In the evolution of MobiPorter's solutions portfolio - the latest entrant announced is GPS.
How does GPS work? Here's a nice explanation.
So, other than finding a location of your favorite car, or restaurant or something, what other types of solutions could GPS factor in?
Here's a partial list - some collated and some original ideas.
GPS family of solutions
-- Tour / audio guides
-- Treasure hunt
-- Logistics co-ordination / asset location / attendance systems
-- fleet management
-- early and best response management systems
-- route-auditing -- see where someone has been
-- geo-coding / geo-tagging - e.g. highlight location of delivery of goods.
-- geo-fencing -- boundary management
-- route optimization
-- location-based advertising
-- location-based loyalty programs
-- crazy idea - point of sale solutions for a car -- literally driving away with a car!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
eMarketing Intro
The 7C's of eMarketing
Am gonna doodle stuff on this. WIP.
Brick-n-mortar had 4 Ps - product, price, place, and promotion. Old news.
Contract - goal: what will be your core USP
Content - what appears on the website and its hot-linked websites
Construction - how are you giving customers convenience? what's one-clickable and automated?
Community - site-to-user and user-to-user forums build grassroots loyalty
Concentration - targeting via online behavioral profiling
Convergence - how are you providing an interactive experience that leverage convergence of TV and the Net?
Commerce - monetization angle - direct to user or commission-based referrals based models?
Am gonna doodle stuff on this. WIP.
Brick-n-mortar had 4 Ps - product, price, place, and promotion. Old news.
eMarketing has 7Cs
Contract - goal: what will be your core USP
Content - what appears on the website and its hot-linked websites
Construction - how are you giving customers convenience? what's one-clickable and automated?
Community - site-to-user and user-to-user forums build grassroots loyalty
Concentration - targeting via online behavioral profiling
Convergence - how are you providing an interactive experience that leverage convergence of TV and the Net?
Commerce - monetization angle - direct to user or commission-based referrals based models?
Friday, September 12, 2008
The latest scourge of the online world ... (Market update - part 3)
... coming to a mobile near you.
Social Networking for mobile.
What are people doing?
Honestly - nothing much. At least in the west.
- update blogs - bah - who wants to type so much?!
- view friends' blog - ok - passive activity
- manage photo captions - barely interactive
- send and receive message - sigh ... 'sms'
- edit profile - how many times is THAT gonna happen
- status/mood - i'm happy, i'm sad, i'm busy, .... damn it, I'm bored!
- check your inbox - useful - but largely a RIM-recipe - ref: MobiPorter's @Mail solution - if you don't want to support RIM
- send email - wow!
- upload pictures to your favorite social network site - ok
- build sites - ho hum
- send greetings - ok
Jamie raises an interesting observation - corollaries follow:
- instead of finding ways to break the "walled garden", they are essentially creating "gardens of disdain"
- people have no real idea what will compel people to live off the medium
- none of the current players really have any idea about the future of social networking
- their respective "(g)rand (u)nified (t)heories" are really nothing more than 21st century "snakeoil", largely designed to keep their investors doe-eyed. (the plumber deserves the credit for the g.u.t.-acronym)
Probably being politically incorrect, but if these guys really had their act together, they would be "driving" the next facebook, rather than waiting for get acquired by it.
Am not criticizing their business strategy, am questioning their commitment to a cause - from a product perspective.
Things that they SHOULD be doing -
building (eco)systems to support the "ad hoc" and the "ad nauseum" (control freaks)
-- ad hoc stuff
-- hey (all), lets go to this new place that opened and do a bash / do a group movie / poker at Joe's tonight
-- take me to where my friend is hanging out
-- take me to where my friend isn't
-- send all my friends - the directions to the party along with a custom invite to let them through the door
-- group karaoke / counselling / disc
-- interactive gaming
... you get the idea
Advertising is leading the monetization angle in most cases.
for the "ad nauseum"
-- allow them to track stuff - fleet management
-- email and app-based alerts
-- branding - and sharing -
-- polling to find out where to go / hang out / eat / sleep / drink / whatever
in general, start looking at
-- location based updates (use: X-Forwarded-For header) -- these guys really seem to have a great pulse on this
-- recommend a nearby restaurant / a nearby bar/pub
-- recommend a nearby event - based on my facebook/social demographic
-- feedback systems
-- permission-based advertising
-- video streaming
Key take-aways. Build an ecosystem. Live a cause. Pepper it with value. You can't go wrong.
Key tech drivers, at this point:
- no single silver bullet - sms, wap, video, gps -
- look at "enterprise" level solutions, rather than stand-alone
Social Networking for mobile.
What are people doing?
Honestly - nothing much. At least in the west.
- update blogs - bah - who wants to type so much?!
- view friends' blog - ok - passive activity
- manage photo captions - barely interactive
- send and receive message - sigh ... 'sms'
- edit profile - how many times is THAT gonna happen
- status/mood - i'm happy, i'm sad, i'm busy, .... damn it, I'm bored!
- check your inbox - useful - but largely a RIM-recipe - ref: MobiPorter's @Mail solution - if you don't want to support RIM
- send email - wow!
- upload pictures to your favorite social network site - ok
- build sites - ho hum
- send greetings - ok
Jamie raises an interesting observation - corollaries follow:
- instead of finding ways to break the "walled garden", they are essentially creating "gardens of disdain"
- people have no real idea what will compel people to live off the medium
- none of the current players really have any idea about the future of social networking
- their respective "(g)rand (u)nified (t)heories" are really nothing more than 21st century "snakeoil", largely designed to keep their investors doe-eyed. (the plumber deserves the credit for the g.u.t.-acronym)
Probably being politically incorrect, but if these guys really had their act together, they would be "driving" the next facebook, rather than waiting for get acquired by it.
Am not criticizing their business strategy, am questioning their commitment to a cause - from a product perspective.
Things that they SHOULD be doing -
building (eco)systems to support the "ad hoc" and the "ad nauseum" (control freaks)
-- ad hoc stuff
-- hey (all), lets go to this new place that opened and do a bash / do a group movie / poker at Joe's tonight
-- take me to where my friend is hanging out
-- take me to where my friend isn't
-- send all my friends - the directions to the party along with a custom invite to let them through the door
-- group karaoke / counselling / disc
-- interactive gaming
... you get the idea
Advertising is leading the monetization angle in most cases.
for the "ad nauseum"
-- allow them to track stuff - fleet management
-- email and app-based alerts
-- branding - and sharing -
-- polling to find out where to go / hang out / eat / sleep / drink / whatever
in general, start looking at
-- location based updates (use: X-Forwarded-For header) -- these guys really seem to have a great pulse on this
-- recommend a nearby restaurant / a nearby bar/pub
-- recommend a nearby event - based on my facebook/social demographic
-- feedback systems
-- permission-based advertising
-- video streaming
Key take-aways. Build an ecosystem. Live a cause. Pepper it with value. You can't go wrong.
Key tech drivers, at this point:
- no single silver bullet - sms, wap, video, gps -
- look at "enterprise" level solutions, rather than stand-alone
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
DSLR and to UV or not to UV?
Am contemplating buying a camera. A friend suggested the Nikon D40.
Which, all things considered, this seems like a good entry-level choice at its price point. Something that suits me to a 'T'. Started doing some research and ran into the whole - "UV filter" disc.
Essentially, I've come to the conclusion that for dslr's, one is not needed. Some reviews, including this one kind of made things abundantly clear.
Cheese!
Which, all things considered, this seems like a good entry-level choice at its price point. Something that suits me to a 'T'. Started doing some research and ran into the whole - "UV filter" disc.
Essentially, I've come to the conclusion that for dslr's, one is not needed. Some reviews, including this one kind of made things abundantly clear.
Cheese!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Market data - part 2.1
A short note:
A recent report from ComScore outlines a couple of interesting facts. Illustratively, its says - US 3G user base grew 80% over last year as compared to 47% to Western Europe!
Secondly. amid all the hype of "we love 3G", and the sharing of matching percentages (28.4 & 28.3, respectively) the fact that was hush-hush'd for the non-esoteric was, the Western Europe user base is *twice* that of US. I would think its harder to maintain a percentage as the user base grows especially over a medium lacking a "killer app".
A recent report from ComScore outlines a couple of interesting facts. Illustratively, its says - US 3G user base grew 80% over last year as compared to 47% to Western Europe!
Secondly. amid all the hype of "we love 3G", and the sharing of matching percentages (28.4 & 28.3, respectively) the fact that was hush-hush'd for the non-esoteric was, the Western Europe user base is *twice* that of US. I would think its harder to maintain a percentage as the user base grows especially over a medium lacking a "killer app".
Thursday, September 4, 2008
A major pain in the ....
Here are some of the major pain points associated with Mobile solutions, today:
* User demographic is highly concentrated on lazy 15-35 yr olds.
- Highest participating group: 15-25 yrs
- Very limited success with 35+
- Usage tends to be highly sporadic and fragmented, yet habitual
- 9 out of 10 users NEVER download apps
- most view it as a social / collaborative tool
- SMS is accepted as long as its costs are reasonable.
* Mobile Search / Advertising
- web surfers population can only grow
- WAP sites can only grow
- ROI for mobile advertising is still low
- Discovery is a headache and Entry is painful
- High entry barrier. Solutions driven by back-to-back agreements between content provider / solution provider / carrier. Initial investment/cost of rollout is high.
* Mobile Web
- Whose wap'ing? 1 out of 3 mobile users. Phones need to become "like email": push/pull; async; attitude; productivity tool, rather than a "play thing".
- Voice-2-Text is really needed!
* Mobile Applications / TV / Video
- Solutions don't come cheap. Refer Advertising above.
- Small players have limited windows of opportunity; unless they are a one-stop shop, provide Adult content or a major content studio
- Having said that, there is a strong case for "Wayne's World or Trekker" types to be come successful. Those that leverage and focus exclusively on established "pockets" of interest.
* Mobile Games
- WAP versions have some ground to cover.
Fortunately, MobiPorter's solutions can help you in almost all aspects. Contact us today!
* User demographic is highly concentrated on lazy 15-35 yr olds.
- Highest participating group: 15-25 yrs
- Very limited success with 35+
- Usage tends to be highly sporadic and fragmented, yet habitual
- 9 out of 10 users NEVER download apps
- most view it as a social / collaborative tool
- SMS is accepted as long as its costs are reasonable.
* Mobile Search / Advertising
- web surfers population can only grow
- WAP sites can only grow
- ROI for mobile advertising is still low
- Discovery is a headache and Entry is painful
- High entry barrier. Solutions driven by back-to-back agreements between content provider / solution provider / carrier. Initial investment/cost of rollout is high.
* Mobile Web
- Whose wap'ing? 1 out of 3 mobile users. Phones need to become "like email": push/pull; async; attitude; productivity tool, rather than a "play thing".
- Voice-2-Text is really needed!
* Mobile Applications / TV / Video
- Solutions don't come cheap. Refer Advertising above.
- Small players have limited windows of opportunity; unless they are a one-stop shop, provide Adult content or a major content studio
- Having said that, there is a strong case for "Wayne's World or Trekker" types to be come successful. Those that leverage and focus exclusively on established "pockets" of interest.
* Mobile Games
- WAP versions have some ground to cover.
Fortunately, MobiPorter's solutions can help you in almost all aspects. Contact us today!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Market data - part 2
Mashup of various data nuggets scrounged up from the net:
Here's what's drawing people on cellphones - across various countries.
I get the distinct feeling that most people there are not content with the options being provided to them. Ergo, the low adoption and acceptance rates, 'cept for a few things like music and photo sharing. It would help to learn something from the Japanese.
Moving on. There seems to be a slowdown in the mobile growth in US. That was expected. More interestingly, the mobile internet penetration there is about 15.6%. India with close to 300 mln mobile users - is roughly at 1.8%. Report. And here's what they are doing on
it compared to their friends across the ocean.
The Indian mobile user base is expected to hit 600 mln by 2011 - that's roughly doubling in 2 yrs time! Very few markets which have such a growth trajectory. An exciting place to be in the mobile space, for sure!
Trak.in has an article on the most popular mobile sites in India. I find it a little dubious. I don't think there is a full disclosure on how they collected and collated this info. Half of these sites are not used by anyone I know. Maybe I'm just outside the demographic.
The report also went on to say, that pre-paid mobile users are the main target of ads. Another reason to switch to post-paid!
Lastly, as John Chambers has been famously quoted - the shift is going to move from "You to Us". Expect - advertising, payment and social networking to be at the forefront of the mobile growth horizon.
More later ...
Here's what's drawing people on cellphones - across various countries.
- "Picasso", music, and sms ads largely with accessing info/news via browser being 4th across the board
- in US, music actually dropped some notches - which is quite strange given the size of that market!
- Sms ads seem to a phenom in most countries esp. France. Expect that to evolve with time
I get the distinct feeling that most people there are not content with the options being provided to them. Ergo, the low adoption and acceptance rates, 'cept for a few things like music and photo sharing. It would help to learn something from the Japanese.
Moving on. There seems to be a slowdown in the mobile growth in US. That was expected. More interestingly, the mobile internet penetration there is about 15.6%. India with close to 300 mln mobile users - is roughly at 1.8%. Report. And here's what they are doing on
it compared to their friends across the ocean.
The Indian mobile user base is expected to hit 600 mln by 2011 - that's roughly doubling in 2 yrs time! Very few markets which have such a growth trajectory. An exciting place to be in the mobile space, for sure!
Wireless subscriber growth is slowing due to market saturation, with US carriers adding only 26 mln new subscribers in the next five years to reach 266 mln in 2013. Adoption by teens and young adults will become nearly ubiquitous as the majority of the demographic already have cell phones, and 31% of parents with children ages 10 to 12 reported that their children also have cell phones, according to Jupiter Research
Trak.in has an article on the most popular mobile sites in India. I find it a little dubious. I don't think there is a full disclosure on how they collected and collated this info. Half of these sites are not used by anyone I know. Maybe I'm just outside the demographic.
CIOL reports that - The emerging trends of VAS in India show that growth is coming from the bottom of the pyramid with low end users (with about 59%, 175 mln). Hi-end users number roughly 7 mln (~2%).
The report also went on to say, that pre-paid mobile users are the main target of ads. Another reason to switch to post-paid!
Lastly, as John Chambers has been famously quoted - the shift is going to move from "You to Us". Expect - advertising, payment and social networking to be at the forefront of the mobile growth horizon.
More later ...
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