Android Growth

By the end of 2012, almost half a billion Android devices were already in use around the world as Samsung (driven by the success of the Android based Galaxy Note hybrid) overtook Nokia as a handset manufacturer. 

Advertisers targeting Android users (particularly in Europe) may want to consider the following distribution across the BuzzCity network. 

The Crystal Ball – Looking Back

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

For the mobile industry, 2012 is the year that the Smartphone took centre stage, a time when mobile commerce came of age in many markets and when developers worked hard to overcome the platform and hardware fragmentation that has come to define our industry.

Yes, this is the time of year when writers and businesses take stock of the current environment and make predictions about the year ahead.

First, though, I'd like to take a look back at BuzzCity's predictions for 2012 and see how we fared. Seems only fair.

Planning Your Campaign Deployment

In our last blog post, it has become clear that mobile shopping is on the rise. This naturally creates a significant opportunity for advertisers and marketers, highlighting again that mobile can no longer be ignored as one of the top consumer channels of choice.  We simply cannot disregard the impact mobile is having on consumer spending trends. 

Last Minute Shopping

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Are you a last minute Christmas shopper? You're not alone. In the US, for example, the ten days before Christmas account for nearly a quarter of all retail sales. In India, the “Great Online Shopping Festival” (translation: India's Cyber Monday) will take place on Wednesday 12 December. And in the UK, Christmas shopping is expected to peak the weekend of 22-23 December.

BuzzCity's latest research meanwhile shows that the vast majority of consumers who leave shopping to the eleventh hour are more likely to purchase their gifts via mobile.

What this means for merchants is simple: you still have time to adjust your campaign tactics.

M-Commerce in Southeast Asia

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

The vast majority of consumers in Southeast Asia use the mobile internet on a regular basis. If you're not advertising on it, you should be. But while the region is definitely a great place to be in the mobile industry, one area is lagging behind: m-Commerce.

It's not that consumers wouldn't like to conduct transactions with their phones. Rather it's that the trust – and in some case, the necessary infrastructure – isn't there. Banks, telcos and governments need to address this in two ways. First, they need to create an environment that fosters genuine trust, by setting up new channels for consumer feedback acting upon the complaints. And second, they need to embark on better public education campaigns to publicise the availability and security of existing m-commerce platforms.

For the first part, we don't need to look far to find a good example . . . .

Christmas Tips for Advertisers

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

If you represent a brand or advertiser, you probably already have your holiday sales and marketing strategy in place.

But the unsteady economic situation in many markets could mean that you need to tweak and adjust your plans to better influence consumers.

Here are a few tips and reminders that we hope are timely. And in case you need some stats to back up a case for a stronger mobile presence, check out this companion post, "A Wireless World".

Adjapon Extends Reach with BuzzCity

Adjapon is to utilise BuzzCity’s complete suite of mobile display advertising offering for its clients’ campaigns to reach consumers in South East Asia, Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

A Wireless World

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

If mobile is not already an integral part of your marketing mix, it should be. Plain and simple.
 
But as you're planning your Christmas campaigns and looking towards 2013, think about this:

• There are more than 6 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide.

• No, not every one on this planet has a mobile handset yet. But we're getting close. Forrester Research estimates that 4.3 billion people own at least one handset. That's 3 out of every 5 people on the planet.

• BuzzCity is on track to deliver twice as many mobile banners in 2012 as we did in 2011. Last year's figure: 126 billion. First nine months of this year: nearly 152 billion. More people are surfing the mobile internet and they're spending more time on it.

Market Update Q3 2012 : Mobile Advertising

In the third quarter of 2012, more than 55.2 billion ad banners were delivered across the entire network of more than 10,000 publisher sites, to reach more than 300 million unique users per month.

This is a quarterly growth of  7.9% with the top 20 countries delivering 81% of all banners served.

Teenagers & Smartphones

by Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Teens and smartphones are in the news.

Nielsen recently reported that more than half of all teenagers, aged 13 - 17, in the United States now owns a smartphone.

Globally, across the BuzzCity Network, we find that 1 in 3 teens uses a smartphone . . . not quite as many teens as adults, but still a significant number.

A big question though is . . . where are they getting them?

Handsets, PCs and Tablets

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Contrary to popular expectations, rising demand for tablets has not affected consumer interest in mobile phones and computers.

Plus, handsets remain the device of choice for surfing the internet.

These are two of the key findings of a recent BuzzCity survey of mobile users in more than 700 cities and towns across 71 countries.

Smartphones Become Mainstream

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Smartphones are no longer simply a tool for business professionals.

Nor is the market for smartphones limited to rich kids in places like Singapore and the US.

BuzzCity's latest survey - conducted in 71 countries across the globe - shows that nearly half of all people surfing the mobile internet are using smartphones.

This is a huge shift, thanks largely to cheaper handsets and more affordable bandwidth costs . . . and it's a trend that has important implications for handset manufacturers who risk being irrelevant if they compete on price alone.

The BuzzCity Report - Volume 2 Issue 4

In this issue of The BuzzCity Report, we feature the results of a user survey conducted in July 2012. This is the sixth and largest of our studies on mobile Internet usage – more than 10,000 respondents from 71 countries took part.

The study is intended to help publishers and advertisers fine-tune their content & marketing strategies as consumer online behavior evolves.

Our findings suggest: -

1. The mobile Internet has become an integral part of most people’s daily lives – for the young and old. Those who surf come from all income brackets and business sectors.

2. Mobiles are the preferred surfing tool although a shift to surfing with multiple devices is seen among some consumers. However, a lot of behaviour from mobile consumers remains unchanged.

3. Consumers still want to do more with their phones!

The survey is also summarised as an infographic that highlights the key learnings.

Adopting to the Latest Android

By Allen Umali, BuzzCity Executive Producer

Google recently released the latest version of its Android mobile operating system. Android 4.1 - codenamed "Jelly Bean" - has a number of new features including voice search (Google's version of 'Siri') and tap technology for transferring photos between phones. It's also faster, more responsive and less likely to crash.

But if you are a developer, ad agency or brand, heed these words:

Before you rush onto the Jelly Bean Bandwagon . . . don't.

At least not yet. Here's why:

The BuzzCity Report - Volume 2 Issue 3

The latest edition of The BuzzCity Report is now available.  In the last quarter our network grew by 13% and served 51.2 billion banners to a global audience of 300 million mobile surfers. We’ve served three quarters of last year’s annual traffic already and at this rate, traffic is expected to double again this year.

At the same time, growth of smartphones on our network rose to 47% by the start of June 2012. Among the top smartphone markets are: 

Smartphones and Local Content

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Where are you reading this article? And from what sort of device?

Are you on a PC, laptop, tablet, feature phone or smartphone?

Odds are you're using a smartphone.

And that's not just because you're someone interested in mobile issues (though that does help).

If you're in the UK, Singapore or a young professional in just about any developed market, there's a very good chance you regularly access information from an iPhone, Blackberry, Samsung Galaxy or some other smartphone.

In fact, across the BuzzCity Network, 47 percent of all consumers are now using smartphones.

Olympic Winners

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

With eyes around the globe turning towards London for the 2012 Olympics, here at BuzzCity we thought it would be a great time to take a look at the some of the best Olympic mobile ads and apps.

Marketing is no longer as simple as coming up with a great creative and placing it in the right media. The key today is for brands to create content that engages consumers. And the winners of our 'Mobile Olympics' know it.

Taking this column's Gold Medal is an innovative campaign by Coca-Cola that combines sports, music, celebrity and interactivity.

India 2012

By Manish Mishra, VP Business Development and Country Manager (India)

It would be difficult to overstate the tremendous growth in India's mobile market over the past few years . . . and the increasingly important role mobile plays in retail advertising.

Whether you want to see a preview of the latest Bollywood film, check out a new car or go shopping, you can do it from an Indian phone.

Thanks in part to increased penetration and cheaper smartphones, m-Commerce is becoming more accepted everyday. But unlike a few years ago when Indian mobile ads mainly promoted direct sales, marketing and branding is back!

Mobile in the Moment of Truth

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

When does a consumer decide to make a purchase?

Increasingly, this 'moment of truth' is occurring on mobile.

And brands that don't actively use the medium to engage consumers - by providing information and sparking conversations about products, as well as ways to buy them - are under-performing and losing sales.

It's that simple.

The BuzzCity Report - Volume 2 Issue 2

The latest edition of The BuzzCity Report is now available. In Q1’12, more than 45 billion ad banners were delivered across the entire network. This is a quarter-on-quarter increase of 16% with the top 20 countries delivering 77% (35.0 billion) of all banners served.

The Top five countries are

1. India    11,198,095,486 (banners served)
2. Indonesia    6,137,166,633
3. United States    2,800,350,421
4. Nigeria    1,773,096,511
5. South Africa    1,313,586,148

As always, we’ve included a round-up of our detailed statistics and analytics, allowing you to see the trends and forces that are shaping the mobile ecosystem. 

Please download the full report here.

Top Phones : March 2012

By the end of March 2012, the global distribution of mobile phones across our network is as follows. 

1. Nokia    (47.7%)    continues to dominate but is 3.3%   down from last month.
2. Samsung (14.4%) continues to grow its market share and grew another 1.8%.
3. White Box Phones make up 9.6% (0.9% up) of global usage
4. Blackberry (8.6%) is -1.3% down, and 
5. Apple (6.9%) increased by another 0.4%

Over the Top

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

As Mobile Commerce takes centre stage, two related and recurring topics are likely to dominate discussions in the mobile industry over the next year: Fragmentation and Over-the-Top services.

• Which mobile platform and mobile device will be the preferred choice of consumers?
• How will they pay for services?
• And how will carriers adapt?

The demand for mobile content keeps growing.  There are more and more ways to view it.  And this is attracting more players into the game . . .  often in ways that appear to threaten the costs and earnings of carriers.

Platform Wars

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Kindles, iPads, Galaxy smartphones, MAUI, HTML5, iOS, Android, Windows 8 . . . so many choices, so much more work to cater for them all.  Can't we just have a one-size-fits-all solution?

A simple straight-forward answer would enable developers and advertisers to get a better night's rest . . . . or at least cut back a bit on their working hours.

But that's not going to happen.

Fragmentation is going to rule for at least another year.

mCommerce 2012

by Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Even with a generic feature phone from a company like Zen Mobile in India or MTK Mobiles in China, I can easily go online to check train schedules, buy tickets and shop for a variety of items from ringtones to hardback books.

Mobile Commerce is a major factor driving growth in the mobile industry right now, from the time that consumers spend online to the number of ads served every day.

In a BuzzCity survey of seventeen countries across four continents, one-quarter of respondents say they conduct a mobile transaction every day.

But carriers and advertisers are largely neglecting two key market segments: women and 'mature' users, particularly those over the age of 35.

Mobile Ad Growth

by Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

The Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers are reporting that mobile ad spend jumped 157% in the UK to more than ₤200 million in 2011, driven largely by the rapid update of apps and social media, cheaper data packages and the increased use of mobile to watch online videos.

The IAB and PWC are spot on when it comes to measuring mobile ad growth, but we think they miss the mark a bit on the causes.

This week, I'll take a closer look at mobile ad spending as well as examine a key sector for future growth, mCommerce.

Preventing Click Fraud

By Delynn Ho, Vice President, Sales

If you're an advertiser, you've probably heard about 'click fraud,' which occurs when a person or automated programme imitates a consumer by clicking on banner ads with the intent of generating bogus ad charges, which in turn can affect your advertising campaign and cost you money.

Late last year, for example, the US FBI busted a cyber-ring that had infected 4 million computers in 100 countries and netted more than US$14 million by manipulating online ads.

But as a mobile advertiser, to what extent is this an issue you need to be concerned about?

And what are companies like BuzzCity doing to protect you?

The Conversation Publishers Must Have With Advertisers

By Delynn Ho, VP Sales 

You're a digital media player with a great mobisite and significant traffic. You've built it and they were supposed to come. But where are the premium advertisers, the ones who value your content like you do, as it should be valued?

The advertisers who sign up to your sites don't pay enough. Or maybe you're not attracting any premium advertisers at all.

What should you be doing differently?

As Kok Fung wrote last week, there's a disconnect between publishers and advertisers. It's like they speak different languages. Publishers talk about CPCs, CPDs, CPMs, etc. Media planners want information about age, gender, income, readers' hobbies, shopping habits and more.

As a content publisher, you need to meet the media planners half-way by knowing your audience better and presenting this information clearly in a language that media buyers understand.

Here's how . . .

Death by Data : What Advertisers and Media Planners Need to Know

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

The internet is likely now the world's largest mass medium with more viewers and broader reach than radio, television and without question magazines and newspapers.

So why is it that advertisers have not whole-heartedly embraced internet ads? Why don't we see branding campaigns all across the mobile internet?

The answer to these questions lies in the numbers . . .

• Media planners traditionally demand demographic and psychographic data that enables them to plan advertising campaigns targeting specific groups of consumers.

• But these measurements are not readily available in the digital world. Instead, digital publishers rely on a completely different set of metrics -- from CPAs and CPCs to CPMs and CPDs -- which often confuse media planners.

So how do we bridge this gap between digital publishers and advertisers?

BuzzCity's Premium Channel

By Delynn Ho, VP Sales

Successfully building a brand requires that you put your brand in good company. Yet advertising only on premium sites is expensive and unlikely to meet the targets of a well-balanced media plan. So, BuzzCity has launched a cost-effective solution: The BuzzCity Premium Channel, which offers advertisers the 'long tail' of quality sites.

Frequency and Reach

By Delynn Ho, VP Sales

We hear two common complaints from ad agencies, brand planners and media buyers who say they do not want to advertise on a 'blind network' like BuzzCity:

1. “We only place media on premium sites, like CNN or MTV, where we know exactly where the banner will appear.”

2. “We only place ads on sites where we can use precise demographic targeting to reach our exact audience.”

Freemium Comes of Age.

In a previous blog post, dated April 2011, we shared insights into the different ways of monetizing apps.  Since then we have seen many developers adopt the freemium model as they became more adept at balancing the proportion of free they give away and the premium they charge.

Key of course is increasing traffic (to your app) and securing premium conversions while minimizing cost. In 2011, Djuzz distributed more than  90.7 million downloads of 20,000 free & freemium titles, at no charge to brands and developers. 

Mexico : M-Commerce Profile

Mobile advertising has grown more than 400% in Mexico over the last year; by the end of 2011 more than 1.3 billion banner ads were served to Mexican audiences.

Mexico is a market with a high rate (35%) of female  adoption of the mobile internet and the presence of users over 35 years old (19% compared to a global average of 15%). The influence of these mature users are disproportionately high when mobile purchases are made. Over-35's account for 25% of grocery purchases and 25% of travel related purchases.

The BuzzCity Report ( Volume 2 Issue 1 )

In 2011, consumers continued their mass adoption of mobile technologies, and many brands took their first steps to benefit from the marketing opportunities that inevitably follow in the wake of that adoption.

Our ad network grew in Q4 by a further 16%, reaching a total of 38.9 billion ads served globally. So, by year end, we reached a total that’s 139% higher than 2010.