This year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona — the most expansive wireless telecom show in the world — highlighted the impact social computing and entertainment is making in wireless. I attended, and concluded that while WOM marketers and PR pros may be inclined to dismiss mobile marketing as a holy grail that’s never been achieved, they’d be wise to keep close tabs.
Social networks for mobile are coming fast and heavy. These networks compete with m.facebook.com and m.myspace.com with unique, region-specific and/or geographically-enabled specific solutions. A flurry of networks are launching, and some are succeeding.That means marketers will need to get ready for mobile social marketing. Here’s a look at the seven that most impressed me.
1) itsmy.com had perhaps the most subscribers of the many upstart mobile social networks, coming in at 2.1 million subscribers. Members can engage in communities, microsites, mobile video and picture blogs, homepages, flirt functions, ring tones and much more.
Driven by ads, itsmy.com is mature compared to most mobile social networks. It’s very robust, with 60 percent of subscribers in the U.S., 20 percent in the UK, another 10 percent in the EU with a smattering around the world. Some potential for itsmy.com includes a more localized version of myCity, adding GPS functionality for by the block searching, friend finding, and security applications.
2) Perhaps the most interesting of the mobile social networks is Zyb. Self described as a “social phonebook,” this network reinvents the way users engage their phones. Results have been strong with 230,000 users attracted by word of mouth in more than 40 countries.
Zyb started out as a back-up service for mobile phone address books, but has evolved to become a Plaxo on steroids. The contact manager offers complete updates on your handset, and maps all of your contacts social capabilities, listing their various online portals such as Twitter, WordPress, Facebook, Flickr, etc. RSS-feeds create a lifestream from these applications, too, allowing contacts to view a person’s latest developments.
Privacy is protected through contacts identifying which pieces of data will be accessible by friend networks. In the third quarter, Zyb expects to launch GPS enabled search, allowing users to know where their friends contacts can be found in proximity of a users handset. Zyb has not done as well in the United States due to carrier control of network content, and phone synchronization.
3) Location-based mobile social network gypsii is picking up momentum with somewhere between 500,000 ad 700,000 subscribers. The company expects to reach 1 million in short order using community based approaches in Facebook, Digg, Hi5 and mySpace. gypsii’s strategy is to fine verticals with in the larger consumer market, such as sports fans, artists, and private label social networks for content providers. A very serious location play with lots of robust
4) Nokia’s mosh is a great social network, but one that’s completely user generated, allowing its users to add and develop everything from screen savers and ring tones to widgets and applications. This is really Dell’s Idea Storm taken to another step. The mobile phone manufacturer does not edit or license content, instead just seeking to foster a development environment for its rabid fan base. The result? More than 200,000 users, 80 percent of which access Mosh through their phones.
5) Symbian OS-only social network locatik.com was in beta and would not disclose its subscriber-base. Robust use of GPS chips and cell finder tech. provides great friend finder applications, and the ability to generate social activity on the street level. There are no plans to expand to Windows, Blackberry or another OS, and the company does not plan to leverage GPS for additional functionality.
6) Don’t think IMing offers a social network? Think again. eBuddy claims 60 million users (most of which are on carrier-branded platforms) of its general IM solution that ports into various existing interfaces like Yahoo! and AOL. Next up for eBuddy? Location, allowing users to leverage GPS capability and sort their IM contacts by closest proximity. if eBuddy extends functionality it could be a various dangerous social play.
7) POK is currently launching its beta in Spain. It’s very early to tell, but POK wants to be like itsmy.com, though simpler and more robust. It’s already got a corporate partner in Spain, and is actively seeking more partners to accelerate its acceptance in global markets. Techcrunch was supposedly interested in reporting on POK at the event.
Best of the Rest
Yahoo! Go offered a mobile package, which was basically an aggregation of mobile mySpace, downloadable widgets, local search and navigation. But make no bones about it, this package was complete and tailored towards carriers looking to define portals on handsets. AOL’s was similar minus a Facebook or mySpace component.
OZ is another IM player that works with carriers to port between IM networks. Unfortunately, OZ does not see itself adding more social functionality at this point, and may remain a pure play.
With social media tied to technology and lots of geek speak, monitoring trends can be confusing. In some ways, for marketers it’s easier to keep you mind on exactly where your community resides. But inevitably, the eye wanders to the horizon. So far, the biggest trend in 2008 seems to be the drive to open data (Image Credit: Autowitch).
A few years ago, Tim O’Reilly dubbed this “democratizing data” for use across the World Wide Web.” Years later,democratization continues to develop as one of the hottest trends in 2008.
We’ve become social, but we have lots of unmined data across the web, and siloed applications, forcing users to create a new account every where they go online. Without open data, the web’s next generation of applications (dubbed Web 3.0 by some) will have a hard time advancing.
Consider these three major initiatives revolve around opening data for the next generation of data driven web applications :
Semantic Web applicationscontinue to command mindshare as they deliver better content results and make better data connections. These semantic data driven apps need open information for:
Search engines like Hakia and Powerset
Wikipedia-like efforts like Twine and Freebase
Applications that use semantic technologies under the hood (such as AdaptiveBlue and Snap).
Open ID as represented by efforts like Open Social and the Data Portability initiative presents a new opportunity for the next generation of software - particularly in the fields of social software, user rights and interoperability. More importantly, the ability to transfer user profiles across social networks, in turn creating a dynamic and fluid environment for online personalities. Ensuring open protocols for data transfer will be essential to facilitating success.
GeoWeb applications (covered in the Future Cometh in Now Is Gone) continue to tantalize the search and Enterprise 2.0 analysis marketplaces. With more than 85% of data tied to geographic location, all of the major web map players are seeking ways to make this data more useful to enterprises, institutions and consumers alike. Creating “intelligent maps” relies on the ability to harness and convert widespread data across the Internet, government bodies, NGOs and enterprises, a continuing issue in the web map marketplace.
In the long-run, open data allows for great marketing, creating more intelligent, productive initiatives for both the customer and the company. So keep your eyes out for opening data stories.
Chris Heuer frames his conversation by showing the “Break-up.” Included below.
Heuer cites that marketing in social media is supposed to be context, contacts, communications and collaboration (four cs). Context is why are we coming together. Social media returns us to the humanity of relationships. It puts faces on companies.
Chris discusses the abstract corporation, and the way attack terms are used to discuss marketing. Use of war terms in corporate campaigns includes target, campaign, tactic, air cover and corporation.
The illusion of control persists throughout the corporation. Consider customer relationship management. Consider how the media used to be the end of the word. Newspapers used to be the fact, the end. In reality, everything has changed to make it a conversation.
Marketers are considered worse than sales people says Heuer. Marketing is considered as a cost center. That’s going to change as the conversation era proceeds and companies need social media to interact with their customers.
Old school values come into play: Looking and listening are critical components for the marketing of the future. You have to be able to search and find the communities that care about your company. Then you have to listen to them. Listening is essential before speaking.
It’s a gut check for companies. What do we have to do differently to participate, to engage intelligently? Are we aligned with the community. Can we join the community and contribute?
Shel Israel took the stage to a packed house. Most folks at the event knew what RSS was, they understand basic precepts. His keynote was dubbed, “Starting the Conversation.”
Israel’s speech features visuals from the Gaping Void. He talked a lot about how the conversation evolves locally, and then globally. THis was a 5 minute summary of Shel’s BlogOrlando comments.
The reality is that most bloggers in the U.S. are not citizen bloggers, they are oped artists waxing poetic. Citizen journalism is critical in other countries, particularly those that are under suppression. They need bloggers to reveal some of the news. Some asks Shel if Austin’s high blogger ratio indicated a totalitarian Texan regime (Livingston exits to take conference call).
One of the biggest worries executives and entrepreneurs have is negative brand perception resulting from bloggers rants (Nevermind that these rants usually happen because there is something wrong with the product or some other service issue). This loss of message and brand control scares companies, and in some cases prevents them from engaging in social media.
The reality is that negative comments and general brand perception usually occurs for a reason. Companies need to look at these situations as opportunities to engage their customers and communities. By doing so — listening and engaging — organizations can 1) turn around negative perceptions and 2) build an incredibly loyal following.
There’s no better example of this than Dell Computers. This company has experienced a significant turnaround in social media realms, moving from “Dell Hell” to an incredibly loyal community on its sites. This morning I chronicled this rise on Technosailor…
Remember Dell Hell? Jeff Jarvis used the BuzzMachine to slam Dell for his horrific customer experience buying a laptop two years ago. This series of posts epitomized growing dissent against the company, and served as a channel to punish the Texas computer maker for bad products and customer service experiences.
The Dell community has become a strong one. The company has listened to us, and participated transparently, honestly and openly — going so far as to put one of its exploded laptops on its blog to admit, yes, there is a problem (caused by the battery manufacturer). They even let us tell them what to do on IdeaStorm.
The company has done a lot to turn its brand around. And it is working. Is Dell perfect? No. I think their social media pros Lionel and Richard would be the first ones to tell you that. But they are part of the conversation, and they are actively serving the community. We have a direct and very open line to Dell.
The result? Much better relationships throughout the social media world. And the leading voice of computer manufacturers in social media environments. Goodwill is abound for Dell these days, and rare is the mention of Dell Hell. Some competitors are opening up and blogging.
Consider these statistics:
At start of program, 49% of blog posts were negative. Today, overall tonality is 22% negative.
Direct2Dell currently ranked about 700 on Technorati, among the highest corporate blogs.
Direct2Dell gets more than 5 million unique views per month
Over 7000 ideas have been submitted via IdeaStorm
Studio Dell is gets more than 200,000 views per month
The take away for us as individuals trying to maintain our brands is that by listening, changing and participating we can survive bad experiences out here in the social media world. But the key is to listen (are you reading this, Scoble?), let people comment and provide input, and then create products, posts etc. I think that’s really been they key to Dell’s brand turnaround success. Coke had a similar experience as it went from indigestion on Mentos (bad) to Virtual Thirst in Second Life (good).
Tomorrow , Jarvis is expected to report on Dell, and discuss the progress they’ve made. While no one knows what the report will say, it is conceivable that Dell has literally gone from Hell to Heaven. Regardless, they’ve provided a powerful example of listening and change.
Updated, 10/18 at 6:50 p.m.
The story broke, and Jarvis did indeed say that Dell has repaired its tarnished image. Read the BusinessWeek article on Dell learning to listen.
Join the Conversation.
Global Conversation.
Naked Conversations.
One of the central (and most deeply held) themes of what we call Social Media and Social Networking is the notion of a Conversation. Speaking for myself, I’m not so sure this is the right metaphor - not without a little more tweaking.
To this point, we have a growing movement of marketers and communicators who go back to the roots of The Cluetrain Manifesto, and hanging on the tenet that “markets are conversations.” This is an important step in understanding how commerce can evolve in a new environment of technology and communication. But I don’t think it is yet refined enough.
Off Track
The opponents of this central piece of Cluetrain are said to belong to an old mindset of “Command and Control.” They are accused of wanting to enforce a top-down model where the consumers are meant to just swallow the spoon-fed messages of mass-distribution models. Marketing is about getting “the last word.” This is flawed as well.
I’m likely going to take heat from both sides, but there is a middle ground to define - one that is more palatable and accessible to those who are brand new to pondering these changes.
What marketers and companies need to acquire first is the goodwill necessary to interrupt. With millions of conversations going on simultaneously, it is crazy to think that a company will want to engage in a dialogue with everyone - and just as crazy to believe that consumers want to be bothered all the time. While much attention has been given to the technology what empowers consumers to create their own content, the more important shift has been their empowerment to consume what they want, where they want, and when they want. As marketers and communicators, consumers aren’t listening to us - they are listening for us.
If our clients and customers know where they can go to be heard - and get reasonable feedback - that goes a long way toward building the goodwill we need to interrupt.
On Patrol
As communicators, it’s our job to patrol the global market as best we can, listening out for those snippets of conversation that deserve or require a correction. Maybe it is a complaint that is not grounded in truth. Maybe it is a budding problem that we can correct quickly. Maybe it’s a key piece of information being brought to our attention, or a suggestion that can save us millions. The point is not just to hear these things being said, but being able to politely interrupt.
“Excuse me - I just happened to overhear your complaint about X…” Coming from a complete stranger, it can be jarring or scary or just outright rude. But those companies that have worked their way through the protocols and etiquette of Social Media will know how and when to ring the bell - and how to gracefully exit. You can still have “the last word” in a conversation if you are polite about it.
Changing the Debate
Sadly, these two camps are so thoroughly entrenched in this debate, many companies and organizations have frozen themselves out of participating because they don’t know who or what to believe. There are some very public faux pas’ and missteps on the record - and for executives tasked with a fiduciary responsibility, that can be daunting.
The debate about Social Media has been locked into defining the word “Conversation,” deriving everything that model entails, and determining if the end result of a Social Media effort is aligned with the corporate goals. I believe that as we move forward, we need to tweak that metaphor, and look for “interruption without intrusion.” Ring the bell, knock on the door - and if you do a really good job, they’ll leave the back door open or even give you a key! It’s all about posture, protocol, and participation.
Google bought Jaiku
Tech nerds whipped into frenzy
Though they don’t know why.
One of the advantages of launching into Social Media is that everything is so new, you can’t be that far behind.
One of the disadvantages of forecasting Social Media is that everything is so new, you might catch a case of S.O.S. (shiny object syndrome)
Earlier this week, interest in a little web-service called Jaiku spiked out of the blue, when the service was swallowed up by Google. Within minutes, the prognosticators were jumping in with predictions about what this will mean for Jaiku, Google, Twitter, blogs, and life as we will know it next year. There’s so much interest in Jaiku that the current owners have shut down new registrations in order to upgrade the back-end.
What is Jaiku exactly, and why should I care? What is in a name?
Web 2.0 confuses.
How will I use this?
Jaiku is another one of those “difficult to define web applications.” It was started in Finland and has achieved greater success in Europe. (Disclosure alert: Brian Solis does PR for Jaiku, but Ike didn’t consult him for this piece, and has never actually spoken to Brian.) Somewhat like Twitter and Pownce, Jaiku is designed to let you build a community of your friends and rapidly share messages with them. Like Pownce, Jaiku allows for commenting on these short updates. Like Twitter, Jaiku allows the information to flow out of the web and into Instant Message and SMS (text messaging.) It allows you to update your circle of followers and receive updates in the time and place of your choosing.
One of the barriers to Jaiku’s success in North America has been the unwillingness of U.S.-based cellphone carriers to allow text messages from overseas. My sneaking suspicion is that will be the very first thing Google addresses. Pronto. But expect Jaiku to get a lot of attention, particularly as Google starts integrating it with GMail, GTalk, GApps, Orkut, and everything else in the Googleverse. Google recognizes the advantages of keeping data nimble and cross-functional.
How will I use Jaiku? A thing’s just a thing.
Value and utility
Defined by users
This class of services has been alternately referred to as”micro-blogging” or “lifestreams.” Neither of those terms really satisfy me, because they are still telling me more about what I ought to do with it than what I can do with it. There are some very frivolous messages posting across all those networks. But you don’t have to tune in to anything you don’t want to. There are people using them as proxy-RSS feeds - for syndicating news headlines - for simply staying in touch. Because the freedom of input options seems to be as wide as the freedom of consumption options, the network maps of these services are constantly in flux, and are totally variable to the users’ wishes.
For services like these, we really need a better name that describes as class of “solutions in search of a problem.” The word “mashup” clearly defines applications that provide greater value by showing the same data along multiple perspectives. What we’re talking about with Jaiku/Twitter are systems that show the same data along multiple media, both input and output. I previously likened Twitter to the Rosetta Stone. The analogy fits here, but is a little restrictive. In this case, I like “Context/Location Independent Communications Connection.” A CLICC. Pronounced just like “clique” - and very descriptive of a networked group who have voluntarily opted-in.
Bottom Line Joining a network
Without purpose is silly?
Learning means doing.
Should you just rush out and join Jaiku, or Twitter for that matter? Not if you are expecting some type of instant results. The benefit of getting wet with these networks comes as you determine your own level of value. Maybe the functional aspects of a CLICC still aren’t relevant to you. Maybe it just becomes a big time drain. But it’s also quite likely that the more forms of Social Networking you become familiar with will better inform your judgments about the ones that are more germane to your bottom line. Those who have dabbled in bulletin boards and forums and blogs all have a better seat-of-the-pants feel for how those interfaces affect the size and mood of a community. The broader your baseline, the more tactical you can be in plotting your next step.
The sun is shining, the breeze is brisk, and it’s a good day to be outdoors.
Say what you will about the mobile revolution — and come down anywhere you like about the state of the mobile web in the United States. (Yes, we’re behind. Nations with less invested in fixed wiring leapfrogged, and rightly so.) The real benefit of Mobile Computing with regards to Social Networking is not the shifting of space, but of time.
I write this not from my PC, but from a Blackberry on a mobile browser. It’s a beautiful fall day, and I’m able to bang out a sentence or two in between watching the kids on the playground. I can share my thoughts closer to the time I actually have them. Who knows how many really great ideas evaporated before they were adequately transcribed?
The Mobile Web gives users the freedom to be inspired where the inspirations should emerge - closer to where we live and recreate, instead of where we toil and work.
Raw thoughts can be just that — raw. But I can take it. I’m in a good mood. And I think I’ll move over there to the shade…
I’ve heard a lot about this ‘Web 2.0′ stuff, and it has me worried. I just figured out how to do my e-mail and the internet, and I’m really not in a position to pay for an upgrade. What is ‘Web 2.0,’ and how much more will it cost me?
Agnes D., Las Cruces, NM
Dear Agnes -
Fear not! ‘Web 2.0′ is not a commodity to be purchased by end-users such as yourself. It’s a series of technologies and structures that companies pay for! You just get to enjoy it!
Dear Ike -
I work in the PR department of a Fortune 1214 company (can’t tell you which one, for reasons of confidentiality), and am the liaison to the corporate IT department. I read your letter to Agnes from New Mexico, and I’m worried that we’ll get stuck with needing to implement these newfangled Web 2.0 interfaces. Yet IT has the budget authority. Help!
Steven J., NYC
Dear Steven,
You’re in luck. You might be confusing ‘Web 2.0′ with ‘PR 2.0′. Web-2 refers to websites that are more interactive and responsive to the end user. They employ a lot of nifty programming tricks that do cool things like auto-fill fields with suggestions, push information before you request it, and allow for greater freedom for user customization. PR-2 is a fancy way for describing what I call the Consolidation of Channels.
In the past, companies would communicate with the public using one medium, and the clients/customers/serfs would communicate back through another. Examples:
1567 - King sends town criers to announce a new tax | Peasants respond with torches and pitchforks
1977 - Candidate sponsors a rally | Voter sends a letter of support.
1987 - Company places an ad on television | Angry customer faxes letter.
1997 - Company sends mailer to home address | Customer e-mails displeasure.
2007 - Ad placed on website | Fan creates mashup of ad, links back to original.
As you can see, communication between companies and people has always been two-way - but not always in the same channel. Now we’ve got the tools to talk to our customers in a more friendly, less intrusive format. And they have the ability to inexpensively talk back to us within that same instrument.
The good news for you is you don’t have to have Web 2.0 to employ PR 2.0, and you don’t need IT’s blessing. The bad news is you need buy-in from the guys in the C-Suite.
Ike - thanks for nothing. How in the heck am I supposed to get buy-in from the suits?
Fake Steven J. - NYC
Fascinating question, Fake Steve. I’ll take that up in next week’s column.
At a TIE-DC event this week, I watched a Microsoft employee compare it’s mobile platform to Apple’s. Pretty crazy, huh? But it just goes to show you how important mobile is becoming to the Internet and social media.
As a former wireless reporter and someone who has published an analyst report on the diffusion of wireless Internet technologies, I cannot tell you how thrilling this is. The dream of broadband mobile environment is within our finger tips. I know what an explosive catalyst this technology will be for our world.
Recently on Facebook, I asked some of my friends which technologies they thought would impact us most. Many thought mobile broadband was key.
Chris Abraham: My business partner, Mark Harrison, mocks me from Berlin, where HSDPA/UMTS technology is ubiquitous. At 6-15 mbps, these modems and devices change everything. Look to Japan for ideas for potential. Micropayments, etc…
Jane Quigley: I think the wider adoption of microformats and mobile broadband connectivity is key to the next step of social platforms.
Chris Parandian: web 3.0 is the mobile internet and it has huge potential. more spectrum for service providers and devices that allow consumers to connect via 3G, Wi-Fi or Wi-Max is a recipe for success…
Others saw variants or different technologies as leading disruptors…
Jonathan Trenn: I agree with the broadband part, but I’d say it is broadband overall. Not just mobile. We’re not there yet.
Doug Haslam: Multimedia collaboration, offline editing capabilities. ok that’s 2.
Chris Edwards:A technology that has yet to be invented, frankly. That’s not a cop out. I think that the growth curve right now is pretty steady in a normal pattern. The game will change when something even more accessible comes along to encourage greater participation.
However the crystal ball bounces, it sure is an exciting time. What do you think?
One of the barriers to Jaiku’s success in North America has been the unwillingness of U.S.-based cellphone carriers to allow text messages from overseas. My sneaking suspicion is that will be the very first thing Google addresses. Pronto. But expect Jaiku to get a lot of attention, particularly as Google starts integrating it with GMail, GTalk, GApps, Orkut, and everything else in the Googleverse. Google recognizes the advantages of keeping data nimble and cross-functional.
