The Benefits of Rich Media in Mobile Advertising

by Amy Vale

Publishers often ask us “what is the real benefit of rich media mobile advertising?” Some people aren’t clear exactly what it is, so we thought we would give you the rundown. It is important for you to know about rich media so you make an informed decision when choosing which multimedia features to include in your mobile advertising campaigns. We think it is vital to get on board the rich media bandwagon.

Rich media allows multimedia applications to be encapsulated in different virtual mobile contexts, including mobile Web browsing or mobile applications. It offers multimedia experiences to users that go beyond simply displaying text, static pictures and animations or video. It allows users to enter media elements, for example, ad banners by extending them across the page, creating a larger surface area for the display of information and interaction.

And, what are the benefits? Rich media advertising offers the advantage of creating an exciting user experience and the ability to convey information to the user more effectively than conventional display advertising. A format characterized by the use of sophisticated graphics, animation or streamlining video provides an immersive user experience, enabling advertisers to effectively reach consumers and inspire interaction with the brand. One of the other major selling points for rich media units is that they allow users to interact with the ad without having to leave the app, rather than clicking through to a mobile browser.

Agencies and publishers love the attractive and eye-catching features of the rich media advertisements, and this has shown to result in higher interaction and conversion rates than standard mobile banners, facilitating user interaction and brand engagement.

Research now shows that some major US retailers have experienced massive increases in click-through rates when switching to rich media mobile advertising – take for example, a 357% jump seen by a popular luxury auto manufacturer, a 455% increase for a quick service restaurant and a 214% upswing seen by an athletics manufacturer. The statistics are convincing!

Other benefits for consumer user data that have been identified include:
• Features like expandable banners are effective in collecting consumer responses.
• Consumers have the flexibility to switch between rich media and the core content.
• Customer engagement can be measured at all times regardless of exposure or interaction.
• It can also help publishers gain insight into user behavior.

The huge rising in the popularity of the tablet represents an even bigger opportunity for rich media because of the larger screens and ability to interact more easily with ads. Have a chat to one of the experts at Mocean Mobile who are helping some of the biggest content producers all over the world maximize revenue through mobile.

Explosion of the Tablet - Watch Out!

by Melissa Michael 

Research is showing that just 18 months after the introduction of the iPad, 11% of adults in the United States now own a tablet of some kind. What is more, like we have said before, Forrester research estimates that tablet sales in the U.S. are expected to double from 26 million this year to more than 50 million in 2012. Never before has something taken off this quickly and expected to double in such a short space of time. With such rising popularity, it has become essential for businesses to discuss and implement mobile strategy, however we are now seeing that mobile strategy is not a one size fits all approach. It is important to understand how each device is used, and who uses it, to best develop a mobile strategy.

Smartphones and tablets are similar in many ways. Both have touch screens and apps, and in most cases they even run the same operating systems, however the two mobile devices are also very different devices when it comes to how people use them.

Here are some of the facts: more than 84% of American adults own feature phones , 38% of those people own a smartphone. Smartphone owners use the devices in a variety of situations but most commonly rely on their phone throughout the day, at different times, and for a few minutes or seconds at a time. Some of the most common situations are while shopping, commuting or waiting in line.

Compare this with tablet users. Most people use their tablet at home as opposed to ‘on the go’ like a smartphone. According to a Nielsen report, over half the time people spend using tablets occurs in bed or watching TV. We see that usage peaks early in the morning and in the evenings. Tablet users are more likely to utilize the device to access books, TV shows, movies and magazines. Tablet users are therefore relying on their mobile device for longer periods of time each use, as opposed to smartphone users who utilize their device often but for short bursts of time.

So, now that you have a better understanding of how a person uses the two mobile devices, what does this mean for mobile strategy?

One important lesson we are being told is that we need one product for the person who’s on the go and seeking information related to their locations, and you need another product for someone unwinding at home after a long day. Everything from the site, the type of text used, an app with text, display and rich media advertising may differ depending on which device it has been created for.

The data shows that you must have different strategies and truly different products to serve the needs of smartphone and tablet users. Examine your own tablet and smartphone audiences and really think about who uses it, and how it is being used.

Prominent Retailers Leading The Way in Tech Shopping Boom

By Melissa Michael 

A recent Chadwick Martin Bailey study showed that smartphones are now a significant aspect of the shopping experience - over 50% of today’s estimated 69.5 million smartphone users in the U.S. use their device while shopping. As consumers get more tech-savvy and reliant on their smartphones and mobile devices, retailers have had to develop increasingly more sophisticated digital systems and programs to keep up with the wave of the mobile shopping phenomenon. This holiday season is going to unveil some of the latest initiatives and developments in the mobile app shopping world from some leading retailers.

Wal-Mart recently announced one of its latest ideas – a superior iPhone app that enables users to add shopping list items by speaking, typing or scanning bar codes. It also provides the price, local store availability and, in select stores, aisle location of those items. Likewise, Apple unveiled new app features, one of which allows shoppers to purchase a product through the app and then proceed to picking it up at a store.

Another example of innovative social media and mobile advertising campaigns is Macy’s augmented reality campaign which has just launched, in time for the Holiday season. Previously Macy’s asked customers to mail their Make-A-Wish Foundation Santa letters. This year, consumers mailing their letters at Macy’s “Believe Stations” in-store can take photos with the campaign’s animated stars. Macy's Believe-o-Magic app was created and developed to run across mobile Web, tablet, Web and Facebook. Consumers can get instructions via the app which allows them to step into the frame and take a photo, which can also be uploaded into a holiday card template to share with friends and family via email or Facebook.

Retailers have realized that consumers are tapping into "turbo-charged technology," as Candace Corlett, president of consultancy WSL Strategic Retail explained it. “Shoppers want to compare prices, receive discount offers, buy products and even get in-store maps through their handheld devices”.

The data around people using their mobile devices and tablets for shopping activities is now well established. As a reminder, a study from comScore showed that 63% of tablet owners have made a purchase with their device and 31% of mobile owners have used their smartphones. This isn’t anything that new anymore. Many retailers know that consumers are using their mobile devices and tablets to make purchases and compare prices, what they do with that information now is the critical point.

To better serve the tech-savvy holiday shopper, 50% of leading retailers in the US have significantly invested in mobile-optimized websites, according to the NRF's Shop.org digital unit. One in five retailers have invested funds in creating tablet apps with innovative ideas such as the Wal-mart and Macy’s mobile innovation. The important thing to remember is that it is not just about creating any app – it must be a successful one. According to Dan Shust, head of innovation at digital marketing agency Resource Interactive, "a successful app has a great deal of utility or entertainment or some combination of the two.”

Cortlett has stated that retail strategy has become “a high-pressure game” and retail businesses need to get on board quickly with mobile advertising and app world innovations or risk being left behind in the wake of this tech-shopping boom.

Mojiva Inc and Microsoft enter Global Agreement

Excellent news announced today for both Mocean Mobile and Microsoft Advertising!

Microsoft  Advertising has chosen Mocean Mobile to help power their push into mobile ad sales.  As reported on the Microsoft Advertising blog  “…This agreement will provide mobile developers and publishers a true global “one stop shop” for monetizing their mobile advertising inventory with comprehensive, easy-to-use and well-documented ad solutions for Windows Phone, iOS, and Android apps as well as mobile browse..”

Microsoft is yet another major mobile publisher that is utilizing the Mocean Mobile platform, and is committed to giving its sales team and mobile marketers the most comprehensive display advertising technology available.

We’re proud of the mobile ad server we’ve created as it’s providing Microsoft the ability to serve rich media from almost every RM provider in the industry, detailed forecasting, to allow sales teams to sell inventory with complete confidence and enhanced reporting to ensure campaigns are delivering with precision.

In addition, the global agreement also outlines a strategic relationship between the Mojiva Ad network and the host of Microsoft properties through The Microsoft Ad Exchange for Mobile.  Exciting stuff for all involved!    

For more information, email hello@moceanmobile.com

Upgraded Mocean Mobile SDK Gives Developers More

The upgraded Mocean Mobile Universal SDK gives developers more revenue making opportunities with expanded rich media and ad network plug-ins.

Mocean Mobile recently released an update to their universal software development kit (SDK). We’ve been listening to the developer community which has been asking for more flexibility in who they can rely on for ad fill and unique display ad units. I’m proud to say, the latest release is a much lighter version and was written to give a much greater range of choices.

Benefits of the upgraded Mocean Mobile universal SDK include:

·         Streamlining of the 3^rd party library integration, ensuring minimal payload upon application downloads and launch.

·         Access to 50+ 3^rd party, server side integrations.

·         Integration with any 3^rd party SDK for additional reach/functionality; opening more opportunities to work with partners at any level of relationship – from backfill to direct sales. 

·         ORMMA/MRAID compliance, ensuring rich media support across the board.

So what does this mean?

It means that developers who rely on Mocean Mobile’s MAST for Publishers platform to monetize their display ad space can plug in any number of a wide variety of mobile ad networks, display ad networks or other server side fill partners. As we all know, in the fast moving rich media market, publishers are often asked to accommodate different rich media vendors from one ad campaign to another. This latest SDK release enables developers to utilize any leading rich media vendor as they wish. 

Some of the rich media partnerships that app developers can leverage with Mocean Mobile include Celtra, Sprout, Crisp, Meteor Group, Phluant Mobile, EyeWonder, and Rich Mob, just to name a few.

As for the server-side integrations, here is just a random snap shot of the 50+ 3^rd parties our app developers can utilize; Adfonic, Admob, ATTiBusiness, Brightroll, City Search, DoubleClick, iAds, iVdopia, Nexage, TAPTAP, WHERE, and Yellowpages.

We think it’s critical for developers to have this flexibility in order to maximize their potential for display ad monetization. So far, the reaction to our new SDK has been very positive. Lets us hear your thoughts.

For questions on the updated Mocean Mobile universal SDK, please email avale@moceanmobile.com.

Are You Ready for the Mobile Migration?

by John White, Business Development, Mocean Mobile

Having worked in digital media for almost 15 years I find it hard to focus too long on any one topic so for my first blog I’d like to highlight a few topics of interest based on some compelling research presented by Mary Meeker, famous in our industry and once proclaimed the “Queen of the Internet” by Barron’s and now a partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins et al.

If you haven’t already, check out the “Top Mobile Internet Trends”  presentation given by Ms. Meeker and Matt Murphy this past February, then consider the implications for your business, and the opportunities for your business in the mobile space. Here are a few choice morsels…

The Tablet Market is Exploding

“iPods Changed the Media Industry…iPhones Ramped Even Faster…iPad Leaves its “Siblings” in the Dust”

We all likely thought the ipod and iphone were game changers in their categories - right?   Well when comparing them to mobile devices – which include feature phones, smart phones and “connected devices” – the ipod and iphone are nothing compared to the iPad. 15MM units shipped in 2010. Projections for 2012 are for 45MM!  And 60MM for the tablet market in general.

I finally got an ipad 2 a few months ago and have been using it pretty much daily since.  I’m a big fan of several publisher apps including the NYPost, The Weather Channel Max+, and several others. To me, most compelling is the opportunity for newspapers to re-invent themselves leveraging their local content possibilities to an app format -  I know the business models are being worked on but here I think content is in fact king, so it’ll be all about execution. No doubt a lot of trees will be spared as they get it right.  BTW the ads look great, usually have interactive elements as well (and I’m not saying this cause this is a Mocean Mobile ad serving web site blog, just tellin it like it is…) Oh, and I’m a fan of The Daily too…very cool mix of newspaper, tv and magazine elements in one. $40 for a year’s subscription is worth it.

There’s fantastic potential for the magazine industry as well.  For example, take a look at Vanity Fair. They have started to dabble with video features, and their photography exhibits are expansive and fantastic. Imagine any magazine of interest to you and you can likely think of the possibilities beyond printed words or pictures on a page.  Yes, they have tried things online but a tablet allows for mobility and a similar “magazine like” portability reading experience so magazine publishers should be energized by the possibilities.

There’s an App for That

“iTunes Changed the Media (Music) Industry…App Store Growth Leaves it in the Dust”

Yes,  the ubiquitous app explosion continues. The projected total # of downloaded app’s this year is estimated at 18.1 Billion and to reach over 30 Billion+ by 2014” (check out – Apple Dominates as Paid Apps are Moving on Up)

We all have our favorite apps. I’ve mentioned a few media apps already, but some others I’m fond of include Trulia, Groupon, Trip Advisor, Bank of America, Nightly News (Brian Williams, he’s a Jersey guy, like me, sooo…), Photogene, Woodstock, CNBC RT many many others.  Check out appshopper.com – great site to find all kinds of apps, and yes of course they have an app too.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention cablevision’s app – Optimum for iPad – it ties into my home cable system via wifi and I get HDTV to my ipad with every cable channel, combo’d with video on demand too - very cool.

Ramping up for Mobile

-          Time Shift – Murphy / Meeker have a slide in their deck that says “Global Mobile Data Traffic Should Grow 26x Over Next 5 Years. 26X!” 

That’s a big prognostication – huge.  There’s a slide in the presentation for a Japanese social media company called Mixi “Japan’s leading social network”. What’s amazing is that in just four years the site’s ratio of online traffic to mobile traffic went from 85% and 15% respectively to the exact opposite 15% and 85% by Q4 of last year.  Interestingly we’ve seen similar trends for some US sites depending on the type of content they have.

My impression is that, for some companies, this shift (which may or may not be coming at the expense of their online traffic) has taken them by surprise. A welcome surprise in many cases.  Particularly for us at Mocean Mobile, because now they need to figure out how to best monetize their revenue on the new inventory they have and are calling us for help on how to do that.

No doubt if you have a smart phone or a tablet you’ve found yourself spending more time looking at some sites on your tablet that you normally would look at on your desktop.  So it’s likely that those sites are seeing spikes in their mobile traffic as well, and are starting to ramp efforts to monetize.  Since the mobile ad market is projected to be $3B+ this year vs $55B for the online market it will grow exponentially as marketers follow the eyeballs, and if those sites which are experiencing a surge in mobile traffic aren’t ramping efforts, they likely will be. 


The mobile marketplace in all respects is a bit like a hurricane - Category 3 or 4 (or would Meeker/Murphy argue Cat 5?) forcing people to take notice and adjust accordingly.  (Apologies for the Hurricane analogy but couldn’t resist given that I am going on Day 6 without power at home – thank you Irene.)

The Mobile Diamond in the Rough

by John Katsos, Senior Sales Engineer, Mocean Mobile

Near Field Communications (NFC) isn’t the only way to make money from mobile devices. Even though it is currently one of the hottest topics in the mobile industry, there are other ways to leverage the ever increasing number of smartphones out there. So where else can people invest? What is the next can't miss industry? How can I get a step ahead of the competition? Mobile advertising.

According to Gartner, the mobile ad revenues are expected to double this year from last from $1.6 Bn to $3.3 Bn. They are forecasting growth to $20.6 Bn by 2015. Clearly there is money to be made and holes to fill.  If you can develop, or if  you have a site which draws traffic online, why not create a mobile version and find a white label, self serve advertising solution? 

The key to white labeling is that it's your company that customers see. You can “create” your own secure ad network out of the box, white label it and suddenly you have your own customized ad server. You don't need to create this functionality yourself and staff a product support team. You can allow advertisers and publisher to manage their own mobile ad campaigns. You can take payments by credit card, or even paypal. The rest is up to you.

Some of these white label solutions even have different ad networks already integrated in their platform so that you can seamlessly populate unsold ad slots from other ad networks, no one will ever know, and your fill rate will be higher than the rest. All they see is your name and brand across the site. NFC may be the hot topic, but white labeling your mobile optimized site is the hidden diamond in the rough.

Geo-Location: The Key to Unlocking Mobile Value

by Grahm Mosley, VP Platform Solutions, Mocean Mobile

Mobile smartphones have changed our lives.  Texting, social, weather, news and games at your fingertips when you are “on the go”.  Last year a Pew Research Center study found that 83% of Millennials (18-29 yr old) like to keep their phone within reach while sleeping.  A stat that I don’t find surprising at all, partially because it’s also my alarm clock.  Our phones are with us at all times, which means that the content and ads that we consume are also “on the go”.

For the first time a unique users’ hyperlocal geolocation is available for one-to-one marketing.  This is the holy grail of impulse marketing.  A city street corner targeted “buy now” coupon banner ad for coffee or some targeted item is the classic example.  Are marketers doing this now?  Is your business being left behind?  Can a store target every person that walks down their storefront street?

The quick answer is “no”, at least not at scale.  There are a couple of challenges that have staved off the adoption of this hyper-local advertising, namely that not all mobile ad calls are created equal. Normally, ad requests that come from standard mobile web browsing only contain the same level of targeting as a home desktop computer, gateway IP address.

Application based requests from platforms such as iOS and Android will contain city corner level GPS data only if the user allows the application.  This significantly reduces the scale that a marketer can leverage this hyper local targeting.  It’s also possible for a publisher to collect profile information such as address or zip code, but this won’t give you location of a user at a given moment. 

Even with this access to hyper-local, it’s difficult for marketers to effectively craft campaigns to leverage this at reasonable scale.  Most marketers are still buying on DMA basis and targeting platforms (iOS, Android, RIM, etc) and carriers.  Some publishers that have access to granular geo information are using mobile based ad servers to offer agencies very targeted campaigns, but this has not become accessible across the entire ecosystem.

Geo targeting is intrinsic to mobile advertising and will be a cornerstone to maximizing the value in this medium.  There will likely be a number of changes during the next year that will affect what publishers and marketers are allowed to do.  It is important that the partners and technology vendors that you choose to work with, allow you to leverage this information and provide you with the proper guidance on best practices.

“Monetization” – The Most Important Word in Digital Media

by Steve Anson, Director of Business Development, Mocean Mobile

In its simplest form, the word monetization is defined as the process of converting or establishing something into currency. Defined in a digital context, the term refers to the generation of revenue streams from an owned property through the means of advertising or a method of e-commerce. Sounds powerful, doesn’t it? Toss a couple of those words in a deck with a few green numbers and you’ll cruise through the monthly review meeting like a hero in a parade.

New revenue streams are always positive, but what needs to be considered are the measures of that which is being left on the table and, going a step further, the degree of value that is being delivered to the end user.  Remember, at the end of the day, value delivered directly correlates to bottom-line revenue.

The beautiful thing about the mobile industry is that it has the potential to bring never-before-seen value to digital advertising. Having a commerce-enabled Starbucks ad served based on geo-location when a user is looking for an iced coffee on 38^th and Madison is quite remarkable. Mobile ad serving technology sits at the core of this movement and allows publishers of mobile content to put an engine in place that will push the most valuable ad available to the end user in an instant.

But what does this engine look like? How powerful and intelligent is it really? Will it allow publishers to rest easy knowing that even while they sleep, a fleet of servers is ensuring that the most valuable ad available is being called and pushed to a device according to prioritization rules they have put in place? 

Mobile publishers need to start peeling back layers of the onion and re-evaluating the ad serving solutions they are currently working with. The mobile industry is moving fast and it is essential that the proper technology is put in place today so that your sales team doesn’t get left in the dust, unable to sell and “monetize” their inventory effectively.

Given the power of mobile devices, your ad server should be able to deliver on your needs.  Being told “we aren’t able to target with that level of granularity” or “unfortunately we can’t serve those types of ads” is unacceptable. I bet there is a company out there that can do it all and has redefined the mobile ad serving standard; you just need to take a leap and give them a call.  

Contact Mocean Mobile to learn more about how you can monetize your mobile networks.