Came across this article and felt that if you are considering a mobile strategy it is definitely one you should read!

Although, I do think that they got some of this wrong.  RWD ( Responsive Web Design) is definitely not as expensive as you build one and it is part of the same site, where as you need to pay extra depending on the business model for MWD  ( Mobile Web Design) as a running cost unless you host yourself.

Also, designing for mobile needs…. If you know what you are doing with mobile, then its straight forward.

It was not a strange coincidence that on 11.11.11 @ 11:11 am as part of our launch of ADO.cm ( 1.to.1 parity of mobile-tablet-network-Desktop-DigitalScreens) we also became aware that Responsive Web Design in Search traffic trends has now overtaken Mobile Web Design around our Nov, 2011 date.

 

For a Free Mobile Web View quote, please visit http://ado.cm and register today!

If you are a website owner, you need to be getting geared up for Mobile.  In the recent Business Insider Report, they shared some of the statistics for their own site on Mobile [ See Picture].  

We at ADObjects, Inc have been working with a variety of companies offering  mobilization services, and we  found for all of our clients similar data to what is seen at Business Insider.  You can expect between 10~20% of your existing traffic to now be from Mobile devices. Generally speaking we have found that the traffic from mobile browsers has been from 60~80% from iOS devices, with Android under 10%, but for this business users where Android devices have cannibalized much of the Blackberry market to take  close to 20% from the 10% in the past.

I saw this article below on TechCrunch and had to comment about this as it relates to a mobile strategy.  Since WAP arrived in the early part of the last decade across mobile devices, 10′s of companies have offered the ability to create mobile websites.  Companies like Netbiscuits, Mofuse, Mippin and a variety of others.  Nokia was a leader in the full-HTML browser, but Apple did a great job in the execution of delivering a full website to mobile devices.  The Flash problem has not gone away with mobile access on iPhones, as well as the horizontal form of content that requires users to squeeze and reform it to read, but with the advances of browsers accessing the same website makes the experience across social links and search very friendly for immediate access and sharing of that content for users.  Vertical form of the exact same website is the most optimum solution for mobile in my mind, but the same site to mobile is critical.

The loophole of accessing content from subscription services on devices will only be extenuated via the ubiquitous ability to share links from platform to platform with a consistent user experience.  That is why the new generation mobile websites need to be link-compatible ( a process called Deep-link matching ) so that no matter what the device is, the access to content is achievable.

For any mobile website that I recommend it is important that all the links match up between the website content and the mobile view of the mobile experience.  Mobile versions of websites that have this compatibility will be better in sharing and accessing content.

For most of my clients, I have found that from 5% to 20% of the hits on the mobile web properties is from just basic Google search and not from traditional mobile marketing of using SMS to spread links or even mobile banner ads.  Making sure your site is mobile friendly with links so that you are visible to end-users from PC based click-throughs or mobile click-throughs is very important for your mobile strategy.

NYtimes has done a great job with deep link matching, but it seems like it was done manually.  I am curious if NYTimes moving forward will keep these links available for mobile on these subscription services to enable users on mobile to actually access the content.

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Via Techcrunch

The Google Loophole Has Become The Facebook/Twitter Loophole

There are a lot of interesting angles to the news this morning about The New York Times’ new paywall. Top news will remain free, a set number of articles for all users will remain free, there will be different pricing tiers for different devices, NYT is fine with giving Apple a 30 percent cut, etc, etc. But to me, the most interesting aspect is only mentioned brieflyabout halfway down the NYT announcement article: all those who come to the New York Times via Facebook or Twitter will be allowed to read for free. There will be no limit to this.

Up until now, we’ve seen paywall enthusiasts like The Wall Street Journal offer such loopholes. But they’ve done so via Google. It’s a trick that most web-savvy news consumers know. Is a WSJ article behind a paywall? Just Google the title of it. Click on the resulting link and boom, free access to the entire thing. No questions asked. This new NYT model is taking that idea and flipping it.

The Google loophole will still be in play — but only for five articles a day. It’s not clear how they’re going to monitor this (cookies? logins?), but let’s assume for now that somehow they’ll be able to in an effective way. For most readers, the five article limit will likely be more than enough. But that’s not the important thing. What’s interesting is that the NYT appears to be saying two things. First, this action says that spreading virally on social networks like Twitter and Facebook is more important to them than the resulting traffic from Google. And second, this is a strategic bet that they likely believe will result in the most vocal people on the web being less pissed off.

Paywalls are not easy. For proof, look at well, just about every site that has ever tried to implement one. The barrier is always met with huge backlash. But much of that backlash often comes from the savvy readers who had been used to getting at the content for free on the web. NYT seems to be betting here that these users are the same ones that now rely on Twitter and Facebook for their news discovery. And they will be unaffected.

Is that the right bet? Maybe, or maybe not. Facebook has around 600 million users now. Twitter has another 150 million plus. These are mainstream services that extend far beyond the early adopters. But even if this move goes beyond the vocal users and into the mainstream population that might otherwise be willing to pay, at the very least, it will still mean less overall backlash.

And it’s yet another sign of a changing of the guard on the web from Google to Facebook and Twitter. It will arguably be easier to find all the NYT content for free via Twitter search than it was via Google search. At the very least, it will be more obvious. And the social filters of Twitter and Facebook will have people sharing only the best articles that you’re likely going to want to read anyway.

Meanwhile, the other side of the bet is that those coming in from Google are probably more likely to pay if asked nicely every once in a while. You know, the more mainstream and perhaps slightly older and less tech-savvy audience. The people who may actually pay.

The main point? If you’re reading this post, you’re unlikely to be affected by the NYT paywall because you probably came here from Facebook or Twitter — the two key players in the new social loophole.

We have entered 2011 and I have to say the first decade did fly by rather quickly for us in the mobile industry.   I am a big fan of JWT and their things to watch deck.  I thought I would share it and highlight the top 10 in my mind for those realigning and creating a  mobile strategy this year.

Here is published article in Marketing Sherpa based on a recent interview on moving forward with mobile marketing.

by Adam T. Sutton, Reporter

Technology always increases in power and decreases in price over time. The multimillion-dollar supercomputer of yesterday is today’s five dollar pocket calculator. Mobile phone technology is no different.

More people carry smartphones than ever before:

o 31.9% of all mobile subscribers used a Web browser on a mobile device in the three months ending in May 2010, according to comScore. That’s up from 26% in comScore’s September 2009 three-month average.

o 30% downloaded a mobile app in the three months ending in May, compared to 6.7% in the September 2009 three-month average, according to comScore.

“We’re definitely past the discussion of whether mobile is mainstream. It’s here,” says Matthew Snyder, CEO and Founder, ADObjects, a mobile strategy consultancy and agency.

Snyder has worked in mobile and consumer electronics for more than two decades. He spent 12 years with Nokia and eight years with Sony, based mostly in Japan, a mobile technology hotspot. He now helps companies understand how mobile channels can improve business and marketing performance.

We spoke with Snyder to get his take on what marketers need to consider before testing mobile marketing initiatives. Here are the five insights he provided:

Insight #1. Start with a mobile Web presence

Snyder is a strong believer in the Web. The cornerstone of any mobile strategy should be a Web presence, he says, whether it is a single landing page or a full mobile site. Even if a marketer is experimenting with sending SMS messages, these messages should include a link to a page where mobile users can learn more.

Here are four types of mobile Web presences Snyder sees:

1. Mobile versions of existing sites

Companies have built mobile websites which offer nearly the same features as their traditional websites, but which are adapted to a handheld format. A textbook example is Facebook’s mobile website (see Useful Links below).

2. Plug-in-based mobile sites

Similar to the first category, blogs and websites based on WordPress, Drupal or similar open-source platforms can use free plug-ins which format sites for mobile audiences (see useful links below).

3. Mobile landing pages

As the name suggests, these single-page entities can be created quickly to add a mobile-Web presence to a marketing campaign.

4. Dedicated mobile sites

These sites are standalone, multi-page entities, not mobile versions of a traditional website. They have their own designs and strategies to meet the needs of mobile visitors.

Insight #2. Consider all mobile options

Mobile networks and devices provide a range of ways to reach an audience — such as text, voice and email. When your team is considering how best to incorporate mobile into its marketing, consider all the major possibilities:

- Short Message Service (SMS)

SMS is capable of sending minimal, text-based messages to your audience, which can include links to call a phone number or visit a website.

- Multimedia Message Service (MMS)

MMS is similar to SMS technology, but can also send content such as images, video and audio files such as ringtones.

- Voice

Mobile phones have click-to-call functionality that enables audiences to reach you directly, or to click to request a call from your team.

- Web

Similar to traditional Web browsing, the mobile Web is continually adding pages of content designed for easy access from handheld devices.

- Proximity marketing

Smartphones with GPS and similar technologies are capable of broadcasting locations. Some marketers are taking the opportunity to deliver ads to mobile users in specific locations, such as when they’re near brick-and-mortar stores.

- Applications

Computer programs specially designed for smartphones are widely available and have their own marketplaces. Some marketers have directly integrated campaigns into their audiences’ phones by designing and offering a branded mobile app.

- Content

Branded content — including ringtones, images, videos and ebooks — are just a few of the many different types of digital information marketers can provide in a mobile format.

- Email

As any business professional with a Blackberry will tell you, email is a mobile channel. People frequently receive and send digital letters through handheld devices.

Insight #3. Mobile does not stand alone

Mobile marketing does not succeed as an isolated channel, Snyder says. Instead, it works best when integrated with other channels and tactics to form a cross-platform strategy.

Examples include:
o Combining SMS or barcode calls-to-action in traditional advertising
o Mobile apps that integrate with television shows
o Mobile coupons for in-store sales

Mobile promotions should also be integrated with other channels. For example, mobile content should be promoted on your website — e.g. if you’re advertising a free whitepaper download and it’s available in a mobile format, mention this in your website ads.

“Mobile, in general, is the glue that connects all media,” Snyder says, “As smartphones become more prevalent, the more they will be associated and attached with existing media channels.”

Insight #4. Mobile requires a well-planned strategy

It can be tempting to quickly test proximity marketing or a mobile website just to see what happens. But mobile marketing initiatives should be carefully planned, Snyder says. Otherwise, you risk wasting time and money, and possibly damaging your brand.

Areas to consider:

- Overall marketing strategy

Mobile devices are extremely personal. Owners carry them everywhere, and during all stages of the buying process.

Given mobile’s “constantly-connected” attributes, you must understand the impact of making mobile information available throughout your entire marketing strategy. Your team should know:
o Which specific goals you want to achieve
o How the tactic will help achieve those goals
o What possible negative impact it could have

- Usage cases for your audience

Determine the ways in which your audience would, or already does, interact with your company on mobile devices. Put yourself in their shoes — how could they use a smartphone to learn more about you?

By checking your website’s analytics you may find mobile visitors are already accessing your site.

“I’ve seen anywhere from 5% to 20% of existing websites getting hit by phones today,” Snyder says.

- Media buying and budget

Your team also will have to consider where mobile marketing fits into its media budget and priorities. You will have to gauge investment and potential return while ensuring the overall media plan is capable of meeting its targets.

Some mobile channels are inexpensive to test. For example, your team could easily add a call-to-action to your traditional advertising to ask viewers to send you an SMS message or visit your mobile site. Others are more expensive, such as mobile applications, which can cost between $20,000 and $100,000 to develop a quality product, Snyder says.

Useful links related to this article

Members Library – Mobile Website Advice from Taco Bell: 5 Considerations to Reach More Mobile Devices

Members Library – Consumer Behavior in the Mobile Channel: 4 Trends Marketers Should Note

comScore: May 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

WordPress: Mobile plug-ins

Drupal: Mobile plug-ins

Facebook mobile

Mobile Marketing Association

ADOstrategies

We all know the fight going on between Flash and Apple over the iPad and iPhone……so it looked like we were going to see HTML5 as a potential  standard cross-platform for mobile and online potentially little faster then normal.  Blackberry 6 has brought WebKit and HTML5 to the world of mobile browsing, and Android keeps pushing the envelope with HTML5 evangelism even though they do have been a strong believer as well in Flash 10.1.

However, yesterdays news that Microsoft will not include HTML5 in IE7,IE8 might not have been the most strategic move even though there was the discussion of HTML5 in IE9.    In my opinion it is not HTML5 vs. Flash, but Developer vs. Platform we are talking about here. Now there is a very strong split between the camps supporting either HLML5 or Flash.    If Microsoft would have made the strong statement right away to move forward with HTML5, at least there would have been one platform for all that would bring mobile and online together in a very eloquent way today.  So Developer, it is just going to take time to get that consistency across all devices…..

In a diagram laid out by Tim OReily back in the end of last year, he showed the possibility of a unique convergence between Native and Browsing in 2010.

Well it looks like it is going to take more time.  Either Apple will come to grips and add Flash Support, or we need to wait on Microsoft to move a bit faster to integrate HTML5 support in existing browser platforms.

All and all, I believe in a couple years time we will see both platforms ubiquitous, so why all the fuss in 2010.  Why not make everything open and available for the web developer community and let them decide what is best.  At least this way we will not have inconsistencies for the end-users….or double to money and effort for developers

Maybe this will be outdated thinking after WWDC next week where Apple unveils iPhone 4.0 and the opportunity for iPhone Native Apps, but for some reason I do not so….

As Smartphone penetration continues to grow and grow, developers are going nuts with all the different platforms.  Google has thrown more and more fuel in the fire by creating a platform of fragmentation with all the different Android Versions.

Was this on purpose? Well after the Google I/O conference it really feels like that is the plan….. Create as much confusion as possible so that everybody reverts back to the Web and HTML5

Now look at Apple.  Fighting like hell with Adobe over Flash. Making it even more difficult for developers to decide which way to go?  Should I build a application in Flash and not see the distribution or should I go with the iPhone App.  Well Google threw another wrench in the game by saying that they are fully supportive of Flash and let this platform thrive on Android;  “We are Open, Apple isn’t” .

So where does leave developers as the full HTML5 integration is still not on all devices browsers yet, but it is pretty clear that if you build a great version of a mobile site instead of an app in HTML5 you get all the benefits of the web and also a great user experience.   Look at what Google has done with Gmail ( one of their Flagship applications besides Search).

There are many tools for web developers to create mobile sites.  It is clear in my mind the ones that bring a consistent web experience to mobile that incorporate application development tools and enablers to replace making a separate application is where the market it going. Many of the mobile site builder companies lost focus by trying to become everything  ( incorporating ad servers, creating separate content management systems) but what a great mobile site builder company needs to do is to just create tools for developers that gives then the best integration of HTML5 and mobile specific enablers and applications ( such as maps, etc….).

What I find interesting is that Adobe is driving HTML5 more then anybody else, and with the lastest release of Dreamweaver CS5. Designers can simultaneously create one-website with multiple views.  What ever happened to the Openscreen Project? Just make it HTML5!

The press-release is below, but this is a true story of a  mobile music journalist to go Rock-Star!

I met Val Halla when she was doing some reporting for GoMo News for Canadian Music Week 2009.  It was the middle of the worst part of the economic storm, but Val was there to write about anything big and cool in the mobile music space that might be a spark of hope for the music industry….. I was so impressed by her, that we made her website mobile ( here is the blog-post back in March 09).   Since then I am no longer working with the Mobify team (  I do not think the site is still up), but I have a been a big believer as well that the “Mobile Moment” is a “Music and Venue Moment” tied to the anchor of an artist’s own mobile site…..where they can sell everything from content to unique goods at the Venue.

Not only have we kept close contact over the years and she has helped me in many ways with some of the Artists I have been involved with.

This is a proud day for us and the mobile marketing….music business and Val…. Good things happen to Good people… lets she if she goes mobile for this tour!

***************************************

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian Rocker Val Halla Recruited for 28 Dates on

Ted Nugent Tour After Texas Gig.

Saskatchewan Artist & Former Vancouver resident, Val Halla, will open up 28 dates of Ted Nugent’s “Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead Tour 2010” beginning June 16^th in Boston, and continuing through August 8^th in Wichita, KS.

Val Halla came to the attention of Nugent after performing a gig in Waco, Texas.  After hearing good things, Nugent asked Halla to sing on a demo for a song he was recording at a studio just outside of town.  Impressed by Halla, he called his management at Doc McGhee Entertainment (KISS, Darius Rucker), who then came out to see Halla perform in April in West Hollywood, CA.  Only two days later, Halla (who has served as her own manager & booking agent for the last 9 years) was asked to be the opening act on 28 dates of Nugent’s tour.

Halla is promoting her fourth album “No Place” which was just released in March 2010.  Her songwriting and guitar playing has won her coverage in both Guitar World Magazine, and Guitar Player Magazine and showcases this year at Canadian Music Week, SXSW, and the Florida Music Festival. The album features high profile players including Elliott Randall of Steely Dan, and Murray Pulver of Doc Walker.  A group of Austin, TX musicians will be backing Halla up on the Nugent tour.  The band is made up of three incredibly talented Berklee drop outs: guitarist Neal Davis, bassist Alex Ferreiro, and drummer Marty Higman.

To raise funds for tour support – Ted Nugent himself is signing “Texas flag” guitars that sponsors will receive for donating $500 or $1000, as well as other rewards packages for donations from $10 to $250 dollars. Val Halla has no record label to provide tour support, so this is a grass roots effort. Tour support is being raised through http://feedthemuse.net/valhalla

• Date                City/State                                           Venue
• June 16            Boston, MA                                        The House of Blues
• June 17            Providence, RI                                    Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
• June 18            Hampton Beach, NH                           Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
• June 19            Philadelphia. PA                                 Electric Factory
• June 20            New Haven, CT                                  Toad’s Place
• June 22            Clifton Park (Albany), NY                     Northern Lights
• June 23            Wantagh, NY                                      Mulcahy’s
• June 24             Jim Thorpe, PA                                  Penn’s Peak
• June 25             Fredericksburg, VA                            Celebrate Virginia Central Park
• June 26             North Myrtle Beach, SC                      The House of Blues
• June 27             Lake Buena Vista, FL (Orlando)          The House of Blues
• June 29             Fort Lauderdale, FL                            Revolution
• July 2              Fayetteville, AR                                   Arkansas Music Pavilion
• July 4              San Antonio, TX                                  Back Stage Live (Sunken Garden Theatre)
• July 5              Donna, TX                                          Donna Corn Maze Amphitheatre
• July 7              Ardmore, OK                                      Heritage Hall
• July 13             Fort Smith, AR                                   The Rib Room
• July 14             Nashville, TN                                     The Wildhorse Saloon
• July 18             Tulsa, OK                                          Cain’s ballroom
• July 20             Merrillville, IN                                     Star Plaza Theatre
• July 23             Clear Lake, IA                                    Surf Ballroom
• July 25             Sylvania, OH                                      Centennial Terrace
• July 27               Prestonburg, KY                                Mountain Arts Center
• July 28              Cleveland, OH                                   House Of Blues
• July 29             Columbus, OH                                   LC Outdoor Amphitheater
• July 30             Pittsburgh, PA                                   Amphitheatre at Station Square
• August 4          Chicago, IL                                        The House of Blues
• August 8          Park City (Whichita), KS                      Hartman Arena

For more information Contact Val Halla Music

at 615-573-5599 or info@valhallaonline.com

When I met the consumer reports team at the last CTIA, I enjoyed talking to them about the opportunities of bringing such a great brand to mobile.  Well they did, and here is the release of the ConsumerReports.org mobile strategy.

• Their focus is on the web, making the experience ubiquitous for all the different devices.
• You need to be a paid subscriber to ConsumerReports.org to get access to the publication, but  the key issue is that they did not raise there price for mobile. Any users that already have a subscription (~$29), also get mobile as part of the package.
• The product is perfect for on-the-go to see product ratings.

Here is the video of the product