Top 10 reasons to buy the MA book May 13, 2008
Posted by chetan in : Mobile Advertising , add a commentAjit Jaokar’s top 10 reasons to buy the book 
Here are the top 10 reasons why you should read and buy this book
a) Global coverage covering Europe, North America, Asia etc
b) Lots of data and statistics
c) Realistic viewpoint (no hype – which exists a lot in this space)
d) An emphasis on both technology and business
e) Detailed case studies
f) Tackling the ‘free’ issue i.e. ad funded models
g) Covers both operator and non operator perspective
h) Almost 400 pages!
i) Excellent index
j) The five point framework with a model for ROA (return on advertisement)
China Earthquake May 12, 2008
Posted by chetan in : US Wireless Market , add a commentOur condolences to our friends, colleagues, and readers in China for the devastating loss and damage from the quake that hit earlier today.
Tomi Ahonen’s Feedback on the Book
Posted by chetan in : Mobile Advertising , add a commentTomi Ahonen, author of five best selling books on mobile and acclaimed analyst and consultant reviewed the book and gave it a generous approval.
He says
I was very impressed with the level of realism in the book, both in terms of the “positive realism” of what is already commercially available for example in Japan and South Korea, but also in the “negative realism” of how incredibly complex the mobile advertising proposition is still today, just about everywhere. Here is a short excerpt of the book and how the authors describe it (from pages 155-156):
The book is both very practical and realistic. I can warmly recommend Mobile Advertising to anyone who is interested in mobile advertising and would want to learn more about it.
Thanks a ton, Tomi.
Virgin America Rocks
Posted by chetan in : US Wireless Market , add a comment
Another reason i was looking forward to my Pasadena trip was Virgin America. VA recently started their service from Seattle and I must say, it totally rocks! From the moment you step in the check-in area, the differences are palpable. The seat is like an entertainment and office built into one. Power outlets, Live TV, Music Videos along with playlists, chat (between seats and elsewhere), ordering food from the seat with a swipe of a credit card, games, and much more, and for once, a domestic flight wasn’t painful. Compared to VA, other domestic airlines look like torture chambers from the medieval past.
They have thought through the user-experience, start to finish and I wish they will be successful in their venture and open more routes and direct flights. For now, it is my preferred carrier on west coast and some east coast connections.
If you haven’t tried it out, give it a shot, you won’t be sorry.
Caltech event recap
Posted by chetan in : Speaking Engagements, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Applications , add a commentUniversity events are fun. They are quite focused and the audience is very engaged and ask out-of-the-blue questions. After doing the Stanford University event last month, I was looking forward to the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum event in Pasadena this weekend.
Thanks to Lynn Foster of Greenberg Traurig for inviting to give the keynote. It was an honor to share the stage with Tim Cadagon, a real pioneer in the digital advertising space with stints at Overture, Yahoo, and now OpenX,
I talked about the evolution of Mobile Advertising in the context of advertising history evolution, what the future holds, the challenges and the opportunities in the space. Discussed some of the case studies from the book.
Tim, despite his raspy throat, gave a brave and insightful keynote on display advertising on the Internet. Having been involved in the medium for over a decade, his insights were awesome.
Next, we joined John Babcock, Greg Market, and William Quigley to do a panel Q&A on a broad range of issues - from vertical search to impact of Clearwire/Sprint deal to advertising in emergency response to multi-language/cultural opportunities to many other related/unrelated topics. There was a lot of discussion on vertical search as segments where one can differentiate from Google and still make money in search. One of the stats was pretty revealing - Kayak - an online search engine for travel (which i use quite extensively) is in line to make $500 million this year with a focused effort around travel.
Before starting the moderator did a show of hands on how many entrepreneurs are looking to build businesses that will be monetized by advertising and to my surprise, 50% of the audience had their hands up. That has been the challenge with a number of startups, without building scale, advertising becomes less effective source of revenue.
The audio from the event should be online shortly, i will post a link when it is.
After a week’s break, will be heading down again to San Diego to two events, one being hosted by CommNexus at Qualcomm Campus (Joe - my coauthor of the Mobile Advertising Book and I will be giving a talk and participate on a panel discussion on Mobile Advertising) and the other one is Future in Review - something I am really looking forward to. I will be moderating a brilliant panel on Future of Mobile.
On the road to Pasadena May 9, 2008
Posted by chetan in : Speaking Engagements, Mobile Advertising, Worldwide Wireless Market , add a commentHave been traveling all this week. From Memphis to Seattle to leaving for Pasadena in a little bit. Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum is organizing the event on advertising tomorrow.
Online Advertising - Getting Up Close and Personal: How will new avenues for advertising influence the buying decisions of consumer?
Tim Cadogan, CEO OpenX, former SVP of Global Advertising at Yahoo! and I are giving keynotes and then joining the panel discussion with John Babcock, Partner, Rustic Canyon, Greg Market, Founder, Infuse Creative, and William Quigley, MD, Clearstone Venture Partners.
If you are in the area, would love to see you. Details of the event here.
Thanks to Lynn Foster and Joe Jasin for inviting me to the event.
Sprint-Clearwire announce long awaited deal May 6, 2008
Posted by chetan in : US Wireless Market, Wi-Fi , add a commentIt took a long time but it is finally here and it is likely to be more significant than the 700MHz drama earlier this year. I have been saying for a long time that if Sprint and Clearwire with some external help (i had Motorola and Google as supporters along with Intel) can put a nationwide network together with open architecture and open devices, it will help change the dynamics of the industry. See the discussion here and here.
Of course, strategy is nothing without execution so it will be interesting to see who leads the efforts and how soon the devices come in the market but definitely a big event in the US market.
Disclaimer: Sprint Nextel is a client of ours.
TMO launches 3G, finally! May 5, 2008
Posted by chetan in : AORTA, 3G, 4G , add a commentT-Mobile became the last of the major carriers to launch 3G in the US market. However, the launch is limited to NYC and is planning to expand the network in other cities as the year progresses. 4 UMTS handsets are available. The lack of network coverage means no immediate impact of the announcement but by the end of the year, TMO will start contributing to the overall 3G growth in the country.
Mobile Advertising Measurement
Posted by chetan in : Mobile Advertising , add a commentMilestone Group published a piece on “Mobile Advertising Measurement” which is based on our Mobile Advertising book. Thanks to Mark Zawacki, Gary Cohen, and Jim Conley.
Carnival #123 online now
Posted by chetan in : US Wireless Market , add a commentBest of the last week over at Xellular Identity. Thanks Xen.
Microsoft withdraws its bid leaving Yahoo hanging May 3, 2008
Posted by chetan in : US Wireless Market , add a commentFed up with the whole process Steve Ballmer withdrew his bid for Yahoo. This leaves Yahoo a weaker company admitting defeat in a number of areas. Though it can rebuild itself, it will require a new leadership and with some of the smartest folks already out of the company, the challenge will be enormous. This deal might take place a few months from now at a much lower price.
News items May 1, 2008
Posted by chetan in : US Wireless Market , add a commentAT&T is planning to launch MediaFLO next week. However limited number of handsets and $15/mo pricing means limited adoption.
Rumor has it that T-Mobile is planning to launch 3G next week or sometime in May but only focused on voice - have you heard of a carrier launching 3G for voice? well, now you have. am sure there is some good reason behind it but am not sure what it might be.
Microsoft is still dabbling with the Yahoo question. Ballmer needs to give his buddy Larry a call and get a motivation speech - either you do it or you don’t .. delay is making the situation worse and Yahoo is losing good employees.
AT&T is said to be considering a $200 rebate for 3G iPhone. Will Mr. Jobs budge? He wants to sell more units but also wants to protect the brand. He famously criticized Motorola for dropping the price of Razr so quickly and become commoditized. Though he will be getting his 50% margin on the device, will $50-100 iPhones damage the Apple brand. Is brand protection more important than market share in hopes of a healthy and diverse ecosystem. We will find out in the next couple of months.
