| Analysis: Why content is key for mobile |
| Monday, 31 May 2004 | |
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Revolution - At the turn of the millennium, media owners and brands had to consider content for online, but increasingly they are formatting it for mobile. Picture-enabled handsets mean operators can offer more types of content and downloads. But what do users want? "A phone represents identity - customers want content that establishes this," says Gavin Forth, Orange head of multimedia. "Revenue comes from personalisation such as ringtones and screen savers to brand your mobile and entertainment like games. Consumers choose to pay for convenience. Your phone is the remote control to life."Users will pay substantially for something that's free online but of less value on mobile. It is £1 to download a track online, but £3 to £4 for an abbreviated 10-second clip of a ringtone. Why? Lars Becker, Flytxt’s Chairman, says: "From day one, users accepted you have to pay for something on your phone. One reason mobile is so successful is because this infrastructure is in place. It paves the way for operators eager to push content and distribute it." He says music is the most popular downloadable content. "It has evolved from mono- to polyphonic to true tones and it is set to get bigger," he says. According to the Music Week World Report, European sales of ringtones have surpassed those for singles at 1.39 billion euros (£930 million). The operators are keen to exploit this: T-Mobile has launched Mobile Jukebox with 90-second mix tracks and by the year-end it will offer full-length versions. "The future lies in mobiles and MP3 players merging into one. The big killer application for 3G is music - you're dealing with big files and need a big enough network to cope," says Becker. Games are big too. With Java games downloading at £4 to £5 a pop, it's a huge revenue area. US operator Sprint has announced that over 3.5 million games have been downloaded this year, bringing the total to 9.5 million since it launched PCS Vision, a suite of advanced multimedia services, in 2002. And market intelligence firm IDC projects that more than 24 million mobile games will be downloaded in the US this year. The move into MMS as a channel for alert services like gossip and news is increasingly popular. T-Mobile is giving customers exclusive live multimedia coverage of UEFA Euro 2004 via MMS video-match information, along with downloadable Java games, wallpaper and football songs. Brad Reese, international media propositions manager at T-Mobile, explains: "The exclusive coverage of Euro 2004 is not content for the sake of it - it meets consumer needs. People can forward updates to mates." Vodafone is developing its WAP news service with ITN and Sky, and Conde Nast is working with MoMac to put web content on mobiles. Vodafone Live! already offers news from its ITN WAP portal icon and SMS alerts, but soon users will be able to sign up for an MMS breakfast newsflash from ITN News and lunchtime updates from Sky. Users will get the top three stories each day as six paragraphs of text and a picture for 50p per alert, following an initial free 30-day trial. This summer, Glamour and GQ are linking up with MoMac, developer of paid content for mobiles, to create WAP and pay-to-view formats for handsets. Content will include daily gossip, products and quizzes. Abigail Chisman, editor-in-chief at CondeNet.uk, says: "Mobile is an exciting new area for Conde Nast. With the help of MoMac, it's just a case of turning what's online into mobile. We are hoping it will be a revenue earner and data-capture facility." The Telegraph is planning to launch Telegraph WAP-enabled news this summer. Tim Faircliff, general manager at telegraph. co.uk, says: "We're re-skinning content for mobile to reach new audiences. We have launched subscription services for our Roundpoint PDA crossword and news service, which has been successful. The challenge is trying to recognise a commercial model that operates across operators and manufacturers. "For users to pay for something, they have to want it. Text-based content is not the answer - we have to be cleverer in offering easy to digest information with visual appeal," he adds. So, what is the future? Becker says: "Video content is more of a long-term thing to be rolled out. There's one area where this is working - adult. Users are one step ahead in introducing new technology. They are willing to experiment and video streaming is going to be a big thing." This means more Java applications where icons can be downloaded on to phones. But how easy is it to get users to sign up? "It's a challenge and it isn't something that one provider can manage," says Becker. "The entire industry will have to keep offering services and exposing customers to what's on offer. There is no benefit in being the only one offering the service. Everyone will share the burden of evolving the market and making people comfortable with the uptake of new content." © Copyright Flytxt Ltd 2006. Unauthorized use of any content constitutes a material breach. |
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