Following is an outline for the business model of the fictitious Societies Media Co.

I. ABOUT SOCIETIES MEDIA COMPANY
Societies Media Company is a leader in the social news media category. This award winning company has cracked the code on bringing popular news and local events to consumers. Societies Media combines the convenience of local city guides with breaking news and local news. With the rapidly evolving (declining) news media and new focus on personalized digital services, Societies Media is listening to and meeting the needs of consumers.

A. Target Demographic

II. MEDIA INVOLVED
Societies Media is aggregating news and events to bring them to its audience. Rather than follow the traditional top-down media conglomerate format of the past, Societies Media brings relevant content to its audience based on user locale. The company uses both non-mobile and mobile formats to reach its audience. Societies Media builds upon the techniques used and services offered by existing content frontrunners. These include the services of GoTime.com, DemandStudios.com, NewsVine.com and WestSeattleBlog.com.

A. Non-mobile

B. Mobile

III. DEVELOPMENT COSTS

IV. KEY PLAYERS IN MOBILE ECOSYSTEM
Brand & Content Owners
New Media Interactive Marketing Agencies
Mobile Application Solution Providers
Connection/Aggregators
Wireless Operators (Deck, WAP, MMS, SMS)
Retail/Sales
Mobile Subscriber

V. PRIMARY CHALLENGES TO DEVELOPMENT

VI. EXPOSURE

VII. MEASURING SUCCESS

The document “Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0” by W3C provides basic guidelines for improving mobile Web site usability. This is a useful reference document for mobile site creators. From an academic perspective, the paper provides useful insights as to why certain features are or are not acceptable on the mobile platform.

For example, W3C’s regulatory suggestions include limiting the content on WAP pages and keeping externally linked resources to a minimum. The paper makes it clear that the overarching problem on mobile sites is that they are improperly designed for mobile use, and not properly transferred from PC formats.  “Many Web sites and pages make for a poor user experience when they are viewed on a mobile device” and “Many Web pages are laid out for presentation on desktop size displays, and exploit capabilities of desktop browsing software.”

Several questions came to mind, and the answers would provide a relevant context for digesting the “Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0” document:

1.       How much of a problem is created due to developers failing to follow these best practices? It seems as though the only loss or detriment is to the developer himself – in having an unusable site.

2.       As version 1.0, was there not a previous document of this type? Were former developers simply expected to filter through numerous other documents (such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and Device Independent Working Group concepts) to obtain this information? It is surprising that this agregated paper was just released in July 2008.

3.       Similarly, is W3C the only organization of its type? Meaning, are these Best Practices supported by the rest of the industry and streamlined/agreed upon by all factions of the mobile industry?

Key issue: Who is responsible for e-waste management?

Following is a review of the most salient information from Chapter 5 of the book Displacing Place, edited by Sharon Kleinman. It is written by Julie Newman and titled “Displacing Place with Obsolete Information and Communication Technologies.” The focus is on e-waste management.

 Author’s Main Point: Waste-management needs to be considered as part of the life-cycle of a product. When e-waste gets thrown away, the “away” should be considered.

“Until waste production is recognized as a cultural component of a system, the current trend of consumption will continue to displace the center of responsibility from the producer to the disposer. .. [Therefore,] We need to develop a consumer model that favors environmental and human health in all places.” (p. 87)

The U.S. lags behind Europe in e-waste disposal programs:

-          European countries place the disposal responsibility on producers

o   required to take back e-waste products

o   encouraged to limit the amount of toxins used

o   required to use recycled/nonhazardous packaging

-          Foreign car manufacturers are making their products easier to disassemble and recycle at the end of the life cycle

“’Transferring responsibility for waste to the producer is one of the best ways to force changes “upstream.”’” (p. 84)

There is no federally mandated regulation for the disposal of ITCs. Several states have come up with their own programs:

-          California: An advance recovery fee is collected at time of purchase, to fund recycle programs

-          Maine: Producers must finance and take-back/recycle used products

-          Massachusetts: banned CRTs from landfills; consumers must find a recycle program

Government Role:

-          Purchase greener electronics for government use

-          Properly manage obsolete electronics

-          Offer tax breaks for those who donate used electronics to schools

 Manufacturing Solutions for Greener ITC’s in the future:

-          Incorporate fewer toxic materials

-          Utilize recycled materials

-          Improve energy efficiency

-          Use minimal packaging

-          Offer take-back options & display eco-friendly certification

-          Today: Phone carriers post information about disposal programs on their Web sites

-          Amazon sends a cell phone disposal bag with shipments, in partnership with Cell Phones for Soldiers

Discussion:

How many cell phones have you owned in your life?

(Today’s teens will own approximately 35 cell phones in their life; a new one every two years.)

How have you disposed of them?  (Mine are collected in a drawer!)

The television conglomerate NBC has created a strong mobile media campaign for its hit show, The Office. The mobile campaign is broad in scope. It includes mobile content ranging from games to specially developed Mobisodes. Riding on the coattails of the show’s success, even mobile ringtones based on The Office can be found online from vendors such as AOL. Following is a review of NBC’s mobile campaign for its popular television series.

TYPES OF MOBILE CONTENT

The mobile campaign for The Office uses several types of mobile content: • SMS (short message service) is used to deliver program alerts via text message to fans’ cell phones. • WAP (wireless application protocol) is used to allow fans to access the show’s mobile Internet site from their cellular devices. • Web content is used to encourage users to try out the mobile services offered by The Office and directs them to the mobile site for the show.

TARGET USER

The target user for the mobile media campaign is an existing fan of The Office and a forward-thinking or tech-savvy consumer. The user is someone who is comfortable with mobile technology and able to afford the provider and device services required to allow SMS and WAP. There does not appear to be a gender-specific target demographic.

HOW DOES ONE INTERACT

Users interact with the mobile campaign through the Web, WAP and SMS services. They can interact with one-another in the Community pages of the site and write messages using the keypad on their mobile device. Additional interaction is done by following a mobile-adapted version of the traditional point-and-click method to move between pages/links. Content can be read, watched and written by users. (Sounds like an interesting campaign. I like the social/community aspects.)

HOW TO FIND OUT

The primary mode of exposure for the mobile campaign is through NBC’s Web site for The Office. Fans of the program are likely to visit the Web site to learn more about the show and their favorite characters. From the site, viewers are offered a multitude of bonus items relating to the show. Fans can send e-cards, download wallpaper, shop for memorabilia, watch episodes, learn about the set and costumes, and enter T-shirt design contests. Mobile content is pushed with an offer to “Sign up to receive text alerts on your mobile phone” by submitting your phone number on the Web site. The site also encourages visitors to “Visit The Office on Your Mobile Device” at m.nbc.com/office and suggests texting “OFFICE” to 62288. For a hit program such as The Office, word-of-mouth between fans would be another important portal for spreading the word about mobile content. The program may have also implemented on-screen promotion during the show by promoting the “OFFICE” keyword.

PRESS COVERAGE

There is a modest amount of press coverage on the mobile programs of The Office.

An article in The New York Times announced that NBC formatted episodes of the The Office to be streamed on the Apple iPhone. NBC Universal’s President of Digital Distribution J. B. Perrette is quoted as saying: “As the mobile Web becomes a popular access point, and video content is available on those platforms, that will become a very relevant and compelling way to get video content.”

The Internet site for PC Magazine, PCMag.com, featured an article in 2006 that announced NBC’s entrance into the mobile games market with The Office themed games. The suite of six mini-games was made available on all cellular devices and providers.

In online commentary on InsightCommunity.com, blogger David Cassel writes: “Hollywood is starting to recognize the mobile revolution. One big issue in the writer’s strike was securing royalties for the digital transmission of shows. B.J. Novak (a writer for The Office) said that most of his friends were watching online instead of on television – so the first migration has already begun. More and more people are realizing they can watch their TV shows in a digital format. Once they’ve separated their favorite shows from their set…they’ll be more open to mobile viewing!”

The site TheFutonCritic.com posted a press release from NBC that announced the new “Addictionary” for The Office. The user-generated compilation of the show’s jargon is available on Twitter – a service that can be utilized on mobile devices.

While there is not an overwhelming amount of news coverage on the mobile media campaign of The Office, the initiatives are not going unseen. The truly newsworthy part about the campaign is the amount of effort that NBC is taking to use many forms of new media to engage its audience. NBC is doing well to jump-in and fearlessly try new modes of communication.

MOBILE VS. NON-MOBILE

While The Office began as a traditional television series, the program’s Web site and mobile content provide a means for additional audience exposure.

On the Web, users can engage in a series of fun activities relating to the show. The site’s design is clean, inviting and creatively made to resemble an office bulletin board. Visitors can view episodes and read blogs about the characters.

The Web and WAP sites complement each other. The mobile site offers a link to NBC.com followed by a masthead for The Office that resembles that of the Web site. Program information is listed above a “Featured Content” section that offers part of an episode, a recap of the same episode, and a photo with details about the T-shirt design competition. These are similar content items between the Web site and the WAP page.

Also similar between the mobile and PC platforms are the links for About, Videos, Episode Recaps, Photos, Community, and Shows List. The Videos link offers Two Minute Replays, Extras, Full Episodes, Previews, Web Exclusives and Webisodes. The Community page offers a message board style area for discussions.

WHO PAYS

A mix between users and advertisers pay for the mobile campaign.

The text alerts to mobile phones regarding The Office are paid for by the consumer. The Web site for the program clearly states that “standard rates apply” for the service and that T-Mobile customers may face additional charges. However, the user is not bearing any costs beyond the normal carrier fees. Therefore, it is NBC who is covering the costs of SMS development and delivery. They are using a shortcode rather than asking the user to pay extra, such as Premium SMS. NBC is paying the fees that are associated with connecting to the mobile network. There were no ads on the text alerts, meaning they were not advertising supported.

The mobile games developed for The Office were also paid for by the user. The initial rates were $6.99 for single use and $3.99 for a monthly subscription to the games.

The mobile content via WAP is supported by display advertising. Banner ads for cable networks such as HBO and Showtime remind visitors to watch more television.

MOBILE MARKETING ECOSYSTEM

As identified by the white paper “Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem” by Strategy Analytics, there are many players in the mobile value chain. Content owners, designers and developers, publishers and aggregators, providers, and marketing and delivery agents are all part of the mobile environment.

NBC Universal likely worked with the MMA to follow standardized mobile regulations and employed Neustar to obtain the shortcode of 62288.

Content aggregators are utilized to coordinate with developers, owners and providers. The mobile ecosystem for The Office involves a gateway provider that delivers content and offers access to carriers who then reach the end user. The WAP page offers videos/content and the SMS goes out regularly to drive consumers back again to the WAP page as a marketing effort. NBC’s billing service for mobile content appears to be handled by the carrier/operator, as the Web site for The Office states that standard rates apply.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

To try the mobile services of The Office first hand, I followed the Web site directions and turned to my Samsung Blackjack.

I signed up for the SMS service via the Web site by entering my phone number in the designated field. The site rewarded me with a “Thanks for Signing Up!” message and my SMS in-box received this text message:

The Office: To confirm reply Y. U’ll rcv up to 5 msgs/wk. To quit, reply OFFICESTOP. For help, reply HELP. Std msg rates apply. http://m.nbc.com/office

My curiosity was instantly piqued at the thought of the approval process for the verbiage of that SMS message.

To try all angles before moving forward, I then tried texting “OFFICE” to 62288, as suggested on the Web site. This apparently had the same result as texting “OFFICESTOP,” as I received a sorrowful message that read: NBC: Sorry to see you go. You won’t receive msgs from The Office. To rejoin, reply OFFICE. http://m.nbc.com I followed the directions to rejoin. A third reply, this time lacking the multitude of text jargon used in the first welcome message, came my way: The Office: Thanks for signing up! You’ll receive up to 5 msg/wk. – To unsubscribe, reply OFFICESTOP. – For help, reply HELP. http://m.nbc.com/office Now an officially registered recipient of The Office SMS alerts, I proceeded to visit the heavily-encouraged site http://m.nbc.com/office. The top of the mobile site featured a flashing banner ad for HBO – a sign that advertising dollars support the site. There are similarities in design and content between the Web site and the WAP page (refer to Mobile vs. Non-Mobile section above). The WAP content was easy to navigate and welcoming.

IT MAKES SENSE

The mobile program for The Office is a smart move by NBC. The trendy show resonates with working professionals who are often linked to business technology. This is an audience that has access to computers and is likely to visit the Web site for the show and thereby learn about the mobile campaign. The mobile program also makes sense for NBC since new media are rapidly replacing traditional media sources. It is wise for the mogul to stay current with trends and innovations. By entering the mobile market, NBC is maintaining its value for a demographic with changing preferences. Some programs are mobile and others are not in order to meet the diverse needs of consumers. By spreading its reach among various platforms, NBC can have a widespread impact. The text messages announce the program schedule in a “be sure to watch” manner. I did not receive any breaking news announcements.

CHANGES

In conclusion, the mobile campaign for The Office is agreeable overall. For improvements, I would simply change the SMS messaging to better fit the theme of the mobile campaign. For consistency with a show that offers witty humor, it would be nice to see a more in-character SMS note. A jocular message in the tone of one of the characters is almost expected from the text. The SMS is the single area that most stood out as being inconsistent with the The Office brand.

Sources:

Breaking News: NBC.com Gives Fans ‘The Office’ Additictionary. (2009, January 22). TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved from http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20090122nbc01

Cassel, David. (2008, September 24).Which TV Shows Have the Best Mobile Tie Ins? InsightCommunity.com. Retrieved from https://www.insightcommunity.com/case.php?iid=1252

Griffin, Jeffrey. (2008, Winter). The Americanization of The Office: A Comparison of the Offbeat NBC Sitcom and Its British Predecessor. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 35-3, 154-163. Retrieved from http://heldref-publications.metapress.com/app/home/main.asp?referrer=default

Hansell, Saul. (2008, May 8). NBC Bypasses Apple to Stream to Stream TV Shows to the iPhone. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/nbc-bypasses-apple-to-stream-tv-shows-to-the-iphone/

Johnson, Bary Alyssa. (2006, August 1). “New Game Reminds Viewers to Watch ‘The Office.’” PCMag.com. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1997422,00.asp

The Office. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/

Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem. (2008). Strategy Analytics for Adobe Systems, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/articles/mobile_ecosystem.pdf

According to the About.com posting, “Jamster Slammed for Mobile Selling Practices,” by Stephen Lawson, the ringtone company Jamster/VeriSign was in a business of ill-repute in 2005.

Some questions come to mind while reading Lawson’s article:

1) Did Cingular acquire AT&T or vice versa?  Lawson states “Cingular, which now owns AT&T Wireless…”

2) Analyst Eddie Hold metions “confused subscribers” and says, “There’s no such thing as an easy-to-read wireless bill.”  Why do you think this is the case? Is confuse-a-consumer an intentional tactic employeed by the carriers?

3) Lawson draws an intersting conclusion at the end of his article. He assumes that two incidents are correlated, but he does not give evidence for his statement. He presents the statement that Jamster advertised on Nickelodeon, and then states that Jamster’s business dependedon exploiting children who would force their parents to buy ringtones. I found the idea that Jamster’s business depended on the kids market to be a bit extreme. What do you think of this statement?

“In the case of Jamster, the service is advertised heavil on TV channels such as Nickelodeon that are aimed at children, according to the suit. (Jamster also advertises on PC World.) The company depended on drawing young mobile users into the service and then having their parents pay the charges, which appear on the monthly cell phone bill, the suit alleges.”

In Germany, the past and present of communication technology resounds through the cities. Ancient churches feature pre-literacy communication: colorful stained glass windows tell the stories of The Bible. Marienkirche (St. Mary’s church) in the northern town of Lübeck features an old Gutenberg press. In Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, a different St. Mary’s Church stands within the same sightline as the tallest structure in the country, Berliner Fernsehturm: the space-age-esque Berlin Television Tower (photo below).

Mobile technology has a presence with store front shops in historic buildings, offering carrier services from E-Plus and T-Punkt (photo below) the Germanic arm of T-mobile. There seems to be stronger trend of downloadable mobile features in Germany than Seattle. TV advertisements play consecutively to encourage text-based downloads of animated animals and women.

Photos by Andreas Steinhoff and Christy Luther:

The site PersonalDemocracy.com features a section devoted to Mobile Technology. In a blog posting on September 23, 2008, Justin Oberman writes about a Nokia Mobile Application Contest to Change the World.

Oberman reveals some interesting statistics that the average American consumer is probably unaware of:

“The Finnish company (Nokia) has 40 percent of the world market. That means 1 in every 4 phones sold in the world is a Nokia phone. In emerging markets it’s almost always the only phone you will find.”

Nokia is the number one phone distributor in the world.

The importance of mobile technology in the developing world is staggering. The introduction of mobile tools has allowed countries to leap-frog past the technology development cycles and go straight into mobile use. Some countries may have never had “regular phones” and their first introduction is to cell phones. Now that the technology has been improved and the cost relatively low, it is easier for such technologies to be shared with the developing world.

Developing countries can utilize mobile phones for communications beyond social use. They can use the technology to share critical health information as well as to share agricultural information in a timely manner. When introduced for these purposes, mobile technology can have a huge impact on a country that has never been able to communicate in these ways before.

Details about the Nokia “Calling All Innovators” contest follow below, as found in the Nokia press release announcing the program:

Calling All Innovators challenges mobile application developers worldwide to create applications that will enhance the use of mobile devices in real world scenarios, in one of the three following categories:

- ECO-Challenge: Make a difference by submitting an application that will work to minimize mobility’s global environmental impact and develop ways to offer mobile solutions that help consumers make sustainable choices such as reducing their energy consumption or carbon footprint.

- Emerging Markets: This category opens up new opportunities for developers to imagine the possibilities of pioneering applications and services impacting the daily lives of millions in developing nations, which could include solutions for education, health data access, infotainment, rural agriculture, or any other application that improves lives in emerging markets.

- Technology Showcase: This is an opportunity to create and showcase compelling, experience driven applications, using any technology that runs on Series 40 or S60 devices, such as Flash Lite, Java, Python, or open source. From a single-purpose application to completely community driven, this developer’s showdown will help open consumers’ minds about what an application can do.   

First place winners in each category will receive USD 25 000, a trip to Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona, and distribution of their application for free through a variety of Nokia channels. Second place winners in each category will receive USD 10 000 and third place winners will receive USD 5 000.

The contest opens on September 16, 2008 and all entries are due by December 15, 2008. Finalists will be selected and notified in January 2009.

The recent article on the stock market news Web site Seeking Alpha, “The Wireless Application Marketplace: Apple, Google, Microsoft and RIMM” by Option Dragon, offers a look at the emergence of wireless application marketplaces.

With the huge success of Apple’s iPhone App Store, other industry leaders are rushing to get a share of the market. Google, T-Mobile, Microsoft and RIMM (Blackberry) are debuting their own versions of application marketplaces. The significance of these new marketplaces is that they support the notion of open software development for cell phones.

Google and T-Mobile work under the Open Handset Alliance and T-Mobile is offering the services on any of its handsets (unlike AT&T’s dependence on the iPhone for its cut of the application marketplace). And, despite being notoriously closed, Microsoft is launching Skymarket for its Windows Mobile 7.

These signs signify that mobile technology is indeed the future of computing. A couple of questions can be asked:

1.       With the movement toward open software and loosened cellular controls, what does this mean for Microsoft?

2.       With so many conflicts of interest between these companies (as the author describes), does this foreshadow an aggregated marketplace for the future?

Prepared for Adobe Systems Incorporated, the white paper “Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem” is an excellent foray into understanding the mobile industry. The well written paper provides a straight-forward view of the state of the ecosystem. It is a good resource providing background information as well as a look at future development.

I found it interesting to consider the varying levels of control exerted by mobile operators compared to the desktop environment. The paper states: “This operator control, which is substantially stronger in the U.S. than in many other regions, has no real analogy in the modern web, where anyone can publish content without negotiating with an ISP” (p. 8). This is an interesting contrast to the commonly studied, newsworthy threats that traditional publishing conglomerates are facing due to today’s multitude of self-publishers.

Several questions came to mind while reading the white paper:

1. The paper lists examples of commercially generated content and mentions that “user generated content is gaining importance in the mobile world” (p. 9). What are some examples of this?
   
2. What accounts for the disparity between data services in this statement on page i: “By 2011, data services and content will make up 16% of total mobile revenues in North America, and 26% in Western Europe.”
   
3. If “Globally, there are approximately 3.5 times as many mobile devices in use as there are PCs” (p. i), then how does this translate with the later statements about the increasing acceptance of sideloading? Where will the people without PCs sideload from? Or, is that not a concern? Or, are enough people owners of multiple cell phones that it is hard to know how many people own both a cell phone and a PC? Page 14 states “operator’s tolerance of sideloading is increasing” and some actually “encourage sideloading” as it also “frees up the network capacity for other applications.”
   
4. Is the statement “Advertising is just beginning to become significant in the mobile content world” (p. ii) true for even the sophisticated markets like Japan and Korea? Since they are forerunners in the field, it seems as though these countries would already have significant mobile advertising models. This topic is also addressed on page 12.
   
5. What is Europe’s primary distribution method and why is this statement true: “Content distribution in North America is much more dominated by mobile operators than it is in Europe: something on the order of 70-80% of mobile content in North America is delivered through operator-controlled channels, as compared to 30% in Western Europe” (p. iii)?
   
6. Why does the U.S. “lag in mobile usage trends” (p. 2)? Is the U.S. capable of, or concerned with, catching-up?

Mobile technology, as described by ABI Research’s Mobile Content End User Survey, has come to include a strong emphasis on data services as a primary offering. Through the Comparison of Mobile Subscribers and Social Networking Users by Nick Holland, two online surveys are used to evaluate the usage differences between these groups.

Holland finds that between the groups, Social Network Subscribers (subscribers to online social networks) have a younger demographic. He concludes that because Social Network Subscribers were twice as likely to have smart phones as overall Mobile Subscribers, it is because the former group felt that the data capabilities were worth the premium costs associated with owning such a device. To me, this assumption raises several questions: What other factors could cause this result? Could another factor be that more young people work at companies that are supplying them with smartphones? And, within the group of smartphone owners, how many of them actually use the smart features? Are some smartphone owners simply obtaining the phones to be trendy rather than to utilize its services?

Holland also notes that Social Network Mobile Subscribers were twice as likely to be regular users of mobile Internet services as Mobile Subscribers. This aligns, as one would expect, with his former acknowledgement that Social Network Mobile Subscribers are twice as likely to own smartphones. Text messaging, in contrast, was found to be a service more universally adopted between the groups.

Mobile e-mail usage, however, was again twice as prevalent among the Social Network Mobile Subscriber group. The use of e-mail on a phone draws further speculation as to whether the phone owners surveyed are utilizing the phones for work purposes.  What portion of the surveyed e-mails were sent for personal use versus professional use? As mentioned above, perhaps the phones were provided to the group by businesses – not costing any premium to the users, yet driving-up the e-mail usage rates.

Another question that can be considered relates to Holland’s assessment of mobile gaming usage. He notes surprise at the 31% mobile game usage rate of the general Mobile Subscriber group. This number should not be a surprise, as this group has an older demographic which aligns with the older demographic that is attracted to such casual games. According to a press release by casual game industry leader Real Networks, “more than 70 percent of people buying casual games from the company are women age 40 and older.” Therefore, the seemingly high number of mobile game users should not be shocking.

In addition to the previous questions, I would be curious to know:

• How many of the 1000 people within the Mobile Subscribers group were Social Network Mobile subscribers?
• Is the low number of mobile TV / video users due to a short mobile battery life?
• Has mobile adoption in the US piqued or plateaued, or at what rate is it still growing?
• Are mobile usage and social network usage growing at the same rate?

Holland’s analysis is useful, but leaves room for questions. While surveys provide statistical information that can be useful, they also offer a limited landscape for complete analysis.