Barry Houlihan, CEO of Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) identifies the 10 trends the company believes will drive mobile services in 2010

2009 has been an interesting year for the mobile industry, and whilst other sectors have not faired well during the econmic downturn, mobile has demonstrated a tangible resilience. The growth in Smartphones and applications together with the innovation in mobile services and marketing, such as new advertising formats and SMS interactivity, have combined to bolster the industry through a generally very difficult economic period. Looking forward to 2010, mobile will continue to grow, innovate and deliver fantastic services to consumers, brands, marketers and media companies. Heres our take on the 10 key mobile trends for 2010

Ad-funded Interactive Services
Messaging continues to be a significant channel for interactive services. Broadcasters, media companies, service providers and mobile operators use it with great effect to offer their customers a spontaneous way to interact with them. This might be to vote, enter a competition, provide feedback, or simply to respond to a promotional message. The 'white space' that is left on any return message represents a significant opportunity for advertisers to introduce further marketing messages to this process. Whats more, as a pure-play advertising surface, it gives service providers the opportunity to deliver the interaction as ad-funded, i.e., at no or minimal cost to the consumer.

Rich Media Ad Formats
4th Screen Advertising is developing new rich media ad formats to help brands engage with their target audience. Earlier this year, 4th screen launched iSlide, together with Barclaycard. The new, expandable ad format works on a multitude of Smartphones, delivers innovative and creative advertising experiences, integrates with components such as maps to find your nearest, and with video to enable more creative advertising, and was designed to target tech savvy mobile Internet users. There will be more new formats announced in 2010, including Dynamic Feed and SMS Ad Network.

M-commerce and Micro Payments
2010 will be a defining year for m-commerce, with the evolution of Smartphones and the ever increasing number of alternative payments methods available to consumers. The ability to pay via your mobile phone bill remains one of the least resistant and highly desirable ways of micro payments for goods and services by consumers. Mobile Interactive Technologies (MIT) will continue to drive the use of mobile phones as a payment solution throughout 2010, focusing on new and traditional vertical markets.

Return of SMS Voting to P-TV
Mobile donation mechanics have proven extremely popular in 2009, with Comic Relief Red Nose Day raising 7.8 million and Children in Need raising 1.75 million via mobile, clearly demonstrating a huge appetite for mobile interactivity for mass participation events. For 2010, MIG is determined to work across the industry to deliver SMS Voting to our TV screens. The return of SMS voting will enable viewers to participate and interact with their favourite TV shows in a manner that is secure and has consumer confidence at its heart.

The Year of Google Android
There are now 20,000 Android applications, and this figure is set to grow in step with Android-based Smartphone penetration. For developers, there are fewer constraints than with Apple's App Store, and the submission process is simpler. This will have a 'pull' effect on consumer take up and, as with iPhone, deliver great marketing opportunities for the direct-to-consumer market.

Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality, which may have seemed like a niche and rather geeky technology when it first appeared, is set to gain ground rapidly in 2010. Firstly, it makes sense from a consumer point of view finding things through your viewfinder adds a layer of navigation on to the location already offered by Google Maps. When you add in the relative ease of inserting your own layer into the platform, and the commercialisation that is possible via the search model, it gives reasons for brands to enter the space. In addition, handset manufacturers such as Samsung are providing considerable support in terms of above-the-line promotion, handset homepage placement, and doing deals with brands to be part of the campaigns.

Mobile Internet
There are many catalysts for growth and increased mobile Internet usage, namely the launch of Smartphone devices and flat rate data charges from global network operators that enable all you can eat media consumption for data-hungry consumers on the move. In 2010, brands will be more willing to experiment with mobile to interact with consumers at a time that is convenient to them, whilst also providing interactive, memorable and engaging experiences to consumers. Plus, with thousands of different devices, its important that a brands mobile site renders correctly and maximises the devices core functionality, such as store location using GPS on iPhones and more.

Mobile Coupons
Brands and other core components in the value chain want mass market mobile coupons to happen, and with one very well known major multiple rumoured to have gone through a massive scanner and EPoS upgrade, it looks like loyalty programmes could be launching onto the mobile platform in 2010. This means that consumers would access their loyalty points via an application on their mobile device. Industry rumour also has it that in the coming months, a restaurant chain will be launching mobile coupons with a mobile network operator. Coca-Cola and Lucozade have already achieved great success with mobile coupons. Watch this space… 

Smartphone Growth
Increased adoption and use of Smarthphone devices will lead more and more consumers to access the Internet spontaneously, whenever they want to, wherever they are. The growth of Smartphones has already started a trend for developers to create mobile web experiences using HTML5, and this will continue throughout 2010, so that consumers will benefit from a rich mobile web-optimised experience.  

Monetisation of Social Media
Social media has been one of the great success stories of 2009, with mobile offering various options for users to interact with their favourite social media platforms. The adoption of social media services via mobile will continue to grow throughout 2010.  Moreover, mobile offers social media providers various channels through which to monetise their services, such as messaging and white space advertising (see above). New channels for monetisation will be introduced throughout 2010, making it the year of social media and mobile.