MSearchGroove

Back from Brussels and a great panel on mobile search and advertising. The feedback from the session and the whole conference, which attracted over 85 attendees, was overwhelmingly positive. Therefore congratulations are in order for James Cameron, who organized this stellar event and who, I’m pleased to report, will continue to contribute his insights on mobile advertising to MSG for a long time to come.

Speaking of insight, a personal highlight for me was the opportunity to mind-meld with Jonathan MacDonald, OgilvyOne Senior Consultant, who is instrumental in helping his company “think mobile” - as my esteemed colleague Tomi Ahonen would put it. It was an invigorating exchange and Jonathan understands like no other that empowered consumers demand a say in their experiences. Jonathan is ex-Blyk - a topic we didn’t cover because there was so much else to discuss - and I would bet the farm that Blyk’s algorithm for success, which is centered around the conviction that individuals must co-create their advertising, has Jonathan to thank.

This one sentence (from Jonathan’s bio) is a clear confirmation that the blog, the ideas it communicates, and its impact on the industry have been and will continue to be profound. As Jonathan puts it: “Whether one calls it engagement, market positioning, or creating belief - my ambition is to have a significant influence and effect in the world of communication. It’s what my life is, was and always will be about.” I was blown away by Jonathan’s blog, which I am proud to be featuring shortly in the Knowledge Sharing section of this site. Fortunately, the regard is mutual. Immediately after our meeting - while the event was in progress - Jonathan blogged about MSG, referring to me as a thought leader and the site a valuable resource for the industry. Now I know the chemistry is right for some great podcasts and posts…

In fact, Jonathan along with Steven van Zanen, who is responsible for Marketing and Market Development of the Next Generation Messaging portfolio at Acision, have a firm slot in the MSG editorial calendar for a joint podcast to give us the inside track on their ground-breaking mobile marketing partnership and their views on the ways operators, service providers and brands can maximize mobile advertising revenues.

I recall from my recent briefing with Steven that the partnership is a significant and symbolic step because it unites the creative (OgilvyOne) and practical (Acision) - the same capabilities companies must combine if their mobile marketing strategies are to drive positive results. What stuck in my mind: Steven compared the initial meetings between OgilvyOne and Acision to Star Trek. (Yes, I am a Trekkie.) As Steven put it: At first it was as if either side were speaking Klingon. But today, the companies - like the two hemispheres of the brain - are in synch, and have what it takes to claim a lead position in mobile marketing. Watch this space…and check back for the podcast.

Another highlight of the conference was a frank and fast-moving debate around whether mobile content and mobile advertising are a fit to generate revenues in the first place. Put another way, since content is free on the Web, can we even consider content to be a credible vehicle for generating advertising revenues on mobile?

Jeffrey Litvack, Global Director, New Media Markets, Associated Press (AP), had some fresh ideas and powerful arguments.

Personalization: It is the main feature and attraction of mobile content services - period. Content services without it face an uphill battle. In the case of the AP, allowing consumers to simply customize their home screen and personalize their news preferences has driven use of AP on mobile through the roof. (BTW: I’ll have page impressions once I’ve cleared this with Jeffrey. We connected in the truest sense of the word and I’ll have him back for MSG as well as Agile Minds, my monthly column for eContent magazine.) Jeffrey pointed out personalization must also be paired with no-brainer tools, allowing users to set more than one zip code for local news, for example. (While top stories are obviously emphasized, there is a clear emphasis on local news.) This way a college student could get news from their hometown and news from around campus. (This thinking is at the core of the iPhone-optimized AP Mobile News Network site, built by Verve Wireless. No wonder the AP was also chosen as the runner-up for the Best iPhone Web Application at WWDC.)

Choice: Let the user decide. That was the message that ran like a leitmotif throughout the session. (Food for thought: Jonathan raised the point that choosing not to choose is a choice that content companies should also offer.) As Jeffrey sees it: “User choice will drive the mobile Web.” Winning is about thinking of smart ways to make choosing a no-brainer, doing the heavy-lifting by offering access to related stories (a feature on the AP roadmap).

Local: Think gold mine. AP is hooked on hyperlocal content - and encourages participating AP members to generate revenue through local and national advertising. “Advertising isn’t the model yet, but it will be ….first a lot of infrastructure has to happen.” Put another way, there has to be a way to sell to the local businesses, shops and franchises, then revenues will likely kick in. Bad news: It’s quite a wait. Good news: This is where Google is a spectator at best. AP - and publishers - won’t make the same mistake they did in the Internet and let a search giant/portal muscle in on their value chain.

Tactic: No mobile advertising mega-market in sight - but a wait-and-see attitude is a recipe for failure. It’s not about money at this point; it’s about eyeballs. “This is not the year of mobile advertising; this is the year of creating an audience.” Local is the ace in the AP’s hand and Jeffrey, who is convinced that real advertising dollars come from local companies - not necessarily just major brands - is in preparation-mode. The end-game is about relevancy and ads from local establishments have relevance baked in.

Ecosystem: Jeffrey “gets” it. The concept alone is Wikinomics in action. The Mobile News Network - powered by the AP - is the first product from AP’s Digital Cooperative, an effort to find new digital outlets for news and information produced by AP members. Included in the network is local news contributed by AP members, along with international and vertical information from AP such as sports, business news and entertainment. In a nutshell, its purpose is to provide a gateway to Local news branded and supplied by members participating in the Digital Cooperative, as well as National, International, Entertainment, Sports, Business, Elections, Wacky News, Technology and Government. The Network also offers mobile-specific functionalities such as search, viral sharing, content ratings and text alerts. Jeffrey’s role is to make mobile content enjoyable and accessible for users - and lay the groundwork for mobile advertising that benefits AP members. Orchestrate don’t dominate -that is a business model to follow.

• Posted in
• Web 2.0, Location-based services, Personalization, Mobile Content, Mobile Advertising, Content Discovery

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