The use of bluetooth enabled “beacons” in retail environments is one of the growing trends in mobile commerce.

As with any new marketing-focused technology, the key question is always “what is the reach?”

A new release from beacon platform company inMarket shows that beacons seem to be reaching a critical mass of addressable consumers. more»

As World Cup fever spreads around the world, it is a good time to take a look and see how important a role mobile is now playing for fans.

As it turns out, the number 1 country for World Cup mobile usage is the US!

A recent study from Vdopia explains just how widespread mobile engagement with the World Cup is, with millions of fans participating through apps, paid video, and “second screen” content.
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We read so many numbers each day about the size of the advertising market, the size of the display market, the size of the mobile market, etc etc. Some times it is hard to keep them straight and get perspective on how they relate.

Here is a very easy to understand infographic from eMarketer that puts all the basic stats about the US ad market in one place. Check it out!
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Every year the reach of mobile expands and impacts our lives in more ways. The spread of mobile devices is changing not only consumer lifestyles, but also business strategy.

Although the industry is immense, it is not at all homogenous, with differing devices, networks, services and consumer behaviors throughout the world. This detailed report from Deloitte provides an interesting look at the current state and important trends in the global mobile industry. more»

UK consumers who use their phones for search tend to take a longer time for research compared to US-based consumers, but their purchase intent is very high, with over half reporting they had eventually made the purchase.

This and many other interesting facets of UK mobile shopping behavior are highlighted in “Path-to-Purchase” infographic.
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Twice a year the IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) sponsors a survey of internet related advertising revenues. Conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study provides a very detailed, interesting look at the key trends in internet advertising, including Mobile.

The study reported that mobile advertising revenues in the US grew by over 100% during 2012, the fastest growing segment of the entire internet advertising industry!
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Mobile advertising spending more than doubled globally last year, with increases set to continue for the next four years until the market is worth almost $37 billion by 2016.

The latest statistics from research firm eMarketer found that ad revenues on mobile were $8.41 billion in 2012, up from the previous year’s $4.08 billion. more»

Over the past several years, the Monday following Thanksgiving has been called “Cyber Monday” in the US, as this is the day that many people start their online shopping for Christmas.

With more and more consumers preferring to use mobile for online commerce, Cyber Monday also provides a good measure of the growth of m-commerce, and 2012 proved the importance of mobile. more»

8 to 17 March, 2013
Austin, Texas, USA

The South by Southwest Conferences & Festivals (SXSW) offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW is the premier destination for discovery. more»

Market research firm comScore has released their latest MobiLens figures on the state of the US Smartphone market.

This new report shows that while Samsung continues to lead the US market with 26.3% share of US subscribers, Apple at 17.8% has managed to pass LG and now holds second place. more»

Walmart and Target are two of America’s largest retailers. And each has achieved massive penetration with their branded mobile apps.

However, they have adopted very different strategies to achieve this success.
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2 to 3 October, 2012
London, UK

Apps World brings together app Developers, MNOs, Marketing Managers and Tech Providers to address the challenges of delivery, development and design of apps across multiple platforms. more»

According to a study by marketing research company Nielsen, mobile advertising is more effective in Europe than it is in the United States.

The findings showed that owners of tablets and smartphones in Italy, Germany and the UK were more likely to make a purchase online via their PC after seeing a mobile advert than their American counterparts. more»

An interesting white paper published by Media Buying platform Ads Mobi and written by mobile research company Mobile Squared has predicted that Smartphones will overtake Feature phones during 2012 in the US. more»

Much of the recent explosive growth of mobile lifestyle has been linked to new capabilities available on smartphones coupled with higher speed mobile data networks.

And now Smartphones have passed an important milestone: over the past few monts for the first time ever Smartphone purchases outnumbered feature phone purchases in the US market according to Nielsen’s latest survey of US mobile consumers. more»

Sao Paulo: 18 August, 2011
London: 4-5 October, 2011
Los Angeles: 17 November, 2011

The Mobile Marketing Association Forum series has become the leading global platform for brands, agencies and publishers to share their experiences and success in mobile marketing. more»

An interesting article appeared last week in the Promotional Codes website (a leading vouchers website in the UK) about mobile coupons.

In order to show the overall development of mobile coupons in the US, they put together what they call an “Infographic” which explains various key trends, facts and techniques in a very simple, graphical way. more»

Implementing an effective mobile marketing program which runs across operator networks can be a difficult task.

The Mobile Marketing Association’s U.S. Consumer Best Practices Guidelines provides marketers with a guide to implementing mobile shortcode programs. more»

According to a recent report from Ground Truth, 60% of traffic on the mobile internet in the US is to Social Networking sites.

In addition, mobile specific social networks engage users more than online social networks. more»

A recent poll released by Deloitte shows that the recession has had a strong impact on the media consumption habits of American consumers.

Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy Survey Fourth Edition revealed that television is again gaining in popularity, gaming is growing, and the mobile is being used for an increasing diverse set of activities. more»

In a move to link online content to real world locations, Google has launched a new QR-code based Favorite Places on Google program.

Google has identified the top 100,000 most searched stores in the US, and has sent them a window decal that includes a unique QR code. When consumers scan the code with their phone, they go directly to a Google mobile web Place Page about the business. more»

Every month, Millennial Media puts out a SMART report on the US mobile advertising market (SMART=Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting).

In their latest report they give a detailed look at the top 10 verticals for mobile advertising spending, as well as some interesting information on what forms of interactivity people are actually engaging in. more»

November 17, 2009
Los Angeles, US

The Mobile Marketing Association Forum in Los Angeles is a unique event for the mobile community, as it hosts the Annual MMA Global Awards Ceremony and Dinner and brings together attendees from agencies, brands, carriers and other members of the global mobile marketing ecosystem. more»

SMS messages are used almost everywhere and by almost everyone – the reach is incredible. So it’s not surprising that advertising by placing messages at the end of an SMS is also a growing trend.

In this white paper, Zeep Media gives some background and advice on how best to use this media channel.

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Every month, Millennial Media puts out a SMART report on the US mobile advertising market (SMART=Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting).

The May report shows that the US mobile internet market continues to grow at a monthly average of 3-5%. There is also some very interesting information on the mix of campaigns (for example, Retail Promotional campaigns increased 6% from April to May), as well as an an analysis of “Cost Per Engaged User” across various types of targeting methods. more»

Market research firm GfK has released its latest quarterly “Mobile Advertising Report“, which shows that awareness of mobile ads in the UK has dropped since the last quarter.

However, awareness continues to grow in the US, as does the breadth of mobile advertising channels. more»

America’s most popular morning televison program, The Today Show, has launched an iPhone application in partnership with Zumobi. The app will offer millions of consumers access to the program’s leading news, entertainment and lifestyle content, right from their mobile device. more»

A new study conducted for the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence dispels several popular ideas about the consumption of video media.

According to the study, the biggest consumers were not teenagers, but baby boomers, aged 45 to 54, averaging 9 1/2 hours per day in front of a screen! more»

The MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) has announced that the top 4 US mobile operators (Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T) have agreed to incorporate their “mobile marketing guidelines” into the MMA’s best practices guidelines.

This should make it much more efficient for brands and agencies to launch mobile campaigns, with industry savings estimated at over $200 million per year. more»

Azuki Systems recently released a survey of US mobile consumers which indicates a surge in usage of mobile media, as well as details about how consumers are spending their time on the phone. The study also highlights that there are still some common barriers facing consumers. more»

Following several months of speculation, Verizon recently announced that Microsoft will be providing portal, local, and internet search and mobile advertising capabilities on the Verizon network. The five year agreement is set to start in mid-2009. more»

Virgin Mobile USA, which over the summer absorbed the MVNO Helio, has introduced some interesting new features which will make it easier for their subscribers to participate in mobile social networks. more»

itsmy.com just released what is probably the largest ever survey in the area of mobile social networks. More than 15,000 users took part from the US, UK, Spain, and Italy. Looking at consumer usage patterns, preferences, and statistics, this report really shows how deeply involved some consumers are with mobile social networks. more»

Mobile entertainment community Limbo has released their Mobile Advertising Report for Q3 2008. This study shows a huge growth in the number of US consumers who recall mobile internet advertising: an increase of over 50% compared to Q4 2007. Download the study. more»

ROK Entertainment, the UK-based mobile technology and entertainment company has signed a partnership with Mixcast Network to roll out a national Bluetooth mobile advertising platform in the US in time for the Super Bowl weekend in February. more»

Mobile advertising and search company JumpTap has partnered with polling experts Zogby International to run a mobile based political survey in the U.S. ahead of the presidential election on November 4th. Mobile represents a new channel for polling, perhaps giving access voters who are otherwise hard to reach. more»

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the US has released a new guide examining the US market, and outlining advertising opportunities for mobile devices from the perspective of established interactive advertising on the web. more»

Many companies are using mobile advertising to target teenagers. However, some recent research from comScore shows that while U.S. kids ages 12-17 use are great users of mobile phones, they may not be particularly receptive to mobile ads. more»

Getting something for free is always attractive for consumers, and it is the driver behind many of the ad-funded models we’re seeing these days.

One of the first mobile companies to give away free services in return for watching ads was Virgin Mobile US, with their SugarMama program. The youthful demographic of Virgin Mobile was the perfect group to offer free airtime in return for their subscribers’ attention.

We had a chance for an in-depth discussion with Scott Kelliher, Director of Mobile Advertising at Virgin Mobile US. Scott explained the details of the service, what works the best, and how customers feel about it. more»

In a clear recognition that mobile is not limited to only teenagers (who are too young to vote), the Obama campaign has launched a mobile site to help the candidate connect with US voters. more»

Phonevalley, the mobile marketing agency that was acquired by Publicis late last year, announced the opening of a series of offices across the US. This north American presence will provide global brands with a global mobile marketing approach in order to reach their consumers everywhere. more»

When car manufacturer Jaguar launched their new XF luxury sedan in the US market, they decided to do it with a major mobile advertising campaign.
Read about the results! more»

A recent article published in the Los Angeles Times discusses how a host of new services targeted at teens are having a big success. Whether they be magazines sending fashion tips, horoscopes, dating advise or brand information, it seems that today’s teens accept mobile advertising. more»

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released an interesting study about the use of mobile internet and mobile applications in the US. 62% of adults have accessed the internet remotely or used a non-voice application, with African Americans and Latinos very heavy users.
Download the full report! more»

Boost Mobile , a life-style based MVNO owned by Sprint, has announced that it has launched a new mobile advertising platform for mobile phones. Acura and Fox Searchlight Pictures are among the first companies to advertise on Boost mobile’s new platform. Amobee will be Boost’s ad-selling and ad-serving partner. more»

Five American package-goods manufacturers have turned to Cellfire to increase their coupon redemption rates. Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Del Monte, General Mills and Kimberly-Clark are to use mobile coupons to target the 25 to 34 year old generation. more»

M:Metrics has released the first set of statistics using M:Ad in the United States. The results show that online retail companies like Ebay, Glu and Electronic Arts are placing the majority of ads (39%) tracked by M:Metrics. more»

According to eMarketer’s latest report (“Mobile Search: Clash of the Titans”) mobile search in the US will account for about $715 million by 2011. This would represent 15% of the total mobile advertising market, which is estimated to be worth $4.7 billion by that time. more»

Jim Cook, editor of MobiadNews, spent a week in New York at the Mobile Advertising & Marketing-USA conference put on by Informa. more»

Laura Marriott, executive director of the Mobile Marketing Association, writes about the opportunity in mobile marketing and advertising, and shares some key thoughts from the recent Mobile Advertising USA conference from New York. more»