London, UK (PRWeb UK) July 15, 2010

Upstream, one of the world’s largest mobile marketing solutions providers, (www.upstreamsystems.com) is completing a series of successful localised mobile marketing campaigns across West Africa for MTN, as part of the Group’s official FIFA World Cup sponsorship activities.

Upstream worked with MTN to create large-scale Mega Promotions for three of the group’s West African markets – Nigeria, Ghana and Benin. The campaigns, which were timed to leverage the build up to the World Cup, were all launched at highly publicised events in April. With World Cup activities ending and the campaigns drawing to a close, results reveal an overwhelming response from users, boosting ARPU and generating a high level of excitement from MTN customers in each country after creating instant big winners.

Though launched simultaneously, the three campaigns were carefully constructed to fit unique consumer behaviour and demographics in each of the three countries. This demonstrates the ability of Upstream’s sophisticated mobile marketing communications suite to deliver optimised, relevant, communications that engage and create positive and profitable interactions with every one of MTN’s participating customers.

“Mobile operators like MTN do not want a cookie-cutter approach to how they market to their customer base, particularly for significant regional campaigns such as MTN’s World Cup promotions, but they also want low risk solutions. For MTN, Upstream produced sophisticated CRM campaigns which have enabled them to deliver strongly branded and aligned competitions that were nimble enough to support their massive Africa-wide World Cup series of activities”, said Nikos Moraitakis, VP Business Development at Upstream.

“We were amazed at how effortlessly Upstream grasped the needs and preferences of our subscriber base and formulated a customised promotion strategy. The MTN Benin – Upstream partnership was a great commercial success and we look forward to more profitable projects in the future”, said Harriet Muchu, Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Benin.

Launched in 1994, MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications provider, with its core operations in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

MTN CAMPAIGNS WITH UPSTREAM

MTN Nigeria
MTN 2010 World Cup Naira Splash Competition is a 90 day campaign launched in April, running until after the World Cup. Prizes include N20,000 Every Hour, N2,000,000 Every Day, N20,000,000 Every Month and 120 Tickets to the World Cup.
http://www.mtnonline.com/index.php/participate.html

MTN Benin
MTN 2010 World Cup Competition was a 60 day campaign when it was launched in April, following the success of the campaign it was extended to 90 days. The SMS mega promotion is being executed in local versions of French. Prizes include daily giveaways of Sony flat screen television and Hyundai cars.
MTN Ghana
MTN 2010 Win 90 cars in 90 days is a 90 day campaign launched in April running until the end of the World Cup. Prizes include daily giveaways of Hyundai Cars, Sony LCD TVs and MTN airtime vouchers.
http://www.mtn.com.gh/sub.aspx?ID=272&MID=228&ParentID=12&FirstParentID=3&Level=3&FirstIsClosed5=N&SecondIsClosed50=Y

About Upstream

Upstream is a world leader in mobile marketing solutions, reaching over 500 million consumers in more than 40 countries. Using its advanced technology platform to deliver potent interactive communication via mobile channels, Upstream empowers global brands to activate their customers like never before.
Upstream was born out of a desire to revolutionise the way companies market to mobile consumers. By combining technology innovation with years of execution expertise and the analysis of terabytes of consumer data, communications powered by Upstream massively increase conversion rates and generate profitable interactions for companies and their mobile consumers.

This unique ability to extract value from any customer base has made Upstream the preferred mobile marketing partner for blue chip companies including Vodafone, T-Mobile, TIM, Orange, Telefonica, America Movil, Zain, MTN, The Coca-Cola Company, Nestlé, Unilever, Shell and BSkyB.Media contact:

Jacki Vause

Peppercom for Upstream

+44 (0)20 7033 2660

Alexandra Chong

Upstream
+44 (0) 207 290 1320

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BuzzCity reports that worldwide there has been an increased focus on mobile advertising, with 44 countries delivering monthly traffic exceeding 10 million impressions per month, 12 more countries than were reported during the 1^st Quarter.

The company claims to have delivered a massive 12,8-billion ad impressions in the second quarter of 2010 across 200 countries, so their data presents a fair indication of the world-wide mobile advertising picture.

Increased advertiser interest was noted from large players such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN, as well as sporting brands like Puma and Adidas who took advantage of the 2010 Fifa World Cup to promote their brands to consumers on the move.

Read full story

London (PRWEB) June 9, 2010 — Within the transaction Guava UK Limited acquired the shares of NetBooster UK Limited from the NetBooster Group at a purchase price of €625,000. Under the agreement the joint UK business will trade under the Guava brand and management, a move that will enable the new company to increase both geographical spread and client reach.

Lucy Cokes, COO of UK Operations, said: “Guava are delighted to be further building the UK client base and making the most of future opportunities that are offered via a global network.”

Guava and NetBooster are both leading interactive agencies with strong market share and their merger will establish an international portfolio of clients incorporating well known brands such as Confused.com, Argos and The Royal Mail from Guava, and Millennium Hotels and SCA from NetBooster.

Notes to Editors:

For further information please contact
Eve Hyland | Guava | 08700 630707 | www.guava.co.uk

About Guava
Established in 1998, Guava is a fresh thinking, digital marketing agency specialising in search marketing, web development, SEO, and PPC in the UK. Part of the pan-European Guava group with over 200 employees, the UK division is headed up by UK COO, Lucy Cokes with offices in Berkshire and Cornwall. http://www.guava.co.uk

About NetBooster
Established in 1998, NetBooster is an interactive agency specialising in online marketing. Consolidated 2009 sales were €31 million. The Group has offices in France, UK, Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy, China, Brazil and the Philippines, and employs a workforce of 233 people.
http://www.netbooster-agency.co.uk

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The Cupertino-based company is also looking at developing NFC into a ticketing and couponing solution – so far dubbed iCoupons or Ticketing+, depending on who you listen to – that will seek to revolutionise the mobile coupon and ticketing businesses and bring them mainstream.

According to reports by www.nearfieldcommunicationsworld.com Apple has so far put in four mobile payments patent applications. The first two relate to peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and show an iPhone menu that would enable the user to choose from a variety of payments options at the time of purchase.

Here, there is an indication that iTunes could evolve into a mobile currency, with mention of the service as one of the payments options along with bank transfer, credit and debit card options. The second pair of patent applications, meanwhile, cover the use of a ‘portable device’ — such as an iPhone — as a mobile point of purchase or POS terminal, able to capture information about an item for sale, determine its purchase price and process payments.

Now, two new patent applications entitled ‘Smart Menu Options’ and ‘Real-Time Bargain Hunting’ have also been published which together describe a comprehensive mobile commerce, promotions and payments service — including a clear business model that Apple could use to generate significant new revenues.

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Hampshire, UK (PRWEB) March 29, 2010 — The value of presence based Mobile Web 2.0 services will increase to more than $6 billion by 2012, according to a new report from Juniper Research. Increasing smartphone penetration in developed markets, allied to rising global usage of both on-net and off-net mobile IM (instant messaging) will help to drive this trend.

Defining Mobile Web 2.0

Web 2.0 has been the catalyst for renewed growth in the mobile industry, comprising:

• Presence – SMS-based presence (alerts) and server-based presence services

• Geolocation – services that enable users to share location details with other users, third-parties or applications, collaborate with those nearby, and exploit local knowledge

• Social Web – including social networking sites, user generated content, and a variety of sub-categories including blogs and dating

The report found that monetising Mobile Web 2.0 services was still posing a challenge across the mobile value chain. Nevertheless, it concluded that opportunities exist for service providers across a range of business models, ranging from subscription-based services to ad-funded solutions.

Presence services on the increase

The Mobile Web 2.0 report found that revenues from presence-based services were currently almost exclusively derived from operator-billed mobile IM accounts.

Mobile VoIP traffic on the other hand has been severely constrained by the need for higher speed networks such as 3G or HSPA in order to provide the QoS (quality of service) required. In addition many operators have historically sought to block VoIP services in order to protect their voice revenues. Juniper believes that both these issues will begin to ease as mobile broadband becomes more prevalent and new operator business models facilitate the inclusion of VoIP services.

Report author Ian Chard observed “Since the use of IP delivers lower-cost calling rates, for international calls in particular, then as 3G service adoption gradually becomes more prevalent there is likely to be a marked migration of voice traffic across to mobile VoIP.”

This study published today is the second of two reports focusing on mobile web 2.0:

1. Mobile Social Web 2.0: Forecasts, Challenges & Regulations 2010-2014
2. Mobile Web 2.0: Business Models, Geolocation & Presence 2010-2014

The Mobile web whitepaper and further details of the two studies can be freely downloaded from www.juniperresearch.com. Alternatively, please contact John Levett at john(dot)levett(at)juniperresearch(dot)com, telephone +44(0)1256 830002.

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(PRWEB) February 15, 2010 — “Nothing in life is free, and in the case of illegal MP3 downloads you have to think of the cost for these ‘free’ download sites to maintain themselves,” states Alexandre Despallieres, owner of Lexink®. The company is promoting its new UNLODER™ digital file swap application, designed to benefit consumers and the entertainment industry.

The “missing piece,” the UNLODER™ provides a low-cost and low-risk solution to consumers while creating an “endless cycle of resale” for those in the music and film industries, who are increasingly losing ground every year as digital piracy takes hold.

Recent developments, such as those surrounding the Digital Economy Bill in the UK, have again sparked the conversation about Internet ethics and copyright issues. While some would argue that illegal file sharing provides access to an audience for many artists who before had little chance of being seen or heard, others are concerned that free music downloads are destroying the music industry, as the rise in illegal downloading leads to a slump in industry-wide investment and a lack of innovation.

The Digital Economy Bill and efforts in other countries to enforce laws against digital piracy have also attracted the attention of marketing analysts, who note that most consumers seek zero-risk commerce venues. If they feel free MP3 downloads are ethical–grassroots file sharing and other factors bolster this sentiment–and they have no fear of being penalized, the activity will continue, as it seems to be, without real risk or consequence.

Despallieres, however, notes that the risk is there, pointing to what’s really going on behind the scenes in these companies: “To operate, store and push illegal music or video downloads sites such as MegaUpload.com carries extraordinary maintenance costs, and that’s without getting into bandwidth usage, difficult-to-use dark fiber. The most common financial model for an online site is that subscription users cover the costs of free users. However in this particular case, that model is not viable, not even when you factor in revenues from banner ads or pop ups. In fact, there is no viable business model possible unless these sites are no more than a screen behind which hide questionable activities.”

According to Despallieres, there are rather grave yet unseen risks to consumers–many of them teens–who use these companies for free music MP3 downloads or film downloads.

“In reality so-called ‘free downloads’ are expensive. Users are probably aware such sites are an open door to viruses and spyware but most likely don’t know that usage of these sites involves active - albeit involuntary - support of money laundering, allowing revenues from online gambling and pornography to be white-washed,” he explains. “UNLODER is the beginning of a solution to digital piracy as well as users’ indirect financial support of those companies’ illicit activities. It is a safe and low-cost alternative respecting everyone’s rights, including users.”

While the majority of consumers around the world are taking advantage of free music and free DVD downloads, they might not do so if 1) they were aware of the hidden risks and 2) they had access to a low-cost alternative beyond illegal downloading and one-time digital purchase vehicles like iTunes. This is where the Lexink® UNLODER™ comes in.

More information about the UNLODER™ digital file swap application can be found at the Lexink® website.

About Lexink®:

An integrated network of consultants in both multimedia and entertainment industries offers custom solutions through Lexink®, a company that provides innovation and expertise in information technology, advertising, and film production. Applications like the new UNLODER™ tool are designed to foster growth in these industries. Lexink® is a provider of grassroots brand integration that articulates company vision within budget for long-term marketing success. Content for syndicated television programming from a diverse television and film catalogue is also available through Lexink®.

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The scheme, which began last May, was due to end in February or when funding ran out.

However, yesterday the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation (BSI) said it would allow buyers until the end of March to take advantage of the scheme, which offers consumers a £2,000 discount, half from the industry and half from the Government, to trade in vehicles that are more than ten years old.

According to BSI estimates, there is £70 million left of scheme funding. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said: “Against the background of the economic downturn the scrappage scheme has proved a great success, driving UK car sales, protecting jobs and supporting the supply chain for car manufacture at a time when this sector needed it most.

Read full story

Fremont, CA (PRWeb UK) January 8, 2010 — With the new year upon us, many business people are finding it important to get their contacts organized for the coming months. While online social sites such as LinkedIn make it easy for people to connect in the online world – the paper business card is still a standard at trade shows and in face to face meetings. The WorldCard Mobile iPhone application from Penpower Inc. allows for the two worlds to meet, digitally scanning business cards and depositing the information into the phones contact list.

It’s not an uncommon site to open the desk drawer of a salesman, real estate agent or even CEO of a major corporation and find stacks and stacks of paper business cards from potential clients and vendors collecting dust and not providing any value to the recipient. In this digital world we live in – for a networked contact to be useful, it has to be digital. Traditionally, this has been done either through the manual labor of a lowly intern going through each business card and typing the information into a spreadsheet taking hours of time that could be better spent elsewhere, or through expensive business card scanning software and hardware packages. Now with WorldCard mobile, the iPhone 3Gs user needs only to download the app from iTunes to have full access to professional grade business card scanning.

Once installed, the WorldCard Mobile application uses the high resolution camera of the iPhone 3Gs to photograph business cards and pull the information off of them using parent company Penpower Inc’s long proven OCR technology. With 18 years of experience in the field of image recognition, Penpower’s technology provides superior recognition quality, allowing for text detection from many cards other readers cannot access at much faster speeds. “The iPhone is not known for being user friendly when entering a significant amount of text”, said Dr. Tsay, CEO of Penpower Inc. “WorldCard Mobile makes it quick and easy to import a stack of business cards from after a conference or important meeting without the frustration of a touch screen keyboard.” After cards have been scanned in, it is simply a matter of syncing the phone with the computer to load your contacts into your email program and social networks.

The iPhone is only the latest channel to be explored by the company, which also creates some of the top business card and document scanner hardware and software programs for personal computers. The WorldCard Mobile system has been available for Windows Mobile and Symbian since 2007, and has over a million users worldwide.

WorldCard Mobile is available in the business category of the iTunes App Store for £6.00, but is currently on sale for £3.49. WorldCard Mobile is designed specifically for the iPhone 3GS, utilizing its higher quality camera for greater scanning and recognition capabilities. Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions are also available for purchase.

About Penpower Inc.

Penpower Technology is a world leader and pioneer in providing integrated solutions for Intelligent Human Computer Interface Technologies. The company is now developing integrated human machine interface solutions based on “TTS, OCR, Speech, Handwriting and Biometrics” Founded in 1991, Penpower has focused on developing business productivity software, Asian language-based software, and mobile electronics. Through a human-centric philosophy and continued innovations in multi-processor, multi-platform and multi-language recognition systems, Penpower is the leading provider of information technology, innovations, solutions and professional service dedicated to realizing perfect communications between man and technology.
www.Penpower.net

Contacts:
Brian Lee
Sales Manager
Email: Brian(at)Penpowerinc(dot)com
Phone: 510-897-6615

Aaron Watkins
Appency PR & Marketing for Penpower Inc.
Email: aaron(at)appency(dot)com
Phone: 916-692-5117

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Cardiff (PRWEB) January 13th, 2010 — The humble wireless router has been named the most confusing gadget of the decade. It has left Brits scratching their heads for the longest amount of time over the past ten years, followed by the iPod.

Research carried out by Confused.com shows the top 10 most confusing gadgets of the decade to be:

1. Wireless router
2. iPod
3. Mobile phone
4. Digital camera
5. Sat Nav/GPS
6. Sky+
7. DVD Player
8. iPhone
9. Nintendo Wii
10. Video camera

Despite the amount of time spent by consumers trying to crack such gizmos over the past ten years, the poll of 2,000 people revealed that a stubborn 48% of us don’t even bother to consult the instructions before tackling a new gadget. The most common mistakes we make are connecting leads up wrongly (55% of people) or not inserting batteries correctly (45%).

Kelly Davies from car insurance and energy comparison experts, Confused.com, commented: “We’ve all spent time trying to get to grips with tricky gadgets over the past decade. The rapid pace of technological advancement presents new challenges for all of us as our favourite gizmos evolve and develop. There’s no doubt that the good old-fashioned route of reading the instructions first before diving in and trying to make a gadget work is the only way to crack it!”

Wireless router
One of the most difficult pieces of computer hardware to master, setting up a home wireless network has caused consumers hours of problems since they were launched. DHCP addresses, ethernet cables and TCP/IP optimisers have left us all scratching our heads at some point.

iPod
In October 2001, Apple unveiled the first generation iPod with numerous models to have appeared since. Getting to grips with the tricky click wheel and learning to synchronise with an iTunes account are usually cited as the biggest difficulties in mastering it.

Mobile phone
Over the past ten years, the mobile phone has evolved at a rapid pace. From mastering small keypads to getting to grips with extensive menu functions, every new make and model presents new challenges for the user.

Digital camera
Whilst the rise of the digital camera might have fuelled vanity amongst users as pictures could be improved upon again and again, taking the perfect digital image is riddled with pitfalls be it mastering flash, reducing redeye or getting the correct aspect ratio.

Sat Nav/GPS
A classic confuser, problems with Sat Nav can be as much human error as technical. The past ten years have seen numerous astronomical mishaps - from the trucker travelling from Turkey to Gibraltar who ended up in Skegness, to shoppers heading to Lille in France ending up in Lille…in Belgium.

Sky+
Since it’s launch in 2001, Sky+’s PVR technology has revolutionised the way we watch television. It is not without it’s pitfalls however - navigating the electronic programming guide, managing to synchronise the complex remote with the TV and mastering the rewind/fast forward buttons have all given consumers problems over the past decade.

DVD Player
Welcomed in households up and down the country as a sleek and user-friendly upgrade to the video tape deck, the DVD player can still cause problems for rookies in connecting it up correctly to a television and deciphering confusing DVD region codes.

iPhone
Released in 2007, the iPhone has transformed how people use their mobile phones. No longer just method for making and receiving phonecalls. The plethora of applications available for use leaves many puzzled, whilst mastering the sensitive touchscreen is also a tricky process.

Nintendo Wii
When the Wii launched in 2006, it revolutionised gaming. Its advanced wireless technology has not been the easiest thing to master however, with some users struggling to master the techniques needed to operate the controller to optimum effect.

Video camera
From older-style tape-based cameras to new, hard disk models, video cameras mean every moment of family life can now be captured for future preservation. However, making sure the lens cap is removed, mastering focus and capturing sound all present challenges for the everyday user.

For further information please contact:
Press office, Confused.com: 02920 434 398

Notes to editors
About Confused.com:
Confused.com is one of the UK’s biggest and most popular price comparison services. Launched in 2002, it generates over one million quotes per month. It has expanded its range of comparison products over the last couple of years to include home insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, van insurance, motorbike insurance, breakdown cover and energy, as well as financial services products including credit cards, loans, mortgages and life insurance.

Confused.com has all of the ‘big six’ energy providers on its panel, customers can save £207* on their annual energy bill by switching with Confused.com

Confused.com is not a supplier, insurance company or broker. It provides a free, objective and unbiased comparison service. By using cutting-edge technology, it has developed a series of intelligent web-based solutions that evaluate a number of risk factors to help customers with their decision-making, subsequently finding them great deals on a wide-range of insurance products, financial services, utilities and more. Confused.com’s service is based on the most up-to-date information provided by UK suppliers and industry regulators.

Confused.com is owned by the Admiral Group plc. Admiral listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004. Confused.com is regulated by the FSA.

*50% of customers who switched gas and electricity (dual fuel) with Confused.com between January and June 2009 saved on average £207.58

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London, UK (PRWEB) December 23, 2009 — The availability of mobile functionality in brand websites is essential in a digital era where browsing trends and methods are moving towards portability according to Reality Digital, the leading provider of white label social network software for brands and businesses.

With a large number of users now browsing the internet using tools such as mobile phones and PDA’s, there has been a demand on companies to provide websites that are accessible by the browsers of such devices. With internet speeds often stretched by mobile signals, the onus has been on the websites to make access as straightforward as possible.

The incorporation of such features means that brands can allow their consumers to remain connected whilst they are on the move. Furthermore, the use of a brand focused social network in engaging fans of a brand often heightens their experience, and the implementation of a platform such as Reality Digital Opus that facilitates mobile uploads will help them to contribute to a brand network whenever and wherever they wish.

Robert Proctor, Head of EMEA for Reality Digital, said: “Mobile browsing is a trend that has become increasingly relevant to brands over the past couple of years, particularly through the popularity of smart phones such as the Iphone. To capitalise on such trends, brands have had the option of creating a mobile friendly website, or indeed downloadable apps.”

“Developing apps can be an expensive and time consuming process, and so one of the easier alternatives is for a brand to incorporate features into their website that allow their users to interact with the brand remotely.”

Reality Digital’s Opus social networking application allows brands and businesses to incorporate all of the latest, high end social media features into their website, either as a brand new network in its entirety, or as stand alone features incorporated into an existing framework.

The software also incorporates a HD video platform, a highly effective tool for audience engagement. Users have the power to interact directly with a brand and feel valued as part of its community, significantly heightening a consumers brand experience.

For more information, please visit realitydigital.com.

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