Agora Media Group Innovation Blog

That is exactly what the iPhone can be called. Of course any smartphone can be a survival guide, but the combination of created apps for the iPhone and what the iPhone has caused in the mobile industry, is what it makes advanced and suitable to be the device at all times.

An article in the New York Times sums it up perfectly with eight examples for the travel industry:
* Virtual Tour Guides
* Outdoor Enthusiasts
* Money-Saving Programs
* Cool Tools
* On the Road
* Wow Factor
* Travel Booking
* Just for Fun

Read the article for all the additional information which comes along the eight examples.
The most well-known are the Virtual Tour Guides, Wow Factor and Travel Booking applications. An Augmented Reality virtual tour guide is recently released by Lonely Planet, which also falls within the Wow Factor.
Travel Booking applications are becoming a neccesity for companies, a research by eMarketer has shown that 48% of people book last minute via mobile. Being on top of mind is increased as well with a mobile application (and strategy), getting back much quicker with that brand instead of performing new searches right away.

The travel industry has always been a frontrunner when it comes to innovation and creative applications of new opportunities.
When we combine an industry with these characteristics and the 8 key Mobile Internet themes which shows the advancements of mobile usage, the important place that location takes within travel propositions, strategies and business models, a device like the iPhone is the perfect merger and enabler.
The travel industry is adopting mobile fast-paced and exploring what the opportunities for their brand can be. Many solutions can be classified by one of the eight aforementioned examples, which all suffice one or multiple needs for the travelers.

The new survival guide is up to date, can be real-time and social, which add extra dimensions to the applications which makes the usage of them even more handy and fun.
What do you think additional applications of the mobile device in the travel industry are?

Where Apple succeeded in disrupting the music industry, is it also possible to achieve the same in the TV industry?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is creating plans which could shake up the industry.

Apple is preparing itself to be a competitor of cable and satellite TV, by wanting to offer a subscription fee to users which gives them targeted networks in return (prices vary from $2 to $4), or TV episodes can be purchased, ranging from $.99 to $2.99.
This fits into the broader scope where iTunes will transform from a pure download model to a streaming model.

What do you think, will Apple be able to be a worthy competitor, or at least shake up the industry and ignite innovation?

The MMA has ‘significantly revised’ the definition of Mobile Marketing, as is written on their website, their new definition is:

Mobile Marketing is a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.

They then continue elaborating on two points within the definition:

1.The “set of practices” includes “activities, institutions, processes, industry players, standards, advertising and media, direct response, promotions, relationship management, CRM, customer services, loyalty, social marketing, and all the many faces and facets of marketing.”
2.To “engage” means to “start relationships, acquire, generate activity, stimulate social interaction with organization and community members, [and] be present at time of consumers expressed need.” Furthermore, engagement can be initiated by the consumer (“Pull” in form of a click or response) or by the marketer (“Push”).

I do not understand why institutions and industry players can be practices, at the max we can say that institutions and industry players will make use of these practices as deployers.
The emphasis on engagement and interactivity is what’s the mobile device has indeed involved to.
Secondly, pointing out to relevancy (and interactivity) is according to the technological capabilities: Personalization, Customization and Collaboration, thus making clear that Mobile Marketing will transform and go towards these standards as well as the Internet and TV, this comes back in the second elaboration where it refers to “[and] be present at time of consumers expressed need.”, being present when consumers want, with the content they want where they want (Location Based Services).

Wasn’t Mobile Marketing -as term- a self-explenatory definition?

Yesterday the news was announced that Mastercard is introducing a Mobile Payments Gateway that delivers end-to-end mobile payment solutions.
This is definately a milestone for mCommerce. It will be much easier to send and receive money through the mobile device than it’s occurs currently and it will boost initiatives due to technologies like these. Anyone within the payment cycle can build quick and cost-effective customized mobile solutions which all will serve to offer a convenient and secure -mobile- payment process.

Mastercard’s mobile innovation certainly responds to the market needs and our changing lifestyles, like mr. Peirez describes:

“The Mobile Payments Gateway will help to make mobile payments a way of life for mobile phone users around the world,” said Joshua Peirez, group executive of Innovative Platforms for MasterCard Worldwide. “Through our global, integrated payment network we are efficiently connecting financial institutions, merchants and consumers together to mobilize MasterCard payment solutions in a way that truly reflects today’s on-the-go lifestyles.”

Vivo, the largest mobile operator in Brazil along with Itaú Unibanco and Redecard will be the first ones to partner up with the gateway.
Mastercard will introduce its Mobile payments solutions in select markets around the world. Adoption, usage and diffusion are important for a further development of Mobile Commerce and Marketing.

Do you think this will prosper new Mobile initiatives?

A whopping 17 entries from the Asia Pacific region are included as finalists for the Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards. It truely shows the potential of this region for Mobile Marketing and as frontrunners of its Innovation.

Secondly, the region is the fastest growing mobile market which will put Mobile companies in the spotlights, being the carriers of intelligence and experience and offering massive opportunities for marketers in reaching and engaging with their target groups.

Below you’ll find an introduction on some of the finalists and it’s taken from the press release by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA):
read more

Morgan Stanley’s Economy + Internet Trends is full with information about key mobile trends, which is worth the read and realise that Mobile something to look out for.

The eight key themes which they foresee are:

Some of the slides I found most interesting are:
read more

Clear image which shows the elements of the Social Periphery and Mobile Social Networks, the Content and Context which are given the appropriate importance and define the mobile convergence.
Relevant content based on Location and Action is what makes this extension of the human more and more important. Think of the numerous social mobile-, Augmented Reality- and local applications -to name a few- which will find their way to the mainstream public.

I do find the reference to “Brands as the filter and the enabler. Ideas must be good enough to share.” an interesting one, brands will have an extra/complementary way to have their awareness and get their brand association in relation to the location and content, a kind of super-proximity marketing potential fueled by key-enthausiasts/target groups who will engage and spread their word of mouth if ideas are indeed good enough to share.

A last important addition to this excellent graph is the mentioning of relationships as intelligence, not only the interaction is relevant and of importance, the relationship between those who interact related to the location/context is an enhancement or extension of the quality and opportunities!

Taken from davidjcarr.wordpress.com

Daring and gutsy!

The new Volkswagen GTI will be launched making exclusively use of Mobile Marketing.
Even more outstanding is the fact that it will be only promoted via the iPhone app “Real Racing GTI” which will let users enter automatically in a draw to win one of the six limited editions of the car. Check out the competition rules here.

According to Tim Ellis, VP of marketing for Volkswagen in the US, the typical GTI driver makes use of social networking, plays games, makes use of mobile devices and is tech-savvy.

It’s a perfect combination with the iPhone as an innovative device, well thought by Volkswagen and the game itself, well an excellent racing game! Very good and sharp graphics, great control over the car and easy to play. Much better than most iPhone racing games.

Graphics on the iPhone itself are much sharper than shown above.