Emilio Castellanos' Blog

One of the biggest questions companies ask themselves before investing in online social marketing revolves around the challenge of evaluating the return on investment (ROI). In general companies have few benchmarks as compared with traditional media to measure the success of these campaigns.

Nevertheless, it is possible to quantify them. Starbucks got one million clients in only one day thanks to a campaign launched in social circles. Read the complete engagement study in PDF here.

Recently, a new study (PDF) was published by Syncapse whose objective was to evaluate the commercial impact of clicking on the Facebook "Like" button. The conclusion is that on average those users that are fans of a company in the most popular social network spend an additional $71.84 on products for which they are fans compared to those who are not fans.

A historic turn of events for the print publishing business was reached recently as sales of the iPad version of Wired Magazine beat the print estimates of 80,000 copies.

Several sources confirm that 79,000 copies of the digital version of the magazine have already been sold. Both the print and the iPad versions cost $4.99.

Yes, this is the right magazine for the demographic but the mobility of the tablet device such as the iPad and coming mobile technologies such as the new iPhone 4G should now be clearly seen as the next step for the print industry.

As location becomes more and more relevant for users, businesses and advertisers, I am picking up a thread here from Carlo Longino/MobHappy.com and Matt Silk/Mobile Demystified that sheds light on the subject of location via SMS, still the most ubiquitous way to reach consumers on a mobile phone.

On the value to consumers of location-based ads

Marketers are expanding their focus to include more ways to digitally and directly reach consumers, so their vendors must follow suit. It’s just smart business.

Nearly every major email service provider has announced social media integration plans in one form or another, and most have selected a mobile partner or are building messaging into their platforms.

In general, and in particular for direct marketers, mobile continues to represent tremendous opportunity. As we’ve seen with these acquisitions, the appetite for social and digital media technologies is growing.

We regularly make the point that marketers should have a multichannel strategy – one that includes email, online, mobile and social media. The more opportunities you have to reach a customer, the more opportunities you have to engage with them.

NPR's Marketplace's Steve Henn reports on one company that's diving right in.

STEVE HENN: If you locked a mad scientist in a room and asked her to create the ultimate marketing device, she might come back with something that would follow you around, track your desires, slip into your pocket and would always be on. In short, she'd hand you a cell phone.

LISTEN to the rest of the story on the NPR podcast here.

Apple’s iPad hasn’t saved publishing just yet, with Conde Naste revealing just 365 sales of its iPad-edition of GQ, while fresh research claims the average iPhone app sells 101,024 copies. [Via 9to5 Mac]

GQ's VP/Publisher Pete Hunsinger says: “This costs us nothing extra: no printing or postage. Everything is profit, and I look forward to the time when iPad issue sales become a major component to our circulation.” GQ is about to be joined on the iPad at Condé Nast by Glamour / The New Yorker / Vanity Fair and Wired.)

UPDATE: On May 18, GQ announced that it has sold a total of 57,000 copies of its magazine in the App Store since December. [From Peter Kafka - "GQ’s iPad App Does…Okay"]

MediaPost’s Research Brief recently highlighted a survey from Ruder Finn on how Americans use the mobile internet. The post is worth a quick read and provides some insight on how people use their phones (which is helpful for crafting a mobile strategy).

You can read the full post here.

The survey, the Mobile Intent Index, showed the driving factor behind people using their mobile phones to go online is immediacy. And that people use their mobile phones as a “social connector” – with 91 percent of mobile users going online to socialize, compared to the 79 percent of traditional internet users.

See this interactive full study: Ruder-Finn’s full results here.

Over at AdWeek, Simon Vella makes some excellent points in his op-ed “Forget Apps, Text Still Reigns in Mobile.”

He notes: "Nearly every cellphone in the U.S. is capable of text messaging and because it’s used for regular personal communication, it’s always top of mind in terms of general daily use. By comparison, only 18% of all phones in the U.S. are smartphones. Further, Juniper Research forecasts that smartphones worldwide will account for just 23% of all new handsets sold per annum by 2013, hardly representing the mass market for general consumer goods and services."

Mary Meeker, an analyst with Morgan Stanley who’s an expert on Internet and mobile trends, gave a fast-paced talk at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. It was packed with more points and more data than I can cover in a short post, but the big point was that the mobile internet is taking off — just like the desktop internet a decade or so ago, but much faster.

Meeker was speaking at Atmosphere, a conference that Google is hosting for chief information officers, so she concluded by offering four big ideas for CIOs:

1. “The desktop internet ramp was just a warm-up act for what we’re seeing happen on the mobile internet.”
2. The pace of mobile innovation is “unprecedented, I think, in world history.”
3. Consumer companies are taking the lead over enterprise companies.
4. “It’s more important than ever to listen to employees” about where to take your IT department.

By Bryce Marshall,
Chief Marketeer

Mobile marketing creates opportunities for timely and intimate consumer experiences, but is often poorly understood. And unlike online tactics like search, email, and social marketing, few brands have dollars set aside for mobile development, meaning business cases and ROI models must be cemented upfront. The good news is consumers are already mobile. Hundreds of millions of North American consumers are engaged with their mobile devices.

Many marketers are overwhelmed by the technologies and terminology that fall under "mobile." However, the foundational components of mobile marketing are straightforward, support core marketing and communications programs, and deliver clear and measurable outcomes.

Here are a few tips for making a mobile business case:

The Foundation

1. Text Messaging (SMS)

Mobile Marketer's Dan Butcher interviewed David Katz, vice president of North America at Yahoo Mobile, who revealed part of Yahoo's strategy for mobile. Below are some mobile tips from the conversation.

1. Pitch cross-platform buys: Most of the RFPs that Yahoo sees have mobile.
2. Assemble an integrated sales force: People that sell PC ads sell mobile ads.
3. Have a mobile specialist sales force but don't force advertisers to deal with multiple sales people to buy mobile.
4. Local is huge, use it: Mobile search results blocks away from you at a time of day.
5. Be platform agnostic: Go where users go.
6. Offer rich-media: Advertisers love ads like expanding ad units and mobile video.
7. Partner with local sales forces: Interface with local merchants.

Read the full story here.

According from the latest report from AdMob, the Android operating system was the fastest growing year-over-year. Android's share of smartphone requests increased from 2% in February 2009 to 24% in February 2010.

Gizmodo confims that AdMob sees "a predictable continuation of what we'd seen before from the ad tracking firm—specifically, that Android is on a serious tear, thanks in no small part to the massive success of the Droid. But before, the iPhone seemed unassailable. Now, it's about to get trumped by Google's OS, on terms it defined. In the US, that is. The rest of the world's still warming to Android."

For this month's report, AdMob separate the traffic in our network into three categories – smartphones, feature phones, and mobile Internet devices – to examine the growth rates of

By Matt Silverman, From Mashable

Google Apps for business has a number of benefits over traditional business IT and desktop software. Using the full suite essentially places all of your data and entire workflow in the cloud, meaning you can access it all anywhere, any time, from any Internet connection.

At $50 per year per user, the fully integrated apps system is certainly cost-effective, and even adding the free versions of Gmail, Calendar, and Google Docs into your workflow can keep your employees coordinated.

For more casual users, or even those who might not be acquainted with Google Apps, here’s a guide to how the software can benefit your small business.

Read the full article here.

From Read Write Web, by Sarah Perez

For publishers big and small who, for whatever reason, can't or don't want to build their own iPad or tablet application in-house, digital magazine distributor Zinio will be introducing an iPad application which provides readers with easy access to digital subscriptions and an online "newsstand." The company, which has been around for a decade now, got started by offering magazine reader software for desktop computers. Now that the mobile revolution has taken hold, Zinio has expanded their offerings to include subscription and reading experiences for magazine customers which are accessible no matter what device you use: Mac, PC, iPhone, web or mobile web and soon, iPad, plus - who knows? - maybe one day Kindle, too. Zinio's goal is to make it simple for publishers to get their content out there on any form factor, screen size or platform.

From Mashable, by Shane Snow.

Social networking has finally become something valuable for brick-and-mortar businesses. Smartphones and location-based social networks allow users to interact, share, meet up, and recommend places based on their physical coordinates. This real-world connection to social media can mean more foot traffic and profits for business owners.

So-called “lo-so” networks like Foursquare, Loopt, and Gowalla enable any business with a physical location to not only communicate with customers online, but actually get more of them to walk in the door — and that’s exciting.

The question any brick-and-mortar business owner should be asking him or herself is no longer “Should I use lo-so networks?” It’s “How do I do it?” The following tips are essential to getting started.

Read the full article.

From the Google Mobile Blog

What many Android and Buzz users were waiting for: Google released a Google Buzz widget for Android phones that lets you post text and photos with a single tap. Like other mobile access points for Google Buzz, the widget lets you choose to tag your post with the location or place from which it was posted.

The widget is initially available in English for Android phones running v1.6 and later. Search for 'Google Buzz' in the Android Market to download it.

Read more here.
Also check out: Google Maps for Android: Search ‘n Swipe, Latitude Widget, and More

By Emilio Castellanos

To charge or not to charge for access to proprietary content online is an old idea based on a new media paradigm. The paywall has been highly debated, tested, embraced and forfeited over and over again but media companies are not asking the right question.

The bigger issue with monetization is that media companies have failed to react to the changes that have taken place in the ecosystem and still insist in serving controlled content online as gatekeepers. Media companies need to be asking questions about structure, portability, business focus and models to become more flexible, accommodate user preferences, identify emerging trends and then avidly follow them.

From PhysOrg.com

By looking at the latest electronic communication devices that have emerged over the past few years, it's clear that the trend of smaller, portable devices is strong and expected to continue. Yet while all these notebooks, netbooks, and tablet PCs are becoming more and more popular, their explosive growth also poses a problem: these wireless devices are hogging the already congested lower microwave frequency region of the wireless spectrum.

Read entire article here.

from The Symbian Freak

Small, battery-powered gadgets make powerful computing portable but unfortunately, there's still a continual need to recharge the batteries of phones and other gadgets by hooking them up to a tangle of wires.

Fortunately the latest technology trends proposed a way to cut the cords by wirelessly supplying power to devices and Nokia researchers have developed a new technique for powering mobile devices that could draw enough power from ambient radio waves or kinetic energy to keep a smartphone topped up.

Nokia has filed a US patent application for a phone that can work continuously without requiring to be plugged...

Read more: Nokia Files Patent For Self-Charging Smartphone

More: Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries

By Emilio Castellanos

We are entering times where mobile geolocation will change our concept of privacy. Whether we embrace it or become afraid of it and how it is regulated greatly depends on how we choose to use it or abuse it.

Privacy has become more elusive since the internet era. Personal information posted online on social sites along with information collected through webcam services, street cameras, records stored by financial companies, etc., is all susceptible to be intercepted by 3rd parties.

However privacy issues become even more critical when we consider the mobile device: it contains a chip which constantly broadcasts your whereabouts. This locator has been monitored by government agencies since 2005 (FCC's E911) and is now standard on all new mobile phone models. Some devices will emit a signal even while turned off.

Tablets are illuminating the troubled path of the print publishing business by promising to create new ways of monetizing the publication's digital efforts.

Magazines the likes of Sports Illustrated and Wired have been looking to the iPad and other similar devices to help them re-capture their subscriber base and re-generate their business through new revenue streams. This move would allow them to once again become the "middleman" between the advertiser and the consumer through the production of multimedia content.

The possibilities of the tablet delivering profitability certainly exist but we do not know how long it will take for readers to adopt the new platform en masse or if they will be willing to pay for delivery of this multimedia content. How subscriptions and tablets are marketed will define these questions. There is a definite "coolness" factor involved and if the right price is set for each publication issue, adoption can be as fast as technology companies roll-out new devices.

Google Buzz is a new way to share updates, photos, videos and more, and start conversations about the things you find interesting. You can use Buzz from your computer through your Google Gmail account, but the true strength of Buzz lies on your Smartphone. Buzz just hit the streets and we need to see how it is embraced and understand its implications. So far so good. The combination of location-based services and friends dialogue is interesting.

In fact Google's search technology adapts quite well to the mobile application both in relevance of recommendations and location-based services. Be ready to rethink your approach to privacy with the mobile interface and be careful to select "no location" before you post with your mobile phone if you do not want to reveal your whereabouts. Eventually you might feel tempted to do so, but we still live in a private society so reluctance to being open about location will exist.

Here's what you can do with Google Buzz for mobile:

- Post from your mobile phone and tag your location.
- Read what people are buzzing about near you.
- Follow your friends on the go.

Target's mobile efforts have reached a new high as the retailer takes the first step towards rolling out seamless mobile payments through 2D barscanning and tracking technology.

Target’s point-of-sale scanners make Target the first major retailer with the ability to scan mobile barcodes in all of its retail locations.

To take advantage of this new technology, shoppers need to currently purchase a physical Target giftcard either online or at the store and save its code information onto a secure account on Target's mobile site. Then, at the point of sale, mobile users retrieve appropriate barcodes to scan at checkout.

It is still necessary for shoppers to buy the physical giftcard either at the store or online but Target is already looking into providing seamless mobile payments to "reload" the value of the giftcard electronically which would completely eliminate the need to carry your wallet when visiting a Target store.

AT&T will launch five new devices during the first half of 2010 based on the Android platform from Dell, HTC and Motorola. According Slashgear the Motorola device is the MB300 Backflip). The device will be powered by MOTOBLUR, a social networking interface, and has a distinctive hinge together with a backward-facing QWERTY keyboard.

The devices, which are scheduled to be available during the first half of 2010, include:

- The Motorola smartphone, powered by MOTOBLUR
- Dell’s first smartphone, based on the Android platform
- The HTC smartphone, based on the Android platform

Customers can sign up for email notifications as more details are available at www.att.com/android.
Read the AT&T Press release here: http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=30353

The much anticipated Apple Tablet, the iPad has been unveiled. It is almost certain that tablets will cause the obsolescence of netbook computers. In the future, they take the place of laptops; but at this time and because of their size, it is not clear if they will bring down smartphones. The iPad and other tablets will more than likely bridge the gap between printed media --magazines, books and newspapers--, online, voice and video, and television content programming. We are living in exciting times. Just add 3D to the mix for an out of this world experience.

The iPad is certainly portable and it will feel great to send email, browse the net, and watch HDTV anywhere, even while walking. iPad provides the same operating system as the iPhone and is powered by the new Apple A4 chip which provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with claims of long battery life of up to 10 hours. It includes 12 apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store.

Cox, who will launch an ambitious wireless service in March, is the latest operator to dip its toe into Long Term Evolution (LTE), the last step toward the 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile networks. Verizon Wireless this year plans to launch 25-30 commercial LTE markets, covering 100 million POPs. Additionally, MetroPCS will launch its LTE network this year, while AT&T Mobility will be conducting LTE trials with wider deployments expected in 2011.

4G LTE would open the door for consumers to use their portable devices to participate in live video conferences or access bandwidth-intensive applications similar to the ones they have come to expect from other business-grade IP services. LTE would also deliver bandwidth for a full on-the-go HD web experience whether through tablet PC's or mobile phones.

More about Cox: http://bit.ly/77AjfK - Bundle:http://bit.ly/cfYSFt
NVIDIA Tegra-powered Ultra tablet: http://bit.ly/7kf5wd
Definition of Long Term Evolution (LTE)

In Google’s (GOOG) Android mobile operating system was first introduced more than a year ago, and hardly made a ripple in the smart phone market – until now.

ChangeWave’s December 9-14 survey of 4,068 consumers shows the Android operating system roiling the smart phone market, with Motorola’s new Droid smart phone the biggest and most immediate beneficiary.

Among respondents who currently own a smart phone, 4% say they’re using Google’s Android operating system – a 3-pt jump since our survey in September.

But more importantly, 21% of those planning to buy a smart phone in the next 90 days say they’d prefer to have the Android OS on their new phone – a monstrous 15-pt jump in just three months.

Read the full article by y Paul Carton and Jean Crumrine @ ChangeWave.com: http://bit.ly/7lmrwM
Read commentary by Chuong Nguyen: http://bit.ly/571UsF

The prospect of watching live, local TV shows on mobile phones and other portable devices is getting closer. Manufacturers this week are showing off gadgets can receive a new type of digital TV transmissions.

"Mobile DTV" gadgets will be available this spring for consumers in the Washington, D.C., area to try. The devices include a cell phone made by Samsung Electronics Co. and a Dell Inc. laptop. There's also the Tivit, a device about the size of a deck of cards that receives a TV signal, then rebroadcasts it over Wi-Fi so it can be received by an iPhone or BlackBerry.

Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/6S18VQ
Or visit the Open Mobile Video Coallition here: http://www.omvc.org/
Sprint and Samsung announce a mobile DTV-enabled version of the Android-powered Moment: http://bit.ly/5NXb7Q
FLO TV on a mobile phone: http://www.flotv.com/get-flo-tv/mobile

Everybody’s favourite mobile barcode service (so it seems, sometimes) has a major update today. Big In Japan, creators of the ShopSavvy barcode reading app, has two big announcements. First, it is expanding the variety of barcodes ShopSavvy reads to include the massively popular 2D QR Code. More interestingly, it is also introducing a new Augmented Reality (AR) service to the app.

Read the full story here: http://www.gomonews.com/augmented-reality-hits-mobile-barcodes-with-shop...

What does ShopSavvy do?
It’s a smartphone application that allows you to scan the barcodes you can see on any product in a shop. Once you’ve scanned the barcode, ShopSavvy would provide you with information from all over the world about how much that product costs elsewhere. It allows you to comparison shop while on the go, and even provides a list of local shops that have the product, and directions to those shops on a map.

So what’s Augmented Reality?

BMW has selected China for a world-first in advertising - personalized video messages delivered directly to cell phones.

The targeted messages, distributed Dec 21-24 in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, addressed individual customers with a holiday greeting that is uniquely tailored to a specific individual.

For BMW, being first in advertising innovation is second nature. The company that brought the world BMW Films and the eight part branded entertainment series “The Hire”, is now partnering with mobile technology provider Clip in Touch (http://www.clipintouch.com/) to engage their audience in a new way. Initial response to the campaign has been very positive, generating more test drives in a three day period than at any time this year.

BMW is growing quickly in China. Sales are up this year more than 40% to 90,000 units. For the launch of its new X1 series, the German luxury automaker recognized it needed to reach a younger demographic in the most relevant medium- mobile.