Xellular Identity - All About Mobile Content & Marketing

Carnival of Mobilists at The Mobile Gudgeteer

Another week has past and the Carnival is here again... Matthew Miller  of The Mobile Gudgeteer is hosting the carnival with the best mobile writing from my mobilists friends - Rudy, Chetan, Michael, Justin, Jason, Dennis, Emily, Andres, Scott, Daniel, Ajit, Arjan and Martin. Enjoy!

WeeWorld Now on AIM

Congratulations to WeeWorld people for steping into AIM with their WeeMee avatars. Now AIM users can have their personalized WeeMee as their AIM expression. This is great news for the entire world of avatars. :)

And here is my Weemee:

 

Web 2.0 Awareness

A little off topic link I got yesterday (thanks Darren!) of a cool self test built by Scott Schiller, to determine how web 2.0 aware are you.

Have fun people :)

Happy New Year - Shana Tova

Happy new (Hebrew) year everyone!

To see this sweet animated greeting you can use this link: http://192.118.48.66

:)

Xen

No Mobile? No Social Life

Noted - the mobile is the yardstick of teen's social life:

"78% of 11 to 17-year-olds believe having a mobile has given them a better social life as it meant it was easier to keep in touch with their friends. By contrast, many young people - especially teenage girls - admit they would feel unwanted if the day passed without their mobile ringing."

[via BBC News}

In my days it was getting invited to better Friday's nights dance parties\hang outs...

Carnival of Mobilists at MobileCrunch

Another week has past and the Carnival is here again... Oliver Starr of MobileCrunch is hosting the carnival with the best mobile writing of the week! So head over and enjoy!

Jump Higher (and Reach the Virtual Reality)

The encounter of reality with the virtual has led to a very interesting and creative implementation of consumer brand offering in a virtual world:

Adidas is now selling its "a3 Microride" shoes for L$50 to Second Lifers. “Like the real-life shoe, the Second Life counterpart provides “the ultimate blend of bounce and flexibility with minimum weight.” In fact, it’s a great virtual-world product, acting like a kind of pogo stick for your feet, and with the option to keep bouncing you around as long as you’re walking over open ground”, says Mark Wallace.
[via 3pointD.com]

So these “a3 Microride” shoes leverage the power and attractiveness of the consumer brand Adidas in reality while also benefiting from being a virtual product that can have fantasy features\powers. Come to think of it, these Adidas shoes are better than the real ones!

This makes me think what more can be done when brands get extra fantasy benefits at the virtual arena... awesome! :)

Carnival of Mobilists at Software Anywhere

David Beers of Software Anywhere is hosting the carnival, this week and brings many carnival pics (to fulfill hostly's duty, lol) together with the best mobile writing of the week! So head over and enjoy!

What's in a Name?

"Oh, did you mean Cingular's Answer Tones, 3's Dialtunes, Francetelecome's Fun Tones, or Cosmote's Calling Tunes...? And in Israel, is it Funtone (Orange) or Pleasant Waiting (Cellcom); in the UK, is it Calling Tunes (Orange) or Caller Tunes (T-Mobile)? "

-Confused?
-After many inspiring introductory meetings with some VERY interesting marketing co-workers at the Fun Dial business unit, it's clear. There's a name problem :)

While you can buy and download ringtones practically anywhere, no matter who's your operator (or who's your content provider), when it comes to the ringback tones - it's a totally different story. Each operator wanted to have a unique brand name that will distinguish it from other operators. Sounds logic.

But is it really? Let's examine the outcome: when it comes to users' awareness to the service, operators meet mostly confused users. A situation which turns to be one of the obstacles to the ringback tones'  penetration to the market.

So... if Nokia has realized that a product's name is a key factor to success, operators should realize it too.

Razr, Chocolate and... Nokia 7390, 7373??

Nokia said on Thursday it will name its new phone models in future, following the success of its rivals Motorola with Razr and LG woth the "chocolate" phones.

[via Reuters]

I'm sorry but I'll HAVE to quote, since Tal Dagan phrased it so well long time ago...  :

"notice another small but significant shift...think about the 'device name': no longer Motorola A900, A1000, V980 or E550 but...RAZR! This makes so much sense. Why should a user remember, or care, if his phone is N-90, or P990 or E750??? I bet 99% of users do not remember the device’s name one month after they bought it. However, go check this with RAZR owners...The opposite will be true. Now that's creating brand attachment.

Following the worldwide RAZR success, Motorola has gone out with its PEBL, ROKR and SLVR models. All follow the same path of the RAZR - a new exciting form factor, no focus on technical firsts, and a cool self expressive name (guess what the PEBL looks like...).

This, in my mind, is good old marketing genius."

[via Xellular Identity]

Mod Your Mobile

As a personalization evangelist, I've been familiar with ringtones, wallpapers and screensavers, colorful shells, Klonies as your Virtual mobile persona, mobile jewelry... Also I've been familiar with the fact that this is a major personal need of adolescence. But this is something I haven't seen yet... (and thanks Darren) :)

"'Mod' is short for modification, it's big in Japan and it's going to be massive over here. Show us what you can do with a tube of glue, some paint and a bit of imagination."

[via Orange UK]

To encourage users to express their creativity (ahm ahm...), Orange UK even has a prize winning competition for best 'modders'. Having my unique handmade mobile HS might make me want to keep it longer; yet if the modding didn't turn out as I wanted or I accidentally spilled too much glue on the screen - mom+dad are gonna need to buy me a new one...

   

Fun Dial - Here I Come

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share the latest news... Starting yesterday, I'm joining the Comverse Fun Dial business unit. You probably know our service under its common name of ringback tones.

For all Klonies fans among you - don't worry! This doesn't mean I'm leaving the Avatars Group. As a positive outcome of the company's latest reorganization, The Avatars Group and the Fun Dial now belong to the Content line of business, so I will be working for both at the Marketing Department.

Naturally, in the near future I will be mostly learning, however it would be great if you have interesting ideas\ findings\thoughts to share about the mobile music industry which I'm joining. Your welcome to email me or comment. 

Carnival of Mobilists at 3Lib

This week, Steve Litchfield  hosting the carnival, the best mobile writing of the week! So head over and enjoy!