MEF Executive Questionnaire #24: Nick Jensen, Dialogic

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The twenty fourth in the series is from Nick Jensen, CEO of Dialogic.

MEF Executive Questionnaire #23: Thomas Clayton, Bubble Motion

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The twenty second in the series is from Thomas Clayton, CEO of Bubble Motion.

MEF Executive Questionnaire #21: Sia Hui Yong, Tranglo

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The twenty first in the series is from Sia Hui Yong, CEO of Tranglo.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
Trango operates a global prepaid airtime and money transfer hub that connects to various mobile operators and financial institutions for cross-border transactions. My role is to oversee the company product and business development strategy.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Tranglo charges transaction fees or transaction fees sharing for every airtime or money transfer transaction completed.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?
Our company is the pioneer in airtime transfer globally since 2008 and to date we have more than 50 operators connected to our hub.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
We are pioneering a complete cross-border transaction services that encompass airtime, money, digital content and bill payment. These products shall enrich and complement our hub offering to our partners, especially useful to serve the migrant/ethnic segments.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
International airtime transfer concept is going main stream and gaining acceptance in more Telco operators and financial institutions.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
Nothing in particular.

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
Blackberry, Nokia and i-Pad

8. What’s your favourite application?
Blackberry Messenger

9. What’s your ringtone?
Standard phone ringing tone

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
Telecoms.com, Moconews and telecomasia.net – good analysis and news source for industry movement

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
The various competing smartphone platform and different billing technology which may not necessarily be tied to the mobile operators.

An "Apptastic" London Event

MIG CEO Barry Houlihan welcomed everyone to a private screening room in the Charlotte Street hotel for “Apptastic” the first joint MEF/MIG London event held on 17 November. “It IS possible to have a great user experience on the small screen,” enthused Houlihan, before going on to underline the importance of having a mobile app strategy based on “Discovery and which platforms to use; features and which devices to target; and delivering a great user experience.”

Suhail Bhat, MEF Policy & Initiative Director, set the scene by speaking briefly about applications from the perspective of MEF’s current work on Smart Enablers and M-Commerce. “Apps must be simple, relevant and contextual,” stated Suhail, adding that there are also important issues surrounding in-app billing, a subject which was the focus of a recent Ofcom ruling.

“Monetisation & In App Billing”

“Monetisation is key, otherwise as a start-up you face death!” was the dramatic opening statement from Flirtomatic’s CEO Mark Curtis. With at least 5 platforms to deal with, Curtis emphasised the need to work with partners to deal with the complexity. He also advised the audience to “Watch out for HTML5” with regard to mobile web applications.

So-called ‘vanity tools’ such as ‘Delete your freak’ and ‘ego boost’ offer opportunities for Flirtomatic users to pay to boost their ratings and profiles. This is crucial given the social networking company’s focus on the KPI of conversion to payment.

His presentation also covered different billing routes including: iTunes, carrier integration, Paypal, as well as a “new breed of integrator” typified by companies like Boku and Zong, which both have Android “1 click billing”.

One audience member asked about the reasons for the high levels of failed payment transactions – which can lead to anything from 25-50% of failed transactions. “Often this is down to lack of credit on pre-pay phones but it can also be due to network drop-outs or numerous other reasons,” explained Curtis.

Another attendee asked how Flirtomatic compare themselves to their competitors such as Match. “We don’t view Match as competition,” replied Curtis, “since we have different business models – theirs is based on subscriptions. Besides we’re about flirting not dating,” he added, pointing out how many times people (and here he included himself) flirt during the course of their day.

“Using Apps to Drive Revenue & Extend Your Brand”

Neil Johnson from A&N Media (a division of Daily Mail & General Trust) began his presentation with a quick overview of Metro’s readership, dubbed “City Clickers”. “The average age of our readers is 35 years, they’re twice as likely to have an iPhone and over 50% own a smartphone,” said Johnson.

Metro Apps is the brand and website for the publishing group’s applications which focus on transport and games, although Phrasebook apps, aimed at the “fly and flop” traveller, have also proved popular. “An example of a travel app is ‘Cabfinder’ which uses LBS to show minicab firms in your area. The app is free and there’s a revenue share earned from each call,” explained Johnson.

Responding to an audience question, Johnson conceded that the business model for Metro Apps relies on their ability to cross promote using the publishing assets at A&N Media’s disposal.
He added that Metro is also experimenting with QR Codes which can be scanned by smartphones and provide a link to say a Youtube clip. This is being used for a game entitled Super Yum Yum 3 with the entertaining tagline: “Revenge doesn’t get fruitier than this!”

MIG’s David Glennie concluded with a presentation on market fragmentation, pointing out, “Fragmentation is always viewed in a negative way, even though it’s caused by innovation (which generally has positive connotations).” Glennie suggested that HTML5 could solve many fragmentation issues and is set to revolutionise the mobile web. It would also appear that the future is coming faster than we think. As an example of the speed of change affecting mobile, Glennie pointed to a prediction made earlier this year by Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker that smartphone sales would overtake sales of new pcs by 2014. This prediction has now been revised to actually happen by 2012…

Attendees then gathered in an adjacent room to network and enjoy some typical MIG hospitality. Further joint events on topical issues are planned for 2011.

MEF Connects Cape Town 2010: “Local is lekker”

Last year’s MEF event boasted a view of the impressive new Green Point stadium which hosted the opening World Cup game in June. This year’s venue offered an alternative yet intrinsically Capetonian view – Clifton’s 4th beach – to welcome MEF members and guests to the Mira Networks-hosted MEF Connects event held in Cape Town on 10 November.

Emma Kaye, MEF EMEA board director, welcomed guests and thanked Mira Networks for sponsoring the second annual gathering in Cape Town. Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg, MEF EMEA Chairman, then confirmed the ‘tradition’ of local events would be maintained with the announcement of Vodacom’s offer to sponsor a South African event in 2011.

The topic for the panel of speakers was mobile content in Africa and ‘local is lekker’ quickly became a recurring theme in the discussion led by Konijnenberg. Google’s Nick Heller underlined the importance of relevant and local content, citing Google’s new “Baraza” service as an example – a Q&A service for Africa to encourage more people to go online and provide locally relevant information. Heller added that monetisation through mobile advertising is set to capitalise on the mobile phone functionality using interaction and location.

Vodacom’s Prins Mhlanga talked about the challenges of growing revenues at the “base of the pyramid” and taking subscription services to the next level while dealing with increasing regulatory burdens.

Sean Conde of Mira Networks highlighted the need to work with local partners when doing business in Africa: “It’s absolutely essential to use local partners but the challenge of course is how to find the right partners?” Conde stated. He also pointed out that not all African markets are regulated to the same level and encouraged companies to use MEF as a resource on regulatory matters and tap into their expertise from other regions.

DStv mobile has recently launched in South Africa offering 11 channels and video on demand on weekly or monthly subscriptions using 3G streaming as well as DVB-H trial. DStv’s Mark Rayner said: “Our speed to market has been quite frankly shocking in South Africa mainly due to regulatory challenges. However elsewhere in Africa, we’ve had a much more positive experience. The authorities in Nigeria and Kenya for example, view mobile tv as an innovative service that they want to encourage and spectrum availability has been much less of an issue.”

New mobile entrant 8ta, owned by the Telkom group, launched as a mobile network last month and has an ambitious goal of reaching 12% market share by 2015. Dawood Patel admitted: “Currently we’re focusing on text and encouraging more communication, content will become a priority later.”

Nokia’s Woon Peng highlighted how the OEM’s work is making life easier for farming communities in India, Asia and now Africa. “Ovi Life Tools has been launched in Nigeria allowing farmers to check the latest crop prices, weather forecasts and livestock information via their handsets,” stated Peng. Other ways to encourage content consumption include embedded content on new devices offering free games on a trial basis, as well as the Ovi store which profiles Nokia users to ensure they receive relevant content and information. This is in addition to Nokia’s ongoing training of coders and media providers.

An audience member asked about Nokia’s strategy for micro-payments. Peng replied: “We’ve trialled mobile payments in Senegal by partnering with the bank Societe Generale. However I think the most important goal is to work towards simple ‘1 click purchases’ and to team up with network operators to achieve this.”

Another question pointed out that content is bandwidth intensive and, given the increasing downward pressure on pricing, asked what was the answer. Google’s Heller replied that caching local content and using ever more innovative compression technology were part of the solution.

The lively panel discussion concluded and was followed by cocktails, canapes and the serious pursuit of networking late into the evening and long after the sun had set on 4th beach.

MEF Executive Questionaire #19: Steven Goh, mig33

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The nineteenth in the series is from Steven Goh, CEO and co-founder of mig33.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
We're one of the world's largest mobile social entertainment service, with a presence that stretches from SE Asia, through South Asia and the Middle East, and to Africa and Eastern Europe.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
We're replicating the East Asian Social Entertainment Service model (i.e. Tencent QQ, Gree, Dena), by focusing on a fremium service. That is, the bulk of the service is free. We have valuable engagement through virtual gifts, games and other content. And then we collect the cash through prepaid.

3. What has been your company's greatest achievement to-date?
Each day is a new achievement.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
Being successful.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
Rebuilding the team in Singapore.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
My Apple 2 computer.

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
Nokia 5800, blackberry, HTC Desire (android), iphone.

8. What's your favourite application?
mig33.

9. What's your ringtone?
Tokyo Ska, Sesame Street.

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
No specific blog. I follow Techmeme. Mobile is part of the larger internet.

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
Android.

MEF Americas 2010: Mobile Content and Commerce

The Definitive Event for the Mobile Media Industries across North America and LATAM

• 9 Industry-Leading Founding Sponsors Announced
• November 30 – December 1, 2010
• Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel

2010 has been a growth year for mobile content and mobile commerce across the Americas – Latin America is now the world's second largest mobile market, and together with North America serves almost 1 billion customers.

MEF Americas 2010: Mobile Content & Commerce will address the industry’s key business opportunities and concerns, enabling content owners, developers, brands, retailers, commerce providers and other relevant stakeholders to better leverage the native functionality of the mobile device to drive customer acquisition, retention and conversion. Increasingly, mobile is offering new convergence and customer engagement opportunities. MEF Americas 2010: Mobile Content & Commerce will be the definitive forum to meet key players and refine business models for the coming year.

Founding Member Sponsors include Dada, Dolby, Impact Mobile, mBlox, Movile, Neomobile, OpenMarket, Playphone and WAU Movil. Dolby will be the Lead Sponsor of the Tuesday evening Cocktail Reception (an exclusive networking event for delegates and speakers), where it will showcase incredible surround sound for mobile phones with Dolby Digital Plus. Drinks at the Reception are sponsored by OpenMarket.

MEF has a 10-year track record of hosting world-class events. From Barcelona to Dubai to London, MEF events including the Meffys™, CEO Summit™ and MEF Connects™ provide exceptional insights and unrivalled networking across existing and new entrants to the value chain. MEF Americas 2010 will be the annual gathering of leaders in the mobile content and commerce industries from North and Latin America to set the agenda and grow the market for nearly one billion mobile subscribers.

www.mefamericas2010.com

M-Commerce in SE Asia: Understanding the opportunities of today and tomorrow

Interested in the mobile media market in SE Asia? Thinking about expanding your mobile entertainment product into the area? Want to find out the rising trends and how to tap into the potential of the market?

Join MEF’s webinar on Wednesday 25 August and gain insight into the m-commerce opportunities available in the SE Asia mobile media market.

The mobile device combines an innovative payment platform with the power to fuel impluse purchasing and is changing the way consumers pay for content, goods and services. The panel is made up of brands with real experience in the market, including Maxis, Motricity and Tata Teleservices, to help your business take the first step with these exciting opportunities.

Confirmed Speakers

• Shea Silidker, Associate Director - KPMG (Moderator)
• Cynthia Yeo Wee Teng, International Transfer Product Manager - Maxis
• Jim Ryan, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer - Motricity
• Joerg Krahnert, Managing Director - Netbiscuits
• Pankaj Sethi, President, Corporate Strategy & Services - Tata Teleservices
• Suhail Bhat, Policy and Initiatives Director - MEF

WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Please click here to register
DATE: Wednesday 25 August 2010
TIME: 13:30 Delhi / 16:00 Singapore / 09:00 London

In addition, if you wish to join the Asia M-Commerce Steering Committee to shape activities moving forward, please contact Suhail or Miranda.

Click to download the MEF M-Commerce Guide recently published by MEF North America, featuring case studies of how brands and content owners are harnessing the mobile commerce opportunity in the US and Canada.

MEF Executive Questionnaire #17: Ryan Wuerch, Motricity

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The seventeenth in the series is from Ryan Wuerch, CEO at Motricity.
1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
As Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Motricity, a leading provider of mobile Internet solutions and services, I am responsible for the overall success of our company. I’m closely involved in the day-to-day activities of Motricity, meeting with customers and employees to keep abreast of their needs but I’m also responsible for the vision and am accountable to our board of directors and investors. I participate in a number of industry forums such as the CTIA Wireless Foundation, the Washington Roundtable, a non-profit, public policy organization comprised of chief executives representing major private sector employers throughout Washington state, and as an ambassador for the Internet Innovation Alliance.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Motricity has a diversified, recurring revenue model with high predictability and visibility. Contracts typically consist of a fixed fee Professional Services engagement related to the initial customization and implementation of our mCore solution and the development of unique personalized services, coupled with Managed Services, for which we charge fixed, periodic or variable, activity-based fees, or a combination of both.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?

We’re proud of our heritage as a global leader in mobile data solutions, of our ongoing business with some of the largest carriers and enterprises in the world, of our ability to complete a successful IPO in the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression and of our continued expansion into developing markets around the world.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
According to Yankee Group, the worldwide market for mobile content delivery platforms is expected to grow from $2.9 billion in 2009 to $4.3 billion in 2013. This represents an enormous opportunity for Motricity and the mobile industry at large. We plan to leverage our deep experience in working with the leading carriers in North America to capitalize on this global opportunity. Our solutions are designed to scale with the high growth anticipated in mobile data services and we will empower the world’s largest carriers to take full advantage of the growth they are currently experiencing. Motricity is gaining traction in emerging markets and intends to continue expanding in these areas, helping carriers in Southeast Asia, India and Latin America bridge a divide by bringing the Internet to millions via mobile devices.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
On a professional level, I’m excited to be where we are today. Motricity, along with its carrier customers, is sitting at the center of mobile Internet ecosystem. With a near doubling in growth predicted in mobile data over the next 3 years, our industry is at a major inflection point and we’re excited to be a part of that change. On a personal note, I’m training for the 2010 Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore in December.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
Without a doubt my cell phone. I have it at all times and it has the power to give me the information I need at the moment I need it, no matter where I am.

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
I currently use the Blackberry Bold.

8. What’s your favorite application?
Ascendo Data Vault allows me to comfortably host all of my passwords in one location and
att.net gives me a graphically rich mobile Internet solution with a great user experience for all of the information and content I want, making att.net my ‘must have’ front door to the mobile Internet.

9. What’s your ringtone?
I actually keep my phone on vibrate to be conscious of people around me while I am sitting in meetings, meeting with customers, and interacting in normal business day as usual.

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
Among my list of frequently visited sites are Wired, Fierce Wireless, Forbes, and MarketWatch. It is important to stay abreast of general business as well as industry news.

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
Our biggest challenge in the coming year is transforming the online experience for the mobile environment. The mobile Internet is extremely complex and this is a symptom of a larger problem; as an industry we have yet to effectively optimize the Internet for the mobile experience. The mobile Internet is brimming with content, yet none of it is easy to find. There are disparate operating systems, devices and applications which may or may not work well together. At Motricity, we’re working with our carrier customers to simplify these issues and build a better mobile Internet for consumers.

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?

• Bharti Airtel Ltd
• Getjar Networks
• Nokia
• Singapore Telecommunications Limited
• Tata Teleservices Ltd
• Telefonica
• Telenor

MEF Executive Questionnaire #16: Ken Fenyo, YOU Technology

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The sixteenth in the series is from Ken Fenyo, CEO at YOU Technology.


1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
YOU Technology revolutionizes the way brands and retailers connect with consumers by delivering personalized communications in real-time and across a range of media. Customers such as Kroger, General Mills, P&G, and Unilever use YOU Technology for paperless digital coupons, interactive promotions, and end-to-end loyalty programs. I am CEO of the company.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
We typically charge the CPG to create and deliver marketing programs. For paperless coupons, we use a performance based pricing model which the CPG paying a fee for each coupon downloaded. For promotions and loyalty programs we typically charge a set up fee with monthly hosting depending on the scope and duration of the program.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?
We pioneered direct to card, paperless digital coupons with the launch of P&G eSaver at Kroger in November 2007. Since then, we have delivered over 40 million paperless coupons to shoppers across 4,500 stores nationwide. With paperless coupons, shoppers can find and download offers to their loyalty card via the Internet, email, mobile phones, or in-store devices and automatically receive their savings at checkout without having to clip or print offers.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
We are continuing to innovate with new delivery methods for coupons and promotions (in particular mobile using both smart phone applications and SMS) and new methods for analyze consumer behaviour to better personalize offers and programs.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
Rapid growth in mobile smart phones and location-based technologies.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
Laptop

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
iPhone 4, Blackberry

8. What’s your favourite application?
Google Maps

9. What’s your ringtone?
Right now, dog barking (thanks to my 11 year old daughter)

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
I read TechCrunch and GigaOm but don’t read many mobile specific blogs.

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
For couponing, getting enough CPGs to begin providing mobile coupons to make the service interesting for consumers. This will require in part more retailers to sign on to accept mobile couponing (primarily by integrating with POS but perhaps also via bar code scanning and other technology).

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?
Impact Mobile (one of our partners)

3-Days Which Traced a Decade of Progress and Defined the Next 10 Years of Mobile Entertainment

The British calendar records Monday, June 21 as the longest day of the year. For MEF it began three of the busiest and most productive days in our 10-year history.


The week began with our inaugural MEF CEO Summit, an invite-only event for the business leaders of MEF membership, sponsored by the investment bank Jefferies and the law firms Denton Wilde Sapte LLP and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP. The exclusive, closed-door event was a huge success with 70+ CEOs in attendance. Illuminating stimulus presentations were received on the Future of the Mobile Operator by Professor Mike Walker, (founder of Vodafone), the Future Role of the Mobile Device by David Wood, (co-founder of Symbian) and Consolidation and Growth activity in the mobile sector by Andres Pieczanski, (Jefferies’ Managing Director Technology Investment Banking). The intense discussion that followed drew out some fascinating insights. Particularly inspiring was the realisation that both network spectrum capabilities and the mobile device are developing at such a pace that the mobile will quickly become the preferred platform to access the internet, triumphing fixed-line access for usability, ease and speed.

Continuing the afternoon at the Paramount Members Club, courtesy of Omnifone, we moved to a review of MEF’s activities over the past year during the AGM and the elections for our Global Board. Two awards were presented for the first time at the AGM to recognise outstanding commitment to MEF and the industry at large. The Member of Distinction was received by Alex Haffner of Denton Wilde Sapte, whilst the Board Director of Distinction was presented jointly to MEF North America Chairman Gary Schwartz and MEF EMEA Chairman Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg. During the elections that followed representatives from EA Mobile, Omnifone and Telefonica were voted onto the MEF Global board for the first time. In addition, directors from both KPMG and Shazam were re-elected to the board, with Andrew Bud also re-elected as Global Chairman and Pete Wood elected as Global Vice Chairman.

MEF Global Board 2010

• Chairman: Andrew Bud, Executive Chairman, mBlox
• Vice Chairman: Pete Wood, VP International Mobile Business Development, Sony Pictures
• Ron Czerny – Founder & CEO, Playphone
• Mark Harding – Media and Digital Content Director, KPMG
• Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg – VP Interstandard Roaming, Vodafone
• Rob Lewis – Executive Chairman, Omnifone
• Luca Pagano,Vice President Publishing – EA Mobile
• Patrick Parodi – Board Director, Shazam
• James Parton – Head of Developer Marketing, Telefónica
• Neeraj Roy – MD & CEO, Hungama Mobile
• Gary Schwartz – CEO, Impact Mobile
• Billy Wright – Head of Sponsorship, Nokia

After a busy day of illuminating discussion it was time to celebrate at the 7th Meffys Awards and Gala dinner, supported by Dolby, Buongiorno, Symbian, 7digital, MTS, Quickplay Media and Vodafone, to honour the most influential players in the mobile entertainment industry from across the world.

Held for the first time in the regal surroundings of the Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden, with 400 of the industry’s most influential figures in attendance, entrance to the hall alone was a grandiose occasion. With mobile entertainment having experienced 10-years of evolution, this was a worthy celebration of an industry reaching a new apex of prosperity and success.

The winning entries of the seventh annual awards once again provided an insight into the wide range of innovative products, services, applications and projects which are shaping and defining the evolution of the mobile media industry. Rimma Perelmuter, Executive Director of MEF commented: “MEF is proud to celebrate a diverse $36 billion mobile media industry which continues to innovate and thrive. This year’s Meffys winners highlight the industry’s true coming of age with an array of content-focused applications, cross-platform media and mobile commerce offerings. The Meffys have become the global standard for measuring success and serve as a window to the industry’s future.”

Big winners on the night included CBS Mobile, with 3 awards, Flirtomatic who won for Social Media – taking their tally of Meffys to an impressive and unmatched 3 awards in the same category – and our Outstanding Contribution winner, Dr Andrew Hsu, inventor of modern touchscreen technology for mobile handsets. View all of the Meffys winners’ interviews, which Ewan of Mobile Industry Review conducted immediately after they came off stage, on the Meffys website.



The following day, the 10th MeM conference began. MEF Chairman Andrew Bud picked up from the previous evening by highlighting within his opening keynote (members: download the presentation) the seven very different winners of the Meffys outstanding achievement award. This set the tone for a look back at key moments over the last decade of the mobile media industry, from the Crazy Frog and Snake up to the modern-day apps and touchscreen devices. To conclude this positive address Andrew made some predictions for the next ten years of mobile entertainment. These included flexible materials and form factors; feature films, 3D and Augmented Reality; True multi-channel delivery and the mobile becoming the media centre of our lives. New business models will have to be invented to address the challenges of the next decade, however he foresaw “ten years of juggernaut, exciting-as-hell, rollercoaster growth”.

Our industry then heard for the first time from one of the major publishing houses who are taking a considered approach to their digital content strategy. Fionnuala Duggan, Director of Random House Digital, gave a keynote address that was both informative and open. Beginning by pointing out that, in the UK, the books industry is bigger than music, she said that e-books accounted for around 6% of US trade book sales in the first quarter of 2010, however this was the early stages of a considerable growth curve. Industry forecasts suggest that e-books may account for between 7-10% of US trade book sales this year, rising to as much as 25% in the next five years.

Publishers have to be able to balance their existing business models with new digital opportunities, with the example given of the success Random House achieved when launching the Nigella Lawson Quick Collection recipe app. Fionnuala talked about both the risks, through piracy, and the opportunities that publishers face when planning their strategy for mobile and digital publishing. She concluded with an open invitation; "We would like to work more broadly with the mobile industry. We would love to talk to people who are able to bring books to the wider market. I recognise that there is more to the mobile industry than the iPhone App Store."

The day two keynote from Dr Tero Ojanpera, EVP Services at Nokia provided a look into the future potential of the mobile device, echoing some of Andrew Bud’s comments and themes which had been discussed at the CEO Summit earlier in the week. Tero’s vision was not of a mobile device running apps in individual silos, but of a ‘predictive context device’ – a handset which can track your location, that of your friends and family and the circumstances that surround you and reacts accordingly. His example, of a handset alerting you to a delayed flight, finding a local coffee shop to watch the World Cup, calculating the time from your location to the airport and then ordering a taxi from your preferred supplier in enough time, seemed one of science fiction, but the insight over 2 days at MeM made you realise that this was a much closer reality than we might expect.

Outside of the keynote presentations, MeM provided a wide range of panels, reflecting the diverse make-up of MEF membership which represents the entire value chain of mobile media and entertainment. It was a unique opportunity, in two days, to immerse yourself in every facet of the modern mobile media business.

Other insights of note included a fascinating panel on Creating a Multiplatform Experience where Gracenote’s Ty Roberts discussed their work with car manufacturers to add connectivity to vehicles. This will enable content services, including social status updates and far more accurate, location-based, traffic information, etc to be delivered – hands free - to the dashboard.

In the Growth Markets session, all the panelists warned against basing your strategy on the smartphone as penetration levels are still low. Neeraj Roy, MEF Asia Chair, indicated that the emergence of low-priced, good quality devices capable of supporting data services are driving the market, along with the growth in ad-funded mobile entertainment content in India. MEF LATAM Chair, Ron Czerny also spoke about the predominance of premium-SMS as the billing mechanism in Latin America, predicting carrier-billing to be another 5-years away as a viable solution.

Finally, in one of two sessions on the Apps phenomenon, the most hotly debated topic was the role, responsibility and remuneration of the operator in the apps value chain. Representatives from Vodafone, Telefonica, Getjar, Polar Mobile and Shazam discussed whether the 70/30 revenue-share model was appropriate when the operators’ primary business is selling tariffs, with content developed by innovative apps publishers used as a market differentiation opportunity.

As the needs of the industry and those of our global membership continue to evolve we aim to meet these requirements by providing a variety of opportunities for business development, insight and industry profiling. In 2000 MEF created - with our event partner Informa - the MeM conference, the definitive gathering of the world’s mobile media industry; in 2003 MEF launched the Meffys - the industry’s most coveted awards and recognised benchmark for measuring success and rewarding innovation. Now, in 2010 MEF launched its inaugural MEF CEO Summit – an exclusive, invite-only event for the business leaders of MEF members.

At every MEF event a key objective is to connect the value chain, to facilitate business development and provide competitive advantage to our membership. Over the course of our 3 events, MEF brought together 175 leading companies who are driving revenues in the $36bn mobile media industry. With our global footprint we were pleased to welcome companies from each of our operational markets; from Asia, LATAM, North America and EMEA. In particular the CEO Summit provided high levels of engagement and with four other operational chapters this is an event we believe can scale and deliver value at a local level, as well as globally. The inaugural MEF CEO Summit was a great first step and is a brand we intend to build over the years to come.

Three days in June defined the modern mobile media industry. MeM provided an insight into the business models, challenges and opportunities our industry currently faces. The Meffys celebrated the industry’s finest success stories, who have earned their position over the last 10 years of progress. And the CEO Summit pointed to an exciting and abundant future. MEF will continue to provide our membership and the industry with similar opportunities in the future – no matter how many hours are in the day.

MEF & Qtel Launch Middle East Office as 2010 World Cup kicks off

(l-r): Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg (MEF EMEA Chairman), Dr Tidu Maini (QSTP Chairman) and Dr Nasser Marafih (CEO of the Qtel Group).

Qatar is bidding for the 2022 World Cup: each stadium will be fully air-conditioned to counter the searing 40+ degree heat of their summer months, and once the tournament is over the constructions will be dismantled and exported to Africa as part of their legacy commitment.

Such determination and ingenuity are qualities much in evidence as Qatar pursues its transformation into a knowledge-based economy. On 15 June, Qtel Group celebrated the co-founding of the MEF Middle East office as part of their Mobile Innovation Hub to be based at Qatar Science & Technology Park in Doha. The hub will play a major role in developing new mobile applications, solutions in health and education, as well as creating a mobile innovation ecosystem in the MENA region.

At the launch, Dr Tidu Maini, QSTP Chairman, said: “MEF’s role will stimulate and concentrate activity and innovation in mobile media in the MENA region.”

Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO of the Qtel Group added: “Given the rapid growth in 3G networks and increased uptake in smartphones, local content represents the missing element to drive adoption of mobile data services.”

Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg, MEF EMEA Chairman commented: “Consider the difference in mobile content for the current World Cup compared to the rudimentary goal videos offered for the 2002 tournament. MEF’s presence and the mobile innovation hub in Doha will accelerate future growth through co-operation and collaboration.”

MEF Summit at CommunicAsia

MEF in collaboration with CommunicAsia hosted a Mobile Value Added Service Summit on the first day of CommunicAsia in Singapore. Communicasia is the premier event in Asia Pacific with 40,000 attendees, 1.200 exhibitors from more than 50 countries. The MEF organised summit received extensive press coverage

Conference Chairman was Colin Miles, Vice Chair of MEF Asia. With a well attended summit and numerous press coverage on our MEF speakers the event was a great success.

On behalf of MEF Asia, we would like to thank the following speakers, panellists and moderators for their thought provoking presentations, valuable input and entertaining comments to ensure the success of the day

• Amrish Kacker, Partner, Head APAC. Analysys Mason (Research Company).
• Michael Breen, Director Market Development & Strategy, APAC, Amdocs Changing Worlds
• Bryan Davies, Director of Marketing, Alcatel-Lucent
• Stephane Palomba, Head of Sales, Asia Pacific, SpeedCast Ltd
• Arvind Venkateswaran, Senior VP Bus. Develop. & GM, Geodesic
• Russ Shaw, GM for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and General Manager for Mobile, Skype

Panelists:

• Chris Chandler, Head of Mobile Services, Microsoft
• Julian Persaud, Southeast Asia Managing Director, Google
• Victor R. Ocampo, Bus. Develop. Manager, Yahoo! Mobile - SEAsia
• Oliver Graves, Asia Sales Director, Motricity
• Christian Cadeo, Regional Business Development Director, AdMob
• Steven Goh, CEO Mig33
• Steve Akers, Director, Multimedia Production, ESPN STAR Sports

Moderator: Joerg Krahnert, Managing Director, Netbiscuits
Moderator: Oscar Veronese, COO, i-POP Networks

Press coverage links:

• MEF lays out mobile trends for 2010
• The bumpy road to success for mobile TV
• The emerging market app store: Are you being served?
• Firms weigh in on the mobile internet
• What’s next for mobile voice?
• Skype talks future of mobile communication

Event: MIG Digital Media and Interactive Lunch

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), a global integrated mobile and digital communications business recently hosted an event focused around insight, innovation and inspiration in the digital landscape at The OXO Tower central London.

Well respected industry thought leaders took to the stage at the MIG Digital Media and Interactive Lunch, including Gareth Jones, Editor of Marketing and Revolution Magazine, Tom Dunmore, Consulting Editor, Stuff Magazine and Gary Thompson, Director, Product Development, News International to share their thoughts on various topics covering ‘Why brands, need to take a joined up approach’, ‘Our gadgets and why we can’t live without them’ and ‘How to take a national institution like The Sun and News of the World into the digital world’ and more.

With over 70 brands from multiple sectors and 150 senior level marketeers in the room some interesting conversation was enjoy by all.

The top 10 insights captured on the day included...

1. Smartphones – By 2011 more people will have a smartphone than a standard phone which means more consumption of rich media content on the move
2. Mobile Internet – Is no longer a painful experience and acording to the IAB, in the UK we spend 23% of our online time connected via mobile
3. Commerce - Online shopping sales from mobile will more than double by 2013
4. Mobile Social Media – Massive uptake with 40% of 16 > 24 yr olds in the UK accessing social networking sites via mobile
5. Advertising is Changing – The contract with the consumer has changed, they’re demanding engagement rather than prescriptive advertising
6. Augmented Reality & Location Based Services – Their full potential is yet to be tapped
7. Devices – Apple have really mastered product fetishism bringing stylish and user friendly products to market that people crave and desire
8. iPad & Tablets – These products will create a tactile and intuitive experience for people of all ages and has massive potential
9. User Experience – Irrespective of device the user has to be at the centre of the design process
10. Strategy – Brands need to develop a mobile strategy now as its really taking centre stage as a primary engagement channel

To read all tweets on the event use our hashtag #MIGDIG

The event was run in association with MEF and sponsored by O2. To be involved in future MIG Digital Media and Interactive Lunches please contact Emma Potter, Head of Communications at MIG – emma@migcan.com

www.migcan.com

You can also follow us on Twitter - twitter.com/migcan

MEF Executive Questionnaire #12: Rafaela Furtado, Abril Digital

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The twelfth in the series is from Rafaela Furtado of Abril Digital.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation

Abril is the largest magazine publisher in Brazil and one of the largest media companies in Latin America. Abril publishes six of the top ten magazine titles in Brazil. The focus for growth is on digital projects by Abril Digital under the umbrella of www.abril.com.br. Services include internet portals, mobile applications, mobile content and new-generation social network services.

My role is to bring digital/mobile initiatives to the company and provide innovative solutions to effectively deliver Abril’s content to the mobile users.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Abril leads the magazine market in terms of both circulation and advertising. The Abril Group has its own operations for distribution of magazines and volumes in the news-stands and sales stands in the outlets. In the mobile business, the revenues come from the Abril’s content distributed/billed by the mobile carriers to the users.

3. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?

The Abril Group is one of the biggest and most influential communication groups in Latin America, providing information, culture, education and entertainment for practically every sector of the population, and integrated in an array of other media platforms. Abril was the pioneer in the subscription TV sector with the launching of TVA, the first to offer digital TV, wide band internet and Voip in the country. MTV was the first segmented TV in Brazil, launched in 1990. Abril also plays an important role in the internet market, providing exclusive access to more than 80 sites for all subscribers.

In the mobile sector, Digital Abril is the branch of the Group responsible for Abril’s new digital business and developing products, contents and services in platforms and in formats that surpass expectations of this new public, being pioneer in wireless services since 2000, offering more than 160 products under 32 Abril brands, available through all mobile carriers in Brazil.

4. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?

The chip and the mobile phone

5. What mobile device(s) do you use?

Nokia and BlackBerry

6. What’s your favourite application?

Twitter

7. What’s your ringtone?

Moby – In My Heart

8. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?

Mobile Marketer, Teleco, M&M, Update or Die, among others.

9. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?

Premium Content X 80% pre-paid mobile users base X open mobile internet. How to manage to offer free content in a very immature market for m-advertising?

MEF Executive Questionnaire #11: Oliver Wimmeroth, The Venista Group

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The eleventh in the series is from Oliver Wimmeroth, Managing Director of The Venista Group.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
A fast-moving global player focusing on growth, success and ease of use, Venista is an international company promoting mobile entertainment services. It was founded in 2004 and started operating in the United Kingdom and Spain. Today, it operates in a total of 22 markets and counting.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Venista offers a variety of content services (video downloads, ringtone, music, competition, quiz).

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?

Profitable growth since its first year of operation and independence from any third party.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
Drive the effort to promote mobile entertainment services in a growing number of international markets, setting a standard of commercial success paired with customer satisfaction and compliance.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
Our company’s expansion with new operations being set up in a variety of places such as Southeast Asia, Latin America and India.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
My Noise-Cancelling Headphones

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
Apple iPhone

8. What’s your favourite application?
Angry Birds

9. What’s your ringtone?
iPhone Strum

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?

• Mobile Entertainment
• Mobile Zeitgeist
• GoMoNews
• Textually

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
Inventing mobile services with a high value for the client – especially sustainable subscription services

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?
Playboy Media – because they simply get the best writers.

MEF Executive Questionnaire #10: Claire Boonstra, co-founder of Layar

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The tenth in the series is from Claire Boonstra, co-founder of Layar.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
Layar is an open Augmented Reality (AR) platform and browser on which every company can create their own AR experiences. Digital information, like houses for sale, 3D models of ancient constructions or games (all called 'layers') are displayed on top of reality via the camera of the mobile phone. Nearly 500 layers are already live, 2000 layers in development and already 3000 companies and organizations worldwide are creating layers; 1.3 million people have already installed and used the browser (numbers per April 1st 2010). The Layar Reality browser is available for all Android phones, the iPhone 3GS and soon also on Symbian devices and other mobile platforms equipped with a GPS and compass. I am one of the co-founders and VP Content and Community.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Layar is now focused on building distribution through handset manufacturers like LG and Samsung and mobile carriers which is different per country. By the end of 2010 Layar will run on tens of millions of mobile phones. As of April 2010, we start offering paid layers. This means that publishers and game developers or any one who has valueable content and wants to monetize it via Layar, can do so. This is next to the already existing free layers. Also we have the Pay for Prominence program with which publishers can ensure to get the attention of the users resulting in traffic.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?
We started the company 10 months ago, on June 16th 2009, with 3 founders and a developer. We have seen tremendous growth, leading to VC funding of 2,5 million euro, 32 employees and 3000 companies worldwide who are using Layar, making money and turning into an industry itself. Layar gets a lot of attention from the international press; ranging from CNN, Business Week, the New York Times to Fast Company and Wired Magazine. Both on and offline. We are extremely proud of the prestigious awards we've won so far, including the MEF award for 'best startup in mobile entertainment'.

We consider our biggest achievement the distribution deals we have closed. Samsung pre-installs Layar globally on tens of millions of devices and advertises Layar on TV and in other media. Verizon and Sprint in the USA show off their devices with Layar on it and advertise as well. This brings Augmented Reality directly to the masses and enables brands and agencies to reach their users and customers.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
Our mission is to provide people a 360 degree vision of their context, resulting in discovery, serendipity and fun experiences. Layar is bridging the gap between the online (internet) and offline world (your reality) - by showing you things you normally can't see. With Layar you can see how for example Rome used to look like 2000 years ago, or see a future builing in 3D displayed on top of its construction site. Our open platform is accessible to everybody with great content or ideas. For free.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
2010 is the year when Augmented Reality becomes mainstream. After over 40 years of development in R&D labs, today's mobile phones make it possible for everybody to experience AR. What's exciting me most, personally, is that we as a Layar team have the tools in our hands to help open this new medium. We are only at the very first stages of its development, but it is going to be big. Huge.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
My mobile phone. By far. I get extremely nervous when my phone is too far away from me - or when I'm not sure if I actually took it with me. Taking a look at 'what's new' through my mobile phone is the last thing I do before I go to sleep and the first thing I do when I wake up - that is, after having kissed my Love goodnight or goodmorning.

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
I currently use a Motorola Milestone (Droid), awaiting the Nexus One and Samsung Galaxy S. Often also use an iPhone 3GS.

8. What’s your favourite application?
Apps or mobile sites I use most are Gmail, Twitdroid (twitter client), several news sites, a Sudoku game and Layar. Most fun app is on the iPhone: "Talking Carl". A cartoon Robot who repeats everything you say in a high pitched Robot voice. Fun and laughter guaranteed and a great showoff...

9. What’s your ringtone?
I have no idea - but I usually put my ringtone on low volume or silent or 'vibrate' only. I'm more and more using 'a-synchronous' communication: when I decide it's a good moment to talk. I love Skype or other VOIP systems for that - you can first see if someones available/ check if it's a good moment to talk. And then talk. Or I chat/ message/ tweet.

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
My regular round of industry blogs includes Techmeme, Techcrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Gizmodo, Fastcompany, Springwise, etc - for the general stuff. In mobile space there are a good amount of Dutch blogs, including iPhoneclub.nl and Mobilecowboys.nl. And I read a lot of Augmented Reality blogs: GamesAlfresco, UgoTrade, AugmentedPlanet. But most of all, I use Twitter to be updated. I have standard searches on 'Layar' and 'Augmented Reality' which I check multiple times a day; including my own @ replies and those of colleagues and friends.

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
Most organizations going Mobile have Web experience and will have to start to understand this new medium, which has completely different characteristics from web and TV. On mobile, 'viewing time' and 'amount of clicks' is not always a success indicator. Mobile is also about 'helping people out quickly', 'snacking' and 'waiting softeners'. Mobile usage is short yet intense. And yes, mobile is a 'personal' medium but this doesn't mean that it is always effective to target 'personally'. I am for example a businesswoman, a young mother, skifreak and a dancer. But please do NOT address me in my 'young mother role' when I'm in a business context! And 'location': are you close to the Wembley stadium because you're going to see a football match, a rock concert, just passing by in daily commuting traffic or on a nice stroll around the neighbourhood? Most 'mobile' usage is by the way simply at home...

In mobile, it is all about context: where are you, with whom, in what atmosphere, for which occasion. All requiring completely different (mobile) services or entertainment. Many mobile content developers still have to get used to this. But we will all learn...

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?
I recently found out that another Dutch young company recently joined the MEF: Distimo. They started their company not long before ours - and we've known the founders already from their past jobs. These guys are only in their 20's but have founded a very solid company, addressing the huge demand in reliable mobile usage data. I expect them to become the "Gartner or Forrester of mobile".

MEF announces inaugural LATAM Board

Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), the global trade body of the mobile media and entertainment industry, announced today the election results for its inaugural LATAM Board.

MEF’s LATAM Chapter was launched in November 2009 to accelerate the growth of mobile media & entertainment across the region by creating dialogue between the industry and regulators, as well as driving initiatives that promote best practice and sustainable business solutions. The newly elected board was elected to a two year term and consists of industry leaders across Latin America with expertise spanning the mobile, media, entertainment and services industries.

Ron Czerny, CEO of Playphone and Chairman of MEF LATAM, said: “I am delighted to be voted Chairman of MEF LATAM and welcome our very experienced board of directors, a group which represent the interests of the entire mobile entertainment value chain. We will be building upon MEF’s expertise in fostering collaboration between the industry and regulators to promote sustainable business models and ensure that regulation is proportional to protect and grow members’ revenues and safeguard consumers.”

Jorge Partidas, CEO of WAU Móvil and MEF LATAM Vice-Chair, added: “I look forward to working with the new Board to drive MEF initiatives which accelerate the uptake of innovative business models across the region whilst tapping into the unique opportunities of these vibrant markets.”

Rimma Perelmuter, MEF Executive Director, commented: “LATAM is a key growth area for MEF and its members, with our latest Business Confidence Index indicating that Latin America’s share of the mobile entertainment market grew from 2% in December 2008 to 7% in December 2009. I have every confidence that the LATAM board will further accelerate growth and drive value for MEF LATAM’s members by creating new market entry opportunities, promoting sustainable business models to the market and tackling the challenges facing the industry across the region.”

MEF LATAM was launched with the support of 41 founding member companies: 2ergo, Abril, Acotel, Admin Ltd, Binbit, Blinck, Boltcel, Buongiorno, CFLA, Cleartech, Comfone, ComperaNtime, cVidya, Dada, Flycell, Getjar, Huawei, i-Free Brasil, Impact Mobile, KPMG, Mobile Intelligence, Mobint, NeoMobile, Nokia, Omnifone, PlayPhone, PureBros, RIM, Samsung, Silverstreet, Sony Music, Sony Pictures, SPB Software, Spring Wireless, Telefonica, TIM, TIMw.e., VIVO , Wau, Zed and Zero9 Brazil.

MEF LATAM Board 2010:

• Chairman: Ron Czerny - Founder & CEO, Playphone
• Vice-Chair: Jorge Partidas – Co-Founder & CEO, WAU Móvil

MEF LATAM Board Directors:

• Rafaela Furtado – Mobile Business Manager, Abril Digital
• Ana Paula Lima – Sales Director VAS, Spring Wireless
• Jose Mannis – Founder & General Manager, MOBINT
• Eric Nice – CEO, Arvato
• Paulo Pessoa – General Manager, TIM w.e
• Luca Ruju – General Manager, Zero9 Brazil
• Filippo Satolli – Regional Mobile Director LATAM BU Dada.net, Dada SpA
• Seth Schachner – Vice President, Digital Business, Latin Region, Sony Music Entertainment
• Pieter van Dijk – Partner, Advisory, Performance & Technology, KPMG
• Roberto Vila Nova - Strategy & Business Development, Director, Nokia

Filipe Roup Rosa is MEF LATAM General Manager.

MEF Executive Questionnaire #9: James Parton, Head of O2 Litmus at O2 Telefonica

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The ninth in the series is from James Parton, Head of O2 Litmus at O2 Telefonica.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
Telefonica is a global Mobile and Fixed Line Operator. I run Telefonica’s Developer marketing activities

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
We come up with services that people are willing to part with their hard earned money for. Communications being our heritage, but we are venturing into new areas, for example with O2 Money.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?
At a macro level, a really smart acquisition strategy. Examples being the acquisition of O2, and more recently recognising the need for innovation by acquiring JaJah. At a local UK micro level, refocusing the company to be marketing led, starting with a total obsession on customer experience and customer satisfaction.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
There are some really innovative propositions in development across the company, however it’s not just about new technology, there is an equal focus on providing a consistently outstanding experience from our network and our customer service – the basics that too many companies lose sight of.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
Professionally, that a company with the scale of Telefonica has recognised the potential value in the 3rd party developer market, and is making the necessary investment to capitalise on this opportunity during 2010. I’m very excited at running the global marketing team responsible for bringing this to life.

Personally, nothing as I turn 40 this year so I don’t want to think about it!

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
I’m a total gadget freak, so that is like asking me to pick my favourite child! To avoid upsetting one of them I’ll pick connectivity, because I live online and if I’m not plugged into the net I feel lost!

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
I swap a lot, but at the moment I’m using a Palm Pre and a Blackberry Bold

8. What’s your favourite application?
Again hard to pick one, but I couldn’t live without Napster To Go as I’m a music obsessive. If that doesn’t quite meet the “app” criteria, then Tweed, Evernote, foursquare, Sky Sports Football Centre are all up there...

9. What’s your ringtone?
Neverland (A Fragment) by The Sisters of Mercy

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
Alan Quayle, Telco 2.0, Mashable, VisionMobile, Mobile Industry Review, Venture Beat. Why? So they all buy me a drink the next time they see me ;)

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next?

Turning Apps from “dumb” to “smart” – read my personal ramblings for more info!

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?
You have a lot of great member companies, but Getjar leaps off the page – great product and great management team.