Textopoly Mobile Blog » mobile

HTML5 – Making the Mobile Web Sexy!

Naushad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:54:47 +0000

Mobile media is hot – we get it.It’ll hit $1 billion in the U.S. by 2012 – dope. HTML5 and Rich Media are the talk of the mobile town – ok cool. But how many marketers and media folks actually understand what HTML5 is?!

I asked a good friend of mine, a veteran in the mobile space (@james_monaghan http://twitter.com/james_monaghan) to tell me in how to best describe HTML5. James, being the clever Englishman that he is replies that HTML5 is a “Significant milestone in the maturation of mobile web application delivery.” One of our own top developers (Keivan!) had a similar sentiment and was kind enough to share with me an awesome presentation he found – the presentation itself is in HTML5 (!) so please view it on Firefox, Safari or Chrome – our good friends at Microsoft are a bit behind. http://slides.html5rocks.com/

Also, to see some HTML5 hotness in action check out some Textopoly work in HTML5 that will blow your mind:

http://bit.ly/iDPOQj

http://leep.me/v2

Enjoy – and give us a ring to talk about Rich Media & HTML5 – we’re on it!

Mobile’s Bright Future: Mobile Advertising

tyler@textopoly.com — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:09:38 +0000

The winds of change are aggressively sweeping through the mobile ecosystem with no signs of slowing down. Mobile advertising dollars are set to break the $1 billion mark in the U.S. by the end of 2012. Even better, mobile growth is higher than expected with forecasts placing mobile advertising at $4.4 billion by the year 2015. The success and growth of mobile advertising can be attributed to messaging-based, search-based, video based, and rich media banner ads. Currently messaging based ads still account for the largest revenue income in the mobile world at $442.6 million. However, that may change as the mobile movement skyrockets. Future projections place banner/rich media ads, ahead of messaging ads in the coming years. Textopoly is deep into the mobile media game by creating and developing highly interactive rich media mobile ads for Paramount summer hits Thor and Transformers. Want a taste of what we did for Thor and Transformers?! Schedule a TOK Session today!

All data, stats, and charts credited eMarketer.com

Adults Embrace Mobile Applications

tyler@textopoly.com — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:29:14 +0000

Adults age 30-49, lead mobile app usage in growth. That’s right, we are in 2nd place. The High school/College demographic no longer leads mobile app usage growth. No gold medal for us young folks this year, we’re taking home the silver. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2009 and then again in late 2010 to track growth of mobile app usage among age demographics. The results show, among many other findings, that while younger demographics lead the charge in usage rates, older demographics such as 30-49 year olds continue to grow the fastest year to year thus making them the “new” generation to keep an eye on!

You may be wondering, what exactly do those old folk use mobile phones for? Thanks to the Pew Research Center’s dedicated research we have all the answers.

Go ahead and take a look at the chart below, enjoy!

Angry Bird Phenomena

Naushad — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:47:27 +0000

Not sure if you all know, but the amount of time spent playing the very popular mobile game Angry Birds (globally) is about 200 million minutes a day! Anyhow, the phoenomna is getting absurd with plush toys, a movie deal and now this:

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/08/02/no-comment-angry-birds-in-convenient-bra-form/

So if a man sees this item in an intimate moment does that mean a ‘red light’!?

Coming to Screens (Very) Near You!

Asif — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:44:06 +0000

In October of 2010, Disney signed a deal with Apalya TV in India to bring Disney Channel shows to mobile phones. With an estimated 150 million TV sets and 700-800 million cell phones, it’s not hard to understand why Disney decided to bring their shows to the hands of their viewers. Literally. A couple months before, Netflix began streaming on iPhones and iPod touches.

Television has long ago left our Plasma screens and creeped into laptops, desktops, and different media players. And now, it is making the transition to mobile. Of course, sinking into your favorite chair with an ice cold beer and leaning back to watch your favorite shows on a huge screen is a luxury to be treasured. But being able to watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother while waiting in a doctor’s office instead of flipping through a 5 year old copy of Home Living might just be the next best thing.

If TV comes to mobile on a wider spectrum, making mobile an even more prevalent part of our everyday lives, what do you think the impact will be on the mobile advertising industry? Let us know!

HTML5, It’s Cool Cause Apple Says So

Kang — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 01:03:33 +0000

Years ago, there was a program developed that has since penetrated the hearts and jobs of graphic designers worldwide. Adobe Flash. As Flash was being adopted, upgraded and loved, a new platform for advertising was growing exponentially: mobile. With such an immense platform, the world wasn’t sure that Flash could succeed. The world may not have been, but Apple was. Intro: HTML5.

If Apple refuses to support something (Flash) and then fully backs another product (HTML5), the world will usually follow. Recalling Conan’s recent review of the iPad 2: “You’ll buy it no matter what we say.” Yes, it was a jab at Apple. Yes, it was a hilarious video. But does the message change? Not really. Apple is a giant in the industry and with the magnitude of iProducts alone, any developer would be remiss not to develop HTML5 advertisements.

But aside from the Jobs endorsement, there are numerous new things that HTML5 brings to the table. Alex Linde, Yahoo’s director of mobile advertising, summed it up perfectly: “With iPhone, Android and others now adopting HTML5 we have, No. 1, a standard that allows us to ‘write almost once, run almost everywhere,’ No. 2, an installed base to do it at scale and No. 3, enough bandwidth and screen real estate to do something really interesting for the consumer.”

But, can HTML5 do what Flash did? Yes, and more. Users can swipe products across the screen, drag and drop, spin, flip, and generally control their experience with the advertisement. The glory of HTML5 is summed up by Apple. [Cool HTML5 examples.]

So far, HTML5 is dominating the mobile and tablet market, while Flash is holding its dominance in the computer world. Whether HTML5 expands its reach or Flash steps up its technology for mobile (or both) time will soon tell. Regardless of the channel, we are bound to be impressed by the innovative ways companies try to get their consumers to interact with the brand.

It’s Required: Nonprofit Organizations & Mobile Marketing

Karla — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:59:01 +0000

I enjoy two things, mobile and nonprofit organizations. Although the first cell phone was exhibited in 1973 and demonstrated to have what we now refer to as smartphone features in 1992, brands were not utilizing SMS campaigns until a few years ago. The Human Rights Campaign, I believe, was amongst the first non-profit organizations to lead the way with mobile marketing and advertising. Not only were they the first SMS campaign I ever signed up for (I was in high school) but also the earliest SMS campaign I have seen apply interactive voice response (IVR).

Non-profit organizations must use innovative forms of advertising because they cannot exploit the usual tools of ‘cool’ advertisement – sexual appeal and alcohol – to promote campaigns for rain forest preservation, or civil rights, or human trafficking. They must use the art of human emotion and ethical perspectives with a hodgepodge of events like auctions, selling tickets for art exhibits, restaurant profit turnovers, etc. The bottom line is that a nonprofit organization needs to either get the supporter in front of the website to donate or at an event where a supporter can donate. It does not need to be this complex anymore.

Within the last few weeks I have seen more and more articles pop up about how nonprofit organizations should implement mobile apps, mobile sites, and mobiles ads. I must admit, now that I look back, I find it shocking that it took this long for brands to see how applicable and efficient mobile marketing can be. After all, 85% of people read an unread text message within 15 minutes of receiving one. Compare that to 15% of readers who actually open an unread email (and that’s actually considered a good rate for email marketing!).

Nonprofit organizations, this is your wake up call. Your target audiences all have a cell phone! They are more then willing to support you; after all, you do have their contact information and monetary donations. Now give them something back that they can carry around with them, aside from their big hearts and pocket. Give them the luxury of convenience and accessibility, the art of modern technology with the oldest of traditions – helping others.

Whether you want a mobile ad, a mobile app, a mobile site, or even an SMS alert system, stop limiting your fans. Engage your devotees’ day or night and build a modern mobile relationship both parties can benefit from. And if you are worried less people will donate, just let the numbers do the talking. Last year, over $50 million dollars were given via mobile donations. And this is $50 million through a channel that has yet to utilized to its full potential. Can you imagine if all nonprofit organizations allowed supporters to make a mobile donation and to access company information whenever they pleased? The predictions are insurmountable. Isn’t that impressive?

Demographic wise – you are probably catering to a more mature and affluent demographic. Today’s generation, both young and old, is one of mobile addiction. Extend your reach to all age groups with the use of mobile marketing and advertising, and watch your support list go through the roof. Do your country a courtesy, and provide a healthy alternative to sexting and Facebooking, inspire our youth to assemble and become an active participant in the global community – to make a difference right through the palm of their hands, with one click.

It’s that simple (and brilliant!).

So, for current nonprofit organizations that are utilizing mobile marketing, I applaud you for staying with modern modes of promotion. But please, question your mobile components and make sure that 1) your mobile site is actually optimized for a mobile phone and not simply a trans-coded redirect from your regular website and 2) that you are utilizing the best mode of mobile engagement for your organization (i.e. mobile site, mobile ads, mobile apps, mobile donation, SMS alerts, etc.). For nonprofit organizations that are currently not utilizing mobile marketing and advertising, what are you waiting for?

Eons Beyond Text

Naushad — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 19:50:47 +0000

While getting coffee I began chatting with some folks in the same building. As social norm dictate, we respectively inquired about what the other did. When I said “mobile marketing and engagement,” the immediate response was, “So you send out mass texts to everyone?” … Not exactly buddy.

Mobile marketing is still relatively new, and while people in the industry are talking about its evolution and how HTML5 and iAds allow for even more interaction with mobile users the rest of the world is still trying to get a grasp on what mobile marketing is at the most basic levels.

In a visual format, Google’s Mobile Marketing campaign for AdMob shows it best. Mobile marketing is much more a part of people’s lives than most realize. Every time an ad pops up when you’re playing Angry Birds, or when a redirect link appears in a text message, browser that pops up after you scan a QR code, or when you use a mobile site, you are using something created by a mobile marketing agencies like Textopoly. So what’s next?

Before I go on, I have a disclaimer: this blog is NOT about predictions, there are plenty of those out there. Nor will you hear me utter the now banal phrase “the year of mobile”. Instead, I’m just going to give a perspective on where I see a key area within the sphere of “mobile” going – the key area I speak of is mobile advertising.

Just the other week Google/AdMob released some staggering numbers. Google/AdMob is now receiving 2 billion ad requests per day, a data point which has quadrupled over the past year. With mobile impression numbers staggering to Everest heights, there has to be a way to stand out from the masses. And, there is.

Mobile sites and Mobile ad experiences are getting their sexy on. The graphics are top-tier, the information requested from the user is minimal and to the point, and the content is becoming more and more evolved. With platforms like iAd “you get access to the Apple audience, the world’s most engaged, passionate, and loyal consumer” who “engages with iAd ads for an average of 60 seconds per visit.” 60 seconds is a long time to capture someone’s attention. With technology like HTML5 it is easy to fill 60 seconds with multimedia and graphical content allowing for more advanced advertising on mobile devices including tablets all within a browser environment.

So where is mobile advertising going? To a world where the companies and customers can have a conversation through technology. A world where customers can directly give feedback through how far they are willing to engage in a company’s mobile advertisement. A world that’s eons beyond a text message.

Mobile: The Ultimate Social Network

Karla — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:05:32 +0000

As a passionate global issue devotee, when I came across CNN’s article about Jumo, a nonprofit organization that hopes to unite people under a common platform to help fight local and global issues, I was sincerely intrigued by their upcoming efforts and joined Jumo that week. I appreciated an array of issues being addressed by both big and small organizations, and waited to hear more about Jumo while assuming that popular organizations and big name brands would gladly hop on the Jumo band-wagon to participate in this tax-deductible long-term campaign for humanity. (In all seriousness, if Jumo is only appealing to companies because it enables them to deduct robust amounts of money, also known as donations, from their taxes, then so be it. At least this money is going towards helping resolve issues that are past due.)

Allyson Kapin’s article ‘Jumo: A Social Network #Win or #Fail?’ summarized a few perspectives a handful of people expressed about Jumo. From statements like “Jumo needs to question what makes them different” to “I don’t see Jumo filling the gap” and “the space is already crowded”, I was surprised by the lack of encouragement. After the earthquake in Haiti, mobile made news about the numerous amounts of donations it accumulated in just a matter of hours. mGive alone passed along $37 million in mobile donations to Haiti Relief funds.

So what are non-profits waiting for? Why is another addition to the nonprofit family a crowd? Well, because mobile is not being utilized as a mediator, a tool almost 5 billion people in the world hold in their pocket. Mobile is the ultimate social network.

Who are the top ten global brands?

Coca Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, General Electric, McDonalds, Intel, Nokia, Disney, and HP.

What do all top ten global brands of 2010 have in common?

Besides 90% of these brands originating in the US and having an extremely high monetary value, they all have a mobile component.

So what do Jumo, mobile, and successful brands have in common?

Jumo, make yourself a competing brand name for nonprofit organizations seeking to change the world, one global issue at a time. Create a presence with your brand and connect users around the world via mobile and utilize all of its components. That is how you reach the masses effectively and efficiently, and this is how (like Haiti) you will see passionate global issue devotees not only follow and support Jumo, but have them use mobile to help their favorite organization make positive and recognizable change. But before you do all that, you need a multi-award winning agency that has experience with branding. Well, here we are and we already have ideas for you. I look forward to seeing your brand flourish.

Read Full Article at http://leep.it/sJ.

Apple vs. Android vs. RIM vs. Palm

Asif — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:50:04 +0000

Fans rejoice! Your favorite blogger is back! It’s been awhile since my last blog post, I’ve been a busy man. Happy New Year to all of you!

So, what’s been going on in these past few months? Well, Textopoly is now one of the fastest growing companies in Orange County, we won the 2010 Interactive Marketing Award, our mobile lab has been running on all cylinders with projects for Yamaha, Google, Scanbuy and others, and on top of all that, my brother just got married! Needless to say, it’s been a busy few months. And yes, for those who are wondering, the bachelor party was awesome!

Now that we got that out of the way, what’s going on in mobile!? Well, as always, A LOT! With the high success of the iPad, and the app store in all its glory, rival companies have been trying to get a piece of the action! Samsung’s Galaxy seems to be OK, its running off the popular android system which leaves an open market for applications. However, the more anticipated Blackberry Playbook seems to be a more comparable rival. As of now, we don’t know much about it, except for the fact that it’s going to have the fastest processor available, a video chat function, true multitasking (although it just so happens to be very reminiscent of Palms’ multifunction technology), and a much needed USB drive.

My personal opinion is that this Blackberry product will finally give the developers a reason to improve their app store! Because really, besides downloading the Facebook and Pandora application, what other application would you ever download from the blackberry app store? I’ve always loved blackberry, I think they have a high quality product, but it just needs to be attractive! I’m hoping that with the playbook (great name) they can finally start getting the high recognition that will eventually lead to more app development.

The other highly anticipated product is Palms Topaz Tablet. As many of you know, HP acquired Palm, and initially had not intention of continuing the mobile side of Palm! However that’s changed (thank god) and we’re all awaiting the big announcements of the tablet, as well as the new mobile handsets rumored to be show cased on February 9, 2011.

I for one can’t wait for all of these new products to come out! I’m definitely going to purchase one of the personal tablets, just not sure which one yet!

- Want to chat more about the iPad, Playbook, and Topaz!? Contact me at asif[at]Textopoly[dot]com. You can help me pick one! Till next time friends!