Textopoly Mobile Blog » agency

Apple is breaking up with Quattro Wireless!

Kang — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:22:17 +0000

Apple is not accepting anymore mobile ad campaigns and are closing down current ad campaigns through the Quattro Wireless ad network. Back in January, Apple purchased Quattro Wireless for a cool $275 million and it seems like they are already over the ad network after 8 months. With so much money invested into their new mobile ad network, I have to wonder what the reasoning behind Apple closing shop on their new cross platform ad network to focus on the iAd network?

This is good news for mobile advertising companies that have clients looking to execute mobile advertising on Android and other non-Apple platforms. There will be more available inventory options for smaller mobile ad players. However it will be impossible to execute a iAd campaign for a medium to smaller brand since the minimum buy is $10 million to execute. So really it’s a double edge sword, Apple has brought the light of understanding to major brands that big mobile media buys will be a norm and happen frequently. The catch is that no one with less than a $10 million for their mobile media budget will be able to run ads on iAds network.

Apple has always developed all their products to exist in an Apple eco-system. I think when Apple purchased Quattro, it was a little bit of a shock that they were extending their reach beyond the eco-system of their products. Perhaps Apple felt pressure due to the highly popularized and drawn out Google and Admob acquisition? Or was it an attempt to maintain dominance, they purchased a massive ad network to gain more control over their inventory? One thing is for sure, Apple is casting off the non-Apple inventory and ceasing to run campaigns on Quattro’s network of publishers. So what gives Apple?! I understand that you have $40 Billion in cash alone and $275 million won’t break or make you; but what do you have up your sleeve?

‘Oh Disney Where Art Thou?’

Asif — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:20:54 +0000

I starting writing this blog while listening to a webinar about mobile; one of the panelists was explaining how brands and agencies will pay more attention to mobile if they can understand its full potential ‘reach.’ We’ve heard many times before that most agencies and brands don’t fully understand the reach of mobile, or how to utilize it. Now, I’m not going go into detail about statistics of mobile nor try and to pitch mobile, but I will tell you how Disney has used mobile and how their reach is global.

Disney currently covers almost every available mobile content delivery method available: Disney mobile WAP sites, streaming mobile video, mobile games, ring tones, wallpapers, SMS updates and news, mobile Disney radio app., SMS campaigns and more! Disney entered the mobile space in 1999 and since then is the number 1 mobile entertainment media; with a mobile presence in over 40 countries and deals through 80 carriers and over 6,000 products across 20 product categories all via mobile. This seamless integration of their brand into mobile allows them to reach its consumers clear across the world, including impoverished countries in Africa and central Asia on a ubiquitous device. The more people you touch using the most intimate method of communication, the more loyalty, and brand recognition you create.

As 2010 approaches, and you’re looking back on 2009 think about this: Can your brand reach someone in Africa…? Or better yet, are you reaching 90% of the U.S. in their pockets? – Spend some time with us, we’ll show you how. Oh, to help further education on mobile and get a free lunch visit this: http://bit.ly/7AZKZM

Want to talk more about mobile and its potential reach!? Email me at: Asif[at]Textopoly[dot]com

This really chaps my hide

Naushad — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:53:51 +0000

It seems like every time I speak to a brand or agency about mobile and how wonderful it is, how valuable it is, how it’s opt-in and how we as a human race can’t live without it someone in the room exclaims that they recently got a text message from a brand and never opted into it and that the message was from a 7-digit number not a short code. ARRGGHHH! Stop ruining my space you bottom feeding nancy pansies!

I’ve just about had enough and will start listing these rogue mobile spammers in the hopes that they don’t give mobile the stigma that email has – spam. Mobile is not spam. Lists of mobile numbers should not be purchased and consumers should not be sent messages they have not opted to receive! All mobile commercial messages must be sent via short codes and if you don’t know why then you are who I am directing this soapbox speech to! Seriously, holla’ at us, we’ll help you!

Ok, here are some recent offenders:

18|8 Hair Saloon in Irvine: The copy of your messages are well written, but you can’t send us messages from a 7-digit numbers especially since I never opted in to receive these messages! Please contact a mobile professional so you’re not sued – yes, you can be sued to to tune of $500 per message per person for each spammed text message.
Here is a message my attorney got while I was sitting with him this morning (I swear!) “Is your mortgage payment too expensive? Our Loan Modification program can lower your payments immediately. May we please give you a call?” The sender’s number was from a 562 area code. See above hot-shot, no bueno.

Have you been a victim of this? Let us know and we’ll post it for others.

Sad – and this person is a VP?!

Naushad — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:39:08 +0000

I just read about a recent mobile marketing campaign in which various questions come on screen during televised sports games to which fans text in a response and watch the results ‘grow’ in a basic graphic, similar to the one below. (Excuse the quick Photshop job!)

These types of campaigns are great because a sponsor of the text game can get vast exposure from a captivated audience. Fans love this type of stuff especially if there is a prize component to it and let’s face it, texting is fun!

The part in the article that made me put my head down and feel ashamed (then just made me giggle) was that the VP of sales from the ginormous TV Station that is creating this campaign said about the mobile marketing agency this is programming the project: “The unique thing about [the mobile marketing agency], I can see results grow on screen after I text in. . .It’s something [mobile marketing agency] offers that no one else offers.”

Really? No one else can do this?! Now I’m hoping this VP was misquoted because Mr. VP-of-the-ginormous TV Station there are a plethora of mobile companies that have been doing this exact thing for years! (Yes, years!) A simple Google search would have given you the likes of iVision Mobile, GoMoText, Hyperfactory, Vibes, Mobivity, Buongiorno, Textopoly (!) and probably a hundred or so others! Again, I hope he/she was misquoted!

FCC Stepping In

Karla — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:45:34 +0000

The FCC announced its Wireless Innovation and Investment Notice of Inquiry (NOI) late August, catching mobile agencies in a spindle of perplexity and enthusiasm.

Stating that their intent is to merely gather facts about the wireless industry, the FCC will be focusing on research, innovation, and consumer protection (truth-in-billing). In other words, they will be looking at things such as mobile applications, policies, pricing information, consumer privacy, market competition, third party products and services and even what user phone bills look like. Conclusively the FCC wants to figure out their role in our evolving mobile ecosystem while also making sure that the mobile world is utilizing all current innovations and pushing for new state of the art technology.

Their interest in developing a framework for analyzing and measuring innovation in the mobile industry, however, seems farfetched, seeing as mobile is one of the most innovative classes of business. With a touch of a handset, anyone can go anywhere with his or her mobile GPS, surf the web with countless pages as options and update in real-time, receive alerts regarding weather, sports, health and much more. Consumer demands of mobile content and applications drive the mobile industry to new heights; and in return, the delivery of such content and applications satisfy consumer needs, creating a circle of daily deliverance of creativity and modern technology; which has successfully survived the economic downturn, all while regulating itself. So why would the FCC need to regulate mobile research and innovation?

Their interest in consumer protection and overall market competition, in my opinion, are the only valid claims they have in regards as to why they are stepping in, seeing as consumer privacy and protection is always, and should always be, a major focus amongst a plethora of markets. However, with Carriers, the MMA and the CTIA updating constantly in order to assure proper engagement of users, their privacy, and exposure to content, what more can the FCC do that the mobile world is not already trying to achieve and/or already regulating? In fact, the MMA is generating a response to the FCC and its inquiries; a response all marketing agencies should support.

Although we know that government-run operations have not had the best history, some mobile agencies are seeing this as an opportunity to raise issues that are usually down played when viewing mobile marketing as a whole, such as distress when it comes to Carriers and provisioning short codes. Moreover, as the FCC is enabling all mobile companies and agencies to submit their opinions, comments, and thoughts on any topic regarding their upcoming overview. Whether or not the mobile world likes what the FCC is going to do and might do in the future, this is a great opportunity for the mobile world to voice its concerns, backup our success with data, and successfully display whether or not the FCC needs to step in.