March 4, 2016

Marco Rigon

Marco Rigon is Paris-based global head of Mobext

Mobile World Congress 2016 has been an inspiring event for those involved in mobile advertising.

The Barcelona, Spain-based conference provided a great forum for catching up with the latest developments, including programmatic mobile, location-based targeting and, crucially, the need for creativity to justify interrupting consumers’ very personal mobile experiences.

Remember, mobile users average 3 hours and 40 minutes each day on their phones, longer than we probably devote to eating, cycling or intimacy.

So here are my top takeaways for marketers to stay relevant for mobile users.

1. Think user-centric, not site-centric, advertising on mobile

The programmatic trend has hit mobile. This year, a huge number of players from the programmatic world came to MWC, including Sizmek and its mobile platform StrikeAd, Rubicon Project and AOL.

Audience planning and accurate targeting are clearly moving center-stage in mobile marketing, too.

Mobile programmatic is a new user-centric approach, combining data to activate true audience planning.

Until now, the mobile industry had a site-centric approach.

If you wanted to reach affluent people in Paris, you put something on Le Monde’s site.

Now we know that when this same affluent person is getting bored waiting for his plane, he is playing Candy Crush. So it is worth reaching out to him on Candy Crush because that is where he has time available and is more receptive to the message.

The beauty of programmatic is that none of this data is personally identifiable.

2. See where consumers go and find out who they are

Location-based marketing is a growing area of mobile advertising and one that no other media can replicate.

See where your consumers are going, understand who they are and how to speak to them.

For marketers, the ability to know at all times where users are located opens extraordinary opportunities.

In addition, not only does GPS data provides great insights about users, but this data can also be activated to create actionable audience segments based on real behavior.

By gathering location – life spaces – and immediate usage data, we know so much.

Every morning before 8 a.m., an average user logs on through an IP address in Brooklyn, New York. He must live there.

Between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., he arrives in Midtown Manhattan, where he buys a bagel. This information interests Dunkin’ Donuts. He bought a Starbucks coffee through its application, and then worked all day on Park Avenue. He is a CSP+ category consumer.

We even know that every year in June, he visits Barcelona for a week. We know a lot about this person, but not his name. Imagine the marketing possibilities.

3. Mobile apps and experiences beat ad blocking

Ad blocking has been much discussed last week in Barcelona.

Of course, the best way to tackle ad blocking is to stop annoying people. This does not mean you need to stop advertising, but you have to be relevant and you have to give value to the user.

Remember, ad blocking affects sites but does not touch mobile apps at all. For brands, this means creating a new marketing paradigm.

Mobile creates considerable value by generating new and sustainable business models such as Nike + and Starbucks Mobile Order and Pay system.

Above all, we need to help marketers develop mobile experiences that create value and build long-term relationships with consumers.

4. A true cross-device approach starts with mobile

Mobile-first creativity is one of the keys to success.

You cannot go cross-channel and simply transfer a Web campaign to mobile. You must start from where people are spending the most time – mobile – and simplify for where they are spending less time – the Web.

Forget boring banners and things that make no sense for the user.

In addition, mobile allows you to capture sensors from gyroscope, camera, the pinch screen to zoom in and out and, soon, Virtual Reality and 360 video.

For example, an immersive car ad using the gyroscope puts you inside the vehicle looking round as it is driving along. Try doing that with a laptop.

5. The opportunity to seize is mobile video

The explosion of mobile video has transformed the way content is consumed and shared on mobile platforms.

Nowadays, social content is inherently mobile, allowing users to live instant experiences. Periscope and Meerkat come to mind.

YouTube and Facebook rack up millions of hours of views. Snapchat has realized that vertical video is the future, since most of us use mobile in the vertical orientation. This is preferable to landscape orientation, which leaves empty blocks on either side of the screen – which brands are paying for and people are not looking at.

The TEADS stand at MWC highlighted its native video offer. Pre-roll advertising is not the right way forward. Pre-roll on mobile is even more annoying than on the Web.

Instead, consider “inRead” formats, with video positioned in premium content and only launching when in view on the screen. Then consumers are led to a full mobile experience afterwards. This is much more user-friendly.

MWC GIVES ME hope that mobile advertising is moving in the right direction.

Marketers are putting the needs of the audience at the heart of their strategies.

A new focus on creativity as a way of engaging with consumers through mobile, combined with the use of data for better targeting, is just the boost that mobile advertising needs.

Having said all that, the truth is that mobile will probably be obsolete in 15 years’ time.

This inert object that we check 200 times per day will be forgotten because of mobility.

Mobility is itself on the move, becoming part of the cityscape through the Internet of Things and Smart Cities and, at the same time, becoming intimate with humans through wearables such as watches and shoes.

Tomorrow, mobile will become our second skin, fully connected. So now is the time for brands to truly get to grips with mobile as the future beckons.

Marco Rigon is Paris-based global head of Mobext, Havas’ mobile marketing agency. Reach him at marco.rigon@mobext.com.

August 4, 2015 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

#Infographie : Les applis mobiles, premier investissement des entreprises en marketing digital – Maddyness

#Infographie : Les applis mobiles, premier investissement des entreprises en marketing digital – Maddyness.

La dernière étude réalisée par Valtech et Adobe auprès de plus de 300 directeurs et responsables marketing dresse un état des lieux des logiques d’investissements et des grands enjeux du marketing digital en 2015. Retour sur l’infographie qui dessine les tendances digitales de ces derniers mois.

Depuis quatre ans, Valtech et Adobe cherchent à retranscrire les préoccupations et les attentes des directions marketing, tout en identifiant les postes d’investissement des prochains mois dans un baromètre du marketing digital. Autant d’informations nécessaires pour dresser le panorama d’un écosystème qui évolue rapidement.

L’enquête, menée auprès plus de 300 directeurs et responsables marketing d’entreprises de toutes tailles confirme une tendance forte : les applications mobiles constituent le premier poste d’investissement devant l’e-commerce, le brand et content management, le social media et le data marketing. Autre information : la part du marketing digital gagne 3% entre 2014 et 2015 dans le budget marketing global.

Côté indicateurs, les clics semblent (pour 181 d’entre eux) importer plus que le nombre de visites (169) ou encore la conversion (155). Les initiatives mobiles mises en place concernent pour 41 des répondants le responsive design, les applications mobiles (32) et les sites mobile (27). Quant au parcours cross canal, il sera principalement optimisé grâce à des e-mailings performants et à des sms qualitatifs, principaux leviers d’acquisition, devant la publicité et le SEO.

Qui tient les rênes de l’investissement en marketing digital ? Le marketing se hisse à la première place du classement (50%) devant le digital (35%) et l’IT (15%). La data récoltée est quant à elle majoritairement utilisée pour améliorer la connaissance client, pour mieux cibler et segmenter son audience et enfin pour mieux personnaliser ses communications.

« Ce baromètre confirme nos observations sur le terrain : la complexification croissante du digital s’accompagne d’une volonté de plus en plus importante de la part des marques de mieux le comprendre et de l’intégrer à leur stratégie globale. L’augmentation du ROI des stratégies digitales, et notamment des stratégies mobiles, nous renseigne quant à l’évolution des budgets marketing globaux en faveur du digital », développe Christophe Marée, Directeur Marketing Digital chez Adobe.

barometre marketing digital

Les résultats complets de cette étude sont disponibles sur le site de Valtech

À relire : #Digital : Quelles seront les tendances de l’e-marketing en 2015 ?

June 14, 2015 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

10ème Baromètre du Marketing Mobile : Wearables = 1,5 millions d’unités prévues (soit près de 4 fois plus qu’en 2014)

La Mobile Marketing Association France publie la neuvième édition du Baromètre trimestriel du Marketing Mobile, en partenariat avec comScore, GfK, Médiamétrie.

Cette nouvelle édition du Baromètre Trimestriel de la Mobile Marketing Association France s’enrichit de nombreux nouveaux indicateurs et met en évidence l’importance du Mobile sous un jour nouveau :

Pour la seule année 2015, plus de 25 millions de Smartphones et Tablettes vont être vendus en France : un record de ventes absolu pour le Mobile,
Avec près de 1,5 millions d’unités prévues (soit près de 4 fois plus qu’en 2014) les wearables (accessoires portables intelligents) font une entrée remarquée sur le marché du Mobile,
Les 20 applications les plus utilisées dépassent toutes désormais les 4,5 millions d’utilisateurs uniques et poussent le Mobile vers le statut de premier média digital et bientôt toutes catégories,
Le Mobile joue un rôle de plus en plus important dans les expériences d’achat, avec, par exemple, 8 millions de Français qui prennent des photos de produit en magasin !

« 2015 se révèle être une année à la fois de prise de pouvoir et de renouveau pour le mobile : montée en puissance de tous les indicateurs de ventes, de pénétration et de monétisation, renouveau car de nouveaux supports (wearables…) et de nouveaux usages (Commerce Mobile) viennent créer de toutes nouvelles opportunités pour les marques » précise Philippe Dumont, Rapporteur de la Commission Application et Site Mobile de la Mobile Marketing Association France.

Le Baromètre du Marketing Mobile, élaboré en collaboration avec les instituts comScore, GfK et Médiamétrie, est mis à jour trimestriellement et est composé d’une trentaine d’indicateurs clés.

Le Baromètre du Marketing Mobile a pour objectif de décrypter de manière indépendante les usages et de quantifier l’importance du mobile pour des dizaines de millions de Français. Il présente notamment les dynamiques clés du marché, le profil des Français qui utilisent régulièrement leur Smartphone et leur Tablette et permet ainsi aux entreprises de mieux évaluer les opportunités de développer leur présence sur ce média.

Le Baromètre du Marketing Mobile est disponible gratuitement sur le site de la Mobile Marketing Association France www.mmaf.fr sous forme d’infographie dans la rubrique « Actualités MMA France ». Il est possible de s’abonner au Baromètre du Marketing Mobile complet dans la rubrique « Publications » ou directement depuis le lien raccourci : http://nq.st/mmaf

February 10, 2015 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

Apps en 2015: 80% du temps mobile. |Thomas Husson (Forrester) Viuz

Thomas Husson (Forrester) : 5 constats et 5 tendances pour l’Apps Marketing en 2015 | Viuz.

Même si les Apps représentent 80% du temps mobile. Elles ne constituent pas la panacée pour les marques. Dans une étude publiée par Forrester, Thomas Husson analyse le cas spécifique des Apps de marque et nous livre ces 5 tendances en termes d’Apps marketing en 2015.

1- Trop d’Apps non pertinentes sont lancées

Plusieurs marques dans différentes industries ont confié à Forrester avoir lancé plus de 150 Apps ne générant que quelques centaines de téléchargements.

Parallélement des marques comme Starbucks ou Nike + training club qui a généré 16 millions de téléchargement ont réussi leur percée dans les Appstores et auprès du grand public.

Selon Forrester, il faut lancer moins d’Apps, offrir des expériences contextuelles et surtout connecter et personnaliser les Apps en les liant à la base CRM des sociétés.

2- Une minorité d’Apps offre de réelles expériences d’engagement

Seuls 9 Apps sur les 100 de l’index Forrester appartiennent à la catégorie “Addictive” . Ce sont souvent des Apps sociales comme Facebook, Snapchat, Pinterest, Instagram et What’sApps.

3- Les consommateurs passent la majorité de leur temps sur un nombre restreint d’Apps

image: http://www.viuz.com/wp-content/uploads/Etude-Forrester-temps-pass%C3%A9-sur-les-Apps-facebook-snapchat-youtube-google-Q4-2014.png

Si les consommateurs américains et anglais utilisent en moyenne 24 apps par mois, ils passent en réalité 80% de leurs temps sur 5 apps sur leur smartphone et 56% sur 3 apps sur tablette aux US.

Peu d’Apps peuvent légitimement revendiquer le statut d’Apps “Plein écran” dans les foyers. Il vaut mieux emprunter son chemin à travers les applications mobiles les plus populaires souligne Forrester.

4- Les Apps mobile n’ont pas remplacé le Web Mobile

48% des utilisateurs accèdent au Web via leurs terminaux mobiles en France et 56% des utilisateurs américains utilisent Google une fois par semaine sur leur téléphone contre 57% pour les Apps . Par ailleurs précise Forrester, la majorité du traffic shopping va sur le webmobile.

L’institut d’étude appelle donc à une stratégie différenciée entre le Webmobile et les Apps natives. A l’heure actuelle seuls 48% des marketers ont adopté cette stratégie différenciée.

5- La plupart des Apps ne générent pas de revenus significatifs

60% des développeurs d’Apps gagnent moins de 500 dollars par mois. La majorité des revenus restent aujourd’hui encore concentrés chez les grands éditeurs de jeux mobiles.

Même si les marketers n’ont pas tous des objectifs immédiats de monétisation, Forrester recommande d’utiliser les In Apps purchase et le pricing contextuel afin d’améliorer les performances des Applications de marques à la manière d’Hotel Tonight et de quantifier la Total Value des Apps mobiles : préférence de marque, satisfaction client, et valeur accrue sur les canaux offline et les magasins physiques.

Enfin, parmi les grandes tendances 2015 pour l’Apps marketing Forrester isole les tendances suivantes

1- Les Apps à reach massif se transformeront en plateformes marketing

Les Apps sociales et les Apps de messagerie permettront aux marques d’offrir des expériences plus riches au sein de leurs Apps. (cf. L’intégration d’Uber dans Google Maps ou, en chine, la réservation de Taxi Didi Cache au sein de Snapchat, la Fourchette dans Trip Advisor).

L’institut d’étude recommande par ailleurs aux marques de travailler les Apps Extensions et les notifications afin d’exploiter les micro-moments et être visible, hors Apps, sur les terminaux et l’écran d’accueil des smartphones des utilisateurs.

2- Google et Twitter vont s’attaquer au lead de Facebook dans les Apps Install

Google va accélérer ses offres d’ Apps Install de même que Twitter avec ses nouvelles offres issues de ses rachat de MoPub et Crashalytics.

Mais, selon Forrester, le CPI (Cost Per Install) ne devrait pas pour autant décliner. En un an il a progressé de 59% (soure Fiksu). Parallèlement aux dispositifs d’installation, les marques doivent investir dans l’Apps Store optimisation (ASO) et les Appstore Analytics recommande Thomas Husson.

3- Les dégroupage des Apps (Apps Unbundling) va forcer les directeurs marketing à revoir leurs stratégies

Le dégroupage accéléré ccommencé dans les Apps Facebook touche également Google, LinkedIn et Foursquare.

Pour les marques en revanche, la question d’une Apps par segment dotée de fonctionnalités limitées reste complexe et doit apprécier au cas par cas. Forrester note cependant un mouvement de réduction du nombre d’Apps dans certains groupes, comme ESPN qui est passé de 50 à 10 Apps l’année dernière.

4- Le Deep Linking devrait simplifier l’experience des Apps et l’exécution du marketing mobile

Cette indexation mobile et la capacité à fournir de vraies réponses In Apps, en une “touch”, est actuellement mis en avant par des Start-Ups comme URX et Quixey mais aussi par Google, Facebook et Twitter (suite au rachat de Tap Commerce).

Attention toutefois, comme le souligne Forrester, le deep linking est encore loin d’être un standard…Il convient d’expérimenter plusieurs solutions avant de faire un choix définitif.

5- L’Apps retargeting permettra d’optimiser ses campagnes mobiles

Déja très utilisées par les editeurs de jeux mobiles, ces possibilités marketing offertes par Facebook, Twitter, Criteo et Apps Flyer permettent d’isoler les utilisateurs les plus loyaux, maximiser le ré-engagement au sein des Apps tout en monetisant la base de clients existants et optimiser les budget marketing mobile.

En savoir plus sur http://www.viuz.com/2015/02/09/thomas-husson-forrester-5-constats-et-5-tendances-pour-lapps-marketing-en-2015/#JXFpey0cQoxmq16v.99

January 29, 2014 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

Top 10 mobile advertising campaigns of 2013 – Advertising – Mobile Marketer

Top 10 mobile advertising campaigns of 2013 – Advertising – Mobile Marketer.

Macy’s mobile campaign

This year, Macy’s, Ford and McDonald’s led the pack in big brands leveraging new types of mobile advertising that up the ante in mobile’s potential to propel brand awareness and revenue streams.

The most innovative uses of mobile advertising in 2013 centered around add-ons or alternatives to banners, signaling a significant drop-off in brands solely allocating budgets towards standard display ads. In particular, marketers stepped up their campaigns in the second half of the year with new forms of rich media, social media integration and behavioral data.

Here are the top 10 mobile advertising campaigns of 2013, in alphabetical order.

Campbell Soup Co. ties personalized ad buys to in-store sales lift in new pilot
Consumer packaged good brands kickstarted mobile efforts this year after being seen as a slow-moving industry in the past.

One of the main goals behind the increase in mobile spend from CPG brands is to tie a mobile advertisement to a consumer’s past purchasing behavior, which Campbell’s did in March for its Pace brand.

The Campbell’s ad

Campbell’s used a new mobile advertising platform with Catalina Marketing to examine how brand advertising translates into in-store sales. The initiative leveraged shopper data to work around the lack of a mobile cookie and deliver personalized mobile ads.

The Campbell’s campaign highlights the efforts that many CPG brands may put into motion in 2014 to measure mobile’s impact in driving sales and influencing a shopper in real-time while in a grocery store.

Fiat sees 80pc completion rate for video in rich media ad
Fiat was one of many brands that harnessed video and rich media this year for a campaign that supported the launch of the four-door Fiat 500L.

The automaker worked with Jumptap to run interstitial ads for both smartphones and tablets. The ad included a photo gallery, a 360-degree view of the car, a feature that swapped out the color of the car, a video and a location-based dealership finder.

The Fiat tablet ad

To unlock the ad, consumers had to drag the car across the screen with their finger.

Jumptap claims that the 80 percent completion rate of the Fiat campaign is double the industry average.

The increase in short-form video from apps such as Instagram and Vine this year is fueling consumers’ appetite for video content, and Fiat’s campaign is an example of how marketers are increasingly making video a core part of mobile campaigns.

Ford Fiesta sees 8.76 CTR with CAPTCHA alternative campaign
Ford spiced up its mobile advertising this year with a campaign that played off the traditional CAPTCHA verifications that publishers and Web sites use to check if a user is a human.

The campaign is running through 2013 on 3,200 of Are YouHuman’s sites. In November, the campaign was generating an average interaction time of 8.2 seconds.

Ford’s mobile ad

Ford’s mobile CAPTCHA ads ask consumers to pack up a Ford Fiesta or drive the car by dragging it with a finger.

As mobile traffic continues to grow for publishers, an alternative to the typical CAPTCHA is an interesting way for Ford to engage with consumers.

Hershey’s Scharffen Berger tests homescreen mobile ads for brand-building
Hershey’s Scharffen Berger was one a few different brands to test a new type of ad unit this year that takes over a mobile device’s homescreen.

Scharffen Berger worked with mobile application Locket to promote a wine and chocolate tasting with 12 different ads. Each time that a consumer opened up their mobile device, they were served a different ad.

Hershey tries the mobile homescreen

Consumers who downloaded the Locket app could make the app their default lock screen and then choose to interact with ads or swipe them away.

Homescreen ads played a big role for marketers this year in grabbing consumers’ attention outside of basic banner ads that only take up a portion of the screen. Although these types of ads are difficult to scale, they can be an effective alternative for brand advertisers looking to run full-page creative.

JackThreads ramps up mobile retargeting strategy to capture holiday sales
Daily deal site JackThreads ran a mobile retargeting advertising campaign this fall that targeted consumers who had downloaded the retailer’s app.

The retailer followed users that browsed, searched or added an item to a shopping cart but did not checkout.

The JackThreads ad

Consumers were then served mobile ads within apps such as Pandora and The Weather Channel with creative relative to their in-app activity.

JackThreads worked with ActionX on the campaign. ActionX claims that click-through rates on these types of ads are two to three timeshigher than a typical mobile ad. With marketers increasingly looking to make the most of a banner ad, pushing personalized offers through creative is an creative way for retailers to drive app retention and ultimately sales.

JetBlue differentiates mobile ad efforts via voice recognition
JetBlue was the first brand in the United States to leverage a new voice-activated ad this year.

The airline and mediahub/Mullen partnered with Mobile Theory on the ads, which appeared as collapsed ads within mobile sites and apps.

JetBlue’s ad talks back

When consumers clicked on the ads, they were prompted to learn how to speak like a pigeon, and they could speak a sentence into the microphone of their mobile device. Once two full sentences werecompleted, a virtual medal was given to consumers and they had the option to replay the game.

Up until recently, the focus on alternatives to banner ads has focused on playing up touch interactions such as rich media. However, voice can also be appealing for marketers that want to make mobile ads more interactive.

Macy’s nails interactive ad campaign to strengthen mcommerce strategy
Macy’s continually tests new ad units to drive in-store traffic and online sales, and in September the retailer ran an interactive mobile game that incorporated word recognition to promote a one-day sale.

The retailer’s ad included a built-in game that asked consumers to type in words such as “bag” and “shoes” that were associated with Macy’s merchandise.

Macy’s taps gamification

When consumers clicked on the ad, they were directed to Macy’s mobile site where the sale was promoted.

By mixing a game into its ad, the goal behind the campaign was to ultimately drive traffic to and sales from Macy’s mobile site by first building brand awareness through word association.

McDonald’s beefs up mobile social ads on Facebook with rich media
Similar to Macy’s, McDonald’s is a brand to constantly watch in the mobile advertising space since the QSR regularly taps mobile to get the word out about promotions and new products.

In October, McDonald’s launched its first mobile ad campaign that marries rich media and social media. Rich media mobile ads were placed in Facebook and Twitter mobile apps and the National Football League mobile site.

A screenshot from the McDonald’s campaign

A bigger campaign around the launch of McDonald’s Mighty Wings featured NFL quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick as culprits who may have stolen the wings. Via the mobile ad, consumers could learn more about the seven suspects who were accused of stealing the wings.

The ad also pulled in a store locator feature so that consumers could find a restaurant to try the Mighty Wings.

Now that QSRs have established a solid presence in using mobile advertising to drive foot traffic, the next big push for many of these companies is to pump up the creativity around store locators with fun and interactive ads.

Pinkberry drives in-store product launch trial via mobile advertising
Frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry launched a location-based ad campaign that served up mobile coupons to lure nearby consumers into stores in April.

The ads ran within the Pandora iPhone app with creative that showed consumers how many miles away they were from a Pinkberry location.

Pinkberry serves up mobile coupons

When clicked on, a landing page presented an offer for $1 off of agreek yogurt product. The landing page also included directions and a click-to-call option.

The coupon was redeemable by showing a screen grab of the ad at the point-of-sale.

As marketers increasingly look to make mobile ads more contextual and relevant to consumers, location and targeted data has been one of the biggest growth areas in the industry this year.

Taco Bell flaunts Happier Hour campaign through interactive iAd push
Taco Bell betted big on mobile advertising to drive in-store traffic this year with a campaign to promote drink discounts.

In April, Taco Bell ran an iAd as part of the marketing push behind Happier Hour when consumers could buy Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze drinks for $1 from 2 to 5 p.m.

Taco Bell loads iAd with calls-to-action

The brand’s interactive advertising campaign included location and time-targeted calendar reminders and the ability to send animated emails that reminded consumers about the promotion.

Driving traffic to a location is the ultimate goal of all QSRs, and Taco Bell’s campaign with multiple calls-to-action shows the variety of options that marketers have in helping pushing a consumer into a store.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York

Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer. Reach her at lauren@mobilemarketer.com.

August 4, 2013 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

Mobile Photo Sharing Ecosystem – Business Insider

Mobile Photo Sharing Ecosystem – Business Insider.

BI Intelligence

The digital camera feature has been a major driver of mobile phone sales for a decade. But Instagram’s sale to Facebook last year was a watershed moment for the mobile photo-sharing industry.

Among other things, it showed that a mobile-first photo sharing service could be worth $1 billion [≈ box office sales of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982] dollars, and that the app store economy could grow a photo-focused social network at speeds so alarming that an incumbent — in this case, Facebook — would be prompted to neutralize the threat by acquiring it.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, we take a fresh look at the mobile photo-sharing industry and analyze data to see how Instagram has fared since they were acquired, study a few rising competitors including Snapchat, look at how mobile start-ups and established Web-centric businesses are monetizing camera and photo-sharing apps, and examine opportunities for brands to use their engaging networks.

To access the full report, sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today >>>

Here’s a brief overview of the mobile photo-sharing ecosystem:

Instagram is still on top: As part of its new video feature announcement this month, Instagram revealed that it now has 130 million users, who have shared some 16 billion photos. That’s up from 5 billion photos when the Facebook deal closed last September, suggesting a monthly average of more than 1 billion photos shared, or a daily average of more than 40 million photos.
But others, like Snapchat, are certainly worth watching rising: There are a crop of fast-growing mobile messaging services that include photo-sharing as a core feature. Snapchat stands out as particularly photo-focused, and has an ultra-youthful user base. The company revealed that its users are sending 200 million “snaps” daily, up from 150 million a couple of months ago. The Flickr iPhone app has rebounded in recent months, and Twitter’s Vine service — 6-second looping movies — aren’t photos, but they’re casually shot and shared the same way mobile photos are. Thanks to Twitter’s support, Vine has been a top 10 app for the past three months, and has already picked up13 million downloads.
There are various different ways to monetize in the land of a thousand camera apps: Instagram was not the first photo app with filters, and it was hardly the last. A glance at the iPhone App Store, for example, shows hundreds of different types of camera apps, each with its own utility, some without social pretensions. Different monetization categories include paid or freemium apps with one-time purchases to unlock features, free apps bolted onto a paid or freemium Web-based services, free apps designed to build a social network, and ad-supported services and subscription services billed through an app.
And brands are figuring out how to get in on the action: Many memorable social brand activities have been image- or photo-related, such as the now-famous Oreo ad tweeted during this year’s Super Bowl blackout. These sorts of stunts can provide incredible value if they go viral, generating millions of impressions — with a positive spin — for much less money than a traditional ad placement. Instagram in particular has grown as a place where brands can build significant followings and engagement, sharing beautiful photos and images with their fans on a daily basis. Starbucks, for example, has attracted 1.3 million followers on Instagram, and routinely passes 50,000 “likes” per photo.

July 2, 2013July 2, 2013 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

Mobile Marketing 2013

January 1, 2013 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

Ads on smartphones growing, but marketers still learning mobile medium – chicagotribune.com

Ads on smartphones growing, but marketers still learning mobile medium – chicagotribune.com.

By Ameet Sachdev, Chicago Tribune reporter

December 25, 2012

Ads on smartphones are so small that an irritating problem has emerged: “fat finger” syndrome. The ailment is caused by accidentally clicking on a banner ad as your finger scrolls through a mobile website or app.

Google, a big seller of mobile ads, has come up with a makeshift cure: If your finger merely slides on the outer border of an ad, the search giant will prompt you to verify whether you meant to click on it.

The blip says a lot about the state of mobile advertising. Advertisers are spending more money on mobile marketing, but the tracking and measurement tools are still immature. Smaller screens also are challenging marketers to come up with creative and innovative ways to reach consumers without annoying them with tiny banner ads.

So far, the powerful promise of mobile, offering the opportunity to pop relevant deals onscreen at the moment consumers are in the time and place to spend, has gone largely unrealized. Technology companies like Google Inc., marketers and advertising firms have tested advances such as geolocation, but adoption has been limited.

“Mobile advertising is in a really weird place right now,” said Melissa Parrish, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, the technology research firm. “Is it online paid advertising made little? That’s the way it’s largely been approached. But in 2013, I hope (advertisers) start to move beyond that thinking. Mobile is special.”

The highest concentration of smartphone users is the 25 to 34 age group, one of the most coveted demographics for advertisers. Overall, 45 percent of American adults have a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center.

The rapid penetration of smartphones — Apple introduced the iPhone just five years ago — has created a new medium that marketers have scrambled to learn. One research firm estimates that in 2012 mobile ad spending will nearly triple what was spent last year, topping $4 billion. Despite the explosive growth, businesses are devoting a relatively small piece of their total advertising dollars to mobile ads — 2.4 percent this year, according to eMarketer, which tracks display, search and messaged-based ads.

But eMarketer predicts mobile will grow 77 percent next year and reach an 11 percent share of total U.S. ad spending by 2016, overtaking radio and newspapers and making up more than one-third of all digital advertising.

“Mobile has seemingly always been in test mode,” said Kurt Unkel, president of the VivaKi Nerve Center, a research and development arm within the Publicis Groupe, a French advertising firm. “But there does seem to be momentum based on volume and key companies focused on mobile.”

Those companies include the tech giants familiar to everyone: Google and Facebook. A lot of the growth this year in mobile advertising has been fueled by Facebook, which reported $152 million in mobile ad revenues in the third quarter after starting from scratch this year. It generated 14 percent of its total advertising revenue from mobile.

Facebook is just beginning to tap the potential in mobile. The social network says 60 percent of its active users log in on phones.

Growth in mobile ads

( Tribune, Tribune / December 24, 2012 )

Google, parent of Motorola Mobility, is the largest player in mobile ads because of its dominance in the $2 billion mobile search market. The company says it’s on track to generate $8 billion a year from mobile ads and apps and media sold through its Google Play store.

A big challenge for publishers and other ad sellers is that advertisers pay less for ads on mobile devices than for online ads on desktops. There are several reasons. There is more supply of mobile ad space than there are buyers. And it is harder to track whether people make a purchase after they see a mobile ad.

But smartphones offer marketers something that desktops don’t: the ability to target users on the go. Advertisers are trying to figure out what consumers want when they are on the train, walking down the street or sitting in a coffee shop — and squeeze it into a small screen.

Deerfield-based Walgreen Co. has used mobile ads to encourage consumers to download its smartphone application for refilling prescriptions and editing and ordering photos. The drugstore chain also is targeting special offers to its mobile customers. On Black Friday, for example, Walgreen plugged in a digital “scratch off” game into its mobile app that provided discounts for Starbucks coffee products.

The goals of the app are to increase customer engagement and drive consumers into stores, said Tim McCauley, senior director of mobile commerce at Walgreen.

The app, while it brings a lot of utility to Walgreen customers, also serves as an ad for the retailer, said Unkel of VivaKi.

“Apps are becoming the brand experience for consumers,” Unkel said. “To me, that’s the most compelling thing in mobile as it relates to advertising.”

Also gaining traction in mobile advertising are targeting consumers by location to take advantage of GPS features on mobile devices. Foursquare, a mobile check-in app, has begun selling ads to merchants to provide loyal customers with coupons or updates about new products. The next big thing in location-based ads is matching place with consumer behavior so people receive relevant coupons or daily deals.

“Mobile is presenting new marketing opportunities that never existed before,” said Greg Stuart, chief executive of the Mobile Marketing Association. “Consumers have changed, and marketers have to catch up.”

May 30, 2012 huguesrey Curated by I'm A Bridge

Mobile Drives Direct Response for Other Ad Channels – eMarketer

Mobile Drives Direct Response for Other Ad Channels – eMarketer.

Mobile Drives Direct Response for Other Ad Channels

MAY 30, 2012

In-store ads drive more mobile response than print

The US is still several years away from seeing a smartphone in every pocket, but the rise of mobile and the fast adoption of smartphones have led to many consumers going everywhere with their very own direct-response tool. With the device, they use calls to action from other media to get more information—and sometimes even make a purchase—immediately, wherever they are.

As the habit of pulling out a phone to respond to ads takes hold, some media are enjoying faster uptake than others. According to March 2012 research from Google, conducted by Ipsos MediaCT and TNS Infratest, 43% of smartphone owners used their device to search in response to television ads at least monthly. Nearly as many, 40%, searched in response to ads they saw in stores.

Searching based on magazine ads and out-of-home ads like posters was less common, but seems likely to increase as smartphone owners get more and more used to pulling out their device to get information—increasingly prompted in these media by 2-D barcodes, as well.

Typically, respondents reported researching products on their smartphone while either at home (58%) or generally “on the go” (43%), followed by in a store (31%), making retail locations the No. 1 single out-of-home place for smartphone owners to take action.

Meanwhile, the locations of online ads noticed on mobile devices shifted between July 2011 and March 2012 toward a greater emphasis on general website ads as well as in-app ads. Respondents were somewhat less likely to notice ads in March on search engines or on retailer websites.

These shifts are part of a maturing mobile ad market, which eMarketer estimates will reach $2.6 billion in the US this year. Such ads have so far enjoyed click rates higher than those on desktop websites, a fact many have chalked up to their novelty. As that novelty continues to wear off, smart marketers will look to mobile’s potential for generating responses to ads in other channels as well as within mobile advertising itself.