aimm News

The Board for 2014 to 2016 has been elected and will meet soon to kick off the supervision of AIME for the next two years. Meet them here.

From time to time, the AIME Board brings in specific specialisation to the board to help with their role. Once the board has met and agreed additional members to co-opt in, we will update this post.

Edward Boddington (Bod) stays on as Chair for a further six months and will hand over to one of the board members in September.

 

David Sheridan -Director of Operations  – mGage (previously Velti)

I am a  mobile telecommunications leader with extensive, board-level experience in the dynamic mobile technology businesses.

Mobile payments, messaging and mCRM expert with twelve years’ industry experience working across the value chain. Director of Operations for mGage (formerly Velti and MIG), having previously been part of the Senior Management Team at MX Telecom and subsequently OpenMarket for almost ten years. Areas of expertise include regulation, MNO liaison and market development.

Expert knowledge of A2P mobile sector, cloud-based services including Mobile Payments/m-Commerce, SMS, MMS, Short Codes, Voice/ IVR, Mobile Advertising, mCRM.

Specialties: cross functional expertise and leadership in mobile payments, across mobile marketing, mobile product development and technology, sales, marketing & branding, legal & regulatory, mobile network relationships, business development.

Manifesto

Demonstrable industry progress and facilitation of market growth. This can be achieved thorough greater focus on fewer, achievable targets, informed by membership consensus and market analysis of future trends and opportunities.

Barry Hayter – Head of Operations – ITV

Barry Hayter is Head of Operations at ITV with responsibility for the successful and compliant delivery of all Premium and Free interactive services. Barry has over 10 years experience working for and delivering interactive services into Broadcasters including ITV, FIVE, BBC, SKY and MTV.

Prior to ITV Barry ran the Operations department for 6 years at Mobile Interactive Group where he was responsible for Support, Service Delivery, Compliance, Key Accounts and MNO relationships.

His sector knowledge includes PRSMS, MMS, PRST, PayForIt, IP Engagement Apps and Web.

Manifesto

There remains huge growth potential within existing and new solutions across the sector all of which require coherent regulation and unified lobbying to fulfill their maximum potential. AIME has a vital part to play in shaping the future of the industry but this will only be achieved with a strong board and varied membership.

With significant experience in the industry from a Service Provider , Customer and Consumer perspective I feel very well placed to help ensure the right balance is maintained and that benefits are delivered to all elements of the value chain.

 

Rob Weisz-CEO- Fonix

With 14 years’ experience across a range of Telecoms and Mobile interactive businesses such as iTouch PLC, Redstone, O2, Mobile Interactive Group, Velti and currently the CEO of Fonix Interactive, Rob has over 14 years’ experience running interactive messaging and payments solutions across Media, Entertainment and Enterprise businesses. Rob has been responsible for overseeing some of the largest interactive campaigns in the UK. In 2009, Rob pioneered text donations for the UK charity sector, ensuring 100% outpayment across all mobile networks. This introduced an additional £60m per annum to the mobile payments industry.

Manifesto

This industry is at a cross roads. Challenges impacting the effectiveness of traditional PRS and Mobile Payments markets from free to consumer offerings, a number of viable alternative payment models to a plethora of regulatory requirements have made it very difficult to create innovation and new entrants to the market.

My focus is to ensure AIME remains vitally relevant to tackle the maintenance of existing services and supporting new opportunities to this market. This will be done through collaboration of the value chain ‘Telcos – Tech Providers – Service Providers – Merchants – Awareness to consumers’ and I am determined to ensure that this happens.

 

 

Chris Newell – CEO and Founder – Impulsepay 

Chris is the CEO and founder of ImpulsePay. Since starting the company in 2009 it’s developed into a leading provider of Payforit technologies through successfully fostering close working relationship with businesses across a broad range of industries. He is also chair of AIME’s Charge to Mobile working group and is closely involved in the development of Payforit with various stakeholders in the ecosystem.

 

Manifesto

Over the next few years, there are a number of opportunities arising such as improvements to direct bill payments; regulations around quasi-physical goods and improvements in the customer care processes. I would like to continue my time on the AIME board to drive these changes forward and work across the industry to create opportunities for member businesses.

During Chris’s previous two years on the AIME board, he has recruited new members, launched the inaugural Payforit Summit, worked to refine the regulation surrounding Payforit and has seen numerous changes adopted by the Payforit scheme rules.

 

Jeremy Stafford-Smith – B2B Enablers Compliance Manager – Vodafone

Jeremy Stafford-Smith is the B2B Enablers Compliance Manager for Vodafone UK. Passionate about protecting the interests of customers and positively promoting the wider Charge to Mobile industry, he is responsible for shaping the way Content and Service providers engage with customers. Jeremy is a member of the cross-network Payforit Management Group, sits on the Phonepay Plus Industry Liaison Panel and is an active participant in several of the AIME working groups. He has worked in mobile telecommunications for 12 years in a variety of roles before taking on his current role in 2010.

Manifesto

Jeremy believes that the wider PRS industry has worked hard to deliver on the 12^th Code principals and now the task is to show merchants of all sizes that the Charge to Mobile payment option delivers high quality and repeatable business and that by working with regulation, a bigger, better business opportunity can be sustained.

Phil Davies – Director of Commercial Operations – OpenMarket

Phil Davies has over ten years’ experience developing 2-way messaging and mobile payment solutions at OpenMarket, serving as its Commercial Operations Director. Known for its domain expertise, service flexibility, demonstrated performance and reliability, global scale, and corporate maturity, OpenMarket provides mobile engagement solutions for organizations to optimize their operations and enhance relationships with their customers and employees.

 

Manifesto

My priorities for the AIME board are to ensure a collaborative approach to a well-regulated mobile payments market in the UK, to work with stakeholders to identify and overcome barriers to the development of second generation mobile payment opportunities, and to drive high levels of consumer awareness and confidence in mobile payments.

Eric Feltin – Operations Director – Safari Mobile (UK) Ltd

Eric is the co-founder of Safari Mobile (nee Switchfire) in 2001.  Safari offers the full range of PRS services – ringtones / logos, chat/date/psychic, sports alerts, competitions, video and game downloads, PSMS billing, Payforit, voice, and apps – as an L2 and an L1.  Eric is currently a Co-chair of AIME Digital Marketing Working Group and has made substantial contributions to all PPP consultations over the past 2 years.

 

 

Manifesto

PRS entertainment has been in decline since 2009 and I would help AIME and the industry in turning this decline around as the increasing uptake of mobile phones, apps, and micropayments means that PRS should be going from strength-to-strength.  I would like to assist AIME in improving the image of the industry to consumers and the regulator and create a climate where the industry can start growing again.

 

Graham Pottie – CEO – BTagilemedia

Graham is the CEO of BT Agilemedia and I chair the PhonepayPlus ILP.  Graham has worked in the PRS industry for almost 6 years and has a long history of launching and managing successful online commerce and mobile based businesses.

Graham is married with three children and is a keen (but flawed) golfer, open water swimmer, cyclist and London Scottish RFC fan.

 

Manifesto

In the past five years as a member of the AIME Board, I have led the AIME Voice Services Working Group and represented AIME to Ofcom and PhonepayPlus. A current priority is pushing Ofcom for speedy implementation of Higher Rate services.

 

 

 

AIME, the UK based trade organisation representing Member companies that operate in the interactive media, entertainment (digital and broadcast), and micropayment (premium rate and digital) industries, has now opened applications for the role of Managing Director for our growing organisation.

AIME is at the forefront of business and policy debates affecting the growth and development of the online, fixed, mobile and broadcast interactive enterprises and is looking for a talented and commercially driven leader to take the organisation into its next growth phase. The Managing Director is responsible for the effectiveness of the organisation and ensuring goals and annual objectives are met in a timely and efficient manner as well as delivering the 3 year strategic plan. The role requires excellent commercial, organisational and leadership skills for the supervision and measurement of day-to-day operations.

The MD is also responsible for the organisation’s continued growth and representing the interests of a diverse membership to government, regulators and industry stakeholders. The role requires integrity and professionalism to impartially raise the profile of members’ business interests.

The full job spec is available here and applications can be sent to rory@aimm.co.

AIME today releases an in-depth analysis report into adjudications made by the UK regulatory agency PhonepayPlus over the last two years.

The analysis, produced in-house by AIME, examines data from 24 months of PhonepayPlus tribunals to examine emerging trends and to highlight particular services or marketing methods that present increased risk.

The full report is available exclusively to AIME Members here (login required).

The key findings from the research include:

– Total fines for 2013 are the same as 2012

– “Misleading” is the highest reason for adjudications and is double any other reason

– Competition Services received the most adjudications

– There are fewer “very serious” cases in 2013 but more “serious cases” than in 2012

David Ashman, Director of Industry Affairs at AIME, who oversaw the study, said:

“Analysing the adjudication trends is an essential exercise for all of our Member compliance departments and a helpful steer for those personnel involved in digital marketing.  As a time consuming project this makes sense to be completed as an annual exercise by the industry trade body, collectively saving over 150 man days, that would otherwise be extended by each member completing this analysis in isolation”

AIME will continue to build on this research on an annual basis to provide Members with ongoing insight on adjudication trends. Any questions or queries on this research can be directed to david@aimm.co.

AIME has opened Board nominations for the term 2014 -2016. AIME members are now able to submit their nominations for the new AIME Board.

Members must read the AIME Executive Board Term and Duties 2014 document and have the permission from the individual they are nominating.

Board elections via a Member vote will take place once nominations have been collected, with the new board sitting for the first time on 2^nd April 2014.

Members can submit nominations online by visiting this link.

By Rory Maguire, Managing Director, AIME

What is a Paywall and what are Hard and Soft Paywalls?

A paywall is a system that prevents Internet users from accessing digital content without paying for the content.

The content purchase can be via an App store such as Google Play and iTunes, via a credit card or stored value account such as Paysafe card, or via a mobile phone account using Charge to Mobile facilities. The latter is very popular with smart phone users.

There are both “hard” and “soft” paywalls in use.

“Hard” paywalls allow virtually no access to content without payment.

“Soft” paywalls use some content to entice the consumer and allow them to preview the quality of the content before asking for payment for premium type access or more detailed information. Some digital book sellers give away a first chapter free.

Newspapers such as the Times and the Sun in the UK have been implementing paywalls on their websites to increase their revenue.

Revenue has been diminishing due to a decline in print purchasing as the UK population consumes more content digitally through tablets and ereaders.

Publishers that have had a sophisticated online presence for some time have relied on advertising to fund the free content. Over the past two years, these publishers have seen a decline in advertising revenues due to the restricted screen space on smartphones and the reduced propensity of tablet users to respond to advertising.

Some publishers are also finding that their paywalls can be used to increase the number of print subscribers through increased subscribers and linked offers where the consumer cost of the print version and digital version combined is lower than the online or print version alone. Increasing print circulation also increases ad revenue, so the payback from this tactic is significant as print advertising generates five times the revenue than online advertising.

To generate subscribers and paywall revenue, digital content providers must create higher quality, innovation at become more attractive than their “free” content competitors.

Some people question the loss of democratic access to information via paid for content, but in order to fund the journalistic resources needed to generate the content in the first place, some payment has to be made. The Guardian online and the Times online are two opposite ends of the spectrum in their policies of free access versus paid for access to content.

What Paywall?

How do providers implement a paywall and how do they decide whether the paywall should be hard or soft.

The Times and the Sun have demonstrated that having a loyal following and  creating a Brand that consumers engage with, allows the risk of a hard paywall. Both publications suffered from a massive decline in online readership when implementing a hard paywall, but a significant increase in revenue.

Other publications, that may not have a loyal following but may be found when consumers are researching, such as “What Camera”, when buying a camera or “Which” when buying a washing machine would benefit from a soft paywall. Provide enough information for the consumer to be satisfied that their purchase is worth it and then sell the premium access.

Some publishers may benefit from a hard paywall, but for single pieces of content instead of a regular subscription. This strategy may be dependent on brand recognition instead of content previews to convince the consumer to part with cash.

A new Paywall strategy is being discussed called a “Porous Paywall”. This strategy relies on developing consumer data, via access to the publisher site to establish intelligence on the consumer and improve advertising revenues. The intelligence can be accumulated on several visits with free content as the attraction. During this time, the consumer profiling becomes increasingly important to advertisers. At the stage that the consumer wishes to continue beyond the limited free access, the paywall requests content fees. A savvy consumer may reset their cookies and continue to access for free, but the profile has already been built and the consumer value established.

What payment method?

Dependant on the cost of the digital content, will a consumer get out their credit card and punch in 6 separate pieces of information taking 180 characters on a mobile device or while on the train with an iPad? For values around £1, probably not. Other payment forms such as Paypal and Amazon which utilise stored account details, give a lower friction but reduced payments as they are acting as intermediaries to the card companies.

Stored value cards such as Paysafecard enable the unbanked to convert cash to e-money and utilise this online. This reduces spontaneity but alongside other payment technologies is a viable option for population coverage.

Most Paywalls in place in the UK have not considered the mobile users account. This is virtually frictionless for the consumer and ideally suited to micropayments. The payout rate is again reduced as the mobile network has to collect the debt from its consumers, but services that implemented Charge to Mobile as it is now known alongside their current credit card based solutions have seen a 60% increase in transactions.

By Rory Maguire, Managing Director, AIME