mobile – Social Media Strategist

McDonalds Video Commercials (a blast from the past)

On Wednesday McDonald's began to distribute fictional and non-fiction books with childrens 'Happy Meals' in the UK. This is an effort to boost literacy for British children backed by the National Literacy Trust. McDonald's will in effect become the UK's largest children's book distributor with more than 15 million books estimated to be given away over the next two years.

With the ongoing debate around the morals of marketing directly to children this is both an interesting and great strategic approach by McDonalds. It has already led to a lot of positive PR and will surely win the admiration from parents and the general public alike.

The first Mc Donald's TV advert featuring Willard Scott who is cited as the creator as well as the first actor to play "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" in a TV commercial. This 1963 advert can be watched below:

Over the years and after changing his name, 'Ronald Mc Donald' became an iconic image. TV Adverts were directly marketed to children often with a buy, buy, buy, eat, eat, eat overtone. The video below is one of my personal favourites from McDonalds due to it's bizarre and surreal nature.

McDonalds new marketing approach encompasses learning and discovery. McDonalds initial trial found that 9/10 parents wanted to see more book promotions from the fast food chain following the Michal Morpurgo book promotion last year.

Happy Meal Books

It will be interesting to see if Mc Donalds 'Happy Readers' campaign will evolve in time and whether integrations with e-books and SMART TV's are utalised.

Worldwide Tablet shipments to exceed Notebooks in 2013 (NPD DisplaySearch forecast)

Global Tablet Sales 2013.

I feel that there is a huge opportunity for fast food outlets to increase their reach and profit through education using books, mobile, tablets and SMART TV's over the next three years. Furthermore, when children are old enough to purchase fast food the loyalty built up from cheap toys (for most of us) has gone. If education is embraced and integrated within the ethos and digital engagement occurs across multiple platforms a lifetime of brand loyalty may be achievable.

Other fast food characters not to be forgotten

Burger Kind Kids Club

Burger King's Kids Club

KFC's 1969 TV advert featuring Harland "Colonel" Sanders )1890 – 1980)

TEN BIGGEST SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURERS IN Q3 2012 (BY UNIT SALES)

Rank . Maker . . . . . . Units . . . Market Share . Was in Q2 of 2012 . . OS supported (coming)

1 . . . . Samsung . . . 56.2 M . . 32.8 % . . . . . .( 32.9 %) . . . . . . . . . Android, bada, Windows, (Tizen)
2 . . . . Apple . . . . . . 26.9 M . . 15.7 % . . . . . . ( 17.0 %) . . . . . . . . . iOS
3 . . . . Huawei . . . . . 16.0 M . . . 9.3 % . . . . . . ( 4.6 %) . . . . . . . . . Android, (Tizen)
4 . . . . Sony . . . . . . . 8.8 M . . . 5.1 % . . . . . . ( 4.9 %) . . . . . . . . . Android
5 . . . . ZTE . . . . . . . . 8.0 M . . . 4.7 % . . . . . . ( 5.2 %) . . . . . . . . . Android, Windows
6 . . . . HTC . . . . . . . . 7.8 M . . . 4.6 % . . . . . . ( 5.8 %) . . . . . . . . . Android, Windows
7 . . . . RIM . . . . . . . . 7.4 M . . . 4.3 % . . . . . . ( 5.1 %) . . . . . . . . . Blackberry
8 . . . . LG . . . . . . . . . 7.2 M . . . 4.2 % . . . . . . ( 4.2 %) . . . . . . . . . Android
9 . . . . Lenovo . . . . . . 7.0 M . . . 4.1 % . . . . . . ( 3.9 %) . . . . . . . . . Android
10 . . . Nokia . . . . . . . 6.3 M . . . 3.7 % . . . . . . ( 6.7 %) . . . . . . . . Symbian, Windows, MeeGo
Others . . . . . . . . . . . 19.8 M . . 11.6 % . . . . . . ( 7.3 %) . . . . . . . . Android, Windows, others, (MeeGo) etc
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 171.4 M

So, first, Moto-Moto falls out of the top 10? Wow, goodbuy Google smartphones, eh? And who jumps in to replace it? Lenovo with its LePhone. Didn't you know Lenovo makes smartphones? I'm not surprised, so far they've only sold in China but are now eagerly expanding for example into India. Yes, already a Top 10 sized smartphone maker and yes, this is the same Lenovo from China that bought IBM's branded PC operations some years ago.

Other big news, Nokia tumbles from 3rd place to 10th, and is facing expulsion from the Top 10 as well – there's another hungry Chinese smartphone maker, Yulong, which sells smartphones under the Coolpad brand, who may topple Nokia already in Q4. The top is settled, Samsung rules this race now and Apple is in secure second place. Huawei is jumping ahead of the rest of the pack, and watch Sony, it finally is back to making smartphones profitably and showing aggression on the chart. Now lets look at the smartphone operating systems:

Table and commentry source from TomiAhonen Consulting, Estimates November 14, 2012 from vendor data and other sources. This table may be freely distributed.

Planet of the Apps London

Planet of the Apps

This years 'Planet of the Apps' explored the world of apps (predominantly mobile) through the eyes of different demographics both past and present.

Speakers from some of the globes leading organisations highlighted their own experiences giving advice to businesses and startups alike.

This years speakers included the Co-founder of Rovio, PopCap's Game Editor, VP at MTV, Hipstamatic's CEO and the Co-founder of Layar.

Each speaker brought something different to the table. I found myself especially interested in the startups who's business revolve around an innovative application much more so then the larger brands who have invested in apps once their business was a success.

Some really good points were addressed during the conference and I would recommend attending Planet of the Apps to brands, entrepreneurs and those within the mobile sector.

Mark Curtis (Fjord)

Mark Curtis

Peter Vesterbacka (Rovia / Angry Birds)

Peter Vesterbacka

Robin Wauters (TechCrunch / Virtualization.com)

TechCrunch

Chief Wonka (Ustwo)

Cheif Wonka

Maarten Lens- Fitzgerald (Layar)

Maartin Layars

Attendees networking over lunch

Planet of the Apps Conference

Nokia Foundartion

I was asked to devise and manage an experiential marketing concept for the Nokia Foundation. They wanted something to attain, interest, PR, footfall and engagement whilst promoting the new Nokia N8 mobile device. I inserted the ‘interactive graffiti’ wall (as seen on Dragons Den) into an outline of a Nokia N8 mobile phone. This is what happened next…

Attendees created ‘digital graffiti’ on the screen using a digital spray paint can and their own artistic vision

The Nokia Lounge

A “Hardcore Symbian Coder” creating his masterpiece

Once participants artwork had been completed they were invited to have their design printed onto a T-Shirt free of charge.

Thom from Future Platforms (sporting his design whilst speaking at the conference

Photos compliments BenJammin Ellis. Some rights reserved.

Me and my design:

Selection of artworks created in the Nokia Lounge on Friday & Saturday

The result… A lot of fun!

Outside of the Nokia lounge there was a lot of learning and other fun things to do. These ranged from a mobile hackathon and flying iPhone controlled aircraft to Duckhunt and Qi Gong. For more information click Here

I would like to thank all of the Mobile Monday & Over the Air organisers, Mathew Cashmore, Helen Keegan and the Nokia Foundation team especially Tina Yang & Greg Merten.

Send FREE Picture Messages To Radio 1

Radio 1 listeners will be able to send picture messages from their mobile phones to Radio 1 for free this Friday (11th December).

Listeners in the United Kingdom will be able to send free picture messages to the BBC Radio 1 messaging number (81199), for a chance to see their images featured on the Radio 1 website. UK participants on both pay as you go & monthly contracts will not be charged as part of the Radio 1s ‘free picture message day’.

It will be interesting to see how much over the air exposure Radio 1 DJs such as Pete Tong & Annie Mac give to this project. The Mobile Data Association (MDA), brought together each of the UK’s major mobile network operators to form a partnership with the BBC which aims to get more young people involved with the station. The MDA has also launched an educational website with the long-term aim of helping people to send picture messages: http://www.getsettings.org .

Ben Chapman, Interactive Editor at BBC Radio 1, said: “Our goal is to mix the listeners’ picture messages with images of our DJs in an innovative way, so they all follow the theme of a well known piece of music. It’s a brilliant opportunity for Radio 1 to produce interactive content while explaining how to get the most out of mobile phones, and it encourages more interaction with our DJs.”

Martin Ballard, Operations Director at the MDA, said: “BBC Radio 1’s Picture Messaging Day should provide a springboard to generate further interest in the medium. Our getsettings website aims to address configuration issues around older handsets in circulation and SIM-only contracts. But the emergence of increasingly sophisticated and affordable devices means users can begin to capitalise on the rich mobile messaging facilities which are now available, as they did with text messaging at the beginning of the decade”.

Sources: The Mobile Data Association newsletter, Radio 1, GetSettings