mobilestance.com

November 17th will mark Wikimobipedia.org’s six month anniversary, so I thought it’d be good to shoot you all an update on some of the progress we’ve made and some recent changes to the site.

95 Participating Companies and Counting!   As of now there are 95 companies and organizations that have taken the time to build out pages on wikimobipedia.org – including developers, ad networks, publishers, industry organizations and agencies (see complete list at the bottom of this post).  Very exciting! 

Let’s keep the momentum going!  Please link / deep link to Wikimobipedia.org pages to help with our discoverability and page rank with the major search engines – and tell a friend!

Site Changes.  While the core site elements have remained relatively unchanged since launch, we have continually refined the UI for maximum usability.  The only major change is that – due to a few tenacious spambots – we’re now requiring users register prior to creating or editing pages.  A small change that has greatly reduced automated spam issues.

Social Media.  As of today there are 227 fans of the Wikimobipedia Facebook Page and 40 followers to our recently built Twitter Feed.  If you haven’t already, please fan up and/or follow us to help spread the word.

Top Twenty Most Popular Wikimobipedia.org Pages:  Cudos to Mojiva for linking to their page from their website – this no doubt has contributed to organic discovery of their page in leading search engines – other participants, take note!

Complete List of Wikimobipedia Pages (note – some pages are more complete than others!):

Open Source Meets Mobile Marketing

I wanted to let you all in on a little side project that I’ve been working on, and was hoping you’d embrace it for the good of our industry.

The site is called wikimobipedia.org, and it’s basically a public wiki where mobile marketing buyers can easily collect the info they need (case studies, contact info, audience comps, etc) to begin their planning process.With our space moving so fast I felt the industry would benefit from a place that “keeps up with mobile (so you don’t have to)”, and so far things have been going pretty well.

So far I’ve got most of the major mobile players involved – over 50 companies – in less than a month (see list below for Beta launch partners).I’ve begun to spread the word, but I need all of your help to give the project some legs – as wiki’s only thrive after achieving scale.  Anything you can do – add a link to your blog roll, write a feature / re-post this on your blog, start deep linking to company pages when referencing companies in the wiki – anything will be of help…I think the mobile industry as a whole would really benefit.

List of Wikimobipedia [dot] org Beta Partners (as of 6.23.09): 2ergo, 4info, 5Th Finger, Access Mobile, AccuWeather, AdMob, Addictive Mobility, Amethon Solutions, Augme, ChaCha, Cielo Mobile, CNN, ComScore, Crisp Wireless, FOX Business Mobile, FOX News Mobile, Greystripe, Hands-On Mobile, Inc., HipCricket, IVdopia, InsightExpress, Ipsh, Jumptap, Millennial Media, MoVoxx, Mobile Marketing Association, Mobile Posse, Mojiva, Movoxx, Myxer, Nokia Interactive Advertising, , Nokia Point & Find, NPR, Phluant Mobile, PointRoll, Quattro Wireless, Ringleader Digital, Scanbuy, ShopText, SinglePoint, The Weather Channel Mobile, Thumbplay, Transpera, Useful Networks, Vibes Media, Washington Post Digital, Waterfall Mobile and WeatherBug.

Verizon, FOX Take on Additional Sales Partners as US Mobile Ad Inventory Glut Continues.

Millennial Media recently announced an agreement with Verizon Wireless which allows the ad network to begin selling a portion of the carrier’s on deck mobile ad inventory. Prior to this move, AOL’s Third Screen Media was the only third party repping Verizon Wireless inventory. It is believed that Third Screen will continue to sell a portion of Verizon’s on deck ad inventory as well as act as the carrier’s primary ad server.

In a similar move, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based mobile ad network (and white-label search provider) JumpTap announced that had signed deals to sell the mobile ad inventory of both NBC Universal and FOX’s Mobile Entertainment Network (which includes Jamba, as well as mobile extensions of FOX programs such as Family Guy and 24). Millennial Media currently is FOX’s exclusive third party sales partner for all FIM mobile sites, such as mySpace mobile, FOX Sports and rottentomatoes.com.

All these moves would be enough to drive media planners crazy, if only they were paying attention – and therein lies the heart of problem. With well more than half of mobile ad inventory going unsold over any given period, its no wonder publishers are feeling a little antsy about the ability of their sales partners to close the deal. And why aren’t buyers buying? That’s really the question, and we’ve a hunch the publishers wont find relief simply be adding additional sales partners.

For our friends on the supply side of the mobile advertising market, we offer the following advice:

1. First, you must accept that you are selling a niche media product – a situation that probably will continue for the next three years at a minimum. This means stop with the “reach story.” Stop telling buyers that “over 250 million US consumers own mobile phones” and start with a more sophisticated segmentation strategy that tells buyers that you can efficiently deliver a specific audience against their specific needs. You’ve already got a solid out-of-home story, but why not do what the niche cable nets and magazines do – start by investing in some real research that shows how your audience indexes against specific product categories (MRI would be a good start).
2. Second, try really experimenting with pricing models other than CPM. Sure, AdMob and a few others have brought text-based CPC inventory to market, but what about getting bold and offering up display-based CPC inventory as well? This will do much to alleviate the inherent risk that buyers must accept in your untested and unproven form of media, and with most of your impressions going unsold month after month you have very little to lose. What’s more, if we’re to believe that mobile click-thrus are really averaging over 2%, then surely you wouldn’t mind putting your numbers on the line with a model that pays out based on campaign performance?
3. Finally, get togther with each other and figure out a way to track uniques across all publishers, ad networks and carriers. Without this, there is no way your media fits into an (even soft) reach/frequency model – the backbone of modern media planning. Saddle up and get it together. You can’t blame media buyers for this one…

Of course, blame cannot be lopped only on the supply side of the equation. Our friends on the buying side have their work cut out for them as well:

1. Stop complaining about the “unattractiveness” of existing mobile ad units. Sure, mobile banners are small – but that’s not the point. When viewed as a percentage of the screen they actually are quite reasonably-sized. Hold your phone up to your face (as one does when one browses the mobile web) and it will take on the prominence of a 65″ plasma. Unfortunately mobile is just too new a medium to start messing about with seriously interruptive forms of advertising. Waiting for Verizon to approve that full screen “roadblock” ad unit? Don’t hold your breath.
2. Take the time to understand what’s really out there. Shaken by rumors of $50 mobile CPMs? You might be surprised to learn that quality mobile display inventory can be had for under $5. Still not happy with mobile ad banners? Well, folks like Greystripe have full screen units for sale, and there are plenty of content integration options with the likes of Buzzd, UpSnap and Free-411. These guys are simply dying to meet you and tell you about what they’re got for sale, so do everyone a favor and put aside 30 minutes a week to meet with them. Get smart on the mobile publishing side and your clients may just reward you.
3. Finally, challenge the publishers and ad networks to craft real solutions to your clients business objectives. This means sharing (some) information on what you’re trying to accomplish on the media side in terms of strategy, reach and intended action. Too often media salespersons are simply left guessing as to what value their product can add a larger media plan. Is it any wonder they often fall short? I know from experience that these media sales people are a very creative, sharp and hardworking sort. Give them the information they need to succeed and they just might surprise you with a program that makes you both look like rock stars.

We don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we’re more than comfortable with the concept that the more things stay the same, the more mobile advertising will stagnate.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment and continue the conversation.