Mobile Newspapers hits the Streets

CellSigns Inc, a division of QWASI, announces new Multi-Medium Mobile Publishing Solution for Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA, April 26, 2007 – Newspapers are the number one local media brand in spite of eroding circulation over the last decade. To remain the leading local destination, newspapers are investing in mobile technology to expand their reach and footprint. CellSigns, Inc. announced the industry’s first mobile platform, Cellifieds multi-medium mobile solution for Newspapers at NEXPO, the Newspaper Association of America annual trade show in Orlando.

Cellifieds bridges the offline, online and mobile channels. With a cell phone, users can shop the local classifieds for a car, browse pictures and information on homes for sale, or even sign up for alerts and breaking news. The customer can also click on the newspaper website and send a news story, coupon or ad to their cell phone with send-to-phone. “Timing is critical for newspapers when delivering mobile content to consumers,” said David Geipel, President CellSigns, Inc. “Our platform mobilizes content and puts it in the hands of consumers – while they are on the go, when and how they want it.”

CellSigns has been powering mobile solutions in other industries including real estate for over three years, but isn’t new to newspapers. “It’s been exciting working with newspapers for the last two years building their mobile strategy. Our company has quickly responded with a multi-modal approach that delivers the consumer experience across various mobile phones and technologies including SMS (text messaging) and WAP (mobile internet),” says Mark Ford, CEO CellSigns, Inc. The newspaper industry is in the midst of change as Google and Yahoo attempt to own the local mobile market place. Newspapers are reacting by developing a mobile strategy to build their mobile brand. “The papers are quickly learning they need to secure their branded short code for their market and start building an audience,” adds Ford.

The newspaper industry is in the midst of rebranding themselves as the complete local media source. In the fall of 2006 the Palm Beach Post launched Cellifieds mobile classifieds and made their ads and classifieds available via a cell phone using their short code (72727). They recently announced a mobile search that allows customers to search the paper via SMS/text messaging and WAP. With the Cellifieds mobile newspaper platform, the Post won the coveted NAA PRESSTIME magazine 2007 Innovative Operations Award for Mobile Ads on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at the NAA NEXPO conference. “Newspapers today see mobile as the next channel, but it needs to be stressed that timing is critical for them to get their content into the hands of their consumer before someone else does,” add Geipel.

ABOUT CELLSIGNS

CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com) is a leading mobile applications company providing interactive solutions for businesses via text messaging, SMS, MMS and WAP. Supported by every major wireless carrier and working on over 98% of all cell phones, the company offers Cellifieds (mobile classifieds), private label mobile search tools, click-to-chat/live chat, click-to-text, Mobile IM (MIM) applications, customized alerting and the only interactive property marketing service for real estate. The company has won numerous awards including Most Innovative Technology by Inman News and two Newspaper Association of America awards for its client: a NAA Edgie and PRESSTIME technology award for Innovative Operations.

April 25, 2007 in Press Releases   |   No Comments

Classifieds on the Go – Mobile Classifieds

MOBILE CLASSIFIEDS | THE PALM BEACH POST, WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.

BY GINA ROLLINS

Dan Shorter has spent the last three years finding ways to make palmbeachpost.com’s classifieds easier to use.

That search has led him to his latest project, Classifieds on the Go, a technology that makes all classified ads available on cell phones and personal digital assistants that use Sprint, Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile and Alltel networks. Users can look for a specific classified ad or do keyword searches of all classifieds and display ads, currently about 10,000 items.

The venture, which began last November, is part of a broader media strategy to reposition the Post in a rapidly evolving market.

“We have to capture our rightful share of the mobile audience or we’ll be left out in the cold,” says Shorter, general manager of palmbeachpost.com, adding he hopes Classifieds on the Go will attract people not currently

reading the newspaper. “We’re using mobile technology to create new value so we won’t be just a print company with a Web site, but really a multimedia business.”

This focus on mobile technology follows investments in the Post’s online portal for enhanced ad placement, search and display features, as well as a network of ATM-like kiosks in malls and shopping centers (“Convenient Classifieds,“ April 2006, p. 58). Shorter and colleagues Gina Wilcox, online development director; Robb Olsen, vice president of advertising; and Michelle Licudine, Internet marketing manager, have worked closely on all these ventures, which earned the paper recognition as a Best Practices Award winner in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Classifieds to Go also won a 2007 Digital Edge Award for Best Advertising Program in the 75,000 to 250,000 circulation category.

The Post’s pursuit of cutting-edge technology caught the eye of Chuck Peters, president and chief executive officer of The Gazette Co. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and chairman of NAA’s Newspaper Systems Committee, which helped judge the I.O. Awards. “They’re moving along the right path, are very innovative, and [moving] in the direction we all should be going,” he says.

Mobile users access Classifieds to Go by entering an identification number for a specific ad or a phrase, such as “three-bedroom house,” then text-messaging it to the Post’s mobile short code. Searchers will then receive a text message of up to 160 characters with information about their request.

Those with Web-enabled cell phones have the option of linking to Web sites and images. When a search returns too many results, the user is asked to refine it. A house search, for instance, could be narrowed with an additional term, such as “fireplace.”

The Post partnered with CellSigns (www.cellsigns.com), Shorter says, and paid the company “a few tens of thousands” of dollars to develop the technology. The product is on track to generate $1 million in revenue during its first year, Shorter adds. Advertisers pay a small premium for mobile access.

Traffic for the service is “thin” at present, but Shorter believes it will only blossom. “There’s as much, if not more, potential audience and revenue as on the Internet,” he says.

CELLSIGNS CONTACT

Visit CellSigns or call 877-747-9274.

April 21, 2007 in Press Releases   |   No Comments