From MSN to Mobile Social Networking

1. Rediscover M.S.N.
Strategies for Mobile Companies
Frederic Bruneteau - May 15, 2009
PTOLEMUS Consulting Group

2. From MSN to M.S.N.
M.S.N.
• It started with teenagers • It starts with geeks (on mobile
• It was addictive at least)
• It will be addictive
• It impacted -mostly- their • It will impact their real life
virtual life • It’s about how to lose time and
• It was - mostly -about how to gain some time and money
lose time • It can be with everybody
• It was with friends • It partly arrives from the US
• It arrived from the US • It is -often- not in an island
• It is an island • It will be used by Facebook or
• It was replaced by Facebook replace it
PTOLEMUS M.S.N. stands for Mobile Social Networking Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

3. Dozens of companies have been created around M.S.N.
M.S.N.
• Fantastic amount of
innovation and…
imitation
• Most sites have a
web and a wap
interface
• Interests can vary
from dating, meeting
friends, sharing trip
destinations, sharing
hot spots
• Most have been
created in the US,
Germany and Spain
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

4. These pioneers are making new user experiences possible
M.S.N.
CitySense, a live hot spot TellMeWhere, a graded
finder placefinder
Mobiluck, a friendfinder
and communication
platform
PTOLEMUS

5. For mobile, a number of barriers to take-off remain
GPS users will remain a minority Other obstacles exist
M.S.N.
• Battery life uptime is still an issue
Number of users worldwide • The need to have a data bundle
reduces addressable market
Mobile phone users • No data bundle abroad. Most
GPS-enabled mobile users
5.6 billion
applications require a large data plan
and cannot be used abroad, when you
need it most
3.1 billion
• The biggest customer base
owners (mobile operators, Yahoo!,
etc.) have not developed / leveraged
MSN applications
0.7 billion
0.2 billion
• Business models are not mature
2007 2013 • Speed and accuracy of location
are often not sufficient
PTOLEMUS Sources: ABI Research, Juniper Research, PTOLEMUS

6. Virtually all high tech leaders have invested in
acquiring M.S.N. companies or enablers
M.S.N.
• Companies have
invested to gain
- Technologies (e.g.
Keyhole)
- Assets / brands
(Multimap)
- Time (Panoramio)
• Mobile operators
seem to join
PTOLEMUS

7. M.S.N.
Tech giants also want to put you in the map
With Vine, With Latitude, Google leverages its Google We expect R.C.S. to
Microsoft brings the Maps investment and its Gmail contact also include location
location to Windows database mid-term
Live
PTOLEMUS

8. Within a few years, we will be able to make M.S.N.
dynamic people search
People
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

9. Within a few years, we will be able to make M.S.N.
dynamic people search
People
Eric Montagne
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

10. Within a few years, we will be able to make M.S.N.
dynamic people search
Eric Montagne 1 est à l’Hȏtel Raphaël.
Eric est occupé en ce moment:
- Laisser un message
- Aller à l’Hȏtel Raphaël. Envoyer sur Latitude.
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

11. However, all players need to solve the first M.S.N.
problem, i.e. reach a critical mass of users
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

12. Gaining the trust of users to give you your M.S.N.
location is the 2nd huge barrier
Xy Xy
Xy Xy
Xy Xy Xy Xy
Xy Xy Xy Xy
Xy Xy Xy Xy
Xy Xy
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

13. We believe most applications mostly centered M.S.N.
around location will struggle on their own
• It is easier to create a M.S.N. application than to gain a
customer base of several millions of customers
• People give their trust only when
- They know and trust already the provider
- They have heard about it from colleagues, friends and family
- There no other psychological barriers (paid-for, risk)
- There is something in it for them
• In the case of the location, you need to be «whiter than
white»
- Giving your location to Google or Microsoft appears frightening to most people
- You need to have a well-understood interest that does not scare people: TomTom Map
Share
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

14. Instead, successful applications of M.S.N. will M.S.N.
enable the satisfaction of concrete user cases
TripIt, a temporary community that forms
when you are travelling
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

15. Instead, successful applications of M.S.N. will M.S.N.
enable the satisfaction of concrete user cases
Coyote, a temporary community
that forms whenever you are on
the road
• There is a clear benefit that is shared
by the community
• Users’ location is kept secret
• Usage is not a terminal that you have
on a permanent basis
• Target users are ready to buy a custom
fit device and to pay a subscription
PTOLEMUS

16. Instead, successful applications of M.S.N. will M.S.N.
enable the satisfaction of concrete user cases
Geomate.jr offers a geocaching
device for $69.95 • 250,000 geocaches in the US
• A temporary community around a game
• Users’ location is kept secret
• Usage is not a terminal that you have on a
permanent basis
Geocaching, a global treasure hunt in which participants hunt down hidden objects
PTOLEMUS using satellite navigation and Web-posted coordinates and replace the items with something else confidential
Strictly 2 Dec. 2008

17. Multiple players can develop social networks M.S.N.
What is needed
- A large community of users that trust you
Meetic could go much
- The possibility to ask them to use their mobile further
Mobile operators have clear levers to pull
• Introducing location on communities used by teenagers
such as chat
• Create an open location enabler / environment using
your community
• They can give away location-based services to generate
more revenues from data bundles
Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008
PTOLEMUS

18. M.S.N. is more than meeting friends and dating
M.S.N.
• Existing social networks, i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Viadeo,
are best placed to leverage M.S.N. but have been slow
• Other customer base owners, notably mobile operators, can
also leverage their own base with voluntary services
• Breakthroughs will come from
- Best-in-class management of privacy options
- Automatic background reporting of location
- Linkage to very large customer bases (think about SMS interworking), i.e.
partnerships
PTOLEMUS

19. Recipe to succeed could be to remain pragmatic
and use what is available M.S.N.
• Use ad hoc social networks, not • A SIP (Simple Important Problem)
necessarily permanent ones needs to be solved first before
controlling the whole life of your
• GPS accuracy is not always customer!
necessary. Cell-based location is • Don’t hesitate to use (and build)
generally good enough for most any kind of mobile devices
applications. - M.S.N. on mobile will really start in 2009 but most
of «normal» customers will be out
- Specific, on-purpose devices can reduce usage
• Social networks need not be live constraints
or even dynamic for the start. A
database can be good enough (cf. • Try to educate your customer
Panoramio). base about these services by
giving them for free at the
beginning
PTOLEMUS Strictly confidential 2 Dec. 2008

20. Thank you
Strategies for Mobile Companies
PTOLEMUS Consulting Group
Sarphatipark 84-II
Amsterdam 1073 EB
Tel.: +31 6 42 69 50 66
contact@ptolemus.com
www.ptolemus.com
PTOLEMUS Consulting Group