[off topic] RIP Mimi

As some of you probably know, I'm a bit of a luvvie at heart and this emanated from a) living very close to a theatre (the Swan Theatre in Worcester) and b) living next door to a theatrical boarding house in Britannia Square where all the actors stayed when they were in Rep at Worcester Swan Theatre (oh and for historical accuracy, it was also where Edward Elgar went to school).

I've just heard today that the landlady of said boarding house, Mimi Hewitt, died peacefully earlier this month. Much loved by the likes of Michael Palin and Derek Nimmo who both stayed with her, she will be much missed by her very large extended family and many friends and also the many actors who stayed with her - Chris Corcoran, Gary Sharkey, Bill Gaminara, Deborah Makepeace and many many more. She even gets a mention on Just a Minute on Radio 4.

I spent half my childhood in her house and not only did I get to hang out with loads of actors, she also taught me French from the age of six which is why I have a great French accent (I've forgotten a lot of the vocabulary though but I sound good!), and I had my first date in her house with a very handsome young Parisien. Where are you now Laurent Roussel-Bert?! So thank you Mimi, I'll remember you always.

I've unfortunately missed Mimi's funeral which was on Friday but I know that some of my readers are friends of mine from Worcester days and would want to know. RIP Mimi.

HEWITT
Mireille (Mimi) Regine Primrose
Aged 88 years. Peacefully on Friday, January 12th, at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. Beloved mother to Feriel, Theresa, Jenni and Anne, much loved grandmother to fourteen and special great grandmother to twenty three. She will always be remembered. The funeral service for Mimi will be held at St. Georges Roman Catholic Church, Sansome Place, Worcester, at 12 noon on Friday, January 26th. Flowers or a donation to The Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Coronary Care Unit Trust Fund, may be sent to A V Band, 41 St Nicholas Street, Worcester. WR1 1UW.

Make your Mark with a Tenner

Ok, so this is off-topic as it's not about mobile marketing or media, but I still think it's worth mentioning especially as Ewan from smstextnews is involved and I got a lovely email from Oli Barrett to tell me all about the 'Make your Mark with a Tenner initiative.

Starting today, 10k young people across the UK will get a tenner and one month to see what they can achieve with it. Over 110 schools are taking part and participants can work alone or in groups. There are awards for those who make the most money and also who has the greatest social impact.

There is a blog to keep up with progress (although there's nothing there yet) and of course the main site where you can read all about it. I think this is a really interesting one to watch and should be more engaging and more accessible than programs like the Princes Trust (which has its place but is a *lot* of work for those involved) so I wish all the participants and sponsors the best of luck and hope it's a huge success.

Mobile Data usage is up in the UK

The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has just released it's figures for Q4 2006 and they're impressive. In the final quarter of last year, a total of 45.6m users were recorded as having used their phones for downloads and browsing the mobile internet and this averages about 15m each month up from 13m in the previous quarter. December boasts the highest average with 15.9m during that month - I wonder if getting a new handset at Christmas had anything to do with it - I expect so. And the trend is on the up so it looks like 2007 will be a year for mobile internet.

The MDA has lots of useful information about phones and the mobile internet so it's worth checking out. If you're after some help to set up your mobile phone for wap or mobile internet, then go here. And if you're after some useful or entertaining wap sites to view on your handset, then you could do worse than checking this list out.

Don't forget to watch your data charges though and if you're planning to use data services, then it's worth changing to t-mobile's web 'n walk or Three's x-series to avoid billshock.

A few links for you 26 January 2007

I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment so I'm not able to write anything in depth but I have a few links that you may be interested in checking out.

The New York Times has a good article on what's happening in mobile marketing and advertising and is worth a look.

Technomarketer explains mobile ad formats and audience for mobile marketing and mobile advertising.

Five Blogs Before Lunch highlights a study that demonstrates youth is still the primary audience for mobile marketing. I suspect the research may be a little skewed. I do few 'yoof' campaigns and don't have a problem with running campaigns for oldies (ie the over 30s) and in fact, m:metrics research suggests that oldies is where the mobile money is anyway.

Kuwait is embracing mobile marketing and this article explains what Wataniya is doing out there with the help from their friends at Satama.

The Archbishop of Canterbury goes mobile with a Lenten text message service.

And the video and podcasts are up from Mobile Mondays including the one in November where I talked about 10 trends in mobile marketing (3gp file).

Mobile Advertising Guidelines published

If you're reading this blog, then the chances are that you have some kind of interest in mobile advertising. In which case, it's worth checking out the Mobile Marketing Asssociation's Mobile Advertising Guidelines document (pdf). It's US focussed but most of the rules apply over here in the UK and Europe. There are tips there about the different type of banner or click through campaigns you can do and some examples of how you might use them so well worth a look.

I've been using mobile advertising successfully for some of my clients in the last 6 months or so and I've been impressed with the results and conversion rates. Why not try it for yourself here with Admob who are one of the largest mobile advertising firms.

And finally, if you're after some new case studies to check out, then it's worth you have a look at the 2006 MMA Annual Mobile Marketing Guide in Association with Advertising Age (pdf). It was published in December 2006 so the information is still recent enough and it covers case studies from across the world, not just the USA.

Where are the women in mobile?

or digital or marketing or whatever...?!

I've just been looking at the speakers list for ihollywood which is running concurrently with 3GSM. At least there are *3* female speakers during the day (out of 27!) but I wonder how many women will attend? At least having 3 speakers is better than the zero female speakers at MediaTech as run by LibraryHouse in December last year and the very low attendance by women at the event (I counted maybe 10 women throughout the day - Library House admits they're stumped as to how to attract more women). Even at my own Swedish Beers event, men probably outnumbered the women by about 9 to 1. And no doubt it will be the same at 3GSM next month in Barcelona (with the exception of the Women in Mobile Data Event I'll be running - you see, I know they're out there, they just seem to be invisible...). Russell at Mobhappy's noticed it too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no man-hater by *any* stretch of the imagination and clearly much innovation has been from men. But women do make up roughly half the population and allegedly are as bright and productive and as important as men (at least in Western Society). And i-mode was born of woman not man*. Except we're not (generally) represented in the digital world. This worries me. Technology is moving *seriously* fast and I believe womens voices should be heard when it comes to creating, developing, running and marketing new technology services (mobile, web 2.0 or whatever). I don't want men exclusively running my digital life thanks or my future digital life. Not least because women, in soooo many studies, are better at this communications thing than men. And let's face it, mobile is predominantly about communication. So ladies, where are you? (Clearly busy doing other important things). Stand up and be heard. Have your say and let's make this new digital world a better and balanced place by adding our 2p.

/rant

*Anyone know where I can get the 'mother of i-mode' book in English?