Medialets currently supports more than 20 billion monthly impressions.

Consequently, the savvy firm is promising with no shortage of credibility to deliver significant efficiency to buying premium inventory at scale, uniquely providing agencies and advertisers with a platform that supports direct, guaranteed and reserved buys in addition to real time bidding (RTB) with full transparency on a per placement basis.

The new platform grants advertisers complete control at every stage of the campaign process–offering flexible purchasing options, a centralized repository for ad specs and placement data, the full spectrum of display ad units, campaign management and delivery, and comprehensive performance reports–all through a single point of contact.

“Medialets has worked closely with the world’s leading brands, agencies and publishers to set an exceptionally high bar for creative, high-value rich media advertising on smartphones and tablets,” says said Eric Litman, CEO of Medialets. “Along the way, we’ve gained a unique perspective into both the factors that make mobile the world’s most powerful advertising medium, as well as those operational details that challenge agencies to profitably build their mobile businesses at pace with client demand. The launch of Medialets Private Marketplace represents a critical milestone in simplifying large-scale brand buying in mobile, and gives publishers the full control to manage, grow and enrich their most valuable advertiser partnerships.”

The following is a guest post by Dan Trigub, VP Business Development at Blue Bite.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending OMMA Global West 2011 in San Francisco. OMMA Global West is part of an annual conference and event series put on by MediaPost Communications, with a focus “on the user-generated disruptions that are forcing all media and marketing institutions to rethink and reorganize,” as stated by its official website.  Unlike most conferences, OMMA speaks to the media buyers and marketing institutions, arguably the most important audience of the mobile marketing ecosystem. One thing that we in the mobile space tend to forget, no matter how great our technology and value proposition, the media buyers and agency people often drive innovation and adoption through their checkbooks and budgets they control.  With that in mind, I came away from the conference confident that we as an industry have forced those with the checkbooks to rethink what media channels are important.  However, the major media agencies still need to reorganize for the mobile marketing industry to advance.

During the conference, I had the pleasure of attending a Q&A session featuring the CEO of one of the world’s largest full service media agencies.  The goal of the session was to discuss some of the latest tools and trends in mobile, social media, and other modern forms of communication that are important for media buyers and planners.  The thesis of the session was that media buying used to be straightforward (think traditional media – TV, Print and Radio) and a one-way affair where marketers pushed messages at consumers hoping that they would respond by buying their products.  Sitting in the audience I had the unique opportunity to see the mobile marketing industry through the eyes of one of the single biggest media buyers, a person that we in the mobile marketing space try to get in front of for a chance to showcase our mobile marketing solution.

During the session, I could not help but take advantage of this opportunity and propose a question to the speaker.  Providing some context for my question I said, “We [mobile marketing solutions providers] spend a lot of time meeting with agencies and media buyers such as yours, and a major challenge we face is that mobile, unlike traditional media (TV, Print & Radio), cannot perform to its true potential as a standalone solution.  We integrate our technology with other forms of media (digital, traditional, etc.) in order to bridge the mobile experience.  However, given how media agencies are structured today, it is very hard for them to buy media across multiple platforms. Today they work in very finite quadrants – whether just digital, out-of-home, online or mobile, and struggle to figure out which budget an integrated media buy should come from.  When we come in with an integrated solution, their heads begin to spin and they look at us as if we are aliens from another planet.”  I went on to ask what he recommends that we [and the mobile marketing industry as a whole] should do in order to overcome this challenge and successfully sell solutions across multiple platforms.  To my surprise, he looked at me and responded that he had no real answer and was frustrated about this very issue himself.  If the CEO of one of the largest media buying agencies does not have an answer, what are we to do? How are we to advance mobile marketing?

Reflecting upon the presenter’s response, it became clear to me that the major media buying agencies are structured (for better or for worse) in a fashion that makes it very hard for them to be innovative and drive change that is so critical to the Mobile Marketing industry.  The crux of the problem is that they have been organized into divisions to support traditional media channels. These divisions do not talk with one another – making a media buy across multiple platforms and budgets nearly impossible.  Likewise, these organizations continue to be focused solely on traditional media metrics such as impressions and CPM, and at times do not consider the quality or effectiveness of the interaction for brands they are hired to represent (caring more about the top-line metrics).  In an age of DVR technology, (according to Nielsen as of September 2010 DVR ownership stood at 38% of all US TV households) where many Americans barely watch a television commercial and spend most of their time consuming media out of the home – it seems like a waste of client money to be spending nearly all of it on TV advertising buys and yet it happens all the time. This is just one example of a weakness in traditional media in today’s world.

Recently MAGNAGLOBAL released its 2011 advertising forecast and the data was mind-boggling.  It shocked me that even though mobile and digital-out-of-home are predicted to be the highest growth segments of advertising, growing at a 20% and 15% CAGR respectively from 2011 to 2016, they are predicted to remain the smallest in real dollars, representing 1.2% and 0.9% of TOTAL advertising dollars by 2016, respectively.  To me, this is absolutely absurd, but can become reality if the major media buying agencies (one of the key drivers of these trends) fail to realize the importance of non-traditional media channels such as mobile and digital-out-of-home.

To be fair, it is certainly not all doom and gloom for the mobile advertising industry, but there are two key things that need to continue to happen.  First, and as the presenter at OMMA suggested in my one-on-one conversation with him after his session, the vendors of mobile advertising solutions need to continue to pound on the doors of and meet with key agency people.  It is our job to continue to show our value proposition and demonstrate success with quality case studies that demonstrate why brands need to reach their target demographic via mobile.  Likewise, it is important to continue to show the value of bridging other forms of media with mobile and therefore prove that the various media divisions cannot continue to operate as independent silos.  Unlike traditional media, it is important in today’s world to combine the media that people know and see every day with their most personal device – the mobile phone.  See my recent post on iMedia Communications to learn more.

Finally, in order to get the largest and most traditional agencies to change, the smaller more agile agencies need to continue to drive this very innovation and lead the charge.  One of the agencies leading this movement today is Chicago based Legacy Marketing Partners who also happens to be a partner of Blue Bite.  Legacy sees the importance of including a 360-degree approach to client campaigns and melds mobile, digital and social into one cohesive strategy that extends reach, measurement and budget.  Likewise, many of these innovative agencies are hiring cross-platform specialists who work across a number of formats including print, digital, mobile and online.

Barbara Maldonado is exactly this type of specialist for Legacy Marketing.  Barbara is Legacy’s Social Media + Mobile Strategist with more than twelve years work experience in digital, experiential, mobile and social media marketing for Fortune 500 brands.  It is Barbara’s job to focus on social media and digital engagement extensions of Legacy’s agency projects. Barbara notes, “As a member of the Creative team at Legacy, I work across many of the client projects and sit in the concepting meetings that yield the work that Legacy delivers for our clients.  I am tasked with not only staying apprised of evolving technology and building relationships with providers such as Blue Bite that can bring a great offering to our campaigns, but I also need to be able to communicate and educate agency staff on the capabilities of such emerging technologies.  By educating them on the technologies that seamlessly fit into their campaign concept, they can better communicate how digital and mobile extensions build the success of the program while confirming its effectiveness.”  Barbara goes on to say, “The agency you are working with may not be the digital or mobile Agency of Record, but educating them on how your technology can support their campaign’s objectives and understanding their role within these large programs, you will be able to build a stronger relationship between yourself and your agency prospects.”

When building a relationship with an agency, Barbara recommends providing case studies that are applicable to the agency’s capabilities and/or the category they are working with.  Oftentimes agencies will use those very case studies as points of reference to build support for technology integration.  Barbara also suggests to make sure to share your latest news and platform upgrades with your agency prospects as they are continually looking for ways to increase their program success and technology integration within all of the client programs – “educate them on how to make their programs smarter and measurable for their clients and you will definitely see the benefits,” Barbara adds.

Just like it took time for the major media agencies to see the value of online advertising, it will continue to take time for them to understand the value of mobile marketing.  I guarantee that when the first proponents of paid search or online video advertising sat in the offices of some of the world’s largest full service media agencies they were looked at like aliens from another planet.  However, we as an industry must continue to meet with the ones with the checkbooks, advocate the value of our services, and not be frustrated or discouraged by their old ways.  At the same time we must look to the first movers, like Legacy Marketing, to see the potential of the future and together drive the change and reorganization we so desperately need in the agency world.

About the Author

Dan joined Blue Bite as VP of Business Development in March 2009. Dan is responsible for business development, marketing, operations, finance, and corporate strategy.  Dan joins Blue Bite with over 6 years of early stage startup, finance and marketing experience. Most recently Dan held the title of investment banking Associate at GCA Savvian, a firm principally focused on providing M&A advisory and capital markets services globally in the digital media space among others. Previously he worked at Analysis Group, a leading financial, economic and strategy consulting firm in Washington, D.C.  Dan has a B.S. in Economics from Vassar College.

Company Website: www.BlueBite.com
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Preceding the announcement, Greystripe said it’s already run over 50 campaigns with marquee brands across every European country, including the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.  In Germany, for example, Greystripe partnered with madvertise — a leading network for mobile banner ads in German-speaking markets — and has since already realized many successful rich media campaigns, including ads for “many popular blockbusters,” according to the release.  Other ad networks the company has partnered with for the expansion include Hi-media Advertising and Mobile Ventures.

“We’re excited to partner with Greystripe, and offer its rich media ads and premium inventory to a European audience,” said Olivier Gonzalez, head of Hi-media Advertising. “These new formats and creative are very appealing, and thus attract new advertisers and increase their communication performance.”

Greystripe has been successful with it’s iAd-like “immersion ads” that take rich media mobile advertising to a whole new level.  The company says it currently serves ads into more than 2,500 application titles and mobile websites, supporting over 1,400 handset models globally.  “Greystripe has seen demand for its rich media ads in Europe take off over the past few months,” said Greystripe CEO Michael Chang. “The market is about a year behind the U.S., but the gap is closing fast.  We estimate that we will run over 300 rich media campaigns this year in Europe alone. “

“Although we have been providing monetization services for current Windows Mobile developers, we have now extended a toolkit for developers to much more easily integrate ads into their applications, while providing rich and engaging experiences to the advertisers across all Windows Phone 7 Applications,” the company said in its post.

A beta version of the SDK has been making the rounds with developers over the last few months, and the official launch version promises all the same functionality offered in similar SDKs for Android and iOS devices.  Some of the features for mobile advertisers found in all of the company’s SDKs include:

• A fully supported Silverlight and XNA SDK
• Rich set up development tools to insert ads where and how the developer chooses, while still providing easy integration
• Full Rich Media Support for Silverlight applications
• Interactive Ad Units for Agencies and Creative Shops
• Interstitial Ad Support for Silverlight applications

The following is a guest post from Jeannette Kocsis — senior vice president of digital marketing at The Agency Inside Harte-Hanks.  She has contributed to Social Media Marketing for Dummies and Mobile Marketing for Dummies.  She was named to Mobile Marketer’s Women to Watch 2010 list and serves on the DMA Mobile Marketing Council.  Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE:HHS), San Antonio, TX, is a worldwide, direct and targeted marketing company that provides direct marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to a wide range of local, regional, national and international consumer and business-to-business marketers.  Contact Kocsis at (845) 339-0022 or via e-mail.

While mobile is best viewed from a multichannel perspective, the relevance and value of the channel in and of itself is clear.  Mobile, as a delivery mechanism, may be exactly the right way to communicate specific offers.

While many brands are moving from test campaigns to mobile messaging as a way to reach customers with relevant communications, marketers are often challenged by the complex rules of engagement and various options available through mobile.  What are the trends and best practices for ensuring that mobile is an effective marketing tool?

LOCATION-BASED:  Location-based marketing is one of the greatest values of mobile.  With Foursquare at more than four million users and growing rapidly, it’s obvious that consumers are onboard with letting others know where they are.  Facebook’s offers at check-in bring considerably more opportunity, with more than 150 million mobile users with the check-in feature pre-installed in their mobile applications.

Companies need to pay attention.  They may already be getting check-ins at their   locations and should be thinking about whether this presents an opportunity.  On other levels, location-based marketing gives marketers the ability to send offers to people as they are walking into a store (if they are opted in).  That said, we as marketers have to be mindful of how the rules of marketing apply and need to question the timing of such offers.

MOBILE SITES:  With smartphone usage estimated at 28% market penetration in the U.S. – with 41% smartphone penetration in recent sales – every company needs a mobile site.  But marketers should be thinking about what the end users need on their phones rather than just “mobile enabling” existing web sites.  The important features, such as locators tied to mapping software, or other tools that help consumers get information quickly are key elements to consider for a mobile site.  A marketer can always include a link to the full web site for people with phones that are capable of seeing the whole site and who may need more information.  Mobile sites require a strategy – and probably user research as well – to make the most of them.

MOBILE APPS: Mobile applications are great ways to engage customers and provide content using the built-in technology of the phone.  But some companies forget that they need to market their applications.  The application stores are full and sometimes it’s difficult for consumers to find what they want.  App marketers need to ensure their intended customer can find their applications.  It may make sense to use an SMS strategy to do that, to let customers know how to search for the application when they are in consideration mode.

SMS:  Short message service (SMS) is becoming more main stream for multiple generations of users.  But SMS is more than delivering a coupon or a store event alert.  Using SMS is about creating meaningful marketing campaigns that use this method of communicating because of its timeliness and relevance.  Marketers should consider how customers could text questions to them or get alerts that help them with their busy lives.  The possibilities are endless but the two most important considerations are these: 1) be sure you have permission to send text messages, and 2) have a mobile strategy in place that provides relevant content that is meaningful to the recipient.

Mobile marketing is no longer an emerging trend – it is one that is already here.  As the mobile industry moves quickly and new technologies continue to evolve, regulations and guidelines are likely to evolve as well.  A word to the wise: it is vital to stay on top of this industry by getting involved.  Mobile marketers should join the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the DMA Mobile Marketing Council and attend events that are dedicated to furthering the industry.

Above all, remember that at the end of the day, the consumer will decide whether to participate and remain in mobile programs.  Sophisticated marketers will keep best practices in mind to get the most out of their marketing investments.

The idea behind the program is to “empower the creative community to build high impact mobile rich media ads for the most widely deployed ad platform by giving advertisers the creative control they want, while enabling scale for this rapidly growing space.”  The new program is launching today in beta with some impressive agency and creative companies on board, including AKQA, AvatarLabs, The Hyperfactory, MRM Worldwide, Ogilvy North America, Razorfish, Southern Realm, Theorem, and The Visionaire Group.

“Medialets Create will be an extremely valuable product for agencies and the mobile marketing industry. We believe that opening up access to these kinds of development platforms to the larger community fosters innovation and creates superior experiences for consumers,” said Paul Gelb, director, mobile practice lead at Razorfish.

This is a great concept from Medialets, Rich Media is undoubtedly the future yet brands still seem resistant.  Education on the proper techniques and technologies necessary to create effective rich media campaigns is a great first step to overcoming this barrier.  Medialets believes the industry needs a more open approach to ad creation, and I think we’d all agree.

The company says its services are used by brands in over 15 industries, with focus on quick service restaurants (QSR), retail, travel, technology and consumer packaged goods (CPG).  In terms of campaign mix, Hipcricket revealed that more than half the brands it works with chose SMS as a primary means to reach an audience (55%), with nearly half (45%) choosing display through mobile Web and mobile application banners.  The company also said that over 50% of its mobile campaigns are from repeat customers.

“Brands and agencies trust Hipcricket for their mobile advertising because of the unmatched breadth of our capabilities across strategic, creative and technical disciplines.  We are truly a full service shop that can work within each of our clients’ marketing objectives,” said Hipcricket President and Chief Operating Officer, Eric Harber.  “Our mobile advertising network’s growth has been driven by results—our clients are more engaged with their customers and are realizing and exceeding their business objectives.”

The company also reports that it’s surpassed an industry-leading 75,000 campaigns for brands, agencies and media properties alike, including campaigns for brands such as Arby’s, Macy’s, Nestle, KFC, HBO, Staples, Hershey’s, Alaska Airlines and Clear Channel, among others.  The company has worked hard to develop one of the first comprehensive permission-based mobile ad networks, which gives brands and agencies access to over 100 million unique users across its national footprint.  As an example, the company recently hooked up with Scanbuy to add a mobile barcode offering to its already full portfolio.

The mobile channel, however, showed the strongest growth in terms of brand interest — increasing 91% from Q1 2010 — but interest in location-based advertising fell short once again, with 57.4% of brands saying the concept wont be in their plans for 2011.  Those that are utilizing location are choosing Facebook Places (24%) or Foursquare (22%), according to the survey.

What interesting is that nearly all agencies surveyed (97%) said their clients aren’t requesting platforms like iAd.  Apple’s foray into mobile advertising looks to be reserved for big-name national brands, and that’s exactly what Apple intended from the beginning.  Still, it’s interesting to see such blatant non-interest from advertisers on such a well-hyped platform.

Still, of those diving into the mobile channel, the iPhone remains the top choice with 82.7 percent of respondents targeting the device.  Android is quickly catching up, however, as it’s showing a 9 percent boost since last quarter, with 50% of advertisers now choosing it over others.  Also interesting to note — while mobile display advertising is at the top of the list for clients choosing the mobile channel, SMS came in second with nearly a quarter of respondents saying SMS was a top priority for 2011 and beyond.

Sequence, the mega-agency behind brands like Chevron, Chipotle and Google was the design firm behind the iAd and said that “despite what’s been said in the press about working with Apple — and more specifically, with Mr. Jobs — the process of designing the Sonos iAd couldn’t have been better.”  However it followed that up by saying “getting it implemented and launched was another story, but you’ll have to buy us a beer to get the details on that one.”

At first I wondered why Sonos, a privately-held, seemingly smaller company would invest so heavily in iAds, but in looking at the big picture — the products they sell, they’re highly targeted audience of iPhone users and the highly engaging nature of iAds – it makes sense.  The iAd that Sequence created plays in nicely with all those elements and more.  ”Not only does our concept acknowledge that the people looking at the ad are holding iPhones in their hands, but it simultaneously speaks to the device’s role in accessing all the music they want through the Sonos Controller for iPhone,” the agency said in its post.

Sequence has had a lot of experience working with Apple on several levels.  It’s been selected to create iAds, it’s created several iPhone applications, and was even the design firm behind the impressive OpenTable iPad application.  In other words, it’s been immersed in the Apple ecosystem for quite some time, so in saying the creative process for iAds went smoothly speaks volumes.

Schafer will address how Location-Based Services are enabling marketers to migrate from a publisher mindset to a platform mindset in a media landscape without traditional inventory, where impressions are overtaken by value exchanges.  Adding location to the mix changes the entire dynamic for marketers, which requires a new approach and outlook on how to market to consumers in this evolving landscape.

“Location Based Marketing is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools brands can use to add significant value for their consumers, become wiser about their habits, and deliver more relevant messaging,” said Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus.  “The Location Based Marketing Summit brings together the brightest minds from all corners of the industry to discuss how we can harness the power of digital and mobile media to move people in the physical world, and bridge the divide between online and offline experiences.”

Any Mobile Marketing Watch readers who wish to attend the event can take advantage of a $250 instant discount off the current published rate of $695 by using the promo code “MMWVIP” during registration.