Mobile Location-Based Services Market to exceed $12bn by 2014

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The combination of smartphone proliferation, a surge in application storefront launches and new developments in hybrid positioning technologies are expected to help drive revenues from mobile location-based services (MLBS) to more than $12.7 billion by 2014, according to a new report from industry analysts at Juniper Research.

Advertising is likely to form an increasing share of MLBS-related revenues over the next five years

Advertising is likely to form an increasing share of MLBS-related revenues over the next five years

The Mobile Location Based Services report found that while MLBS had experienced in number of false dawns over the 2000-2007 period, improvements in handset user interfaces – exemplified by the iPhone – together with easier consumer access to an array of app distribution channels had led to greater interest from service providers in providing MLBS applications. In addition, growth was being further facilitated by the deployment of high capacity network infrastructure and attendant increases in mobile Internet adoption, providing greater opportunities for browser-based services.

Furthermore, the Juniper report noted that advertising was likely to form an increasing share of MLBS-related revenues over the next five years. According to report co-author Dr Windsor Holden, “Location-based applications are extremely interesting for brands and retailers in that they allow those companies to direct consumers to outlets in their vicinity while simultaneously providing information about the products on offer. When these are allied to measures such as mobile coupons and vouchers, you have the combination of information and financial incentive which can be compelling for consumers.”

Other findings from the Mobile Location Based Services Research include:

  • Improving the user experience of MLBS on feature phones will be key in driving usage beyond the core smartphone base
  • Despite the confluence of factors driving growth, deployments may still be affected by constraints including privacy and information security
  • While service usage will be highest in Far East & China over the next five years, greatest revenues will come from Western Europe

About this study

Juniper Research assesses the current and future status of mobile location-based services based on interviews, case studies and analysis from representatives of some of the leading organisations in this critical area of the mobile industry. Whitepaper and further details of the study ‘Mobile Location Based Services: Applications, Forecasts & Opportunities 2009-2014’ can be freely downloaded from http://www.juniperresearch.com.

Gen Y or Millennials: Marketing Tips

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by Claudia “Havi” Goffan

Most of us, marketers, are trying to engage the Millennials or Gen Y. Also, most marketers are still leery of Gen Y marketing techniques. Therefore, we need to keep understanding who they are, what they do, what they like and what they dislike.

Gen Y or Millennials: Marketing Tips: brief overview of the Millennials or Gen Y

  • Listen to them online 24/7 using Multicultural Market Intelligence Tools

    Listen to them online 24/7 using Multicultural Market Intelligence Tools

    Gen Y believes in the power of WE and is all-inclusive.

  • Gen Y is multicultural and 34% of Millennials are Hispanics.
  • Gen Y believes that customized options help define personal style.
  • Gen Y is hyper-connected.
  • Gen Y is married to mass media and goes online more than any other generation.
  • Gen Y uses cellphones as an extension of their own body.
  • The average Gen Y’er spends an average of 33 hours on social networks, 31 hours on email, and sends over 700 texts, every month.
  • Their status updates or messages to friends reach hundreds, and because of its instant repetition, they reach greater audiences almost instantly.
  • Gen Y loves communication tools – especially instant messages.
  • Gen Y is interested in social popularity or social status and most of them have not met many of their friends in person – ever.
  • Gen Y is the first generation that can actually measure its popularity.

Gen Y or Millennials: Marketing Tips – What can brands do?

  • Gen Y is hyper-connected

    Gen Y is hyper-connected

    Use their willingness to collaborate and include them in your efforts to build your brand. Once they are a part of it, they will help you share your message.

  • Talk to the Millennials that work for your company and include them on your advertising and PR efforts – they will help you deliver your message for free using their extensive networks.
  • Be mindful of their likes and dislikes when it comes to your brand because they can also share negative messages about it.
  • Remember that online video offers them immediacy, emotion, and interaction.
  • Listen to them online and engage them online 24/7 using Multicultural Market Intelligence Tools.
  • Use these insights to create great products.
  • Market to communities, but emphasize individuality.
  • Generate Word of Mouth: Let them discover your brand.
  • Be real and authentic to your audience in everything you do.

Now, the question becomes, are you truly listening to the Gen Y?

Fortune 500 companies getting into Twitter

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The Fortune 500’s use of blogs, online video, and podcasts continues to increase, but Twitter was the social media channel of choice in 2009, according to a study by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) and Financial Insite.

The study, “The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” was conducted by Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Research Chair of the Society for New Communications Research and Chancellor Professor of Marketing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Eric Mattson, CEO of Financial Insite Inc., a Seattle-based research firm.

Large number of Fortune 500 companies got into Twitter, report says

Large number of Fortune 500 companies got into Twitter, report says

The new report is the outcome of a statistically sound study of the Fortune 500. The study examined the 2009 Fortune 500 in an attempt to quantify their adoption of social media tools and technologies. This is the second year that Barnes and Mattson have tracked social media adoption among the Fortune 500, and theirs is the only statistically sound longitudinal study of its kind.

The 2009 study’s key findings include:

  • 22% (108) of the primary corporations listed in the 2009 Fortune 500 have a public-facing corporate blog. This represents a six percent increase over the 2008 study.
  • 86% of these blogs (93) link directly to a corporate twitter account, a 300% increase over the 2008 study. (Note: More Fortune 500 corporations have Twitter accounts, but do not link directly from their blogs.)
  • 35% (173) of the Fortune 500 have active Twitter accounts (a post within the past thirty days); and nearly 50% of the top 100 companies (47) have a Twitter account.
  • 80% — four of the top five corporations – Wal-Mart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and General Electric – consistently post on their Twitter accounts. The number one ranked company, Exxon Mobil, does not have a Twitter account.
  • The insurance industry has the most Twitter accounts (13).
  • 19% of the 2009 Fortune 500 is podcasting, a three percent increase over the 2008 study
  • 31% are incorporating online video into their blog sites, a 10% increase over 2008

“The continued steady adoption of blogs and the explosive growth of Twitter among Fortune 500 companies demonstrate the growing importance of social media in the business world,” stated Barnes. “These large and leading companies drive the American economy, and to a large extent, the world economy. Surely a willingness to interact more transparently via these new technologies with their stakeholders is a positive step. Where this leads will be fascinating to watch!”

“As social media become more integrated with a variety of business functions both internally and externally at companies, we continue to see a steadily growing adoption of blogs, Twitter, online video, podcasts and other new communications channels,” added Mattson.

About this study

A full copy of the 17-page research report, “The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” can be downloaded at the link below.

Additionally, Barnes and Mattson will publish a paper based on the findings in an upcoming issue of the Society for New Communications Research’s Journal of New Communications Research and will present the findings via a web-based briefing and at the Society for New Communications Research’s annual research symposium.

About the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

To facilitate the economic development of the region by providing an affordable, high-quality economic alternative to meeting business needs for research, training, and consulting in any and all aspects of Marketing. The Center for Marketing Research is associated with and maintains a close relationship with the Chambers of Commerce within southeastern Massachusetts. This unique relationship provides the Center with an effective business networking capability. For more information, visit http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/.

About the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR)

The Society for New Communications Research is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and education foundation and think tank focused on the advanced study of the latest developments in new media and communications, and their effect on traditional media and business models, communications, culture and society. For more information, visit http://sncr.org.

HISPANIC OR LATINO?

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HISPANIC OR LATINO?

Most young Hispanics — 51 percent — don’t care which term is used to describe them, a survey by the Pew Hispanic Center found. Another 35 percent prefer to be called Hispanic, while 14 percent prefer to be identified as Latino.

U.S. Illegal Immigrant Population Down

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The number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. declined by one million since its peak in 2007
The number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. dropped by one million people in two years, according to new estimates by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Government officials believe 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in Jan. 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007. If the official estimates are correct, not since 2005 has the population of illegal immigrants been as low as it was last year. The report, produced annually since 2005, is the government’s official tabulation of immigrants living here illegally.

Source: Poder360