Global Mobile Internet Conference 2012

Summary
At the 2012 Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC), social media leaders examined the development of social media with mobile in China. Social network Renren, announced that 40% of its users are using the company's mobile app, many as their primary way of interacting with the site and it is building more mobile-related partnerships for Renren integration. Tencent's mobile app, Weixin, currently has over 100 million users which allows users to share content from third-party applications and Tencent is improving user functionality in tandem with offering marketers more way to interact with those users.

Summary
China has now officially more than one billion mobile subscriber accounts; it is home to two of the ten largest mobile networks in the world; and the vast majority of mobile handsets sold in the world today are manufactured in China. At the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, marketers and the mobile industry looked at how they can work together, which will necessitate settling on a business model. Game companies and music industry both struggle to monetise their offerings and partnerships with advertisers are being seen as increasingly necessary.

Summary
Five years after the introduction of the iPhone and four after the launch of the first Android devices, a growing chorus has been heard at GMIC that is calling into question the assumed primacy of the app as the preferred means of interacting with the net. Creating apps for multiple operating systems is a challenge, while supporters of a web-based mobile computing model argue that this focus would be device agnostic. Chinese companies such as Baidu and Alibaba are leading the change but the downside is the problem of connectivity and the end result is likely to be a hybrid of the two standards.

Summary
At the Global Mobile Internet Conference 2012 (GMIC) in Beijing, Mobile AdWorld presented cases and examples of best practice for mobile in China. While there are twice as many people using mobiles as computers, only 8% of China's online adspend is spent on mobile. This is partly down to the diversity of platforms and the swift changes in the technology. Industry speakers debated the value of mobile, suggesting that the direct connection with the consumer contributes to the feeling and service of a brand, that mobile can extend messages into parts of the day other media struggle to each and it can add value to other media. Best practice examples come from Domino's Pizza in Japan and the EPL football club, Arsenal, in China.