I spoke to Buorngiorno at CTIA…the company is a pretty significant player in a number of markets. In the US the focus is in off-portal because the company saw that as the major initial opportunity. It was pointed out that the two different strategies have different shopping methods — off-portal is spontaneous, usually in response to some form of marketing, while on-portal shopping is a browsing experience by people with time to kill. Buongiorno also thinks the future is in mobile chat, as evidenced by its buy of Freever in August last year. It provides SMS, MMS and WAP but Buongiorno feels that the most important part of the service is the moderation of the chat, particularly in the US. One thing that Buongiorno does a lot of that I hadn’t come across was the use of Text Jockeys, who come on at a set time and run a chat. This can include guest celebrities, ranging from rock starts to politicians (Tony Blair did a show during the last UK elections). Initially the chat will only be on the mobile, but the aim is to have online and mobile synchronized. Of course, one eventual aim is to have targeted viral marketing within the groups.
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