Skip to content
  1. Is Mobile Overhyped in Africa? Posted in Emerging Markets, Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Agnes Sokol January 28, 2011 2 comments

    2010 seems to have been the year of mobile media. At every turn, we were bombarded with statistics on mobile networks, ideas for new mobile campaigns and the overarching message that without incorporating mobile strategy, we were somehow missing out. The craze of mobile media was heard loud and clear but it has lead me to wonder whether it is properly deserved. In Africa, is mobile truly critical or if has it been overhyped as the must-have technology this past year? Read Further

  2. Can you use Mxit to engage with your community? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Neerali Gajjar January 26, 2011

    Mxit is a free application that allows users to send instant messages to each other as well as to other IM clients such as Gtalk, ICQ and MSN. According to a Cell Smart presentation, Mxit’s main users are between the ages 19-25. If this is the demographic you are after then Mxit is the perfect platform to interact with your target market. Read Further

  3. Foursquare, Yes or No? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg January 25, 2011 17 comments

    Last week Sachin wrote a post on Location-based social networks and building a community online. In his post Sachin asked “should you, as a digital marketer, jump into creating campaigns for location-based social networks?”

    According to Sachin, “the reality is that these social networks aren’t particularly popular in developed countries yet and they are pretty much unknown in developing countries (we’re looking at 3 million users which is still a very low number). Unfortunately, it still feels that we haven’t managed to effortlessly integrate locations into the way we use the internet.”

    Read Further

  4. 3 Successful Mobile Marketing Campaigns Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Agnes Sokol January 21, 2011 1 comment

    Mobile marketing is on the rise and some of the world’s most successful brands are working hard to engage their clients via interactive mobile marketing campaigns. Here are examples of 3 innovative campaigns which were put together by mobile marketers and did wonders for the brands they were promoting. Check out campaigns from Nike, Dove and American Express which helped to put mobile marketing initiatives on the map!

    Read Further

  5. Location-based social networks and building a community online Posted in Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Concocted by Sachin Ranchod January 20, 2011

    Over the last couple of years, location-based social networks have been much hyped as the savior of online advertising.  In case you missed the boat – the basic idea is that the social network uses the user’s location to enhance their experience whilst they are on the network.  Ideally, you want to be able to quickly say “I’m here” to your followers (and advertisers) and have them says “Cool, check out this coffee shop around the corner”. Read Further

  6. Is the mobile web only for kids and geeks? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by LouisJvR January 19, 2011 3 comments

    A recent study by marketing research company Pew Internet found that social networking site usage grew 88% among Internet users aged 55-64, and the 65 and older group’s social networking presence grew 100% during 2010. A great deal of this upward trend has been attributed to a marked increase in mobile usage amongst this demographic. Indeed the demographics around the mobile web is fragmenting by the day. Read Further

  7. What brands are embracing mobile technology to build their community? Posted in Branding Online, Community Management, Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Jason Bagley January 18, 2011

    Here are 3 brands using mobile to help grow their community and further connect with their customers:

    Guinness VIP

    Guinness have rolled out a mobile social network powered by Motribe for the numerous Guinness drinkers. It’s a platform for consumers to belong to  community where they get information relating to football, make friends, chat and connect. It also offers competitions which users on their VIP network will quality for.

    Read Further

  8. How to make your website mobile friendly Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Fred Roed January 17, 2011 7 comments

    These days it’s becoming a standard question in client meetings; “…what about mobile?”

    Clients have realized that building a community is critical to their marketing campaigns. Brands like Red Bull and Ray Bans are hitting the social channel hard. Gucci are moving millions from their traditional budgets to engagement via social media.  As social networking becomes increasingly more important in community building strategies, we need to be cognisant of some seismic changes in the mobile environment – the key one being that audiences are looking at Facebook and Twitter more via their mobile phones than on their desktop devices. Read Further

  9. Has Mobile Marketing changed the game for advertisers? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Ettienne Mostert January 14, 2011

    The affordability and accessibility of mobile devices means mobile marketing plays a major role in the modern marketing environment. The question is whether mobile marketing is the next marketing Utopia or the Dystopia many digital adverting platforms have proven to be. Truthfully, I don’t know the answer, but I would like to examine a case study of a mobile marketing campaign that has worked and extract some insight out of it. Read Further

  10. Social networking on your mobile phone: child’s play or adults only? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Concocted by Lauren Potgieter January 13, 2011

    Social networking straight from your mobile phone; we all do it. If we see something great, we snap a quick picture and add it to our Twitter or Facebook accounts for others to see. If we want to get in contact with a friend, a phone call is no longer needed, all we have to do is log onto Mxit or Whatsapp and we can chat for as long as we want for the fraction of a price of a regular phone call or a text message. Even though some of us are wary of utilizing our phones for social networking, the truth is that it is not age discriminating and there is no doubt that this applies to all forms of communication today. Read Further

  11. Should you modify your site for Mobi? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Neerali Gajjar January 12, 2011 5 comments

    Cell phones have come a long way, from being the size of bricks and only able to make calls, to now virtually being hand held PCs (or Macs). Calls aren’t the primary reason to use a cell phone, according to the New York Times, “for the first time in the United States, the amount of data in text, e-mail messages, streaming video, music and other services on mobile devices in 2009 surpassed the amount of voice data in cell phone calls.” Read Further

  12. Twitter: “40% of All Tweets Come From Mobile” Posted in Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg January 11, 2011 1 comment

    Mashable posted a very interesting article a few days ago on the amount of tweets coming from our phones. The estimation was 40% of all tweets are coming from mobile phones. Read Further

  13. Use of Mobile Technology for Humanitarian Aid Posted in Emerging Markets, Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Agnes Sokol January 10, 2011

    Mobile media technology is increasingly being used in emergency and humanitarian media response programmes.  Mobile communication allows people in disaster-affected areas to access humanitarian aid information and make their voices heard in these crises situations. It also allows aid agencies to provide vital services in an effective manner and to stay connected during disasters. Read Further

  14. Using mobile to help build loyalty within the online community management grid Posted in Community Management, Mobile Marketing, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk October 7, 2010 2 comments

    The community management grid has a large emphasis on building loyalty and understanding your community as much as possible.

    We set the Channel Mobile team a challenge: How would they utilise mobile in helping build loyalty, as part of an online community management strategy? They used an example of how a coffee shop could offer incentives to their online community, surveying them in the process, to then help segment their database further and target its customers more effectively. And all done on mobile. Read Further

  15. How is the proliferation of mobile apps affecting online reputation management? Posted in Mobile Marketing, Online Reputation Management, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk July 9, 2010

    Nearly all smart phones now come installed with an application that allows you tweet directly from your mobile. Because of this it has become easier to post your message from anywhere, and that’s exactly what people are now doing. The problem for businesses is they now have soooo much more noise to wade through and their customers are finding it easier to complain there and then about your brand. Mike Perk talks to Gavin Mandel from Channel Mobile about the implications to online reputation management. Read Further

  16. Augmented Reality for Mobile Posted in Augmented Reality, Mobile Marketing, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk May 18, 2010 1 comment

    Mobile phones could be the best tool for making augmented reality utilitarian for most users. The guys from Channel Mobile talk about the potential revenue possibilities when using this technology on cell phones, especially offering location based services.

    Read Further

  17. Mobile is starting to make the most of Augmented Reality Posted in Augmented Reality, Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Ettienne Mostert May 5, 2010

    In 2005 I tried  on a pair of Sony augmented reality (AR) glasses. AR (augmented reality) technology was basic at that stage nonetheless I was mesmorized by the idea of activating 3-dimensional space with digital layer of information. Read Further

  18. Layar – an augmented reality browser for your phone! Posted in Augmented Reality, Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Jason Bagley April 29, 2010 4 comments

    The Layar Reality Browser is an Augmented Reality app that is currently available for the iPhone and Android based phones. Layar works by using a combination of your cellphone camera, GPS and compass to identify your position and field of view. It then retrieves data based on your geographical position and overlays that data over your camera’s view. Confused? Think of it like this – all you have to do is start up your camera, point it down a road and points of interest, shops, train stations and other places will light up on your phone with details such as distance to the place, reviews and contact numbers. Read Further

  19. Top 3 Mobile Marketing Ideas for South Africa Posted in Mobile Marketing, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk November 2, 2009 1 comment

    Join Mike as he chats to Rob and Gavin (Channel Mobile) and they discuss the top three mobile marketing ideas for the South African market. Read Further

  20. Avoiding spying and spamming with mobile marketing Posted in Mobile Marketing, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk September 18, 2009

    Back by popular demand, Channel Mobile, one of South Africa’s leading mobile solution providers, have agreed to provide a more regular video slot. Providing all the heavy chefs out there with more insight into the world of mobile marketing.

    Read Further

  21. 5 mobile tips for business profitability Posted in Mobile Marketing, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk August 21, 2009 3 comments

    Channel Mobile are one of South Africa leading mobile solution providers. So being in the same Cape Town neighborhood The Heavy Chef team decided to pop in on them and pick up a few useful tips.

    Read Further

  22. Weather.com’s mobi site shows potential in mobile web Posted in Mobile Marketing, Website Usability, Concocted by LouisJvR August 17, 2009

    Always a hot topic: ‘Mobi-sites’

    We know just about every person in this world owns a handset. We know the majority of mobile devices can access the web. But the question still comes up over-and-over again, how many people actually use their handsets to access the web?

    Read Further

  23. MMS Lite: Making Mobile Marketing More Money-wise Posted in Mobile Marketing, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg July 6, 2009
    Texting

    Texting

    Not satisfied with SMS or MMS? Well, what about something in between? Local mobile services company Grapevine Interactive has developed the world’s first mobile messaging product to fit squarely in the niche between SMS and MMS. Read Further

  24. Google moves one step further to global domination Posted in Digital Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Concocted by Fred Roed February 4, 2009

    Yesterday, Google launched Latitude, a social networking tool that allows you to connect with your mates using Google Maps on your mobile phone.

    Simple, powerful, pervasive. Brilliant. Read Further

  25. The Google Phone, Finally! Posted in Mobile Marketing, Online Advertising, Concocted by Guest August 26, 2008 1 comment

    For those of you that don’t know, Google isn’t developing a mobile phone in terms of hardware. Instead they are sticking to what they do best. They’re creating an open source operating system for mobile phone manufacturers to make use of.

    There’s an article on Techcrunch telling the world that we should expect to see the first Google powered phone: the G1, hit T-Mobile stores next month. Read Further