Mobile Social Networks South Africa

Posts Tagged ‘ Mobile Social Networks South Africa ’

The world of today – collaborative, mobile & social.

I have not written a blog post in a very long time, usually an indication of how busy I have been. From Johannesburg to Stellenbosch to Cape Town and soon off to New York, from developing mobile applications to marketing digital strategies and even an encounter with an old friend – glaceau vitaminwater. But I will write again soon, for now just 3 really quick updates – kind of illustrating the world I am living in today – COLLABORATIVE , MOBILE & SOCIAL.

1. Collaborative

I don’t often read a good old hard copy printed book, and when I do I seldom finish it. Not because I don’t think it is a good, but simply because I find the process slow. So I end up using my personal version of speed-reading to grab the key themes, ideas and insights and put it in some form of a categorized bullet point one pager in my mind.

However, sometimes I will come across a book, and perhaps heavily influenced by external factors such as my mood, location, time of life, frame of mind, etc – but I enjoy every sentence and almost make some form of a study out of it. Not the kind of study where I delve into the theory as such, but rather a game of practical application of every new idea presented, to some relevant real life problem or scenario I am currently aware of. I really like doing that. Cross-functional thinking and application of ideas, like movie production techniques in boardrooms or emergency assistance mapping technology for corporate social media monitoring.

I will post my study eventually – but for now all I can say is join the collaborative world we live in.

Get it, read it, share it – it is definitely worth it. CLICK HERE TO BUY FROM AMAZON

2. Mobile

Another snap for today is the below infographic, as I am currently eating, breathing and singing mobile, this is almost a representation of my thoughts right now 🙂 Except, mine looks a little bit different considering I am in South Africa, and in Banking. Nonetheless, it is definitely worth keeping it, and hopefully soon I will have time to post an adapted version showcasing how things are looking specifically in the South African market.

Learn More about Mobile Tagging at Microsoft Tag.

3. Social

I have been doing a lot of research on Social Lending over the last 2 years, and have always wondered why it has not yet exploded in South Africa.

What is social lending? In simple terms it is cutting out the bank or institution facilitating the process of borrowing and investing money. It enables people to connect with each other to get better rates both for the borrower and the investor.

Internationally we have seen an explosion of social financial offerings – including social savings, social lending, social spending, social everything. The big players internationally in the Peer2Peer lending game are listed below ( please note these figures are estimates and are slightly outdated – September 2010 )

Visit these sites here – http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/ ; http://www.lendingclub.com/home.action ; http://www.prosper.com/

Specifically in South Africa – the first attempt was – http://www.angelmoola.co.za

An online Lifestyle Loyalty, Rewards and Social Lending platform. In less than two weeks, 276 users have registered on the Angelmoola site and there were 104 loans up for auction. AngelMoola revenue is based on charging borrowers an initiation fee together with a monthly loan management fee for the term of the loan, and from commission on any repayment protection insurance that the borrower selects. I believe they were temporary shut down due to regulation issues, but the website is currently live so I am assuming things are back on track.

It is also interesting to note, that when I ran a quick google insights search – South Africa came out ON TOP- of the regional interests for the search for ” personal loans ” – anyone noticing demand perhaps?

However – the initiative that really speaks social to me – is http://joinfite.org ( a spin off of the original player in social Lending – http://www.kiva.org/ )

A little bit more about FITE – watch this video.

This is the ideal chance for us modern minded individuals to give back to society, instead of donating money or giving away without ever really seeing the rewards – social lending provides you with an opportunity to really make a difference, and to watch the ripple effect of your contribution build a better economy through empowering the women of the world – whilst realizing a return on your investment – get involved today!

And on that note, this is the end of my very random snap episode for today, hopefully soon I will be able to share all the new things I have recently learned in the world of mobile, social and more recently, mobile security technologies!

Happy Monday 🙂

2011: 05/23
POSTED BY: Annette
CATEGORY: Mobile Marketing
Technology
Trends
TAGS: Annette Muller
makrowikinomics
Mobile Marketing South Africa
Mobile Social Networks South Africa
mobile statistics
peer 2 peer lending
social lending
social lending south africa
social media
social networks
1 comment

Mobile Thinking

Mobile, the new buzz word. And just like when social media first started filling up conversations from corporate enterprises to every Jack and Jill blogging on the Internet, so is mobile, except, it is a lot more complex than simply deciding whether or not to be on Facebook / Twitter and how to execute the social media campaign that will win a Loerie award. It has also been around for a lot longer. It is more, entering a more mature phase of life, and offering so much more.

So,

SO, WHAT IS MOBILE? ( in life terms)

Our remote control of life, we do everything on it in real time and based on our location or context within our daily lives.

SO, WHAT IS MOBILE? (in marketing terms)

“Mobile as a term is just a reference to an eco-system that phones are a part of…”

– Kevin Slavin

Most people don’t stare at a laptop, tv, radio, magazine, or billboard, or branding all day long. In store promotions have been trying for years now to be the most relevant, by providing information at point of sale. However, mobile – and this is what it is all about, is about being accessible where the brand is relevant. And not just from a communication perspective, but including products and services associated with the brand. Mobile is the closest you will ever get to personally influencing every customer experience.

So what does this mean in terms of your MARKETING STRATEGY?

In simple terms it means that for the first time in marketing, brands, companies and small businesses have the opportunity to provide relevant digital value, not just random content on a Facebook Fanpage that is supposed to ” make me like the brand because it tells me things about life”

No, it is about providing real relevant real time value, providing communication, products and services that will make my life better.

But here is the thing, this is not just going to happen with good looking creative, great copy writing and a well proposed media strategy. No, it will take a lot more than that, it will force you to think about your consumers, their life cycle, every possible way you communicate with them, how they live, what they want and the context in which they interact with you – across media, in store, online, out office, etc. It will force you to have a closer look and get up close and personal to the people you have in your brand life, and how they are experiencing you, in reality, not some brand story a bunch of people in a boardroom made up. It will force you to review your segmentation approach, and define targeted strategies aimed at specific consumers based on the context within which they are experiencing your brand, product, communication and the act of the sale.

To try and illustrate the complexity and true interoperability of MOBILE in Marketing is not an easy task, however, i found this diagram which I think is a good start:

It illustrates this new mobile way of thinking when thinking about marketing in the 21st century. Further supported by the below matrix – I believe this should give you a good understanding of the bigger picture, and tactically what it entails from a marketing strategy development perspective.

The below presentation is probably the most comprehensive one I could find online, and will certainly provide you with a solid foundation in starting to think within a mobile, connected marketing manner.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/helgetenno/mobile-abilities-map

Secondly in this post, which I would have to continue with at a later stage I would like to touch on the second most important thing in mobile after having a clearly defined strategy and understanding the importance of CONTEXT, which goes hand in hand with it – especially in application or any property development – is the USER EXPERIENCE and DESIGN.

Just for fun…

3. Little World from Kevin Cannon on Vimeo.

Now, I am no expert, but one thing I have learned being in mobile development is –

WITH MOBILE – CONTEXT IS KING, where would people use your mobisite, application, etc? on the train, in a shop, at home? At work? To better illustrate where I am going with this – I found this presentation – which really illustrates in A LOT OF DETAIL what I mean, it is long, but totally worth it.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/fling/designing-mobile-experiences

In addition to the above, and with relevance to our local market here in South Africa – I would like to end off with the following presentation – a touch on the iceberg of devices, and the clear debate that technology should be for everyone? And living in Africa, how many people actually have an iPhone?

In conclusion, and I realize this post is rather random and perhaps not quite in line with my usual style of writing, a bit all over the show. But I believe that is the purpose, to initiate thinking, to flip a switch in a mind, to open up a conversation, because the only way we will dictate our future – is to imagine it.

And then, to develop it.

So if you are in marketing, and see the future of communication, product development, service delivery and real people (not consumers) experiences – then hopefully this will inspire you to want to understand and engage with application development, mobile TV, mobile payments, QR codes / tagging, NFC, and the application of all new emerging mobile technologies that will shape the future of our daily lives 🙂

Home work reading, do visit:

http://www.mobilemarketingwatch.com/

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/

http://www.mocom2020.com/

http://www.mobileyouthreport.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/PSFK/psfk-presents-future-of-mobile-tagging-report

2011: 04/12
POSTED BY: Annette
CATEGORY: Mobile Marketing
Real Marketing
Technology
Trends
TAGS: brands
Mobile Marketing
mobile marketing in south africa
Mobile Social Networks South Africa
Real Marketing
Technology
1 comment

My Love Affair with Social Networks

It all started when I was forced to use GumTree in London in 2002 to survive in a world where it is all about knowing what people has to offer. Then I joined MySpace and fell in love with pretty graphics & followed with Facebook where all my friends decided to go, and soon thereafter started my own network on Ning, only to find myself a new best friend in Joomla. This was when I realized – I am in love with social networks. My first big product I worked on was noknok, a mobile social network for MTN users. My first real boyfriend started a local Cape Town social network – www.capetownalive.co.za & my first real business plan I developed was based on a local Fasion & Shopping Social Network – http://www.stylesquare.co.za

So basically, I found myself in a world surrounded by social networks. I have tried to figure out what it is that draws me to it, because it is definitely not the mass communication element. Currently my Facebook is filled with pretty much everything except what is really relevant to me. This brings me back to a previous post of mine a little while ago about ad relevancy online, but lets talk business a little bit later – for now all you need to know is that I am looking for the perfect social network – and not one that looks like this –

My Facebook Homepage

But, I haven’t managed to find one where I connect on a physical, mental, intellectual, spiritual & emotional level. So does Mr Right exist, or do I have to create my ideal myself?

StyleSquare, StyleCode, StyleSpotted, StyleSpot – with four 22year old girls trying to start their own business a name tragedy is bound to happen – but my first attempt at starting my own social network was not all wrong.

• It looked really pretty – see below

StyleCode Homepage

Soon I realized that creating Mr Right, is just as hard as finding him.

•    The concept was there – but not refined enough – the trying to be everything was too much – like yahoo vs google
•    We hardly connected -maybe a little physical connection sparked off initial interest & consumer need – but nothing close to dating material
•    There was hardly any communication and a lack of experience did not produce the right level of interest
•    Limited knowledge of, access to and trust in each other further alienated us from each other
Basically, StyleCode was just not Mr Right, even thought I created it myself.
So I had to get out there and make myself available. After 6 months of research I was able to put Mr Right in one sentence. Which will soon be the headline of my new, shorter, factual and far more sensible business plan.

Mr Right may be out there, but in the social network realm, it is all about being here and now – Local, Useful, Relevant, Easy and Long Term.

Hopefully sometime soon I will invite you to my wedding:)

2009: 02/16
POSTED BY: Annette
CATEGORY: Online Social Networks
TAGS: Annette Muller
Cape Town
Cape Town Social Networks
Fashion
Mobile Social Networks South Africa
social networks south africa
Style
1 comment

Behavioural Targeting Online Advertising in South Africa

I have recently contacted online marketing firms in Cape Town, including Quirk Emarketing and Acceleration Media, and during their initial proposals I inquired about Behavioral Targeting Online Advertising to increase online ad relevancy for one of my clients. Neither of the agencies mentioned above knew what I was referring to. So how important is Behavioral targeting then, how does it benefit Brands, and maybe firstly,

What is Behavioral Targeting exactly?

Wikipedia provides a very comprehensive outline of behavioral targeting. In addition I found a very interesting article providing some background to how the technology started with a focus on the benefits of countries other than the US adopting the technology. Specifically for this post I am focusing on Behavorial targeting advertising networks. Since they serve many adverts across many different sites, they are able to build up a picture of the likely demographic makeup of internet users, and as a result offer a more relevent, interest based online advertisement. Another article worth reading, was found on one of my favourite blogs, Bruce Clay, outlining the promise of behavioral targeting. It is interesting to note that this article was written in 2006, however i think that as the number of online campaigns grow in South Africa, behavorial targeting networks will become more and more important for brands competing for users online time.

So how can a brand benefit from behavioral targeting?

Behavioral targeting is attractive to advertisers because it delivers ads to consumers based on their past search behavior. Since user behavior reveals their interests, advertisers are able to deliver relevant and interest-based online advertising – allowing them to sell audiences rather than sites. A simple example would be a user visiting female fashion sites, heat’s gossip column, Ster-Kinekor, Nu Metro and bride to be websites. It can be assumed that the user is female and enjoys going to the movies. Brands thus benefit in reaching consumers in a more effective way, while being able to deliver passion-based advertising that will immediately increase appeal to selected audiences.

So who do I approach with regards to my request for Behavioural Targeted Advertising?

Just as I thought I had to go International, Cape Town based online marketing agency FUEL GROUP revealed the launch of Fuel Insights, a sophisticated sales transparency and behavioral targeting solution. Insights allows advertisers to accurately calculate the effective cost per acquisition rate for each element of the online marketing campaign whilst targeting consumers’ real-world behavior. Well done Fuel. For more on their offering – read this article.

IDEA

Because none of my posts are complete without an idea, I could not help but to wonder how else I can reach consumers in a targeted way. It is evident that globally and even locally brands are spending more and more of their marketing budgets on relevant online advertising campaigns, specifically in South Africa I believe even higher percentages of future budgets will be going towards targeted mobile advertising – It is clearly a race towards finding the most relevant advertising audiences.

So how can both online and mobile advertising networks improve ad relevancy?

Because of my industry, database customer relationship marketing which basically revolves around targeted communication strategies, and my passion for mobile social networks, it cannot be more clear to me that my passion needs to find someone in my industry to facilitate seamless integration.

One such solution may lie within the recent mobile advertising alliance announced earlier this month – Telefónica has launched a global mobile advertising alliance in partnership with Amobee Media Systems. The alliance will allow advertisers to show targeted ads of all types to Telefonica’s 170 million subscribers around the world.

My first question is always, but what is in it for the users? The upside of this alliance is that Mobile users can now benefit from increasingly relevant targeted ads, while at the same time enjoying cheaper access to premium services when opting-in to receive advertisements.

Zohar Lekovitz, CEO of Amobee Media Systems, said. “Mobile is the next mass medium, delivering reach and relevancy that blows away traditional media formats. With over 170 million mobile users globally, Telefónica is setting a new standard for how advertisers reach their target audiences.” Read the full press release here.

Will South African networks follow in the footsteps of global players? Can we expect a mobile advertising alliance between MTN and Multi-Media Solutions? Or what about Vodacom, Fuel Mobile and Fuel Insights all combined?

Behavioral Targeted Mobile Advertising in South Africa. I like the way it sounds.

2008: 07/14
POSTED BY: Annette
CATEGORY: Mobile Marketing
Online Advertising
TAGS: Annette Muller
Behavioral Targeted Mobile Advertising in South Africa
Behavorial Targeting Advertising South Africa
Behavorial Targeting Online Advertising
Mobile Advertising
Mobile Advertising South Africa
Mobile Marketing
Mobile Marketing South Africa
Mobile Socail Networks
Mobile Social Networks South Africa
Targeted Communication Strategies
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Mobile Social Networks in South Africa

Due to the high mobile usage associated with South Africa and global emphasis on mobile social networking, it did not take long for young entrepreneurs as well as the big telecommunicaitons to enter this market.

But, where is the gap?

INTERESTING ARTICLES:

According to Opera Software’s “State of the Mobile Web” report, mobile social networking consumes more than 60% of mobile web traffic in South Africa. As an inevitable result, a sudden hype around Mobile social networks as advertising mediums have taken the industry by storm. The following article provides great insight into the social mobile network usage as well as some information relating to the big players such as Mxit, Vodacom’s The Grid and Meep , Mig33 and MTN’s noknok, as well as some valuable insights into mobile social network marketing, read article here.

To further demonstrate the growing importance of mobile marketing in South Africa it is worth having a look at this article , revealing that the UCT graduate school of business has unveiled a course that will teach marketers and business leaders “how to reach the estimated 36-million cell phone users in South Africa.”

What does this mean?

The opportunities in reaching consumers via their mobile phones are endless, and one such a platform is via mobile social networks including mobile instant social messaging tools, which has already started to infiltrate the cellphones of millions of South African mobile users. What I am interested in though, is the actual functionality of the available offerings for the consumer, why I would choose one over the other or if so, might I need more than one? This questions are asked to ultimately determine where there is a gap in the market for young entrepreneurs, like myself, to develop innovative and relevant mobile offerings.

Why the focus on mobile social networks?

Well, I could not help but to think that a country where there are 11 official languages often characterized as the rainbow nation infused with cultural differences translating into a broad variety of social needs, surely represents the perfect market for niche mobile social networks providing a platform where each and every individual can find their social preference right on their mobile. Even better, express their social individuality to the world, have their say whilst gaining entrance into previously unaccessible information and media platforms . In simpler terms, think the blogosphere of mobile – providing South Africans with limited Internet access, entrance into the online social universe.

South African Mobile Social Networks

One such a mobile social network I could find was MYMsta, a new South African mobile social network dedicated to youth empowerment & HIV prevention. MYMsta is a project of loveLife, South Africa’s largest youth HIV prevention NGO. This network took a social need and provided a platform for consumers who feel the need to connect, network and together contribute to youth empowerment and HIV prevention.

A personal favourite based on first look and feel of their website is mibli – a mobile social network offering decreased cellphone bills, access to hip and happening youth content, and as the differentiating offering LIVE TV stuff and Internet Banking as well as great competitions associated with signing up! In general it is sick, even just being on the website makes you feel part of something sweet.

Another local player is Pooosh – A mobile application that saves you money whilst allowing talking, messaging, chatting, email, file sharing, discounted SMS, and backing-up your contacts. Thus more an instant messaging tool than facilitating rich social media and user generated content.

In contrast, UBYou gives cell phone users access to an entertainment based social networking platform rich with local flavour. But not that feeling to it, such as interface design and web presence.

IDEA

In combination with the above mentioned Mxit, Vodacom’s The Grid and Meep , Mig33 and MTN’s noknok, there are already plenty networks to choose from, so maybe what we need is one connecting all of them together – like a “Digsby” (check Digsby out here) for mobile social networks.

It will be very interesting to watch the mobile social networking space grow in South Africa, and I think there are several opportunities for young entrepreneurs to leverage the power of the amount of active mobile users, if they are not already doing so!

2008: 07/08
POSTED BY: Annette
CATEGORY: Mobile Marketing
Online Social Networks
TAGS: Annette Muller
Entrepreneurs
Mobile Advertising
Mobile Marketing
Mobile Social Networks
Mobile Social Networks South Africa
South Africa
Technology
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The I in an Industry of Ideas

The world of today – collaborative, mobile & social.

Mobile Thinking

My Love Affair with Social Networks

Behavioural Targeting Online Advertising in South Africa

Mobile Social Networks in South Africa

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