Past Member Events
MEF Meets Dubai - 3 November
More than 80 people from the local and international mobile entertainment scene attended the first MEF Meets in Dubai on 3 November 2008. The networking event, hosted by du, took place in the spectacular surroundings of the 24th floor ‘Uptown Bar’ of the Jumeirah Beach hotel, with impressive views of the 7 star Burj El Arab and the ever changing Dubai coastline.
MEF EMEA General Manager, Sarah Roberts, welcomed guests and gave a brief introduction, commenting on the phenomenal rate of development in the UAE. MEF EMEA Vice Chairman Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg mirrored these sentiments by proposing a toast to relative newcomer, du, for achieving profitability ahead of schedule and a mere 18 months after the network operator was launched to introduce competition into the local market. Raghu Venkataraman accepted the recognition on behalf of his team and everyone at du. He spoke of his experience as a MEF EMEA board director: sharing a vision, creating a dialogue and most importantly learning from and avoiding some of the mistakes made elsewhere.
Raghu announced the special MEF membership promotion for emerging markets, including the UAE, joking that the sophisticated environment were at odds with the term ‘emerging’. One of the ultimate aims behind this drive is to create a regional presence for the Middle East, which strengthens a global organisation such as MEF by recognising the need for mobile content to be local. Follow up activities are planned for the region.
MEF Americas focuses on Canada and LATAM
MEF had the honor of being the featured speaker at Mobile Monday Toronto on October 6. Sponsored by RIM, the event proved to be one of the highest attended Mobile Monday Toronto events ever. MEF Americas Board Director Gary Schwartz and General Manager Karen Allen presented findings from MEF’s initiatives and discussed the value MEF could bring to the Canadian region. MEF thanks the organizers of Mobile Monday Toronto for their generosity and warm welcome.
MEF made its first entry into Latin America at the Mobile Content Americas conference held in Miami on October 8-9. MEF met companies from all over the region at its exhibit table and MEF Special Advisor Seth Schachner was a featured presenter. MEF thanks Frecuencia Online for their hospitality in hosting the event.
MEF Policy & Initiatives Meeting at CTIA, October 2007
At CTIA, MEF held a Policy and Initiatives meeting on October 24th from 11:00 - 3:30 pm at The Mosser Hotel, open to all MEF members.
The afternoon was divided into three separate meetings on the following MEF initiatives:
Participation-TV
Content Sales Reporting
Communities & Social Networking
MEF US Participation TV Framework Workshop - 23 July 2007, Los Angeles
On July 23rd, MEF Americas held an industry working group on its consultation on a P-TV Code for the US. The aim of the meeting was to discuss ways to ensure P-TV services continue to go from strength to strength in the US.
The meeting served as an opportunity to discuss the MEF P-TV draft code of practice, which seeks to develop auditable processes for P-TV, such as the means to review and grant refund requests as necessary. It was noted that MEF will be taking similar course of action in other territories on the back of the huge success in the UK.
Attendees included networks NBC and CBS as well as Endemol. mBlox, Telephia and Fremantle.
View minutes from this meeting (members only).
MEF UK Participation TV Framework Workshop - 17 July 2007, London
On the 17 July, MEF held its second P-TV meeting to discuss the draft Framework. The main topics of discussion were as follows:
· The use of MO v MT billing – clarification and discussion
· Determining what the broadcasters/production companies need from the service providers
· What do service providers require from production companies/broadcasters?
· Refunds – how can we provide the most consumer friendly experience for the provision of refunds
Attendees included broadcasters, mobile operators, production companies, service providers and regulators.
MEF Global AGM & Elections - Monte Carlo, 4 June 2007
The Global AGM took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo on 4th June, the evening before MeM’s opening, and gave exclusive previews on the latest MEF consumer research and initiatives, as well as a ‘state of the industry’ report from mobile market authority M:Metrics.
The hotly contested elections for three global board vacancies also took place at the AGM. The three successful candidates who have now joined the board are:
-Marco Argenti - Managing Director, Consumer, Dada
-Graeme Ferguson - Managing Director, Global Content Division, Picsel
-Jason Wells - SVP Mobile Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television Int'l
They will join existing board members from Alcatel-Lucent, Amobee, Denton Wilde Sapte, mBlox, Orange, Sony BMG, Sun Microsystems and Tag Strategic.
MEF TV: Americas AGM, March 2007, Orlando
MEF's Suhail Bhat speaking on MEF Policy and Initiative work
Ad-funded Mobile Entertainment Panel - London, 12 April 2007
Tipping points, metrics, reach and ‘wilfing’ – it was all mentioned in a lively discussion on ad-funded mobile entertainment….
MEF organised a members-only panel and networking evening on the theme of ad-funded mobile entertainment (AFME), sponsored by Amobee and hosted by the advertising body IPA in central London. Moderated by journalist Annie Turner of BKI Media, the panel comprised: Kieran Bourke, Aerodeon, Mark Hopwood, Agency.com, Al Russell, Vodafone, Nigel Sheldon, Starcom and Paul Wright of Sky Media.
Tipping point
Given that the advertising community’s view towards mobile was described as ‘interested rather than busy’, Annie opened the discussion by asking what it would take for ad-funded mobile entertainment to reach its tipping point.
According to Vodafone’s Al Russel, there are 3 key things: “The real turning point for advertising on mobile will be when we have standardised formats (to simplify requirements of different handsets and operators); metrics equivalent to the online fixed internet; and flat rate data charges.”
So should we be encouraged to think that flat rate data charging will have a similar effect on mobile to that of broadband on the internet? Sky’s Paul Wright pointed to the shift in online advertising over the last 18 months: “We’ve seen more brands engaging with bigger budgets – a shift that has largely been driven by broadband take-up. With an online advertising market of £2 billion, the UK is the most mature of all the European markets.”
Or, as one panellist commented, maybe flat rates will simply lead to more ‘wilfing’ on mobile, the internet phenomenon identified as ‘what was I looking for…’?
Metrics and scale
Given the personal nature of mobiles and the potential for targeting, a member of the audience asked about the relevance of national campaigns.
Sky’s Paul Wright maintained: “In reality, advertisers are unlikely to buck the trend of every previous medium and they will want reach and audience so national campaigns will still be important for mobile.”
Celltick’s Daniella Alpher sparked off an interesting discussion on CPMs (cost per thousand views), which are effectively the rates used to sell advertising slots. There was no clear consensus on CPMs for mobile, either regarding rates or whether they were even relevant at this stage.
Tony Pearce of Player X raised the question of how advertising sponsorship monies are divided up. The customers who receive Player X ad-funded free games, being the 16-24 age group, are a valuable demographic for advertisers. The mobile value chain is complicated enough already, and with these new business models, it’s unclear who takes what – for instance should the operator be entitled to a share?
Mobile usage and behaviour patterns
Given that it’s still early days for ad-funded mobile entertainment, there was plenty of talk and comparisons with online and aspects of online behaviour that are particularly suited to mobile, for instance community sites. As Agency.com’s Mark Hopwood put it: “Mobile is the perfect extension for people who are interacting online already. Adding Youtube and Myspace to the mobile is obvious…..people are collaborating and creating, and they'll do that with their handsets.”
However it was also pointed out that mobile has unique attributes and that usage differs from traditional media eg on mobile TV, Sky sports news is the most watched channel, which is different to home Sky TV consumption. Add into this the different mobile TV offerings (will they be simulcasts or edited versions of programmes?) and it makes for a complicated landscape where the entry point will be key for advertisers.
So, while there were more questions than answers, there was plenty of optimism that advertising on mobile in all its different forms is reaching a turning point, and the lessons learnt in the online environment will only speed up the process.
Contact MEF if you would like to find out more about the AFME initiative.
See also http://blog.markhopwood.com/2007/04/mobile_advertising_what_next.html
MEF Europe AGM & Elections – Barcelona, 14 February 2007 (at 3GSM)
Congratulations to the seven members who make up the inaugural MEF Europe board (link to PR), following the elections on Wednesday 14 February in Mercat de les Flors. After an overview of MEF Europe to date and the importance of localisation, followed by an update on initiatives and regulatory issues, there was a sneak preview of MEF TV (link) – a brand new project proposed by the interim European board. MEF TV will be interviewing members at forthcoming events and posting video blog clips on the newly revamped MEF website. The blogs were filmed on a Nokia N93 handset, donated kindly by Kamar Shah.
The new MEF Europe Board (from left to right): Gerard Grech – Chairman (Orange), Jessica Sandin (Fathom Partners) Co-Vice Chair, Willms Buhse (CoreMedia), Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg – Co-Vice Chair (Comsys), Bertrand Schmitt (Zandan), Anthony Philips (Microsoft).
MEF party at 3GSM – Barcelona, 12 February 2007
The MEF party (in association with I-play, liquid refreshments courtesy of mobilePeople and supported by CoreMedia and GfK) kicked off the week in style and ruined a few Tuesday mornings by all accounts. With a guest list of 500+ of the key players in the mobile entertainment industry, it was bound to be a hit! Thanks to all our sponsors as well as Orange’s Gerard Grech, who made a special guest DJ appearance – having left his vinyl collection in the UK following his last gig, Gerard selected his playlist for the evening with the aid of mobile technology and a video conference call to MEF’s London offices.
MEF Europe Event - Amsterdam, 7 December 2006
“Mobile Payments on the Move” was the subject for the MEF Europe event in Amsterdam on 7 December. Informa’s Dan Winterbottom shared the results of a recent survey on the consumer’s attitude towards using their phone as a virtual wallet. Judging from the results, it seems education will be needed to overcome a certain lack of enthusiasm towards conducting financial transactions on your mobile, although unsurprisingly consumers were ‘very interested’ when it came to being notified via their mobiles of any fraudulent transactions on their account. Whether there will be any encouragement from the technology side, such as there was in the adoption of camera phones, remains to be seen.
Dick Hoogland of Logica gave a presentation on the benefits of change and Erik Eising gave an insight into the latest results from payment trials being conducted by KPN Mobile in Amsterdam.
During the Q&A session, several questions were raised about security – perhaps given the consumer’s adoption of internet banking, there is less work to be done to convince them on security issues? On the subject of privacy, there was agreement that an opt-in basis for any messages pushed to mobile users was an absolute necessity.
So who will lead the field in offering financial services to mobile users? Will operators chose to get banking licences (following the likes of Vodafone) or will the banks beat them to it via their own MVNO offerings – among the audience were representatives from Rabo Mobile, the mobile operation recently established by local Dutch bank, Rabo.
After the session there was a chance to network and a demonstration by KPN of their mobile payment system in a neighbouring food outlet: since introducing the new system just 3 weeks ago, the restaurant has reported that payment times have halved. In a busy food chain which relies on a fast turnover, this is an ‘appetizing’ prospect for all concerned.
(Copies of Informa presentation available to members on request)
Above (l-r): Dan Winterbottom (Informa), Sarah Roberts (MEF) & event host GJ Konijnenberg (Comsys)
MEF Europe launch event - Paris, 23 Nov 2006
Summary of MEF Europe Launch, 23 November 2006,Paris
Video blog link: http://thomasblard.com/thomasblard/2006/11/mobile_entertai.html
Around a hundred industry professionals turned out on a damp Parisian evening to attend the launch of MEF Europe at the offices of Denton Wilde Sapte
Interim Chairman, Gerard Grech of Orange-FT, welcomed attendees and Patrick Parodi, MEF global Chair, set the scene for the evening with a brief summary of the recent MEF survey on Ad-Funded Mobile Entertainment. Thomas Husson of Jupiter then gave an overview of some forthcoming research and highlighted the potential dangers of ‘turning off’ the consumer with intrusive mobile advertising.
for more on this story click here.
Switching to French for the mainly local audience, LCI TV’s seasoned presenter and journalist, Thomas Blard, then chaired a debate on ad-funded mobile entertainment with the following panelists: Eric Daugan (Warner Music), Thomas Husson (Jupiter), Marc Montaldier (Orange-FT), Patrick Parodi (MEF/Amobee) and Jerome Wagner (Maje Media). To view the discussion in full go to the video blog link above.
Much of the discussion surrounded business models and the need for new formats that will personalise and contextualise advertising on the mobile medium. While ad-funded models have great potential to boost content consumption on mobile there are still hurdles to overcome: 3G phone coverage, pricing for mobile internet access, off-deck charges and creating a seamless end-user experience, to name but a few.
The conclusion: a nascent yet promising market but no real consensus on when the current tests between operators, advertisers, media companies and content providers will provide a commercial return.
Attendees, who included telcos, media companies, aggregators, lawyers, VCs as well as a few blog enthusiasts, then had a chance to mingle, enjoy the ‘cocktail’ and swap business cards – none of them seemed in a particular hurry to leave……
CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2006 - Los Angeles, September 2006
MEF Americas hosted an exclusive, invitation-only networking party at CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment. Featuring a DJ from renowned radio station KCRW, masseurs and a tarot card reader, it was the ultimate spot to escape the noise of the conference and mingle amongst the power players in mobile entertainment.
MEF Asia Cocktail & CDMA Awards - Hong Kong, December 2006
Rounding off our activities for 2006, MEF Asia hosted a unique evening in Hong Kong’s famous Armani bar for 400 members and executives attending the ITU and 3G World Congress events.
Opening with an Awards ceremony, which was supported by CDMA Group (as lead sponsors) and Motorola, the MEF Asia Cocktail party continued well into the night, celebrating the best in mobile entertainment and Asia’s unique contribution to it.
"The networking party organised by MEF Asia provided a great platform, exclusivity and cut-through for our members’ brands at the CDG ceremony," said Perry LaForge, executive director at CDG.
With support from MC Stefan Rust (MEF Asia Chair), Ralph Simon (MEF Americas Chair Emeritus) and Perry LaForge, CDMA Development Group Executive Director, the CDG Awards honoured this year’s innovators. As a partner to the event, MEF-judged Consumer Awards were also announced for:
Most Innovative Application of Music/Audio - Groove Mobile’s Personal Music Recommendations
Most Innovative Use of Music - KDDI
Most Innovative Mobile Game Development - Rollercoaster Rush
Most Innovative Use of Mobile Television - Sprint Nextel
Most Innovative Entertainment Technology Development - Neutron
Most Innovative Social Networking Application - JuiceCaster 3.0
Click here for the invite and to view photo gallery