iBlue launches a unique Bluetooth marketing solution in MENA

LongArm opens the door for a new marketing channel enabling marketers to reach their customers on their Bluetooth enabled devices. The unique features of LongArm will allow for the ease of creating and managing marketing campaigns in no time. iBlue is a company whose mission is to provide enterprises with innovative, reliable, flexible, yet easy to use solutions by utilizing Bluetooth data communication technology and its expertise in their state of the art. iBlue is developed by Bird ICT's and is fully owned by Bird ICT. There is a wide range of enterprise solutions to be introduced to the market and each solution will have its unique implementation to satisfy specific market needs. LongArm is a marketing solution that has the capability of broadcasting any file format to a large number of Bluetooth enabled devices simultaneously with a very high flexibility in creating and managing their marketing campaigns. Dr. Khaled Awad, Bird ICT managing director, stated that the power of LongArm is the result of its unique features. He mentioned that out of all the features of LongArm the six key ones are: serial coupons, support of all file types, campaign scheduler, statistics viewer, back-up utility, and high connection range. The serial coupons feature is designed to help LongArm users who want to send a group of serialized files or coupons to their clients where each client gets only one of those coupons. This feature will let the system handle this type of coupons in a smart way in one mouse click. The second key feature is the ability of LongArm to support all file types, which gives the marketers more space to do their creative works and send it to their clients in any format they want. LongArm users do not have to worry about manually activating and deactivating their marketing campaigns on a regular basis because they can automatically schedule all their campaigns using LongArm's flexible campaign scheduler. The scheduler enables them to specify the active time of each campaign in terms of time and date and days of the week. The statistics viewer gives the marketers clear graphs of how their campaigns are doing. It shows them how many have received their marketing material and how many have not. Marketers no longer have to worry about losing their digital marketing campaign with iBlue introducing their smart back-up utility. This feature helps LongArm users to back-up all their marketing campaigns and their specific configuration in a file that can be used to restore these data whenever needed. LongArm's advanced hardware together with its embedded software enables fast simultaneous files transmission and allows the users to stay connected with their clients within a range of up to 150 meters. According to Mohamed Kash, Bird ICT business development manager, there are no limits to where LongArm can be used. Wherever Bluetooth enabled devices exist, LongArm can exist. He stated that iBlue is targeting marketers in different business areas ranging from shopping malls, sporting clubs, and outlet stores to airports, hotels, events management, and advertising agencies.

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Def Leppard Enlists the Support of Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc.; Proximity Marketing to Deliver Branded Content via Bluetooth® and Wi-fi® on Next T

Epic Rockers Def Leppard Continue Their Commitment to the Fan Experience and Adding a Strong Production Value to Their Live Show With Rockzimity(SM) VALLEY STREAM, NY--(Marketwire - December 19, 2008) - Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. (OTCBB: AMKT) announced a partnership with Def Leppard to support their next tour with Proximity Marketing(SM) Bluetooth and Wi-fi content delivery system, bringing a sponsor-centric and interactive media component to this dynamic show. During the band's past summer "Sparkle Tour," Def Leppard explored possibilities during their live events by piloting this technology, which is quickly becoming recognized in music as Rockzimity(SM) a play of words from Ace Marketing's flagship brand Proximity Marketing(SM). Def Leppard kicked off the pilot last year at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit where a couple of lucky fans won a trip backstage to meet the band in the "Sparkle Lounge," a band exclusive area where many of the Def Leppard hits were born, and many fans won Sparkle Lounge T-shirts when receiving a "You've Won" coupon directly on their mobile device. "The results and fan response was fantastic," stated Rick Allen, drummer for Def Leppard. Allen went on to say, "Having our music and show elements made portable, as a FREE added value fan experience, that can then be legally shared with friends and family, is a solid fit for us. We look forward to the possibilities." The process to receive the content is simple: the fan enables their Bluetooth Visibility prior to coming to the event, seeking relevant content. Immediately, enabled mobile devices are detected by the Proximity Marketing(SM) unit and the user is presented with the message "Would you like to receive a FREE video from Def Leppard?" Upon accepting the message, the content upload process is initiated and the content is stored on the fan's mobile device. For Wi-fi enabled devices users simply connect to the localized zone that is created by the technology. Building awareness around the availability of the content will become routine as the band will record "Call To Action" messages that are played in venue, between sets, requesting that fans "Enable Their Visibility" to participate in this promotional event. "We are learning that this is what fans expect to see when coming to a show. They come with their visibility enabled, expecting to receive something relevant, something engaging," stated Michael Trepeta, President for Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. "Fans will know which areas of the venue are zones where they can receive media, discounts and promotional prizes. It's quickly becoming a part of the entertainment culture. The fan acceptance tells the tale with engagement rates that have exceeded 90 percent. We couldn't be doing this with a more forward-thinking band than Def Leppard," stated Matt Gaines, CMO for Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. About Us Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc., based in New York, is a full-service promotional marketing company offering a wide array of business solutions. Ace Marketing is a leader in proximity marketing with proprietary Bluetooth and Wi-Fi integrated technology that establishes the benchmark for how multimedia messages are being delivered. Established in 1998, the Company has built a successful, scalable business platform capable of consolidating a portion of the promotional products industry. Rockzimity & Rockzimity Marketing are service marks of Ace Marketing & Promotions Inc. Def Leppard With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, Def Leppard -- Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums) -- continues to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists. The group's spectacular live shows, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, have become synonymous with their name and they are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide. The band's latest album, "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" (Bludgeon Riffola/Island/UMe), debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200, earning Def Leppard their highest-charting debut since 1992. "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" contains 11 new songs including the hit single "Nine Lives," featuring a groundbreaking collaboration with country music superstar Tim McGraw. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements express or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, changes in levels of competition, possible loss of customers, and the company's ability to attract and retain key personnel.

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The modern consumer is presented with all sorts of advertising on TV, the radio, the internet and print every day. The challenge for advertisers today is to find ways in which to make significant and lasting connections with their target market. In conjunction with traditional forms of advertising, new methods, such as mobile marketing, are increasingly becoming critical ways to make these connections.
Bluecasting is gradually gaining ground as a common term for the provision of any small digital media to suitable media-playing enabled devices over Bluetooth® via the OBEX protocol. Where by "small digital media" does not exclusively mean advertisements but could include photos, podcast style audio content, video, mobile ticketing, games (especially those written in J2ME) or even other applications.
Bluecasting was introduced by Filter UK, a company in England that has developed a mobile marketing platform of the same name.
Bluecasting in Canada
Mobile messaging via Bluetooth technology has been utilized in Canada by some of the world’s largest and most influential companies. In fact, some “world firsts” have taken place in Canada in regards to mobile messaging via Bluetooth technology. During the spring & summer of 2007, live news, sports and business headlines were transmitted to literally hundreds of thousands of handsets at Pearson International Airport via Bluetooth technology. This use of Bluetooth took mobile messaging via Bluetooth technology to as-yet-unseen new levels of importance in everyday life. Mobile messaging via Bluetooth technology has now gone from simply being able to send ads and promotions to a consumer’s handset to being a way for people to get news and information that is important to them.
Promotional opportunities abound with the advent of Proximity Marketing and mobile messaging via Bluetooth technology, providing the ability to deliver a wide range of multimedia content to promote your brand or supplement an existing promotional campaign. Some examples of promotional opportunities are:
Multimedia promotional videos
Still images and text messages
Event Reminders (placed directly into the calendar of the recipient)
Ringtones and MP3 audio files

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Will Bluetooth Become a Sweet Tooth for Marketers?

By Phil Barrett
Now that over 60% of new mobile devices are Bluetooth enabled, marketers have an opportunity to leverage Bluetooth or proximity marketing to enhance or extend customer communications and / or campaigns.
What is Bluetooth?Bluetooth is an international wireless radio communication standard used primarily for mobile wireless headsets. Think of Bluetooth as a super short wave radio station – it only works in small localized areas. Bluetooth is also operator / network independent.
How does it work?
Marketers set up Bluetooth transceivers in an area – usually a store, event, mall, or anywhere people congregate.
When somebody with a Bluetooth enabled mobile device walks within 100 meters of your transceiver – they’ll receive a message on their mobile device seeking permission to engage.
If accepted, the person can receive a text based message - like “come to super coffee shop and get a free muffin,” or “fill out our application and we’ll give you a canned ham.”
You can also use Bluetooth to send other types of media messages – such as an image (coupon? Product shot?) Or even audio or video – such as a movie preview or product demo.
Unlike SMS, MMS, and mobile web, there is no user fee attached to receiving a Bluetooth message – unless the message drives the user to something that requires data or initiates an SMS / MMS.
You can setup the campaign so that the person only receives one message request within a period of time. This is helpful for those who may add a Bluetooth transceiver at a booth near a beer stand during a sporting event.
If the person declines the incoming message, they will not be contacted again for 24 hours.
Barriers to Bluetooth
Mobile devices must have Bluetooth enabled on their device for the messaging to work. This is not a default setting with most devices. In some cases, the user also has to specify that their device can be “discoverable” even if Bluetooth is already enabled.
Although the medium is permission based, there is the potential for Bluetooth messaging to be perceived as spam.
South Africa has embraced Bluetooth
South Africa is a leader in Bluetooth marketing where over 30 regional malls, an international airport and over 40 other independent locations are fully Bluetooth enabled. A friend of mine working in South Africa indicated that she even gets Bluetooth messages confirming cash withdrawals from the ATM machines there!
Petros Kondos, the co-founder and CEO of Wireless Customer Interactive Technologies, estimates that over 60,000 Bluetooth interactions occur each month in South Africa. There are just over 20 million active mobile users today in South Africa (about the same as Canada).
There have already been some Bluetooth enabled campaigns in Canada – most notably by Zoom media who installed transceivers in restaurant and club bathrooms in Toronto to create a conversation for those who are doing their business with Bluetooth enabled devices…
And you thought a stranger talking to you in the bathroom stall beside you was awkward :)

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Toronto’s Pearson Airport sets a Clear Channel to Bluetooth marketing

“Beam me up Scotty” are the words made famous by Captain James Kirk when he’d want to get back on board of the Starship Enterprise and go to another planet to charm another green or purple female alien. Pretty amazing on how we’re always dreaming up new ways to use technology to make our lives easier and more convenient. Fast forward the clock to 2007 and we have companies such as Cicso Canada and BlueCasting Canada who have helped Pearson International Airport Terminal One in Toronto launch the first Bluetooth enabled marketing campaign in Canada. Backlit posters fitted throughout the terminal using BlueCasting’s technology allow for delivering video downloads to mobile phones and other handheld devices.
Intelligence is built into the system to be able to determine whether a consumer has already been sent a file and will send something different, or it can be configured to send a file but to only the 50th instance. With support of txt, graphics, audio, vCard and vCal the potential uses are endless.
Now imaging combing that type of power with GPS which can determine the exactly location of your mobile device and you have a very powerful advertising platform. Specials or promotions could be sent to you as your are driving past your favourite steak restaurant.

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Mobile advertising promising but undeveloped

10/21/2008 6:00:00 AM By: Mikael Ricknäs

The whole IT industry has high hopes for mobile advertising, but it's still in its infancy and has many hurdles to overcome before it can deliver on lofty promises of billion dollar revenues, according to analysts and ad agencies. Vendors are more upbeat.Estimates vary widely for how much the mobile advertising market will be worth. M:Metrics found that mobile display advertising was an approximately US$200 million industry last year. In 2011 the global mobile advertising market alone will be worth over $12 billion if you ask Gartner, or $19 billion if you ask ABI Research, whose figure includes both mobile search and video advertising. But if mobile advertising is to take off on such a large scale, the vision being laid out for it has to be realized, according to Nick Lane, lead analyst at Direct2 Mobile."If you have been to industry events in the past two years it's the same people saying the same things, but the industry hasn't delivered on what we have been promised: a personalized, contextualized, real-time location-based mobile advertising platform, and the industry is still a long way from delivering it," Lane said. The market is current on a Internet-based advertising model using mobile phones with few advantages, according to Lane."Probably the only additional benefit that I can see is that potentially you've got a connection from the brand to the handset, so you can see how the handset responds, but that doesn't really tell you much about the user," Lane said. Mark Newman, chief research officer at Informa Telecoms and Media, agrees: "The market is still very immature; all that we are looking at is companies dipping their toes in the water. At the moment all that's really happening is that some adverts that might be on the Internet are on the mobile phone."Newman is also convinced that the next step must be to add more segmentation and also location-based ads to take advantage of the benefits of the mobile phone. "But that is probably still a good three, four, five years out," Newman said The fact that there are still relatively few mobile Internet users and a fragmented market isn't helping either. Advertisers have to turn to multiple sources to get a large enough footprint and ads have to be customized to different phones. "To actually buy the inventory on mobile is incredibly difficult and takes a long time. So when people say that a lot of companies don't get it, they don't get that companies can't be bothered with the drawn-out process," Lane said.Pricing is also far too high; it's still a trial medium and should be priced accordingly, according to Lane. His advice is to simply go where the traffic is, which is voice and messaging, not data. Companies like Smaato and Blyk have the right idea, according to Lane.

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Airwide’s Mobile Advertising Solution Takes Gold for Innovation at

BURLINGTON, MA – 19 March, 2008 – Airwide® Solutions, the leading provider of next-generation mobile messaging and mobile internet infrastructure, applications and solutions, announced today that the company won the Gold Award in the category of ‘Innovation in Mobile Advertising’ at the inaugural Visiongain Mobile Advertising and Marketing Awards (MAMA’s).
The Innovation Award was the most hotly-contested category, drawing up to three times as many entries as the next closest category. Airwide won for the company’s Mobile Advertising solution that enables mobile operators to effectively capitalize on the growing demand for mobile marketing and advertising. The solution, which has already been deployed at Blyk, the pan-European mobile operator targeted for 16 to 24 year olds funded by advertising, enables operators to better promote their services and brand differentiation, as well as support multiple advertising models and interactive sales campaigns.
Kaj Hagros, Vice President of Market Development at Airwide Solutions said: “Winning an industry award of this nature is important validation of Airwide’s product direction and vision of enabling compelling new services such as mobile advertising that are based on proven mobile infrastructure; and examples such as this service that have been deployed as part of exciting new mobile advertising business models are proof that this is not just a vision, but is also being executed on today.”
“Clearly the mobile medium is on the move, and for Airwide to win the Gold Award for Innovation is a major milestone,” said Richard Walledge, Event Producer for the Visiongain MAMA’s. “Since mobile advertising is still in its infancy, new technologies and approaches to the category abound. It was Airwide’s capacity to apply technological innovation to solving some of the issues that are inhibiting the growth of mobile advertising, as well as the company’s success with real-world customers that made them stand out.”
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About visiongain
Visiongain is one of the fastest growing and most innovative independent media companies in Europe. Based in London, UK, visiongain produces a host of business-2-business conferences, newsletters, management reports and e-zines focusing on the Telecoms, Pharmaceutical and Defence sectors.
About Airwide Solutions
Airwide Solutions is the leading provider of next-generation mobile messaging and wireless internet infrastructure, applications and solutions. Its products help more than 120 wireless operators worldwide drive mobile messaging usage and revenues and enables them to leverage multiple delivery channels and next-generation infrastructure in new and more powerful ways. With a history of industry firsts – including the first text message ever sent, the introduction of the first SMS router, the first A2P MMS push gateway and mobile service control which enables mobile context, personalization and profiling – the company continues to pioneer new technologies. Airwide’s open, tiered Fusion architecture offers mobile operators advanced revenue options, a practical pathway to Mobile Messaging 2.0 and a foundation to bridge mobile messaging and mobile internet.

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Mobile is on the move

November 03, 2008 By Kristin Laird
Mobile marketing is quickly becoming more than a text to win tactic but still faces barriers according to a panel of experts during the "Mobile Marketing to Die For" session this morning at Marketing Week.
Moderator and senior director, mobile, and interactive, Carlson Marketing, Phil Barrett began the session by asking each member to define mobile marketing.
"At the end of the day mobile marketing is developing an ongoing relationship with consumers that is profile based, finding out what they like, what they dislike and sending them appropriate content based on their specific profile," said Derek Colfer, co-founder, and vice-president strategy, Jambo Mobile Solutions. "If you do not know who you're talking to, you do not know how to sell to them."
Colfer was joined on the panel by Nick Patsiopolous, director, mobile and digital services for Yahoo Canada; Michael O'Farrell, chair dotMobi advisory group, vice-chairman of ooober, and co-author, Mobile Internet for Dummies; and Marc-Henri Magdelenat, director, sales and marketing, Microsoft mobile advertising.
Mobile is a mass media communications vehicle that people should start looking at in an integrated view versus a single track with text-to-win, said O'Farrell.
The panel cited network carriers, devices and agency partners as barriers to engaging brands within the mobile space and including them in a part of the integrated marketing mix.
"The media buyers, we need to work together as an industry to get them more educated and understanding the value of leveraging this new channel," said O'Farrell. "The media agencies need to step it up a notch...mobile is an integrated part of the whole mix, not just a spin off."
And while media agencies have a ways to go, said Magdelenat, mobile carriers also play a significant role with the services and data plans they provide.
"If you don't have enough people browsing the mobile web, you don't have enough reach," he said. "We need to make sure that there's enough people that you can talk to."
Originally published in Marketing Magazine, November 2008

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Go mobile - it's the future of sales

By MITCH JOEL, FreelanceJanuary 15, 2009


A long while back, I made a decision to make the switch from marketing on the Internet to the unchartered world of mobile. Slowly, the idea of using phones for other than calling people was becoming more commonplace.
The devices no longer looked like someone was screaming into a cream-coloured brick and the idea of sending short text messages via these devices was taking off in places like Japan and Korea. It was starting to no longer be frowned upon or considered rude when a telephone was ringing during a romantic dinner at a restaurant. Can you remember the good ol' days when someone was considered a crazy person if they were seen talking to themselves in a car?
Now, our society is mobile. If these devices could be implanted under one's skin, I'm sure we all know a couple of people who would be the first in line for the procedure. (Can you see my arm being raised?) Even mobile flip phones seem just a little passé to us these days.
But what do all this mobility and connectivity mean to business?
Some of the bigger hurdles of using mobiles have been overcome. (For a long while you could use SMS text messaging only with people who were on the same wireless carrier as you were; now SMS is functional between all carriers.) But some of the bigger hurdles are still ahead (devices have different size screens, the carriers all use different back-end technologies and the overall speed of delivering mobile content still isn't great in North America).
Most businesses weigh the adoption rate (how many people in the general mass population are really using these devices and applications) and then figure out if the market is there for them to pursue. For most, they think it's not, and this should be of grave concern.
Here's a common scenario: You're out for dinner with a friend and decide to check out what movies are playing. With a quick flick of some buttons on your mobile, you can not only find that out, but how close and soon the next showing is. Beyond that, if you move into the realm of smartphones (Apple's iPhone, a BlackBerry or similar devices), you can see movie trailers and robust reviews.
Now, let's say you have a couple of hours to kill before catching the flick, and you want to know what time Indigo closes, and if any cool new books have come out this week, you should be able to do a search and have that information at your fingertips as well. Most companies don't have a mobile version of their website. Do you?
Having a simple and easy to navigate mini-version of your website for the mobile platform is a necessity. It is (and should be) as basic as having a website. Every day, more and more people use their mobile devices to find out information about your brands, products and services. It's also going beyond the basic who, what, when, where and why of information. At the end of 2008, Sears launched a mobile e-commerce platform in the U.S. titled Sears2Go. Ravi Acharya, director of e-commerce at Sears Holdings, explained the rationale in a news item in BtoB Online:
"It's a lot of the same customers who do research online and then go into a store to buy. We see people looking through catalogues, and then they call the call centre to purchase or go online ... or into a store. Adding mobile as another convenient channel is a good fit for us."
The usability and functionality is still primitive because of the limitations of the mobile device, but Sears2Go allows consumers to research and buy stuff like electronics, jewellery, tools, toys and more. You can even buy it from your mobile and pick up the merchandise in the store.
The truth is, Sears does not have a choice. Amazon.com created an amazing application for the iPhone in which you can take a picture of anything you see in a store, and it will recognize what the picture is, and return to you a set of search results for where you can get that exact same product cheapest. You can also scan reviews and, if Amazon sells it, you can buy it right from your iPhone. This is not something that's coming in the future, this is an application you can download right now, free - and it works.
Considering the built-in GPS capabilities of your mobile device, and the possibilities become endless. Urbanspoon, another iPhone or iPod Touch Application, figures out where you are and will recommend a restaurant to you based on types of food, neighbourhood and price. As if that were not enough, you can read reviews, it links into Google Maps to give you exact directions, and you can even make reservations.
The obvious question is: Why did I make the switch back from mobile marketing to the Web in terms of my professional career? I didn't. Those two worlds are intrinsically connected. While we may not have full convergence between mobile and Web platforms, we are getting closer by the day. Anyone trying to understand the Web and what it means to their business needs to also understand the implications of a world where we are accessing information, buying stuff, and doing anything and everything we're doing online on our mobile devices as well.
This is not about marketers blasting your mobile devices with offers when you are in a particular hot spot or about inundating your mobile browsing experience with banner ads and contests. This is all about creating more value and chances to connect and stay connected with brands that consumers are actively engaged with. The bigger question is this: How connected is your brand?

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Broadburst Technologies Moves Into The Neighbourhood, Brings Mobile Marketing To The Masses

By Dave Forde • November 24, 2008
New mobile players are about to shake up the game, and the fight between Research In Motion’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone keep consumers shopping. This of course translates into opportunities for advertisers to get their message to the connected world. Vancouver-based Broadburst Technologies has now made available their Bloothooth Broadcast Network in downtown Toronto at 40 Gateway Newstands as part of Phase 1. Transmitters are positioned in high traffic areas and deliver interactive services and content to mobile phones.
“We have already received calls from companies interested in taking advantage of the new network to reach out to mobile customers,” said Noah Aychental, Vice President of Marketing and Promotion for Gateway Newstands. “Our traffic numbers speak for themselves, as millions of people pass by our stores everyday, and with an enticing mobile offer we can now connect advertisers to a very targeted mobile phone audience.”

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SURVEY OF GLOBAL BRANDS REVEALS ACCELERATION OF MOBILE MARKETING

Mobile Marketing Forum - Barcelona, Spain - 9 October 2007 - An independent survey of 50 global brand-name companies commissioned by Airwide™ Solutions, the leading provider of next-generation mobile messaging infrastructure and applications, revealed significant progress for the mobile marketing industry. The survey revealed that 28% of companies surveyed have already launched live SMS campaigns and 18% have launched live MMS campaigns. Growth in the sophistication of mobile marketing campaigns was reflected in the number of brands considering implementing both SMS and MMS mobile marketing in the next 12 months, which doubled to 28% since a similar survey in 2006. The survey also found that more brands are looking to spend a greater proportion of their marketing budget on mobile campaigns in the near future with 71% of brands projecting to spend up to 10% of their budget on mobile marketing within two years' time.
Brand experience with mobile marketing is increasingly positive as more brands are getting higher response rates from their campaigns. The percentage of big brands who said that up to 10% of recipients of mobile marketing campaigns requested more information as a result of receiving a mobile marketing message grew from 32% in 2006 to 58% in 2007. And the news is even better for financial transactions with 73% of brands stating that up to 10% of recipients subsequently undertook a financial action as a result of the campaign as compared with 28% in 2006. Every responding brand agreed that their most recent mobile marketing campaign was successful in increasing customer familiarity of their brand.
Most significantly, the experience of brands using mobile marketing demonstrates that the actual campaign response rate is even higher than the expectations of those who have not yet implemented mobile marketing. According to the survey, 57% of brands not yet using mobile marketing anticipate that customers will request more information, while 83% of brands that have already implemented campaigns said they received requests for more information. The numbers for financial transactions are even higher with 38% of inexperienced brands stating that they expect consumers to undertake consequent financial actions while 82% of experienced brands have said that recipients completed a financial action as a result of being sent a mobile marketing message.
Not without concern...
However, despite enthusiasm for mobile marketing, there are barriers holding back even higher growth rates, with more than half of brands not yet employing the use of either text messaging (58%) or multimedia messaging (60%) systems for marketing purposes. As brands have learned about mobile marketing the perception that SMS is a reliable and measurable medium has increased with the number of brands that find SMS too complicated for marketing dropping significantly from 24% in 2006 to 8% in 2007. Additionally, more brands now know how to measure its effectiveness with uncertainty about how to do so dropping from 18% in 2006 to 11% in 2007. In contrast, however, the perception that MMS is difficult to use has grown from 14% in 2006 to 29% in 2007 and concerns about reliability have grown from 12% in to 34% in the same time frame.
Almost half of big brands (46%) are concerned that mobile marketing is too intrusive, with many feeling that customers will perceive messages as spam. Of these, 41% are unsure how to rectify the problem by targeting specific audiences. Over a third of brands (36%) would require detailed information on how the user responded to the message, and one in five want proof that the message has been received by the user's handset (concerns mirrored by recent high profile issues with TV text voting).
Airwide Addresses Mobile Marketing Inhibitors
Airwide tackles these issues through elements of the company's comprehensive mobile messaging product line including AirGate, AirGuard AntiSpam and AirManager Reporting. Airwide's suite of solutions provides marketers with information to better target campaigns, enhance the reliability and scalability of the underlying infrastructure, improve the quality of interaction with the consumer and measure overall campaign effectiveness. In addition, the suite provides network operators with tools to support marketing campaigns while protecting their subscribers from SPAM and giving consumers the controls to ensure they only receive wanted information from trusted sources.
Addressing concerns about running an MMS mobile marketing campaign, Airwide's MMS products are the industry's performance leaders offering the highest MMS message throughput, the greatest message type flexibility (application to person (A2P), person to application (P2A) and person to person (P2P)) at the lowest cost.
Jay Seaton, Chief Marketing Officer at Airwide comments: "The ongoing development of component-based mobile messaging systems has paved the way for a range of valuable new marketing opportunities for brands which, in turn, creates a significant revenue opportunity for mobile operators. However, the present take up of mobile marketing is somewhat inhibited by a lack of supporting information to manage and optimize marketing programs. With reliable infrastructure in place and a means to control and measure campaigns, more and more mobile operators will be competing to create and deliver the most effective mobile marketing initiatives to subscribers."
It is not only the brands that will benefit. Mobile phone users are expected to benefit from a range of incentives as part of the growth in mobile marketing, with almost 60% of brands intending to send special offers via the mobile phone, and over a third (36%) sending discount vouchers. Other incentives will include digital loyalty cards, free gifts and preferential terms.
Notes to Editors
Airwide Solutions commissioned Vanson Bourne in January 2006 and July 2007 to survey 50 of Europe's global brand names about their plans for mobile marketing.
About Airwide Solutions
Airwide Solutions is the market leader in next-generation mobile messaging infrastructure and applications. Its products allow more than 80 wireless operators in 46 countries to deliver and manage the millions of mobile messages their subscribers send every day. With a history of industry firsts - including the first text message ever sent and the introduction of the first SMS router and A2P MMSC - the company continues to pioneer new technologies. Airwide's open Fusion architecture offers mobile operators more revenue options and a practical pathway to Mobile Messaging 2.0, while giving subscribers more messaging choices.

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Mobile marketing to consumers? Only if they say so

by Jonathan Paul
With the implementation of Canada's Do Not Call List, marketers are looking for different ways of speaking to consumers without getting under their skin. Vancouver-based QuickMobile's newly updated contextual mobile marketing platform will allow them to do just that.
Version 2.0 of the platform enables the creation of tailor-made, permission-based campaigns that send personalized, timely and relevant messages to match consumers' wants and needs.
"QuickMobile is giving control back to the user," says Vasudha Goel, director of marketing for QuickMobile.
The new platform builds on its predecessor with enhanced tools, including improved security, double opt-in services and automatic start and end functionality. Consumers can control the kind of information they receive on their mobile device - and when they receive it.
"Our objective is to treat end users with the intelligence and respect they deserve when it comes to marketing and being marketed to," explains Goel.
Version 2.0 also includes two brand new tools. Mobile polling measures audience response by receiving survey answers via SMS that can then be displayed via a web-based dashboard. Mobile results is an analytics tool that allows for campaign assessment and optimization to improve ROI.
QuickMobile client Banff Lake Louise Tourism is currently using version 2.0 as part of a campaign to promote its Winterfest. An engagement tool on its website encourages people to sign up to receive notice of special events and promotions taking place during the festival. A text is sent to consumers to confirm their registration. They are then prompted to text in a keyword to a provided long code in order to confirm their wish to receive customized promotional information.

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Mobile marketing 101

By Mitch Joel, Special to The GazetteJanuary 14, 2009

A long while back, I made a decision to make the switch from marketing on the Internet to the unchartered world of mobile.
Slowly, the idea of using phones for other than calling people was becoming more commonplace.
The devices no longer looked like someone was screaming into a cream-coloured brick and the idea of sending short text messages via these devices was taking off in places like Japan and Korea. It was starting to no longer be frowned upon or considered rude when a telephone was ringing during a romantic dinner at a restaurant. Can you remember the good ol’ days when someone was considered a crazy person if they were seen talking to themselves in car?
Now, our society is mobile. If these devices could be implanted under one’s skin, I’m sure we all know a couple of people who would be the first in line for the procedure (can you see my arm being raised?). Even mobile flip phones seem just a little passé to us these days.
But what does all of this mobility and connectivity mean to business?
Some of the bigger hurdles of using mobiles have been overcome (for a long while you could only use SMS text messaging with people who were on the same wireless carrier as you were; now SMS is functional between all carriers). But some of the bigger hurdles are still ahead (devices have different size screens, the carriers all use different back-end technologies and the overall speed of delivering mobile content still isn’t great in North America).
Most businesses weigh the adoption rate (how many people in the general mass population are really using these devices and applications) and then figure out if the market is there for them to pursue. For most, they think it’s not, and this should be of grave concern.
Here’s a common scenario: you’re out for dinner with a friend and decide to check out what movies are playing. With a quick flick of some buttons on your mobile, you can not only find out, but how close and soon the next showing is. Beyond that, if you move into the realm of smartphones (Apple’s iPhone, a BlackBerry or similar devices), you can see movie trailers and robust reviews.
Now, let’s say you have a couple of hours to kill before catching the flick, and you want to know what time Indigo closes, and if any cool new books have come out this week, you should be able to do a search and have that information at your fingertips as well. Most companies don’t have a mobile version of their website. Do you?
Having a simple and easy to navigate mini-version of your website for the mobile platform is a necessity. It is (and should be) as basic as having a website. Everyday, more and more people are using their mobile devices to find out information about your brands, products and services. It’s also going beyond the basic who, what, when, where and why of information. At the end of 2008, Sears launched a mobile e-commerce platform in the U.S. titled, Sears2Go. Ravi Acharya, director of e-commerce at Sears Holdings, explained the rationale in a news item in BtoB Online:
“It’s a lot of the same customers who do research online and then go into a store to buy. We see people looking through catalogs, and then they call the call centre to purchase or go online … or into a store. Adding mobile as another convenient channel is a good fit for us.”
The usability and functionality is still primitive because of the limitations of the mobile device, but Sears2Go allows consumers to research and buy stuff like electronics, jewelry, tools, toys and more. You can even buy it from your mobile and pick up the merchandise in the store.
The truth is, Sears does not have a choice. Amazon.com created an amazing application for the iPhone where you can take a picture of anything you see in a store, and it will recognize what the picture is, and return to you a set of search results for where you can get that exact same product cheapest. You can also scan reviews and, if Amazon sells it, you can buy it right from your iPhone. This is not something that’s coming in the future, this is an application you can download right now, for free – and it works.
Considering the built-in GPS capabilities of your mobile device, and the possibilities become endless. Urbanspoon, another iPhone or iPod Touch Application, figures out where you are and will recommend a restaurant to you based on types of food, neighborhood and price. As if that were not enough, you can read reviews, it links into Google Maps to give you exact directions and you can even make reservations.
The obvious question is: why did I make the switch back from mobile marketing to the Web in terms of my professional career? I didn’t. Those two worlds are intrinsically connected. While we may not have full convergence between mobile and Web platforms, we are getting closer by the day. Anyone trying to understand the Web and what it means to their business needs to also understand the implications of a world where we are accessing information, buying stuff, and doing anything and everything we’re doing online on our mobile devices as well.
This is not about marketers blasting your mobile devices with offers when you are in a particular hot spot or about inundating your mobile browsing experience with banner ads and contests. This is all about creating more value and chances to connect and stay connected with brands that consumers are actively engaged with. The bigger question is this: how connected is your brand?

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Seven Killer Reasons to Attend the 2008 Digital Marketing Conference

As you may have noticed, I've been busy spreading the word on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter about the 11th annual Digital Marketing Conference, which is being held in Toronto on October 29th and 30th. I'm on the Organizing Committee for this year's Conference and after months of planning we are now finally able to publicly share our excitement about the speakers and sessions we've arranged for you to experience.

Here, in my opinion, are seven of the best reasons to attend the 2008 Digital Marketing Conference:
Rob Master from Unilever will be talking about how one of the world's biggest traditional advertisers has fully embraced digital marketing, especially social media.
David Pogue, technology columnist for The New York Times, will be riffing about Disruptive Technology. David's brilliant and entertaining, which is a rare combination in my books. Here's a link to a funny video of David Pogue in action!
Everyone I talk to these days is struggling to hire good people. That's why we've persuaded Charlie Gray from Google and Bruce Powell from IQ Partners to talk about how to recruit and retain digital marketing talent.
The videogame industry is bigger than Hollywood, and so we've lined up Ron Bertram from Nintendo of Canada to reveal how he helped take the company to the top of the videogame market in Canada.
Just in time for the biggest shopping season of the year, Derek Szeto from RedFlagDeals.com will share an awesome and uniquely Canadian Boxing Week case study.
The Experience Exchange Roundtables are back by very popular demand. This is your chance to pick the brains of some of the country's smartest digital marketing minds. I'll leave it up to you to decide if I qualify for that title, but I will be leading a roundtable on Domain Name Strategy.
Coming up right after the Roundtables is the Networking Reception. The company I work for, Tucows, is sponsoring the reception and we've got a few treats in store for attendees so you definitely won't want to miss this.
So there you have it, a small taste of the inspiring and informative agenda we've got planned for you at this year's Digital Marketing Conference.
Don't wait until the last minute to register. For the last several years, the Digital Marketing Conference always sells out and we literally have to turn people away at the door. Head on over to http://www.the-cma.org/digital for more details and to register today.
I hope to see you there.
Posted by Bill Sweetman in Bill Sweetman Speaking Engagements, Cool Stuff, Domain Names, E-Commerce, Email Marketing, Events, Mobile Marketing, News, Online Advertising, People, Podcasting, Search Marketing, Viral Marketing Permalink Comments (0)
September 17, 2007

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Guest column: Mobile advertising – the million dollar question?

By Boudewijn Pesch 5 November 2007 04:47PMTags: guest column mobile advertising million dollar

One of the first technologies to kick off mobile advertising has been SMS and it is crucial that mobile users view this form of mobile advertising as delivering value.
Mobile advertising is one of most unique developments in the mobile space since mobile messaging gained mass consumer adoption. With marketing departments integrating web or online channels to their advertising portfolio, mobile advertising has a high potential to generate higher levels of effectiveness and impact compared to existing above the line.Advertisers have started to experiment with advertising on mobile devices as such medium offers a direct advertising experience, with goals of ultimately personalising the advertising experience.Mobile advertising offers mobile operators an excellent opportunity to grow their revenue by capitalising on mobile services by offering personal interactive advertising medium. Mobile data services (SMS, MMS, video and mobile internet, games, download and mobile TV) are particularly appealing to mobile advertising channels. For mobile operators, generating 10% of their revenues from mobile advertising is what Acision believes is a minimum requirements for a sustainable business model.Some of the key success factors need to be considered to make mobile advertising successful and a sustainable business for operators.
Obtain detailed insight into their mobile users – Operators generally know their mobile users demographics but low data on the customer preferences. Operators need to be able to capture more detailed customer preference information in order for them to better tailor advertiser packages and customer services.
Provide relevant and timely adverts - Using location, customer identity and preferences will become key in ensuring relevant advertising is sent to customers which is both appreciated by customers and, as a result, of high value to advertisers. To understand this, we need to consider that timing is the most important determinant of advertising campaign success. A coffee coupon for Starbucks in Japan sent 5 weeks after an Australian tourist went home after visiting Tokyo has literally no value. Similarly, offering a ringtone to match the wallpaper just downloaded by a subscriber has a much higher success rate than offering the ringtone a few days later. In advertising, timing is everything and understanding what is on the consumer’s mind is the key to advertising success. The ability to know this is the main advantage of mobile service providers over any other media industry.
Design a business process for media buyer or advertisers - Offer mobile advertising to media buying agencies and invent a complete model to plan media campaigns, with levels of detail above what current media planning tools deliver and buy media space on a range mobile services (not just SMS).
Monetise the whole mobile inventory. Operators will need to include the business model across all services, especially those with mass penetration such as messaging. Operators could offer free voice and SMS services to mobile user in exchange of including advertisement messages in the voice or SMS. An audio advertisement could be played before the consumer’s call is connected or as a ringback tone, but both approaches lack interactivity (the ability to respond instantly) and the inability for the consumer to bypass it to make a time critical call could become a nuisance. Sponsored SMS messages, where an advertisement messages in 160 characters or less in inserted in the outgoing messaging or incoming messages.
Ensure an attractive, consensual advertising user experience. A seamless user experience is essential to the success of mobile advertising, inserting adverts as part of the existing communications streams not as intrusive stand alone push events. Think Yahoo!Mail where each email that is received has an advertisement messages at the bottom of the email. User opt-in coupled with some level of reward is essential to ensure consumer adoption. Any operator launching mobile advertising packages would have customer contact points where opt-in procedures could be incorporated before service connection. With the mobile being a personal, direct and interactive communications device, mobile operators own/have data on their subscribers, in terms of subscribers’ details, such as demographics, mobile usage behaviour, content preferences and location.The key to the mobile advertising promise lies in the fact that the mobile device provides a very personal, direct and interactive communications channel to customers. In advertising terms, mobile operators own some of the best advertising inventories available anywhere. In addition they own two key assets: the customer’s location and personal identity in terms of behaviour, demographics and content preferences. Indeed, this puts mobile operators in a very strong position when competing for advertising budgets.Operators need to be able leverage these assets or their advertising channels will be perceived to be as (un)attractive as semi-targeted radio or magazine ads. The value of that advertising space is not nearly enough to deliver free communication services.Mobile Advertising: A new revenue stream for operators?It took the Internet almost 10 years to move 10% of media spend to the online platform. How long will it take for mobile to move a significant percentage of media spend to the mobile platform? Operators are generally voicing ambitions of around 10% of revenues from advertising in the foreseeable future. Mobile advertising would prove to be a viable revenue source in future for operators but how do you calculate revenue from mobile advertising?The key question here is whether operators will be able to earn enough advertising revenue to cover their cost of service. Consider that the total global advertising media spend (including TV, radio, magazines, billboard, the Internet and so on) amounts to some $450 billion. However, global mobile services revenues amount to $670 billion. So in a global perspective, even if all advertising media spend were to go mobile, this would not be sufficient to cover mobile service charges. The answer is no, mobile advertising revenue is not meant to replace service revenue, only supplement. For mobile users – permission-based model for SMS advertsThere is a thick line between sms advertising (textvertising) and spam. SMS-based advertising or any mobile advertising content remains as one which deters spam . This is largely due the cost factor of who should bear the cost of the spam SMS; the sender or the recipient. In most cases it is the sender that will pay for SMS being sent. However, mobile advertising, SMS spamming is one of the key concerns for mobile users when it comes to mobile advertising. The mobile device for the user is a personal communication device and is not intended a public broadcast device. Mobile users fear that they will be annoyed with spam SMS of advertisement offers that are not relevant or useful for them. With SMS, it is difficult to ignore a message and advertisers know that they have a captive audience in their hands.Mobile advertising delivered via SMS should have a clear and strict opt-in procedures. Clear, because the mobile users should be informed up front of what they are opt-in into be it advertisers and its 3rd party partners or just the advertiser only. The mobile users should also be informed that SMS advert charges is borne by the advertisers and not the mobile users. Such things should not go assumed by the mobile user.Strict, because if the mobile users opt-in to receive SMS adverts, they should be given a clear opt-out option. Because mobile advertising is more intrusive than any other method of advertising, a proper code of practice should be implemented to give mobile users the choice to opt-out at any time, unless they are contractually bound for a certain period of time.It is not a surprise that the mobile advertising business model is one of the few hidden gems for mobile operators. How to develop this mobile advertising model into a viable business model need not be a million dollar question. Facilitating the mobile advertising value chain requires deep understanding and capability in the mobile advertising, customer intelligence, profiling and mobile telecoms domains.Boudewijn Pesch is managing director Asia-Pacific for Acision.

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