A recent headline in the business section of The Evening Standard heralded that ‘mobile is the new battleground in internet gold rush’ with the overriding belief that ‘success for mobile hinges on whether 3G will bring in advertising cash’. Those headlines and analysis could easily have been written back in 2001 and indeed were. At the time, the biggest gamble had taken place, the bid by major mobile operators to build, develop and operate a new and dynamic technological infrastructure for wireless mobile networks. To pay for the investment operators needed to find the killer application(s) beyond voice revenues. Much of the focus was centred on technology rather than the consumer and unfortunately in today’s market, still is.

1. CUE Entertainment Magazine March Issue 2008
Mobile Marketing & Distribution
The Future’s bright………the future’s blurred?
A recent headline in the business section of The Evening Standard heralded
that ‘mobile is the new battleground in internet gold rush’ with the overriding
belief that ‘success for mobile hinges on whether 3G will bring in advertising
cash’. Those headlines and analysis could easily have been written back in 2001
and indeed were. At the time, the biggest gamble had taken place, the bid by
major mobile operators to build, develop and operate a new and dynamic
technological infrastructure for wireless mobile networks. To pay for the
investment operators needed to find the killer application(s) beyond voice
revenues. Much of the focus was centred on technology rather than the
consumer and unfortunately in today’s market, still is.
But, are we seeing a genuine gold rush this time or as in the case first time
around, will it end in just a rush? According to Informa, mobile marketing will
account for $11billion by 2011, but to reach those kinds of numbers the mobile
market as a whole has to overcome some fundamental challenges.
So what does the mobile marketing landscape look like? How can businesses
and marketers manage another element of the increasingly multi‐disciplined
platforms available to reach consumers and how do you integrate mobile as
part of the overall marketing strategy and delivery? What is the opportunity
for brands and products in the entertainment sector to market to and
distribute content to consumers?

2.
According to OFCOM, by the end of 2006 there were nearly 70 million active
UK mobile subscriptions, an increase of 6% over the previous year. However,
the challenge for operators today given price decline in voice telephony is to
increase revenue per user and reduce churn. Voice accounts for 95% of mobile
revenue and the market for data distribution (in effect content) is still very
much in its infancy. This suggests that the market either isn’t ready or there
isn’t any real compelling content (what’s also known as the ‘killer application’)
for consumers.
At first glance, the infrastructure of the mobile landscape would appear to
suggest it’s complex and confusing. It is. The value chain over the last five or six
years has grown to include all sorts of technology and content participants:
mobile portals, CRM, location‐based services, aggregators, advertising
agencies, digital agencies, operators, broadcasters, content creators (ring‐
tones and alerts for example) and many other ‘specialists’ to boot. The list is
endless. Mobile marketing, as part of the whole mobile landscape can be
defined currently as a form of direct marketing and the opportunity for data
capture through promotions, incentives and competitions (to date mostly
achieved via the SMS marketing route).
A long list of industry analysts are also at odds over whether mobile marketing
will become a viable route to market. A recent study by Juniper Research
suggests that revenue through mobile user generated content (social
networking and dating for example) will increase tenfold by 2012. Continental
Research on the other hand has just reported its findings, suggesting advanced
features such as accessing the internet or downloading via a mobile phone is
declining.
Whatever happens in the long term, the challenge for businesses and
marketers today is the ability to outsource the delivery of mobile marketing to
the experts, whilst maintaining a brand, product or company ‘gatekeeper’ role,

3. encompassing an understanding of what’s happening in the wider
communications market but more importantly shape and implement a multi
platform and integrated marketing and business strategy. The key point here is
‘integrated’. The most effective route to market is to integrate the mobile
channel alongside other communications channels rather than as stand alone.
Even if businesses and marketers get that right the challenge is compounded
by the one key priority: the consumer. Little is understood about consumer
activity and interaction in the mobile space. What is known is that consumers
need to make a confident and trusting leap to increasingly engage with content
through their mobile phones: pricing, the browser experience and compelling
content remain key barriers to growth. In addition, operators are reluctant to
share more than the basics of consumer segmentation: who is accessing
content? When, where how and why? The danger is the all too familiar
commodity and price‐led driven market, the ability to push all forms of content
through mobile phones with little regard for what consumers want and the
price they are prepared to pay.
But some signs are that we may be at the tipping point. A recent survey by
Airwide Solutions indicates that by 2009, 85% of brands will be investing at
least 10% of marketing budgets through mobile marketing (currently about
28% of brands use SMS marketing) There are a number of examples across
various markets that illustrate the success of mobile marketing and
distribution, albeit in its basic form via text promotions, data capture and a call
to action. Brands have been experimenting with mobile marketing for some
time now.
Nike in the US through its advertising prompted consumers to engage via
mobile phone and online to personalise their own Nike shoes which they were
then able to pick up in‐store; Peugeot in the UK using SMS text mechanic to
encourage take up of test drives; and more recently the use of QR codes, 2‐D
or 3D bar codes on products and advertising that can be scanned by a mobile
phone allowing access to more information via the mobile internet
(Woollaston Estate Wines in Japan and DVD 28 Weeks Later in the UK both

4. recently used the application as part of their overall marketing
campaigns).We’re beginning to see the emergence of innovative marketing
and distribution strategies across the wider entertainment market. Andy
McNab, former SAS soldier and author recently announced the opportunity to
receive the first chapter of his latest book via text as well as an audio version.
2shop4.com has recently announced the ability for consumers to order goods
and services via their phone which will be delivered to home once purchased
via a text mechanic they’ve seen advertised.
Success for brands and products in the mobile marketing space will lie in the
hands of the consumer, but the mobile market as a whole can facilitate that
success: introduce low cost and flat rate pricing; improve the browser
experience via mobile and focus on what the consumer wants rather than
what the technology provides. The opportunity to develop mobile marketing
campaigns as part of an integrated marketing strategy will undoubtedly
emerge and as such businesses need to think about how to harness mobile as
part of that strategy and then importantly how to manage and resource it.
Gavin Miller writing for Cue Entertainment March 2008