Mobile App Development Grows Sharply

The number of mobile applications developed by advertisers/marketers in 2010 increased significantly year-over-year, according to a new report from Millennial Media.

Major Increase in Advertisers Developing 20-50 Apps

When asked the number of mobile applications they developed in 2010 compared to 2009, advertisers participating in “State of the Apps Industry 2010″ stated growth in every area. In particular, advertisers developing 20-50 apps stated an astounding jump 1,975% jump from four in 2009 to 83 in 2010.

Conversely, the number of advertisers who did not develop a single application decreased 42% year-over-year (from 19 in 2009 to 11 in 2010).

Entertainment Top App-building Vertical

In 2009, CPG, Retail, Auto, Entertainment and Financial companies were the top five verticals building apps. In 2010, however, Entertainment displaced CPG to claim the number one spot, followed by Technology, Media, and Retail.

CPG remained in the top five at number five, while retail fell from number two to number four. Auto and financial were displaced by media and technology (debuting strongly at number two in 2010).

Android, iPad Lead Growth in Advertiser App Development Platforms

From 2009 to 2010, Android (180%) and iPad (0 to 35, year-over-year growth percentage cannot be calculated) saw the most significant growth as the application platforms used by advertisers.

iPhone still leads the pack with 73 developers and about 18% growth, but RIM, Windows Mobile, and Symbian also saw increases, as advertisers continued to diversify their application platforms.

Android, iPad also Lead Publisher Growth

Among publishers, Android, iPad, Windows Mobile, and Symbian also grew year-over-year from 2009 to 2010. Again, Android (71%) and iPad (60%) saw rapid acceptance by publishers, and efforts were focused on developing applications for these players.

Meanwhile, iPhone (2% negative growth but still the leading platform, used by 46 publishers) and Palm (21%) were the two platforms that saw year-over-year decreases.

Reach Top Consideration for Choosing a Platform

Millenial Media ranks the top five considerations for choosing a mobile application development platform by both advertisers and publishers as follows:
1. Reach
2. Demo
3. Better Branding
4. Ease of Use
5. Higher Sales Potential

2 in 3 Mobile Users Text

In the three-month average ending September 2010, 67% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, according to comScore, up 1.4 percentage points compared to the prior three-month period.

Meanwhile, browsers were used by 35.1% of US mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.1% of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.5 percentage points. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.8 percentage points, representing 23.2% of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 23.1% of the mobile audience (up 0.5 percentage points), while listening to music increased 0.8 percentage points, representing 15.2% of subscribers.

About the Data: Two surveys were used to provide the data used in this report. The State of the Apps Industry survey pools used by DIGIDAY consisted of approximately 600 digital and/or mobile industry professionals in two industry snapshots taken in November 2009 (Q4 2009) and August 2010 (Q3 2010).

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California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce 31st Annual State Convention Panelist Tony Gracia A Star in SuperEstrellas Workshop

Successful Small Business Owner Shared Secrets to Making It to the Top

SANTA CLARITA, Calif./EWORLDWIRE/Aug 18, 2010 --- To have been selected as a panelist by the Small Business Development Center from over hundreds of thousands of Hispanic businesses set Power Media Group CFO Tony Gracia to thinking about how he was chosen. He didn't have to think hard or very long, since hard work is an every day practice in his offices.

What Gracia did need to think about was the message he was going to communicate as he took up position on the panel on August 17.

Filled with other Hispanic business owners - some of whom the Power Media Group CFO knew personally, other corporate business leaders, community leaders, and government officials, Gracia was charged with addressing issues of relevance to the Hispanic business community. Gracia lead the Super Estrella Workshop with his peers during an afternoon session. From details about their businesses' early beginnings to contemporary activities they engage in to maintain and grow their business, the audience asked and received answers to their most pressing questions.

The panel was moderated by Ian Lorenzana of the Small Business Administration, Los Angeles District Office – Economic Development Division.

"To be asked to participate is a special honor," added Gracia. "It is an affirmation of the more recent notice our industry and the public at large has taken of our efforts and our business."

As the premier minority/ethnic business convention in California, The CHCC State Convention provides the public with a singular opportunity: to get up close and personal with business professionals whose activities set them apart in their communities.

Gracia and wife and President Patricia Gracia have received numerous awards, both on the local and national level with increasing frequency, acknowledging the growing firm's impact in the community in which their ad agency operates and the successes in creating awareness of their clients within Hispanic communities across California and beyond.

Learn more about the offerings of Power Media Group by visiting PowerMediaGroup.com (http://www.powermediagroup.com).

About Power Media Group Inc. (http://www.powermediagroup.com)

Promoting a New Dream

Entrepreneur: Local business woman finds her niche, creates helpful resource

By Jana Adkins

Signal Business Editor

Posted: October 26, 2010 10:20 p.m.

The business sits back from Sierra Highway in an old, white-and red trim Spanish-style building.

Looks are deceiving, though. Inside, a visitor is greeted by an explosion of color on every wall of the 11,000-square-foot Canyon Country workplace. A palpable energy permeates the air at the Power Media Group advertising and public relations agency — owed, perhaps, to the personality of its founder, Patricia Gracia. A native of Peru, Gracia came to the U.S. through Mexico at age 18. She said she yearned to become successful and help others ever since she saw the bright lights of San Diego. “I’m the kind of a person that I have to dream and continue dreaming,” said Gracia, who started the business in her San Fernando Valley home in 2001. “I will die dreaming about something.”

Building momentum

Specializing in targeting the Hispanic market, her agency creates mixed-media campaigns for clients, including Universal Music, Hamer Toyota and Vivendi Visual Entertainment.

Marketing experts estimate purchases by Hispanics in the United States will exceed $1 trillion this year. California leads the nation as the top market in buying power. Universal Music was one of Gracia’s first clients. After three years of promoting Spanish movie and music titles, Universal asked PMG to handle the outdoor promotions campaign to reach the general populace in six major U.S. cities for the 2007 movie “In the Name of the King.” It was the agency’s first ever crossover campaign, moving from targeting only Hispanic audiences to the population in general. Gracia said Universal believed that PMG had an expertise in negotiating and buying media, in addition to the Hispanic market. When it comes to producing commercials for clients, PMG manages the production as well. They work with a select group of industry people from cameramen to lighting people, scout the locations or lease the studio space, and create and shoot the

television commercials. “For one television commercial, we rented a mansion in Malibu,” said Gracia. “We had a crew of 30 people on-site.” She advises clients who can ship products nationwide to buy advertising airtime on a national network, which is often more cost-effective than buying airtime in several individual local markets. The biggest mistake companies often make is using different companies for each segment of a campaign, Gracia said. They believe they have more control and that it is less expensive if they use separate companies for print, radio or TV promotions. The problem, she points out, is that for a campaign to be successful, it must be in synch so that you can coordinate and build the momentum. The message needs to be the same message across the board, at the same time, to the same target market, with all messages going in the same direction. “You want everything on the same bus,” said Gracia. “There must be a rhythm.”

Business incubator

In 2008, PMG purchased a building on Sierra Highway with an Small Business Administration loan, sharing the space with a church. Within a year, the church could no longer afford to rent space in the building. Returning from a small-business conference, Gracia envisioned a new use for the vacant space. After making a presentation at the conference, she was surrounded by people urgently seeking information on how to start their own business who lacked an office or know-how to launch. In January 2010, PMG created an “affordable pool” of resources for people starting their own business and opened the Power Women Business Center in her building. For a fee, an entrepreneur just starting a business can take advantage of services that include a reception area for visitors, mail and fax handling, meeting rooms, workspace with high-speed Internet services and phone and a fully equipped kitchen. Because the office is located in the Santa Clarita Enterprise Zone, setting up one’s business in the PWBC provides entrepreneurs with several tax benefits while they build their businesses. “This is a not a place to stay forever,” Gracia said. “People will stay for three to six months to get started.” She told of the teacher who came to the center, who was teaching computer classes. The single mom dreamed of opening her own computer school but was afraid to start her own business. Gracia encouraged her to give it a try. She said after five months, the woman had gained quite a few clients. She felt she was ready to go out and run her own business. Gracia will help the small business start-ups by providing the owners with marketing advice and encouraging them to join

the Chamber of Commerce and other associations that will help them meet mentors and find new business leads. Business owners are also directed to The Signal to file their legal ads for fictitious name, or DBA (Doing Business As) announcements. “I don’t look for the reward,” Gracia said. “When you do something you really want to do, wonderful things will happen to you.”

Award-winning presence

Four years ago, Gracia moved to Santa Clarita from the San Fernando Valley, relocating her business locally as well. Based on the 2000 U.S. Census, nearly 21 percent of Santa Clarita’s population was Hispanic.

Gracia said that prior to moving here, she had heard comments that SCV was not a friendly place for Latinos starting a business. She disagreed, explaining that there is a lot of support for businesses out here.

“The best thing that happened was locating my business here in Santa Clarita,” she said. “I think Santa Clarita likes people who work hard and can be a positive element for the city. They open their arms to help you.” Gracia and PMG have won multiple honors and awards, including being named Business of the Year in 2008 by Latin Business Association, winning the Sol Award. In 2009, the agency won an Addy Award in Creativity for a TV ad in the general market. Four years ago, Gracia’s husband, Tony, left an entertainment broadcasting company in the Spanish speaking market to join his wife’s company as CEO and CFO. Tony was nominated by the San Fernando Business Journal as one of the Top Valley CFOs of 2009.

“There might be a reason why,” Patricia Gracia said. “Either we’re working really hard or we’re doing something good. I think it’s both.”