I can haz QR code?

This is pretty cool, I just made a DIY QR code using Kaywa:



And here is another one:



And for anyone who doesn't have a reader for QR codes yet, I use ScanLife for my QR code reader, it supports iPhone and RIM (Blackberry). Check it out.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Fast Company has an article about a study Buyology Inc. and Elias Arts did to see what the most Addicting sounds in the world are. Sounds like babies giggling and a cash register make the Top 10 list, as does the sound of a vibrating mobile phone. This is yet another sign of the (obvious to most) dominance of mobile phones. As mentioned in the article:

"Psychologically speaking, this is not a happy discovery. Recent studies show that the first thing we do when we wake is check our BlackBerry. Going to the bathroom, brushing our teeth and eating breakfast takes a back seat. Increasingly people sleep beside their phones--that message that arrives at 4.00am, is now a priority! Even though the sound of a vibrating phone has taken second place to a baby's giggles, it seems that in just over a decade technology now provides the predominant sounds of daily life."

Imagine what else is going to be predominant ten years from now?

Also interesting in the article are the number of brands that make the Top 10: Intel, National Geographic, MTV, T-Mobile ringtone, McDonald's, and State Farm. 60% of the list is branded!

As the article points out, 83% of advertising depends on visuals, but the effect of sound seems to be the most powerful sense when it comes to recall. Perhaps if more brands relied more heavily on activating our senses beyond sight, that could be a powerful way to break through the clutter. After all, if a campaign came out that relied on your sense of smell, you'd remember that, wouldn't you?

From the study:

Non-branded and branded sounds:
1. Baby giggle
2. Intel
3. Vibrating phone
4. ATM / cash register
5. National Geographic
6. MTV
7. T-Mobile Ringtone
8. McDonald's
9. 'Star Spangled Banner'
10. State Farm
Top 10 Branded sounds:
1. Intel
2. National Geographic
3. MTV
4. T-Mobile
5. McDonald's
7. State Farm
8. AT&T Ringtone
9. Home Depot
10 Palm Treo Ringtone

Top 10 Non-branded sounds:
1. Baby giggle
2. Vibrating phone
3. ATM / cash register
4. "Star Spangled Banner"
5. Sizzling steak
6. 'Hail to the Chief'
7. Cigarette light and inhale
8. "Wedding March"
9. "Wish Upon a Star"
10. Late Night with David Letterman Theme

Cloudy with a Chance of Mobile Phones

I haven't Yaybia-ed in a while. But, I was watching a movie today and was inspired to make a comment.

I was watching 2009's Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and at the 54:32 mark, they show people in China watching the news on a cell phone.

Later in the movie, they also reference emailing a file to a cell phone.

I feel like an animated movie showing people casually and naturally using these cell phone features is just one of many little things that are really paying testament to the impact of new media. It's also a really cute movie.

Random thought - that's all for now!

Cell Phone Evolution Mash-Up!

Happy Friday! We know that your brains are probably dead like ours. And in need of some Friday beer. So we won't make you think. Just check out the cell phone evolutions. If you didn't get a chance to submit yours we'd love to see what you've got in the comments.

This wasn't a contest but we like awards.

Earliest adopter and biggest tech fail goes to MJ! (MJ = Libby's mom)
Zune Award: Jameson
Least prone to breakage: Alicia
The John Kerry flip flop award: Minneapolis Michael
Most generic: Panchomill
Most Asian influence: Johnny Bones

Call For Entries

In case you missed it, Yaybia would love to see your own cell phone evolutions! Send us links to the pics and we'll post on Friday!

Cell Phone Evolution: Erin Edition

2001

2003

2004

2005

2007



2008

Cell Phone Evolution: Libby Edition

2000:

2002:

2004:

2004:

2005:

2006:

2006:

2006:

2007:

Thank You Twins Mobile Alerts

The MN Twins are done.  It's been a sad time but I still love my team.  I also love what MLB has done with their mobile website/text alerts.  I cancelled my subscription immediately after the season ending loss, but I actually had the option!  So many text ads/games/promos don't give you the chance to opt out (even mid way through the $4 per month subscription) whenever I want to. 

So the next Yaybia Brand Thank You Note goes to MLB/MN Twins for giving me real time game updates and letting me control the text messages that I get.  2009, boys.  Let's do this!

Thanks But No Thanks, Ikea

So I was flipping through the 2009 Ikea catalog last month and saw their text-in treasure hunt game. Giving it a try, I texted in my responses to their painfully self-promoting questions. ("The RAMBURG bed frame on p. 98 is a) stylish b) easy to match with other pieces c) affordable d) ALL OF THE ABOVE!") I didn't win $100, but I engaged with the brand for a good 10 minutes and only exchanged about 10 total texts doing so. Success.

Fast forward a month, and my phone lights up with this:


My feelings: mixed. It's great that Ikea is approaching me with a chance to win cash moneys, but I thought I was done with the Find It Sweepstakes. And I am sure as hell not going to opt in to Ikea text messages. My beloved Twins alerts keep my inbox full, and I resent that Ikea didn't explicitly ask whether they could send me additional texts after the contest was over. This is why I rarely text for offers from any brand--I'm scared they'll start sending me more messages than E. Lam on Beer Friday (love you Ern).

When brands use your phone number against you, does it make you think twice about texting for any offer?

Mobile Marketing: Deepspace and More

Jacey, Lauren, and I attended the Deepspace mobile marketing conference at the Fine Line sponsored by Space150 (presentations available here). This event was the first of many monthly mobile and new industry trend events that will be held in Minneapolis. We heard from Chuck Levine, former Sprint CEO and current chairman of Openware and Sierra Wireless, about the growth of the mobile industry. Kelly Thompson and Marc Jensen, both of Space150, brought us account planning insights in their presentation on The Mobile Ecosystem. There were also several panel discussions with industry leaders from Ad Mob, Nokia Interactive, Scanbuy, Millennial Media, Ad Infuse, and Weather.com.

I'm going to be honest and say that I wasn't completely blown away by anything that I saw, but the fact that there are people who care about pushing the industry in new directions is always worth my time and attention. I was hoping for some awesome examples of location based ads, or interactive mobile applications, but the day was more focused on monetary opportunities, SMS based ad models, and discussions about the potential that this industry holds.

The most memorable quote that I took away from the speakers that day came from the Weather Channel representative. He spoke about the debate of the ever elusive "year of the mobile web" and how that will become a reality when everyone checks the weather on their mobile devices. While the weather may be a small portion of this move, the center of the idea is the eventual total dependence on mobile devices for accessing content that is typically only on television or online. This move towards online content will push brands to consider mobile as an outlet that is equal to that of traditional placements. This is where mobile marketing will reach its full potential. Until then, the speakers at Deepspace advised all advertisers to spend now in order to become leaders in mobile.

With all that being said, we'd like to share a few of our favorite mobile campaigns. Ready, break.

Sports (AHH): NBC Olympics and Minnesota Twins (and other MLB teams of choice) - Both mobile sites are clean, text based, and feature live refresh updates. SMS text alerts are also available and well worth it when you can get immediate videos of Mauer and Morneau's RBIs and home runs. Top Score!

Politics: Barack Obama - Supporters, and those wanting to get in on the brilliant campaign ideas that Obama's team is delivering, can text 'VP' to 62262 (which spells Obama) to get notified of his VP candidate prior to any other media outlets. Progress.

Television Integration: Project Runway - Viewers can text their vote for their favorite, or least favorite, designer during on-air polls use short codes to receive weekly texts with fashion tips from Tim Gunn, and access the iPhone site that contains games, episode recaps, and a PR fashion guide. Look out all you hot messes, this site is fierce.

We'd love to hear about your favorite mobile campaigns, apps, and sites!

space150 Mobile Marketing Workshop

If you happened to miss space150's DeepSpace Mobile Marketing Workshop at the Fine Line in Minneapolis, be sure to check out the website to see the presentations, which will be posted soon!

mobile advertising = hot hot hot

If you didn't notice yet, here at Yaybia, we LOVE mobile. So imagine my excitement when I came across this wonderful article.


So better click rates than banners? I wonder what causes that. There are two possibilities that come to mind:
1) Mobile marketing is better targeted than other forms. Better targeted = more relevant = more clicks.
2) Mobile advertising is still a novelty. Remember how high click thrus used to be on online banners? It was because people thought the Internet was SO COOL that they clicked on everything.

Hmm.

Mobile Musings, Part 1: Sports Get It Right

(Welcome to the first in a series on one of our favorite topics here at Yaybia: mobile convergence.)

This week, AdAge has five compelling arguments why 2008 won't be the year of mobile. I argue they should amend their headline to say that 2008 won't be the year of mobile marketing, but some mobile content is getting pretty damn close.

With yesterday being the Twins home opener, I checked twinsbaseball.com in the morning. While the site redirected me to a text-heavy page clearly not designed for an iPhone or Blackberry, the mobile version is pleasantly easy to navigate, with the headlines and scores I want right at the top. Better yet, the alert package I signed up for is phenomenal. I get scores, lead changes after the 7th inning, and videos of home runs texted to me every game. All I had to do was enter my phone number and agree to tack $4 a month onto my bill, well worth it for the customized, instant content I want to get on the go.

That's what a mobile application should be: easy to use, to-the-point, and full of content. The MLB isn't the only one that understands consumers' mobile cravings, either. In early January, ESPN actually received more mobile hits than PC-based hits in a 24-hour period for the same section of one of its NFL pages. An article in today's MediaPost says, "Mobile is about a 'right now' experience. Just as TiVo shifts time to change the way people watch television, mobile changes the way people can consume content."

Companies that understand the need for local emphasis in mobile content will also succeed. What if Starbucks worked with carriers or manufacturers to develop an application that always shows the closest coffeeshop based on a user's GPS data? Or what if search got more specific than zip codes, and Google became intuitive enough to understand exactly what I want when I text "pizza hut washington ave & university ave minneapolis" to GOOG411?

I agree with AdAge that the ad industry doesn't have it yet. But it's always played catch-up with new technologies. We all remember watching 1950s TV spots in history of ad classes and seeing basically a print ad with sound. And it's only been the past few years that truly interactive and creatively compelling web advertising has become the norm, rather than flashing banners demanding we CLICK HERE! I see great potential for advertisers to sponsor instant alerts like the Twins baseball ones I mentioned before. I'd gladly take a five-second Jimmy John's spot before my home run video highlight if it offset the $4/month the Twins are currently charging me. Right now, it could be key to partner with a content provider who gives mobile consumers that instant information they demand--especially the weather, news, and sports networks that are getting better and better at understanding mobile needs.

(One last note: One of the reasons AdAge has no faith in 2008 for the year of mobile is poor penetration. But as young adults who have grown up with technology get off their parents' family plans and wireless carriers follow the lead of Sprint and its unlimited everything plan, the number of people with data plans is going to be insane before we know it. I, for one, can't wait.)