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Mobile Dreams Factory: in brief
Type of agency: full service mobile agency.
Founded: 2004.
Acquisitions: none.
Main offices: Madrid, Spain; New York City, USA.
Employees (in mobile): 25.
Ownership: privately-held.
Profile submitted by: Salvador Carrillo, CEO; Alberto Benbunan, MD, Mobile Dreams Factory (MDF).
Contact details: alberto (at) mobiledreamsfactory.mobi.
Web: mobiledreamsfactory.com; Mobile Web: mobiledreams.mobi.
Last updated: December 2011.
Recent news:
• 2012 – MDF will launch a mobile Coupons and commerce business with operator customers.
• 2011 – MDF and Mini win Bronze at MMA Awards.
• 2011 – Apple selects Mahou-San Miguel iAd for Gallery of the Best iAds.
• 2010 – MDF wins Cannes Cyber Lions Gold Award for IKEA Interactive Catalogue.
• 2009 – MDF formed the Mobile One Alliance with other independent agencies Sponge and CLANMO. Details: mobileonealliance.com; mobileonealliance.mobi.
Profile updated: December 2011.
Video case study: IKEA Interactive Catalogue.
Mobile Dreams Factory: in depth
1) Global annual revenue from mobile: Band D (US $5-10 million).
2) Is the mobile business profitable? Yes.
3) How is the company funded? MDF is privately held. The founders own 85% of the company. The remaining 15% is private investors (note: this is not venture capitalists).
4) Proportion of business related to mobile: 100%.
5) Business split: mobile strategy 30%; creativity 30%; and development and implementation 40%.
6) Key mobile activities: Messaging/opt-in marketing 30%; mobile apps 30%; mobile web 20%; media buying 20%.
7) Specialties/expertise: Mobile Dreams has two divisions:
• Brand services: full service mobile marketing services for brands (70% of business).
• Operators and media services: providing technology (such as permission-based marketing) platforms to operators and media companies (30% and growing fast).
8) Type of clients/industries: 87% of MDF’s clients are public companies. MDF works directly with blue chip clients.
9) Client base: 80% of the revenue comes from 10 major accounts: Vodafone, Sony-Ericsson, Telefónica, Conde Nast, Mahou-San Miguel, Repsol, IKEA, L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble.
10) Main competitors: This depends. In the brand business, MDF competes with creative agencies, also with the big media agencies (MDF buys mobile media for large clients as well as doing the creative work). On the operator side of the business MDF competes with technology and platforms such as Velti or Ericsson.
Video case study: Mini Cabrio: Mobile Dealer.
The Mini Cabrio was the first car that could be customized and then bought via mobile at minicabrio.mobi.
11) Geographical coverage (with % of revenues): Spain, US and Latin America.
12) Works most closely with (apart from clients):
• Mobile Dreams tends work directly with brands, rather than indirectly through agencies (which see MDF as a competitor) from creativity though development.
• We work closely with operators such as Vodafone (we have helped Vodafone Spain to grow the largest permission marketing database in the Vodafone Group and are currently working with Telefonica on mobile advertising project that will be released soon.
13) Recent award-winning campaigns:
Cannes Cyber Lions 2010 Gold Award for mobile advertising.
• IKEA Interactive Catalogue: With this free application iPhone owners could try out some of the latest IKEA products at home virtually – enabling them to try before buying. • video.
MMA Global Awards 2009
Regional winner – best mobile social media campaign (EMEA):
• Vodafone: The Fastest on Facebook: This social networking-based competition to find the fastest text-message writer helped to promote an attractive unlimited text-messaging plan. • video
MMA Global Awards 2008
Winners of global awards:
• Caja Madrid; Information in Your Phone (three awards): A mobile site with free information and MMS alerts from financial newspaper Expansion was sponsored by Spanish bank Caja Madrid with targeted banner adverts.
Video case study: Caja Madrid; Information in Your Phone.
The multi-award-winning Caja Madrid campaign attracted over 312,000 registered users.
MMA global award winners 2008 (continuded):
• Heineken; Tienes Un Plan (two awards): Campaign aim: educate consumers to put the barrel in the refrigerator ten hours before consumption. • video
• Diagio; iDrinks: Promotion for J&B, Johnny Walker and Cacique using mobile coupons redeemable in bars. • video
MMA regional award winners 2008
• Coca-Cola: Happiness Factory • video
• Johnnie Walker (Diagio); Voice Push
14) How do you sell mobile to your clients? MDF tries to show how mobile can improve a brand’s communications, marketing and make processes more efficient. Basically we show them how mobile can help solve some needs.
15) What return on investment (ROI) should your clients expect from mobile? MDF always tells clients they should compare what mobile gives to them with the other media in terms of ROI. MDF never runs a campaign or mobile activity without a prior commitment on ROI and KPIs.
16) Membership of industry bodies/associations:
• MDF is a member of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).
• Salvador Carrillo, MDF’s CEO, is currently the president of MMA Spain; member and a member of the MMA EMEA Board.
• MDF has worked on several MMA Committees, most recently, Alberto Benbunan, MDF’s MD, chaired the Global Mobile Coupons Committee.
17) What needs to happen to accelerate mobile marketing/Web/services over the next five years? More industry standards on mobile measurement and more education of brands to the benefits of mobile. Previous barriers such as smartphone penetration and the requirement for flat rates are no longer issues in many countries.
18) In 2015, mobile will be… The most important media.
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