M-Commerce in SE Asia: Understanding the opportunities of today and tomorrow

Interested in the mobile media market in SE Asia? Thinking about expanding your mobile entertainment product into the area? Want to find out the rising trends and how to tap into the potential of the market?

Join MEF’s webinar on Wednesday 25 August and gain insight into the m-commerce opportunities available in the SE Asia mobile media market.

The mobile device combines an innovative payment platform with the power to fuel impluse purchasing and is changing the way consumers pay for content, goods and services. The panel is made up of brands with real experience in the market, including Maxis, Motricity and Tata Teleservices, to help your business take the first step with these exciting opportunities.

Confirmed Speakers

• Shea Silidker, Associate Director - KPMG (Moderator)
• Cynthia Yeo Wee Teng, International Transfer Product Manager - Maxis
• Jim Ryan, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer - Motricity
• Joerg Krahnert, Managing Director - Netbiscuits
• Pankaj Sethi, President, Corporate Strategy & Services - Tata Teleservices
• Suhail Bhat, Policy and Initiatives Director - MEF

WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Please click here to register
DATE: Wednesday 25 August 2010
TIME: 13:30 Delhi / 16:00 Singapore / 09:00 London

In addition, if you wish to join the Asia M-Commerce Steering Committee to shape activities moving forward, please contact Suhail or Miranda.

Click to download the MEF M-Commerce Guide recently published by MEF North America, featuring case studies of how brands and content owners are harnessing the mobile commerce opportunity in the US and Canada.

MEF’s Executive Director Rimma Perelmuter honoured in Top 50 Women in Mobile Content list

Female execs from members’ companies recognised in definitive list of industry’s top female execs

This month saw Mobile Entertainment magazine unveil its 3rd annual Top 50 Women in Mobile Content list. First established in 2008, the list honours the key female figures shaping and driving the modern mobile content industry, with those shortlisted including representatives from handset manufactures, mobile network operators, application developers and analysts houses, amongst others.

Recognised for the third year running is MEF’s Executive Director, Rimma Perelmuter. Now at the helm of the organisation for the best part of a decade, Rimma has been instrumental in developing MEF into the preeminent global trade body of the mobile media and entertainment industry that it is today. Highlighting the calibre of prominent individuals within MEF’s own community, the list also includes a total of 17 women from MEF members, including:

1. Sarah McCluskey (Commercial director, 4th Screen Advertising)
2. Cheryl Dalrymple (CFO, Admob)
3. Lucia Predolin (Director of international marketing, Buongiorno)
4. Catalina Lou (European sales director, EA)
5. Lauren Walter (Head of international, Flirtomatic)
6. Claire Boonstra (co-founder, Layar)
7. Christy Wyatt (Corporate VP, software and services, Motorola)
8. Mary McDowell (EVP, mobile phones unit, Nokia)
9. Liz Schimel (SVP of music, Nokia)
10. Kate Barry (General Manager, Playphone)
11. Sanyu Kiruluta (Team lead, Developer Relations, RIM)
12. Beatrice Farina (Marketing communications director, Shazam)
13. Tanya Field (Director of mobile data group, Telefonica)
14. Sissel Henriette Larsen (Director, apps and content, Telenor)
15. Melis Turkmen (Head of mobile marketing and advertising, Turkcell)
16. Lee Epting (Director of branded content services, Vodafone)
17. Michaelia Negri (Country Manager, Zed UK)

To view the list in full, please click here. Congratulations to all!

MEF Executive Questionnaire #17: Ryan Wuerch, Motricity

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The seventeenth in the series is from Ryan Wuerch, CEO at Motricity.
1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
As Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Motricity, a leading provider of mobile Internet solutions and services, I am responsible for the overall success of our company. I’m closely involved in the day-to-day activities of Motricity, meeting with customers and employees to keep abreast of their needs but I’m also responsible for the vision and am accountable to our board of directors and investors. I participate in a number of industry forums such as the CTIA Wireless Foundation, the Washington Roundtable, a non-profit, public policy organization comprised of chief executives representing major private sector employers throughout Washington state, and as an ambassador for the Internet Innovation Alliance.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Motricity has a diversified, recurring revenue model with high predictability and visibility. Contracts typically consist of a fixed fee Professional Services engagement related to the initial customization and implementation of our mCore solution and the development of unique personalized services, coupled with Managed Services, for which we charge fixed, periodic or variable, activity-based fees, or a combination of both.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?

We’re proud of our heritage as a global leader in mobile data solutions, of our ongoing business with some of the largest carriers and enterprises in the world, of our ability to complete a successful IPO in the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression and of our continued expansion into developing markets around the world.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
According to Yankee Group, the worldwide market for mobile content delivery platforms is expected to grow from $2.9 billion in 2009 to $4.3 billion in 2013. This represents an enormous opportunity for Motricity and the mobile industry at large. We plan to leverage our deep experience in working with the leading carriers in North America to capitalize on this global opportunity. Our solutions are designed to scale with the high growth anticipated in mobile data services and we will empower the world’s largest carriers to take full advantage of the growth they are currently experiencing. Motricity is gaining traction in emerging markets and intends to continue expanding in these areas, helping carriers in Southeast Asia, India and Latin America bridge a divide by bringing the Internet to millions via mobile devices.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
On a professional level, I’m excited to be where we are today. Motricity, along with its carrier customers, is sitting at the center of mobile Internet ecosystem. With a near doubling in growth predicted in mobile data over the next 3 years, our industry is at a major inflection point and we’re excited to be a part of that change. On a personal note, I’m training for the 2010 Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore in December.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
Without a doubt my cell phone. I have it at all times and it has the power to give me the information I need at the moment I need it, no matter where I am.

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
I currently use the Blackberry Bold.

8. What’s your favorite application?
Ascendo Data Vault allows me to comfortably host all of my passwords in one location and
att.net gives me a graphically rich mobile Internet solution with a great user experience for all of the information and content I want, making att.net my ‘must have’ front door to the mobile Internet.

9. What’s your ringtone?
I actually keep my phone on vibrate to be conscious of people around me while I am sitting in meetings, meeting with customers, and interacting in normal business day as usual.

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
Among my list of frequently visited sites are Wired, Fierce Wireless, Forbes, and MarketWatch. It is important to stay abreast of general business as well as industry news.

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
Our biggest challenge in the coming year is transforming the online experience for the mobile environment. The mobile Internet is extremely complex and this is a symptom of a larger problem; as an industry we have yet to effectively optimize the Internet for the mobile experience. The mobile Internet is brimming with content, yet none of it is easy to find. There are disparate operating systems, devices and applications which may or may not work well together. At Motricity, we’re working with our carrier customers to simplify these issues and build a better mobile Internet for consumers.

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?

• Bharti Airtel Ltd
• Getjar Networks
• Nokia
• Singapore Telecommunications Limited
• Tata Teleservices Ltd
• Telefonica
• Telenor