06/11/09 by David Wachs | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
In the mobile industry, there’s a term for the mobile sites available directly on the phone, via the menu system. It’s called “on deck” content, which is nestled safely in the carrier’s ”garden”. On AT&T this garden is called mmode, on Verizon it’s VCast… each carrier has a marketing term, but they’re all just beautiful gardens. Oh the garden! Like the Garden of Eden, what a safe place it is! Where you can run free and frolic among $2.99 clips of Saturday Night Live and Bollywood, yellow pages search results, and ESPN news. Where everything you could ever need is just 5 or 6 clicks away! Why go outside the garden? Why look elsewhere when everything you want is available there? I mean, that wacky joke of the day page is all I need! And the carriers want me to stay here! I’m sure it’s out of their benevolent love and acts of kindness! I’m sure it’s not due highly profitable contracts and revenue share agreements!
And then there was the shiny fruit…It beckons you. Tempts you from the tree of knowledge. With its curves and its shiny screen. It’s an Apple on the tree. And now the Apple only costs $99!
You touch the Apple. And then everything you now know changes. The garden walls collapse and you have the entire internet in front of you. You now realize there’s life outside the walls. There’s more than one place to get those Bollywood clips! And they’re FREE or at least cheaper because they don’t have to rev-share with the carriers!
It was only a matter of time, really. The death of on-deck. Of course, technology and market demand trump contracts. And those precious on-deck deals are slipping away.
With the new $99 iPhone (which I think is more impactful than the expensive 3GS) and other powerful and cheap “superphones”, we’re seeing more and more a democratization of the mobile experience. More people can afford it, more people can explore it, and more people can finally leave Eden and see what the mobile internet is about, and not just what the carriers are paid to show us.
04/14/09 by David Wachs | Blog, Development Blog | 1 Comment »
We often use our blog to write posts on industry trends and general forces affecting the mobile landscape. However, sometimes we fail to talk about the obvious: how we, Cellit, are changing our industry.
Cellit is currently rolling out a number of new products: iPhone apps, Android apps, more text messaging platforms, and even one “super secret” system we’ll be announcing later in the year that revolutionizes the mobile couponing industry. For now, however, I’d like to discuss one of our most useful, most practical, and best-kept secrets: the Widgit.
Simply put, the Widgit allows businesses, small and large, to loop mobile marketing into their business processes. It quickly and easily integrates mobile marketing within the the store or restaurant’s point of sale (POS) system, enabling our clients to track coupon redemption and prevent over-redemption. It’s simple, it’s effective, and it installs in about 2 minutes on any Windows-based POS system. 
Cellit is all about working with our clients to develop solutions that work. Recently, many of our QSR clients expressed the need for a version of the software that doesn’t require a keyboard. Now, the Widgit works with touchscreens too!
The user literally draws a “mobile coupon” button on their POS system, using our tool. When the user taps this new button with their finger, the Widgit appears. Everybody at Cellit, and each of our clients using the system love it.
Of course, the Widgit ties directly in with our CouponZap and CellitStudio campaign management systems, so all coupon redemptions are tracked in real-time. To learn more, please give us a call and we’d be happy to arrange a demo.
10/11/07 by David Wachs | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
My how the times are changing.
Verizon, historically one of the most “closed” carrier networks in the United States, announced at the end of November that by the end of 2008, it will allow an “any device” policy, enabling users to use nearly any phone on the Verizon network, accessing nearly any application via the network. Perhaps more notably, this announcement was followed-up by the company stating that they will be switching from their CDMA network to a GSM one, further enabling the ease of transport of phones across networks. (GSM networks, the most common in the world, use the SIM card interface to easily switch carriers.) Switching to GSM from the closed CDMA architecture is by definition a move towards a more open network, so by announcing open access strategy first, Verizon avoids looking internally conflicted.
AT&T, the #1 mobile carrier in the US, followed up by announcing to the world that it too would be embracing the “open explosion”. In reality, you could always bring an unlocked GSM handset to AT&T and use it on its network. The real big news here is that when you’re contract’s up, AT&T will unlock your phone (unless of course, you have the coveted iPhone).
So what does this mean for mobile marketing?
The big PR blitz was actually initiated by a little company called Google, with its effort to “open” the carrier networks to allow for “any app” on “any phone” on “any network.” What they really mean is “any app” on “any GOOGLE phone” on “any network”. And Google’s PR tantrum worked; Sprint and T-Mobile signed up to be Google partners (with rumors that Verizon is next).
The Google platform will allow for ease of development of rich mobile applications that can run cross-network, adding yet another standard to the mix, on top of J2ME, BREW, Windows Mobile, and the ever-so-sexy-yet-ever-so-closed iPhone.
If Google has it’s way, and the world goes “gPhone”, our job as mobile marketers will be easier. Cool new apps (mobile catalogs of products, custom-branded games, and more) will be easier to develop and have a higher likelihood of working on more phones. More likely, however, we will be left with one more “standard” on top of J2ME, BREW, Windows Mobile and iPhone. It will be up to companies like Cellit to make solutions that work no matter what “standard” you’re on.
The first phones sporting the Google technology (named “Android”) aren’t expected to hit the market until the end of next year. That’s still a long way and the show-down for “mobile platform dominance” is far from over.
The “end” of closed networks marks the very early start of a new age of delivering more powerful applications into the hands of the end-users. This end was predicted and prayed for. (In fact, I did it back in September of 2006.) We will just have to see how quickly the “open factor” affects our abilities to deliver richer, more compelling content to the consumer.
08/30/07 by David Wachs | Blog, Industry Blog | No Comments »
Anam Mobile has revealed that global mobile operators are losing out on as much as €3.6 Billion (US$4.9) of revenue per year through lost opportunities to create value-added SMS messages.
Text messaging has grown into a phenomenally popular form of communication, with research from the telecoms analyst company Informa Telecoms & Media revealing that over 600 billion messages were sent worldwide during the first quarter of this year, over 75 messages for every mobile subscriber. Yet many operators are focusing on other, less well-established, data applications as they aim to increase ARPU and profitability.
By introducing new data services through SMS, operators can tap into the existing level of comfort that consumers already feel when using the short, 160 character format. This approach will make it easier for new services to be adopted and can attach real value to the messages that individuals already send.
“After voice, text messaging is still the most popular application on mobiles,” said Dan Winterbottom, Senior Analyst, Mobile Content & Applications at Informa Telecoms & Media. “Yet when it comes to innovation and new services, text messaging is being ignored by many operators in favor of new data services. There is an innate understanding by subscribers of how texting works, this could be utilized by operators when they introduce new services.”
Currently, a large proportion of text messages are included as part of bundled deals provided by operators and therefore are, in effect, free to the customer. This means that each individual message has a low perceived value to the user and almost no financial value to the operator.
However, there are many applications that could potentially be introduced to consumers through SMS. If the subscriber is able to use SMS to interact with their device in a more efficient, more enjoyable or more productive way, then they will be willing to pay a small additional fee for those SMS messages. The subscriber will accept that these messages fall outside of the “free” text bundles, or add on a new bundle to their service plan; SMS messages are one of the few services that the user will always know how to use on their mobile phone.
Gerry McKenna, CEO of Anam says, “I am constantly surprised that, until now, operators have not fully grasped the opportunities available to them through SMS. The €3.5 billion of missed revenue can be earned by simply enhancing the text services that they offer customers. There doesn’t need to be a shift in consumer mobile behavior – they can stick with their trusty SMS message, whilst the operator is able to create immediate results with additional revenue streams.”
Similarly, many advertisers have yet to grasp the potential of text messaging as an integral part of their marketing strategies. Aside from the staggering usage statistics mentioned above, SMS is the mobile service that the most users feel comfortable with and already know how to use. The only potential stumbling block mentioned above regarding the carriers does not apply to advertisers: extra cost. Since mobile marketing is handled by a company such as Cellit, and not the carriers themselves, advertisers are able to utilize the messages that most subscribers are already allotted as part of a text bundle or other plan. Thus if mobile users are willing to pay extra to “interact with their device in a more efficient, more enjoyable or more productive way”, then how thrilled would they be to do the same thing with advertisers for no extra cost, especially when they would only be receiving these advertisements and offers from companies whom they have specifically requested information from via an opt-in system?
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