Ericsson takes stake in mobile marketing services company Mediatude
Ericsson takes stake in mobile marketing services company Mediatude Ericsson Business Innovation, the innovation development company recently set up by Ericsson, is buying a 29 per cent stake in Mediatude, a company specializing in targeted mobile marketing services over voice, SMS and WAP. Mediatude will shortly launch its mobile advertising solution in the UK and Sweden using the Mobile Internet Advertiser platform developed by Ericsson. Mediatude brings together the advertising community and mobile operators. With Mediatude's mobile marketing platform, companies can send promotional messages to selected mobile phone users using voice, WAP and SMS. Companies can for example reach mobile phone users in a certain region or in a certain age group. Only users that have given their permission receive the messages. "Mediatude is a good example of new interesting business concepts that Ericsson Business Innovation supports," says Håkan Österberg, Director Content Aggregation at Ericsson. Up to now, mobile operators have generally been dependent on the subscription fee as the key source of income. Mediatude's solution provides additional revenue through advertising. Mediatude has already teamed up with a number of mobile service providers in Sweden and UK. "Our network is growing fast and we are already able to offer advertisers some very exciting targeting opportunities, which in turn will bring more value to the mobile service provider. So it is truly a virtuous circle", says Christopher Dennis, CEO of Mediatude. Ericsson Business Innovation AB was set up in July 2000 to develop ideas from entrepreneurs inside Ericsson to commercial success. The company manages Ericsson's internal innovation programs and is currently establishing innovation hubs in several countries to identify innovative business ideas and support the development of them. Ericsson Business Innovation has already invested in a dozen companies including Wireless Car AB (a joint venture with Volvo and Telia), Connect Things Inc. (bar code technology for the Internet), and Terraplay Systems AB (systems for high-speed multi-player Internet gaming). Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. Please visit Ericsson's Press Room at: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Helena Norrman, Press Manager, Ericsson Corporate Communications Tel: +46 8 719 3829 Email: helena.norrman@lme.ericsson.se Christopher Dennis, CEO, Mediatude Tel: +44 410 550 841 Email: christopher.dennis@mediatude.com About Mediatude Mediatude is a Mobile Marketing company bringing marketing services to mobile providers. Through its Ad Result ®, Profile Result®, Event Result® and Research Result® services, Mediatude helps operators and mobile service providers bring value-added content to their end-users. Mediatude was founded in December 1999 and has its head office in London and technical development in Stockholm. Current owners are management, Ericsson, and Real Venture Group, a mobile Internet innovations company. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/08/22/20000822BIT00740/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/08/22/20000822BIT00740/bit0002.pdf