ahonen mobile communities2007

Copyright © Tomi T Ahonen 2007 www.tomiahonen.com 3G Strategy Consulting

Mobile CommunitiesEverything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to

ask.. ie Killer Content for the 7th Mass Media

Tomi T Ahonen, MBA

Author & Consultant

Mobile Monday

Amsterdam NetherlandsSept 24, 007

"The mobile phone is the only device that 30% of the world's population carry" says Tomi Ahonen The Financial Times 1 Sept 2005


8 C's of Cellphones..


Need 1 - 1979 - Communication

• Voice and SMS• Voicemail, e-mail (Blackberry)• The number keypad is relic from rotary dial

Telecoms (service) industry is worth $1.3 Trillion


Need 2 - 1998 - Consumption

• Emerged with ringing tones in Finland in 1998 and i-Mode in Japan in 1999

• Now we consume pictures, MP3 music, web content, TV clips, cartoons, horoscopes, jokes, information and on and on and on and on

• Consumption added high-resolutioncolor screens, multimedia players, web access

• Need higher speed (2.5G, 3G, 3.5G)• For "playback" relatively few

controls are needed


Need 3 - 2000 - Charging

• Next came digital money..• Smart Money / Philippines etc• NTT DoCoMo (Osaifu Keitai - mobile wallet) with

FeliCa - eg Tokyo commuters paying for subway train • 2D Barcodes in South Korea• Credit cards into mobile like Visa in South Korea• And SMS based payments like Smart Money in the

Philippines

Pearls: Real Mobile Servicescollected by Tomi T Ahonen


Need 4 - 2000 - Commercials (ads)

• Then came advertising.. • We get into commercials (advertisements, mobile

marketing)• Interactive advertising - opinions, feedback• Engagement marketing - participation, co-creation,

viral marketing!

Advertising industry is worth $450 Billion


Need 5 - 2001 - Creation

• Then emerged need for content creation, starting with J-Phone (Vodafone KK, Softbank) and its cameraphones and Sha-Mail in 2001

• Since then we've added video recording, sound recording (podcasts) and (mobile) blogging abilities to the phone

• Now we need tocontrol the the deviceto gain good creations


Need 6 - 2003 - Community

• Now for our industry is Community

• MySpace, Flickr, Second Life, YouTube, Mixi, Cyworld, Bebo, World of Warcraft, Friendster...

• and here at our conference: Nexgen..• Not only create and consume but also • Share• Rate• Recommend


Need 7 - 2005 - Cool (fashion)

• First with Benetton & NTT DoCoMo, now the phone is crossing over seriously to the fashion side, with ever more fashion awareness with the iPhone

LG joins with PradaMotorola joins with Dolce

& GabbanaAnd separately Nokia's

top- end Vertu jewelry-phone line is on the catwalks around

the world



Need 8 - 2006 - (Remote) Control

• Now the phone is starting to emerge as the remote control

• We already have isolated applications such as SMS controlled tea kettle (I kid you not) and mobile phone controlled air conditioning, saunabath heating, etc

• Also remote control of locks, security systems



Our Eight Needs served by phone

• Need 1 - Communicate• Need 2 - Consume• Need 3 - Charging (money)• Need 4 - Commercials (advertising)• Need 5 - Create• Need 6 - Community (social networking)• Need 7 - Cool (fashion)• Need 8 - (Remote) Control

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting January 2007Pearls: Real Mobile Servicescollected by Tomi T Ahonen


Customer of Mobile Communities?


• Discover "it all" - first generation that grew up with internet search: they always knew how to Google

• Participate - first generation with reality TV viewer voting. They will expect to participate

• Create - first generation where all had digital cameras (camphones) and video

• Share - first generation to grow up with Napster, KaZaa etc. They hack, mash

• Virtual - this generation had Tamagotchi, Now play in Habbo, 2nd Life, Warcraft,

• And texting - creates Gen-C

Source: book Digital Korea, Ahonen & O'Reilly 2007

Youth Today First Generation to...



• Yes they play multiplayer online games, create profiles in MySpace and spend hours in chat rooms

• But Gen-C (Community Generation) needs SMS

• They live by the support, the "life-line" to their friends, who are always available via SMS text messaging

• Being in school, in a meeting at work, even asleep - is no excuse to ignore a friend asking help via SMS

• Texting creates an almost telepathic immediate and permanent connection with closest friends

• Never before, has any generation had permanent connectivity to all peers


...But Gen-C is defined by SMS



• Police cars• Fire trucks• Ambulances• Fighter pilots• ..in fact all military• Airline pilots• ..and radar operators• The government (the hot line between Kremlin and

White House)

• Imagine how much less power they would have if there was no permanent contact

Permanent communication?


Youth and SMS


• Carphone Warehouse / YouGov survey of 1,258 teenagers (age 11-17) who have a mobile phone:

• 48% send texts while talking to someone• 11% of the youth have had their phone stolen• 59% say their parents gave them more freedom

when they received their phone; 53% are allowed to stay out later because they have a phone

• 35% communicate via phone with someone their parents would not want to know about; 37% avoid contacts by parents to their phone; 68% will not let parents snoop inside their phoneSource: Carphone Warehouse Mobile Life Youth Report Sept 2006

More on Youth by Carphone W



• Youth today and SMS..• It is totally common for a youth to be at a party, which

is not too loud to talk, be next to the best friend, fully able to talk, but to send a text message to the friend instead

• Why? Because it is a secret, shared thought• Messages sent un-obtrusively, often with phone out

of site in pocket, behind back; the friend feels the vibration of the message having arrived..

• "I think I'm in love, should I ask her out"

Near-Telepathic Connectivity



• Virgin Mobile study of SMS use in the UK found remarkably high use at the high end of SMS users

• 10% of UK phone users send 100 SMS per day!Source: TechnoClicks.com 22 Feb 2006

• In South Korea, the Korea Times reports that already one THIRD of the student population send 100 SMS text messages every day!

Source: The Korea Times, 9 Feb 2006

Aching Thumbs? 100 SMS per day



• Multimedia, multi-platform

• If they can IM it, they will• If they can chat inside a multiplayer game, they will

• When we offer some bizarred discount scheme, they will find it - and spread the word

• But the phone is the preferred media


Don't think its only mobile



7th Mass Media


• 1st mass media Print 1500: Buy-to-Own, Advertising, Subscr.– books, pamphlets, newspapers, music scores, magazines

• 2nd mass media recordings 1900: Sound– vinyl, tape, CD, DVD: music, software, videogames, movies

• 3rd mass media cinema 1910: Multimedia, Pay per View– silent, b/w sound, color, cinemascope: newsreels, movies

• 4th mass media radio 1920: Streaming, License– AM, FM, stereo, digital: news, music, sports, drama

• 5th mass media TV 1950: (no innovation!)– b/w, color, cable/satellite, digital: news, drama, soaps, reality

• 6th mass media internet 1995: interactive & search– narrowband, broadband: email, search, browsing, downloading

• 7th mass media mobile 2000: pers./always-on/carried/payment– 2G SMS, WAP, 2.5G, 3G: messaging, browsing

The 7 Mass Media

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting Thought Piece on 7th Mass Media Dec 2006


1st Mass Media: Print

• Printing from late 1400s• First Mass Media• Books, pamphlets, newspapers, music scores,

magazines• Buy-to-own; introduced advertising• Long form stories (books), short stories (pamphlets),

news, music



2nd Mass Media: Recordings

• Recordings from late 1900• First automated/electric media• clay, tape, vinyl, 8-track, cassette, cartridge, VHS,

diskette, CD, DVD• Music, speeches, comedy, computer programs,

videogames, movies, TV shows• Buy-to-own; almost no advertising• Slowly cannibalized music from print



Transition Lessons from 1 to 2

• From Print to Recordings• Created new industry: music performers (pop artists)

like Edith Piaff, Elvis, Beatles etc. Music recording industry itself a $30 B business, other recordings like computer programmes, videogaming, double that

• Altered music industry with 3 min pop song (single)• Cannibalized some print totally - ie music printing

(music scores) • Grew even though users had to buy expensive player• Did not kill of print even though spoken books and

spoken speeches were sold as recordings• Introduced NEW print titles to discuss pop musicSources: TomiAhonen Consulting Thought Piece on 7th Mass Media Dec 2006 and SMLXL White Paper on 7th Mass Media June 2007


3rd Mass Media: Cinema

• Cinema 1910• First multi-media• silent, b/w sound, color, cinemascope• movie, short film, newsreel, serials• "pay per view" and advertising before main feature• major revenue shift for long-form stories from books




• From Print and Recordings to Cinema• Created new industry: Hollywood, itself a $30 B

business• Many feared it will kill books, didn't• Created global superstars such as Charlie Chaplin• Today major books become movies - AND major

original screenplay movies become bestelling books• Was able to reach massive commercial success

inspite of pay-per-view model• Recording artists found new opportunity to attempt

movie careers successfully such as Elvis and unsuccessfully such as Madonna

Sources: TomiAhonen Consulting Thought Piece on 7th Mass Media Dec 2006 and SMLXL White Paper on 7th Mass Media June 2007


4th Mass Media: Radio

• Radio 1920• First broadcast media• AM, FM, stereo, digital• music, news, weather, sports, soap opera• license fee and advertising• major revenue shift for news, introduce soap operas




• From Print and Recordings to Radio• Many thought it will kill recordings, didn't• Created new media industry: radio• Created yet new performance artists - the radio DJs,

news readers, announcers and radio talk show hosts• Became first pervasive and simultaneous mass

media (War of the Worlds people thought invaders from Mars had actually landed in America in the 1930s)

• Every home (in industrialized world) had to have one, families would sit together to listen to fave comedians, news, dramas, concerts..



5th Mass Media: TV

• TV1950• b/w, color, cable/satellite, stereo, digital• news, sports, soap opera, movies, sitcom, talk show,

music video, reality TV• license fee, advertising, subscription• major revenue shift for news, sports, music, movies• introduce talk shows, sitcoms, reality TV




• From Print, Recordings, Cinema and Radio to TV• Most thought it would kill books, cinema and radio:

didn't• Cannibalized some formats such as newsreels from

cinema, soap operas from radio• Most strong content such as films, documentaries

survived on cinema; news, sports and music survived on radio

• Became dominant media inspite of no inherent new advantage

• New TV celebrities: News Anchors, Game Show Hosts, Reality TV contestants, MTV video artists



When BBC introduced TV News

• Thinking was radio. TV was even called "visual radio"• The BBC news guidelines said you were allowed to

show pictures or maps or flags etc of where the news story happened

• BUT you were not allowed to show the face of the news anchorman who read the news.

• The thinking was a "radio mindset" - that we supposedly connected with a trusted "voice" of news

• Only after we started to show the news anchorman, did we discover the appeal of celebrity.

• And only after that TV discovered talk shows, gameshows, reality TV formats etc that rely on celeb


6th Mass Media: Internet

• Internet 1990• First media that could do everything that the

previous five media could do• First interactive media, and Search• narrowband, broadband• e-mail, search, chat, browsing, news, sports, music,

software, gaming, movies, TV, radio, blogging• license fee, advertising, subscription• major revenue shift for advertising, news, music• introduce e-mail, search, chat, blogging




• Print, Recordings, Cinema, Radio, TV ...to internet• Incredibly rapid cannibalization of content, formats,

and audience time• All business models also migrating to internet• Introducing new stars and talent (Baghdad Blogger,

YouTube stars, Second Life millionaires etc) • Will probably kill of some content types, the daily

newspaper for example and the music CD, very likely other content types will adjust such as TV debates using YouTube content



7th Mass Media: Mobile

• mobile phone 2000• Can do everything the previous SIX media can

do, including interactivity & search of the internet• Personal mass media, always-on media, always

carried media, with built-in payment channel; as creative tool - is always present at point of creative impulse; most accurate audience info 2G, 2.5G, 3G

• text messaging, ringtones, logos, news, music, gaming, voting..• subscription, pay-per-view, advertising• major revenue shift for music, gaming, e-mail• introduce text messaging, ringtones, logos, voting, picture

messagingSource: TomiAhonen Consulting Thought Piece on 7th Mass Media Dec 2006



• From Print, Recordings, Cinema, Radio, TV and internet to mobile...

• Likely to see even more rapid cannibalization than internet did of five legacy media

• All business models also migrating to mobile• Will discover its own new stars and talent• Winners likely to be those willing to experiment, who

attempt to go beyond the limitations of the six older media



• The soul/urban pop band the Fugees has introduced three songs as full-track MP3 downloads on Verizon's service in the USA

• It is a 5 year old idea to pre-launch hits as ringing tones, and since 2003 bands have released full-track MP3 songs to mobile before their release on CD

• But the Fugees break new ground with these three songs - they are not planned to be released on any other format as of yet. Their hit potential is being trialled on mobile phones! Fugees hope to reach platinum level sales - one million units sold, this way

Source: USA Today 6 Feb 2006

Fugees Trial Hits Through Mobile



• SeeMeTV launched by Three Italy and Three UK. UK version was launched Oct 2005. Each video clip cost 50p to view and paid 1p to the creator of the clip

• By August 2007 the latest 12 months delivered14.2 Million video clips

• Most popular clips were:– Hot dog boy – the quickest frankfurter eater in town!

– Pretzel girl – a real-life office contortionist

– The World's first wedding proposal over video mobile on Valentine’s day (Dating Game)

– Tornado chaos – footage of the aftermath of the tornado that hit Birmingham (24 Hours)

• One woman flashed her breasts and had 130,000 downloads, earned 1,300 UKPSources: Mobile Marketing Magazine 1 Feb 2006 and Three September 2007

See Me TV - 14 M videos in UK



• Ministry of Sound is actively pushing the opportunities in convergence and mobile

• For the "Put Your Hands Up (for Detroit)" by Fedde Le Grand, Ministry of Sound license for allows any fan to use the music and make their own videos

• Ministry of Sound supports rating of the best videos and features those at various opportunities to promote its music

Source: Ministry of Sound Nov 2006

Your Own Music Video Version



7 Mass Media / Content FormatsPrinting Record Cinema Radio TV Internet Mobile

Story OO X OOO O OO O O+

News O XX OO OOO OO OO+

Info OOO O OO OO OO O

Sport OO X OO OOO OO O

Music XX OO O OOO OO OO OO+

Advg OO O O OO OOO OO OO+

Game O OO O OOO OO+

Reality OOO OO OO

Search OOO OO+

Messg OO OOO

Browse OOO OO+

Vote O OO OOO

Share OO O OOO OO



• ITU reports on global media consumption by age & time spent. 18-35 year olds vs over 55 year olds

Media Consumption


Digital

TV

Radio

Print

Cinema

18-35 Year Olds Over 55 Year Olds

TV

TV

DigitalDigital Print

Print

Radio

Radio

Source: ITU Digital Life Dec 2006

Note: Both groups consume 40h/week


• Launched in 1978, the UK youth/pop magSmash Hits was a staple for 3 generations of youth, circulations of over million copies

• By end of 2005 the sales had tumbled to 120,000, and magazine was discontinued

• Its publisher cited mobile phone as the biggest reason for decline. Readers were also playing videogames and online; and advertisers had migrated their spend.

• Smash Hits lives still on TV, web, radioSources: International Herald Tribune 30 Jan 2006 and Financial Times 3 Feb 2006

Smash Hits - R.I.P



• The Financial Times reported on the peak consumption times for various media in the UK

• TV - one peak ("prime time") 6 - 10:30 PM• Radio - 2 peaks, 7-8 AM and 4:30 - 5:30 PM• eMail - 2 peaks 11 - 11:30 AM and 1:30 - 2 PM• Browsing - 2 peaks 11 AM and 8 PM• Mobile TV - one peak 4-8 PM• SMS - 2 peaks 6 PM and 9 PM

Source: Financial Times 30 October 2006

Peak Times for Media



Compare Cinema & TV Content

• Cinema, you book time, travel to event, park your car, pay to see, eat before (during) or after the movie etc

• Most people attend a couple of movies per year. It is an event

• TV is every day, background noise. Movies often repeats, we know the story, we go get food, bathroom etc don't care about the whole thing - but don't want to miss the best part

• All kinds of shorter programming, talk shows, game shows, MTV music videos etc that wouldn't work in cinema..

Source: DotMobi presentation on 7th Mass Media at Mobile Web 2.0 London Sept 007



• Simpler, more personal, faster• and much much more expensive

eMail to SMS



• simpler, more personal• and more expensive

MP3 to ring tones



• Simpler, shorter, more personalized• much more expensive if measured by cost of time

spent gaming

Need for Speed to Sudoku



HUGE OPPORTUNITY

• The Idle Screen...


ust in - NTT DoCoMo news ticker for mobile phones - This just in - NTT DoCoMo

• News Ticker (like on bottom of CNN on TV)• NTT DoCoMo was first to launch ticker tape on its

portal. The service has monthly subscription of 200 Yen (1.70 USD/1.34 Euro, 1.00 UKP)

• If the customer clicks on a news item, regular news page view or news video clip costs are incurred

• 18 months after launch, NTT DoCoMo reports that it has already 8 million paying subscribers to the service (16% of all subscribers)Source: Wireless Watch Japan, January 2007

Ticker Tape on NTT DoCoMo



Don't Focus on Limitations


Screen Sizes..Screen Sizes..

Cinema (medium size): 12 m x 6 m = 72 m²TV (25" colour): 38cm x 50cm = 0.19 m²Size differentials: cinema is 379x larger screenie TV is 0.26% the size of a cinema screen

Laptop screen 27cm x 20cm = 540 cm²Phone screen 4.2cm x 3.6cm = 15 cm²Laptop screen is 36x larger than phoneie phone is 2.8% the size of a laptop


What of keyboard vs keypad?

And mouse vs stylus etc

Actually, I'd rather not type at all.. Why can't the phone read my mind?


• 2D Barcodes (also known as QR Barcodes for Quick Response) were introduced in Japan by NTT DoCoMo in 2005.

• In 18 months, NTT DoCoMo reported that they were extremely positively welcomed by customers and 56% of their subscribers already used the feature

• The cameraphone scans the 2D Barcode within a second and displays the full website address or other data, almost magically, with no typing!

Source: NTT DoCoMo Oct 2006

2D Barcodes



Don't Copy - Create Magic


• And the latest gadgetmania continues in Japan• An application by MediaSeek called Kamera Jiten

(camera dictionary) now allows cameraphone users to turn their device into a translator

• An OCR applications (Optical Character Recognition) will convert pages of written English into data

• Then translator utility converts into Japanese• And displays on your phone screen• Almost like using a magnifying glass,

but one that translates

Source: Wireless Watch Japan 11 Sept 2006

Cameraphone OCR Translator



Marketing and Community


"Nobody is as clever as everybody"

- Alan Moore CEO of SMLXL in the book Communities Dominate Brands


• Q Research has interviewed 1,500 UK youth aged 11 to 20 about willingness to receive ads on their mobile phones

• 68% said no (32% said yes, surprisingly many?)• But when offered personally targeted ads, 71% were

willing to receive them on their phones• If given coupons and discounts, the willingess went

up to 76%• And if given the chance to top-up their phones for

viewing ads, 82% said yes they would like to go mAd

• Source: New Media Age 19 Apr 007

Willing to Receive mAd?



• Japan is already a country gone mAd (as in mobile advertising)

• Wireless Watch Japan reports that 54% of Japanese mobile phone users consume ads.

• And survey of 1,083 mobile phone users in Japan by Mobile Research and goo Research found that 44% of Japanese mobile phone customers have clicked on interactive ads on their mobile phones.

Sources: Wireless Watch Japan 11 Sept 2006 and Mobile Research & goo Research July 2006

And remembering the 8 C's



• The DMA Direct Marketing Assoc has released numbers for 2006 UK marketing eMail

• 6 billion marketing e-mails were sent. At 38 million internet users, it works out to 13 marketing eMail messages per internet user per month in the UK

• Across the whole population that is 8.3 per capita• For contrast, in the UK, on one mobile ad provider's

(Admob) network, they deliver 53 million mobile ads per month - ie 0.88 mAd per capita. Mobile ads on Admob's network have already cannibalized 9.5% of all interactive advertising in the UK by end of 2006Sources: New Media Age, 25 Jan 007 and AdMob 29 Jan 007

AdMob vs eMail Marketing



• One of the innovators of mobile content - MTV has set up a unit "Mobile Media Group"

• MTV already biggest content provider on mobile networks in America, 600 clips and 30 hrs of mobile content/mo, from MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central...

• Latest: Mobile Junk 2.0 (Sprint) with user-generated content to mobile. Customers vote: best clipsgo on the air onto TVSource: Financial Times 18 Dec 2006

Mobile Junk 2.0 - MTV



Viral


"Think global, act viral"

- Rudy De Waele, mTrends


mAd - Value of Recommendation


"64% of consumers will try something recommended by a friend. 69% of will forward something they like to from 2 to 6 friends."

- Jupiter Research Sept 2006


• Mike Beeston the CEO of Fjord the mobile user interface specialist firm, has the absolute fool-proof test for any mobile marketing campaign

• It has to be "Sufficiently Contageous"

• Sufficiently contageous means that anyone in the target audience will like the ad so much, they feel compelled to forward it to at least one person in their phone book.

• It doesn't need to be totally contageous, just sufficiently contageous. But obviously has to have forwarding ability whether coupons, links, SMS, etcSource: upcoming book 7th Mass Media by Tomi Ahonen estimated release late 2007

Make it Sufficiently Contageous



From Interactive to Engagement


• Pop Idol format (eg American Idol, Indian Idol, Australian Idol, Novelle Star France etc) owned by Freemantle & 19 Managemt First in 2001, had 67 runs in 32 countries. Most markets been the top-watched show, breaking viewing records. Since 2001 total of 3.2 B viewers generating 1.9 B SMS and televotes

• In last 12 months about 721 M viewers, and 456 M votes over the various 20+ episode series; the finals had 144 M viewers and 219 M votes

• Has copycats such as X-Factor, Fame Academy, Pop Stars, "China Idol" ie Super Girl, etcSource: SMLXL White Paper"Pop Idol" September 2006

Pop Idol Case



• In Finland Elisa Corporation (known as owners of Radiolinja first GSM operator in world) has been offical sponsor of Finnish Idol TV show

• Elisa also ran a mobile-phone Karaoke based "amateur" series to Finnish Idol,

generating more traffic than real Finnish Idols • World's first network karaoke Contest "Jokamies- luokan

Idols" (The common man's Idols) had 1,682 entries, 150,000 unique visitors and 1,95 M votes

• Winner was Mea Karppinen of Espoo FinlandSource: SMLXL White Paper"Pop Idol" September 2006

Peoples Idols - Karaoke Finland



• Endemol (producer of Big Brother) is launching a mobile TV only reality TV series featuring the UK girl pop trio Sugababes, on their tour with Robbie Williams

• Each episode costs 50 pence (75 Euro cents, 85 US cents)

• The TV show will include lots of interactive elements including viewers designing dance moves for the band, sending them in via videoclips

• Service set up between Endemol, O2 and Universal Music

Source: Moco News 9 May 2006

Sugababes Mobisodes



• R/GA ad agency from New York presented at Nokia Marketing Forum in Prague and told of Nike engagement marketing campaign

• Nike sponsors an American online multiplayer basketball game. Gamers visit Nike website to gain "cheat code" (done with full support of game owners)

• After gamer enters cheat code, his game character shoes turn white with Nike "swoosh"

• After this - the gamer's character runs 10% faster and jumps 10% higher ! Gains a huge benefit otherwise would take weeks of practise in the game...Source: R/GA June 2006

Nike inside Video Gaming



How? Use Flower Diagramme


So, set the controls for the heart of the 4C’s

Connectivity

Culture


• Robbie Williams is innovating in the mobile space.• To launch his latest album, Robbie played a concert

in Berlin to an audience of 7,500.• His concert was simulcast to

audiences in movie theatres in several cities, with another 10,000 paid fans

• But the majority of his live paid audience, over 100,000 watched via (3G) mobile phones

Source: MoCo News, October 12, 2005

Find 10 x Bigger Audience



Set the controls for the heart of the 4C’s

Commerce

Community


• Virtual world of Second Life has already 1.3 M users (from 105,000 a year ago) with half USA, half abroad

• Now businesses are entering Second Life

• Ad agency Leo Burnett uses its facilites in Second Life for virtual meetings of its 2,400 creative staff

• UK ad firm BBH (Bartle Bogle Hegarty) showcases their work on their island on Second Life

• Major global brands such as Intel and Toyota now use Second Life to promote their goods

• The Wall Street Journal reports that it costs about 20,000 USD to maintain a corporate presence in Second LifeSource: Wall Street Journal 14 Nov 2006

Real Business and 2nd Life



Set the controls for the heart of the 4C’s

Connectivity

Commerce

Culture

Community


• Korean online newspaper Ohmy News has rapidly become one of the biggest news sources in Korea

• 36,000 "citizen reporters" contribute over 90% of the newspaper's content

• Is 4th most TRUSTED news sourcein Korea, ahead of many TV networks

• Each writer compensated by money (about 20 USD per article) and by seeing their name in print

• Newly elected President Roh Moo-Hyun first interview was on Ohmy Newssources: book "Communities Dominate Brands" by Ahonen & Moore, 2005 & CNN May 2005

Ohmy News



User Generated Content


• Any Question Answered AQA has real people answering questions

• Yes, the sports scores and geographical info etc, but also lots of silly questions like

• Does triangle bread taste better than square bread• Or "What should I do with my bird tonight?" AQA's

answer was "it depends, different birds like different things, a dead bird you want to add stuffing and broil, a caged bird likes you to whistle and a girl will like champagne and a good dinner"

• 8 million queries already. "the answers are free, sending a question costs 1 UKP"Source AQA Sept 007

AQA UK already 8 M Queries



• User-Created Content in South Korea was measured by NIDA National Internet Development Agency June 2007 and found the most popular UCC to be:

• Humor, bizarre, fun: 80.4% of users have viewed• Hobby, leisure: 58.1%• Celebrity: 50.7%• Healthcare, living: 34.1%• Jobs, learning: 26.2%• Personals, trivia etc: 25.0%• News, issues: 21.7%

Source NIDA June 007

Most Popular UCC in Korea



Asian Mobile Community Examples


Super Stable - Hong Kong


• New World Mobility Hong Kong launched networked virtual horse racing game "Super Stable” in 2002.

• Users buy a pre-programmed card with racehorse, train and feed the horse via network

• Have virtual races, broadcast live; includes trading horses, breeding etc

• Now also on FarEasTone Taiwan:is world’s 1st cross-border game;

• Next to launch Shanghai and Macau• Delivers higher ARPU than heavy

business users !!Source: SMLXL White Paper 2003


Twins Mobile - Hong Kong


• Hong Kong pop music duo Twins capitalising on New World Mobility

SIM cards, with full services, sold in 7-11 and New World Mobility'sown stores. Developed by CybirdIn addition to basic services likevoice and SMS, also Twins related ringing tones, logos, voting, chat

• Also have premium services such as Karaoke, ecards, and Twins “assisted” voice messages

• Fans get exclusive content, access to concerts, etc

Source: book Mobile is 7th Mass Media Channel by Tomi T Ahonen November 2007


• Singapore game developers Nexgen Studio has launched Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game for 3G and broadband, converged. The game is about elves (dwarfs) called Elven Legends

• Has typical multiplayer role playing elements such as customizing the character, challengesand quests, and of course fighting

• The game has lots of spells and mystical elements (make youropponent go blind, etc)

Source: book Mobile is 7th Mass Media Channel by Tomi T Ahonen November 2007

Elven Legends



• Kart Rider in South Korea, a multiplayer cartoon-crazy car racing game by Nexon, has become the world's most successful multiplayer game bynational adoption rate - 25% of all South Koreans have driven Kart Rider

• Game combines car racing with crazy and violent cartoon behaviour from Tom & Jerry etc

• You can have your rival's car spin on a banana peel, or shoot a rocket at it, or fly above with a balloon etc

• Makes its money on accessoriesSource: book Digital Korea, Ahonen & O'Reilly 2007

Kart Rider



Innovation Ping Pong..


Habbo Hotel 10 M Users

• Sulake Oy, the Finnish company that developed Habbo Hotel reports that it already has 8 Million subscribers around the world with 55 M avatars

• Habbo Hotel is a childrens virtual online playground - kids don't have credit cards - payments are by premium SMS. Kids spend over 40 min per session. Sulake earns 29 M Euro (35 M USD) per year

• Calculated across its total subscriber base Habbo Hotel earns 5 USD per year per subscriber or 42 cents per month Sources: Kauppalehti 11 July 2006, Sulake January 2007



• Sulake, owner of Habbo Hotel, presented at Telco 2.0 in London in March

• Habbo has 80 million avatars created or "Habbos"• Active users 7.5 million in over a dozen countries• Sulake earned 51 million USD out of Habbo in 2006.

Only 10% is advertising/sponsorship; the remaining 90% is paid by Habbo gamers

• Habbo Hotel keeps very actively renewing itself, with a new Habbo environment release every 6-8 weeks

• A key element is unique items (eg furniture) which will be sold only onceSource: Sulake/Habbo Hotel presentation at Telco 2.0 in London March 2007

Habbo Renews Every 6 Weeks



CyWorld - 43% of South Koreans

• Korean CyWorld used by 95% of the 20 year olds• The web and mobile based virtual room, blogsite,

mobile blogging, music and community site has 19 M koreans - 43% of the Korean population as users

• At 100,000 daily video uploads, Cyworld generates more video traffic than YouTube.

• Music 200,000 songs/day, World Nr 2 after iTunes• 30,000 businesses active

in CyWorld, offer 500,000 items of content for

sale. 40% revenue-share

Source: book "Digital Korea" by Ahonen & O'Reilly 2007



• Cyworld launched its mobile variant in 2004 as a paid premium service to Cyworld (monthly subscription fees between 1-3 USD per month)

• Revenues double annually. In 2007 Cyworld Mobile earns 10 M USD

• Cyworld gets 83% through content revenues (gifts, personalization, avatar & room; as well as branded content revenue-sharing)

• Only 17% is subscription/service revenues

Source: SK Telecom presentation at iMobicon Seoul 24-25 Aug 007

Mobile Cyworld Economics



• UK Based converged flirting/dating service Flirtomatic is nearing 2 years of age. Flirtomatic CEO and author Mark Curtis gave numbers at Forum Oxford saying:

• Flirtomatic UK has 57,000 UK internet users and 20,000 mobile users

• Fixed internet users 22 M web pages during March (ave 12.8 pages per day) mobile 44 M WAP pages (ave 73.3 per day). Note mobile 2:1 over use on web.

• Mobile users long in 8.5 times per day !• Flirtomatic offers gifts (from roses and chocolates to

lingerie) and even Google Adwords type of personal ads, auctioned for top slotsSource: Flirtomatic at Forum Oxford on 20 April 007

Flirtomatic More Mobile than Web



• UK Based converged flirting/dating service Flirtomatic launched May 2006. Flirtomatic CEO and author Mark Curtis updated at Mobile Web 2.0 in London:

• Will sell 3.5 million virtual "Red Roses" in 2007 at 23 pence per rose (earn annually 805,000 UKP / 1.2 M Euro / 1.6 M USD)

• Offer branded sponsorship ie Loreal Lip Gloss sponsoring the Flirtomatic "Big Wet Kiss"

• Half of income from ads, half from personalization and gifts; Flirtomatic stopped subscription totally in April 2007 as unnecessarySource: Flirtomatic at Mobile Web 2.0 in London 20 Sept 007

Flirtomatic Update 007



Is It Real?


Ratio of Creation to Consumption

• Mobile Blogging/User-Generated Video on Orange France, 65,000 blogs viewed 140 million times. For every blog posting created, they are viewed 114 times Source: Lightreading.com 6 June 2006

• SeeMeTV on Three/Hutchison UK had received 30,000 clips, these downloaded 4 M times (ratio 1:133). Source: Mobile Marketing Magazine 1 Feb 2006

• It seems that for mobile networks and paid social networking access, the ratio of user-generated content to users viewing the content is about 1:100

• By contrast on free internet the ratio is about 1:1000

Source: TomiAhonen Consulting March 2006


• Informa has measured the size of digital community services on mobile. In 2006 they are worth 3.45 billion dollars.

• During 2006 for example, Informa says 46 million people upload videos to YouTube, SeeMeTV etc

• Herald Tribune mentioned typical examples of social networking sites for mobile as Cyworld of Korea and SeeMeTV on the 3/Hutchison networks

• Note for context: social networking is worth over 10% of all value-add services, and came from nowwhere to be second only to mobile music by valueSources: International Herald Tribune 23 Oct 2006, Informa Mobile Communities & User Generated Content 26 Oct 2006

Mobile Communities: $3.45 B



Creating Mobile: 6 M's (5 M's)

Movement

MomentMe

Multi-user Money

Machines

Source: book m-Profits by Tomi T Ahonen 2002

THIS is your tool to build billable value when creating mobile services


www.ForumOxford.com

First time registration, you need enrollment key. Use the word:

"forumoxford"


Ask Alan Moore for White Paper

[email protected]


But wait - There is still More Info

”In a connected age sharing information is power.” Tomi T Ahonen in Services for UMTS 2002


• Mobile subscribers end June 007 were $3.0 B (2007 Informa) • 28.8% with 2+ subscriptions ie 2.1 B unique users (2007 Informa)

• Mobile telecoms 2006 total revenues $646B (2007 Informa)

• Global ARPU by users $25.51 but by SIMs $19.91 (2007 Informa)

• 2006 SMS Revenues $80 B (2006 ITU), is 12% of global revenues

• 2007 Non-SMS mobile data content $45 B (2007 Informa)

• MVNO revenues in 2005 $18.4B (2005 Total Telecom)

• SMS used by 74% ie (2007 Logica CMG) ie 2 B people EOY 2006. Average price person-to-person SMS globally 3.7 cents (Informa 2007)

• 28% of users access internet via mobile phone, is 588 million people (2005 Ipsos) Note: Most of these also access via PC

• Handsets replaced in 18 mo (2006 Semiconductor Industry Assoc.)

• 2006 Handset sales 1.02 B units (2007 IDC) and $115 B in annual revenues (2005 iSupply)

Mobile Industry Metrics '007


Top 20 Digital Maturity Dec 2006

Familiarity Index(Sweden = 100%)

InnovationIndex(Korea 100%)

80%

60%

40%

20%

60%40% 80% 100%

100% • Sweden

20%

• Finland• Denmark

• USA • Japan

• Korea

• UK• Hong Kong

• Austria

• Norway

• Canada• Netherlands

• Italy

• Taiwan

• Germany

• New Zealand

• Australia• Ireland

• Singapore

20 Countries with highest penetrations of TV, internet & mobile phone

Familiarity Index: The penetration rates of TV, internet & cellphone

Innovation Index: The penetration rates of Digi TV, Broadband & 3G

Indexes by TomiAhonen Consulting December 2006

• Israel


• So, here are the popular mobile blog sites, according Technorati.

• 1. Smart Mobs - rank: 1,033 (4,755 links from 1,081 blogs)• 2. textually.org - rank: 1,181 (3,213 links from 1,009 blogs)• 3. MobileBurn - rank: 1,868 (5,609 links from 766 blogs)• 4. All About Symbian - rank: 2,833 (1,864 links from 589 blogs)• 5. MobileCrunch - rank: 3,465 (1,538 links from 508 blogs)• 6. MobHappy - rank: 4,920 (1,344 links from 390 blogs)• 7. pasta and vinegar - rank: 6,187 (1,145 links from 332 blogs)• 8. The Mobile Technology Weblog - rank: 7,928 (2,565 links from 262 blogs)• 9. Mopocket rank: N/A (569 links to this URL sorted)• 10. Open Gardens - rank: 9,230 (510 links from 232 blogs)• 11. Mobile Mentalism - rank: 11,626 (465 links from 189 blogs)• 12. Techdirt Wireless - rank: 12,632 (434 links from 175 blogs)• 13. Darla Mack - rank: 13,125 (859 links from 169 blogs)• 14. Communities Dominate Brands - rank: 13,203 (446 links from 166 blogs)• 15. m-trends.org - rank: 17,238 (435 links from 132 blogs)• 16. mobile jones - rank: 18,012 (343 links from 127 blogs)• 17. The 3G Portal - rank: 18,195 (352 links from 126 blogs)• 18. The Pondering Primate - rank: 19,256 (255 links from 120 blogs)• 19. gotomobile.com - rank: 22,255 (226 links from 106 blogs)• 20. Mobile Opportunity - rank: 23,427 (229 links from 101 blogs)

Source: M-Trends.org 18 Aug 2006

Top 20 Blogsites on Mobile



Good sources of information• Biggest free 3G info site - www.the3Gportal.com

sign up for their free daily 3G newsletter !

• Free panel on mobile - www.ForumOxford.com passcode forumoxford

• Community future blogs - www.communities-dominate.blogs.com• Free site of mobile news and blogs - www.wireless-watch.com• Podcasts on communities and mobile - www.horizonchannel.com• Disruptive and engagement marketing - www.smlxlarge.com• User interfaces and mobile blogging - www.fjord.co.uk• Most advanced Segmentation, Alphas etc - www.xtract.info• 3G and 2.5G training, Oxford - www.conted.ox.ac.uk/electronics• Mobile Data Association - www.mda-mobiledata.org• UMTS Forum Reports - www.umts-forum.org• More free service idea “Pearls” - www.tomiahonen.com

More information send e-mail to [email protected]


Recommended Books • Digital Korea, Tomi T Ahonen & Jim O'Reilly, 284 pages,

Futuretext, 2007• Communities Dominate Brands, Tomi T Ahonen & Alan

Moore, 274 pages, Futuretext, 2005• Mobile Web 2.0, A Jaokar & T Fish, 176 p, Futuretext, 2006• M-Profits, Tomi T Ahonen, 360 pages, Wiley 2002• Distraction, Mark Curtis, 240 pages, Futuretext, 2005• Next Generation Wireless Applications, Paul Golding, 588p,

Wiley 2004• 3G Marketing, Ahonen, Kasper & Melkko 333 p, Wiley 2004• Mobile Strategy, Tom Weiss, 320 pages, Futuretext 2006• Smart Mobs, Howard Rheingold, 288 p, Basic Books, 2003• The City in Your Pocket, T Kopomaa, 143 p Gaudeamus 2000• ...And of course The Dilbert Future by Scott Adams..


Tomi T Ahonen, Author & ConsultantCompetitiveness, Business Case, Marketing, and Profitability

• Provides 3G business case audits and 3G service marketing plan workshops for mobile operators, and value chain analysis for content providers, bankers etc.

• The world's most prolific new mobile service evangelist, has introduced over 1,000 new service concepts at public conferences; his books include 500 service ideas.

• Quoted in over 200 press stories in a dozen languages; keynotes/ chaired at over 200 major conferences on six continents; host of Communities Dominate Podcast.

• Lectures at Oxford University on 3G and Convergence• Available as a motivational speaker in telecoms

marketing, sales, product development and innovation.

• Read his books "Digital Korea", "Communities Dominate Brands", “m-Profits", "3G Marketing","Services for UMTS”

website: www.tomiahonen.com e-mail: [email protected]

podcast: www.HorizonChannel.com

blog: www.CommunitiesDominate.com

Earlier Tomi Ahonen has set up & run Nokia’s 3G Business Consultancy. Previously he worked for 3 operators where he created the world’s first fixed-mobile service bundle and set a world record for taking market share from the incumbent

"Service creation and marketing will be key to 3G," Ahonen said. Total Telecom 12 October 2000


Recent Ahonen Articles/ColumnsMobile the Ubiquitous Technology Forum Oxford Journal Vol 1

Mobile as 7th Mass Media - Mobile Handset Analyst, Feb 2007

Mobile Social Networking - Asia Pacific Telecoms, Jan 2007

Celebrating the 1000th Pearl - The 3G Portal, Oct 2006

Hidden Power in Mobile - Mobile Communications June 6, 2006

Second Subscriptions - Wireless Watch June 5, 2006

Operator Customer Service - The 3G Portal, Apr 2006

3G TV Convergence - European Communications Spring, 2006

Seventh Mass Media - The 3G Portal Nov, 2005

Next 20 Years in Mobile - Ohmy News Korea Jun 17, 2005

Story of Mobile vs TV - New Media Knowledge Apr 25, 2005NOTE - Ahonen blogs at www.CommunitiesDominate.com and is the

host of Communities Dominate Podcast on HorizonChannel.com


Digital KoreaBroadband internet, 3G telecoms, Digital TV, Telematics, Multiplayer Gaming, Home Robotics

by Tomi T Ahonen & Jim O'Reillyforeword Dr Hyun-Oh Yoo, CEO SK Communications

(284 pages, Hardcover, Futuretext, July 2007)

South Korea is the world's highest penetration country for broadband, 3G, digital TV, videogaming etc. This book looks at how that environment spawns innovations and changes society, from mobile commerce to virtual reality to home robotics with resulting cultural changes from education to government to healtcare to crime. Packed with IT statistics and 12 cases. - book website is www.DigitalKorea.info

Available now at Futuretext.com, at Amazon and all major booksellers worldwide

“This book really helps the reader understand what makes a winning Digital ecosystem within a Global context” - JaeHong Yoon, Sr VP Korea Telecom

“I recommend this book as an insightful resource base for the near future concept creation.” - Karri Mikkonen Director of Strategy, TeliaSonera Sweden


Communities Dominate Brands:Business & Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century

by Tomi T Ahonen & Alan Moore with foreword by Stephen C Jones of Coca Cola(274 pages, Hardcover, Futuretext, March 2005)

- ALREADY INTO ITS SECOND PRINTING !!! -

Business book that discusses the emerging power of digitally empowered communities. Discusses virtual worlds, mobile swarms, blogging. Introduces the 4 Cs, Generation-C (Community), and explains how Alpha Users and Reachability impact marketing communications and customer loyalty. With 13 case studies and 100 real business examples, shows how business must move from inter- ruptive advertising to engagement marketing. - book blogsite is www.CommunitiesDominate.com

Available now at Futuretext.com and all major booksellers including Amazon

"Authors vividly illustrate the rapidly growing power of digital communities." - Harry Dronec, Red Bull UK

"Clearly identifies the issues impacting the audio-visual industry. " - John Ranelagh, TV2 Norway

"Authors show how living in a converging mobile world introduces threats to your business model. - Kazutomo Robert Hori, Cybird Japan


3G Marketing: Communities and Strategic Relationshipsby Tomi T Ahonen, Timo Kasper and Sara Melkko, with foreword by Mike Short of O2(333 pages, softcover, John Wiley & Sons, 2004)

- ALREADY INTO ITS SECOND PRINTING !!! -

World’s first book on the marketing and sales of 3G and other advanced wireless services. Covers Market Intelligence, Segmentation, Service Creation, Distribution Channels, Promotion, Bundling, Tariffing, Billing, and Churn. With up-to-the-minute theories of cellular telecoms including Reachability, the 5 M’s, Murfing, Alpha Users, Omega Customers and the Early Eight, this book covers the “how” of new wirless services.

Available now at all major bookstores and at Amazon.com

Only book on winning in 3G

"Insightful look into capitalising on customer data and developing targetted marketing propositions." - Jan-Anders Dalenstam, Ericsson

"Packed with useful and practical techniques to achieve success in competitive marketplace" - Steven S K Chan, MobileOne Singapore


M-Profits: Making Money from 3G Servicesby Tomi T Ahonen, with foreword by Teppo Turkki of Elisa Corporation Finland(360 pages, hardcover, John Wiley & Sons, 2002)

World’s first business book on mobile telecoms became world's bestselling 3G book Oct & Dec 2003. Covers revenues, revenue-sharing, pricing, profits of mobile services. m-Profits includes 170 service ideas and 50 real services in use around the world. Written with a clear money focus, m-Profits includes mobile industry issues as Money Migration, Hockey Sticks, and the 5 M’s theory. The book covers service creation, revenue sharing, content partnerships, telecoms economics, and includes contrasts among all major wireless technologies.


“Good read for industry professionals, operators, bankers and analysts.” - Voytek Siewierski NTT DoCoMo

“Only book to give comprehensive view of marketing and revenue.” - Sophie Ghnassia France Telecom

“Great guide to making money in mobile services.” - Joao Baptista Mercer Management Consulting

“Makes complex theories easy to understand.” - Mark Weisleder Bell Canada


Services for UMTS: Creating Killer Applications in 3GEdited by Tomi T Ahonen and Joe Barrett(373 pages, hardcover, John Wiley & Sons, 2002)

World’s first book on 3G services is also the world's bestselling 3G book in Oct 2002. Covers 200 service ideas with lots of illustrations, statistics, charts. Written by 14 leading 3G experts, for the non-technical reader. Includes the 5 M’s theory, service creation, content partnerships, revenue sharing, marketing and competition in 3G. Covers all major service groupings such as SMS, MMS, m-commerce, mobile advertising, video, music, gaming, infotainment, B2B, B2C, B2E...

- also translated to Chinese -


“This book provivdes a framework for launching UMTS.” - Mike Short mmO2

“A must read.” - Dr Roberto Saracco Telecom Italia Future Lab

“Welcome change from technology led literature.” - Dr Didier Bonnet Cap Gemini Ernst & Young

“Explains some of the compelling services.” Jeff Lawrence Intel