Saturday, December 09, 2006




Ericsson and NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, have launched a two-month trial of mobile TV advertising across three of NBC's channels, including a 'made for mobile' programme based on a popular Norwegian TV show. Twenty local and national brands are participating and advertising will be provided by Proximity Oslo, part of global agency BBDO. The promise is to deliver highly personalized, interactive advertising formats which the parties are hoping will provide value, win acceptance and in some cases be offered in return for discounts.

The momentum behind mobile advertising is growing and there has been a flurry of announcements and trials by major operators, including 3, Orange and most recently Vodafone with its headline grabbing deal with Yahoo! for display advertising. Mobile operators in mature markets see mobile advertising as a potential new revenue stream in a scenario where money from voice services is declining but revenues from data services are not growing quickly enough to compensate for this.

Most advertising initiatives we've seen so far have been driven by mobile operators and specialist mobile advertising intermediaries, rather than by a national broadcaster and major infrastructure and solutions vendor. But what makes this trial more significant is the fact that NRK and Ericsson are promoting interactivity and personalization as a key feature. This is a bold move as this kind of promise is often made but rarely delivered when it comes to mobile advertising. It is particularly difficult for mobile TV, where viewing sessions are very short - typically around three minutes. In this context, interactive advertising could be very intrusive. But we think NRK and Ericsson stand a good chance of getting it right as they have a track record in working together on mobile TV projects, particularly interactively.

NRK and Ericsson held a nine-week trial in February of this year to test interactive services for mobile TV, which they claimed was very successful and doubled the average viewing time to just over five minutes. The interactive mobile TV solution is based on a platform developed by Ericsson with conVisual and Communology. The current mobile TV advertising trial builds on this, and likewise requires a downloadable Java-based client. The current trial will use a range of advertising formats, including videos, banners, ticker texts and branded downloadable content. Adverts will be customized according to individual users based on age, gender, location and personal interests. Presumably much of this detail is gained on registration to the service. Interactivity is particularly valued by advertisers as it is high involvement marketing tool and useful metric for mobile advertising - a user clicking on an interactive advertisement is a tangible measurement. Of course, what they do after that is another matter. NRK and Ericsson are hoping the trial will not only test user acceptance to different advertising formats but also help set the foundations for mobile TV advertising business models. The lack of clarity over business models is a major challenge for mobile advertising, and if Ericsson and NRK can do anything to help then the whole industry will benefit. We won't know the outcome until the trial concludes, but we wish them luck in a very challenging task.

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Friday, December 08, 2006

Conerts Updated

G Love and Special Sauce

Electric Factory

Philadelphia, PA

11/24/06
11/25/06

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Week in Review


Well, this has been a pretty eventful week. Lots of good stuff has happened, let me see if I can recount it all. To do so, I'll use a few tricks to jog what's left of my mind.

Monday

First thing at work on Monday I ran into a friend and colleague from our UK office, Owen Hanks. He put in a request for some beats. I was more than willing to oblige

It was announced that my entire company management would be in a meeting the entire week, with lunch provided for everyone. Not a bad way to start. That day it was burritos.

After a half day, we went off to GoKart Racer in Burnlingame, which I refer to as Burnlinghole. I came in 8th which was close to last. It was still fun.



Tuesday

Lunch again, this time wraps. Bumped into the mergizzle for shizzle.


Wednesday

Lunch then I went to Splunk in the afternoon to meet with Jef Bekes and his team. They are a great bunch of guys. I appreciated the opportunity to give feeback directly to the designers of my favorite UI. I also appreciated the fabulous dinner at Paragon.

Thrusday

Still lunchin (shout to cousin Gregg). This time it was pasta. Mmm. Then the holiday party. It was at the Sheraton Palo Alto, a really classy joint. I had a nice time and came home with a fat prize, a gift basket loaded up with wine and some gourmet treats.

Friday

Pizza.

All hands meeting. This was the breakdown from the weeks discussions at the management layer distilled down to the rest of us.

Beer and

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Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Mobile Advertising

There are four types of mobile media that will enable brands to build presence in a manner that is appropriate to nurturing a stable and long lasting relationship with mobile subscribers: SMS, Mobile Web, Mobile Video/TV, and Downloadable Applications and Content, said Nick Holland, senior analyst and author of the report at Pyramid Research. Advertising embedded in downloadable applications will become increasingly pervasive as brands recognize opportunities for content sponsorship and the benefits of being part of a less transient medium than WAP and mobile TV. Action Engine has developed a significant level of expertise in on-device advertising that may make them an indispensable component for a downloadable application strategy.

With the worldwide mobile phone market approaching one billion units shipped this year, the big brands are obviously looking to the wireless device as the next strategic medium to reach their customers. Mobile advertising is the catalyst that will make mobile services affordable for the average consumer and will drive a new source of revenues for media companies, said Scott G. Silk, CEO and president, Action Engine. Our technology provides a permanent home for brands on the mobile device, and by avoiding the painful download times associated with most browser-based mobile advertising solutions, we can drive greater impressions and click-through rates for mobile advertisers.

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