Breakpoint Digital

5 Things to Consider Before Taking Your Company Mobile

Scott Lehr — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:14:06 +0000

Most companies realize, or should realize, that mobile needs to be a part of your business thinking. This article gives some good views on some basic things to think about when going mobile.

IDC: More U.S. mobile web users than wireline users by 2015

Scott Lehr — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:31:32 +0000

Mobile we usage continues to become increasingly important and, according to a report from IDC, will surpass wired web usage by 2015. Mobile web is a critical component to any mobile strategy today not only because of the increasing usage but also in order to support social media strategies as consumers access twitter and Facebook through mobile devices more and more regularly. These trends should continue to bolster growth for Breakpoint client, Mobify and their mobile web platform.

Xavier Facon – Crisp CTO – on HTML5 Impact on Advertising

Michael Nevins — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:03:44 +0000

More good stuff about HTML5 from Xavier Facon writing on Read Write Web.

I had the good fortune to work with Xavier Facon while I was VP Sales at Crisp Wireless in the early days of mobile web. I’ve written quite a bit on HTML5 and the opportunity it creates for publishers. Xavier makes some good points about HTML5 as a preferred medium for rich media advertising that scales across platforms, handsets, etc. Also some good points about adserving and metrics with HTML5.

Many of our clients on the publisher side are making moves toward HTML5 because it solves many of the fragmentation problems associated with silos, applications, and the inefficiencies of current routines for publishing across platforms. Not a client, but check out FT.com’s HTML5 web app.

It seems clear that this is a game changer – or should be – for many in the emerging platform value chain. Publishers are taking note and Xavier’s piece should help get some advertisers and ad tech providers moving toward HTML5 as well.

FT.com’s Beautiful New HTML5 Web App.

Michael Nevins — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:17:58 +0000

There are some interesting articles covering the launch of the beautiful new FT.com HTML5 web app. It looks and feels like a native iOS app and is a great view into the capabilities/possibilities of HTML5 for publishers….But it gets better: It caches content on the device and allows for a great offline experience. This has been the gating factor that has led many publishers to cling to native apps rather than web or mobile web. Go play with it and let me know what you think.

Naturally, there are great business reasons to consider this approach, too. For publishers with a thriving audience, there is no great reason to pay the subscription vig to apple. Publishers can better control their destiny when they aren’t dependent on apple.

Here’s some good coverage from Peter Kafka @ All Things D as well as Steve Smith @ minOnline.

Economist Group Defies Gloomy Media Trend With Upbeat Results

Michael Nevins — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:52:58 +0000

Good results for our clients at The Economist. Growth across all platforms is an unusually good thing these days. The Economist remains smart about the balance between subscription and ad revenue. Their content is highly valuable and they keep it that way. The genie is still in the bottle at The Economist. Here’s detail and the numbers from Paid Content.

Kindle Already Over 15 Percent of Amazon’s Business, Analyst Estimates

Scott Lehr — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:10:26 +0000

I am a big Kindle fan and think we are just beginning to see the impact of this type of device on the book retail and publishing biz so I have not been surprised by the revenue estimates floating out there. That said, a new report by Caris & Co. analyst Sandeep Aggarwal estimated today that Kindle will rake in over $5.48 billion this year, and $8.64 billion in 2012. These numbers seem a little crazy as a % of Amazon’s overall business but certainly good news for Kindle fans.

Apple Reverses Course On In-App Subscriptions

Michael Nevins — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:42:45 +0000

Finally, we’re getting somewhere productive. Here’s a piece from MacRumors with some details.

eBay Mobile Transactions To Hit $4 Billion In 2011

Scott Lehr — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:58:44 +0000

According to MediaPost, EBay’s mobile sales are expected to double to $4 billion this year. Up from $610 million in 09 mobile commerce continues to grow as a percentage of overall revenue at eBay. Consumers are spending more $$ shopping on mobile and are making purchases from most categories. Good news for mobile and great news for eBay!

SocialFlow Gets Serious, Makes Veteran Entrepreneur Peter Hershberg El Presidente

Scott Lehr — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 01:25:25 +0000

SocialFlow announced today the hiring of NYC startup veteran Peter Hershberg who will step in as President. Hershberg has been active with Betaworks properties and has been advising SocialFlow so this is a good and not surprising move.

SocialFlow CEO, Frank Speiser presents at the MESA Presents: The New Marketing Math [Data = Dollars]

Scott Lehr — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:29:17 +0000

Good event put on last night by Mesa at the NY Times building about the usage of consumer data and its impact on marketing. Very good panel with SocialFlow, Proclivity Systems, Media6Degrees and ShareThis talking about the growth and impact of consumer data and their ability to leverage it to ultimately deliver a better experience to the end user (not to mention their brand customers). It could have gone a bit geeky with words like Zettabyte and Yottabyte being thrown around but the panelists and moderator did a great job keeping it focused and engaging.