Mobile Social Networking: strategies and case studies

Table of Contents

0. Summary

1. The search for social networking business opportunities is widening to include the mobile environment

• 1.1 Online social networks have gathered considerable momentum, but not profits
• 1.2 Mobility is creating new possibilities for social networking, but also new business challenges

2. Mobile-centric social networking service providers are looking for the best mix of services and marketing

• 2.1 The mobile environment provides opportunities for new types of social network to emerge
• 2.2 Providers are taking different approaches to building mobile-centric social networks
• 2.3 Case study: Nokia hopes Share on Ovi will reinforce its position in the handset market in competition with Apple
• 2.4 Case study: GeoSentric has made the GyPSii location-based mobile social network its primary business
• 2.5 Case study: Bluepulse aims to become a mass-market mobile social messaging platform
• 2.6 Competing mobile-centric social networks must develop their marketing channels and revenue models, not just their service offerings

3. Major online players are dominating the early development of mobile social networking

• 3.1 Popular online social networks have the advantage of established user bases, but still face the challenge of how to generate revenue
• 3.2 MySpace and Facebook have adopted different approaches to the mobile market
• 3.3 Case study: MySpace is already generating advertising revenue from the mobile extension to its popular social network
• 3.4 Case Study: Facebook prefers to delay entry into the mobile advertising market while it builds its mobile user base
• 3.5 Smaller players will need to demonstrate clear competitive differentiation to attract revenue

4. Mobile operators need to decide how to facilitate and whether to create mobile social networks

• 4.1 Mobile operators can choose from four approaches to mobile social networking
• 4.2 Case study: Vodafone is taking a holistic approach to mobile social networking
• 4.3 Case study: Orange plans to be an aggregator of social networks across multiple network types
• 4.4 Case study: SK Telecom has created a proprietary online and mobile social network called Cyworld
• 4.5 Case study: Hutchison 3G UK' s SeeMeTV service has evolved into EyeVibe, an open, multi-operator social network
• 4.6 Mobile service providers should facilitate mobile social networking, but not attempt to replicate online social networks

5. An effective mobile social networking strategy has four elements

• 5.1 An understanding of objectives, strengths and weaknesses provides the foundation for a mobile social networking strategy
• 5.2 A strong service proposition will create unique selling points that match the company' s objectives and target market
• 5.3 Indirect marketing channels are more important for mobile social networking than for online social networking
• 5.4 Revenue models need to support, rather than hinder, customer acquisition

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List of Figures and Tables

• Table 1.1: Types of online social network
• Figure 2.1: Examples of social networks that incorporate mobile-centric features
• Table 2.1: Comparison of Bluepulse, GeoSentric and Nokia' s approaches to marketing and revenue generation for mobile social networking
• Table 2.2: Comparison of strengths and weaknesses for Nokia, GeoSentric and Bluepulse in the mobile social networking market
• Table 2.3: Comparison of opportunities and threats for Nokia, GeoSentric and Bluepulse in the mobile social networking market
• Table 3.1: Comparison of MySpace and Facebook' s approaches to mobile social networking
• Table 3.2: Comparison of strengths and weaknesses for MySpace and Facebook in the mobile social networking market
• Table 3.3: Comparison of opportunities and threats for MySpace and Facebook in the mobile social networking market
• Figure 3.1: Number of active Facebook users, December 2004 June 2008
• Table 4.1: Comparison of strengths and weaknesses for Vodafone, Orange, SK Telecom and Hutchison 3G in the mobile social networking market
• Table 4.2: Comparison of opportunities and threats for Vodafone, Orange, SK Telecom and Hutchison 3G in the mobile social networking market
• Table 4.3: User and usage figures for LookAtMe! and SeeMeTV, March 2006 and February 2008
• Figure 5.1: Elements of an effective mobile social networking strategy
• Table 5.1: The link between objectives and service propositions for selected online and mobile-centric social networking services
• Figure 5.2: Key decisions for MNOs and MNVOs when determining their appropriate role in mobile social networking
• Table 5.2: Advantages and disadvantages of alternative revenue models for mobile social networks