Tag Archives: Gphone

Mobile Marketers can fail and still succeed.

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Mobile advertising is projected to generate revenue somewhere between $1 billion and $24 billion within four years. However, at the moment they(analysts) still do not know which business model or marketing approach will be successful in tapping into that money.

So you’re saying,”Well how can they come up with those projections then?”  They can come up with those lofty projections the same way analysts said that one day the internet would be really really big. The upside and the potential are so great, that even those numbers are skewed on the side of conservatism.

To put it in perspective you have to understand that nearly everyone including your average 10 year old and up is now carrying a cell phone. If you want a hard number, think north of 2 billion users worldwide. With that device is the real estate to market and advertise to a captive audience. With that device and it’s associated burgeoning high speed browser comes the ability to search, use the internet or access email. Currently in the US, there are almost 35 million users of the mobile “net”. So what comes with search? contextual advertising. What comes with surfing the net? Advertising. Or using email? Get the idea?

But see that’s the easy side to marketing on a mobile device. The challenge for marketers and advertisers will be how to create stickiness not only for search results for instance but also to geotargeted results via a mobile device. In other words, how are you/they going to create the mobile call to action?

Some of the other questions will also be; How intrusive can you as a marketer be on a mobile device? Do the devices need to also have micro-java apps for pop-ups for instance? Can a marketer hone in on perhaps using SMS alternatives or opportunities until a more solid marketing platform is developed? When you think about it, it really is wide open.

The answer is yes to all of those questions, and the best part about it is the result can be a complete and utter failure and thats ok. So now you’re saying, “what do you mean it’s ok to fail?” Well it’s ok to fail because the user has no preconceived notion or expectation as to how it’s supposed to be. And because they don’t know what to expect, they will be willing to accept, for now, whatever comes down the pipe.

But marketers and their brethren will only be allowed to fail x amount of times before the user a) finds another solution that best meets and exceeds their intial expectation or b) becomes completely frustrated by the lack of performance. And trust us, they will find it. Either through another marketer letting them know that their is a better solution out there, or they will find it virally.

Until the bar is set, mobile marketers will have a grace period to get it right. The unknown is how long the grace period will be. The unknown is who will set the tone? Who will establish the way things are done in the mobile world? Because at the moment the canvass is blank and anything can be tried and ANYTHING can be successful. In the end the ultimate judge will be your average consumer, or your average 10 year old!

Google Mobile- The Android Demo

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I’m back on the mobile kick as of late and thought everyone would like to see this video demo, for those who have not seen it. It is very very cool. Watch out iphone is all I can say! The maps feature is extraordinary.


Google will drive down cell phone costs

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Consider this: Google won’t be making your phone.  Nor does it plan to plaster it’s brand on the devices. Instead, it will work with four cell phone manufacturers who have agreed to use Google’s programs in their handsets.  You, the Consumer, will have to buy a new phone to get the Google software because the bundle wasn’t made for existing handsets. But that’s ok right? Most people buy a new phone every year or so anyway.

Given the rush to buy the iphone,  and every other smart phone, what will it be like when the Gphone is released? Even with its market debut months away, Google’s software looms as a significant threat to other mobile operating systems made by Microsoft,  Research In Motion,  Palm  and Symbian, which is owned by Nokia  and several other major phone makers.

Because Google’s software will be free, it could undercut rivals who charge handset makers to install their operating systems. It also promises to make smart phones less expensive since manufacturers won’t have to pay for software. So having said that, the other Smart phone carriers and manufacturers. They can either hold  on to an already ridiculously high price point and get eaten alive, or drop their pricing to be more in line with the new phone.

Google’s system will be based on computer code that can be openly distributed among programmers. That, Google hopes, will encourage developers to create new applications and other software improvements that could spawn new uses for smart phones. Think Open Social.

The fallout from all of this though, positive as it may be, is that we are going to see an all out war when it comes to owning eyeballs and their handsets. The biggest beneficiary? The consumer.

So far, Motorola, Samsung Electronics Co., HTC and LG Electronics Inc. have agreed to use Google’s software in some of their phones. Both Motorola and Samsung already buy Microsoft’s Windows Mobile in some of their phones so the question begs, will Google force Motorola and Samsung to choose sides or can they coexist?

The list of wireless carriers that have agreed to provide service for the Google-powered phone in the United States include Sprint Nextel and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile in the United States. China Mobile, Telefonica in Spain and Telecom Italia are among the carriers that have signed on to provide service outside the United States.

They are among a Google-led group of 34 companies that have formed the Open Handset Alliance. Other key players include major chip makers like Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., Broadcom Corp. and Nvidia Corp.

“This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive.

Together, these companies will use Google’s Android platform –(  Steven Spielberg, where are you?)  Google says it will be available under “one of the most progressive, developer-friendly, open source licenses” — to develop new services for mobile devices.

In closing, watch in the coming months as the carriers and handset makers decide how they are going to price not only the new G, but also their other smart phones. They cannot possibly price the device so high that consumers start looking at the iphone as an attractive alternative. Thus this means that other smart phones have to fall in line. But I don’t think Google wants to own just smart phones. They want all consumers to use their bundled offerings on all phones. Not just the high priced smart devices.  Again, know who wins? You.

Google is everywhere, you just have to look!

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OK so when is Google NOT in the news? They seem to be everywhere these days. Such as the latest:

LOS ANGELES / MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA—November 1, 2007—MySpace, the world’s largest social network, and Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced that they are joining forces to launch OpenSocial— The partnership spearheads an initiative to standardize and simplify the development of social applications. Today’s announcement underscores MySpace’s commitment to supporting standards that foster innovation in an increasingly social Web.

But if we delve further, I think you’ll find that Google might be getting into business partnerships and alliances that we never thought possible.

Take for instance influencing children at an early age:

Behold Jimmy, a seemingly normal kid:

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But If we look closer, we can see that, yes indeed their appears to be a tattoo of sorts on his upper arm. Holding his arms in the air victorious, jimmy celebrates knowing he got in on the IPO. He has already secured his first round of funding by the way.

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Next we have Google heading in to the inner city. Sensing a huge push of viral marketing and word of mouth on the latest pair of  Air Jordans. Google has hitched a ride, so to speak.

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Knowing that we are a sports crazed nation, Google has decided to move into the NFL and bank on the New England Patriots and their stellar QB, Tom Brady. Everyone likes a winner. Can you say bandwagon?

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 Look Closely, Yep you guessed it, Google sweat towels for all of you QB wannabe’s out there. BTW, Tom Brady is endorsing Google Search for 6 years and $360 million. Let’s  move on.

Of course Google realizes how important brand image is and thus knowing that Chicago is making a play for the summer olympics, they have decided to buy the Olympic brand.

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Shrewd move if you ask me. Google really hasn’t gotten into the sports marketing arena as much as others, so this is certainly a way to get seen, what do you think?

Speaking of shrewd, there is no one more shrewd than Larry Ellison of Oracle, don’t you think? And he’s been quiet lately, too quiet.

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Lastly, we were doing a tour in D.C. the other day, and we just love those White House tours, and they brought us by the oval office. Well I know you’ve heard about Lincoln slept here blah blah blah… But how bout Segei and Larry slept here….? I knew the government was hurtin for cash when I saw this:

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Maybe you can’t see what we saw up close, so we took a quick pic.

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You guessed it. At least we all know who we have to answer to from now on. As if you didn’t know that already! And you thought Al Gore invented the internet!