Internet Marketing Blog

The Sweet Smell of MocoSpace

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MocoSpace is a unique player in the social media landscape.  Since they started in 2005, the founders, Justin Siegel and Jamie Hall, fell into a segment base of multicultural users who do not have the capital to purchase broadband service and smartphones.  This base primarily uses feature phones, which possess games along with video and social-networking applications.  

The Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog conducted an interview with the two discussing many subtopics within the mobile communication industry. They brought up several interesting points in the segment.  One of them involved MocoSpace’s flexibility of user interaction, such as creating your account, profile customization, and privacy maintenance from your phone.  The home website has also been upgraded for seamless integration with your device, offering music from premiere artists in all genres.  Heavyweights like Bebo, Facebook, and MySpace started from a web platform and depend on internet traffic for their online advertising revenue.

Another key point illustrated in the interview centers around the user concept of building personal relationships.  This is partly due to the small number of users (13 million, opposed to Facebook’s 400), and also the base. MocoSpace users are not only seeking business partnerships, viral romance, or reacquainting with old flames from middle school.  They also seek those who seek one another.  At the moment, MocoSpace is the little engine that has done it amongst the titans, making the adjustments in a sector with exquisite gadgetry.  Here is the full transcript.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, jamie hall mocospace, justin siegel mocospace, mocospace, multicultural marketing, new york mobile marketing agency, new york social media agency, social media

Bebo Gets Off The Mat

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I’ll admit that when Bebo was passed off by AOL, I hardly batted an eyelash.  I couldn’t remember when or who gave me an account.  I just never felt that the site offered much for my daily travails, on a viral or tangible level.  The invites in my mailbox surfaced with obvious fake photos of scantily clad women and account details.  I checked the box, clicked once, and thought forever deleted. Bebo, along with Friendster, represented the Betamax to other social media scions with better interactive vision and capital.

Entrepreneur Adam Levin, however, purchased the site for a fraction of AOL’s fee.  Nevertheless, he has an optimistic strategy for returning the brand to a respected position.  The website still has nearly 120 million registered users, with 13 million using the site at least once a month.  The potential for growth exists, as Levin plans to segment Bebo into the tween market, as Facebook gains an older demographic base. It could work, if he is able to gain traction within the mobile marketplace.  But it must be fast.

Understandably, once your parents start parroting your actions, the edge is gone.  It’s a parable that stays true despite the era.  Coupled with this transition into a new market base, Levin switched advertising from AOL’s advertising scale, meaning that it can gain more revenue through setting its own fees.  It can also extract strong PPC rates through mobile technology.  According to the Wall Street Journal, 14% of users access the site through a mobile device. The article also mentions that Bebo is working on a mobile site that will not eat into tween’s limited data service plans.

I think one way to combat that barrier is to align the site with family carrier plans.  Once the site gains more credibility with tweens, they can persuade the parents to purchase a plan with free access, where everyone benefits in a transaction.  If they can strike a partnership with someone like Verizon, it could do a lot towards reinvigorating the brand.  McDonald’s was able to market children’s toys from recognizable programming that continued persistent chattering from the child to the parent, and foot traffic generates forever with this small strategy.  Let’s see what Levin has up his sleeve.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Content Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, adam levin, aol.com, bebo, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, social media site

Microsoft Can’t Make Next Of Kin

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Microsoft does certain things well.  Microsoft does certain things poorly.  Microsoft makes a strong effort at times, but lacks timing too.  Less than two months after a heavy advertising campaign for the adolescent market,  Microsoft will end sales of the Kin mobile.  Members of the marketing and development push will be folded into a campaign push for the Windows 7 mobile phone, due in October.  The company never issued an official statement, but many feel that the price points for Kin One and Two were just not fitting the public demand.  According to Ad Age,  the Kin One was priced at $49.99 while the Kin Two was $99.99 after rebates of $100.  A mandatory $30 monthly service fee didn’t help matters.

One could look at the quick abortion as a cautionary tale of investing too heavily into niche markets with social media as the backbone of your initiative.  Microsoft Kin used a woman in her twenties to connect through viral heavyweights from My Space to Windows Live.  But the phones were also lacking in traditional smartphone features, such as application use, calendar scheduling, and so forth.  Everyone loves to share wayward thoughts and images in real time, conscious and unconscious, without fear of persecution, which is an illusion anyway.  These actions are an innate human right, and social media lets us pursue it to the fullest.

Those who contribute professionally to society need software to structure themselves, such as e-mail and calendars.  These tools allow for the opportunity to interface personally with one another, maintaining some semblance of human interaction and exchange of creative spirit.  Then, and only then, will our pursuit of perfect communication reach a zenith.

Social media has taken our world by storm, spreading information with lightning speed, but it does not have the wherewithal to stand alone as a representative of our human persona, and it probably never will do this. Microsoft’s Kin was a testament to this reality check.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Interactive Marketing, microsoft kin, new york interactive marketing agency, Social Media Marketing, Top News.us, wall street journal

IPhrantics!

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Today will be a hot one in the city.  Temperatures are predicted to reach 95 degrees with a forecast of thunderstorms.  It will not deter the Apple lovers from purchasing the iPhone 4 at the various locales around town.  Bloggers have speculated that this version is the interactive media gem that Apple has wanted to deliver.  The pixelations and camera phone claim to be vastly improved along with the overall hardware design.  I still believe that iPhone needs to expand their carrier reach to deliver a better communications experience rather than interactive one.  Analysts have pushed along rumors of an alliance with Verizon and T-Mobile, but it’s all been much ado about nothing so far.  AT&T has just not cut it as a service provider.  Peter Ha and other writers go into much more depth on their reviews at Techland.  Follow them here.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, apple, Blueliner Marketing, iphone 4, Mobile Marketing, new york interactive marketing agency, steve jobs

The iPhone 4. The HTC Evo. The Droid Incredible. Here Now, Up Next

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Steve Jobs released the iPhone 4 last week in San Francisco.  We can now look at the new smartphone market landscape and see who has the smoothest pixels.  Carriers will now have to use ingenuity in segmenting their target bases with features and applications. Apple’s marketing prowess is known by all. The HTC Evo has a huge screen while the Droid Incredible lets you remove its battery.  The iPhone 4 has allegedly a three-hour standby time.  Which one do you own? Which one do you want to buy? Which one do you hate the most? Which one do you love with all of your heart? Speak your mind in the comment session.  Before that, here’s the tale of the tape:

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, apple conference 2010 june, Blueliner Marketing, droid incredible, htc evo, iPhone 4G, mashable social media, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing

Virgin America Warms Up Interactive Lovers

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Interactive marketers are always looking for the next hot gadget, the latest application, and the latest website with the most classified information.  On a recent trip to California,  I was fortunate to fly with Virgin America cross-country and from the south to the north.  For the uninitiated, a flight on the airline will infect viral marketers for days.  First off, one notices the soothing, understated purple and neon lights that line the windows and aisles.  Secondly, the cabin room is solid for all body types, although my arm space felt a little stilted on the flight back to New York.  

I forgot about it once I navigated the RED interactive menu. The user has a dizzying array of applications to relieve boredom, from cable television sponsored by Dish Network, timely on demand programming, and various music sources like videos with genre radio.   A ‘read’ application for e-books was also installed, but had no content. That will come in the near future.  I found the chat room most entertaining, as you can randomly start conversations with your fellow cabin mates.  A portable keyboard allows you to freely talk about nothing and everything in life. It’s definitely the most unique part of the entertainment package.

Speaking of portable devices, your laptop and iphone can access the wi-fi network for a sliding fee, but I was satisfied with RED’s content to not pay the scale.  You can also order a wide variety of refreshments and meals at reasonable prices.  I had a turkey sandwich, and it was better than expected, since airplane food is legendary for being canned. All in all, I recommend Virgin America if you want to plug in on your next flight.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Interactive Marketing, Mobile Applications, Social Media Marketing, online advertising | 1 Comment »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, domestic airlines, Interactive Marketing, Mobile Applications, new york applications agency, RED interactive entertainment, virgin america

A Stepping Stone For Multiculturals

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The Interactive Advertising Bureau yesterday made a great step towards identifying an underserved but growing multicultural demographic by creating a new Multicultural Council.  According to the release on Mediapost, the council will look at key issues that impact marketing and advertising within the multicultural marketplace.

They will be tested on segmenting the Hispanic population into several categories.  Certain programming that is popular in Central America would not guarantee ratings in Mexico.  In fact, Mexico is a nation that is divided by ancestry and class, so it becomes even more important to work in tandem with local advertising agencies, which I have discussed before with Traffiq.  Once this is achieved, then they can tailor products for those who have moved across the border into the Southwest region or wherever else they settle.  Univision, with the capital of NBC Universal, is a dominant force in the Latino market, and their diverse programming will only gain credibility from here on out.

The African-American community also needs to be segmented for proper advertising spots. Advertisers have historically viewed the demographic as a monolith that accepts a monotonous form of thoughtless promotion.  Those days are changing as well, with many members gaining executive positions in key corporations and creating wealth for their individual homes.  It will be interesting to see the adjustments from interactive marketers.

According to the Mediapost article, Facebook staff members have seen strong increases in the percentage of African American and Hispanic users proportional to the U.S. population. The census may increase those even more when data has been organized.  Mobile marketing and applications have bridged the gap some for these demographics that do not have a computer in the household, enabling them to communicate with friends on various data service plans.

Nevertheless, more families need to be stabilized in these communities. Then more products can be purchased, especially computers and laptops, which are portals to receive endless content from all sources. Interactive shops with multicultural knowledge will benefit greatly with patience.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, Interactive Marketing, mediapost, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, nbc universal, online advertising, univision

A Cup Of Froyo From Google

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This morning,  Google announced its next version of its Android operating system called the Froyo.  It is a serious application with a funny name, launched in time for Memorial Day Weekend. The Froyo promises greater processing speed and more accessibility to small business users.  It also will offer a backup API, a message API called cloud-to-device, and hotspot support.

The browser will also be improved with mobile applications like the Chrome V8 JavaScript engine, enabling them to interact with the phone’s camera and accelerator for better navigation.  Android 2.2 fans will find a new set of Exchange capabilities like account auto-discover and calendar sync, which will help your staff to stay on top of meetings and view documents.  Thus, knowledge and sharing of ideas can take place in real time wherever you may stand.  Small businesses looking to implement a CRM should be thrilled with these developments.

Android’s ability to multitask with applications should pay dividends for newcomers from the iPhone, as those which don’t fit on the internal memory will get automatically moved to an SD card.  The applications will also have an option to be automatically updated with one click.

Lastly, users can stream their music from the desktop to their devices.  Here’s a video with all the lovely features. For more detail on the upgrades, click here.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, CRM, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, google, google android 2.2, google froyo, Mobile Applications, mobile apps, Mobile Marketing

Starbucks and Foursquare Paint The Town Coffee

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Yesterday, Starbucks continued to promote on the ground. They started with a Frappuccino Happy Hour last week which I partook in plenty of times. I’ll take a Java Chip Frappuccino for $2.35 any day of the week. Sorry, haters.

Now, they are integrating Foursquare at a higher level. Customers that check into a specific location at a high level will receive mayoral badges. They are used for special offers, which concurrently, is a $1 off any Frappuccino choice. If one returns at a consistent rate, then Foursquare will unlock an amalgam of connections to other location specials and people.

The implications could become twofold, as you seen the merging of social media with human location. Some have expressed fear of Foursquare’s virtual location with tangible human presence as a more incisive peek into personal experience. In blunt terms, it may be too close for comfort, like Ted Knight. A marketing executive now has the chance to obtain even more information about consumer behavior and lifestyle habits without expending more department revenue. Facebook is currently dealing with privacy issues, but Foursquare is picking up steam as a social media website.  I wonder if the human element will give Foursquare more credibility in the long run.  At the very least, the consumer still has control over their allotment of personal information through the digital stream.  One has the choice to save on a frappuccino or the interior monologue of human experience.  This is another reason why free will enchants and haunts the mind.  My mind wants to hurdle the afternoon slump, so I’m going downstairs for the first of many future Frappuccinos. Viva Foursquare!

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Business News, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner Marketing, foursquare, interactive marketing agency, new york social media agency, Social Media Marketing, starbucks

Mobile versus Online Advertising

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During this year, we have seen the proliferation of mobile advertising.  Every corporation with a healthy balance sheet is plunging resources into them, from banks to interactive marketers.  They understand that opportunities exist in the sector despite the low ad recalls.  Direct response metrics have risen steadily along with click-throughs on mobile application banners.  The highest rates go to the coveted demographic of 25-34 years olds, who have more disposable income and brand recall.  Smartphones now have location-based applications such as Foursquare, Google Maps, Yelp, to find businesses and navigate their surroundings. It’s conceivable that online advertising will decrease with revenue in time as consumers live on a kinetic scale.  Niche electronic devices such as netbooks and iPads only figure to cut into this base.  The annoyance of pop-up advertising can be reduced to a minimum since many web domains are not optimized for mobile viewing.  As I mentioned before, click-through banners are given an opportunity to gain traction.  Television advertisers see similar traction with online programming for short advertising clips.  Ironically, they save revenue by eliminating the agency spot fees while allocating it back into the global network.  Although the potential for solid growth is bright, click fraud is the dark side of this spectrum.  Traditional advertisers do not have the experience in dealing with these traps on a mobile phone, and legislation is still developing to circumvent these occurrences.  Mobility is a good thing for our times, but home is where the heart lies for advertising.

Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, ad age, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, Click Fraud, mobile advertising, mobile advertising agency, online advertising