Mobile advertising proved that it was still nascent at today's Under the Radar - Mobility conference in Mountain View. Four companies presented, and expert panelists Erik de Kroon of Vodafone, Daniel Rosen of AKQA Mobile, and Eric Ver Ploeg of VantagePoint threw pointy darts at the presenters as noted. My quick take? Keep an eye on Zoove and Transpera as potential game-changers in the mobile advertising market. (Disclosure note: Transpera is a First Round Capital investee.) Here's a quick sketch of the presenters and their game plans.
Hovr
What: Ad-enabled games for mobile handsets, driven by a targeting platform.
Growth plan:
Free games with engaging social features will cultivate a large user
base; ad inventory generated as users play games. Targeting platform
wil enable Hovr to monetize them.
How they're doing: 3+
million downloads in 7 months, and over 300,000 registered users.
25-30% of registrants are playing regularly. Current advertisers range
from Best Buy to the US military. Raised $550K from angels.
Pointy darts:
Mobile gaming is a competitive landscape, and Hovr is unlikely to get
any exclusives or lock in users. Need to see evidence that social
features are driving engagement, especially since most games do not
have a social currency baked in (a la World of Warcraft).
My take:
President Vipul Sawhney cheerfully answered the panelist's questions,
but didn't have the desired metrics yet. That being said, the company
is clearly focused, he's delivering content with an average cost of $5
for free, and his audience is scaling - all of which are worth a look.
Transpera
What: Helps online video publishers create mobile video channels
in order to get more revenue streams and add new users. Dynamic ad
serving based on targeting against a specific video. Has their own ad
network.
Growth plan: Mobile video delivery platform gets content from
web to mobile; then community interaction and personalization features
will deepen the user's engagement. Selling primarily to publishers, but
will also work with carriers to enable their own platforms. Making
money either via contextual ads or carrier-based subscription.
How they're doing: Working on a deployment with a large carrier.
No metrics reported yet, but planned inventory is pre-sold. Raised $3M
from First Round Capital, IDG Ventures, and Intel Capital.
Pointy darts: Not clear who they sell to, and why YouTube, ESPN,
et al would adopt here instead of building their own system. Not on
agency radars yet, since the mobile video market is still young and
consumers aren't consuming mobile content much yet. (CEO Frank Barbieri
thinks it will take 12-18 months.)
Gut check: Getting established early in the market is just fine,
so long as you're aware that you are early and will need to dig in for
the duration. As an FRC staffer, I'm looking forward to Transpera
following the excellent example set by their cohort fellow Videoegg.
XOsphere
What: Mobile platform that pushes content ranging from SMS to rich media out to mobile handsets.
Growth plan: Focus on vertical categories in order to get
established, then insert their platform into transactions such as photo
sharing, location-based services, and mobile commerce. Believes that
they are differentiated from competition since they are both platform-
and content-agnostic -- their goal is to support as many handsets as
possible.
How they're doing: Just starting to develop relationships with
agencies, and signed up Cirque du Soleil and DIC Entertainment as early
customers. Launching a social networking application called Mommy &
Me in two weeks, cobranded by DIC and Wal-Mart.
Pointy darts: Montage of mobile buzzwords here, but what's the
real value? If they're a broad-based, one-stop shop with no real
expertise in any one type of campaign or platform, are marketers better
off by going elsewhere?
Gut check: The company has real initial customers signed up,
which is impressive, but I agree that they will need to develop a more
focused value proposition in order to keep them.
Zoove
What: Mobile marketing technology platform that solves SMS short
code complexity. You don't need to text phrases to SMS numbers, you
only dial a number in order receive a WAP push for the mobile web page.
Single provisioning for an entire name space, so carriers like it.
Growth plan: Selling mobile domain names, similar to a web URL,
and then providing a resolution service that one can describe as
'mobile DNS services'. Later, they'll add user targeting, device
recognition, and ad serving. Users without data plans (and most users
do not have one) will be able to click through the WAP push message in
order to access a white-listed IP address.
How they're doing: Already live with China Mobile and in active
discussions with US carriers. Patents being filed for the mobile DNS
service. Raised $6.5M from Worldview Technology Partners and Cardinal
Venture Capital.
Pointy darts: Concern about appeal for US carriers beside
Sprint, but CEO is actively discussing cross-carrier implementations.
Also, it may be tough to displace SMS messaging as a paradigm for
information - will agencies find this to be a sexy solution?
Gut check: The management team looks top-notch and it's a big
idea that will need solid execution. As a bonus, much of their solution
looks tough to replicate. Love it.
