TV Guide exec speaks to mobile monetization strategy

By Giselle Tsirulnik

April 20, 2011

TV Guide is ahead of the mobile publishing game

With many publishers only now beginning to move their content to mobile, monetizing on the medium is challenging, according to TV Guide Digital, which was dabbling in the space even before the iPhone was launched.
TV Guide now has nearly 3 million application downloads across Android, iPhone and iPad. The iPhone accounts for nearly 2 million downloads, while Android comprises about 700,000 and iPad downloads are around 300,000.
“We took our time to get the app right – we have loyal customers with high expectations and made sure the app met those customer needs prior to launch,” said Christy Tanner, general manager of TV Guide Digital, New York. “We achieved 3 million downloads with minimal advertising investment by leveraging our existing properties to promote the app.”
Selling mobile ads
By August 2010, TV Guide realized that it could begin to monetize its mobile offerings, as it now had a mobile Web site and mobile apps for several of the major platforms.
The company uses AdMob’s AdWhirl to mediate between ads that come from the sales teams and ads from the AdMob network to ensure that all ad requests are filled.
The reason that TV Guide went with AdMob is selling ads on mobile is still relatively new for its sales team. It relies on the AdMob mobile ad network when it has unsold inventory.
“If mobile can help you better engage with your customers, then don’t wait,” Ms. Tanner said. “Get your feet wet so when you want to go big in mobile you will be better prepared.
“With ad networks, such as AdMob, you can monetize almost instantly, so why not do it?” she said. 
Figuring out mobile users
Mobile users expect a seamless experience that includes frequent updates.
TV Guide’s development cycle for mobile mirrors its online business. The company constantly provides new features and content to keep users engaged.
Both users and advertisers expect to see the same features in-app that are available of the PC desktop site, regardless of the smaller screen.
“The feedback loop for a mobile app is much better than on the Web,” Ms. Tanner said. “By monitoring ratings and reviews we were able to promptly identify the features that customers expected in the app.
“This instant feedback is a powerful tool that anyone developing on mobile should use to their advantage,” she said.
Minimal advertising spend
TV Guide claims that it was able to reach 3 million installations with minimal advertising spend.
Instead of using mobile ads to drive users to download, the company leveraged its existing media channels to reach its audience and let them know about the app.

TV Guide pushed its apps on its mobile Web site
This proved to be a successful yet economical way to build a strong mobile user base and allowed the company to focus resources on improving the existing app and building for new mobile platforms such as Android and iPad.
“We knew that mobile was an exciting new distribution channel to explore, and the growth of our apps has far exceeded our expectations,” Ms. Tanner said. “The growth of our mobile properties is encouraging as we explore additional opportunities to create new products that are at the forefront of innovation in our industry.”
The brand’s cross-platform approach to mobile lets consumers access TV Guide content on various devices. Ms. Tanner claims that by doing so, TV Guide is creating a stronger relationship with its existing online users.
And, TV Guide has actually acquired new customers via mobile.
Building a mobile business
TV Guide’s daily content updates are what keep customers coming back to the app.
Continuously updating content is imperative for any publisher to retain customers on mobile.
For TV Guide, an ad-supported model made sense.
“Mobile is already a big part of our business, but the challenge is figuring out how to support both online and mobile content,” Ms. Tanner said. “Ad networks, like AdMob, make it easy for us to explore mobile and monetize it now, but we hope to see more parity in monetization between online and mobile in the future.”
Final Take
TV Guide's Ms. Tanner speaks to the company's mobile content monetization strategy

Tips for putting foursquare and other LBS to marketing use

By Rimma Kats

April 5, 2011

A lot of brands are using foursquare

Consumers’ unprecedented need to always be connected and in constant communication with their peers has led to an explosion in location-based services that take advantage of social functionality. Here are some tips on navigating the LBS landscape and targeting consumers on a hyper-local level. 

According to industry experts, the opportunity is now. Devices provide marketers with location opportunities that let them not only reach consumers wherever they are, but also offer them incentives to further engage them with the brand.

“I think that the market opportunity for companies to use location-based services as a marketing tool cannot be ignored,” said Dan Gilmartin, vice president of marketing at Where, Boston. “Given the reach and the ability to target a user based on location allows marketers to deliver a message in a way that they haven't in the past. 

“Any business that wants to connect with a local audience can benefit from location-based services,” he said. “I think that most people consider restaurants as the target business for location based services.”

Location, location, location
A recent survey by JiWire states that more than 50 percent of mobile users would like to receive location-specific advertising. Another 39 percent would like to receive location-based coupons.

According to Mr. Gilmartin, companies should use the same tactics that they employ in their other marketing, but tailor these offers to consumers based on location.

Incentives can be great to convert potential new customers, but may be a means of margin erosion for existing customers. 

Additionally, loyalty programs that reward repeat business offer distinct incentives for existing customers. 

“Companies must consider this in their marketing strategies,” Mr. Gilmartin said. “Based on the growth rates we have seen – both on the app side and our ad network side – we see great opportunities in this space. 

“What we are really excited about is the impact that commerce will have on this category,” he said.

“Today, we seek to connect consumers and merchants while tomorrow we will connect them via commerce – a huge and exciting opportunity for all involved.”

Targeting youth
Location-based services are also a great way to tap into a younger audience. Users in the younger demographic are early adopters of location-based applications and services.

“Given their level of engagement, companies that are targeting those demos will find a large addressable audience,” Mr. Gilmartin said. “Marketers seeking to engage this audience must ensure that they are focusing efforts on compelling applications and user experiences.” 

Brands are using different types of location-based services such as foursquare, Where, Facebook Places, Placecast and Gowalla to get the word out about new products or to reward loyal consumers.

Crumbs Bakery drives store traffic to its locations every Friday by offering consumers who check-in free iced coffee. Those that hold the Mayor title get a free cupcake.

Similarly, Saks Fifth Ave and InStyle offer several foursquare promotions throughout the year where customers can check-in to certain departments to get a prize such as lip gloss or gloves.

Companies such as Sonic and American Eagle Outfitters and even musicians such as The Black Eyed Peas are hopping on the location-based services bandwagon.

The Black Eyed Peas recently partnered with mobile rewards company Scvngr to reward its fans via mobile challenges.

Additionally, Sonic and American Eagle Outfitters partnered with Placecast to use its ShopAlerts, which deliver location-triggered mobile messages when shoppers enter geo-fences.

Using the service, consumers can choose the brands they are interested in and can opt-in through a variety of ways such as in-store, via SMS or the mobile Web.

“Location, coupled with time of day, are hugely predictive of interest and intent for consumers who are considering the purchase of any real-world product or service – and the mobile phone is becoming the tool consumers turn to for help navigating the physical world,” said Alistair Goodman, CEO of Placecast, San Francisco, CA.

“We have seen in our own research from running different kinds of location-based marketing programs over the past 5 years,” he said. “For impulse purchases like food and clothing, there is a particularly strong opportunity to point a consumer to a nearby deal and see them take action – we’ve seen this with Starbucks.

“Interestingly, for longer purchase consideration cycle products, tying messaging to a location can serve as a strong reminder from the brand in the buying process – The North Face is a good example of experiential and branding messaging around events like the X-Games.”

Young at heart
Mr. Goodman also agrees with Where’s Mr. Gilmartin that location-based services help tap into a younger audience.

“There is no doubt that social services with gaming features – like Foursquare and Gowalla – attract a younger audience, by definition, these services are being used by a younger audience,” Mr. Goodman said. “However, the actual use of these services is still relatively small from a brand perspective – both Forrester and the Pew Center found that only 4-5 percent of Americans have ever tried these apps.

“By contrast, many research studies indicate strong interest in getting location-based offers from brands when a product or service is available nearby,” he said. “The difference lies in the mode of interaction – time-starved parents, for example, know the brands they like and just want to get a convenient offer nearby automatically, not necessarily engage in a game.

“The good news for brands is that there are now opportunities to engage with all ages and demographics using location-based services, and to be able to do it at scale.”

With the rise of location-based applications such as Groupon and LivingSocial, consumers are increasingly being trained to look for deals and incentives. It is important that brands clearly tie their message to a real-world location and provide value for the user.

“We watch a number of metrics closely across all our brand programs, including purchase behavior and opt-out,” Mr. Goodman said. “We have seen very strong response rates when an incentive is included – and when the consumer believes they are getting something of value.

“When a brand changes their messaging or incentives we usually see a corresponding shift in behavior,” he said. “With a great incentive for a specific deal, we’ve seen purchase behavior as high as 65 percent.

“When an incentive is eliminated, we’ve seen opt-out rates spike beyond our normal range of just 1-12 percent.”

According to Mr. Goodman, while 2010 was the year of experimentation with apps, 2011 is the year where brands are able to use location-based marketing at scale.

“With scale, we can expect to see more interest in opt-in programs from both consumers and brands – both recognize the need for control and value,” Mr. Goodman said. “I also expect that the patent space will heat up.

“Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Nokia and others are all realizing the value of the IP they have developed – and we can expect to see even more activity in this arena this year,” he said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York

Staff Reporter Rimma Kats covers media, television, research and social networks. Reach her at rimma@mobilemarketer.com.

Social Media News

Now You Can Check In to Events on Facebook's iPhone App

As promised, Facebook has released a new version of its iPhone application that gives users the ability to check in to events. Version 3.4, released Monday, also now includes a map view for Places and the ability to unfriend Facebook friends in-app.

The new features, along with subtle news feed improvements and a user interface refresh for notifications, have been worked into the existing Facebook iPhone experience. Only the “Unfriend” button, a new, extended option when viewing a friend’s profile in the app, is explicitly called out with a noticeable red button.

The new event check-in functionality is housed within the events portion of the app. The app user can check in to nearby, upcoming events and tag their friends should they so choose.

Likewise, the map view for Places has been added to the Places section. Here users can toggle between “Activity” and “Map” options to view checkins in the standard list view or switch to see them on a map.

The updates make for a slightly enhanced overall application experience that pushes the user to check in to Facebook events and gives them the ability to unfriend their no-longer-wanted social network buddies.

Mobile continues to be an important priority for the company. Facebook revealed last week that 250 million people are actively using Facebook via mobile devices on a monthly basis. It released a new mobile website for all phones to better accommodate those users. Event checkins, for now, are isolated to the iPhone app.

Foursquare Makes It Easier to Discover Brands

Foursquare has launched a new web page to showcase top brands on its network in an effort to make it easier for users to find and follow them.

You may not know it, but there are hundreds of brands using Foursquare (1,323 brands to be exact), but most people don’t follow them, mostly because they aren’t easy to discover. Foursquare is trying to address that issue with Pages Gallery.

Pages Gallery, as the name suggests, is a gallery filled with the

Foursquare has launched a new web page to showcase top brands on its network in an effort to make it easier for users to find and follow them.

You may not know it, but there are hundreds of brands using Foursquare (1,323 brands to be exact), but most people don’t follow them, mostly because they aren’t easy to discover. Foursquare is trying to address that issue with Pages Gallery.

Pages Gallery, as the name suggests, is a gallery filled with the different company Pages on Foursquare. Through it, you can follow everyone from MTV to Zagat (or even Mashable) to get tips and other content.

The feature also includes a simple tool for searching through pages and browsing by popularity, whether they’re trending or whether they’re new. Pages Gallery also suggests pages that are popular with your friends.

Lots of brands are hopping onto Foursquare in a big way, but the additional exposure should help boost brands’ follower counts, which could be vital to Foursquare as it tries to monetize its millions of users. While it still desperately needs a way to discover brands within its mobile applications, Pages Gallery is a good start.

Regional restaurant chain la Madeleine claims mobile app boosted takeout business

By Dan Butcher

Exit41 powers la Madeleine's mobile ordering

Texas-based restaurant chain la Madeleine claims that its overall takeout business has increased 6 percent, driven by opening up new customer touch points for placing orders across online, social media, a call center and mobile.

Partnering with Exit41 for online and mobile ordering, la Madeleine’s iPhone app went live in Apple’s iTunes App Store in October. To date, the average check for food ordered via mobile is right around the same as online – about $24, which is a significant increase from the in-store average check, and also higher than the average order via the call center.

“We have not yet made any grand promotions of the iPhone app, but we still have more than 1,000 downloads of the app in the App Store,” said Richard Hodges, senior director of technology at la Madeleine, Dallas. “One part of the strategy we call off-premise ordering, including online ordering, our call center and mobile ordering, and eventually social media.

“We have a catering and delivery business at some locations, and we’re looking at how a call center and mobile could augment our sales,” he said. “Our marketing team’s biggest push will be in the restaurant, with door signs, stand-alone point-of-purchase signage and a broadcast via our eclubs—each restaurant has one.

“When we describe la Madeleine’s target demographic, we call her Amanda, and she is much more likely to make her smartphone choice an iPhone.”

La Madeleine is a French countryside-flavored restaurant offering items such as Caesar salads, tomato basil soup, sandwiches, fresh bread and pastries. It has restaurants in seven markets, including Texas, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, with a total of 61 stores nationwide.

Local restaurants going mobile
Mr. Hodges said that Amanda’s average household income ranges from $75,000 to $150,000 per year.

Amanda is 25-55, female, affluent, discriminating, does probably have a smartphone, is social-media-connected, is familiar with the online experience and expects great customer service.

“Our off-premise ordering strategy lines up very well with this target demographic, who is online, using their smartphones and active in social-media connection points,” Mr. Hodges said. “All of this is designed to make Amanda’s life easier.

“For our iPhone app, it has to be easy to use and intuitive—it is pretty simple to read, with big font,” he said.

Mmmmm…mobile menu

Customers can pay via credit card online or within the app, or they can pay when they pickup the order.

In-app ordering

Exit41 provides an additional access point for Amanda to order from la Madeleine in an easy and convenient way, per Mr. Hodges.

Amanda can use the app to get directions to the closest restaurant

With the implementation of online ordering, the call center and the iPhone app, all off-premise ordering channels have increased revenues, per la Madeleine.

For example, at one of la Madeleine’s Houston locations, online made up 8 percent of total orders. However, now that the app has launched, online and mobile comprise 20 percent of all orders.

“We have absolutely seen a big increase in orders since we have introduced these products,” Mr. Hodges said. “If you can get them on the phone, their check average is much larger, and the online and mobile ordering is even higher than the call center.

“The iPhone is still a very small portion of our overall sales, as we still haven’t promoted it very much,” he said. “But we expect mobile ordering to grow going forward.”

Dan Butcher is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily and Mobile Marketer. Reach him at dan@mobilemarketer.com.

Regional restaurant chain la Madeleine claims mobile app boosted takeout business - Mobile Marketer - Applications

What are the hottest trends in mobile right now?

By Dan Butcher

Where Ads aims to increase the relevancy of local merchants' mobile ads

The hot-button issues in mobile generating the most buzz at the moment include location-based services and marketing, the rise of mobile commerce and payments, as well as applications for smartphones and tablets.

Tablets, of course, are the device of the moment, with consumer adoption booming and plenty of iPad 2 competitors reaching the market—from Android-based tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom to Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook and Hewlett-Packard’s TouchPad. Brands and retailers are placing an increasing emphasis on applications for various smartphone and tablet platforms, but the trick is encouraging repeat usage and fitting apps into a marketer’s overall strategy.

“From all directions—app development platforms, apps themselves, marketers and thought leaders—[at CTIA Wireless 2011 in Orlando] I was hearing about the need for brands to think about usage and engagement measurement and metrics for app strategies,” said Melissa Parrish, New York-based analyst at Forrester Research.

“I agree that thinking needs to move beyond the application download numbers to see how and how often users are using those applications post-download,” she said.

“This is particularly important for marketers to understand how their branded application is really changing and deepening their relationship with their mobile consumer.”

Melissa Parrish is analyst of interactive marketing at Forrester Research

Based on the buzz at International CTIA Wireless in Orlando, FL, 2011 is the year of mobile commerce, location-based advertising and apps for all types of devices.

App craze
Apps have been hot for some time now, but their importance has been amplified tremendously with the launch of the iPad and competing tablet devices.

With tablets, a whole new array of applications have been launched in an effort to gain loyalty, sell goods and for branding.

The Amazon Appstore for Android enters the mobile content distribution arena

It is imperative for brands and retailers to market their applications to drive downloads. However, getting onto consumers’ handsets—while definitely invaluable—is not the be-all-and-end-all.

Tracking how often consumers are using a particular application, and what actions they are taking once they do open an app, can provide key insight to help the marketer optimize the experience.

Monetization tactics for applications range from free/ad-supported and in-application transactions for virtual goods to pay-per-download, freemium and subscriptions.

In addition, Ms. Parrish said that mobile technologists who are looking for marketers’ dollars are getting much more adept at addressing marketers’ needs.

“Conversations are focusing on the question of business goals, brand presences, measurement and scale—where previously those conversations focused on technical themes, tactics and differentiators that may have been sexy but didn’t help marketers understand how to best reach the mobile consumer,” Ms. Parrish said.

Location, location, location
In 2011, many retailers are shifting their focus to delivering relevant, location-based offers to consumers on their mobile devices to drive them in-store.

Location-based services promise big returns through linking a user’s physical location with key consumer demographics.

Delivering highly relevant deals and incentives are key to getting consumers in-store.

Consumers want to see deals and they want to see local retailers and restaurants offering them an incentive to come to their locations.

“At CTIA, we felt some palpable buzz around T-Mobile and AT&T, and the whole mobile commerce and payments category seemed to be big,” said Dan Gilmartin, vice president of marketing at Where Inc., Boston. “The thing that I loved is to hear more people talk about location-based advertising.

“We’ve been in the game for a while, and the market is really starting to catch up,” he said. “We just landed a quarter-million ad buy yesterday.

“It is a different way to think about location—it is ‘What is going on in this area that I can influence through advertising and drive an action?’  in a very contextual way,” he said. “We have a saying, ‘Relevance equals location plus context.’”

Mobile commerce and payments
Brands and retailers want to transact and sell products through the mobile channel.

A CTIA panel that included executives from JPMorgan Chase and Visa Inc. outlined various evolving mobile payments mechanisms that are having an impact, from SMS, the mobile Web and applications to carrier billing and near field communication.

A PayPal executive said that mobile payments are growing exponentially and provided his own company’s figures as proof during the keynote at International CTIA Wireless 2011′s Money Over Mobile pre-conference program.

PayPal’s mobile payment transaction volume has grown from $24 million in 2008 to $140 million in 2009 to $750 million last year. It is projected to top $2 billion this year and is expected to reach $7.5 billion in 2013.

Many merchants still have reservations about NFC and mobile payments that must be addressed to convince them to make the necessary upgrades to their point-of-sale systems, according to a  panel at CTIA Wireless 2011.

While the panelists all agreed that mobile payments are gaining momentum, panelists had differing views about what is necessary to take the ecosystem to the next level.

The fees must make sense for merchants to really make mobile payments a priority. In the case of contactless mobile payments, it may require retailers to upgrade their point-of-sale system with NFC/RFID technology.

As NFC continues to gain momentum, merchants and marketers should realize that it enables more than just contactless payments—it can be used to inspire consumer loyalty, according to a panel at CTIA Wireless 2011.

NFC is fundamentally changing the way we view payments, and that the various ecosystem players must find common ground from a technological standpoint, but more importantly, from a business perspective.

While there are key infrastructure pieces that still need to align, tremendous progress has been made, especially with more handset manufacturers embracing this technology, including Nokia and Samsung with the Google Nexus S.

Mobile content distribution
Another highly contentious area is mobile content distribution, where Amazon is making a big play.

“CTIA yielded little in the way of revolution,” said Josh Martin, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, Newton, MA. “Instead, I thought the Amazon app store launch was the most significant event, even though it was not at CTIA.

“Amazon is really looking to redefine what we have come to expect from an app store and they will become a major player,” he said. “We are forecasting they will reach at least 30 percent of Android U.S. downloads by the end of the year, skewing higher on paid and lower on free.”

Final Take
Ovum's Eden Zoller .”

Final Take
Ovum's Eden Zoller

Associate Editor Dan Butcher covers content, carrier networks, manufacturers, and software and technology. Reach him at dan@mobilemarketer.com.