Mobile devices are more than mere communication tools today. Globally, smartphones and tablets are now contributing to roughly 25% of the user traffic on eCommerce and travel websites. Sales through smartphones and tablets contribute to around 15% of the total online sales. With the rapid adoption of smart phones and tablets across the globe, these numbers can only go north.

Online sales through mobile devices as a percentage of the total online sales globally Challenges in Mobile Web Marketing Mobile marketing is relatively new and advertisers face several challenges to run an effective mobile marketing campaign. Some of them are:
• Advertiser's and Publisher's mobile presence is fragmented between mobile web and mobile apps.
• Identification of a user across mobile web and mobile app and messaging across these two channels.
• Identification of users across multiple devices (such as mobile, desktop) and messaging across channels.
• Patchy support to cookie and other tracking mechanisms on mobile browsers and apps.

How does it work:

1. While the user is on the advertiser mobile website, products like Vizury MobiConvert, records anonymous user behaviour such as products viewed, duration of visit, drop off page etc.

2. This user behaviour data is then used to create and display customised ads for the mobile user across mobile internet.

3. However, unlike desktop, mobile uses a different technology for banners- HTML5, the one that works across mobile devices.

The need to go mobile is more imminent today more than ever. Mobile has taken centre stage in your users' purchase cycle and it's time to go mobile! More on 'Shades of Mobile Retargeting' coming soon.

Learn more about Vizury MobiConvert and other products by Vizury at their stand at the eCommerce Africa Confex. This exciting 2-day conference and exhibition takes place on the 3rd-4th February 2015 at the Cape Town International Centre.

Register as a delegate or find out more about sponsor and exhibitor opportunities by contacting Kirsten Pow Chong on 021 180 4700 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Indie games are fast becoming a trend in South Africa, catching on from the overseas markets. These days, children and adults alike are playing mobile games as never before. People are always hungry for something different, which is where indie games – or ‘independent’ games – come in, providing players with something other than the mass-produced mainstream products.

Now, Somerset West can boast with its very own game studio that started turning its cogs in February this year. For its first month of existence, the studio was run out of the founder’s mother’s basement – typical indie game studio protocol, if history is anything to go by. Now, running from a house close to De Hoop Primary School, the studio focuses on creating mobile games (such as their recently released Afrikaans game, Fanie de Beer) and has oodles of style, creativity, skill and initiative.

While the Apmil Game Studio has only been up and running for a few months, the people who daily put their shoulders to its wheels have been building up relationships for the last three-and-a-half years. Even though the studio officially started up in February, the idea of an indie game studio had been brewing in the mind of Studio Head, Pierre Bezuidenhout, since 2011. Pierre started lecturing in the Animation Department of Cape Town’s City Varsity in 2011 – and this is where he met the three students who would later join him in this grand venture.

Pierre, as leader of the team, is Apmil’s Programmer and Technical Director. He has previously worked in advertising and animation for Wicked Pixels in Woodstock and held the position of lecturer at Concept Interactive as well as at City Varsity. His impressive skill set includes a sharp eye for detail as well as design flair and programming aptitude in different digital languages and platforms – he is also quite the people-person. Altus Barry is the Technical Lead, taking charge of rigs, renders and other related tasks. Mabet van Zijl did her major in 3D Narrative and, as Generalist, leads Apmil’s marketing and writing in between her usual workload. Louren Hattingh takes the roles of Lead Animator and Concept Artist. While each person has their area to lead, the workflow runs with a ‘rock-paper-scissors’-style in which one falls under the delegation of another while dealing with respective area-specific tasks. Sitting around a whiteboard, each armed with a marker, they discuss character design, story line, player motivation, level arrangement, time constraints and load division before jumping in with the actual development.

The first released game, Fanie de Beer, is a 100% physics-driven, full 3D, indie puzzle game with a distinct South African flavour. Playing as Fanie de Beer, a 12-year-old farm-boy, the player utilizes simple little rocks by tapping once on the screen to clear best friend Jaco Kriel’s fields of strategically placed, ancient landmines. Built in Unity, the game takes place in a single day – with the story starting early in the morning and ending in the evening – transporting the player through a dynamic day/night cycle and colourful, saturated farm fields as they progress through the 84 levels, meeting new mine types and increasingly difficult challenges as they go along. Written and designed in Afrikaans, then carefully translated into true farm-style English, this game is unique, fun and proudly South African. The demo is available for download from the Google Play Store, while the full game can be purchased on Samsung Apps and Amazon.

The next game in the pipeline is different from Fanie de Beer in virtually every way. Where Fanie is a very colourful 3D puzzle game with just enough back-story to set the player up for the context and flavour of the game, the current project is a heavily story-driven platform-game that takes place in a fictional world made up of parallaxing silhouettes and strange characters.

Apmil Game Studio has not only been created as a platform to build games, but also as a springboard for fellow animators, developers, designers and illustrators. It’s a breeding ground for collaboration, ideas, innovation and learning. Each person hones their skills while doing fun and challenging work through creating games and stories as well as fulfilling the creative needs of small to medium-sized businesses in the Western Cape and Gauteng.

Apmil Game Studio services include animation, app creation, game creation, rendering/stills, asset creation, video editing and UX. The creative division of Apmil, led by artist Janet Botes and writer Michelle Albinson, offers logo design, graphic design, online/web design, interactive design, writing, editing, proofreading and illustration.

Apmil prides itself on being different: Fresh ideas, innovative applications, strange and wonderful games – they are all things that receive the studio’s love and attention to detail. To find out more or to get involved, contact Pierre Bezuidenhout at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call him on 082 499 3133

Studio ingredients:[A]ltus makes the bus and [P]ierre drives the bus; [M]abet takes the bus t[i]ckets and [L]ouren makes the bus move. Thus, [apmil].

Free demo: Google Play – bit.ly/fanie_demo 
Full version: Samsung Apps – bit.ly/fanie
Official Trailer: Youtube – bit.ly/fanie_trailer 
Apmil page: Apmil/Fanie – apmil.co.za/fanie-de-beer 

{pp}When one thinks of communication platforms, telephone, e-mail and perhaps Internet messaging programmes such as Skype come to mind. With the influx and proactive take-over of social media together with a variety of social networks, one of these platforms has come to stand out as a new communication platform. Twitter.

{pp}Sales are at the top of everyone's priority list for 2009. Marketing is the key ingredient to generate increased sales. This is why it's imperative to ensure that your marketing channels are utilised successfully and that they do not leave you out of pocket.