Dr Eagle, in his keynote address, will outline how the ability to engage and capture data through mobile phones has given a voice to over two billion subscribers in developing nations - a feat that would have been geographically impossible or cost-prohibitive through other methods. At the same time, these mobile subscribers - what Dr Eagle calls "your next billion consumers" - are able to generate income through their phones by being the eyes and ears on the ground for brands such as Diageo, IBM, Microsoft and Google.
Dr Eagle was named one of the world's top mobile phone developers in 2008 by Nokia, and in 2009 he was elected to the TR35, a group of the top innovators under the age of 35.
Also keynoting at MRC 2011 is Bruce Hoang, head of global media research at Orange Advertising Network. Hoang will reveal details of Orange's Mobile Exposure initiative, offering delegates a glance at mobile media usage across Europe. Depending on a company's core target population, such intelligence allows it to fine tune its mobile strategy as well as optimise its media plan.
"Asking the right person for feedback, at the right time and when they are in the right place is something mobile can achieve," says Hoang. "But mobile research is not without its technological limitations today. If we can overcome these, the sky is the limit!"
Dr Liz Nelson, chairperson of the Programme Committee, is excited about the line-up and the topics being discussed at the event in April: "Mobile research is bringing market researchers closer to consumers in many ways. From conquering geographical challenges, to getting feedback in real time, to reaching consumers in all manner of locations, there are some wonderful projects and methodologies being used by the innovators in the market research community. This event truly showcases the best of those with experts and pioneers from the commercial world and academia, MRC 2011 is going to be an event not to miss."
The full programme for the two-day event, produced by Globalpark, will be announced by 24 January, and will include sessions on mobile penetration, geo-location and mobile ethnography. Case studies will showcase how leading brands including BSkyB and HELLO! magazine have leveraged mobile phones to engage consumers and generate actionable insights.
For more information on MRC 2011, go to www.mobileresearchconference.com.
