Mobile Social Networking in the U.S. Market | Telebriefing | Current Analysis

<body> Slide 1 Mobile Social Networking in the U.S. Market Not Just Another Passing Trend Deepa Karthikeyan Analyst, Wireless Services Current Analysis William Ho, Research Director , Wireless Services Current Analysis Date: March 19, 2008 Slide 2 Agenda What is Social Networking? Existing market landscape Who are the top players? What are the opportunities for service providers and players in this new ecosystem? What options are available to marketers and brands to leverage community Monetization models Looking ahead Slide 3 What is Social Networking? Inception-PC Why is it so hot? - Primal need to belong - Avenue to express oneself - Media centric Genres - Shutterbugs-Flickr - Schools-Classmates, myYearbook - Ethnic-AsianAve, BlackPlanet Is it Generational? Who are the Top Players? - MySpace - Facebook - YouTube Slide 4 Defining Terms Mobile Social Networking: Theact of generating and sharing media content that ranges from a simple write-up to an elaborate video feed via a cell phone, enabling users to keep in touch with friends and establish connections with existing and potential users of the network. Members of the network are sometimes the producer as well as the consumer of the content. Slide 5 An Overview of the Existing Mobile Social Networking Market Spurt in the usage of Mobile Social Networking sites in 2006-07 Encouraging research provides validation Why is Wireless a Good Fit? - Mobility-”Always On” Status - Increases the stickiness factor - Instant gratification - 3G and GPS capable phones allow for better user experience and targeted advertising Big fixed internet players migrate to the smaller screen Slide 6 An Overview of the Existing Mobile Social Networking Market MarketCurrent carrier-social networking site associations - AT&T-MySpace, Whrll - Sprint-MySpace, Sprint Lounge ,Jumbuck applications, mywaves, Whrll, LiveJournal, Rabble, Vox, and Xanga - T-Mobile-MySpace(Sidekick), Facebook (Blackberry) - Verizon Wireless-YouTube, mywaves Mobile only social networking sites Slide 7 An Overview of the Existing Mobile Social Networking Market Internet companies and handset manufacturers join the fray The rise of intermediaries results in new service genres Slide 8 Monetization Most prevalent method : subscription fees and data charges Advertisements - Word of mouth advertising - LBS phones - Right place and time - Data mining accuracy - Demographics –Prepaid market-AdInfuse, AdMob - Mobile MySpace M-commerce - ShopText, AirG - Instant gratification - New sales outlet for marketers - Measurement tool Slide 9 Monetization Accuracy, safety and privacy concerns - Consumer privacy Facebook - Safe economic platforms - Block unfiltered user-generated content Slide 10 Challenges Current challenges - High data costs - Customer ownership - Transient target group - Privacy concerns Slide 11 Looking Ahead Targeted advertising - Differentiate individual from the group - Impulse purchases M-Commerce - Affiliate models Vertical mobile social networking sites - LinkedIn Heavier focus on user experience Open networks </body>