Tag archives: location based service

Brand content that’s baked into the product

We see a lot of brand content that promotes a product or shows the experience or lifestyle around using a product — but what I like here is that the brand content creates a new reason to use the product (in this case the Gothenburg tramway).

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File under: brand content, Forsman & Bodenfors, location based service, mobile app, service design

Space Boy, a mobile tamagotchi for your brand

If you’re considering to extend your brand on mobile phones, and teenagers are your target, think about “Space Boy”. “Space Boy” is an interactive mobile mate, introduced by Vodafone and Player X, that responds to practically everything a user does with his phone. From dancing excitedly when the phone rings, or receiving a letter when an SMS or MMS arrives, through to fixing an aerial when the network signal is weak or becoming tired when the battery is low, a Mobie is the user’s mobile phone. Space Boy is a “Mobie”, a sort of mobile tamagotchi, and is the first of a series of characters debuting on the UK market. As Tony Pearce, CEO at Player X points out, the Mobies have characteristics that make them particularly appealing, considering the current trends in mobile phone personalisation:

“We believe Mobies are going to be enormously popular with mobile phone owners as they bridge the gap between the interactivity and fun of mobile games and the personalisation of ring tones and wallpaper.”

I like the Space Boy idea. It is not as easy (and cheap) as ringtones to develop, but if it gets people’s attention, I see an attractive future for marketers creating their own branded Mobies… …. a Mobie who starts eating a cheeseburger when lunch time is approaching and maybe connects to a LBS (location based service) to find the closest Mc Donald’s… am I dreaming? I don’t think so…

File under: location based service, mobies, mobile tamagotchi, space boy, vodafone

Vodafone new location based service

Location based services look very attractive to mobile advertisers. However advertising is only a part of the location based possibilities provided by mobile phones. M-spatial has an interesting example of pedestrian navigation service, and Vodafone has decided to pick up the new MapWay for its customers all through Europe. As Bob Bamforth writes on IT-Director.com:

“If Vodafone or any other operator can link the direction service with what’s on offer at the destination location, they could generate an untapped source of follow on revenue”.

File under: location based advertising, location based service, m-spatial. vodafone

Location based services in Europe

Location based services are a good thing not only for marketers, but also for rescuers. As explained on Fullpress.it (sorry it’s in Italian), on July 24th, a new law will come into effect in Europe that will oblige mobile operators to offer location based support to rescuers for calls to emergency number 112. According to a British statistic, 60% of the people calling for help are not able to provide exact information about their location. The technology solution provider will be Openwave.

File under: location based service