The Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards finalists include 17 entries from the region

Singapore, November 10, 2009 -- The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) recently announced the finalists for its Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards. The impressive list of campaigns from across the globe includes 17 entries from the Asia Pacific region showcasing the market’s potential as a hotbed for innovation in mobile marketing.

“The Asia Pacific region is the world’s largest and fastest-growing mobile market, creating enormous opportunities for brands and marketers. It has been very encouraging to see so many success stories from the region as a testament to that fact. The MMA is privileged to be able to provide these campaigns with the global recognition they truly deserve,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association - Asia Pacific.

The shortlisted campaigns from the region come from MMA member companies such as Procter & Gamble, 2ergo India, Tribal DDB India, The Hyperfactory, Affle, Publicis Groupe's Phonevalley, Madhouse Inc., Phoneytunes.com, Group M, TELiBrahma Convergent Communications Pvt. Ltd and AURA Interactive.

Here is what some of the finalists had to say about their campaigns and being recognised by the MMA:

The Olay mCoupon Campaign, Procter & Gamble, 2ergo India
“This finalist position is testament to 2ergo's deep commitment towards bringing the best of global mobile marketing practices into the Indian market,” said Raj Singh, Managing Director, 2ergo India.

“2ergo provides a complete mobile ticketing, coupon and customer loyalty solution, which has matured a great deal since its inception seven years ago. In India however, electronic Point-of-Sale integration poses a challenge while deploying a closed-loop mCouponing platforms. For Olay, we managed to turn that to our advantage by making use of trained promoters near the PoS. We are delighted that the MMA has recognised our work, but realise that with over 450M mobile subscribers in our country the potential for mobile VAS and mobile marketing is enormous,” added Ramesh Krishnan, Chief Operating Officer, 2ergo India.

PUMA F WAN, Phonevalley
Phonevalley created a comprehensive mobile campaign for PUMA around the F1 race in Shanghai. Alexandre Mars, Phonevalley CEO and Publicis Groupe Head of Mobile, said: “We are honoured our mobile campaign for PUMA in China was recognized by the Mobile Marketing Association jury members! Being a finalist is a fantastic achievement for the worldwide mobile strategy we have been building for PUMA over the last 2 years, and the Chinese market is undoubtedly a fantastic opportunity for global brands to successfully engage their consumers. We are grateful to the PUMA team who entrusted us with this campaign.”

Reliance GSM – ‘Go For It’ campaign, Tribal DDB India
Tribal DDB created a unique ‘Click and Call’ campaign for the Reliance Communications GSM Service that allowed people to make free calls to their friends from internet and WAP banners. “We at Tribal DDB India are delighted that our Reliance GSM - 'Go For It' campaign has been shortlisted in the Cross-Media Integration category by Mobile Marketing Association. This new feather in our cap has been possible by a collective effort of the agency and client, who gave us a free hand and encouraged us to think beyond conventional advertising formats. The resultant campaign was both unique & enjoyable and fetched a 500% greater response than anticipated,” said Uma Sivakumar - Head Online Media, Tribal DDB India.

Honda Jazz – Prodcasting, TELiBrahma Convergent Communications Pvt. Ltd
Dakshin Honda, the largest dealer for Honda cars in south India, wanted to try out innovative marketing for the newly launched Jazz; they found BluFi an interesting platform to reach their on-the-go consumers via mobile.

"The content can be tailored according to the targeted market. For instance, in rural areas, religious content including 'aarti' ring tones and wallpapers of local deities are a big hit. Similarly, in the Honda Jazz campaign, the target group lives in a metro and therefore the content matches their tastes. There was a lot of excitement because of the new vehicle. The campaign was so designed that people would take notice and turn on their Bluetooth. Since, Bluetooth enables an effective measurement system, the campaign result could be evaluated instantly. This is a unique campaign done for the first time in India. People can download content when the car is at a traffic signal and also while it is on the move,” said Suresh Narasimha, CEO, TELiBrahma Convergent Communications Pvt. Ltd

The MegaSim – An advanced Device client working as a single discovery UI or SMS/ USSD/Voice/GPPRS and 3G services, Phoneytunes.com
“Developing the MegaSIM over a 2 year period has indeed been an exciting path with sleepless nights just thinking about what all we could bundle into it. The final product has come out beyond expectations and delivering what we had expected. Greater pleasure was brought by customer reactions – some have just kept exploring the possibilities and the extent to which this can be exploited. Being recognized by the MMA as an innovation in ‘Mobile Service Discovery’ has indeed given us the boost to expand this product application possibility and am sure, it will provide a boost to service discovery and advertising capabilities. In fact, with almost limitless application possibilities, it could fuel the mobile VAS revenue explosion,” said Taron Mohan, CEO, Phoneytunes.com.

KFC engages consumer on mobile internet, Madhouse Inc.
“The KFC summer drink campaign engaged consumers with simple clicks on mobile and provided a mobile points system to increase loyalty, which received a very positive result. We are happy to see this campaign was shortlisted. Through the effort of MMA and the MMA awards, we believe there will be more advertisers looking into mobile marketing and we will produce more show cases next year,” said Wendy Wang, Associate Marketing Director, Madhouse Inc.

Pampers Hearts Club, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Proximity Philippines
The Pampers Hearts Club is a mobile program that provides a mother with relevant baby care tips as her baby grows, and rewards points that she can exchange for toy store gift certificates and mobile phone top-up.

"Pampers stayed with mothers, celebrating each milestone and occasion in their babies' growing years through the Pampers Hearts Club by utilizing the power of an SMS-based platform. This was key in a country where every 2 out of 3 Filipinos carry a mobile phone, majority of which are only equipped with basic mobile functionalities," said Chad Sotelo, Assistant Brand Manager, Pampers Philippines.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, AURA Interactive
“We love working with Paramount and Mediaedge:cia, who over the past five years have continually pushed the boundaries of interactive out-of-home media. It’s great to be recognized again for our BlueZone network and for delivering the largest intelligent Bluetooth campaign in the APAC region. This campaign cleverly integrated the mobile channel with digital signage, interactive display stands and interactive poster sites across 3 different media environments, shopping centres, cinemas and street furniture, to create one giant live network of intelligent Bluetooth hotspots.” said Adam Dunne, CEO, AURA Interactive.

Cate Smith, Marketing Director from Paramount commented that BlueZones provides a “great way to drive box office sales, engage the consumer and measure consumer interactions across multiple media sites and all the way through to the point of purchase”

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and advertising and their associated technologies. The MMA is an action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelize the use of the mobile channel. The more than 700 member companies, representing over forty countries around the globe, include all members of the mobile media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Latin American (LATAM), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com. For information relating to the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

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