The serious business of mobile entertainment

The forthcoming generation of wireless interactive services may prove profitable for businesses as well as operators, according to Forrester Research.

Forrester Research has predicted that multi-platform gaming will generate revenues of $26bn globally by 2005, and that mobile phones are second only to broadband in terms of the impact the technology will have on the digital entertainment sector.

The third-generation (3G) mobile technology debate has focused up to now on whether network operators will be able to recoup the £168bn spent on licences.

But the real killer application of 3G will be wireless entertainment services provided by businesses, said Datamonitor.

The research group predicts that consumers will spend $37.1bn globally on mobile content. About a third of this revenue will be generated by entertainment services which include music, phone accessories such as ring tones and animation.

"We are becoming a mobile information society. People want instant gratification and fun. We should look at simple messaging service as an indication of the future," explained Luke Murrell, marketing director with Nokia.

Advertising and marketing tools

Forrester believes that the mobile phone will supplant the PC as the world's favourite way to surf the web. This could mean that the booming online advertising market will become less attractive to business, while the mobile advertising market will become vital.

A new generation of startups, including Akumiiti, have created advertising and marketing tools that take advantage of the mobile phone's immediacy and connectivity.

"The mobile phone population is still growing, and we believe that mobile operators will work with retailers, manufacturers and information companies to create unique portfolios of services," said Ilkka Castren, marketing director at Akumiiti.

One of the earliest adopters of mobile marketing was music publishing giant EMI. It realised that compelling web services on multiple platforms would be its best defence against Napster.

"Music should be as easy to use as it is to steal. Napster turned millions of politically apathetic youngsters into electronic Hezbollahs and ring tones are set to do the same," claimed Steve Hills, ecommerce manager with EMI Publishing.

EMI uses digital rights management software from Akumiiti allowing users to download copyrighted music for a set fee paid through the handset.

Mobile commerce

The company is now working on ways to use ring tones and music downloads as promotional tools in partnership with retailers and manufacturers.

"We are looking at services which will enable people to download a song and share it with a finite number of friends. With 3G this could potentially be a video promotion," said Hills.

EMI plans to use mobile platforms to generate indirect sales of music products and direct sales of phone accessories. It also plans to use mobile handsets and wireless technology to launch mobile commerce services.

The company is working with several startups to develop a small, handheld 'clicker' which allows consumers to 'click' whenever they hear a song that they would like to buy, and then order it from EMI.

"There is no need to wait for 3G to deploy mobile commerce. We believe that there are real revenues to be made today," explained Jim Beddows, director of marketing with Disney Digital.

Disney is currently trialling mobile entertainment services which will allow consumers to download animation clips, games and ring tones for about £1.

"Mobile entertainment can mean the difference between mass and saturation marketing," said Beddows.