According to IDC's latest report,"Asia/Pacific Wireless Gaming 2004-2008 Analysis and Forecast: Ready to Play?", the wireless gaming market in Asia/Pacific (ex Japan) reached US$237.4 million in 2003, and is expected to reach US$1.3 billion in 2008 with a 40% CAGR.

Korea accounted for approximately 73 % of the total wireless gaming revenues in 2003 in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan. This was due to the fact that the market in Korea is much more developed and the carriers' next generation networks have been in place much longer compared to other countries.

Frost & Sullivan has recently released an Analysis Of European SMS and MMS Markets. The press release briefly summarizes the findings, quoting the opinion of Research Analyst Ashish Maheshwari:

Frost & Sullivan expects a significant drop in the contribution of SMS toward mobile data revenues from 90 per cent in 2003 to 40 per cent in 2008. Nevertheless, mobile operators can expect to stay afloat and replace lost revenue given the large subscriber base in Europe and the opportunities it presents to new services such as MMS.

Interactive agency New Media Maze has developed an online advertising campaign to promote Universal Pictures' movie Van Helsing, which will be soon released on DVD and video. As explained in the press release the campaign aims to drive pre-orders and sales online and in stores by reminding people of the excitement of the adventure. The creative will raise mass awareness of the special features and DVD extras of the Van Helsing movie.

Michelle Byrne, Account Director at New Media Maze comments:

HP and ELLE have collaborated to put pictures of everyday women on the cover of ELLE. Throughout the UK, Spain, Germany, Russia, France and Italy, women are being invited to download their favourite picture and personalise the surrounding headlines, to then see themselves as online ELLE cover stars within seconds.

The web site, www.hp.com/uk/ELLE, has been designed for users to easily download their favourite digital photos and then allow HP technology to superimpose their image onto the cover of ELLE within seconds. The �cover-stars� are then able to create their perfect headlines and background colour before printing off the finished pictures. There is also a competition with a top prize of an all expenses paid fashion weekend in London, including accommodation, �1000 spending money and a personal ELLE stylist.

Thanks Sara for the hint!

Publicis Dialog - Interactive has developed the online presence of Modus, Renault's latest car. The Italian microsite features games, web movies and other goodies promoting the car with an impressive advertainment approach.

What is interesting (or strange?) to note is that the microsite "Crescere? Ma perch�?" doesn't feature any information about the car, but just presents the mood and the concept. If the user wants to know how Modus is, he has to click on another "hidden" link (on the car's picture) in order to land to land on Modus' official site.

... Only in the UK.
According to a report by DoubleClick (Q2 2004 Email Trends, EMEA) which analyzed the email marketing's trends in Europe, click-through rates grew in the UK to 6.9%. The numbers aren't as good in the rest of Europe, where email marketing is loosing its appeal both to marketers and users.
Full research's results are available online.

SMS prices in Europe vary from country to country. The most expensive service is offered in The Netherlands where users are charged 0.21� per message, than comes Germany (0.19 cents). In Italy the average price is 0.15�. Scandinavian countries offer the lower rates: only 0.04� in Denmark, 0.11� in Sweden and 0.12� in Finland. In the UK each SMS costs about 0.16�, while in France 0.13� are charged.
The prices of course affect the average number of messages sent per month, with Danish users leading the way with 66 SMS'.
The research was carried out by Xonio (in German).

A new service has been launched in the US allowing users to purchase ringtones, graphics and mobile games with a pre-paid DuoCash card. The �micro-payment� solution removes the need for an online credit card transaction. Instead, web purchases are made with DuoCash enabled phone cards that are available at thousands of retail locations across the USA.

The service will be offered to Toneguys' visitors. It's a very smart move, as Todd McKay, managing director of Toneguys explains, given the fact that a large percentage of the mobile content market is comprised of teenagers who do not have their own credit cards.
There might have been a simpler and faster solution... premium rate messages... but the adoption in the US is going really slow.

According to a new research by ClickLab (reported on Mediapost) in pay-per-click advertising models fraudolent clicks can account for more than 50 percent of the total.
There are two different kind of frauds: the ones by competitors, in order to consume the daily advertisers' budget, and the ones by affiliates, in order to increase compensation.

Even if there isn't much talk about it, affiliate marketing is still alive. A series of articles by Robert Moskowitz on iMediaconnection (1 and 2) reminds us of affiliate's potentials which provide a fast and simple way to get in touch with customers both for big and for small businesses.

A new study, Marketing & Media Snapshot: 2004, by Millward Brown expects marketing budget to grow in 2005.
Among the report's key findings what is interesting to note is that:

- Online marketing is growing the most as a share of total budgets and marketers expect this trend to continue.
- All channels of online marketing (Web advertising, search, email, promotion) are expected to increase at a higher rate than other major media.
- Online is seen as the most effective medium for acquiring and retaining customers and in offering efficiency

UK travel operator Mark Warner has decided to take the Internet extremely seriously, investing about half of its promotional budget in online activities. Digital Bulletin reports the company will launch an online booking system as well as a series of ads.

The Web Marketing Association has assigned its awards for the year 2004. Arc Worldwide won the Best of Show award for its "Behr Paint Interactive", which also won Best Interactive Services Website. Arnold Worldwide was named Top Agency 2004, receiving a total of 13 webawards.
To find out all the winners, check out the official site.

RTV China is launching a new service allowing people to learn English in an integrated way. The company is launching a "Cool English" service that will include a radio program, interactive tv, and the �Slang of the Day� via SMS, as well as video and audio MMS.
RTV China�s CEO, Axel Klopprogge points out in the press release:

There was a time when restrooms where a peaceful and private place. But now we are living in the toilet advertising era, and there's no place where we can hide from promotional messages.
Ad Age (free reg.) dedicates an article to commercial messages that, since a couple of years, are invading public bathrooms. "... Recording artists, video games and automakers are routinely buying space on the doors of toilet stalls or urinal walls" but it's good we can also see some "contextual toilet advertising" with brands promoting deodorants, intim soaps and, of course (!), condoms.

The article also provides a few stats about bathroom usage (did you know in a bar or a nightclub, the average patron uses a restroom almost three times per stay?). You can't miss it.

... Says American Airlines introducing its brand repositioning campaign. The company wants to reinforce its brand in the marketplace with a comprehensive integrated, bilingual marketing program. The advertising program includes television, radio, print and online ads in both English and Spanish.

The web will play an important role in the initiative, with a dedicated site titled WhyYouFly.com (accessible through AA.com... but I was unable to find it out). The site will establish a dialogue between American and its customers, inviting customers to send in stories, photos and video that illustrate why they fly. The site also will enable customers to view the program advertising, as well as learn more information about the features and functions of AA.com, such as online flight check-in, flight status notification and online reservations.

Buongiorno Vitaminic has signed a deal with Overture to integrate sponsored links in its wide range of newsletters.
They are going to launch an innovative advertsing model, connecting contextual advertising and email marketing.

Bango, a mobile content technology provider, has revealed the buying patterns of over two million users and identified the three most common types of mobile content consumers - Nibblers, Grazers and Porkers.
As explained in the press release there are a growing number of Grazers: consumers that consistently spend between �5 and �20 per month on mobile phone content.

For every 20 grazers there is a Porker who typically consumes at least �30-�50 of content a month, with a few regularly spending over �100 per month.

The third most common content consumer - the Nibbler - is only able to cope with small amounts of content at one time and the buying patterns reveal long periods between purchases. Typically Nibblers will buy one piece of content such as a new ringtone or image every few months.

For further information about the consumers' profiles check out Bango's "Monitoring Feedback".

In order to reduce salt consumption in the Uk, the Food Standards Agency has launched a multi-channel campaign which also takes advantage of an online presence. The FSA's salt website features an advergame starring Sid The Slug. As Revolution Web Site explains, the site, developed by DNA, shows and animated presentation to demonstrate how salt can raise blood pressure and damage the body.

The Konvergenz Awards will be assigned in Germany at the end of September. 175 campaigns have been submitted, the shortlisted running for the award are available online (.doc).

The 2004 Australian Mobile Marketing & Advertising Awards have been assigned yesterday. The campaign Bathurst SMS Showdown (5th Finger, Imagination Entertainment, LogicaCMG) won the first prize in the categories "Best interactive Tv" and "Best out-of-home and events", while Warren � 5c txt campaign (Virgin Mobile, Host, The Glue Society) was assigned with the first prize as "Best integrated campaign" and as "Best of the show".
The full winners list is available online.
The award for "Best CRM - beyond the sales promotion" hasn't been assigned. Unfortunately the site provides no explanation on the reasons.

The more relevant is a banner, the less annoying it is. A study released by the Ponemon Institute explains that 66 percent of surveyed Internet users would find relevant adds less annoying, and 52 percent would be more likely to click on a relevant banner.
Further details about the research are reported in an article on ClickZ, which also explains that users are willing to give away personal details in exchange for targeted banners.

Expedia is launching in the UK a new advertising campaign to promote its customised trip service. Ads will appear on tv, radio and press, as well as on interactive tv and online. Revolution Magazine tells more about the campaign idea and the creative by Clemmow Hornby Inge.

Air Dolomiti is promoting its loyalty program (in partnerships with Lufthansa) with an online competition. Through "Winner Class" on www.airdolomiti.it people can sign up for Miles & More and get the chance to win air miles or a final prize: a Skoda Octavia.

Audi has redesigned its North American sites in order to increase conversion rates, from browsers to buyers. Quoted in the press release Steve Glauberman, CEO of Enlighten, the agency which carried out the redesign, explained:

The wireless market is more mature (and is growing faster) in Europe than in the US. This is no big news, so I wonder why Mediapost puts so much emphasis on this fact in an article published today. It debuts saying "The mobile communications market is maturing faster abroad than in the United States, according to several recent reports" then fortunately it recovers with some useful information. For example, explaining the potentials of integrating text messaging and tv programs, and reporting data from McKinsey about passive viewers "converted" in active sms participants with SMS interactions.

Mobile marketing agency 12Snap has recently acquired the Swedish company Lokomobil, a leader in the Scandinavian market.
The move will allow 12Snap to reinforce its position on the EU market, and to test new applications targeting smart mobile consumers as the Scandinavians are.

MarketingOnline.nl presents the nominations for the Dutch email marketing awards 2004.
Renault, Transavia/Basiq Air and @home are running for the gold medal which will be assigned on September 15th in Utrecht.

Another report, this time by Instat/MDR confirms gaming is going to be key contributor to wireless data usage and revenues. A couple of days ago the same indication was provided by Strategy Analytics.

According to Instat by 2009, mobile gaming services in the US will generate $1.8 billion annually, or approximately 4.4% of total wireless data revenues.
The report "Mobile Gaming Services in the US, 2004-2009" also found out that, unlike with other emerging mobile multimedia services, such as video and music, consumers interested in mobile gaming do not necessarily match the classic early adopter profile.

In Italy Tribal DBB has developed a new site to promote Campari Mixx and its related parties and online campaigns.
The site supports Campari Mixx Music & Fun Tour 2004 presenting the events and featuring an online competition to win a week-end in Europe's most voted club. The section "Mixx 4" allows user to download desktop wallpapers, and screensavers, to send virtual cards and to watch the tv spot.

Heineken should listen to this...

V.Smile, an educational game console for young children will be promoted with a viral marketing campaign developed by Big Picture Interactive. A viral email campaign will target parents with children aged 3-5-year-old, inviting them to visit the microsite launch.vsmile.co.uk.
The campaign offers prizes including a family holiday worth �1000, a year's supply of 'Duracell' batteries, and family tickets to live UK events.
In the press release, Emily Nichols, Brand Manger at VTech, says:

Cingular Wireless is launching a system to vote All American Football Players via text messaging. WirelessWeek.com reports the news, saying that the voting campaign will be open to subscribers from all other wireless networks.

Cingular believes SMS messages are becoming more and more strategic for its business, given the fact that in the first six months of the year, 2.7 billion text messages were sent over the its network.

Pubblicit� Italia reports that Heineken is preparing a huge marketing campaign in Italy connected to the Halloween Night. On October 31st there will be 1400 Heineken parties around the country celebrating the night. The events will be promoted with tv and radio spots, billboards and print advertising.

The article makes no reference to online marketing. How comes the Internet is completely ignored in such promotional initiative?

I dream a future in interactive marketing, and it's very sad to realize new media advertising receives almost no consideration in my country.
I believe it's just a question of old-fashioned mentality. A sign of a culture with a great past and a questionable future.

In Spain MyAlert Marketing Interactivo and Cool Lines have developed a campaign for Heinz Ketchup integrating e-mail, web and mobile marketing.
The microsite for "Heinz Bienstar" features a competition giving away a stay for 2 people in fantastic Spanish Spa's. Users can enter the competition by provinding a PIN number (found on Heinz Ketchup) via SMS, snail mail or directly online.

Zugara and Beyond Interactive have developed Reebok's latest campaign: "The Only Brand in Every NFL Locker".
The site features original theme music created by Zugara as well as video of NFL athletes giving Pro-Tips to consumers.

Thanks to a deal with Vodafone, Maxim Magazine (the men weekly) will license its content in 30 countries. Brand Republic reports the mobile service will be launched in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Australia and Sweden by the end of the year.

Maxim will provide branded wallpapers, ringtones, games, videoclips and a mobile version of the magazine.

According to the The Yankee Group the U.S. audio accessory market, which includes ringtones, ring tunes and calling tones, will be worth $1 billion. Today's global market is more than $2.5 billion.
The Daily Herald dedicates today a good article to the ringtones mania in the United States.

MSN has signed a deal with MTV to sponsor the 2004 edition of MTV Icon. The initiative is a clear sign of MSN's intention to heavily invest in online music.
MTV Icon 2004 will celebrate the Cure and MSN will be able to exclusively offer their music. Marketing Directo (in Spanish) explains MSN Messenger will play a key role in the promotion, broadcasting the Cure's concert from London on September 17th.
There will also be a competition connected to the event: through MSN Messenger it will be possible to win tickets to the show, or to join a live chat with Robert Smith and the other group members.

Absolut Vodka is launching a new flavour "Raspberri" and it's promoting it with an integrated campaign supported by a microsite.
DMNews.com explains online banners will be part of the marketing mix, aiming to get users interact with Absolut's brand. The microsite, developed by ad agencies Springtime and Daddy, features works by artists Maya Hayuk and Kenji Hirata.

A curiosity to note: Daddy is an expert in developing sites for drinks brands. They already worked for Level Vodka and Raml�sa mineral water.

Toyota is taking a a test-drive festival around the US. A website supports the initiative, with a typical advertainment approach Putitinplay.com presents the driving games people can play in the playground at the "Put it in Play" Festival". It also presents two online games "Vehicular Dodgeball" and "Redlight/Greenlight".

The site features a 70s' graphics (which is cool), but it's rather confusing in presenting the content.

Finalist of the 2004 Mobile Marketing and Advertising Awards have been announced this week. The awards will be assigned on September 9th.
Among the others, Tribal DDB Sydney is a finalist in two categories for one client (McDonald�s �Sip �n� Flip 2 Win): Best Integrated Campaign (competing against Virgin Mobile�s Warren and 7�s Rugby Awards), and Best Sales Promotion (competing against Jim Beam Racing, The Age Apartment Promotion).
5th Finger is also running for the gold medal in several categories.

On September 1st AOL Germany has launched a new campaign to promote its broadband service. W&V; reports the initiative includes Tv spots and online advertising, the latter developed by Scholz & Friends.
Rumours say their are spending about one million � in the campaign, featuring the message "Why should you wait weeks?".

Levi's� Europe launches the digital part of the 501� with Anti-Fit Fall campaign which incorporates TV, Print, OOH, Cinema, and Retail.
The 501� with Anti-Fit message has been promoted online throughout the year through continuously enhanced content and features, across a variety
of digital channels, across Europe.

This second phase marks a shift in content approach: from giving users cute, cool, and quick experiences in the form of use-once-and-throw-away little games and widgets, the content will now be expanded with a focus on applications that enable greater interaction with the brand and between the users themselves, over a longer period of time (The Levis� Mobile Audio Mixer and the Levi's� Video Mixer are part of the initiative - you can download both at eu.levi.com)
To further support the 501� jean with Anti-fit proposition, eu.levi.com of course sports an entirely refreshed 501� section, designed with a visually strong style as original as the product it promotes.

The digital campaign has been developed by Lateral, whose chairman, Jon Bains, comments:

Club music fans will get all the information about club venues delivered directly to their mobile phones. In the UK Unique 3 has found a cost-effective solution to keep its customers updated about evenings around the city. Quoting the press release, we can say "Keeping clubbers fully up-to-date with changes of artist line up or venue are vital elements to successful club promotion and the marketing strategy needed to answer these exacting requirements. Basic SMS marketing had enabled Unique3 to focus on building a relationship with a highly mobile audience, but this needed to go a step further."

The technology has been provided by Dynmark.

m-Qube has developed the first "Artist Mobile Content Web Store" in the US for Madonna. The press release explains Madonna's fans will be able to easily browse and purchase the artists content on Madonna.com or through their mobile device simply by providing their mobile number and handset type with charges going directly to their wireless bill.

Are looking for more cool interactive ideas? Check the archives