After having a chance to review all the marketing brochures I collected at the GSMA conference last week I found one from a company focused on Proximity Marketing.   Proximity marketing is not the same concept as mobile marketing, although both offer marketing capabilities via the mobile market. 

Proximity Marketing can be defined as the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place.  Marketing messages and adverts can be communicated to individuals in that location who wish to receive them.

Of course no hard and fast definition really exists which separates the two, the easiest way to distinguish Proximity Marketing from Mobile Marketing is simply the concept of localized content.  Potential advertising audiences (you and me) must enter a “localized” area such as a grocery store or a shopping center in order to receive the marketing message or advert.  

Proximity marketing can be attached to individuals, billboards, posters, etc. with the intent to reach the customers while the customer are near “your area”, whether the area is a bookstore or mass transit system for example.

Depending upon your geography, the technology utilized to communicate with the mobile devices of target customers can be Bluetooth, Infrared or WiFi, with Bluetooth currently being the dominant protocol supporting the delivery of the adverts.

I have finally had a chance to write-up a recap from GSMA Mobile World Congress from Barcelona, which was a great conference in spite of the cold & rainy weather.   One of the big highlights of the conference was the keynote address given by Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.  The address began by Eric presenting some impressive statistics regarding the mobile market such as:

-30% growth for Smartphone’s year over year

-It is predicted that Smartphones will surpass PC sales within 3 years

-Half the new Internet connections are for Mobile devices  

-More Google searches are performed on mobile devices than on desktops in emerging countries

-Mobile web adoption is proceeding at an 8 times faster rate than the equivalent point for desktops 10 years ago

So what is next for the mobile market?

According to Mr. Schmidt there are three components, or “Three Waves” that will encompass the future of mobile: 

1) Computing – Low power and high performance chips, innovation is still increasing

2) Connectivity – The Internet now connects 700 million public servers.  It is impossible to know exactly how large the Internet is, but it is immense, that is for certain.  Networks are now so pervasive that we can know everything about anyone– if people will

Today I had the opportunity to listen in on the Webinar Happy Holidays or Not: Mobile Lessons Learned, and Best Practice for 2010.

The webinar was interesting and provided some good facts about how the mobile phone assisted the 2009 holiday shopping season.  It was truly a global trend according to e-Rewards and TNS international, who reported that over 50% of Internet users worldwide used their mobile phone to support shopping in some capacity.

Some of the trends that have become clear are that mobile shopping will not be the complete solution.  It is an enabler of many different activities involved in the overall shopping and purchasing experience. 

Of the users that utilized their mobile phone for a least one shopping related activity, Asia-Pacific shoppers lead the world by a comfortable margin (78%), followed by Latin America (62.4%), Europe (49.4%), and North America (45.1%)

The top mobile shopping activities were:

Called to ask someone about a product they might purchase Texted to ask someone about a product they might purchase Sent a picture of a product they might purchase Used mobile phone to access Internet to look at product reviews or other product information Used mobile phone to access Internet to compare prices Used mobile phone to access Internet to get

I thought I would write about a recent interview I conducted on Mobile-Financial regarding an innovative and convenient new mobile payment service being launched.  First, because it’s fresh in my mind, and second, because I think it is a really interesting new service and one I know I personally will use.

ATX Innovations has launched a service called ‘Tabbed Out’ which allows patrons of bars and restaurants to review and close out bar and restaurant bills via their mobile phone. It is both a convenient and safer way to pay your bill.  After your meal and/or a few rounds of drinks when you are ready to leave, or “tab out” you simply access the application, review your bill to ensure it is correct, select your tip amount and then pay the tab.  A receipt can be emailed to you if you would like.

The customer’s credit or debit card information is stored directly with the POS so you do not have to hand it over to the waitperson.  It’s a great concept and one I know both hospitality establishments and customers will both equally enjoy. It is also great to see a new mobile payment service launched in the U.S.   

For more information about the “Tabbed Out” service please

In an article from Mobile Banker (American Banker) several industry experts are listing 2009 as the year mobile banking officially became commonplace and customers consider it a standard service to be offered by their financial institutions.

Fred Brothers, managing partner of technology consulting firm eCom Advisors, states in the article, "I think we will look back at 2009 as the pivotal year for mobile banking…I don't think people appreciate that yet."

Later in the article Richard K. Crone, the founder of Crone Consulting LLC, states, “Mobile banking and payments are taking off much faster than online banking did.  People are already comfortable with the idea of managing information with phones, and managing financial details feels like a natural next step to many consumers.  With online banking, we had to wait for people to get modems in their computers and sign up for online service and get familiar with the process," he said. "None of that is necessary with mobile banking. All you have to do is to create the service."

And if 2009 was the year when mobile banking became commonplace for people who already bank online,” Crone said, "the next year won't be about bringing Internet banking customers to the mobile. The next year will be about customers who

Local U.S municipalities have embraced mobile and GPS technology in an attempt to allow local taxpayers to report problems to the city government in a speedy and convenient manner.  CNN has a great article discussing the concept of Gov 2.0 and some of the related applications that are currently in the marketplace.

What is Gov 2.0?   The definitions vary, but in a Forbes article Tim O’ Reilly provides the following definition of Gov 2.0 that I think sums it up well:
“…with the proliferation of issues and not enough resources to address them all, many government leaders recognize the opportunities inherent in harnessing a highly motivated and diverse population not just to help them get elected, but to help them do a better job. By analogy, many are calling this movement "Government 2.0”." 

 

Further in his article, O’Reilly states, “Rather than licensing government data to a few select "value added" providers, who then license the data downstream, the federal government (and many state and local governments) are beginning to provide an open platform that enables anyone with a good idea to build innovative services that connect government to citizens, give citizens visibility into the actions of government and even allow citizens to participate directly in policy-making.”

In other words, Gov 2.0 is

In an article from USA Today, eBay’s CEO John Donahoe said his company expects to generate over $500 million in mobile-based application revenue in 2009.   Most of this revenue will come from the iPhone application, which has been downloaded more than 5 million times so far.

Donahoe also said mobile and Internet transactions will drive e-commerce from 5% of total retail sales to approximately 15-20% in five years.

To do their part in growing e-commerce eBay has opened up PayPal.  eBay is now allowing 3rd parties to integrate with PayPal in the hopes that it will drive innovation, and eventually the new innovations will increase transactions.

The USA Today article notes Twitpay.me and ShopSavvy as two companies that have already taken advantage of PayPal’s new open technology strategy. 

Twitpay.me allows users to tweet payments by linking their PayPal accounts to Twitter.  ShopSavvy allows consumers to compare products using an iPhone and Android handset.

It is good to see a company the size of eBay embracing the opening of technology.  This move will help eBay in the quickly evolving mobile payments industry. 

For a deeper look please visit the USA Today article below.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-12-15-ebay15_ST_N.htm?csp=34&am
p;utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+U
satodaycomMoney-TopStories+%28Money+-+Top+Stories%29

www.biggu.com

https://twitpay.me/

I was researching the product suite offered by Talend at the request of a client.  It seems to be a very rich and robust solution and is based on open source which makes it that much more interesting. 

Talend offers many products and services but at a high level the solution is comprised of Data Integration, Data Migration, Data Synchronization and ETL for Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing.

Several telecommunication companies including Virgin Mobile and AOL have implemented their solutions and Virgin Mobile gives an in-depth endorsement of the product specifically about how it can keep costs low for an MVNO.

After reviewing the testimonials I ran across the Talend blog discussion about Gartner recently included the solution in the Gartner Magic Quadrant.

The author states they are the only open source player in the Magic Quadrant for Data Integration which I believe is true but it got me thinking about other Magic Quadrant that Gartner puts out. 

Are there any Mobile Financial Service (MFS) related products or solutions based on Open Source currently in a Gartner Quadrant? 

Actually, I am curious if anyone has experience with MFS solutions based on Open Source

The holidays are a great time to relax and catch-up with family and friends but it can also be a pain as you try and navigate the over crowded malls and shopping centers. 

I have no idea if the recession is over but people, at a minimum, seem to be going to shopping areas. If they are buying or not I have no clue but finding a parking spot and moving to my desired store front is just as frustrating as years past.

Holiday shoppers are benefitting this year as retailers embrace the mobile channel.  Holiday shopping this season should be a little easier as you can research product information, prices and of course buy gifts from more and more of your favorite places.

Think you can get a better price? 

Is this the newest model? 

Is this the only color? 

Is this the brand you saw recalled on the news?

Does any merchant offer free shipping for this?

Is this in stock at another store?

Let your mobile take some of the pain out of holiday shopping.

According to a new survey from Deloitte one in five shoppers plans on using their mobile phone to assist in holiday shopping this year.    With Smartphone’s

In my last blog I asked what the ROI or value proposition for mobile banking is, and what specific areas the ROI or value proposition depended upon.   A few of the obvious questions are: Will mobile banking reduce costs by converting a certain percentage of activities from higher cost channels? Will it help retain customers?   Will it attract a new demographic?

 

The list of questions goes on and on, but the ultimate factor I was after is how mobile banking will impact a bank’s bottom line.   Currently I cannot find a bank that can prove an ROI or cost justification for mobile banking.  There are studies out there of course, but they are flawed due to their assumptions, sometimes broad and ambitious, which are not backed by real world results, as of yet anyway. 

 

With a lack of tangible evidence to gain insight from I decided to review the ROI for Internet or online banking to try and find some possible correlations.  

 

The questions, skepticism and arguments with online banking (in the early stages of Internet banking at least) are remarkably identical to the ones currently facing mobile banking.  Although this does not provide an ROI or cost justification, this should be somewhat encouraging for mobile banking.

 

Reduced costs were the main