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Here comes the mobile wave… again

Posted in Media, Digital, Arif Durrani, Latest reporters' blogs October 31st, 2007 by Arif Durrani

It seems like we’ve been banging on about the arrival of mobile news and marketing services for ages, largely because we have. We all know there are more mobile phones than humans in the UK, and we’ve also heard how after keys, mobiles are considered the most important “must-haves” before we leave the house. So why are we so reluctant to use them as a vehicle for news?

For anyone living in the capital, part of the answer probably lies in the combination of unreachable tube tunnels, the availability of free print titles, and the lack of news sites designed with the mobile user in mind. However, this last point is set to change, as a number of newspaper groups have independently launched new services, and just in time to harness the executives posing with their Blackberry 8100.

Times Media, eager to make up for lost time in all things digital, has unveiled a new mobile product this month that enables users to access bite-sized news stories from The Times, The Sunday Times, and Times Online.

Meanwhile, News International stablemate, The Sun, has launched a website on the dotMobi domain, enabling readers to access its top stories from any mobile internet device.

Not to be out done, rival Trinity Mirror has appointed former News Corp mobile specialist, Rick Gleave, to lead its interactive department. In this newly created role, Gleave will be responsible for launching the group’s national and regional titles into the mobile market, including a range of subscription or pay-per-use services in the new year.

And it doesn’t stop there. Talking at mad.co.uk’s Search Engine Marketing conference a few weeks ago, Julian Sambles, audience development director at Telegraph.co.uk, confirmed that developing mobile is the next significant step in the group’s plans.

Such developments follow years of similar launches by magazine publishers throughout the UK. Of course, most have been developed with advertising opportunities in mind. Mobile video downloading is now supported by nearly 75 per cent of all UK phones, according to ad network AdMob. Personalised rich media advertising messages on the move are no longer consigned to niche audiences. Could mobiles full marketing potential finally be ready to materialise?