Thumbplay News

By Dixon Galvez-Searle for Screen Magazine

[excerpt]

Although mobile video is still getting off the ground in the U.S., major content providers, networks, and studios have started to deluge cellular callers with mobile-exclusive content. This will eventually open up the field to advertisers, once technology and infrastructure improve and mobile video becomes more popular as an entertainment and information option.

And yet, some advertisers are jumping on the mobile video train before it even pulls out of the station. Mitch Rotter is vice president of content acquisition at Thumbplay, a direct-to-consumer provider of mobile content ranging all the way from ringtones to video. He uses Mini as an example, citing a series of films sponsored by the automaker in the mold of BMW Films.

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by Steve Smith

NOWADAYS I HAVE BECOME THE insufferable marketing maven with just about anyone I know. As I recounted here last week, my daughter is just fed up with Dad "the focus group moderator." And I understand. In her mind, my asking about her media consumption habits is just a version of "Dad, The Interrogator": where did you go, who with, and what illegal activities were involved - do I need to get us a lawyer? But with friends and family, I am just the daft work-obsessive who doesn't know "how to turn it off, already - Steve!" But, but but... It is just that discovery is everything now. In an age of viral media, tastes flowing across social networks and recommendation engines, serendipitous encounters with new content in a media-saturated universe, tracking our tastes to their source is endlessly fascinating. Wired editor Chris Anderson is absolutely right, the tail is made longer by digital technology.

After broaching the long tail theme last week, the off-deck mobile content leader Thumbplay contacted me with some interesting usage statistics. That site, which charges a $9.99 a month fee for access to a package of games, wallpapers, ringtones and video, lets users manage their choices mainly via the Web site. The site gets about four to five million uniques a month, says CEO Are Traasdahl, and even the WAP portal gets up to 20 million page views.

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NEW YORK, November 7, 2007 - At the fifth annual New York Ten Awards Gala held earlier this week by the Executive Council of New York, the premier business forum for leaders and innovators, Are Traasdahl, CEO & Founder of Thumbplay (www.thumbplay.com), the largest and fastest growing mobile entertainment content destination in the U.S., was named "Best Emerging CEO." The Ten Awards is a selection of ten companies and individuals in the greater New York business community that display extraordinary innovation and leadership in their industry and beyond.


The awards were presented at the Ten Awards Gala held on November 5, 2007 at Cipriani Wall Street. Cushman & Wakefield were the host sponsor and Donny Deutsch, Chairman, Deutsch Inc. and Host of CNBC’s "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch", provided a welcome address. Paul O'Neill, Former Secretary of US Treasury and Consultant, The Blackstone Group, was a keynote speaker.


“Having arrived in New York only four years ago with few connections to the incomparable capital resources, talented individuals, and media & marketing organizations found in this city, it is truly an honor to have been selected as “Best Emerging CEO” from among such a distinguished group of candidates,” said Are Traasdahl. “I share this award with the incredible team of extremely talented individuals that has helped me carefully nurture Thumbplay into the largest and fastest growing mobile entertainment content destination in the United States today.”


The Ten Awards winners were chosen from open nominations submitted to the Executive Council of New York. Hundreds of nominations were screened and evaluated by a panel of judges comprised of prominent journalists from New York-based local and national business media outlets, and evaluated based on the individual’s contributions to his or her organization’s objectives and leadership; the organization’s impact on business innovation, both in New York and nationally; and the individual’s industry leadership beyond his or her organization.