U.K. Orders Virgin to Encrypt Mobile Devices

Virgin Media Ltd. has been ordered to encrypt all portable or mobile devices which store and transmit personal information, following the loss of an unencrypted compact disc containing the personal details of more than 3,000 customers and prospects, according to the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office.
This action violated the British Data Protection Act following, according to the ICO.
The Office said it was alerted to this data breach earlier this year after the disc was allegedly passed to Virgin by Carphone Warehouse.
The disc contained the personal details of individuals interested in opening a Virgin Media account in a Carphone Warehouse store, according to the ICO.
In addition, any company processing personal information on behalf of Virgin must also use encryption software, a requirement which must be clearly stated in all contracts, according to the ICO.
The ICO has required Virgin to sign a formal undertaking to comply with the principles of the Data Protection Act. Failure to meet the terms of the undertaking is likely to lead to further enforcement actions, according to the ICO.

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Mobile Marketing: Can You See Me Now?

By David Larkins
In 2000, I launched a site called SkyPhilly.com. Dazzled by mobile technologies like WAP, Bluetooth, and 3G, I wanted to provide a platform to promote the potential mobile marketing boom, especially as it related to some exciting work that came out of the Philadelphia region. Six years, one website, and a few revelations later, Ive learned a couple things. First, the predicted explosion of mobile technologies in the late 90s and early 00s was over-hyped, over-promoted, and under-developed. Second, 2006 will be a banner year for the emergence of well-developed mobile marketing platforms, which can produce powerful results and increase visibility, for brands across all industry segments. Device technology, industry guidelines, consumer adoption, network interaction, and message delivery have all reached a point in their maturation, to create the necessary collective infrastructure for effective mobile marketing.Marketing managers, many of whom have seen their budget for online marketing increase this year, are now also tasked with exploring the new opportunities presented by mobile marketing. The integrated and interactive mobile marketing possibilities are endless. Imagine watching the Eagles game on your iPod Mobile, seeing a commercial for some new Eagles gear, and interacting with that commercial to bring you to a website where you can purchase merchandise, or download the Eagles fight song as your ring tone. That kind of branding can have you seeing a lot of green.The iPod generation will eventually look to their mobile devices for the information and interaction they desire, before they look at their TV, and yes, even before they look at their computer. There are currently 180 million wireless phone subscribers in the United States, and 58% of those are using their phones for non-voice functions (Mobile Marketing Association). Your brand and business will need to be put on the go to capitalize on evolving mobile trends. As you look to do so, here are three quick tips to consider:Do your homeworkTake time to re-examine your demographic from a mobile perspective. What devices are they using, and with what frequency? On what networks are they operating? To what services have they subscribed? (SMS, Picture Messaging, Interactive Games, Dial Tones, Video Streams, Podcasts, etc&) Where and when are they using their mobile devices? How have they previously interacted with your brand?There are numerous solution providers that can assist you in researching your demographic and crafting a strategy based on that information. Ask your interactive agency for their assistance with your mobile strategy. Chances are they have been thinking about this already, and can offer you some sound advice, or point you in the right direction. Follow the leadersSome companies (The Weather Channel, Reebok, Dos Equis, HBO, Microsoft, Adidas, etc&), have been running successful mobile campaigns for a few years now. Companies like the ones mentioned above, and many others, were willing to make the exploratory investment in mobile marketing, to insure they are on the front end of the curve. Their investments have made a certain level of qualitative data available, which opens the window for mid-market companies that do not have the excess budget for numerous exploratory campaigns. Success, though, is defined differently for each organization. A link to a website, download of a ringtone, playing of an interactive game, a sale, or a page view, are all different ways these companies have been measuring the success of their mobile campaign. Studying the campaigns of those before you will allow you to mitigate risk and identify potential opportunities. Buy an iPod and sign up for a podcast Put the portable CD player down and back away slowly. As with any demographic, to truly understand it, you need to be as close to a participant as possible. After you plug in your iPod, go to www.podshow.com and sign up for a podcast. A podcast is a web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to subscribe to, and also the content of that feed (Wikipedia).Consumer-driven outlets like Podshow.com offer mobile marketing opportunities within a community that is truly built by its members. A study by Bridge Research showed that there were 4.8 million listeners of podcasts in 2005, and predicted there will be over 60 million by 2010. This community driven atmosphere is a concern to some marketers, as their brands are at the mercy of the many.Podcasts are available on most any topic and can be produced by anyone with the ability to digitally record audio or video. Although audiences tend to be relatively small, top podcasters with thousands of listeners are able to charge advertisers a flat ad rate which also generally includes banners or links within the online site. As delivery mechanisms and measurement techniques are improved, further guidelines are set, and audiences grow, podcasting will become a viable channel for a more diverse set of marketers.

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Mobile Marketing & LBS: What's Next for Advertisers?

In the early years of mobile marketing, "push marketing" was the big thing whereby the mobile consumer would be happily strolling by his favorite retail store and he would suddenly receive an advertisement on his mobile handset. Of course, frequent buyer programs needed the appropriate privileges, but the idea was perhaps ahead of its time and certainly the handsets were not yet equipped with the technology to derive an approximate location. Plus, five years ago, access to the Internet was spotty and certainly not yet available on cellular phones. Tasks that are routine today were difficult back then.But this is 2006 and both technology and the consumer have reached a level of maturity that allows different business models to take shape. Zoove Corporation is looking to make it easier to link product information directly with the mobile consumer through "pull marketing." Zoove enables consumers to "dial-up" information directly to their mobile device when prompted for a "call to action." For example, a potential customer is walking past a retail electronics store and sees an ad for the latest iPod. The "call to action" to find more information about the iPod is a number to dial preceded by star-star (**) on the phone's keypad. The number to dial could be: **iPod or **4763. After dialing the number, the customer will receive product information. However, Zoove uses the SS7 protocol that provides information to the marketer about the type of cell phone in use, the carrier, and the location of the customer, in much the same way a 911 call can identify those same characteristics. Thus, the ** dialing sequence enables some key demographic characteristics to be transmitted to the marketer.So, just as in the early years when marketers found it necessary to include their URL with print, TV or other media advertising, the same may be coming to pass for Zoove-type numbers. Tim Jemison, CEO of Zoove, outlines three primary elements taking place behind the scenes of intelligent networking afforded by the SS7 protocol.
The ability to do handset discovery: when a cell phone user dials the code, the marketer can determine what kind of phone he is using so that the capabilities of the phone are understood and the appropriate text or graphic form can be transmitted back to it.
Display text: the ability to send a text message that barges into the screen to get information to the user.
Location-based services are enabled out of the box: Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) and Short Messaging Service (SMS) short codes can not be used to determine location. However, upon invoking the star-star message, and because the number sequence looks like a regular cellular phone call, all of the information associated with that call is transmitted to the marketer or carrier. The physical location is never revealed and the consumer receives only information relevant to him.Jemison believes that if you are going to do anything LBS-related, make sure the consumer is in control. According to a study conducted for Zoove by Mediamark Research, " 91% of respondents successfully responded to the ads when instructed to use the star-star call service - nearly double the incidence of SMS short code completion." Zoove's target market is the brand marketer or his advertising agency. It could also be a ringtone or other content provider. Zoove's technology will work with either CDMA or GSM phones, but its focus is on the U.S. for now with trials to get underway in the fourth quarter.The company'srevenue model can be described as "cost per click" or "cost per call" and they will participate in revenue sharing partnerships. Buying the star-star keyword, however, looks like a battle similar to that of Internet URLs.

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Mobile campaigns surround Obama's swearing-in bash

While Barack Obama may be giving up his BlackBerry, citizens around him will be embracing theirs at this week's Presidential Inauguration. The president-elect told his supporters via e-mail that citizens can opt in for updates via text messaging about traffic and events in the nation's capital on the day of the ceremony.
To prepare for all of this action, Qorvis Communications, in partnership with Pat­ton Boggs, a Washington, DC-based lobby­ing and law firm, has launched a software application at www.navigatingwashington.com, which lets event attendees navigate Washington on smartphones.
The new tool, available for iPhone, Black­Berrys and Google Android phones, is a GPS system that gives information about location and inaugural events in DC in real time.
“This… application will help the nation's first high-tech president usher in a new era of government that embraces technology and advanced communications,” said Stuart Pape, managing partner of Patton Boggs, in a statement.
Social networks also are taking advantage of the event, as inaugurations are known for the parties that take place across the nation's capital and the country. Twitter created an Obama Inauguration page, on which it calls users to “Text HISTORY to 56333 for SMS inauguration updates.”
“Barack Obama's campaign broke new ground with its extensive use of social media and new technology, so his inauguration is a great time to continue this tradition,” said David Chang, co-founder of SnapMyLife.
And SnapMyLife, a new mobile photo-sharing site, is calling on its users in the US and around the world to take photos from their inauguration night point of view and upload them to SnapMyLife's mobile networking site.
“During election night, we were surprised at how many people were following around the world and posting photos to our site,” Chang said. “We thought that this campaign would be a good fit since they were already doing this without being prompted.”SnapMyLife has more than 600,000 registered total users and attracts more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
From the January 19, 2009 Issue of DMNews

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Atlanta Spirit brings personal touch to marketing

In an effort to improve its customer communications, Atlanta Spirit LLC — owner of the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers and Philips Arena — has signed a three-year agreement with NCR Corp.
Atlanta Spirit is using NCR's Aptra eMarketing tool to create personalized messages for customers over e-mail, print, online and other media. The program allows consumers to choose preferred contact channels and incorporates other personal data, such as interest, favorite players and activities. Aptra eMarketing also provides online analytics, helping Atlanta Spirit track its e-mail programs.
“The Atlanta Spirit is multiple sports, so they have to know which sports I'm watching and how and what my preferences and interests are,” explained Sundeep Kapur, head of strategic marketing for the online group at NCR. “So what we are doing is targeting people with relevant messaging via e-mail, which is now growing into other channels, so we can get the entire story. If you go to the game, an e-mail may ask you how you liked it, who you brought with you or what your other interests are. It's not a one-way e-mail push; it's a round robin stream of communication.”
NCR and Atlanta Spirit are working to expand their mobile marketing capabilities as well and are improving Atlanta's collection and analysis of ticketing data, said John Curnutt, NCR's business development manager.
“We want to make sure that as many people as possible pay attention to the campaigns, and the only way to do that is to make them really personalized and drive that across multiple channels,” Kapur said.
The next step, Kapur said, is to identify what NCR is calling “green channels” or social media channels to establish deeper two-way communication. The focus there will be on blogs, Twitter and membership-based sites like Facebook and Ning. Atlanta Spirit caters to NBA basketball and NHL hockey fans as well as showcasing concerts and live events. Seating capacity for Thrashers hockey games is 18,750, Hawks basketball seats 18,729, and concerts reach capacity at 21,000.
Representatives of Atlanta Spirit could not be reached as of press time.

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CDD pushes FTC for mobile rules investigation

As mobile marketing takes off as a direct marketing channel, questions are arising about the role of consumer privacy.
The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), based in Washington D.C., and the US Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), based in Boston, have petitioned the US Federal Trade Commission to investigate the mobile marketplace and look at practices that could compromise user privacy. The groups also are pushing for a special investigation on the privacy threats and inappropriate practices surrounding targeting children, adolescents and multicultural consumers.
The petition raises concerns around the mobile practices of behavioral targeting, location-based targeting, user tracking/mobile analytics, audience segmentation and data mining.
The petition comes after the two groups' previous complaints, which were filed in 2006 and 2007, pushed the FTC to consider legislation for consumer privacy from such online advertising practices as behavioral profiling and targeting. The FTC is now investigating the industry.
The new petition requests that the FTC “Require true notice and disclosure of data collection on mobile devices; redefine ‘Unfair and Deceptive' practices in the mobile marketing arena; review industry self-regulation and protect youth from unfair or deceptive practices on mobile devices.”

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As economy wanes, mobile Web blossoms

Mobile phone adoption is grow­ing in spite of the economy, and marketers are taking advantage with new mobile initiatives.
There were more than 267 mil­lion mobile phone users in the US for the third quarter of 2008 − a 6% increase over the fourth quarter of 2007, which saw 251 million users, according to the Mobile Advertis­ing Report published by Limbo and GFK/NOP Research.
As a result, mobile broadband is transitioning into a mainstream service, according to a new report from international research firm Parks Associates.
Mobile Broadband: Beyond the Cell Phone predicts that the num­ber of US mobile broadband users will increase by more than 200% by 2013. The report also expects more than 60 million smartphones to be sold in 2013.
“Consumers will grow more comfortable with mobile broad­band, and the service will become part of their daily lives,” said Anton Denissov, research analyst, Parks Associates in a statement. “This tight inte­gration [means] the service remains popular even during economic downturns.”
Companies are taking advantage of the growth with new applications across spectrums. One new application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Kraft Foods' iFoodAssistant, gives users access to recipes and meal planning ideas.
“The launch of iFood Assistant represents the latest in Kraft Foods' commitment to providing innovative solutions for consum­ers' busy and increasingly mobile lifestyles,” said Ed Kaczmarek, director of innovation, new services at Kraft.
The iFood Assistant features more than 7,000 recipes, user reviews and comments, demonstration videos, special features such as “Dinner Tonight” and “Recipe of the Day,” as well as shopping lists with nearby store recommendations and the ability to add custom ingredients.
“Our goal was to ensure we're deliver­ing services and programs that delight consum­ers with deli­cious food ideas and address their common mealtime chal­lenges,” Kacz­marek said.
And Kraft is not alone. Dur­ing the holidays, retailer Target released its own free iPhone application to encourage holiday shopping online.
Text campaigns also continue to gain popularity among marketers. According to the Mobile Advertising Report, more than 160 million consumers used text messaging in the third quarter of 2008, a 14% increase over the fourth quarter of 2007.
Denim brand Wrangler recently ran a promotion to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, called “Help Wrangler Make Wishes Come True,” via the mobile phone. The campaign, which ran in con­junction with the Anniversary Wrangler National Finals Rodeo event in Las Vegas, called consumers to make a $5 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation by sending the text message “WISH” to short code 90999, and ran on the company's Web and WAP sites.
“Text and mobile applications are growing concurrently, and I think that marketers should be adopting both,” said Riccardo Zane, president Agency.com NY. “They should go hand-in-hand for any kind of marketing plan for the year.”
Zane said that while text tends to be purely direct response driven, mobile appli­cations tend to give marketers the oppor­tunity for brand engagement and to send a broader message through rich media and more creative.
Agency.com is working with its clients to adopt the right media mix. Zane said that many financial companies are adopting text because of its immediacy and ability to drive information and understanding of the markets in real time.
Zane expects mobile to continue to grow into 2009.
“My prediction is that we will see a growth in text marketing and a growth in applica­tion development,” he said.
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NBC Bay Area debuts mobile traffic application

NBC Bay Area has launched a new mobile service for drivers called the NBC Bay Area Traffic Cam. The application lets Bay Area commuters access live traffic video feeds on their mobile phones.The cameras are operated by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the mobile service is operated by 3rd Dimension Inc.'s Mobileyes platform. The service, which is advertising supported, is compatible with data-enabled phones on the Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile networks and can be accessed on smartphones including the iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm and Motorola Q.In addition to the Bay Area, users also can access cameras in surrounding ski and beach areas.

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Sling Media to bring live TV content to iPhones

SlingPlayer Mobile service on Apple iPhones. Sling Media, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, demonstrated a version of the software at this week's Macworld Conference and Expo.
The company plans to submit the software to Apple by the end of the first quarter for approval to have the application available for purchase in the iTunes store, said Brian Jaquet, director of PR for Sling Media.
The new service will enable users who own Slingboxes to stream live TV content from their TVs — including local channels, video on demand and pay per view — directly to their iPhones. Users also can control their digital video recorders (DVRs) to watch previously recorded programming and queue up new recordings from their PCs while away from home, straight from their mobile handsets.
The original Slingbox service — a set top box — allows users to perform these same actions from their PCs. Slingboxes have a one-time cost of $180 to $300 and don't require a subscription fee. They can be purchased from retailers like Best Buy and Amazon.com.

SlingPlayer Mobile is already available on Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian OS and BlackBerry smartphone devices. The technology uses a standard broadband network connection.
Jacquet said that Sling Media has not announced the pricing for the iPhone application, but said that Sling Media's similar applications for other mobile devices are around $29.99.
Sling Media also owns Sling.com, an online video site that has a partnership with Hulu.com. The site shows free, ad-supported, full-length episodes of current and classic television shows, movies and broadcast station content.

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Get up to speed on mobile marketing

A few months ago, John du Pre Gauntt, senior analyst at eMarketer, noted that, “Some US universities have courses in mobile marketing right now. Mobile is at a point where online was 10 years ago.”
This begs the obvious question: Are you prepared for the new era of mobile marketing? The answer is probably no. Most marketers are not ready for mobile. Those interested in moving more spend to mobile are primarily concerned about reach and an economic environment that is forcing all brands and marketers to cutback.
In a troubled economy why not take advantage of the glut of mobile inventory? The increasing volume of inventory is actually pushing mobile advertising rates down. Last year, the price of mobile CPMs ranged from $40 to $50; earlier this year, they came in at $20 to $25.
But now, as more brands establish themselves on the mobile Web, and device applications and social media apps proliferate, the glut in inventory has lowered CPMs to an average $15.
At these rates can you really afford to ignore mobile advertising? If saving dollars while becoming the office budgetary hero in the coolest new industry segment is not enough to sway you, I'll give you two more really good reasons: teens and sports enthusiasts. If you represent a major brand, it is likely one or both are your key demographics.
Did you know your favorite couch potato single-handedly makes the case for mobile? Sports fans love following games on their mobile phones. This highly sought after market is willing to spend in return for premium content. And if you are a parent of a teen, you probably already know that more than half of 18- to 24-year-olds use mobile phones as their primary means of communication.
Nearly 70% of 15- to 17-year-olds use text messaging as their primary means of communication. Because 15- to 17-year-olds are more likely to respond to advertising that is of interest to them, mobile is a great medium for teen branding and lead generation.

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Mobile Marketing Agility

Mobile marketing is replacing traditional marketing tactics when it comes to reaching out to a target base directly. Cold calling is too intrusive. Email is filtered. Direct mail is thrown out.
Mobile marketing is a marketing technique where businesses communicate with customers through their cell phone, making mobile marketing more agile and direct than any conventional marketing method.
Consider the time and resources it takes to get a print or TV marketing campaign off the ground. For mainstream campaigns, you will need an ad agency that will help create the campaign. Then, you'll need to create specific content, book appropriate airtime, pitch print publications, and hope that you get featured.
This process can take months and costs thousands of dollars, maybe more. That's what makes mobile marketing so appealing…its immediate, direct impact.


Advertisers get the advantage of delivering content-rich messages, which include text, pictures, sound and video. Customers, on the other hand, have the choice of accepting or rejecting any incoming message and can also choose to unsubscribe from the service anytime.
Another huge plus for mobile marketing is that it's measurable.
Businesses receive real time reports including information on when messages were delivered, which messages were not delivered, which messages were opened, and which recipients chose to reject the message.
Along with mobile marketing’s potential to deliver content quickly, it's also the sheer number of mobile phone subscribers that makes it so appealing. That's why mobile marketing is in position to become one of the most significant and powerful marketing mediums in the world.
However, mobile marketing has its challenges. Because of user volume and immediacy, there's more opportunity for bad marketers to do…bad marketing. Email users have gone numb to marketing messages.
Regular telephone users can block marketers. Just like with phone and email, there's the real threat that laws will prohibit future marketing.
As always, delivering informative content and only using opt-in subscribers will be the key to success in the agile mobile market place.

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Mobile Marketing Principles - 4 Important Ideas

While the portability, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of mobile marketing seem irresistible for businesses, great care has to be taken to prevent mobile marketing intrusiveness — also known as spam. All mobile customers are not yet receptive to receiving marketing messages on their personal devices and consider them an invasion of their privacy. If you want to be a mobile marketer, you'll have to scale this wall.
Keeping in mind that mobile marketing should focus on the user, here are a few basic mobile marketing principles:
Let the User Take the Lead
The word of the day is social networking. Many businesses are afraid of it because the power has shifted — to the users. But, we all know and understand that a mobile device is a very personal device. You will have to appeal to users, let them come to you, and allow them to decide what they want — even if you may not agree. Change Your Mass Marketing Mindset
The "one size fits all" mentality no longer exists in the mobile marketplace. Your strategy must include ways to reach this large market while staying nimble enough to meet the needs of each user. You must allow mobile users to customize their experience within your marketing frameset — or risk losing them.
Mobile is not the Web – Treat it that Way
The Web is still primarily about a one way transaction. You visit a Website, you read the information, and you leave or maybe you buy something. If you treat the mobile market the same way, you'll get the same or worse results. Mobile users will only allow you into their space if you're truly willing to let them be in control.
What's in it for them?
This is a standard marketing axiom. What value are you offering mobile users? Do you have to convince them of the value you're offering? Or is it inherent? If users have to guess what exactly you're offering, they'll leave.
The mobile marketing space is a whole new ballgame. As a business trying to break into this market, you have to be willing to be different. The mobile medium is the fastest growing potential marketing space. Will you be ready?

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The Pros and Cons of Mobile Marketing

With the number of mobile phone users increasing globally, mobile marketing has a huge interactive marketing potential. However, several hurdles exist that will need to be overcome. The path to mobile marketing success has its own obstacles — typical of a method still in its infancy.
It helps to consider the pros and cons of mobile marketing before taking the plunge into this new marketing arena.
Pros of Mobile Marketing
The number of mobile users is almost double that of computer users. This means that there will be a higher penetration of devices and easier access to international consumers who can afford to buy mobile phones but not a PC.
Cell phones are personal, portable devices that people carry with them most of the time, more so than with a laptop. Likewise, mobile phones are capable of receiving information anytime, anywhere. This makes it easier for marketers to use this medium to establish and strengthen a relationship with the customer.
Mobile ads are typically personal, interactive, and primed to elicit a response even from on-the-go customers.
Text messages sent to a mobile phone have a higher likelihood of being read as compared to messages send via any other medium, including email.
The opt-in nature of mobile marketing campaigns make them more effective and more target-specific as compared to any other form of advertising.
Mobile marketing is a great way to build an impressive database. This information can be used later for customer retention and loyalty marketing campaigns.
The ability of mobile marketing to capitalize on opportune moment increases its effectiveness tremendously. With mobile marketing, the odds are very high that your offer may reach customers while they are actively shopping thus working to effectively leverage their buying decisions.
Cons of Mobile Marketing
Wireless web technology or WAP (wireless application protocol) is currently still inadequate and does not encourage web surfing and searching.
Customers have to be willing to embrace receiving advertising messages on their personal device.
Messages and content lose their impact and result in poor user experience when they are adapted for the mobile web.
There are several different carriers as well as an endless variety of handsets with varying functionalities and preloaded applications. All these differences make mobile marketing increasingly complex and fragmented.
Currently, there are no reliable metrics available for advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their mobile ads.

Written by: David C Skul - CEO

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Selecting Mobile Marketing Tactics

The number of people who use mobile phones is staggering. Statistics have shown that by the end of the year 2006, the number of cell-phone users was twice the number of people using the internet.
Mobile service makes it increasingly easier to reach consumers anytime and anywhere, opening up a communication channel with tremendous marketing potential. Defining your mobile marketing goals, selecting your mobile marketing tactics, and selecting the right mobile marketing partner can help you to better capitalize on this innovative marketing opportunity.
Define Your Mobile Marketing Goals
Defining your mobile marketing goals helps you stay focused. Some of the goals for mobile marketing should include increasing brand awareness, driving targeted traffic, enhancing customer loyalty, increasing revenues, and creating a customer opt-in database. Once these objectives are established, it's easier to determine which mobile marketing tactics will work best. Objectives also help determine which measurement criteria will be best for evaluating a mobile marketing campaign's success.
Select the Right Mobile Marketing Tactics
The most common mobile marketing tactics include picture messaging, sweepstakes, text- to-buy, text-to-screen, instant win, voting/polling, participation TV, alerts, trivia and mobile content promotions such as wallpapers, ringtones, and video.
Each of these options delivers a completely different user experience and value to your target customers. Depending on your target markets, you may have to customize content for each segment. Don't make the mistake of using a one size fits all marketing strategy.
Several factors you may want to take into consideration when selecting mobile marketing tactics include:
Campaigns should be designed and developed keeping in mind that mobile is a unique medium, which has its own distinct set of interactions and learned behaviors. The key is in leveraging these features in your campaign execution.
Experiences should be created that are mobile-specific, not just content that is repurposed from various other media.
The mobile medium is still emerging. Experiment and see what ideas will create a buzz and generate PR for your brand.
Keep the user in mind at all times.
Select the Right Mobile Marketing Partner
Now that you’ve defined your mobile marketing goals and selected the right mobile marketing tactics, you need to select a mobile marketing partner that complements and supports your ideas.
Your mobile marketing partner should be able to help you with the following:
Manage your database
Ensure your approach to the consumer is solid and sensible
Procure a short code, if required
Offer ongoing customer monitoring and support
Provide campaign analysis and reporting
Conduct testing
Ensure that your campaign adheres to industry rules in order to protect consumer privacy and consumer experience.

Written by: David C Skul - CEO

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Setting up a Mobile Marketing Program: A Primer

by Allison Gower
Published on October 17, 2006
Quick—is your marketing mobile? Can your message reach your on-the-go audience and can your in-motion customer interact with you wherever they are?
In the past, as long as you were advertising out-of-home, you could have answered "yes." But today, unless your media plan contains a significant amount of mobile-compatible mediums, you are not optimizing your reach.
The mobile phone is everywhere and goes everywhere, and consumers are increasingly comfortable using all of its features, including text messaging, Web browsing, and more. Text messaging, for example, continues to grow exponentially year after year—and it's no longer just a teen or tween thing.
Creative advertisers recognize the potential for adding mobile marketing to their mix, especially for products and services that appeal to a mobile, on-the-go audience. For example, two major restaurant chains in Houston recently added a text messaging component to their point-of-purchase displays and in-store signage, as a way of engaging with interested customers, promoting new offerings, and rewarding those who want a deeper relationship with the brand.
In fact, text message programs are ideal for extending the reach and "stickiness" of your existing campaigns, and for enabling interested consumers to opt in for more information.
Article continues below

All advertisers have loyal communities that want to know more about the marketing message. Many in those communities would interact more with your brand or service if it were easier for them to do so. Texting works—it's quick and easy for customers and it can be added to existing marketing efforts with little effort and very low costs, if you have the right text-to-shortcode provider.
Let's look in greater detail at the restaurant examples I mentioned.
Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits recently conducted a text messaging campaign in its Houston-area stores that rewarded customers with a ready-to-use coupon sent to their mobile phone. Promoted via outside signage and window clings, the campaign was designed to encourage consumers to try a new chicken sandwich by awarding them a free drink and fries.
Over the course of the campaign, an average of more than 100 people a day texted the word "popeyes" to the shortcode that had been set up, and in return they received a reply text that served as the "coupon."
Many of these customers also responded to the Web link that was included in the reply text, increasing the value of the connection between Popeyes and its loyal customers.
The Popeyes effort was designed to reach people right there in the store—and provide immediate gratification. It was basically a reward for trying something different and new.
The Texas-based units of Red Robin Gourmet Burgers are using text messaging to engage consumers, too, but in a slightly different way.
Signage throughout the restaurants and buttons worn by servers encourage customers to text in and join the Red Robin VIP club. Those who do, receive a reply text with a link to special microsite where they can print a voucher good for $5 off their next meal. They also receive advance news of upcoming promotions and other goodies, if they choose, all via text.
The value? Let's say you work near a Red Robin restaurant and you go there once a month or so for lunch with friends. On your most recent visit, you joined the VIP club via text messaging. Now, a few weeks later, around 10 a.m. on a Friday, you receive another text with an offer for a free appetizer. Where are you going to go to lunch that day? Chances are good it will be Red Robin.
Here's another example: ENVY magazines in Houston and Dallas cover the entertainment, dining, and nightlife scene. ENVY uses text messaging as an "opt in" for subscribers and others who want up-to-date information on local events, special "invitation only" parties, and restaurant and fashion boutique recommendations.
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