Playing TAG with mobile gamers

Imagine the possibilities if mobile content customers could simply recommend a game or application to a friend by entering their mobile phone number. Cascada Mobile, a Toronto-based wireless company, has announced a new technology that allows mobile content publishers and developers to capitalize on the influence of viral marketing and word-of-mouth buzz for their mobile applications. Cascada’s TAG technology enables mobile subscribers to refer J2ME games and applications to their peers. The "friendly" referral then delivers the recipient directly to the purchasing page of the product. Brian Flanagan, co-founder and director of product management for Cascada Mobile, says the critical element to the success of any viral marketing strategy for mobile content is ensuring the consumer has access to the correct version of the game or application. "The idea behind TAG was to create a service that allowed the referral distribution of content to take place," says Flanagan. "We have all these customers who want to use mobile marketing, but there are constraints due to disparity in devices. Anyone can send an application to someone, but TAG offers a huge opportunity to disseminate the correct versions of these applications to those who have already opted into the plan." In addition to having cross-carrier, cross-border interoperability, the TAG technology also offers powerful reporting capabilities to give mobile marketers insight into the consumer habits of their customers. Konami was first to hop on the TAG bandwagon, introducing the "refer-a-friend" technology in their popular Frogger game. "Cascada’s TAG technology will help us reach a wider audience who might not find Frogger for themselves," says Joe Morris, VP of mobile content at Konami. A survey conducted by iPlay Mobile indicates the mobile content industry has "enormous growth potential" but is limited by complicated processes that deter potential customers from making full use of such content. According to respondents, the main deterrents to downloading and purchasing mobile content were not knowing if their mobile handset was capable of downloading games, being unable to find content worth purchasing, and not understanding how to download. The iPlay survey also indicated "that people are 36% more likely to purchase something based on a recommendation by someone they trust." "All of the Canadian carriers we have spoken to about our technology are excited," says Flanagan. "They like that we don’t walk in the door and ask them to change anything because we work on top of what they have." David Fewer from the Canadian Inter-net Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa says he’s very excited about the advent of increased peer-to-peer contact over mobile devices, but says the results may be "underwhelming" if networks are heavily controlled. "To have a truly viral experience, you can’t control what goes in and what comes out of the system," says Fewer. "If the idea is to allow people to communicate their views on products, there has to be equal access so anyone can compete." While Cascada acknowledges that most small to medium developers face difficulty in initial sales, the technology is available to any developer that has an application on a carrier’s deck. "We work with developers of all sizes," says Flanagan. Cascada’s TAG service is currently available in North America on most carriers that support Java’s J2ME.

Playing TAG with mobile gamers

News | 02/17/2006 5:00 am EST

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