Mobilitrix ou comment populariser le Marketing Mobile en Afrique!

Comment proposer aux entreprises africaines des solutions de couponing à destination des leurs client ? C’est la question à laquelle la société sud-africaine Mobilitrix a essayé de répondre en lançant des solutions de coupons de réduction et de d’enquêtes d’opinion sur mobile. Ces solutions ont été récompensé du prix de l’innovation en matière de contenu mobile sur le marché sud-africain décerné par Frost & Sullivan à l’occasion de l’African Excellence Awards Banquet. L’un des enjeux du lauréat est de populariser le marketing mobile en Afrique du sud. Une volonté qui se ressent au niveau du modèle économique : le fournisseur a adopté le principe du coût par utilisation (ou CPA, pour cost per activity). Les professionnels qui souhaitent lancer une campagne mobile achètent un crédit d’unités à Mobilitrix, et ne se voient ponctionnés que quand un utilisateur télécharge le code dédié. Nous apprend l’atelier

Coupons de promotion, informations et opinion sur mobile

Aucun frais de lancement n’est requis, et les tarifs pratiqués sont bon marché. Son système d’annonce est basé sur le principe traditionnel mais efficace du SMS : les clients sont invités à envoyer par ce biais un code qui leur permet de recevoir ensuite un coupon à montrer en caisse pour profiter d’une promotion. Ils peuvent aussi donner leur avis sur la prochaine mise en vente d’un produit, recevoir du contenu multimédia, etc. La société propose aussi aux compagnies de diffuser de l’information toujours par SMS : météo, actualités… Et pour les données qui nécessitent d’être visualisées sur grand écran, Mobilitrix lance un service permettant aux sociétés de demander par SMS l’adresse email de leurs clients afin de leur envoyer ensuite la documentation demandée.

Chercher les leaders de la santé et des TIC en Afrique

Selon le fournisseur de services, la communication par SMS permettra aux entreprises de profiter de nouveaux canaux de revenus, et d’améliorer leur ROI grâce à une publicité plus personnalisée. Les entreprises et initiatives récompensées par Frost & Sullivan regroupent plusieurs secteurs, comme l’énergie, la santé, l’industrie et les technologies de l’information et de la communication. Les prix sont attribués à des compagnies internationales et locales qui proposent des idées innovantes sur les marchés kényan, zambien, nigérian, et sud-africain, ainsi que ceux couvrant toute la région Afrique sub-saharienne. “Les produits et services que nous avons sélectionnés devraient être applaudis comme des exemples de bon management en période de crise économique”, a d’ailleurs souligné à cette occasion Phil Howarth, directeur des opérations africaines chez Frost & Sullivan.

Source: L’atelier.fr

Now Text is Aiding Medical Surgery

LONDON, England (CNN) — A British surgeon amputated the arm of a wounded teenager in Congo, Africa, with help from instructions sent to him by text message.

David Nott texted his surgical colleague Meirion Thomas, who is one of only a handful of UK surgeons familiar with the difficult procedure of removing the collar bone and shoulder blade.

David Nott realized that teenager J, whose arms had been ripped off and who was now gangrenous, had only a few days to live.

“I knew that the only way to save this boy’s life was to do a forequarter amputation, and I knew that Professor Meirion Thomas was really the expert,” Nott said.

Nott, a vascular surgeon at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, who volunteers one month a year with humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, had never performed such an operation.

Thomas replied almost immediately with 10 steps Nott should follow to carry out the procedure and then signed off with “Easy! Good luck.”

David Nott followed his colleague’s instructions step by step: “I felt I had like my guardian angel on my left shoulder showing me what to do. I just got on with it, and everything he told me, I just did”.

Nott and his team embarked on the three-hour operation with just one pint of donated blood. Teenager J is said to have made a full recovery while Nott stayed to keep an eye on his wounds.

Thomas said, “All I did was tell David the 10 steps, and I knew that he would follow them.”

From Hero to Zero: Digital Marketing Can Go Wrong

I guess when you’re a darling of the tech media, you can eschew best practices and do what you want, like allow your service to be used for ill. At least, that seems to be the case with HeyCosmo, a marketing platform created by Arsenal Interactive Inc. that allegedly bridges social networking, texting, and telephony.

I received a call to my cell phone yesterday from a number I didn’t recognize. When I picked up, I got a weird recorded message that introduced itself as “HeyCosmo” and then proceeded to speak familiarly, and yet robotically, about plans for the weekend. I hung up–and instantly received another call from the same ‘bot!

That did it. I Googled HeyCosmo and came across the service’s site. After digging around I found out that I could put myself on its “do not call” list by going to a special “block/unblock calls” page. But when I inputted my number and hit the “submit” button, nothing happened. I hit it again and again, and nothing.

Furious at this point, I searched for a contact email address. I politely, but firmly, explained the situation in a message. I asked either to be removed from the database by HeyCosmo/Arsenal Interactive staff themselves, or else to be told an alternate method of how to remove myself. All I got was a lengthy automatic response that didn’t tell me anything useful. (Editing this post at 1 a.m., I checked my email again. No joy. Though the block feature finally worked.)

Sad thing is, HeyCosmo generated positive buzz as recently as this September at the big confab DEMOfall ‘08. There, it unrolled its Blaster and Concierge services–both with the potential to elevate mobile marketing. So sure, it might be unfair to blame them for what might be the misbehavior of one user.

Then again, that doesn’t excuse the block feature on the company’s site being broken. Or the lack of company response when contacted. Unacceptable–everyone knows that message marketing best practices require a quick, easy opt-out process. Though best practices were thrown out the window the minute the perps decided to cold-call consumers, and regardless of whether or not they are on the U.S. Do Not Call Registry.

Also consider that this has been going on for at least three months now. That’s right, there’s been hundreds of other people who’ve had the same experience with HeyCosmo on their cell phones as I. Check some of them out here and here and here.

But even as people began filing complaint after complaint during the days after DEMO, the mainstream tech press had nothing but praise for HeyCosmo. I’m talking the  San Jose Mercury News (”a robo-calling idea you like,” seriously?); CNet News; and VentureBeat, among others.

I don’t know what’s more disappointing, media cluelessness or the fact that Hey Cosmo has fallen from potentially compelling to absolutely irritating.

Seeff Properties uses Mobile Phone to view properties

Seeff Properties use a mobile WAP service to ensure that their clients are able to view full colour images of any of their properties.

Shot-Codes Video Demo

Do you know or have heard about SHOT-Codes? See the video below :

USSD - Video Demo

Do you not know what the Mobile USSD service is all about. Check out this youtube DEMO below and you will have a better idea.

Taking Creativity to the Streets - Richard Ting

Richard Ting is VP, Executive Creative Director, Mobile and Emerging Media Applications at R/GA. Here is some excerpts - truths about mobile -  from his article that he published in February 2008.

What’s the most notable mobile campaign you can think of from the last year or two?

Hmm. It doesn’t quite roll off your tongue as it would if you were asked the same question about a television or interactive campaign. For TV, I can quickly think of the Sony Bravia and Skittles commercials. For the Web, I can point to Get the Glass, Halo 3 and Nike+.

1. There is a dearth of compelling and valuable experiences within the mobile marketing landscape. But let’s also be fair with our comparisons. Mobile is still a nascent industry, and many brands are still taking baby steps into the space with miniscule budgets.
2. It’s time to stop experimenting and get serious about mobile.
3. Consumer behavior is shifting rapidly. Consumers now have access to better devices with more intuitive interfaces, faster speeds and more content on the mobile Web.
4. Let’s not repeat our Web mistakes. If branded social networks aren’t successful on the Web, we should think twice about creating them for mobile.
5. Mobile is not the Web, and one must keep in mind physical-device limitations, screen resolutions, carrier network speeds and browser capabilities. Repurposing content from one medium to another usually doesn’t work. Just as a TV commercial doesn’t neatly become an online experience, a Web campaign can’t migrate to mobile without first evolving.
6. There are, however, some opportunities within mobile that agency creatives need to leverage. It provides location and time sensitivity.
7. For mobile to reach its full potential and ensure consistent campaign messaging and experiences, it must be integrated into the cross-media mix.
8. Mobile is the most ubiquitous medium out there and will revolutionize social interaction and marketing communications. Unfortunately, like the early Web, it is stuck in a catch-22. In 1999, Web budgets were slow to take off, and there was no quick payoff for brands launching into the space.
9. Likewise, agencies should already be investing in mobile capabilities, rather than waiting until clients start shifting budgets.

Some straight to the point talk from Richard Ting - and he is on the button with this post. This is the same as what Chris Rolfe covers in his post on “A multi channel strategy is emerging”

Here is the link to the article.

Check out Richard Ting’s BLOG Flytip.com - its has some awesome content on what is happeing in the mobile domain.