How Does Your Mobile Meausure? A Few Wireless Whims on Overcoming Mobile Marketing Hype
Written on October 31st, 2006, published on www.adotas.com
By Brian Hecht
Used with permission from ADOTAS, Copyright 2007.  All rights reserved.
Submitted to MMA by Kikucall

Just recently, the population of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States surpassed 300 million people. But there’s a number that’s rising even faster than the U.S. population: it’s the number of mobile phone subscribers. According to CTIA, the trade association for the mobile industry, that number has just topped 225 million. That’s 75 percent of the entire US population, not just adults.

We marketers are having an ever-harder time reaching a broad audience, as consumers are TiVo-ing and YouTubing themselves into smaller and smaller slivers. Those mobile numbers are certainly tempting: there aren’t too many other media that can reach three out of four Americans. Is the mobile phone — the most personal of all communication devices — actually the next mass medium? What do those stellar subscriber numbers really mean for marketers?

First, we need to understand what people are actually doing with their cellphones. After all, just because a person owns a cellphone does not mean that she is willing or able to receive your marketing message. At its core, a cellphone is simply another voice connection, and we are all aware of the limits of voice-based telemarketing in the age of Do Not Call. So what else are all those cellphones good for?

By a large margin, the number-one use of cellphones, aside from talk, is text messaging. The mobile research company M:Metrics estimates that 38% of mobile subscribers send a text message each month. That’s 73 million Americans who are text messaging. And the text messages are adding up: CTIA estimates that Americans sent and received 12.5 billion text messages in the month of June. Granted, we’re mashing together data from two different sources here, but both sources are generally reliable. And unless we’re completely off, that comes out to more than 170 text messages per subscriber per month. That’s almost six texts a day for every texter. Maybe one of those texts should be coming from you.

And what about all those other neat things you can do with your cellphone, like taking and sending photographs, watching video, and surfing the mobile web? Well, the numbers there aren’t quite as encouraging. Although there’s certainly growth, none of those activities approaches text messaging in popularity. After texting, the next most popular data application is photo messaging, but only 14.5% of subscribers do that in a given month. That’s 28 million photo messagers, compared with 73 million texters. And after that the numbers take a nosedive. Only 22 million have browsed news and information, 20 million purchased a ringtone, and a mere 6 million downloaded a mobile game.

Of course, “only” is a relative term. Mobile gamers are probably quite enthusiastic, and maybe they are particularly receptive to in-game marketing. All of these applications are experiencing rapid growth, and it’s early days yet in the mobile revolution. There’s no telling which application will break out to big numbers in the months ahead. But when you consider that mobile gaming is one of the most hyped corners of the mobile marketplace, the actual penetration numbers simply don’t live up to the hype. Not yet, at least.

What all these numbers suggest is that for marketers looking to make an immediate mass impact with mobile, text messaging is where it’s at. It is the most viable mobile medium for marketers looking to reach anything that could be described as a mass market.

Even with text messaging’s impressive penetration number, you are only able to send a text message to a consumer who has specifically requested such communication. So how do you go about transforming those hypothetical usage numbers to power your own mobile marketing efforts? Here are five specific ideas for actions that make sense to consider right now:

1. Grab Your Own Short Code: Short codes — those five- and six—digit numbers that enable consumers to easily send a text message — are becoming ubiquitous. Having a short code is the key to letting consumers send a text message to you. And that’s the best way to get consumers to opt in engage with your brand via mobile. You can even get a “vanity code” that spells out a word that’s meaningful to your brand, so it’s easy for consumers to remember.

It’s comparable to reserving a URL for your brand’s Website. It’s not quite as easy or cheap, though: It will cost a few thousand dollars to start plus some ongoing monthly fees, and you’ll need to work through a mobile agency or aggregator. Still, the cost of entry is far smaller than, say, building a great Website or buying airtime, and it is undoubtedly worth the investment. In fact, it is the one fundamental action that you simply must take now if you want to engage in any sort of text-message marketing.

2. Start Collecting Numbers on your Website: If you’re like most marketers, you’re already collecting valuable opt-ins and user information on your Website. It’s simple to add a mobile phone field to your form. Even if you’re not quite sure what you’re going to do with these numbers yet, you’ll have a start in with a built-in audience for your mobile efforts.

3. Draft and Publicize Your Mobile Privacy Policy: Consumers are justifiably squeamish about giving out the mobile phone number. It’s an incredibly personal channel. As you begin collecting mobile numbers or advertising your short code, you simply must have a clear, unequivocal privacy policy available to consumers. If you can give your consumers a clear reason to opt-in, coupled with a rock solid privacy assurance, they’ll be far more likely to participate.

4. Watch the Marketplace: There’s enough mobile marketing going on right now that it’s likely another company in your competitive set is already testing mobile. Watch what they’re doing. Just because another company is doing something doesn’t mean it’s working, but it’s likely that some thought has gone into it. Of course, do not plagiarize anyone else’s marketing plan. But you can use this data to brainstorm your own ideas and pivot off of trends in the marketplace.

5. Start Talking About Mobile Internally: When our agency works with clients, the number-one barrier to getting started is a lack of internal consensus about the value of mobile. Even if your company is not quite ready to take the plunge, it is essential that someone take a leadership position and become the internal expert on mobile. Perhaps that person is you. The marketplace data in favor of text message marketing is compelling, and now is the perfect time to start the conversation.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Four Pillars of Successful <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mobile Marketing<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Chapter excerpt from Mobile Persuasion: Perspectives on the Future of Influence

Published by Stanford University's Mobile Persuasion Lab, April 2007
by Eric Holmen, President, SmartReply, Inc.

Mobile marketing has potential to make the mobile phone experience miserable. Because mobile communications are highly personal, they differ from other advertising-enriched technologies, including radio, TV and web. Mobile advertisers have little understanding of the recipient’s environment when messages are delivered. With TV or Internet advertising, marketers can be fairly certain of conditions and engagement with content. That is not the case with mobile ads, though done well, mobile marketing offers great value to advertisers and recipients.

Here’s one example of a win-win solution in mobile marketing. During the summer of 2006, gas prices had risen to record levels by as much as 80% in some parts of the US. Consumers were very unhappy. The trend also presented a problem for our client Meijer Supercenters, which operates gas stations within parking lots of its superstores.

To keep customers happy, Meijer launched an innovative mobile messaging alert system. Prior to a price increase, Meijer would alert interested customers via text, allowing them 4 to 6 hours to fill up before prices were updated. A simple yet valuable alignment of content and context.

Customers felt in control. Meijer provided a service and saved them money. And the retailer benefited too; as customers topped off tanks, they also grabbed fixings for dinner or a new sweatshirt. Value, it appears, is contagious from the parking lot to the store shelves.

To most, mobile messaging seems simple - each message has 160 characters. How complicated is that? Very complicated, we learned. Mobile (or any marketing) in and of itself does not drive business transactions. Relationships do. Successful and engaging relationships will lead to a greater number of transactions over time. So the complexity lies in the relationship with the consumer, not the medium.

To navigate the complexity of creating successful mobile marketing campaigns, we summarized what we call our “four pillars” of a mobile marketing vision:

1. Consumer preference is a sovereign right.  Consumers are protective of their phones and rightly so. They must be able to engage and disengage at will, by any means. Advertisers who do not honor consumer preferences will get banished.

2. Great marketing is a service.  Mobile marketing can provide valuable services to customers, e.g., an SMS alerting price increases or discounts, or an MMS (multimedia message) to help complete tasks, like cooking a meal from products purchased at the marketer’s store.  These services can inspire customer loyalty.

3. Personalization is critical.   Customers may respond to a mobile marketing campaign one time, out of novelty.  To achieve consistent results, however, requires personalizing the message - leading to increased customer transactions.

4. Relationships drive transactions.  In contrast to marketing via other media, mobile campaigns may not generate immediate transaction spikes. Rather, developing engaging relationships with customers leads to a greater number of transactions over time.  

This last statement may seem obvious today, but has not always been to traditional marketers accustomed to immediate spikes in business that followed TV and newsprint campaigns. Today, the growth of interactive marketing—especially the mobile platform—highlights how much success depends on developing relationships between brands and customers. So how do you develop this relationship?

1) Brands need to provide their customers with valuable services;

2) Personalized for each customer;  

3) Delivered in a way that respects customer wishes.

Almost daily someone asks: “How urgently should I launch a mobile initiative?” At SmartReply, we answer: If your competitor succeeds in engaging your customer before you, then your job becomes much harder, if not impossible.

Speed is not the only issue. In the near term, quick-and-dirty mobile campaigns will work. Because mobile ads are still novel in the US, people respond to them. But only once. The ongoing prospects for this approach are not good, appealing only to discount shoppers who have no loyalty to brands.

To that end, we encourage companies to understand which customer types create real value. Discount-driven customers are not profitable in the long run, whereas customers with brand loyalty generate 70% of the margin. Note - valuable customers only welcome mobile messages that are relationship-driven.  Other communications to their mobiles get blacklisted.

Advertising is about the sizzle, not the steak. As companies plan a mobile marketing strategy, they would be wise to avoid the pitfalls of advertising sizzle. While TV and radio excel in delivering an enticing brand promise, the mobile platform is uniquely positioned to transform the brand promise into a concrete reality.

About SmartReply

The only voice and mobile messaging company dedicated to meet the challenges and objectives of the retailing industry, SmartReply's mobile solutions have created breakthrough results for over 80 leading retailers throughout the US and Canada. Information can be found at www.SmartReply.com or by calling (800)-785-6769.

Carriers or Content: Who Will Take the Lead with <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />ODP?
Scott G. Silk
President and CEO
Action Engine

What’s in a name? Over $1.5 billion, if the name is “on-device portal” (ODP). That’s what ARCchart estimates as the total ODP market size for media companies and mobile operators in 2009. Similarly, ARCchart projects the market’s growth rate at 166% compounded annually, and this doesn’t even include the multi-billion dollar revenue stream that mobile advertising is predicted to add in addition to the ODP space.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Of course, there’s more driving this market than the potential for exponential revenue growth. High-speed networks now provide dependable connectivity. A new generation of powerful, reliable handsets can deliver a vast array of rich content. In addition, today’s ODP solutions make it simple for users to access that content and easy for media companies and operators to manage and monetize that content.

Operators Play It Safe.
Given their relationships with subscribers, mobile operators, like Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless, should be leading the ODP charge, right? Wrong. At Action Engine, we see ODP being driven first by big-brand media and content companies, like ESPN, Apple, Yahoo!, and MSNBC.com, that want to elevate their brands across millions of handsets and monetize their content via mobile advertising.

Today, mobile operators are taking a conservative approach when it comes to deploying ODPs. They have a strong installed base of subscribers that they want to protect, and this means that they will wait to embrace ODP technology until it is fully certified in their labs and accepted in the market. ODP presents an opportunity for them, but they will take a ‘pragmatic’ approach before investing heavily in this emerging growth opportunity.

Media Companies Lead the Charge.
Conversely, media and content companies are aggressively pursuing their on-device portal strategies. They are anxious to put their brands and content on millions of phones to start reaping the mobile advertising revenues and brand awareness rewards that come with this new ODP technology.

Some media companies are also taking a direct-to-consumer approach to get to market fast. Others are choosing to work together with the operators to leverage the marketing and distribution power that those partnerships can offer. Either way, nearly all of the big brands have RFPs out on the street to find new ways to elevate their brand and leverage the usability, monetization, and manageability benefits that ODPs can provide.

Better late than never?  Only time will tell how the ODP market unfolds. My take? Media and content companies are going to continue to take the lead in driving the ODP market in 2007, and mobile operators will join them when the ‘risk’ of losing the market is greater than the ‘risk’ of not acting aggressively. At that critical juncture, the mobile operators will jump in with both feet. Stay tuned…..

The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mobile Channel: pinpoint targeting, minimal waste, maximum ROI

Robert Thurner
Commercial Director
Incentivated

Despite their very best efforts, my wife and two daughters are yet to convince me that the family needs a dog.  Until they do, adverts for dog food will be wasted on me. However, for dog owners who care passionately about the health and diet of their four legged friends,’ dog food adverts are much more relevant.

With dog owners spending millions of pounds per year on dog food, competition to build customer loyalty is fierce. It is therefore not surprising that dog food brands are turning their attention away from poorly targeted campaigns (which waste precious marketing budgets and result in disappointing ROI) in favour of more personal interaction with their customers.

However, it is not just dog food brands who are making the change. Whether you’re selling dog food, dishwashers or holidays, the challenge remains the same – to develop highly targeted, one-to-one relationships with customers in order to improve customer acquisition and long term retention. Increasingly, it is the mobile channel which is being seen as the catalyst to this change.

For marketers, mobile offers brands the ability to put the consumer at the heart of the communications process. Unlike PCs (which tend to be used by multiple users) mobile phones are much more personal devices. They are the nearest thing to a direct connection into the consumer’s mind anyone is likely to attain in the near future and this makes them a powerful channel to deliver highly targeted and relevant information.

Given their nature, mobiles are also portable and thanks to GPS we can now capitalise on this to track their location and send location-specific information.  Mobile phones are ubiquitous and are with us 24/7, at home, at work and when we are on the move making them an instant, real-time response channel for any other media channel. In addition, new technology means results can be accurately measured and tracked back to specific campaigns in specific media, for example, real time reporting on SMS responses requesting brochures, content delivery, click through to mobile internet sites and detailed analytics of pages browsed.

Given its strengths, it is little surprise that the mobile channel is now seen as the glue which unites other elements of the campaign mix: above the line advertising, sponsorship, DM, PR and sales promotion.  It is the ultimate “me, here and now” medium. However, if you thought mobile was just about text messaging, think again. Sending an SMS to a short code in broadcast or print media is only the start of the mobile journey.

Mobile internet takes off
A new generation of 3G handsets is currently flooding the market allowing a superior user experience of the mobile internet and content downloads. According to research conducted by comScore and Telephia an estimated 5.7m people in the UK used a mobile device to access the internet during January 2007 which represents 19 per cent of the 30m people who accessed the web from a PC – a further example of the role mobile plays in bringing people from the offline world into the online environment.

Vodafone is the latest of the operators to offer flat rate data charges, removing one of last barriers to people browsing the mobile web.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Yahoo’s Commitment to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mobile
By Laura Marriott | May 3, 2007

To View the Direct Article, Please Click Here.

I generally like to structure these columns around topics I'm asked about most often by either ClickZ readers or the industry at large. One such question centers on mobile spend and whether brands are really committed to the mobile channel.

This week, I had the good fortune to talk to Yahoo, which just launched a new service and marketing initiative that demonstrate its mobile investment.

Yahoo is best known for its e-mail, IM, and search solutions. However, it recently launched a few initiatives focused on its corporate commitment and investment in mobile. This week it introduced a new integrated brand campaign that based on two of its latest services.

One, Yahoo Answers, is a cool service available on the PC that will soon be brought to mobile. The service allows users to ask questions that any user is able to respond to. Questions are then ranked based on user feedback.

The second service, Yahoo oneSearch, is Yahoo's mobile search product that allows consumers to access Yahoo algorithmic search, editorial, and content from their mobile device. This extends the Yahoo desktop experience to mobile.

Yahoo brought these two services together in the launch of its "Be a Bette.." campaign aimed at consumers with print, radio, television, and mobile ads. The cross-media initiative draws on mobile Web advertising on Yahoo and a variety of other mainstream mobile destinations.

One example of marketing the "Be a Better..." is to use innovative TV spots in prime-time programs to inspire consumers to be better husbands, aunts, gardeners -- whatever they aspire to be. According to Michael Bayle, GM of global monetization, connected life, at Yahoo, it's the "first time that we have put our weight behind making mobile work for the consumer."

Yahoo is putting significant weight behind launching its search product and has learned that media integration across multiple channels is key to launch success. It's also the first time Yahoo has focused a major ad campaign on a mobile service and has leveraged the mobile channel to such a significant extent. The utility moves beyond text messaging and ring tones and onto mobile Web.

Another issue for broad mobile adoption is increasing consumer awareness about mobile devices' advanced functionalities. We are driving consumers to learn about the mobile experience through access to information on their online site [and marketed through interactive ads on its own as well as other sites], which enable consumers to access and experiment with the services," Yahoo spokesperson Nicole Leverich said. According to Leverich, Yahoo hopes that by encouraging consumers to learn about their devices and to access Yahoo applications, "all ships will rise" to drive mobile marketing initiatives and consumer adoption across the industry and across the globe.

The "Be a Better…" campaign will run for a few months in the U.S. and target the 13-34 age demographic. However, the campaigns will likely teach older demographics how to access information on the go and show how mobile can help solve everyday problems and enhance opportunities, wherever you are.

Six new global markets will be coming online this week with Yahoo oneSearch. In Canada, the U.K., Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, the service will be beta-launched and include a subset of content delivered in the local languages.

Kudos to Yahoo for its investment in marketing its new mobile services in a way that will help raise awareness for the consumer -- and drive brand investment and commitment to the mobile channel!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

2D Codes: Coming to a Phone Near You
By Laura Marriott | April 19, 2007

To View the Direct Article, Please Click HERE.

At most every conference I attend, I'm asked when 2D bar codes will come to the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States.

Also known as QR codes, these allow consumers to use their wireless devices to interact in a graphical manner with traditional and digital media. The unique, two-dimensional bar codes, which can be placed on any item, allow the consumer to take a picture using their MMS (camera phone functionality) on a mobile device. Then, through bar code reading software, the 2D code is interpreted to provide product information, downloads, and more. 2D codes are a visual system allowing consumers to access relevant information much like short codes, IVR or other mobile media techniques.

In Japan, approximately 40 percent of consumers have used bar codes through their mobile device. Why so many? Japanese operators and handset manufacturers have worked together to ensure devices support visual bar code technology, helping to drive adoption. However, the Japanese business model isn't supported by mobile advertising. instead, consumers are charged standard data rates for accessing information over their mobile devices.

The codes are also utilized in South Korea. There, each operator chose to pursue its own 2D strategy, hindering consumer adoption. There are many 2D codes in Korea, but no ubiquity for brands looking to deploy cross operator campaigns, posing a challenge.

In the Philippines, handset manufacturers sell directly to the consumer. Adoption of 2D codes is having some success. In this ad-supported market, brands are able to secure their own codes and launch to the consumer. Brands pay on a per-campaign basis, but per-click may prove to be the ideal business model.

The Paris transport system launched an interactive campaign using 2D codes with New York-based Scanbuy. The consumer can scan a code and see when the next bus or subway will arrive. There are over 160 bar codes in a single station! Consumers who don't have a bar code scanning tool on their device can access the application to download through SMS or WAP.

I asked Jonathan Bulkeley, CEO of Scanbuy, when we might see 2D applications come to the U.S. Obstacles to adoption here include lack of camera phone (MMS) consumer adoption, as well as cost-effective pricing models. A broad effort at educating consumers and advertisers about the technology is needed, as well as point-of-sale integration for applications that use 2D codes for mobile commerce, Bulkeley says. Most promising uses include ticketing, couponing, and product or service information. The key is applications which rely on consumer pull to access the information they seek.

Demand on the advertiser side is huge. Advertisers get it, says Bulkeley. Print publishers are especially interested in 2D campaigns and what the visual opportunity can do for them.

Cosmo Girl launched an application with Mobot last year based on pure image recognition. Cosmo Girl readers were encouraged to take photos with their mobile device of ads or features in the publication and send them to the magazine for a chance to win prizes. The Cosmo Girl application wasn't based on 2D codes, but rather image recognition. Bulkeley says image recognition is the “holy grail, but making it a reality is years away for a number of reasons."

Scanbuy is launching U.S. campaigns targeted towards specific devices and demographics. "People change their behavior based on ubiquity," Bulkeley said. This means 2D applications, on a broad scale in the U.S., are at least 18 to 24 months away.

Scanbuy recently used the technology as part of the U.S. Air Force's "Do Something Amazing" campaign, which will be featured at venues including NASCAR and other sporting events across the country. Consumers will be able to utilize the Scanbuy technology to download videos about Air Force career opportunities. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />