search query, chances are pretty good it's just a navigation task that needs to be performed.
I have commented on this a number of times. I see this being a major disruption for revenues and how search engines display sponsored links. There will be a happy medium that allows a user to get to his targeted destination when using a trademark AND the search engine will be able to generate revenues from the brand name.
It's not hard to see how, but when. How many more cases of this will go to court before a compromise is made.
I would love to know a breakdown in percentage of dollars search engines generate from specific brand names. For example how much does Google generate per quarter off the most searched brand like Ebay. What if Ebay decided to take Google to court over the use of their TM?
Keep this in mind search engines, who provides the bulk of your revenues? You have to make these people (companies) happy. I know how you can.
From BBC News.com Google loses French court appeal .
Internet search engine Google has lost its appeal against a court ruling over trademark infringement brought about by two French travel companies.
Google must now pay 75,000 euros ($100,300; £52,000) in damages and costs to Luteciel and Viaticum.
A lawsuit was filed because Google users searching for the French firms found themselves directed instead to rival sponsored links.
Google's failure to follow the ruling quickly enough triggered the fine.
In October 2003, the French courts ordered the search engine to stop displaying rival sponsored links. The court said that Google had been guilty of "trademark counterfeiting".
Companies pay to have their websites linked to particular terms on Google.
Under Google policy, if it is judged that an advertiser uses a trademarked term as a "keyword trigger", those words are taken out of its campaign.
In my opinion if a trademark word is used in a search query, chances are pretty good it's just a navigation task that needs to be performed.
An Idea For BlockBuster
This past week I was in Blockbuster looking for something to rent. My cable service doesn't have "real" VOD yet, so I have to keep giving these guys my business. Scanning through all of the titles and forgetting what movie is about what, I had an idea.
A lot of times I see a movie title in the store and I don't remember what it's about. I read the two sentences on the back cover and the actor list but it doesn't help much.
Why couldn't Blockbuster do this. Blockbuster has their own barcode on each DVD and video so it's a closed network. I'm sure they have a licensing agreement of some kind /w the movie studios.
Allow every barcode on each DVD/video to link you to the original movie trailer when you click on it. Click on Million Dollar Baby and see the 1 minute trailer they show on TV.
I can't imagine this would be costly and it would give Blockbuster a valued added service. There might be a way to hear what critics had to say about the movie. You could even let a BB customer leave a comment about the movie for someone to click on later. A Blockbuster critic society. Maybe BB allows a "comment on 5 movies and get one free" type of deal.
So clicking on the code could get you the one minute trailer AND a listing of comments.
For the games section, click on a video game and get a list of the top players for each one based on score. I'm not a video game guy, but I imagine the interaction with others online is half the experience. Finding the best player to play against might be a value added feature for BB. Could you create a "society" for a specific game? Maybe a message board with listings of all the players if you wanted to challenge one in a match.
I only pick on Blockbuster because I think their days are numbered and they will HAVE to creative and add value to each store. Why not do it now before vide on demand is here.
A lot of times I see a movie title in the store and I don't remember what it's about. I read the two sentences on the back cover and the actor list but it doesn't help much.
Why couldn't Blockbuster do this. Blockbuster has their own barcode on each DVD and video so it's a closed network. I'm sure they have a licensing agreement of some kind /w the movie studios.
Allow every barcode on each DVD/video to link you to the original movie trailer when you click on it. Click on Million Dollar Baby and see the 1 minute trailer they show on TV.
I can't imagine this would be costly and it would give Blockbuster a valued added service. There might be a way to hear what critics had to say about the movie. You could even let a BB customer leave a comment about the movie for someone to click on later. A Blockbuster critic society. Maybe BB allows a "comment on 5 movies and get one free" type of deal.
So clicking on the code could get you the one minute trailer AND a listing of comments.
For the games section, click on a video game and get a list of the top players for each one based on score. I'm not a video game guy, but I imagine the interaction with others online is half the experience. Finding the best player to play against might be a value added feature for BB. Could you create a "society" for a specific game? Maybe a message board with listings of all the players if you wanted to challenge one in a match.
I only pick on Blockbuster because I think their days are numbered and they will HAVE to creative and add value to each store. Why not do it now before vide on demand is here.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
More Cash-Less Society Wave
From RFID Journal Korean phones to be PayPass enabled.
SK Telecom will deploy MasterCard's PayPass system in South Korea, enabling customers to use Nokia mobile phones to make contactless payments.
By Claire Swedberg
Mar. 15, 2005—MasterCard and SK Telecom have announced they will deploy the MasterCard PayPass system in South Korea by late 2005. SK Telecom customers will be able to use PayPass chip embedded in their Nokia mobile phone to communicate with PayPass readers by "tapping" their phone against or near the reader during a transaction. In South Korea, the readers will also accept PayPass-enabled cards, which will be issued by Korean banks, as well as phones loaded with bank cards.
MasterCard's goal is "to grow our share of the cash market," says Oliver Steeley, the vice president for MasterCard's mobile wireless center of excellence.
How big is this market? About $1.3 Trillion .
By offering an easy payment method that allows the consumer to tap a PayPass-enabled phone, payment card or key fob instead of fumble for cash and change, or go through a card swiping, authorization and signature process, MasterCard hopes to gain market share in the "top of the [consumer's] wallet."
I discuss the ramifications of the cell phone and credit card merger here.
SK Telecom will deploy MasterCard's PayPass system in South Korea, enabling customers to use Nokia mobile phones to make contactless payments.
By Claire Swedberg
Mar. 15, 2005—MasterCard and SK Telecom have announced they will deploy the MasterCard PayPass system in South Korea by late 2005. SK Telecom customers will be able to use PayPass chip embedded in their Nokia mobile phone to communicate with PayPass readers by "tapping" their phone against or near the reader during a transaction. In South Korea, the readers will also accept PayPass-enabled cards, which will be issued by Korean banks, as well as phones loaded with bank cards.
MasterCard's goal is "to grow our share of the cash market," says Oliver Steeley, the vice president for MasterCard's mobile wireless center of excellence.
How big is this market? About $1.3 Trillion .
By offering an easy payment method that allows the consumer to tap a PayPass-enabled phone, payment card or key fob instead of fumble for cash and change, or go through a card swiping, authorization and signature process, MasterCard hopes to gain market share in the "top of the [consumer's] wallet."
I discuss the ramifications of the cell phone and credit card merger here.
SMS Alerts From Your Bank
I talked about this awhile ago. Seems pretty easy and should nip the fraudulent activity on a credit card quickly. Only problem I see is what happens when your phone IS your credit card. Another problem to solve for another day.
From BizWeek Mag E-Perks A-Poppin.
Want to know immediately if someone just purchased a $5,000 flat-panel TV with your credit card? This is one of the new, high-tech features banks are adding to their menu of customer services.
Using software developed by Adeptra of Norwalk, Conn., banks now can send automated alerts to customers by e-mail, fax, PDA, or phone. You can ask to be notified when a large credit-card purchase is made, specific checks clear, or a bank balance is running low. Bank One lets its checking and credit-card customers choose from free e-mail or phone alerts; its sister bank, JPMorgan Chase ,also sends reminders to PDAs and pagers. At Providian National Bank, you can get an e-mail message when you reach the credit limit on your charge card.
From BizWeek Mag E-Perks A-Poppin.
Want to know immediately if someone just purchased a $5,000 flat-panel TV with your credit card? This is one of the new, high-tech features banks are adding to their menu of customer services.
Using software developed by Adeptra of Norwalk, Conn., banks now can send automated alerts to customers by e-mail, fax, PDA, or phone. You can ask to be notified when a large credit-card purchase is made, specific checks clear, or a bank balance is running low. Bank One lets its checking and credit-card customers choose from free e-mail or phone alerts; its sister bank, JPMorgan Chase ,also sends reminders to PDAs and pagers. At Providian National Bank, you can get an e-mail message when you reach the credit limit on your charge card.
Search Champs 2, The Sequel
Either the input wasn't that impressive, or MSFT didn't take any advice, but MSFT is going to do it all over again.
Instead of asking experts in the industry what will make MS search better, ask people that you want to use it.
Here's a start. Ask 10 people on the street how you even GET TO Micorsoft's search site. When the one or two people that answer http://www.msn.com get their input.
From the MSN Blog Announcing Search Champs v2.
In October 2004, about 30 technology enthusiasts from around the world came to our Redmond campus to take part in an early preview of the new MSN Search service and assist us in the development process. The Champs reviewed our product plans from the bottoms up, including the current and upcoming features as well as future ideas that hadn’t made it into our first version release. Our goal was to get constructive feedback and to obtain a view of our plans through fresh eyes. We were very pleased with the feedback and were able to make changes, based on suggestions from the Champs, that improved both our initial release and future release plans.
Due to the success of the program we are now planning Search Champs V2 that will take place this April. The invites should be out within the next 48 hours.
Hey Scoblemeister what does it take to get the boys in Redmond to listen?
Instead of asking experts in the industry what will make MS search better, ask people that you want to use it.
Here's a start. Ask 10 people on the street how you even GET TO Micorsoft's search site. When the one or two people that answer http://www.msn.com get their input.
From the MSN Blog Announcing Search Champs v2.
In October 2004, about 30 technology enthusiasts from around the world came to our Redmond campus to take part in an early preview of the new MSN Search service and assist us in the development process. The Champs reviewed our product plans from the bottoms up, including the current and upcoming features as well as future ideas that hadn’t made it into our first version release. Our goal was to get constructive feedback and to obtain a view of our plans through fresh eyes. We were very pleased with the feedback and were able to make changes, based on suggestions from the Champs, that improved both our initial release and future release plans.
Due to the success of the program we are now planning Search Champs V2 that will take place this April. The invites should be out within the next 48 hours.
Hey Scoblemeister what does it take to get the boys in Redmond to listen?
Monday, March 14, 2005
Contactless Credit Cards Meet The Cell Phone
From InsideBay area.com Contactless cards speed transactions.
Interesting story, not because what a contactless card is, but what it could do.
YOU ARE at the mall with your toddlers. You've just left Albertson's and entered Home Depot, children and bags in tow. Searching through your purse for your keys, you are harried. But when you approach checkout to pay, you merely wave your purse at a reader device and proceed out the door.
What just happened?
The future of credit card transactions. I like to call it The Cash-Less Society Wave.
This year American consumers will be receiving credit cards that they will no longer have to swipe into readers. And for many transactions under $25 they will not have to sign.
These so-called contactless cards eventually will replace the magnetic stripe card consumers have been using for more than 20 years. Contactless cards represent an advance in smartcard technology that allows customer account information to be embedded on a card's computer chip, which can transmit information short distances.
The benefits to the consumer will be increased ease-of-use — you need only wave the card at or tap the card on the reader. In some variations, you might only need to wave a purse or wallet carrying the card within a few centimeters of the reader. Not only will you not have to fumble to pull out your card, the technology speeds up checkout time; and the merchant, after spending an initial $100 to $150 to install each reader, will enjoy a faster and cheaper transaction.
"There will be fast food, retail, gas stations and movie chains" using the new contactless cards, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "The only information on the smartcard is your credit cardpersonal account number.
"On a magstripe card, there is no security or protection. Anyone who captures it can create a new card," he said. But information on a smartcard can only be read by valid payment terminals.
Government agencies are including smartcard technology and contactless cards in many venues. Health organizations are meeting the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 by doing so as well. It also is anticipated that very personalized services like gift cards and loyalty programs will adopt contactless cards.
Toni Merschen, MasterCard's senior vice president of Chip Center of Excellence, said
that 20 percent of inactive MasterCard users who have tried contactless cards have reactivated their accounts.
Imagine being able to reactivate old accounts by 20%.
Tenzer speculated that future permutations of contactless cards, which are enabled by RFID technology, might be explored by cell phone manufacturers.
Motorola and Nokia are already working on a solution for their phones. I see the cell phone taking on more responsibilities soon.
I discuss my ideas when a cell phone and credit card meet here .
ViVOtech chairman Fernandes said a pilot program showed the potential of the cards with consumers who generally used cash or checks.
"Twenty percent of them shifted to contactless cards, and of those who did they spent 20 percent more," Fernandes said.
Not only are credit card companies reactivating old accounts by 20%, but they are getting their current customers to increase spending by 20%.
Interesting story, not because what a contactless card is, but what it could do.
YOU ARE at the mall with your toddlers. You've just left Albertson's and entered Home Depot, children and bags in tow. Searching through your purse for your keys, you are harried. But when you approach checkout to pay, you merely wave your purse at a reader device and proceed out the door.
What just happened?
The future of credit card transactions. I like to call it The Cash-Less Society Wave.
This year American consumers will be receiving credit cards that they will no longer have to swipe into readers. And for many transactions under $25 they will not have to sign.
These so-called contactless cards eventually will replace the magnetic stripe card consumers have been using for more than 20 years. Contactless cards represent an advance in smartcard technology that allows customer account information to be embedded on a card's computer chip, which can transmit information short distances.
The benefits to the consumer will be increased ease-of-use — you need only wave the card at or tap the card on the reader. In some variations, you might only need to wave a purse or wallet carrying the card within a few centimeters of the reader. Not only will you not have to fumble to pull out your card, the technology speeds up checkout time; and the merchant, after spending an initial $100 to $150 to install each reader, will enjoy a faster and cheaper transaction.
"There will be fast food, retail, gas stations and movie chains" using the new contactless cards, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. "The only information on the smartcard is your credit cardpersonal account number.
"On a magstripe card, there is no security or protection. Anyone who captures it can create a new card," he said. But information on a smartcard can only be read by valid payment terminals.
Government agencies are including smartcard technology and contactless cards in many venues. Health organizations are meeting the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 by doing so as well. It also is anticipated that very personalized services like gift cards and loyalty programs will adopt contactless cards.
Toni Merschen, MasterCard's senior vice president of Chip Center of Excellence, said
that 20 percent of inactive MasterCard users who have tried contactless cards have reactivated their accounts.
Imagine being able to reactivate old accounts by 20%.
Tenzer speculated that future permutations of contactless cards, which are enabled by RFID technology, might be explored by cell phone manufacturers.
Motorola and Nokia are already working on a solution for their phones. I see the cell phone taking on more responsibilities soon.
I discuss my ideas when a cell phone and credit card meet here .
ViVOtech chairman Fernandes said a pilot program showed the potential of the cards with consumers who generally used cash or checks.
"Twenty percent of them shifted to contactless cards, and of those who did they spent 20 percent more," Fernandes said.
Not only are credit card companies reactivating old accounts by 20%, but they are getting their current customers to increase spending by 20%.
For Sale Connects Via SMS
I've talked about a realtor could make a "for sale" sign an interactive marketing tool before.
From Inman News Service delivers listings to wireless phones.
Real estate agents can now receive color photos of home listings directly to their wireless phones through a service available from ClearSky Mobile Media. The service, iCode PhoneFlyer, also provides instant updates to a realty agent's phone when a prospective client inquires about a property.
PhoneFlyer works today with Cingular/AT&T Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint PCS.
PhoneFlyer allows people anywhere in the United States to get additional information on a real estate listing by entering a short code number displayed on the yard sign or print ad into their mobile phones. The iCode PhoneFlyer service combines the SMS text messaging and color screen browsing capabilities of mobile phones to deliver the information.
More information about the service is available at PhoneFlyer.com .
Orlando, Fla.-based ClearSky Mobile Media powers mobile entertainment and wireless marketing initiatives for businesses of all sizes throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
Make the realtor's phone number the short code and subject of the SMS would be the code on the sign. Click on the code and get the MLS listing and maybe a video of the interior of the home.
After I see the MLS listing, or video, I let the realtor know if I'm interested in this property instead of wasting their time.
In the new home guides, offer a short code for each specific development. User sends SMS and inquires about development. If a listing comes up for sale in this development, the realtor has access to a database that is ALREADY interested in this area.
I don't really think you would have an issue with permission. If you don't want the realtor to send alerts for a specific development, opt-out on next alert.
This combines a way that prospective buyers aren't going to feel pressured (texting), and their interests are matched perfectly. The realtor isn't wasting his/her time to see if there's interest.
From Inman News Service delivers listings to wireless phones.
Real estate agents can now receive color photos of home listings directly to their wireless phones through a service available from ClearSky Mobile Media. The service, iCode PhoneFlyer, also provides instant updates to a realty agent's phone when a prospective client inquires about a property.
PhoneFlyer works today with Cingular/AT&T Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint PCS.
PhoneFlyer allows people anywhere in the United States to get additional information on a real estate listing by entering a short code number displayed on the yard sign or print ad into their mobile phones. The iCode PhoneFlyer service combines the SMS text messaging and color screen browsing capabilities of mobile phones to deliver the information.
More information about the service is available at PhoneFlyer.com .
Orlando, Fla.-based ClearSky Mobile Media powers mobile entertainment and wireless marketing initiatives for businesses of all sizes throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
Make the realtor's phone number the short code and subject of the SMS would be the code on the sign. Click on the code and get the MLS listing and maybe a video of the interior of the home.
After I see the MLS listing, or video, I let the realtor know if I'm interested in this property instead of wasting their time.
In the new home guides, offer a short code for each specific development. User sends SMS and inquires about development. If a listing comes up for sale in this development, the realtor has access to a database that is ALREADY interested in this area.
I don't really think you would have an issue with permission. If you don't want the realtor to send alerts for a specific development, opt-out on next alert.
This combines a way that prospective buyers aren't going to feel pressured (texting), and their interests are matched perfectly. The realtor isn't wasting his/her time to see if there's interest.
Interactive Magazines
From Boston.com Product lets you call on advertisers.
Mobot Inc., a Lexington start-up whose product lets owners of wireless camera phones use them to respond to magazine ads and special offers, has forged new marketing deals with three magazines: ElleGirl, Vibe, and Vibe Vixen, a quarterly that will be launched next month.
In coming issues, readers who own wireless camera phones and have registered their numbers and addresses at Mobot.com will be able to request information by mail and enter sweepstakes by snapping a cellphone picture of specially designated ads, then e-mailing the pictures from their phone.
Last year, Jane magazine began publishing Mobot-enhanced advertisements.
Mobot next week plans to unveil technology that would let phone owners buy a ''ring tone" by snapping and sending a picture of a compact disc cover.
Two things are wrong with this campaign.
First, people aren't going to go a a 3rd party site and register their cellphone. You just took away all of the spontaneity of the cell phone feature. When you add an additional step to get customers attention, you just lost their attention.
Second, taking a picure of a picture in a magazine? think of something more origianl than that. Howabout send an SMS with the first three words of the article. Or put a code of sorts that people click on. Maybe that barcode that every CD has.
I hope this isn't the idea mobile advertisers have for creativity.
Mobot Inc., a Lexington start-up whose product lets owners of wireless camera phones use them to respond to magazine ads and special offers, has forged new marketing deals with three magazines: ElleGirl, Vibe, and Vibe Vixen, a quarterly that will be launched next month.
In coming issues, readers who own wireless camera phones and have registered their numbers and addresses at Mobot.com will be able to request information by mail and enter sweepstakes by snapping a cellphone picture of specially designated ads, then e-mailing the pictures from their phone.
Last year, Jane magazine began publishing Mobot-enhanced advertisements.
Mobot next week plans to unveil technology that would let phone owners buy a ''ring tone" by snapping and sending a picture of a compact disc cover.
Two things are wrong with this campaign.
First, people aren't going to go a a 3rd party site and register their cellphone. You just took away all of the spontaneity of the cell phone feature. When you add an additional step to get customers attention, you just lost their attention.
Second, taking a picure of a picture in a magazine? think of something more origianl than that. Howabout send an SMS with the first three words of the article. Or put a code of sorts that people click on. Maybe that barcode that every CD has.
I hope this isn't the idea mobile advertisers have for creativity.
AOL Says "Me Too!"
From NetImperative AOL targets high ground in mobile market.
The world's largest ISP has been haemorrhaging subscribers of late. But now it seeks to stem the flow by launching into the mobile sector
AOL has announced the launch of a raft of new mobile services in the USA, including streaming music and navigation features for phones.
The announcement was made at the CTIA wireless show in New Orleans, at which Sean 'P Diddy' Combs - rapper, producer and chairman of Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group - was keynote speaker.
AOL debuted a range of new mobile services at the show including one that allows users to swap and organise photos, and another that will give users access to MapQuest services, which offers map downloads, direction services and location finders.
Meanwhile, the company is also developing a mobile version of Radio(at)AOL, a streaming music application that will allow users to access FM-quality music over their phones. While radio applications in phones are now almost commonplace in the UK, the US market is still largely restricted to ring-tones.
The world's largest ISP has been haemorrhaging subscribers of late. But now it seeks to stem the flow by launching into the mobile sector
AOL has announced the launch of a raft of new mobile services in the USA, including streaming music and navigation features for phones.
The announcement was made at the CTIA wireless show in New Orleans, at which Sean 'P Diddy' Combs - rapper, producer and chairman of Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group - was keynote speaker.
AOL debuted a range of new mobile services at the show including one that allows users to swap and organise photos, and another that will give users access to MapQuest services, which offers map downloads, direction services and location finders.
Meanwhile, the company is also developing a mobile version of Radio(at)AOL, a streaming music application that will allow users to access FM-quality music over their phones. While radio applications in phones are now almost commonplace in the UK, the US market is still largely restricted to ring-tones.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Kick-Start Mobile Commerce
From NMA.cu.UK EC's reversal of e-money rules to kick-start mobile commerce.
Mobile phone payments for both physical goods and digital content are set to become a mass-market reality as the threat of legislation banning e-money has finally ended.
NMA has learned that a new Guidance Note issued by the EC will allow the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to reverse its position on the issue.
Vodafone has already begun contacting service providers to clarify that such services will now be allowed to launch. The operator gives examples of music downloads via the Internet, ticketing, and films delivered to an email address, all paid for via premium SMS. Aggregators like MX Telecom have also begun contacting clients.
Mobile phone payments for both physical goods and digital content are set to become a mass-market reality as the threat of legislation banning e-money has finally ended.
NMA has learned that a new Guidance Note issued by the EC will allow the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to reverse its position on the issue.
Vodafone has already begun contacting service providers to clarify that such services will now be allowed to launch. The operator gives examples of music downloads via the Internet, ticketing, and films delivered to an email address, all paid for via premium SMS. Aggregators like MX Telecom have also begun contacting clients.
Google Goes Mobile
From WebProNews Google Mobile Launches.
Great catch Nick at Threadwatch.
You can access Google Mobile by simply navigating to the normal Google home page.
Presumably it detects you're on a mobile phone and displays the correct formatting for you. You can see how it looks in a web browser by going to www.google.com/xhtml .
What you can do..
You can use Google Mobile for:
Web Search
Image Search
Advanced Search
The next step is when Google realizes that typing long searches on a cell keypad is too cumbersome. I wonder how they could make mobile search easier?
From Alex Wipperwurth's Brand Hijack
"by referring to it as the wireless Web, they really did a disservice to consumers. It's not the wireless Web; it's information you get on a wireless phone"
Information requested through a cellphone will be completely different that your PC Google search.
Mobile users
Great catch Nick at Threadwatch.
You can access Google Mobile by simply navigating to the normal Google home page.
Presumably it detects you're on a mobile phone and displays the correct formatting for you. You can see how it looks in a web browser by going to www.google.com/xhtml .
What you can do..
You can use Google Mobile for:
Web Search
Image Search
Advanced Search
The next step is when Google realizes that typing long searches on a cell keypad is too cumbersome. I wonder how they could make mobile search easier?
From Alex Wipperwurth's Brand Hijack
"by referring to it as the wireless Web, they really did a disservice to consumers. It's not the wireless Web; it's information you get on a wireless phone"
Information requested through a cellphone will be completely different that your PC Google search.
Mobile users
Friday, March 11, 2005
Do You Mind If I Advertise To You?
This is definitely getting permission from the consumer.
From MocoNews Advertising-On-Demand to hit US . Great find Rafat!
MobileComNetworks is going for the on-demand advertising market in the US - that is, advertising that mobile phone users request get sent to their phones. “With MCN’s LocalBuddy, users complete a personal profile, selecting content they’d like to receive and are encouraged to update that profile often to ensure that they receive only the information and promotions relevant to their lives.
LocalBuddy then delivers the content through the cell phone as the consumer moves about during the day. For example, after work, a consumer could get an offer for reduced price tickets to a concert or sporting event nearby or on their way home. The offer is only available to LocalBuddy users”. And so on. This is (in my opinion) the only way advertising will actually work on a mobile phone, and increasingly in other media. The trick is to provide content that consumers actually want and that serves the interest of the company.
Will LocalBuddy create their own "society" to rate things after they allow permission.
This creates a different dilemma for mobile advertising. You have the permission of the consumer but determining what brands/info he is interested in is hard.
From MocoNews Advertising-On-Demand to hit US . Great find Rafat!
MobileComNetworks is going for the on-demand advertising market in the US - that is, advertising that mobile phone users request get sent to their phones. “With MCN’s LocalBuddy, users complete a personal profile, selecting content they’d like to receive and are encouraged to update that profile often to ensure that they receive only the information and promotions relevant to their lives.
LocalBuddy then delivers the content through the cell phone as the consumer moves about during the day. For example, after work, a consumer could get an offer for reduced price tickets to a concert or sporting event nearby or on their way home. The offer is only available to LocalBuddy users”. And so on. This is (in my opinion) the only way advertising will actually work on a mobile phone, and increasingly in other media. The trick is to provide content that consumers actually want and that serves the interest of the company.
Will LocalBuddy create their own "society" to rate things after they allow permission.
This creates a different dilemma for mobile advertising. You have the permission of the consumer but determining what brands/info he is interested in is hard.
2D Codes Connecting To The Internet
This is a two part story involving 2D codes being connected to the Internet through a cameraphone.
First from Alan Reiter's CameraPhone Report.
NEW YORK - March 11, 2005 - SS+K (Shepardson Stern + Kaminsky), a creatively-driven strategic communications firm based in New York, and Semacode Corporation, an ubiquitous computing technology company based near Toronto, announced an agreement that will have SS+K incorporate Semacode technology in selected 2005 marketing campaigns. The agreement follows on a successful partnership between the two companies last year on behalf of Qwest Communications International Inc.
"Our partnership with SS+K is another opportunity to demonstrate the power of our URL Barcodes and software to extend computing into the real world - this time through highly creative marketing programs," said Simon Woodside, founder of Semacode.
The second part is that the Economist Magazine will be publishing a report in this weeks issue called Phones with Eyes.
HAVE you sent a picture message from your camera-phone lately? No, we didn't think so. Mobile operators had hoped that the popularity of text messages—over 2 billion of which are sent every day worldwide—would lead naturally to a boom in picture messaging, where you pay a bit more to send a photo along with your words.…
Looks like Howard Rheingold's vision of physical objects being connected to the Internet is becoming a reality.
First from Alan Reiter's CameraPhone Report.
NEW YORK - March 11, 2005 - SS+K (Shepardson Stern + Kaminsky), a creatively-driven strategic communications firm based in New York, and Semacode Corporation, an ubiquitous computing technology company based near Toronto, announced an agreement that will have SS+K incorporate Semacode technology in selected 2005 marketing campaigns. The agreement follows on a successful partnership between the two companies last year on behalf of Qwest Communications International Inc.
"Our partnership with SS+K is another opportunity to demonstrate the power of our URL Barcodes and software to extend computing into the real world - this time through highly creative marketing programs," said Simon Woodside, founder of Semacode.
The second part is that the Economist Magazine will be publishing a report in this weeks issue called Phones with Eyes.
HAVE you sent a picture message from your camera-phone lately? No, we didn't think so. Mobile operators had hoped that the popularity of text messages—over 2 billion of which are sent every day worldwide—would lead naturally to a boom in picture messaging, where you pay a bit more to send a photo along with your words.…
Looks like Howard Rheingold's vision of physical objects being connected to the Internet is becoming a reality.
200 Million Ways To Interact With A Consumer
Talk about a massive way to launch mobile marketing.
Think of it as 200 million levers to "pull" for pull marketing.
From BusinessWire.com ipsh! announces BrandNu division for SMS and MMS marketing.
New Division Looks to Expand Team and Signs Deals for SMS Integration on Over 200 Million Consumer Packaged Goods Sold in U.S. for 2005
ipsh!, the leading mobile marketing and media firm in North America, has just announced the development of ipsh! BrandNu, a division solely focused on serving consumer food products.
In April of this year, ipsh! BrandNu and Starburst plan to place SMS short-codes on over 80 million packs of products allowing users to participate in sweepstakes and instant-win promotions. This campaign will be the largest CPG cross-carrier SMS mobile advertising campaign in United States' history.
ipsh! has a strong track record of implementations with Kellogg's Corn Pops (8 million boxes), Budweiser, Jose Cuervo, Diageo, Elizabeth Arden, and Dunkin Donuts.
Several confidential consumer brand deals will propel the ipsh! overall footprint on package SMS promotions to over 200 million consumer packaged goods sold in the United States in 2005.
200 million consumer packaged goods. 200 million potential ways to interact with a consumer. 200 million ways to get to a website. 200 million ways to advertise without using a search engine. 200 million calls to your sales/promotion department. 200 million plus phone numbers to start your mobile marketing campaign with.
Wake up search engines, there is a major shift coming. If a brand can get one-on-one interaction with a consumer, they won't need to spend as much with search engines advertising on the Internet.
Think of it as 200 million levers to "pull" for pull marketing.
From BusinessWire.com ipsh! announces BrandNu division for SMS and MMS marketing.
New Division Looks to Expand Team and Signs Deals for SMS Integration on Over 200 Million Consumer Packaged Goods Sold in U.S. for 2005
ipsh!, the leading mobile marketing and media firm in North America, has just announced the development of ipsh! BrandNu, a division solely focused on serving consumer food products.
In April of this year, ipsh! BrandNu and Starburst plan to place SMS short-codes on over 80 million packs of products allowing users to participate in sweepstakes and instant-win promotions. This campaign will be the largest CPG cross-carrier SMS mobile advertising campaign in United States' history.
ipsh! has a strong track record of implementations with Kellogg's Corn Pops (8 million boxes), Budweiser, Jose Cuervo, Diageo, Elizabeth Arden, and Dunkin Donuts.
Several confidential consumer brand deals will propel the ipsh! overall footprint on package SMS promotions to over 200 million consumer packaged goods sold in the United States in 2005.
200 million consumer packaged goods. 200 million potential ways to interact with a consumer. 200 million ways to get to a website. 200 million ways to advertise without using a search engine. 200 million calls to your sales/promotion department. 200 million plus phone numbers to start your mobile marketing campaign with.
Wake up search engines, there is a major shift coming. If a brand can get one-on-one interaction with a consumer, they won't need to spend as much with search engines advertising on the Internet.
Y B YELWPG?
I saw this story yesterday and it directly relates to a 60 Minutes piece a few weeks back. I found myself trying to use this yesterday and realized why it will be big, if a company realizes what the goal is. Local search on the Net stinks , let alone with the cellphone.
My idea. Google licenses the database of the Yellow Pages, implements this in their SMS campaign and they dominate local search.
From C/Net News Local mobile search? Hold the phone.
Looking for a great place to eat in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Your cell phone could know just the spot, thanks to a new trend in Web search.
Using a mobile device and SMS, or Short Message Service, wireless customers can now get directions to nearby restaurants and other information from the curb. Analysts say that's a potent combination, not only for consumers, but for the fast-growing Web search business.
What is the problem with local search? Not every small store has their own website, or is listed in the web database. Second, I don't want to go a website I want specific info. What I want is access to A Yellow Pages thru my cell phone.
Because not every small merchant has a website, and the ones that do don't spend money on advertising through a search engine, there's no way your local search will be good.
There are really three things you are looking for with local search. The store/restaurant, location of the store in relation to where you are right now, and probably the phone number.
So local search will only be the "killer app" when access to this info is available.
Many executives believe the time is now right to strike with new search services for wireless devices, specifically text. That's because wireless usage is soaring--more than 200 million people in the United States own a cell phone. And as many as 50 billion text messages will be sent this year--making it a $2 billion industry, according to IDC
In the opposite corner, yellow pages and directory services companies are angling to protect their businesses and advertiser relationships as more people grow accustomed to using new technologies for search. Cell phone carriers also are assessing Internet directory and search services as potential new revenue drivers.
Somehow I think the service providers could offer this faster and easier. If Sprint could determine where you are based on a GPS signal, one big variable is eliminated (if it had to be).
How hard would it be to combine directory assistance data with a short code service?Where does the service provider get their data from?
Howabout a Yellow Pages shortcode SMS service. Send a text to 93574 (YELWPG)with subject "italian restaurant 33432". Instead of issuing one at a time like Google does, issue the top 5 in one SMS.
Take a common info source that people are familiar with (Yellow Pages) and combine a short code SMS service. Part of the problem with SMS services is there is a number of them now, and they are hard to remember. Very easy solution.
The Yellow Book is now the Yellow Net. More reasons to be Yellow. "Send a text to (YELWPG) and get any business listing".
This sounds like an esy way to leverage the Yellow brand.
"When people realize they can get answers fast, cheap and accurately, they will," said Pankaj Shah, founder and CEO of 4Info
Because of its speed and low cost, SMS could prove a viable competitor to "411" directory assistance and to browser-enabled mobile Web search. People have not yet widely adopted browser-enabled search over mobile phones, in part because those services aren't available on all handsets. Ease of use is also a big factor, given that it can take awhile to boot up the Internet via a cell phone, and navigation can be awkward.
It can take seconds to initiate a search via text message, as opposed to more than 15 seconds to start up a mobile browser, for instance
That is why mobile marketing/info will be adopted first via SMS than through the Internet. Advertisers have to realize this by starting with an SMS campaign. Part of the problem too in the States is that most people don't even know what a text message is, let alone how to use it.
Late last year, Google introduced an SMS search service that delivers driving directions and business listings that supplant the need to dial "411." Google does not disclose usage numbers, but Harik said that the SMS product is getting favorable uptake from customers.
What do you think Google does with all of those cellphone numbers they have in their database from all of those SMS requests? That database is gold. You have early adopers of a new technology and people that are most likely tech saavy.
This database is an induatry in itself. The A.C. Nielsen of the mobile phone market.
For this reason, advertising is a black diamond. A future scenario would be to take a cell phone user's personal information--where a person lives, search history, income, current location--and use it to deliver targeted promotions. A New Jersey resident who searches for movie times in Manhattan could receive a coupon for the nearest parking garage and an ad for a local restaurant.
All of these push based marketing ideas will require permission. Getting that permission and not abusing it will be key. But once you do get permission imagine how effective that can be.
My idea. Google licenses the database of the Yellow Pages, implements this in their SMS campaign and they dominate local search.
From C/Net News Local mobile search? Hold the phone.
Looking for a great place to eat in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Your cell phone could know just the spot, thanks to a new trend in Web search.
Using a mobile device and SMS, or Short Message Service, wireless customers can now get directions to nearby restaurants and other information from the curb. Analysts say that's a potent combination, not only for consumers, but for the fast-growing Web search business.
What is the problem with local search? Not every small store has their own website, or is listed in the web database. Second, I don't want to go a website I want specific info. What I want is access to A Yellow Pages thru my cell phone.
Because not every small merchant has a website, and the ones that do don't spend money on advertising through a search engine, there's no way your local search will be good.
There are really three things you are looking for with local search. The store/restaurant, location of the store in relation to where you are right now, and probably the phone number.
So local search will only be the "killer app" when access to this info is available.
Many executives believe the time is now right to strike with new search services for wireless devices, specifically text. That's because wireless usage is soaring--more than 200 million people in the United States own a cell phone. And as many as 50 billion text messages will be sent this year--making it a $2 billion industry, according to IDC
In the opposite corner, yellow pages and directory services companies are angling to protect their businesses and advertiser relationships as more people grow accustomed to using new technologies for search. Cell phone carriers also are assessing Internet directory and search services as potential new revenue drivers.
Somehow I think the service providers could offer this faster and easier. If Sprint could determine where you are based on a GPS signal, one big variable is eliminated (if it had to be).
How hard would it be to combine directory assistance data with a short code service?Where does the service provider get their data from?
Howabout a Yellow Pages shortcode SMS service. Send a text to 93574 (YELWPG)with subject "italian restaurant 33432". Instead of issuing one at a time like Google does, issue the top 5 in one SMS.
Take a common info source that people are familiar with (Yellow Pages) and combine a short code SMS service. Part of the problem with SMS services is there is a number of them now, and they are hard to remember. Very easy solution.
The Yellow Book is now the Yellow Net. More reasons to be Yellow. "Send a text to (YELWPG) and get any business listing".
This sounds like an esy way to leverage the Yellow brand.
"When people realize they can get answers fast, cheap and accurately, they will," said Pankaj Shah, founder and CEO of 4Info
Because of its speed and low cost, SMS could prove a viable competitor to "411" directory assistance and to browser-enabled mobile Web search. People have not yet widely adopted browser-enabled search over mobile phones, in part because those services aren't available on all handsets. Ease of use is also a big factor, given that it can take awhile to boot up the Internet via a cell phone, and navigation can be awkward.
It can take seconds to initiate a search via text message, as opposed to more than 15 seconds to start up a mobile browser, for instance
That is why mobile marketing/info will be adopted first via SMS than through the Internet. Advertisers have to realize this by starting with an SMS campaign. Part of the problem too in the States is that most people don't even know what a text message is, let alone how to use it.
Late last year, Google introduced an SMS search service that delivers driving directions and business listings that supplant the need to dial "411." Google does not disclose usage numbers, but Harik said that the SMS product is getting favorable uptake from customers.
What do you think Google does with all of those cellphone numbers they have in their database from all of those SMS requests? That database is gold. You have early adopers of a new technology and people that are most likely tech saavy.
This database is an induatry in itself. The A.C. Nielsen of the mobile phone market.
For this reason, advertising is a black diamond. A future scenario would be to take a cell phone user's personal information--where a person lives, search history, income, current location--and use it to deliver targeted promotions. A New Jersey resident who searches for movie times in Manhattan could receive a coupon for the nearest parking garage and an ad for a local restaurant.
All of these push based marketing ideas will require permission. Getting that permission and not abusing it will be key. But once you do get permission imagine how effective that can be.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Search And The NY Times
From NYTimes.com Search engines build a better mousetrap.
GOOGLE has so firmly staked out its place as the Internet search-engine leader that it has even earned a place as a verb in the English lexicon.
Paradoxically, because of its very popularity, there may be no better time to try something different. I agree.
Google's success has forced competitors like Yahoo, MSN Search and Ask Jeeves to hustle with releasing new product features, search controls and improved behind-the-scenes programming. The resulting bonanza of tools brings more search capabilities, presented more intuitively than the Web has ever seen.
What isn't discussed in this story is the difference between search and navigation. Search is "hotels nyc". Navigation is "Marriott nyc". Once a brand name is introduced in the query, the request turns from a search to a navigation request. If you look at the top 50 search requests, it is stacked with brand names or trademarks. So to make "searching" more efficient, the focus has to include the difference between the two.
This is the reason why I think brands/TM's have a legitimate beef against search engines.
Corporations are the big advertising spenders and if you give them more "control" of their brand/tm and traffic,I'm sure you will see more dollars come your way.
Think of what a brand has to endure to get some eyeballs to their site.
1. They have to guess which search engine to use (Google, Yahoo, MSN, AskJeeves)
2. They have to pick out the "right keywords" even if they OWN THEM!
3. They have to hope that user guesses the right word pattern and maybe their site makes it in the top 10.
4. Once the site finally gets listed in the top 10, your competitor's site is placed right next to yours.
5. The click on your site may be from some guy in India earning rupees.
Having a creative advertising campaign is not enough anymore. There's a better way coming that will put brands back in control of site traffic.
Congrats BatMan John Battelle on being included in another quality piece in this industry.
GOOGLE has so firmly staked out its place as the Internet search-engine leader that it has even earned a place as a verb in the English lexicon.
Paradoxically, because of its very popularity, there may be no better time to try something different. I agree.
Google's success has forced competitors like Yahoo, MSN Search and Ask Jeeves to hustle with releasing new product features, search controls and improved behind-the-scenes programming. The resulting bonanza of tools brings more search capabilities, presented more intuitively than the Web has ever seen.
What isn't discussed in this story is the difference between search and navigation. Search is "hotels nyc". Navigation is "Marriott nyc". Once a brand name is introduced in the query, the request turns from a search to a navigation request. If you look at the top 50 search requests, it is stacked with brand names or trademarks. So to make "searching" more efficient, the focus has to include the difference between the two.
This is the reason why I think brands/TM's have a legitimate beef against search engines.
Corporations are the big advertising spenders and if you give them more "control" of their brand/tm and traffic,I'm sure you will see more dollars come your way.
Think of what a brand has to endure to get some eyeballs to their site.
1. They have to guess which search engine to use (Google, Yahoo, MSN, AskJeeves)
2. They have to pick out the "right keywords" even if they OWN THEM!
3. They have to hope that user guesses the right word pattern and maybe their site makes it in the top 10.
4. Once the site finally gets listed in the top 10, your competitor's site is placed right next to yours.
5. The click on your site may be from some guy in India earning rupees.
Having a creative advertising campaign is not enough anymore. There's a better way coming that will put brands back in control of site traffic.
Congrats BatMan John Battelle on being included in another quality piece in this industry.
Google You're Almost There
Google News webpage has new feature and it's great. Google News.
Click on the "edit this customized page" and add/delete topics/keywords.
Now if Google can just include a monitor for stock quotes (and news), local weather (with radar) and add RSS feeds from specific blogs.
Do this and I say goodbye to Yahoo as my home page.
Click on the "edit this customized page" and add/delete topics/keywords.
Now if Google can just include a monitor for stock quotes (and news), local weather (with radar) and add RSS feeds from specific blogs.
Do this and I say goodbye to Yahoo as my home page.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Staggeringly Effective Advertising
From The Hindu Business Line Interactive media is staggeringly effective.
Interactive is no longer just the Internet; if you broaden the category and think about any twoway interaction with the consumer, you are not talking just about the Internet but also about mobile phones, gaming, ITV, kiosks and a whole swathe of interactive media."
Interactive marketing or digital branding is the newest mantra of marketers worldwide, as consumers get increasingly Net savvy. In fact, marketing gurus feel brands can create a deeper involvement with their target audiences, considering the long number of hours they spend online.
Take it one step further, considering how often they have four square inches of advertising space with them. A much more personal interaction.
The big variable that is removed with this type of marketing is WHEN. NO longer do I have to wait for the consumer to see my ad, or go to my site. After permission is granted, the brand can reach this consumer anytime and anywhere.
Does interactive marketing work the same way as other media, or is it different?
It's much different. I gave you permission to market to me.
What is fundamentally different about it is that it is a consumer-controlled set of media. In other words, if you don't choose to go to the Web site, you will never see the Web site as opposed to more intrusive forms of advertising like in a newspaper or television, where you have no choice.
How do I get people to my site?
Interactive grew up a different way, in a way that made brands convey a value to consumers to be attractive enough so that the consumers would decide to interact with them.
If it's Pepsi, which is a large client of ours, it meant having original music from Shakira or Britney Spears on the Web site, so that people would say, `I want to interact with Pepsi as I am interested in the music that Pepsi brings to me.' This is a different model than just pushing the messages at people.
It's called pull marketing and it's going to shake up the advertising world. Pull, means I, the consumer, am trying to pull info from you. I want something, and in return I will let you market to me.
What initiates the "pull" in pull marketing? For starters it can be sending an SMS or clicking on a barcode.
What is the percentage share of interactive branding vis-Ã -vis total spending?
In the US, it's approaching five per cent. But the gap between the percentage allocated to interactive and the percentage of time that interactive represents in a consumer's life is about 15. In other words, it consumes about 20 per cent of the total media but only 5 per cent of the marketing investment. And that number is growing quickly
Also, what has not been accounted for properly is the value of interactivity. Thirty seconds of television or 10 seconds of print exposure, the quality of exposure is not necessarily the same as someone who has decided to interact with you for five minutes. It's a deeper involvement that you have online than you have anywhere else.
Bingo. Five minutes of interactivity with a consumer is better than buying every keyword a search engine can sell you.
The question is, how does a brand get permission. What kind of marketing campaign will get me to "pull" info and start this relationship.
It won't be the best algorithm, or a banner ad, it will involve the brands own physical product. The consumer will have the company's product in hand and will be be essentially dialing customer service through it. Interacting with the consumer through your own product. That is very powerful stuff
Interactive is no longer just the Internet; if you broaden the category and think about any twoway interaction with the consumer, you are not talking just about the Internet but also about mobile phones, gaming, ITV, kiosks and a whole swathe of interactive media."
Interactive marketing or digital branding is the newest mantra of marketers worldwide, as consumers get increasingly Net savvy. In fact, marketing gurus feel brands can create a deeper involvement with their target audiences, considering the long number of hours they spend online.
Take it one step further, considering how often they have four square inches of advertising space with them. A much more personal interaction.
The big variable that is removed with this type of marketing is WHEN. NO longer do I have to wait for the consumer to see my ad, or go to my site. After permission is granted, the brand can reach this consumer anytime and anywhere.
Does interactive marketing work the same way as other media, or is it different?
It's much different. I gave you permission to market to me.
What is fundamentally different about it is that it is a consumer-controlled set of media. In other words, if you don't choose to go to the Web site, you will never see the Web site as opposed to more intrusive forms of advertising like in a newspaper or television, where you have no choice.
How do I get people to my site?
Interactive grew up a different way, in a way that made brands convey a value to consumers to be attractive enough so that the consumers would decide to interact with them.
If it's Pepsi, which is a large client of ours, it meant having original music from Shakira or Britney Spears on the Web site, so that people would say, `I want to interact with Pepsi as I am interested in the music that Pepsi brings to me.' This is a different model than just pushing the messages at people.
It's called pull marketing and it's going to shake up the advertising world. Pull, means I, the consumer, am trying to pull info from you. I want something, and in return I will let you market to me.
What initiates the "pull" in pull marketing? For starters it can be sending an SMS or clicking on a barcode.
What is the percentage share of interactive branding vis-Ã -vis total spending?
In the US, it's approaching five per cent. But the gap between the percentage allocated to interactive and the percentage of time that interactive represents in a consumer's life is about 15. In other words, it consumes about 20 per cent of the total media but only 5 per cent of the marketing investment. And that number is growing quickly
Also, what has not been accounted for properly is the value of interactivity. Thirty seconds of television or 10 seconds of print exposure, the quality of exposure is not necessarily the same as someone who has decided to interact with you for five minutes. It's a deeper involvement that you have online than you have anywhere else.
Bingo. Five minutes of interactivity with a consumer is better than buying every keyword a search engine can sell you.
The question is, how does a brand get permission. What kind of marketing campaign will get me to "pull" info and start this relationship.
It won't be the best algorithm, or a banner ad, it will involve the brands own physical product. The consumer will have the company's product in hand and will be be essentially dialing customer service through it. Interacting with the consumer through your own product. That is very powerful stuff
The Power of SMS
A nice read.
This is probably the most important part of mobile advertising. There will be an art to staying in touch with a customer and not ticking him off.
With a mobile campaign being so personal, there comes great responsibility too.
From BusinessOwner.co.za SMS Marketing: Creating new relationships with customers.
IMAGINE an advertising tool that pinpoints your target market, that sends messages customers literally cannot ignore and indeed welcome and encourage.
If used wisely, SMS technology can create a new marketing relationship between you and your customer base. Used carelessly however, SMS marketing will do more harm than good.
From the client's perspective, SMS is far more intrusive than email. Cell phones have no spam filters and it is almost impossible for a user to stop receiving messages. Even if they want to delete the message they have to engage with it. The deletion process also takes longer than with email.
He says people can become very aggressive when they feel they are being harassed.
"The only way to use SMS successfully therefore, is to send people messages that they want to receive.”
Du Toit adds that e-mail is used to send spam because it is free, with SMS you pay for every message sent.
You therefore have to choose your recipients carefully. SMS is not really for recruiting new customers. Rather, it should be targeted to existing customers, as a way of retaining them.”
A key thing to consider. When, not if, advertisers realize they have a one-on-one interaction with their consumer through the mobile phone, will more of their advertising dollars shift from the Internet to mobile?
Here's what I see happening. There will be a very creative mobile marketing campaign in the US. It will probably involve a major brand (McDonald's,Apple, Starbucks etc). The campaign will be so unique and so buzzworthy that brands will be lining up to create their own mobile marketing campaign.
It won't cost a lot of money, and the exposure it gets will make companies question the ratio of dollars spent on keywords versus a good creative mobile campaign. This "tipping point" will be the catalyst that changes the valuations of search engines. Just my opinion.
Comments, suggestions?
This is probably the most important part of mobile advertising. There will be an art to staying in touch with a customer and not ticking him off.
With a mobile campaign being so personal, there comes great responsibility too.
From BusinessOwner.co.za SMS Marketing: Creating new relationships with customers.
IMAGINE an advertising tool that pinpoints your target market, that sends messages customers literally cannot ignore and indeed welcome and encourage.
If used wisely, SMS technology can create a new marketing relationship between you and your customer base. Used carelessly however, SMS marketing will do more harm than good.
From the client's perspective, SMS is far more intrusive than email. Cell phones have no spam filters and it is almost impossible for a user to stop receiving messages. Even if they want to delete the message they have to engage with it. The deletion process also takes longer than with email.
He says people can become very aggressive when they feel they are being harassed.
"The only way to use SMS successfully therefore, is to send people messages that they want to receive.”
Du Toit adds that e-mail is used to send spam because it is free, with SMS you pay for every message sent.
You therefore have to choose your recipients carefully. SMS is not really for recruiting new customers. Rather, it should be targeted to existing customers, as a way of retaining them.”
A key thing to consider. When, not if, advertisers realize they have a one-on-one interaction with their consumer through the mobile phone, will more of their advertising dollars shift from the Internet to mobile?
Here's what I see happening. There will be a very creative mobile marketing campaign in the US. It will probably involve a major brand (McDonald's,Apple, Starbucks etc). The campaign will be so unique and so buzzworthy that brands will be lining up to create their own mobile marketing campaign.
It won't cost a lot of money, and the exposure it gets will make companies question the ratio of dollars spent on keywords versus a good creative mobile campaign. This "tipping point" will be the catalyst that changes the valuations of search engines. Just my opinion.
Comments, suggestions?
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
An Idea For TV And Mobile Advertisers
Hey brands, you wanna get back those eyes on your 30 second TV ads? You wanna get people to actually look for your TV ad? I know that sounds unheard of.
Outside of the Bud-Wise-Err frogs and some the bikini clad volleyball girls playing in the snow, I really don't find myself looking for a TV ad anymore. My Tivo like PVR can hyperspeed me thru the ads now.
So how does a brand create such a buzz involving their 30 second ad. How does a brand actually get people to stop the TIVO and INTERACT with ad? I'll tell ya.
Procter and Gamble, Pringles and all major brands can do this.
I will use the example of Pringles and the TV show Survivor as examples. These two go hand in hand. Pringles has been a long sponsor of the show and they have tried on numerous occasions to insert the actual product in the show. Outside of Jeff Probst holding a can while the contestants are trying to win immunity, Pringles has found more ways to get that red can on that show.
OK good for you Pringles, you got your product inserted in the show. You probably paid a bunch of money to do so. But, how much did you pay for those 30 second ads during the show? In my opinion, that's wasted money. I am a regular Survivor watcher and I just zipped on past your ad.
Here's how you get my permission to advertise to me on my mobile. I own a Treo and a years supply of Pringles would be a great prize/incentive......hint hint.
Here's the campaign.
"Be a Survivor and win a years supply of Pringles". All you need to do is click on a barcode of ANY Pringles can to get the secret question or send an SMS to PRINGL (774645) with subject ( the barcode number) to find out what the secret question of the week is.
By clicking on the barcode with your cameraphone, or sending SMS, you have given Pringles the ability to market to you. Now, why couldn't one person just click on the barcode and go to the designated site for the secret question. Well, they could, but until you register "give permission" to Pringles by initiating the contact, the stealer wouldn't be in Pringles registry....They couldn't win the prize.
Can't I just do a Google to find the secret question? No. By clicking on a can of Pringles, you're taken to a designated site designed by advertiser with the secret question. This is how users get used to bypassing search engines. More on that later.
The secret question is not the key, it's how you get it. Not everyone can get this, only those that have the texting ability or a cameraphone.
There are two key things involved here. You must get permission to market to the consumer and if he initiates the contact by clicking or SMS'ing, you get that. Second, by having the consumer contacting you through the mobile, you are getting a very valuable database..the cellphone number.
Now what is the secret question.
That's something the brand manager or the advertiser can figure out.
My suggestions are this, make it easy enough that anyone paying attention can figure it out.
"what was the color of the shirt the actor was wearing?"
"how many cans of Pringles were popped?"
"how many times was the word CRUNCHY said?"
These are easy enough to answer. What you do is force the consumer to watch the whole ad though. I don't know if you see a drastic increase in Pringle sales after the contest, but what you do is make people watch your 30 second ad. The Pringles ad becomes buzzworthy. The ad ALSO merges the physical world with the electronic. It also merges TV and mobile advertising. All for just a few free cans of your product.
Make a cross promotion campaign with Nike or Adidas.
"what brand of shirt/shoe is the actor wearing?"
The contest would involve sending the answer via SMS as soon as commmercial is aired. The first 100 people with correct answer win. Or tie in the show and the contest. "Send the answer plus the name of the Survivor that gets booted this week and be a winner". The cost of this campaign would be minimal and you could start a trend that combines TV advertising with mobile.
I find that I watch TV in my LazyBoy with my Treo in hand. During commercials I check my email. This is easier than getting up to go to desk. Why not market to me then?
Every week send out 100,1000, 10,000 coupons via SMS to people that played the game but lost. Keep these people interested. What does this cost Pringles, nothing. What do they gain, thousands/millions of people to market to.
You can have variations of the question for different shows. An example would be CSI.
This doesn't involve the 30 second ad, but it could give the sponsor a chance to reach those viewers.
Some examples for CSI show.
"what actor said homicide, blood, fingerprint first?"
"what was the blood pressure of first patient?"
"what was the murder weapon?"
You can get really creative with this, and the advertiser could work with the producer of the show to find out what the plot is this week. The secret question could actually be an art in itself.
The whole point to this is you have kept the eyeballs on your 30 second ad. You got people to click on a your product initiating permission to market. You have created a mobile database of the people interested in your show.
What you really do is create a very unique way to combine the TV and mobile.
I got lots of ideas like these. You think the guys at Procter/Gamble or Interpublic Group would like to hear some?
Outside of the Bud-Wise-Err frogs and some the bikini clad volleyball girls playing in the snow, I really don't find myself looking for a TV ad anymore. My Tivo like PVR can hyperspeed me thru the ads now.
So how does a brand create such a buzz involving their 30 second ad. How does a brand actually get people to stop the TIVO and INTERACT with ad? I'll tell ya.
Procter and Gamble, Pringles and all major brands can do this.
I will use the example of Pringles and the TV show Survivor as examples. These two go hand in hand. Pringles has been a long sponsor of the show and they have tried on numerous occasions to insert the actual product in the show. Outside of Jeff Probst holding a can while the contestants are trying to win immunity, Pringles has found more ways to get that red can on that show.
OK good for you Pringles, you got your product inserted in the show. You probably paid a bunch of money to do so. But, how much did you pay for those 30 second ads during the show? In my opinion, that's wasted money. I am a regular Survivor watcher and I just zipped on past your ad.
Here's how you get my permission to advertise to me on my mobile. I own a Treo and a years supply of Pringles would be a great prize/incentive......hint hint.
Here's the campaign.
"Be a Survivor and win a years supply of Pringles". All you need to do is click on a barcode of ANY Pringles can to get the secret question or send an SMS to PRINGL (774645) with subject ( the barcode number) to find out what the secret question of the week is.
By clicking on the barcode with your cameraphone, or sending SMS, you have given Pringles the ability to market to you. Now, why couldn't one person just click on the barcode and go to the designated site for the secret question. Well, they could, but until you register "give permission" to Pringles by initiating the contact, the stealer wouldn't be in Pringles registry....They couldn't win the prize.
Can't I just do a Google to find the secret question? No. By clicking on a can of Pringles, you're taken to a designated site designed by advertiser with the secret question. This is how users get used to bypassing search engines. More on that later.
The secret question is not the key, it's how you get it. Not everyone can get this, only those that have the texting ability or a cameraphone.
There are two key things involved here. You must get permission to market to the consumer and if he initiates the contact by clicking or SMS'ing, you get that. Second, by having the consumer contacting you through the mobile, you are getting a very valuable database..the cellphone number.
Now what is the secret question.
That's something the brand manager or the advertiser can figure out.
My suggestions are this, make it easy enough that anyone paying attention can figure it out.
"what was the color of the shirt the actor was wearing?"
"how many cans of Pringles were popped?"
"how many times was the word CRUNCHY said?"
These are easy enough to answer. What you do is force the consumer to watch the whole ad though. I don't know if you see a drastic increase in Pringle sales after the contest, but what you do is make people watch your 30 second ad. The Pringles ad becomes buzzworthy. The ad ALSO merges the physical world with the electronic. It also merges TV and mobile advertising. All for just a few free cans of your product.
Make a cross promotion campaign with Nike or Adidas.
"what brand of shirt/shoe is the actor wearing?"
The contest would involve sending the answer via SMS as soon as commmercial is aired. The first 100 people with correct answer win. Or tie in the show and the contest. "Send the answer plus the name of the Survivor that gets booted this week and be a winner". The cost of this campaign would be minimal and you could start a trend that combines TV advertising with mobile.
I find that I watch TV in my LazyBoy with my Treo in hand. During commercials I check my email. This is easier than getting up to go to desk. Why not market to me then?
Every week send out 100,1000, 10,000 coupons via SMS to people that played the game but lost. Keep these people interested. What does this cost Pringles, nothing. What do they gain, thousands/millions of people to market to.
You can have variations of the question for different shows. An example would be CSI.
This doesn't involve the 30 second ad, but it could give the sponsor a chance to reach those viewers.
Some examples for CSI show.
"what actor said homicide, blood, fingerprint first?"
"what was the blood pressure of first patient?"
"what was the murder weapon?"
You can get really creative with this, and the advertiser could work with the producer of the show to find out what the plot is this week. The secret question could actually be an art in itself.
The whole point to this is you have kept the eyeballs on your 30 second ad. You got people to click on a your product initiating permission to market. You have created a mobile database of the people interested in your show.
What you really do is create a very unique way to combine the TV and mobile.
I got lots of ideas like these. You think the guys at Procter/Gamble or Interpublic Group would like to hear some?
Google, Froogle, Bugle?
From desktop search to weather forecasts, Google is covering the gamut. After playing around with Google's SMS (46645) and seeing what results I got back with certain music queries, it hit me. Could Google SMS be the Itunes for the mobile?
Would it matter what phone you used a Google music search on? No.
With phone manufacturers designing in the ablilty to download and play music, could this be a way that Google "goes mobile"?
Do an SMS for any barcode on any CD, you get the music title and a Froogle like listing of all sites and the prices they charge. So Google has access to a database of the barcodes, how hard would it be to offer the titles on that CD and send back via text.
Heres my suggestion. Google registers the code MUSIC (68742). Send a text to this number with either a barcode, the artist or the song as the subject. Google knows this specific code is intended for music downloading only so it searches the database associated only with music songs.
One element of the slow mobile web is eliminated by sending and receiving a text. The only pitfall is how long would it take to download a song on a mobile.
Could Google share Itunes database? Would this be a threat to the Ipod?
It is becoming quite clear music IS coming to the mobile phone. The question is, who will provide the service and application to make it happen.
Would you as a user download a Google mobile toolbar if it allowed an easier way initially to send text messages to Google? Replace www.google.com on your mobile phone browser with the SMS function to any of Google's codes.
Let Google introduce a BOOGLE or BUGLE toolbar that is a designated music downloading tool for the mobile phone. Would kids want this?
Bill any downloaded songs right to the cellphone bill....well that could be a big problem considering the ringtone abuse/credit problems already.
Just an idea, it would be a great way for Google to enter into one of the hottest spaces right now (music downloading). After all, when you use your Itunes, what are you really doing, searching, Google's specialty.
Another thought to discuss later. Have you ever wondered what Google does with the data from all of those SMS queries they get? I bet I do.
Wanna know who pays for that data? Stay tuned.
Would it matter what phone you used a Google music search on? No.
With phone manufacturers designing in the ablilty to download and play music, could this be a way that Google "goes mobile"?
Do an SMS for any barcode on any CD, you get the music title and a Froogle like listing of all sites and the prices they charge. So Google has access to a database of the barcodes, how hard would it be to offer the titles on that CD and send back via text.
Heres my suggestion. Google registers the code MUSIC (68742). Send a text to this number with either a barcode, the artist or the song as the subject. Google knows this specific code is intended for music downloading only so it searches the database associated only with music songs.
One element of the slow mobile web is eliminated by sending and receiving a text. The only pitfall is how long would it take to download a song on a mobile.
Could Google share Itunes database? Would this be a threat to the Ipod?
It is becoming quite clear music IS coming to the mobile phone. The question is, who will provide the service and application to make it happen.
Would you as a user download a Google mobile toolbar if it allowed an easier way initially to send text messages to Google? Replace www.google.com on your mobile phone browser with the SMS function to any of Google's codes.
Let Google introduce a BOOGLE or BUGLE toolbar that is a designated music downloading tool for the mobile phone. Would kids want this?
Bill any downloaded songs right to the cellphone bill....well that could be a big problem considering the ringtone abuse/credit problems already.
Just an idea, it would be a great way for Google to enter into one of the hottest spaces right now (music downloading). After all, when you use your Itunes, what are you really doing, searching, Google's specialty.
Another thought to discuss later. Have you ever wondered what Google does with the data from all of those SMS queries they get? I bet I do.
Wanna know who pays for that data? Stay tuned.
Monday, March 07, 2005
I'm A Little Flattered
From Russell's Mobile Weblog 14 Best Mobile Blogs.
I have to say I'm a little flattered. Sometimes I wonder if my ideas are too far out there for any to grasp.
I'll keep a pondering and posting my ideas for all to see.
Maybe the boys at Google or Microsoft can take advantage of them, or maybe there's a company with a little creativity that wants some potential from a primate.
Ideally, I would love to provide forward thinking ideas to a company that has the resources and courage to implement them.
Either way, thanks for the recognition.
I have to say I'm a little flattered. Sometimes I wonder if my ideas are too far out there for any to grasp.
I'll keep a pondering and posting my ideas for all to see.
Maybe the boys at Google or Microsoft can take advantage of them, or maybe there's a company with a little creativity that wants some potential from a primate.
Ideally, I would love to provide forward thinking ideas to a company that has the resources and courage to implement them.
Either way, thanks for the recognition.
Sony Connects Physical World To Electronic
From CNN.com Sony offers pizza feature for hungry gamers.
Thanks Howard.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sony has built the ability to order pizza into its latest online multiplayer game. Type the command "/pizza" while playing Everquest II, a fantasy game with 330,000 active players, and get the Pizza Hut Web site, where you can place orders for delivery.
Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment, said he believes this is the first time a game accepts orders for real-world items.
Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.
"The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this," Kramer said. "They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD."
Thanks Howard.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sony has built the ability to order pizza into its latest online multiplayer game. Type the command "/pizza" while playing Everquest II, a fantasy game with 330,000 active players, and get the Pizza Hut Web site, where you can place orders for delivery.
Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment, said he believes this is the first time a game accepts orders for real-world items.
Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.
"The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this," Kramer said. "They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD."
Sony Connects Physical World To Electronic
From CNN.com Sony offers pizza feature for hungry gamers.
Thanks Howard.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sony has built the ability to order pizza into its latest online multiplayer game. Type the command "/pizza" while playing Everquest II, a fantasy game with 330,000 active players, and get the Pizza Hut Web site, where you can place orders for delivery.
Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment, said he believes this is the first time a game accepts orders for real-world items.
Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.
"The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this," Kramer said. "They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD."
Thanks Howard.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sony has built the ability to order pizza into its latest online multiplayer game. Type the command "/pizza" while playing Everquest II, a fantasy game with 330,000 active players, and get the Pizza Hut Web site, where you can place orders for delivery.
Chris Kramer, spokesman for Sony Online Entertainment, said he believes this is the first time a game accepts orders for real-world items.
Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.
"The goal for the future is to eventually let people do more things like this," Kramer said. "They could type /harry potter and get the new Harry Potter book delivered or /star wars and get the new Star Wars DVD."
Sunday, March 06, 2005
The Killer Platform For 3G?....
It wouldn't be right if I didn't ponder a big topic, so here goes more pondering about music and the mobile phone.
Here's where I started. From MocoNews.com Interesting mobile music info.
a recent Consumer Mobility Study by In-Stat/MDR finds that 11.4% of US mobile subscribers are very or extremely interested in moving beyond basic ringtones and purchasing more full-featured music/audio services for their wireless phones including music and news/talk content available as downloadable content or on demand. The most popular service concept is the ability to download MP3s or other digital music files directly to wireless handsets, followed closely by the ability to listen to streaming music on demand.
I can't help but think that we can learn from previous mistakes.
Take Napster and their ability to bring broadband to the mainstream Internet access to the PC, and combine that same music downloading demand with a cell phone. Would you or could you force service providers to push 3G faster to the consumer?
There will have to be a wireless application that consumers will want,and requires higher speeds, in order for consumers to pay up for this. I'm guessing here, but if you had a downloadable app or preinstalled platform that people would demand when choosing a service provider and plan, THEY WOULD GIVE THE SERVICE PROVIDER PERMISSION to market to them.
What was the hottest topic at GSM conference? Downloading music on phones.
Now heres my idea.
This can be one or all type of platform. There are a few ways I see how an Itunes or an EMI music could implement this.
You're not going to do a Google search for Billy Joel, so the time consuming search for the artist and the songs is eliminated. The user knows its Billy Joel or U2, so it's more of a info retrieval process than search (which is how Internet on cell phone should be treated).
What if you could send a text with subject "billyjoel" to this creative company and get back a list of songs that would be downloadable to your cellphone via an SMS. An SMS is faster than surfing, so the available "list" of billyjoel songs comes back as a menu. Click on the desired song, Piano Man , and the song is transferred/downloaded to your cell phone. The downloading would be the time comsuming part and this would be the incentive to get higher speeds implemented.
You probably could even use "billyjoel" as your identifier and let some server resolve what info should be send back. Could a platform be put on a phone that wouldnt even need to surf the net?
Say you typed in "billyjoel" into this search bar (I think navigation would be more appropriate). The platform deciphers "billyjoel" and they issue all songs available for download.
By sending a text (SMS) you have bypassed the browser for searching. You are staying in this selected music world for those songs available from that company.
Itunes or EMI could publish a catalog with numbers for specific songs that can be downloaded. Service providers could give this out when you sign up for this service.
Another idea I've been suggesting. A creative company could start a music downloading service that would allow any song to be downloaded just by entering in the barcode of a CD or snapping a picture of the barcode and let the resolver decode. The menu of the songs on that CD would come up on cell screen (just like you see at a Virgin Megastore or FYE store) and user could click on selected song and download.
Take that one step further. Any concert ticket, movie poster with soundtrack could now include songs available for downloading.
This creative company wouldn't even need a service provider to implement this.
This creative company could work a deal with Sirius,XMSR that when any song is played, the user could dial a specific number and have the song downloaded OR just publish a specific number on the screen for that song. For instance, U2's A Beautiful Day is playing on SIRIUS. On the display you see U2 Beautiful Day (18726).
Send a text to SIRIUS with subject 18726 and song gets downloaded. Or send a text to this creative company with subject 18726 and they resolve the identifier for this song. Let SIRIUS get a cut of the biz.
All you need is access/permission to a music database. This is constantly changing, so recurring revenues occur here. You also need a software program or platform that allows the resolving of a barcode. That's it.
Access to one of the largest music databases, and a way to download from it. There's an eBay in the making there.
What if you had a program called BUGLE, or BOOGLE. This program would be desired by all 18-34 olds. Download or preinstall from phone company. Anytime you clicked on a barcode, or type in ANY artist name (U2, billyjoel) a list of all of their somgs would come up. Then it's up to the consumer to download.
Would you charge an unlimited monthly fee? Per song? The minutes on your service plan are involved so you have to think about consumer a bit here.
Part of the stipulation with BOOGLE or BUGLE is this company's ability to market to you through the mobile. I think this permission would be very easy to get.
Just some ideas, I think it works but who will be creative enough to offer to consumers? Phone manuf should focus on what platform should be pre-installed to handle this. I know one.
Still pondering but I think I'm getting close to finding the solution.
Thoughts, comments?
Here's where I started. From MocoNews.com Interesting mobile music info.
a recent Consumer Mobility Study by In-Stat/MDR finds that 11.4% of US mobile subscribers are very or extremely interested in moving beyond basic ringtones and purchasing more full-featured music/audio services for their wireless phones including music and news/talk content available as downloadable content or on demand. The most popular service concept is the ability to download MP3s or other digital music files directly to wireless handsets, followed closely by the ability to listen to streaming music on demand.
I can't help but think that we can learn from previous mistakes.
Take Napster and their ability to bring broadband to the mainstream Internet access to the PC, and combine that same music downloading demand with a cell phone. Would you or could you force service providers to push 3G faster to the consumer?
There will have to be a wireless application that consumers will want,and requires higher speeds, in order for consumers to pay up for this. I'm guessing here, but if you had a downloadable app or preinstalled platform that people would demand when choosing a service provider and plan, THEY WOULD GIVE THE SERVICE PROVIDER PERMISSION to market to them.
What was the hottest topic at GSM conference? Downloading music on phones.
Now heres my idea.
This can be one or all type of platform. There are a few ways I see how an Itunes or an EMI music could implement this.
You're not going to do a Google search for Billy Joel, so the time consuming search for the artist and the songs is eliminated. The user knows its Billy Joel or U2, so it's more of a info retrieval process than search (which is how Internet on cell phone should be treated).
What if you could send a text with subject "billyjoel" to this creative company and get back a list of songs that would be downloadable to your cellphone via an SMS. An SMS is faster than surfing, so the available "list" of billyjoel songs comes back as a menu. Click on the desired song, Piano Man , and the song is transferred/downloaded to your cell phone. The downloading would be the time comsuming part and this would be the incentive to get higher speeds implemented.
You probably could even use "billyjoel" as your identifier and let some server resolve what info should be send back. Could a platform be put on a phone that wouldnt even need to surf the net?
Say you typed in "billyjoel" into this search bar (I think navigation would be more appropriate). The platform deciphers "billyjoel" and they issue all songs available for download.
By sending a text (SMS) you have bypassed the browser for searching. You are staying in this selected music world for those songs available from that company.
Itunes or EMI could publish a catalog with numbers for specific songs that can be downloaded. Service providers could give this out when you sign up for this service.
Another idea I've been suggesting. A creative company could start a music downloading service that would allow any song to be downloaded just by entering in the barcode of a CD or snapping a picture of the barcode and let the resolver decode. The menu of the songs on that CD would come up on cell screen (just like you see at a Virgin Megastore or FYE store) and user could click on selected song and download.
Take that one step further. Any concert ticket, movie poster with soundtrack could now include songs available for downloading.
This creative company wouldn't even need a service provider to implement this.
This creative company could work a deal with Sirius,XMSR that when any song is played, the user could dial a specific number and have the song downloaded OR just publish a specific number on the screen for that song. For instance, U2's A Beautiful Day is playing on SIRIUS. On the display you see U2 Beautiful Day (18726).
Send a text to SIRIUS with subject 18726 and song gets downloaded. Or send a text to this creative company with subject 18726 and they resolve the identifier for this song. Let SIRIUS get a cut of the biz.
All you need is access/permission to a music database. This is constantly changing, so recurring revenues occur here. You also need a software program or platform that allows the resolving of a barcode. That's it.
Access to one of the largest music databases, and a way to download from it. There's an eBay in the making there.
What if you had a program called BUGLE, or BOOGLE. This program would be desired by all 18-34 olds. Download or preinstall from phone company. Anytime you clicked on a barcode, or type in ANY artist name (U2, billyjoel) a list of all of their somgs would come up. Then it's up to the consumer to download.
Would you charge an unlimited monthly fee? Per song? The minutes on your service plan are involved so you have to think about consumer a bit here.
Part of the stipulation with BOOGLE or BUGLE is this company's ability to market to you through the mobile. I think this permission would be very easy to get.
Just some ideas, I think it works but who will be creative enough to offer to consumers? Phone manuf should focus on what platform should be pre-installed to handle this. I know one.
Still pondering but I think I'm getting close to finding the solution.
Thoughts, comments?
Friday, March 04, 2005
Houston, We Have A Problem
From the "I knew this was coming" file.
Netimperative article Travel giants ban brand names on Google.
Three major travel firms have reportedly banned smaller retailers from using their brand names as keywords in Google, in a bid to appear higher on search results.
Thomson, Thomas Cook and First Choice have taken the action after rival companies began bidding for the market leaders brand names in their own search marketing campaigns, according to trade magazine Travel Weekly.
By using these keywords, smaller travel firms are able to appear higher in Google search results on the back of the popularity of their larger rivals.
The three companies say they are taking the action to protect their brand, but their smaller rivals have labelled the ban as “anti-competitive”.
The move could signal an important shift in the lucrative search marketing arena, as before now, bidding on trademarked keywords had gone largely unpoliced.
There's a platform coming where brands can control traffic to their site. A model than will start in the PC world and carry over into the mobile world. A one-on-one direct marketing service with any consumer, anywhere and anytime.
Trademark owners are fighting back.
Two things I see here. What will happen to pricing for keywords in the current search engine pay-per-click model. What percentage do trademarked words carry versus generic words (Nike shoes vs running shoes).
What will search engines do when advertisers realize they don't need to pay a search engine for traffic anymore?
Netimperative article Travel giants ban brand names on Google.
Three major travel firms have reportedly banned smaller retailers from using their brand names as keywords in Google, in a bid to appear higher on search results.
Thomson, Thomas Cook and First Choice have taken the action after rival companies began bidding for the market leaders brand names in their own search marketing campaigns, according to trade magazine Travel Weekly.
By using these keywords, smaller travel firms are able to appear higher in Google search results on the back of the popularity of their larger rivals.
The three companies say they are taking the action to protect their brand, but their smaller rivals have labelled the ban as “anti-competitive”.
The move could signal an important shift in the lucrative search marketing arena, as before now, bidding on trademarked keywords had gone largely unpoliced.
There's a platform coming where brands can control traffic to their site. A model than will start in the PC world and carry over into the mobile world. A one-on-one direct marketing service with any consumer, anywhere and anytime.
Trademark owners are fighting back.
Two things I see here. What will happen to pricing for keywords in the current search engine pay-per-click model. What percentage do trademarked words carry versus generic words (Nike shoes vs running shoes).
What will search engines do when advertisers realize they don't need to pay a search engine for traffic anymore?
More What Google Should Do
If Google becomes the resolution server for this new registry. I see how the pay-per-click becomes more efficient and the emphasis changes.
The value of the click changes.
The emphasis shifts from how may times a user went to the site to what device and from what identifier. This shift will provide a much more effective way to determine what advertising campaign is working AND what identifier created the most traffic.
For examples of what identifers are and how a company like 7-Up could use them are here.
Which identifier (texting "UPYOURS, the barcode on every 7-Up can) and what device (PC or mobile) generated the most traffic.
AS a brand manager I can guage the most efficient form of advertising and adjust accordingly.
Let's say 7-Up registers the keyword "UPYOURS", "UPURS", and all of their barcodes on 7-Up cans. They decide to place "UPYOURS" in all print advertising, and "UPURS" in all TV or radio. Not only can the advertiser provide a direct connection to the targeted site, but they can also see what ad campaign in more effective.
The pay-per-click isn't the only way to het to a targeted site anymore. A site can be accessed through a barcode, a 2D code or registered word.
Search engines have to realize this.
The value of the click changes.
The emphasis shifts from how may times a user went to the site to what device and from what identifier. This shift will provide a much more effective way to determine what advertising campaign is working AND what identifier created the most traffic.
For examples of what identifers are and how a company like 7-Up could use them are here.
Which identifier (texting "UPYOURS, the barcode on every 7-Up can) and what device (PC or mobile) generated the most traffic.
AS a brand manager I can guage the most efficient form of advertising and adjust accordingly.
Let's say 7-Up registers the keyword "UPYOURS", "UPURS", and all of their barcodes on 7-Up cans. They decide to place "UPYOURS" in all print advertising, and "UPURS" in all TV or radio. Not only can the advertiser provide a direct connection to the targeted site, but they can also see what ad campaign in more effective.
The pay-per-click isn't the only way to het to a targeted site anymore. A site can be accessed through a barcode, a 2D code or registered word.
Search engines have to realize this.
Listen Up Search Engines
From eWeek.com Search engines look beyond the Web.
NEW YORK—The major search engines are looking beyond the Web to find, display and make money from search results.
At the Search Engines Strategies 2005 Conference & Expo here this week, search-engine executives offered a peek into a future wherein general search will increasingly tap sources outside the Web and in which users will access search from mobile devices and emerging applications.
"If we were able to take search forward five years, you can then answer, discover, recall and publish information anywhere, anytime," said Oshoma Momoh, general manager of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Search, during a panel discussion. "Search begins to fade in the background a little bit, [and] search becomes a bit more of an ingredient rather than something that's front and center."
I think it's more navigational than searching. More interaction than passivity.
Executives from such search leaders as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. sounded a similar tune, noting such trends as search moving "outside the paradigm of the box."
Do they mean those coveted four square inches that will be the most valuable real estate for advertising?
"Smart answers is the right way to deliver information for a mobile phone [because] a user does not want to click links or wait for page to download," Lanzone said.
What a revelation. People don't want to type 21 letters just to get to Amazon's webpage? What if they could just type AMAZON.
All search engines, THIS is how you go mobile.
NEW YORK—The major search engines are looking beyond the Web to find, display and make money from search results.
At the Search Engines Strategies 2005 Conference & Expo here this week, search-engine executives offered a peek into a future wherein general search will increasingly tap sources outside the Web and in which users will access search from mobile devices and emerging applications.
"If we were able to take search forward five years, you can then answer, discover, recall and publish information anywhere, anytime," said Oshoma Momoh, general manager of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Search, during a panel discussion. "Search begins to fade in the background a little bit, [and] search becomes a bit more of an ingredient rather than something that's front and center."
I think it's more navigational than searching. More interaction than passivity.
Executives from such search leaders as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. sounded a similar tune, noting such trends as search moving "outside the paradigm of the box."
Do they mean those coveted four square inches that will be the most valuable real estate for advertising?
"Smart answers is the right way to deliver information for a mobile phone [because] a user does not want to click links or wait for page to download," Lanzone said.
What a revelation. People don't want to type 21 letters just to get to Amazon's webpage? What if they could just type AMAZON.
All search engines, THIS is how you go mobile.
Google, Here's What you Should Do
My advice Google, get on the phone.
From BusinessWeek.com Google : A $50 billion "one trick pony"?.
Its focus on Web-searching -- an increasingly limited arena -- may be blinding it to big opportunities elsewhere
Even Google (GOOG ) could not have predicted the value of a few lines of text. Search engine advertisements -- typically a sparse 10 to 15 words in length -- have almost single-handedly propelled the Web search giant's net sales up 468%, to $2 billion, over the past two years.
And yet, a handful of analysts increasingly are questioning whether Google's laser-like focus on search may be something of an Achilles' heel. Google remains almost entirely dependent for growth on search -- a business that's poised to slow. In the maturing U.S. market, Forrester Research Inc. predicts growth will drop from 45% to 30% this year.
There are a number of ways Google can continue this growth but only if they exapnd into emerging mediums. Advertising budgets are based on economic conditions (cyclical) and pay-per-click advertising is a commodity.
When multibillion dollar mergers like Procter Gamble/Gillete, Qwest/MCI, SBC/AT&T, Sprint/NExtel happen you have taken two massive advertising budgets and combined to make one. That makes for less money for any advertiser to look for.
So in this environment, I would looking to provide a way to advertise on the fastest growing medium today, the cell phone.
Advertisers are becoming skeptical of click fraud, search engines rely heavily on advertising dollars and advertisers want as much trafic directed to their site for the least amount of money.
So the "click" variable has to be taken out of the model.
Heres my advice Google.
To start, promote your domain registration business. It all starts here. From the time a company registers their domain, provide all the features that make their website accessable thru a cellphone (WAP, Java).
Then I would ALSO offer other WAYS to get to your site instead of typing the actual address. Provide a 2D code, or a barcode, or even the spoken word. By offering this other identifier, you have provided a way to reach this site via cellphone in every magazine, poster, newspaper, billboard, businesscard, actual product from the company (ie label, can, CD).
You have taken away the fraudulent click aspect. I cant see India setting up a call center with a bunch of people clicking on a barcode with a cameraphone. So the advertiser won't care (because it wont be based on per click model) how many people click on the barcode.
This also allows the little merchant a chance to use his local ability (advertise in newspaper with a keyword) and also use Googles pay-per-click model. If I'm Joes Hardware in Des Moines. I register my site with Google and in doing so, Google gives me a 2D code, the keyword "JOHDWR" that I can put in any advertisement for a direct connection to my site. JOHDWR is something that can be creative. TOOLBELT, NAILSRUS. Think of how creative this can get. The point is, this keyword identifies your site. You can use it on ANY form of advertising to get the user to your site.
Ok, theres now more than one way to get to this site. Companies shouldn't have to a search engine for a creative ad. They did the job of getting their brand out there, why should they have to pay even more for a ANOTHER advertiser to direct to their site.
Here's an example. Seven-UP spend a bunch of money in creating the "up yours" campaign. Catchy, and it involved their brand name. My question is this, why should SevenUp have to pay Google MORE money for the key words "up yours" when they already have created brand awareness. The user knows where he wants to go, he just needs to be directed.
In this case I would offer Seven-Up a choice of options to advertise with. I would register all of the corresponding barcodes 7-Up has to be resolved to the site of their choice. ie when you click on a 7-Up can it wud take you directly to 7-Up's site. The words "up yours" would be placed at the top of a PC search query. I would ask 7-Up what advertisers they wish to prohibit from advertising in my sponsored links section. (Google cud still generate fees this way).
In addition to the barcode/2D code I registered for 7-Up, I would then charge for the ability when a text is sent to 46645 (GOOGL) and "up yours" is in it. The user doesnt want to do a search to go to 7-Ups page, he just sends a text and Google directs them.
Or if a search is done via mobile for "up yours", I would charge 7-Up a fee here.
By sending a text with subject "up yours", the user knows where they want to go, but doesnt want to perform a search, but just wants to be directed.
There are many revenue options with these ideas but they do two important things, allow brands to control more of their brand recognition and it gets Google proactive in the mobile advertising space.
I see Google becoming the search engine of choice for the mobile eventually, but instead of search engine, I think the term will be navigation engine. The phone is more of a remote control than the PC. It interacts with the physical world so it will have to be able to recognize/decode other identifers (barcodes,2D code, logos, spoke word, numbers) to get the user to the targeted site.
An example, I see a great ad in Sports Illustrated for new Adidas sneakers. Instead of ripping the ad out of the magazine and looking up info when i get home to my PC, Adidas has provided a "keyword" sponsored by Google of "LiteFeet". I can click on a code in the ad, I can send a text to Google, or I can enter "LiteFeet" in a Google mobile search. Eventually I say "LiteFeet" and I am directed (which will bypass the search engine altogether).
The point here is Adidas registered the word 'LiteFeet" in Google's new registry and Google with some ingenuity has done what Adidas wants. Google can work with the brand and direct the user to Adidas's site with both PC and mobile.
Google could go to the service providers and have them incorporate a Google Search Window on every Internet Accesable phone. Have a little search box in bottom of screen, similar to Google toolbar. This wouldnt be hard to do at all. Google's search becomes ubiquitous.
Oh to get that Google mobile toolbar on the phone, easy. Just send an SMS to 46645 (GOOGL) with subject title "toolbar" and link comes back to phone. You got Google on the screen.
Oh there are lots of ideas I have for Google. Sergey and Larry drop me an email and I'll be happy to share.
From BusinessWeek.com Google : A $50 billion "one trick pony"?.
Its focus on Web-searching -- an increasingly limited arena -- may be blinding it to big opportunities elsewhere
Even Google (GOOG ) could not have predicted the value of a few lines of text. Search engine advertisements -- typically a sparse 10 to 15 words in length -- have almost single-handedly propelled the Web search giant's net sales up 468%, to $2 billion, over the past two years.
And yet, a handful of analysts increasingly are questioning whether Google's laser-like focus on search may be something of an Achilles' heel. Google remains almost entirely dependent for growth on search -- a business that's poised to slow. In the maturing U.S. market, Forrester Research Inc. predicts growth will drop from 45% to 30% this year.
There are a number of ways Google can continue this growth but only if they exapnd into emerging mediums. Advertising budgets are based on economic conditions (cyclical) and pay-per-click advertising is a commodity.
When multibillion dollar mergers like Procter Gamble/Gillete, Qwest/MCI, SBC/AT&T, Sprint/NExtel happen you have taken two massive advertising budgets and combined to make one. That makes for less money for any advertiser to look for.
So in this environment, I would looking to provide a way to advertise on the fastest growing medium today, the cell phone.
Advertisers are becoming skeptical of click fraud, search engines rely heavily on advertising dollars and advertisers want as much trafic directed to their site for the least amount of money.
So the "click" variable has to be taken out of the model.
Heres my advice Google.
To start, promote your domain registration business. It all starts here. From the time a company registers their domain, provide all the features that make their website accessable thru a cellphone (WAP, Java).
Then I would ALSO offer other WAYS to get to your site instead of typing the actual address. Provide a 2D code, or a barcode, or even the spoken word. By offering this other identifier, you have provided a way to reach this site via cellphone in every magazine, poster, newspaper, billboard, businesscard, actual product from the company (ie label, can, CD).
You have taken away the fraudulent click aspect. I cant see India setting up a call center with a bunch of people clicking on a barcode with a cameraphone. So the advertiser won't care (because it wont be based on per click model) how many people click on the barcode.
This also allows the little merchant a chance to use his local ability (advertise in newspaper with a keyword) and also use Googles pay-per-click model. If I'm Joes Hardware in Des Moines. I register my site with Google and in doing so, Google gives me a 2D code, the keyword "JOHDWR" that I can put in any advertisement for a direct connection to my site. JOHDWR is something that can be creative. TOOLBELT, NAILSRUS. Think of how creative this can get. The point is, this keyword identifies your site. You can use it on ANY form of advertising to get the user to your site.
Ok, theres now more than one way to get to this site. Companies shouldn't have to a search engine for a creative ad. They did the job of getting their brand out there, why should they have to pay even more for a ANOTHER advertiser to direct to their site.
Here's an example. Seven-UP spend a bunch of money in creating the "up yours" campaign. Catchy, and it involved their brand name. My question is this, why should SevenUp have to pay Google MORE money for the key words "up yours" when they already have created brand awareness. The user knows where he wants to go, he just needs to be directed.
In this case I would offer Seven-Up a choice of options to advertise with. I would register all of the corresponding barcodes 7-Up has to be resolved to the site of their choice. ie when you click on a 7-Up can it wud take you directly to 7-Up's site. The words "up yours" would be placed at the top of a PC search query. I would ask 7-Up what advertisers they wish to prohibit from advertising in my sponsored links section. (Google cud still generate fees this way).
In addition to the barcode/2D code I registered for 7-Up, I would then charge for the ability when a text is sent to 46645 (GOOGL) and "up yours" is in it. The user doesnt want to do a search to go to 7-Ups page, he just sends a text and Google directs them.
Or if a search is done via mobile for "up yours", I would charge 7-Up a fee here.
By sending a text with subject "up yours", the user knows where they want to go, but doesnt want to perform a search, but just wants to be directed.
There are many revenue options with these ideas but they do two important things, allow brands to control more of their brand recognition and it gets Google proactive in the mobile advertising space.
I see Google becoming the search engine of choice for the mobile eventually, but instead of search engine, I think the term will be navigation engine. The phone is more of a remote control than the PC. It interacts with the physical world so it will have to be able to recognize/decode other identifers (barcodes,2D code, logos, spoke word, numbers) to get the user to the targeted site.
An example, I see a great ad in Sports Illustrated for new Adidas sneakers. Instead of ripping the ad out of the magazine and looking up info when i get home to my PC, Adidas has provided a "keyword" sponsored by Google of "LiteFeet". I can click on a code in the ad, I can send a text to Google, or I can enter "LiteFeet" in a Google mobile search. Eventually I say "LiteFeet" and I am directed (which will bypass the search engine altogether).
The point here is Adidas registered the word 'LiteFeet" in Google's new registry and Google with some ingenuity has done what Adidas wants. Google can work with the brand and direct the user to Adidas's site with both PC and mobile.
Google could go to the service providers and have them incorporate a Google Search Window on every Internet Accesable phone. Have a little search box in bottom of screen, similar to Google toolbar. This wouldnt be hard to do at all. Google's search becomes ubiquitous.
Oh to get that Google mobile toolbar on the phone, easy. Just send an SMS to 46645 (GOOGL) with subject title "toolbar" and link comes back to phone. You got Google on the screen.
Oh there are lots of ideas I have for Google. Sergey and Larry drop me an email and I'll be happy to share.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Point, Click, Sell
From USA today.com Camera phones click with contests.
Point. Click. Sell. Big advertisers are starting to turn to camera cell phones as the latest way to reach consumers
The newest is Pontiac, which launches a "Catch a G6" sweepstakes with a $1 million prize Friday aimed straight at camera cell phone users.
The winner will be picked from those who snap and transmit a shot of its edgy G6 sedan with their mobile phone.
The General Motors division follows Toyota, Kodak and Qwest among companies that have run camera cell phone campaigns. The campaigns typically are directed at younger, tech-savvy customers.
So far, results appear mixed because camera cell phones are still catching on. Last year, the worldwide market for camera cell phones was 215 million, says Keith Nowak, spokesman for mobile phone maker Nokia. By 2008, sales are expected to hit 600 million.
Like other new technology, camera cell phones have had to "play the same waiting game" of acceptance, but now are ubiquitous enough that advertisers can use them, says Jay Conrad Levinson, co-author of the Guerilla Marketing series of business books
Just wait till you see what role the camera phone will play in advertising.
The "Catch a G6" promotion will urge anyone who sees one of the cars — on the street, in a showroom, at one of the special events planned in major cities or anywhere else — to take its picture and e-mail it to a Web site, Win@CatchaG6.com, by March 18. The winner will be chosen at random.
Point. Click. Sell. Big advertisers are starting to turn to camera cell phones as the latest way to reach consumers
The newest is Pontiac, which launches a "Catch a G6" sweepstakes with a $1 million prize Friday aimed straight at camera cell phone users.
The winner will be picked from those who snap and transmit a shot of its edgy G6 sedan with their mobile phone.
The General Motors division follows Toyota, Kodak and Qwest among companies that have run camera cell phone campaigns. The campaigns typically are directed at younger, tech-savvy customers.
So far, results appear mixed because camera cell phones are still catching on. Last year, the worldwide market for camera cell phones was 215 million, says Keith Nowak, spokesman for mobile phone maker Nokia. By 2008, sales are expected to hit 600 million.
Like other new technology, camera cell phones have had to "play the same waiting game" of acceptance, but now are ubiquitous enough that advertisers can use them, says Jay Conrad Levinson, co-author of the Guerilla Marketing series of business books
Just wait till you see what role the camera phone will play in advertising.
The "Catch a G6" promotion will urge anyone who sees one of the cars — on the street, in a showroom, at one of the special events planned in major cities or anywhere else — to take its picture and e-mail it to a Web site, Win@CatchaG6.com, by March 18. The winner will be chosen at random.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Convergence Coming Closer
Things getting very interesting.
From Mobile Pipeline Technology plays satellite radio on cell phones.
Which comes first the satellite radio feature or the phone? Will satellite radios turn into cell phones?
With phone manufacturers now implementing a music playing/downloading capablity, the speed of this transformation increases.
Combine music downloading, camera, sat radio, Internet and communication. Convergence is closer than we think.
Calypso Wireless said Wednesday that it has developed technology that will make it easy to listen to satellite radio broadcasts on devices such as cell phones, PDAs and portable music players.
Calypso said in a statement that it has applied for a patent for the technology, which would allow mobile devices to receive signals from vendors such as XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The signals would only be received if the user subscribes to those services.
The signals would be broadcast either directly from the satellite providers or via Wi-Fi access points, which would give users the ability to listen to satellite radio even if they are inside where the signals are weak, the company said.
Calypso said it also holds patents on technology that enables seamless switching between wireless LANs and cellular networks. It did not discuss its specific plans to make its newest technology available to device vendors.
Who is most threatened by this? Hardware vendors for satellite radio? But would the satellite radio players see an increase in subscribers?
From Mobile Pipeline Technology plays satellite radio on cell phones.
Which comes first the satellite radio feature or the phone? Will satellite radios turn into cell phones?
With phone manufacturers now implementing a music playing/downloading capablity, the speed of this transformation increases.
Combine music downloading, camera, sat radio, Internet and communication. Convergence is closer than we think.
Calypso Wireless said Wednesday that it has developed technology that will make it easy to listen to satellite radio broadcasts on devices such as cell phones, PDAs and portable music players.
Calypso said in a statement that it has applied for a patent for the technology, which would allow mobile devices to receive signals from vendors such as XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The signals would only be received if the user subscribes to those services.
The signals would be broadcast either directly from the satellite providers or via Wi-Fi access points, which would give users the ability to listen to satellite radio even if they are inside where the signals are weak, the company said.
Calypso said it also holds patents on technology that enables seamless switching between wireless LANs and cellular networks. It did not discuss its specific plans to make its newest technology available to device vendors.
Who is most threatened by this? Hardware vendors for satellite radio? But would the satellite radio players see an increase in subscribers?
Loyalty Cards For Wrinkles
Just a great idea..Combine recurring theme and higher income clientele.
From Wall Street Journal
A New Wrinkle in Rewards Programs
Restylane, Botox Offer
Incentives for Loyal Patients;
Some Raise Ethics Concerns
By RHONDA L. RUNDLE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 2, 2005; Page D1
Customer-loyalty programs have long been used to encourage frequent airline travel, hotel stays and credit-card use. Now rewards programs are targeting a new area: your face.
The latest "frequent-flier" plan comes from Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corp., maker of the anti-wrinkle skin filler Restylane. The pharmaceutical company has started an online rewards program to spur beauty-minded consumers to get regular treatments. The program, launched last month, is designed to encourage injections every six months by offering gifts that escalate in value with each subsequent appointment -- adding up to $375 after the fourth follow-up visit.
Restylane, which generally costs $500-$750 per treatment, wears off after about six months. So Medicis says the program aims to keep customers on track to maintain their "corrected look."
Medicis joins a small but growing list of pharmaceutical companies using promotions and sales gimmicks to boost lifestyle drugs and medical treatments. Last year, Pfizer Inc. launched a "value card" for its erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, a program that allows patients to get a free refill after the first six prescriptions. Botox maker Allergan Inc.'s marketing partner gives dermatologists "VIP cards" to attract repeat customers with discounts on follow-up visits.
Here's how the Restylane program works: Patients must obtain the syringe box top from their doctor, then fill out a redemption form at www.RestylaneUSA.com with information from the box top and the physician's invoice.
The program has both a carrot and a stick. With each treatment, participants are offered gifts: After the first visit, they get the choice of a $25 gift in the form of either a Visa debit card or a gift coupon for purchases at bookseller Barnes & Noble or Nordstrom department stores. After the fourth follow-up, the gift value peaks at $175.
From Wall Street Journal
A New Wrinkle in Rewards Programs
Restylane, Botox Offer
Incentives for Loyal Patients;
Some Raise Ethics Concerns
By RHONDA L. RUNDLE
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 2, 2005; Page D1
Customer-loyalty programs have long been used to encourage frequent airline travel, hotel stays and credit-card use. Now rewards programs are targeting a new area: your face.
The latest "frequent-flier" plan comes from Medicis Pharmaceuticals Corp., maker of the anti-wrinkle skin filler Restylane. The pharmaceutical company has started an online rewards program to spur beauty-minded consumers to get regular treatments. The program, launched last month, is designed to encourage injections every six months by offering gifts that escalate in value with each subsequent appointment -- adding up to $375 after the fourth follow-up visit.
Restylane, which generally costs $500-$750 per treatment, wears off after about six months. So Medicis says the program aims to keep customers on track to maintain their "corrected look."
Medicis joins a small but growing list of pharmaceutical companies using promotions and sales gimmicks to boost lifestyle drugs and medical treatments. Last year, Pfizer Inc. launched a "value card" for its erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, a program that allows patients to get a free refill after the first six prescriptions. Botox maker Allergan Inc.'s marketing partner gives dermatologists "VIP cards" to attract repeat customers with discounts on follow-up visits.
Here's how the Restylane program works: Patients must obtain the syringe box top from their doctor, then fill out a redemption form at www.RestylaneUSA.com with information from the box top and the physician's invoice.
The program has both a carrot and a stick. With each treatment, participants are offered gifts: After the first visit, they get the choice of a $25 gift in the form of either a Visa debit card or a gift coupon for purchases at bookseller Barnes & Noble or Nordstrom department stores. After the fourth follow-up, the gift value peaks at $175.
The Little Virgin That Could
The more I think about Virgin Megastore's news yesterday Virgin Megastores to shake-up music download market and the current suit against them for instore scanning CD's, I realize how big an opportunity this is for all of Virgin's divisions AND the mobile industry.
I always thought it would be Amazon that implements this first and turns the World into a virtual Amazon showroom, but for a single song it makes more sense for Virgin to initiate this for all CD's.
If I'm Virgin I could turn every CD, anywhere into a Virgin MegaStore.In a Virgin Megastore, you scan a CD
and up pops the menu of that album on a display. Click on any song and hear it played through headphones on the scanning device.
Here's what I do with that ability. I offer the ability to all of my mobile subscribers to scan ANY CD anywhere and up pops a menu of the song titles. I can click on anyone and hear a snippet of that song. If I want to download that song I click on the title.
With special software (or thru an SMS) Virgin can now make their MegaStores ubiquitous.
That's great if you happen to have the CD case with you but how would it work for more common applications?
You could identify the current song on the radio just by letting the music play (after a number is called). This is already being done with Shazam. This service is available to AT&T Wireless customers. Don't just recognize the song, but download it too.
Keep in mind, a song and sounds are considered machine readable identifiers.
Another idea I have is how radio stations and satellite radio can generate some revenues from their current business. What if they offered a service where you could send a text during/after a specific song is played and you could download that song.
I guess if the previous app of music recognition was in place, this wouldnt work as well, but it's an option.
If I'm Virgin and I start offering these services what have I just done?
I just got the attention of the coveted 18-34 yr old market and offered a reason to signup or switch to my mobile service.
I have offered a service which increases my average revenue per user (ARPU).
I generate more sales from my music library.
I force all the other service providers to HAVE to offer music downloading thru phone.
I get an enormous database that I can use for my mobile marketing business.
I force service providers to also introduce higher speeds for wireless.
I have created a Virgin Megastore everywhere for minimal cost.This is the equivalent to having millions of people in a Megastore all day long.
Napster and music downloading was a big factor in launching landline broadband. Will Virgin and music downloading be the factors for higher wireless speeds?
I'm anxious to see how this turns out.
Comments, suggestions?
I always thought it would be Amazon that implements this first and turns the World into a virtual Amazon showroom, but for a single song it makes more sense for Virgin to initiate this for all CD's.
If I'm Virgin I could turn every CD, anywhere into a Virgin MegaStore.In a Virgin Megastore, you scan a CD
and up pops the menu of that album on a display. Click on any song and hear it played through headphones on the scanning device.
Here's what I do with that ability. I offer the ability to all of my mobile subscribers to scan ANY CD anywhere and up pops a menu of the song titles. I can click on anyone and hear a snippet of that song. If I want to download that song I click on the title.
With special software (or thru an SMS) Virgin can now make their MegaStores ubiquitous.
That's great if you happen to have the CD case with you but how would it work for more common applications?
You could identify the current song on the radio just by letting the music play (after a number is called). This is already being done with Shazam. This service is available to AT&T Wireless customers. Don't just recognize the song, but download it too.
Keep in mind, a song and sounds are considered machine readable identifiers.
Another idea I have is how radio stations and satellite radio can generate some revenues from their current business. What if they offered a service where you could send a text during/after a specific song is played and you could download that song.
I guess if the previous app of music recognition was in place, this wouldnt work as well, but it's an option.
If I'm Virgin and I start offering these services what have I just done?
I just got the attention of the coveted 18-34 yr old market and offered a reason to signup or switch to my mobile service.
I have offered a service which increases my average revenue per user (ARPU).
I generate more sales from my music library.
I force all the other service providers to HAVE to offer music downloading thru phone.
I get an enormous database that I can use for my mobile marketing business.
I force service providers to also introduce higher speeds for wireless.
I have created a Virgin Megastore everywhere for minimal cost.This is the equivalent to having millions of people in a Megastore all day long.
Napster and music downloading was a big factor in launching landline broadband. Will Virgin and music downloading be the factors for higher wireless speeds?
I'm anxious to see how this turns out.
Comments, suggestions?
Simpay Goes Live
I like to think of this as PayPal, only mobile.
From Contactless News.com Simpay brings mobile payments to 70 million users in 20 countries .
Payment by cell phone is about to get a big boost from an association of Europe's largest mobile phone operators. In February, after two years of testing, Simpay announced specific launch dates for its payment product.
"Simpay launches in Spain in Quarter Two of this year, and in Belgium and the UK by Quarter 4, 2005," said Jim Wadsworth, Simpay's chief marketing officer. Further announcements are expected later this year for launches in other European counties in 2006.
Simpay is the branded name of the Mobile Payments Services Association, a nonprofit association created in 2003 and located in London. Its four founding members -- Orange, Telefónica Móviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone -- represent some 300 million customers. This year, two other companies joined Simpay: Amena, serving 9 million Spanish subscribers, and Proximus, which services 99% of the Belgian population.
The overall objective of Simpay is to create an open and interoperable framework for mobile payments. Its aim is to deliver an open, commonly branded solution for payments via mobile phones. With the February 2005 addition of these new operators Simpay now has members in 20 European countries.
According to the company, Simpay will allow, for example, an Orange subscriber from the UK to buy content from any participating merchant and have the payment show on his or her Orange account. The merchant could be based in Spain, and need not have a commercial relationship with Orange. Similarly the merchant in Spain, via a single commercial deal and technical interface with a single Simpay mobile operator, will be able to transact with every consumer of every operator participating in Simpay, says the company
Is Simpay destined to become the de facto standard for mobile payments? Said Mr. Wadsworth: "Simpay will co-exist with other payment solutions; we do not require exclusivity so member operators will continue to use their own payment solution, pSMS etc., when appropriate. Simpay does aim to become the de facto standard for payments for digital content on the mobile Internet -- and the first interoperable, borderless system in the world."
From Contactless News.com Simpay brings mobile payments to 70 million users in 20 countries .
Payment by cell phone is about to get a big boost from an association of Europe's largest mobile phone operators. In February, after two years of testing, Simpay announced specific launch dates for its payment product.
"Simpay launches in Spain in Quarter Two of this year, and in Belgium and the UK by Quarter 4, 2005," said Jim Wadsworth, Simpay's chief marketing officer. Further announcements are expected later this year for launches in other European counties in 2006.
Simpay is the branded name of the Mobile Payments Services Association, a nonprofit association created in 2003 and located in London. Its four founding members -- Orange, Telefónica Móviles, T-Mobile and Vodafone -- represent some 300 million customers. This year, two other companies joined Simpay: Amena, serving 9 million Spanish subscribers, and Proximus, which services 99% of the Belgian population.
The overall objective of Simpay is to create an open and interoperable framework for mobile payments. Its aim is to deliver an open, commonly branded solution for payments via mobile phones. With the February 2005 addition of these new operators Simpay now has members in 20 European countries.
According to the company, Simpay will allow, for example, an Orange subscriber from the UK to buy content from any participating merchant and have the payment show on his or her Orange account. The merchant could be based in Spain, and need not have a commercial relationship with Orange. Similarly the merchant in Spain, via a single commercial deal and technical interface with a single Simpay mobile operator, will be able to transact with every consumer of every operator participating in Simpay, says the company
Is Simpay destined to become the de facto standard for mobile payments? Said Mr. Wadsworth: "Simpay will co-exist with other payment solutions; we do not require exclusivity so member operators will continue to use their own payment solution, pSMS etc., when appropriate. Simpay does aim to become the de facto standard for payments for digital content on the mobile Internet -- and the first interoperable, borderless system in the world."
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
I Was Just Talking About This
I don't want to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT. I was just mentioning how Virgin could dominate the music download space, gain mobile customers and capture the valuable 18-34 yr old market at the same time.
Make the Virgin MegaStore mobile with a Virgin Mobile phone service.
I state my reasoning here.
It would be huge if they implement.
Could this be the "killer app" that drives 3G in the States?
Would every service provider want to offer this ability?
Sprint, Verizon wanting an application that generates data revenue. The ability to download music anywhere, anytime with your cellphone?
From Silicon.com Virgin Megastores to shake-up music download market.
Virgin Retail, known for its Megastores brand in the UK, is to launch a digital music download service above and beyond current Virgin offerings.
Tony Johnson, CIO of Virgin Retail, told silicon.com the company is currently working on "a very compelling offer" which consumers will be presented with in "weeks rather than months" – though he was tight-lipped on many of the details.
Adam Thomas, media research manager at analyst firm Informa, told silicon.com: "Virgin is very well placed to offer a download service, as its music assets offer great opportunities for cross-promotion."
Johnson told silicon.com the company will be focusing more on a subscription-based model, offering customers the opportunity to listen to as much music as they like for a monthly fee – a move which Informa's Thomas believes makes the most sense.
However, Johnson would only offer a 'wait-and-see' response to questions on whether the service will be offered in association with other Virgin businesses, most notably Virgin Mobile, which further down the line would enable it to compete in the market for downloads over handsets.
Certainly closer co-operation with Virgin Mobile would make sense and could prove very lucrative, according to Informa's Thomas.
"In the mobile sector, Virgin targets a younger demographic than many of its competitors, which could also give it an edge in terms of reaching its target audience."
Vodafone today demonstrated the extent of demand for music downloads on mobile with the announcement that it has hit the million-download mark for users of its 3G services since November 2004.
Virgin mobile doesn't currently offer 3G services, though its network, provided by T-Mobile, does provide it with the capability to roll out such services in the future.
And Thomas believes it is important Virgin embraces one service across its brands if it is to increase its chances of success.
For example, while the current 7Digital service for V2 does offer micro-payments via SMS, Virgin Mobile users are actually blocked from using that option, along with those on 3, while Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone customers are free to pay by reverse-billed text.
Informa's Thomas said: "Virgin has suffered in the past because its various companies have had a reputation for wanting to work independently of each other. But if they've now found a way to co-operate, then the service will have a much better chance of success."
Make the Virgin MegaStore mobile with a Virgin Mobile phone service.
I state my reasoning here.
It would be huge if they implement.
Could this be the "killer app" that drives 3G in the States?
Would every service provider want to offer this ability?
Sprint, Verizon wanting an application that generates data revenue. The ability to download music anywhere, anytime with your cellphone?
From Silicon.com Virgin Megastores to shake-up music download market.
Virgin Retail, known for its Megastores brand in the UK, is to launch a digital music download service above and beyond current Virgin offerings.
Tony Johnson, CIO of Virgin Retail, told silicon.com the company is currently working on "a very compelling offer" which consumers will be presented with in "weeks rather than months" – though he was tight-lipped on many of the details.
Adam Thomas, media research manager at analyst firm Informa, told silicon.com: "Virgin is very well placed to offer a download service, as its music assets offer great opportunities for cross-promotion."
Johnson told silicon.com the company will be focusing more on a subscription-based model, offering customers the opportunity to listen to as much music as they like for a monthly fee – a move which Informa's Thomas believes makes the most sense.
However, Johnson would only offer a 'wait-and-see' response to questions on whether the service will be offered in association with other Virgin businesses, most notably Virgin Mobile, which further down the line would enable it to compete in the market for downloads over handsets.
Certainly closer co-operation with Virgin Mobile would make sense and could prove very lucrative, according to Informa's Thomas.
"In the mobile sector, Virgin targets a younger demographic than many of its competitors, which could also give it an edge in terms of reaching its target audience."
Vodafone today demonstrated the extent of demand for music downloads on mobile with the announcement that it has hit the million-download mark for users of its 3G services since November 2004.
Virgin mobile doesn't currently offer 3G services, though its network, provided by T-Mobile, does provide it with the capability to roll out such services in the future.
And Thomas believes it is important Virgin embraces one service across its brands if it is to increase its chances of success.
For example, while the current 7Digital service for V2 does offer micro-payments via SMS, Virgin Mobile users are actually blocked from using that option, along with those on 3, while Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone customers are free to pay by reverse-billed text.
Informa's Thomas said: "Virgin has suffered in the past because its various companies have had a reputation for wanting to work independently of each other. But if they've now found a way to co-operate, then the service will have a much better chance of success."
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