Mobile Marketing Forum Findings: Industry Collaboration Key To Success Of Mobile Marketing

London, UK & Denver, CO. 18 October 2007 – The Mobile Marketing Association’s )MMA) Mobile Marketing Forum, )www.mobilemarketingforum.com) held in Barcelona on 9 & 10 October, attracted over 200 industry delegates from across Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America.  The event saw industry leaders speaking about the latest developments in mobile marketing including; advertising, search, communities, and commerce.  Keynote sessions from Acision, Coca-Cola, Enpocket and AKQA Mobile confirmed the mobile marketing industry is gaining traction with brands world-wide. 

Common themes emerging from the event included:

1.    Collaboration & integration; Fundamental to the broad scale adoption of mobile marketing will be industry wide collaboration. By companies pooling together their knowledge and experiences, the industry can advance quickly.

2.    Measurement and Metrics; The development of common currencies and definitions across the mobile ecosystem will help the integration and acceptance of mobile as a key part of the media mix. 

A survey conducted by Airwide Solutions and launched at the Mobile Marketing Forum )Oct. 07) demonstrates the need for more metrics and found big brands claimed 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. 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.

3.    Consumer privacy; is key to growing the industry. Relevance and consumer pull are the foundation elements for a positive consumer experience. Developments such as the MMA EMEA mobile advertising guidelines help to ensure a clear and consistent interaction.

Leif Fågelstedt, Chief Operating Officer, Blyk, “When brands can see how mobile can be used successfully within marketing and advertising campaigns, then we will see them invest in mobile.  This will shape the future of the industry.” 

Laura Marriott, President, MMA commented, “Ensuring a positive consumer experience is paramount for all players in the ecosystem.  All attendees at this event understand the need for consumer privacy and protection in order to protect the long term sustainability of mobile as a viable media channel.  The goal of the MMA is to lead in the development of guidelines and best practices to ensure consistency, rapid deployment and ease of access.”
The intersection of mobile search and advertising was highlighted by Richard Siber, Interim CMO and Board Member, JumpTap, “Search plays a pivotal role in enhancing the user experience. By intersecting search with advertising, it becomes highly relevant to the consumer and effective marketing messages can reach the intended audience.”   

Daphne Loukas, CEO, Out There Media said, “This was one of the best events I have attended in Europe with a whole range of industry players to learn from.  It’s been apparent from the Forum’s sessions that the industry needs to collaborate to progress this industry forward.  We see the EMEA mobile advertising guidelines the MMA launched recently as essential to progress the industry and will be implementing them.”

Join the MMA at one of its upcoming 2007 events:
•    Mobile Marketing Forum, Nov. 14, Los Angeles
•    Mobile Marketing Forum, Dec. 6, Hong Kong

ENDS

About the Mobile Marketing Association )MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association )MMA) is the premier global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its 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 mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 450+ global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and has representatives in over forty countries across the globe.  It recently formed the Europe Middle East & Africa )EMEA) and Asia Pacific )APAC) divisions.  The Latin American )LATAM) division will be launched Q4 2007.  For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com

The MMA would like to thank its event partners for MMF EMEA including: 160characters, BERG Insight, GoMo News, Informa Telecoms & Media, MobiAd Network, Mobile 2.0 Analyst, Mobile Communications Europe, Mobile Communications International, Mobile Entertainment, Mobile Marketing Magazine, Mobile Messaging Analyst, Mobile Media, Interactiva, El Periódico de la Publicidad, Anuncios, EL Publicista, Acision, Amdocs, Ericsson, JumpTap, Medio Systems, dotMobi )mTLD), Sports.comm, Velti, WIN PLC and Yahoo! Mobile, dotMobi Advisory Group, GSMA – GSM Association and MDA – Mobile Data Association.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Hinda Smith or Jen Allen
Mi liberty Ltd
P: +44 20 7751 4444
[email protected]
[email protected]


Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. )GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]
[email protected]

 

 

MOBILE MARKETING ASSOCIATION PUBLISHES EMEA MOBILE ADVERTISING GUIDELINES

Regional EMEA-wide guidelines outline formats and best practices for Mobile Web (banner) advertising

LONDON, UK: September 25, 2007 — The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 450 companies across the mobile marketing ecosystem, today announced the release of its Mobile Advertising Guidelines tailored specifically for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. The guidelines are designed to foster the uptake of mobile advertising by global brands as well as enhance and protect the customer’s experience.

The EMEA guideline development is led by the MMA’s EMEA Mobile Advertising Committee, chaired by David Barker, Enpocket and Markus Münkler, Vodafone Group Services GmbH. The committee is comprised of mobile operators, content providers, agencies, brands and technology enablers from the following member companies: Action Engine, AdMob Inc,.AKQA Mobile, Alcatel-Lucent, Amobee Media Systems, Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e.V., Buongiorno, Dynetic Mobile Solutions, Inc., Enpocket, Inc., Ericsson AB, Greystripe Incorporated, Incentivated Limited, M:Metrics, Microsoft (MSN and Windows Live), Mobile, Dreams Factory, SL, Mobile Enterprise Ltd, Mobile One2One, MOBILERA, Mobixell Networks (Europe) Ltd, MoviDream, mTLD Top Level Domain, LLC (.mobi), Net Think Iberia, Nokia Corporation, Openwave, Orange UK, Out There Media Holding GmbH, Qualcomm, Rhythm NewMedia, ScreenTonic, Sports.comm Ltd, Telenor Nordic Mobile, Tempos 21, The Coca-Cola Company, The Weather Channel, Interactive, T-Mobile UK, Turkcell Iletisimi Hizmetleri A.S,.Universal McCann, Vodafone Group Services Ltd., Yahoo!

The MMA EMEA Mobile Advertising Guidelines can be downloaded from http://www.mmaglobal.com/emeamobileadvertising.pdf

Hinda Smith
P: +44 (0) 20 7751 4444
E: press.emea@mmaglobal

MMA CONSUMER BEST PRACTICES GUIDELINES EXPANDED TO ACCOMMODATE MOBILE MARKETING GROWTH AREAS

Marketing to Children, Mobile Web and Interactive Voice Response Key Changes in Latest Release

Denver, CO., July 17, 2007— The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 450 companies across the mobile ecosystem, today made available the latest edition the industry’s MMA Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services in the United States. Released twice annually, the MMA CBP’s are developed by the industry through collaborative input from across mobile, media and marketing sectors and adhered to by all in the U.S. mobile marketing industry.

"Since 2005, the MMA’s Consumer Best Practice Guidelines have protected the consumer experience and defined the rules of play for mobile messaging, mobile web and voice services," said, Cyriac Roeding, Global Chairman MMA & EVP Mobile, CBS Interactive. "The Consumer Best Practices Committee of the MMA represents the view of carriers, technology companies, brands, media companies and consumer advocates. This cross-industry collaboration makes these Guidelines so powerful and have helped them become the standard in the industry."

Highlights to the July 2007 CBP Guidelines include:

• Marketing to Children: define the guidelines for marketing to children under the age of 13.


• IVR: provide guidance on opt-in and opt-out via IVR (interactive voice response).


• Mobile Web: ensure opt-ins are also adhered to with each mobile web experience. The Guidelines specify the use of a PIN or phone MO message to confirm that the authorized subscriber.


• Dispute Resolution: defines that dispute resolution is at the discretion of each carrier for their respective customers.


• New Committee Initiatives: In addition, the MMA has launched two new initiative areas to focus on key areas within the CBP Guidelines. The new sub-committees include Marketing to Children and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) committees which will join the Participation TV and Off Portal Committees in contributing to and providing thought leadership to the Guidelines and industry.

"The MMA continues to stay at the forefront of defining the Guidelines to protect consumer experience and grow the industry," said Laura Marriott, President of MMA. "The latest Guidelines include substantial new developments around mobile web and IVR and we look forward to increasing our focus through new initiatives including IVR, Marketing to Children, PTV and Off Portal."

The MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines Committee includes the following member companies: Alltel Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Bango, Chapell & Associates, denuo Group (a Publicis Company), Enpocket, Inc., Jamster, Lavalife Mobile, mBlox, Inc., MTV Networks, MX Telecom, NeuStar, Inc., OpenMarket, Qmobile, Inc., SinglePoint, Sprint Nextel, Sybase 365, Teligence, The Walt Disney Company, T-Mobile USA, VeriSign, Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

The Guidelines can be downloaded at http://www.mmaglobal.com/bestpractices.pdf

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its 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 mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 450+ global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]

MOBILE MARKETING ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP CONTINUES STEADY GROWTH

Worldwide Support for Mobile Marketing Industry Visible through MMA Membership Growth

Boulder, CO., June 12, 2007— The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 450 companies across the mobile ecosystem, reported another high-growth quarter with Laura Marriott, president of the MMA commenting, “today’s announcement demonstrates the continued focus on the mobile channel as players across the value chain recognize the importance of a consistent consumer experience and simplified brand engagement. The MMA’s continued rise in membership further reinforces the MMA’s leadership position in creating an action-oriented collaborative trade association where all players can come together to address the needs of today’s marketers.”

Analyst firm Telephia reported that revenues for mobile data services, which includes SMS, MMS, TV/Video, WAP, mobile content downloads, etc., totaled more than $4.6 billion in Q1 2007, which is up 78 percent year-over-year from nearly $2.6 billion in Q1 2006. “The growth in revenues for mobile data services provides a clear measure of the opportunities for mobile marketing,” said Jerry Rocha, senior director of Mobile Media, Telephia. “The mobile channel is emerging as the leading outlet for marketing directly to specific segments of the population as the wireless device has become a powerful personalized tool for all forms of communication and media consumption.”

The newest MMA members include:

• Acuity Mobile, Inc.


• Aegis Mobile, LLC.


• Cellufun, Inc.


• Converge Technologies


• Digital Sidebar, Inc.


• E-mobile Solutions


• FoneMine Inc.


• Frucall Inc.


• Global Network Solutions (Europe) Ltd.


• Gotuit Media Corp.


• Hemisphere No Brainer


• Hill Holliday


• HipCricket


• JNJ Mobile


• Kinetic Worldwide


• Loc-Aid Technologies


• Markettools


• MindMatics, LLC


• Mobixell Networks (Europe) Ltd.


• MobX – Mobile Marketing 360° S/A


• Payzy Corporation


• Rapid Response Marketing, LLC


• Rip Road, Inc.


• SnapTell, Inc.


• Starcom USA


• Telenor Nordic Mobile


• Touchwork


• Yavox Latin America S/A

A complete listing of all MMA members can be found at www.mmaglobal.com. To become a member, please contact [email protected].

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its 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 mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 450+ global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]
[email protected]

MARKETING, MEDIA AND ADVERTISING TOOK CENTER STAGE DURING SOLD OUT MOBILE MARKETING FORUM

MMF Dubbed ‘The Place To Be’ for More Than 680 Global Delegates Discussing Opportunities in Mobile Marketing

Boulder, CO., June 12, 2007— The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 400 companies across the mobile ecosystem, today reported that last week’s Mobile Marketing Forum (MMF) held in New York concluded, noting the event sold out with more than 680 attendees. The Coca-Cola Company chose the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum as the location for the exclusive launch of its Sprite Yard initiative with a keynote presentation by Mark Greatrex, SVP Marketing Communications and Insights. Other highlights included the increased emphasis by brands making investments in the mobile channel which included advertising, video, mobile web, messaging and more.

“The MMF event continues to be the forum for industry leaders to come together to discuss innovations in mobile marketing,” said Laura Marriott, president of the MMA. “The MMA’s work to establish best practices and guidelines, as well as our collaboration with experts across industry sectors such as media and entertainment, have set the foundation for what is today an exciting time for brands to reach their consumers through mobile.”

The MMF (www.mobilemarketingforum.com) consisted of keynote sessions from Mark Greatrex, The Coca-Cola Company; Thomas Gewecke, EVP Global Business Development, SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT; and Bernard Gershon, SVP/general manager, ABC News Digital Media Group. Sessions featured industry experts and focused on a variety of topics including mobile advertising, m-commerce, television/video and mobile marketing 101.

The MMA also released a series of announcements during the event:

• Release 4.0 of Mobile Advertising Guidelines: the latest revision includes guidelines for downloadable content as well as an overview on Multi-media Messaging Services (MMS).


• Measurement Initiative: MMA announced the formation of a Global Measurement Committee (GMC). The MMA GMC will help to create the ad currencies as well as a framework for the measurement of mobile marketing success. The GMC will be chaired by The Coca-Cola Company and M:Metrics.


• MMA & GSMA Collaboration: the two organizations will collaborate to expedite the growth of mobile advertising world-wide.


• Participation TV Committee: MMA formed the first industry-wide committee to focus on the growth of TV’s mobile participation which will be chaired by Telescope and Granada USA.


• The MMA International Journal of Mobile Marketing (MMA-IJMM): the MMA-IJMM, issued by the MMA Academic Outreach Committee, contains 10 articles from industry experts, thought leaders and global contributors to the mobile marketplace.

For complete details on the Mobile Marketing Forum, or for information regarding the upcoming Mobile Marketing Forums, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its 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 mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 400+ global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]
[email protected]

GSMA AND MMA COLLABORATE TO ACCELERATE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILE ADVERTISING

NEW YORK - Mobile Marketing Forum – June 6, 2007 — The GSM Association (GSMA) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) have agreed to cooperate to accelerate the development of mobile advertising worldwide. The two organizations will collaborate to deliver standardization and transparency around current mobile advertising activity, and to develop new, innovative advertising techniques.

The MMA will lead the development of guidelines, formats and best practices for mobile advertising, while the GSMA will work with mobile operators globally to develop and prioritize consistent structures, such as inventory types, and commercial and measurement models that will allow advertisers to create valuable advertising propositions.

“This partnership will build on the Mobile Marketing Association’s work-to-date in the development of mobile advertising,” said Bill Gajda, chief commercial officer of the GSMA. “The MMA and GSMA will bring leading advertisers, agencies and operators together to ensure that this very promising, but nascent advertising medium realizes its full potential for the benefit of all players in the ecosystem.”

The agreement follows the recent announcement of the GSMA’s Mobile Media and Entertainment Group that will oversee its Mobile Advertising Programme, which is made up of representatives from leading mobile operators from around the globe.

“The value chain for mobile advertising is more complex than other media channels, with the mobile operator playing a key role, hence the driver for collaboration. The GSMA brings the global GSM mobile operator community to the table and we are pleased to be working with them to expand the reach of a sustainable mobile advertising ecosystem,” said Laura Marriott, president of the MMA. “We look forward to working jointly with the GSMA to deliver a consistent global industry standard for mobile advertising.”

About the GSM AssociationThe GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners. The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than two billion customers – 82 percent of the world's mobile phone users. See: www.gsmworld.com & www.3gsmworldcongress.com

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its 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 mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 400+ global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com


FOR MORE INFORMATION:
MMA Press Relations:
Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]
[email protected]

For the GSM Association:
Mark Smith or David Pringle
Email: [email protected]

MMA INCREASES FOCUS ON MEASUREMENT OF MOBILE MARKETING SUCCESSES

New Measurement Committee Framework Instilled for Effectiveness of Mobile in Traditional and Cross-Media Marketing Campaigns

New York - Mobile Marketing Forum – June 6, 2007 — The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 400 companies across the mobile ecosystem, today announced the association’s focus on mobile advertising measurement with the introduction of its Global Measurement Committee (GMC). The focus on measurement comes on the heels of the latest MMA Mobile Advertising Guidelines (www.mmaglobal.com/mobileadvertising.pdf ) release. The MMA plans to collaborate on the initiative with other industry associations.

Today, mobile spend by brand marketers is in the trial stages. Before allocating more budgets to mobile, brands require a deeper understanding of the role of mobile in the overall mix, consumer acceptance of brand messaging, consistent guidelines and best practices as well as insight into effectiveness and value. Under guidance of the MMA GMC, the industry will create a framework for the measurement of mobile marketing campaigns across all channels such as mobile video, television, multimedia services and more.

“The MMA is the right organization to lead the development of ad currencies against its current guidelines, given its diverse and representative membership base,” said Tom Daly, group manager, Strategy & Planning, Global Interactive Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company and MMA Global and NA Board Executive Committee member. “The Coca-Cola Company is committed to mobile as a viable channel to our consumer and measurement will help us ensure the investment is allocated in the right place.”

Richard Saggers, New Business - Head of Mobile Advertising, Vodafone Group Services Ltd & EMEA MMA Chairman, added, “It is crucial to have guidelines in place to measure the use of mobile marketing not only for agencies, brands and marketers, but for the entire global industry. Then, understanding how to measure campaign success will help to drive the adoption of the mobile channel.”

“Measurement was one of the two most critical items we needed to address in rebuilding the Internet Advertising industry,” said Greg Stuart, former CEO of the IAB. “Marketers and their agencies demand that all digital mediums, including Mobile, provide superior advertising measurement, while insuring that the measurement meets the standards and market acceptance of traditional media. How well the Mobile Marketing industry accomplishes this will determine whether they capture their rightful share of marketers’ budgets.”

Co-chaired by The Coca-Cola Company in North America and M:Metrics in EMEA, the MMA GMC membership includes representation from media companies, brands, wireless operators and market research firms. The MMA GMC membership is open to all MMA member companies.

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its 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 mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 400+ global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. (GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]
[email protected]