MobilePedia: World Class Mobile Marketing from Latin America

This week I attended the 2009 Latin America Mobile VAS Forum in Miami (June 8-10), with the participation of analysts, technology vendors and operators.

The global economic downturn is, not suprisingly, on everyone's mind. This topic kept coming up repeatedly and the attendance to the event, about half of what we saw in previous years is also an indicator of the tough times we face. However, it was encouraging to interact with technology vendors and operators who remain optimistic about the future.

In the next weeks I will add more posts about this meeting and the discussions I had both with operators and technology vendors.
This week, I want to share my thoughts on a presentation by Marcelo Castelo of the Brazilian Agency F.biz. Marcelo's presentation, titled "The Mobile as a Mass Media Channel With Internet Characteristics: The Possibilities of the Mobile Marketing" focused on case studies in mobile marketing from Latin America.

The case studies shared by Marcelo show how Latin America is doing world class mobile marketing. What I find in these case studies is a no nonsense approach to marketing in which the mobile device is integrated into the marketing strategy as a mass media channel and as an element of the marketing mix. Marcelo's vision is integrating this channel to the marketing strategy, leveraging the different capacities available (SMS, web access) and its uniqueness, which is user interactivity:

• “Nestlé Torce Por Você”, an SMS campaign for Nestlé with soccer idol Pelé as spokesperson. Consumers receive a code with the purchase of R$7,00 (approximately US$3.60) of Nestlé products which they send via SMS for a chance to win a prize. This campaign integrates all the elements mentioned above: user interaction, SMS for mass market reach and use of different media includes including advertising in magazines, newspapers and TV for consumer awareness.
  
• “Petrobras Mobile Racing”, this campaign for Petrobras (Brazilian Oil Company) was launched for the Salão do Automóvel (Automobile Showcase) and uses a different approach and different mobile device capabilities than the previous example: mobile games downloaded via bluetooth.

Marcelo shared many other interesting case studies, which are available at http://www.mobilepedia.com.br/. Please note this site and all information is in Portuguese. I will stay in touch with Marcelo to share more information in the near future.

2009 IBC VAS Mobile Forum LATAM

This is a draft of my presentation for the 2009 Mobile VAS Forum in Miami, June 9-10.

2009 IBC VAS Mobile Forum LATAM

View more OpenOffice presentations from Raul Castanon.

Do you know your voice mail’s full?

A recent article published by the New York Times (Jill Colvin, "You’ve Got Voice Mail, but Do You Care?", April 1st, 2009) announced the demise of Voice Mail and the rise of new technology and services such as Google Voice's Voice to Text and the iPhone's Visual Voice Mail.
According to the article, most people don't bother to listen to their voice mail messages and that the technology is obsolete.
Interesting article but Colvin's article misses the point: most of the new services she presents as examples of technology that is replacing voice mail are actually an evolution of voice mail technology.
Voice to Text, for example, which is included in Google Voice, is a voice mail message delivery mechanism that allows text transcription of voice mail messages. This means that you have to have a voice mail message to begin with. It is new technology that provides a better user interface to recover voice mail messages, precisely what Colvin points out is missing from voice mail.
Other examples in the article include caller id, which lets subscribers know who called them without having to listen to their voice mail messages. Most people are familiar with this service as provided by their mobile phones, but the voice mail platform provides an enhanced version of this service that covers additional scenarios that the device cannot: out of coverage, phone turned off, no voice mail deposit. The service is missed call alert and sits on top of the voice mail platform. Stand alone platforms are also available but they are integrated to the voice mail service.
Finally, visual voice mail is yet another service that sits on top of voice mail. Visual voice mail delivers voice mail messages to the handset through a mobile application that provides an inbox / e mail like user interface that allows the user to browse through the messages and select the message they want to hear.
The interesting question -and Colvin does address this- is how will mobile operators react to these new technologies? Mobile operators have introduced some of these new technologies including visual voice mail and voice to text but the fact is they have been slow to incorporate them.
Companies such as Comverse, Ericsson and Unisys have had services such as Visual Voice Mail, Voice to Text and Voice Mail to MMS for years but few operators showed serious interest until the iPhone was launched.
Voice Mail may be a mature technology but new technologies are breathing new life into this service that has been for many years the biggest VAS revenue generator for operators. Voice Mail has the potential to continue generating revenue for operators as it continues to evolve and adapt to new technologies: MMS delivery, e mail delivery, visual voice mail, converged messaging, web access, voice to text, missed call notification ... this and other variations can offer solutions for specific call scenarios and improved user interface that meet subscribers' needs.
We will continue to discuss and write about these options as well as the opportunities they represent for operators.

Mobile Phone Shipments Will Fall In 2009, SmartPhone Demand Continues to Grow

IDC predicts worldwide mobile phone shipments will fall 8.3% in 2009 (Cellular News). Q4 08 shipments fell 11.6%, marking the first time the holiday quarter has not recorded double digit growth in seven years.

IDC also scaled back the outlook for smartphones as a result of the industry's changing dynamics, reducing from previously stated 8.7% to 3.4% growth.

It is expected, however, that in the coming years the industry will migrate toward the converged device segment and this segment will maintain positive growth in 2009. The explosive success of Apple's iPhone and the App Store have significantly affected demand for smartphones and are defining new industry trends, with other companies including Nokia, Verizon, RIM, Microsoft launching their own mobile application stores this year.

A March ChangeWave survey of 4,292 cell phone owners confirmed a shift to smartphones, with Apple and RIM in a close race for market leadership while their competitors continue to suffer the effects of the economic downturn (Cellular News).

A 3.4% growth for the smartphone segment when the rest of the industry is experiencing negative growth is a clear indication that smartphones and mobile applications will continue to drive industry growth in the coming years.

Latin American Telecom Industry Outlook 2009

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Latin American Telecom Industry Outlook 2009

View more presentations from Raul Castanon.

2009 Telecom Outlook

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

2009 Telecom Outlook

View more presentations from Raul Castanon.

2009 Telecom Outlook: A Challenging Year And Emerging Opportunities

"This is the exact time to invest - if you can - because not only is there opportunity, but there are lots of resources out there." - Mike Lazaridis

Picture: Research In Motion co-CEOs Jim Balsillie (left) and Mike Lazaridis THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan


We are one quarter into 2009, a year that is turning out to be one of the most challenging to navigate in recent history. As this first quarter comes to an end I want to share my thoughts on what to expect for the rest of the year.

Like other sectors of the economy, the Telecom industry faces huge economic challenges as the United States and other nations slip into a global recession:

• The Telecom Industry will face a slowdown in 2009; IDATE reports that the telecom equipment market will suffer a downturn with an expected growth rate of 1% compared to the year before. This will affect infrastructure and mobile phones; IDC predicts worldwide mobile phone shipments to fall 8.3% in 2009.
• Companies will face the downturn by limiting CAPEX and with more layoffs: Nortel recently announced plans to reduce its workforce by another 3,200 positions; Nokia also announced they will cut another 1,700 jobs as the economic slowdown leads to lower demand for mobile phones. Other companies announcing layoffs include Comverse, Sony-Ericsson and Microsoft, who will cut five per cent of its workforce over the next 18 months.

These are challenging times for everyone but the outlook of the telecom industry increases in complexity as there are indicators that it is reaching a tipping point. Some of these trends are made worse by the economic downturn but the industry was already facing decreasing margins and a flattening growth rate for voice before the crisis. The decline of wireline voice has been evident for a few years and this trend has now reached wireless voice. This has affected infrastructure vendors who in the last five years have faced decreasing margins and the commoditization of their products.

The emergence of nontraditional competitors with new and innovative services is another indicator that the industry is reaching a tipping point. Until recently, non traditional players had limited access to the mobile market but the launch of the iPhone and the AppStore has changed the power balance. Developers now have access to the mobile market without getting first an operator's blessing; these new players now have the capacity to influence the market.

There is no question that this will be a challenging year but it is also evident that the telecom industry is full of new opportunities. Traditional players like Nokia and Nortel continue to shed jobs but a recent report by Canada East shows that companies like RIM, Bridgewater Systems and Open Text are defying the economic downturn by growing operations. Last year, RIM expanded its workforce by 50 percent, hiring about 4,000 employees and earlier this year co-CEO Jim Balsillie shocked many observers when he revealed another 3,000 new job openings as the company grows globally.

Mobile applications and smartphones will drive growth in 2009 and companies like Apple and Research in Motion will benefit. Apple's AppStore is expected to become a $1 billion business by the end of 2009 (see Mobile Applications, Smartphones will drive industry growth) and other companies have announced an AppStore including RIM, Microsoft and Nokia.

Despite the economic downturn, new players will grow and benefit from the new opportunities in the market while traditional infrastructure vendors continue to struggle through the recession. It is expected that the market for infrastructure vendors will recover in 2010 but it looks like this will be a big year with many opportunities for smartphones and mobile applications.

Google Voice: "One of the big holes right now is in the management of voice communications"

Pinky: Gee, Brain, what are we going to do tonight?
Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!

Last week Google announced that GrandCentral, acquired by Google in 2007, is now Google Voice, with new features including voicemail to text and archive and search of SMS text messages.

Analysts and bloggers are divided on how this will impact voice revenues from local and international calls, but the ability to offer free Internet calls will surely be seen as a threat. When Nokia announced last month that Skype came preloaded on the N97, it incurred the displeasure of mobile operators. According to Mobiletoday.co.uk, UK operators Orange and O2 may end up refusing to stock the N97 unless Nokia eliminated the application.

The incursion of Skype and Google into telecommunications adds to the mounting pressure mobile operators are facing from new players. Last year, when Apple announced it was opening up its platform to developers, they redefined the power balance in the industry; technology vendors and developers now have access to the mobile market without having to go through an operator. The result? Apple's AppStore is expected to become a $1 billion business by the end of 2009 and other major players have announced their own App Store including RIM, Nokia, Microsoft and Palm.

Vincent Paquet, a co-founder of GrandCentral who is now running Google Voice, stated that "Google is all about helping you manage your information and one of the big holes right now is in the management of voice communications".

Paquet's statement is relevant because he highlights yet another missed opportunity by mobile operators. A recent report from Frost & Sullivan placed the spotlight on Unified Messaging (UM), a technology that facilitates anywhere and anytime access to non-real-time messaging. According to Frost & Sullivan, UM contributed approximately 51 percent of the total enterprise voice and UM market revenues, a market that earned revenues of $708.1 million in 2008 (Cellular News, Feb 26 2009). Mobile operators, however, have not showed much enthusiasm in this service. Technology vendors including Comverse, Ericsson and Unisys introduced this service several years ago and it has evolved to reflect new developments such as voice mail transfer to e mail, web access and single access to voice, fax and e mail messages. Operators, however, have stayed with basic voice mail services, with functions that have not changed since they were first introduced almost twenty years.

The mobile market continues to evolve at a rapid pace and there are many new and exciting opportunities waiting to happen: converged messaging, mobile advertising and mobile/Internet convergence to name a few.

Mobile operators can still leverage their position in the market, but with new players moving in and filling the "big holes" in voice and data, they will have to redefine their business models and partner with the new players; at this stage of the game, this might be their only option to take advantage of new opportunities and more importantly, respond to threats in a new business environment where they no longer have the last word.