Mobilecasting: Awareness Is Key to Driving the Medium
BY Laura Marriott | July 13, 2006

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Podcasting and vodcasting are beginning to show signs of becoming a powerful new channel for businesses to communicate with their customers. Useful content can be consumed online and in the mobile environment via iPods and other MP3 players. Why not incorporate this channel with that of cell phones and mobile devices?

I touched base with Twelve Horses' Robert Payne, marketing manager, and Josh Kenzer, director of business development, to get the scoop on podcasting and the impact mobile will have on podcasting. I met Kenzer and Payne a few months ago when Reno, NV hosted the Diggnation podcast to promote podcasting and the local Reno-Tahoe community. Diggnation is a technology news show that's quickly grown to over 150,000 subscribers. Today, it's one of the highest ranking technology vodcasts and podcasts. Twelve Horses is a relationship marketing and messaging company that crosses the two media types featured in today's column: podcasting and mobile.

Podcasts are niche. They can basically be found on every possible topic you can think of. According to Payne, podcasting is a cost-effective conduit to customers, prospects, and leads to educate, inform, and discuss subjects that pertain to the podcaster. It doesn't require a lot of rehearsal or production time as subscribers seem to prefer a more casual conversation style. Basically, real-world working professionals talk about subjects that matter to us with the hope our experience and perspectives shine through.

Podcast and blogging, two social media types, often go hand in hand to provide an inexpensive means to target consumers, drive usage and, ultimately, brand awareness. Podcasting is a one-way communication form. Add blogging, and it becomes a two-way social media type with a high level of interactivity, transparency, and credibility.

How do you offer a podcast? Many companies are actively working on productizing and packaging podcasting for resale. The issue is driving packaged pricing that's beneficial for all players, vendors and clients alike. Podcasting uses RSS feeds to syndicate content online so it's easy to find and obtain, and software like iTunes helps subscribe, organize, and download to a player. How could adoption be made easier?

Mobilecasting

Enter mobilecasting. The benefits of using a mobile device for podcasting are clear. Mobile allows you to establish the one-to-one dialogue with the consumer anytime and anywhere. As network quality improves and mobile phones become more feature-rich, with added storage capacity and stereo capabilities, consumers will have more options to access their favorite programs.

"As handsets evolve and become more sophisticated, we will see the convergence of MP3 players and mobile devices," said Kenzer. "Mobile will provide a new and different channel to reach your audience and an alternate, unique channel in which to advertise your product and/or service."

"Podcasting provides a low-cost option to leverage your existing campaign," added Payne, who believes podcasting can complement many existing initiatives.

Mobilecasting Challenges

Network speeds and capabilities were certainly a significant issue once, but with new 3G networks being deployed, this will soon no longer the case. Awareness is certainly key. Podcasting attracts a niche audience on every topic you can think of, but it isn't something mobile consumers are after on a mass scale. A limitation to adoption may be the carrier's current date pricing, podcasting accessibility, or simply the consumer's desire to watch or listen to a recording on her mobile device.

Most podcasts are MP3 files, which are already compatible with many mobile devices. Many ring tones can be downloaded as MP3 files, in fact. Thus, distributing content via podcasts to mobile phone users represents an opportunity for companies that utilize podcasts in their marketing mix to interact with consumers in the mobile world. Building awareness is the challenge.

Two pretty neat applications that cross mobile and podcasting hail from New York City. One is a futuristic application from Pop2Life, which is developing a link between iPods and terrestrial radio. Eventually, iTunes customers who hear a song on their radios will be able to link directly to the iTunes catalog via their mobile devices. The songs will have been downloaded to their iPods the next time they access their iTunes accounts.

The other is a technology-enabling platform from Juice Wireless. That company is working on an initiative to mobilecast audio and video files to mobile handsets. Juice's technology allows any user to create audio and video files and have the content stream to a mobile device.

With applications like this, I expect mobilecasting to gain traction. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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The Mid-Year Mark
Thomas Burgess
CEO, Third Screen Media

With six months of 2006 behind us, it’s a perfect time to provide a mid-year status report on the state of the mobile advertising industry. A quick view of the landscape reveals that momentum is building.  From increasing advertiser demand to a new wave of rich mobile content, the industry is abuzz with activity.  Partnerships and possibilities—including innovative content delivery methods— abound, while each integral player of the mobile advertising ecosystem continues to solidify its position, signaling a move toward a synergy we only imagined a year ago.

Let’s take a moment to see how far we’ve come, while examining each leading player in the industry, defining their position in the market, and determining where they’ll go as 2006 rolls along.

An advertising society

Content.  If one idea has encouraged the growth of mobile advertising, it’s that consumers are looking to find much of what they value on their computer on the go, via their mobile device.  Over the past five years, wireless data revenues have doubled year-over-year, signaling the mobile subscriber’s appetite for news, sports, shopping, entertainment and games on their wireless device.

Traditionally, in the quest for content, the consumer has always accepted advertising as a means to obtain information.  Television and radio have customarily delivered their programming to consumers through the subsidies of advertising.  Online content providers learned that banner ads and innovative advertising techniques were an effective model for bringing their offline content to the Internet and providing it free of charge.  And now the mobile platform has seen a glimpse of how things could be.  Consumers are ready to embrace advertising on the mobile handset if it means that the content they seek will be made available, cheaper.

Eco-player: The Agency

In 2006, we’ve already seen advertising campaigns that have taken advantage of mobile content proliferation, bringing tailored messaging to targeted audiences.  When we look at our first of three major players in the ecosystem—the advertising agencies—already they’re reporting success in initial mobile ad trials.  The folks on Madison Ave.—and the brands they represent—see mobile as a strong engagement channel and proof lies in the commitment.  Budgets for mobile advertising over the last year have gone from 10’s of thousands of dollars to more than $100,000 per campaign.

Eco-player: The Publisher

For each agency placing its brands on the mobile platform, there is no lack of major content providers—the second element of the mobile advertising ecosystem—taking to the mobile platform.  Existing Web publishers such as USA TODAY, Weather.com, CBS Sportsline and ESPN are actively extending their properties into the new channel.  New publishers have also come onto the scene, creating a name for themselves in an arena where competition is still low.  Collectively, mobile publishers—simultaneously executing both on and off deck—are seeking to increase their inventory and have placed a call for advertisers and carriers to join in the collaboration.  While publishers continue to deliver advertising to the consumer off deck, on-deck advertising remains an elusive reality.

Eco-player: The Carrier

The carriers have heard the call in 2006 and are actively—albeit, cautiously—engaging in on-deck trials.  Campaigns featuring mobile Web and video aspects have already made their way to the consumer’s mobile device.  The carriers are a crucial element in the ecosystem and much of the pace of mobile advertising depends on their participation.  With that said, the major carriers are currently examining possible pricing models and pricing points, all the while seeking to preserve the consumer experience at all costs.  With their recent participation in on-deck advertising trials, the signs are good. When carriers up this precious real estate for large-scale campaigns, we’ll soon see mobile advertising inventory levels skyrocket.

Eco-player: The Technology

Somewhere between the growing number of advertising agencies, content providers and carriers joining the mobile advertising mix, the technology providers are making sure that it all works…seamlessly.  We saw earlier in 2006 the release of mobile advertising technologies that brought the standards of advertising buying and selling to the mobile platform.  These technologies have proved instrumental in delivering advertising to the consumer through mobile media channels such as Web and video, with downloadable applications and MMS campaigns on the near horizon.

Where to now?

The response to advertising on the “third screen” has been overwhelming.  Major brands from the automotive, hospitality, technology and financial industries—to name a few—have taken to mobile to promote their product, while publishers continue to launch new ad-supported content, daily.

While many are still testing the waters, and some mobile technology has yet to become a part of continual campaigns (MMS and downloadable applications), the rapidly emerging mobile advertising market has opened its doors.  As we move steadily into the second half of 2006, we’ll soon find ourselves looking back on a year that proved instrumental for the industry, one in which mobile advertising became the reality we once dreamed it to be.

Creating a Mobile Curriculum
Written by Brian Tschoepe

Through my research into mobile marketing and my involvement with the student media, I was sponsored by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Distributive Networks to attend the MMA Forum on June 7th. From a student perspective, this experience was exceptionally interesting because it focused not on the standard marketing practices taught in most classrooms but contained the underlying theme of tying a business model to the marketing concept. From discussions between the major, wireless carriers to the mobile search advocates and mobile web initiatives, the theme of carefully crafting business models that do not disrupt, but rather enhance, the consumer experience was stressed as a focal point for the MMA. In my schooling, this point is rarely discussed.

The process of using the mobile medium as a tool to reach consumers is consistently focused on in the classroom, but rarely do academic discussions go beyond reach and frequency. Very few discussions venture into the realm of consumer permission, the mobile value chain and the creation of new digital behaviors within our culture. Unfortunately, the academic classrooms are primarily relying on the digital jungle of information on the web and sometimes lack the real-time examples that MMA articles provide. Only those who come across the MMA through multiple Google searches will find this information. I would like to see the MMA and the academic community more closely allied to facilitate a constant exchange of information.

In addition to the MMA offering a credible and distinct voice within the academic community, the mobile arena offers an opportunity for new types of creativity in university classrooms. Being such a new medium, creativity lies in not only the message sent to desired contacts but also in the inventiveness and strategic thinking needed in figuring out the best aperture moment and careful way to get the desired message across in a highly interactive and personal environment. In most universities, it is common that students in class that deal with creativity focus on the message, but mobile marketing as a medium offers the chance to teach creativity to students in a new way that focuses equally on the message, its delivery and its timing. Introducing this mobile marketing platform to students will be important in proliferating the best practices set forth by the MMA.

Another benefit to the close relationship between academia, primarily students, and the MMA is the strong use of mobile tools by students. While adults are also using mobile platforms, the standard college students will not remember flirting in person, but sending text messages to that potential love interest. As consumers create and mold behaviors that will become common place for the heart of Generation M, academic insights from primary users will help to create successful and personal uses of mobile messaging that will hopefully translate well to other mobile users in the future.

At the conference, the sessions were split up among different uses of the mobile platform which also opens the door to studies from academics that specialize in other digital markets. For example, the discussion of mobile search brought in not only mobile marketing experts but search industry experts as well. Mobile marketing as a medium in reaching people will have a unique place in the university setting because the discourse around mobile platforms will incorporate discussion and ideas from not only mobile marketing experts, but a wide variety of digital and potentially traditional marketing disciplines.

As stated at the conference, the mobile marketing industry is still in the infancy of pre-school, but as it grows up, it is important to leave the curriculum created by the pioneers behind for the academic world. With the first mobile marketing journal recently released, the engagement between academia and the MMA is just beginning to start, but must continue so that ideas from both ends are shared and work in the same direction. In the mobile marketing realm, even the teachers are students.


Brian is a student at The University of Texas at Austin in their advertising program, and more specifically, their TexasMedia sequence. The TexasMedia sequence is one of the few programs that offer a specific sequence and certification in media. While TexasMedia deals with all forms of media from print and broadcast to interactive, he has found his niche in the digital media arena.

Brian is also the Student Ad Director of Texas Student Media. Texas Student Media (TSM) is the over-arching company that manages all the student media properties at the University of Texas. His seminal experience in this role was bundling all of the media properties sold by TSM. Brian is also engaged in proposals which would add SMS coupons and mobile content delivery to the media property portfolio. Additionally, he is contributor of ideas to the creation of a mobile program at TSM.

This summer, Brian is interning at mediaedge:cia in New York in their search division and hopes to work in the digital media space when he graduates.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Future of Social Networking is in Your Pocket
By Andrew Stollman, President, Q121.com

Most social networking sites springing into existence on the Web today suffer from virulent cases of “mySpace envy,” rushing to add me-too features and functionality that mimics, but in no way advances or improves the user experience. It’s hard to blame them in light of the juggernaut that mySpace has become -- the second most-trafficked site in the U.S., behind only Yahoo!, with more than 80 million members and a quarter million more joining every day.

But very few of those sites (and, by extension, their advertisers) have stopped to consider the fact that mySpace’s young, tech-savvy members spend less time with their laptops than with their mobile phones. As much as they value their computers, they think of their phones as extensions of their wardrobe, or as expressive of their personality as their car. And unlike any other media platform, they’re not just an infotainment device, but also their primary means of communicating with the world. For those reasons, mobile phone owners in that demographic are willing to spend just as much money on content for their phones as their browser-bound peers are paying to the iTunes Music Store -- the Yankee Media Group predicts that the 2006 worldwide mobile infotainment market will top $35 billion, led by ringtones, gaming, graphics, video and audio/music.

The convergence of these trends has created a marketing opportunity that’s only begun to be exploited by sites like Buzznet, Juicecaster, and our own offering, the just-launched Q121.com. Think of these sites as “mySpace-to-go,” in which social networking principles and content sharing are extend to mobile phones, allowing members to create affinity groups, send text messages, and share or purchase self-created or premium content seamlessly between their computers and phones.

This has all been enabled by the mobile carriers’ decision to open their “decks” and allow third party content aggregators to distribute directly to the mobile carriers’ customer.  As a result, direct-to-consumer portals like us have emerged to market content and services to consumers while relying on the carrier’s infrastructure for delivery, support and billing (in exchange for a healthy cut, of course). 

But all three of the sites mentioned above have offered their tools to consumers for free in hopes of spurring members to create and share their own content via their phones, thus driving growth virally and providing marketers with a platform to reach potentially millions of customers. (In contrast to the mobile content market, mobile ad spending is still in its infancy -- only $45 million last year. That figured is expected to swell to $1.3 billion by 2009, according to the tech consultancy Ovum.)

For example, Q121.com will launch this month with 50,000 registered users, after only a few months of beta-testing, and it is already adding several thousand new members each day.  Just under half of all members have already downloaded content to their phone, and of those, the average user is downloading 6.2 pieces of content each month. Our early demographic data implies that the average Q121.com member is between the ages of 16 and 28 years old (older than mySpace and similar sites) and is comprised of 61 percent women.

There is no doubt that in the long run, the mobile phone-as-platform will have greater reach and almost as much versatility as PCs today thanks to the combination of Moore’s Law and a young generation that has made mobile phones ubiquitous. But what they really want is something to do with their phones; the first generation of mobile social networking sites offer one solution.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Marketing Through Common Short Codes
BY Laura Marriott | June 15, 2006
Click Z

To View Direct Article, please click HERE.

At the Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA's) Mobile Marketing Forum (MMF) last week in New York, almost every publisher, brand, and agency that spoke about its mobile marketing campaigns and successes, mentioned common short codes (CSCs). Unknown to many, CSCs are the five- or six-digit text messaging (or SMS) numbers marketers provide to consumers so they can interactively engage in a campaign.

One of the most popular examples is "American Idol." Viewers are requested to text in the five- or six-digit number of their favorite Idol. Each translates as a vote. Rather than have consumers enter a long telephone number (xxx-xxx-xxxx), marketers offer CSCs to simplify participation in text-based mobile messaging campaigns. Launched in the United States in 2003, roughly 1,700 CSCs exist today.

Short Code Primer

In the United States, the CSC process is managed by the Common Short Code Administration (CSCA) and is supported by participating wireless carriers, mobile application service providers (MASPs), and aggregators. Any company or brand may acquire a short code, but it must work within the steps and application process outlined by the CSCA to obtain their codes. Brands should also be aware there are monthly leasing rates that apply to each and every short code, very similar to the URL process.

Currently, there are two types of short codes available: random and vanity. Random CSCs are numbers the CSCA randomly assigns; vanity CSCs are selected based on the a brand's requirements. For example, 12345 would be a random number, whereas NIKE1 could be a vanity code for Nike.

Short code campaigns may be launched as standard SMS programs, in which consumers aren't charged for the content; or as premium SMS (PSMS) programs, for which consumers are charged. In both instances, the basic messaging charges under the carrier's rate plan apply. With PSMS, the consumer is also charged an additional fee for the content.

Due to their ease of use for consumers, CSCs help increase consumer response to advertising and marketing promotions. For some, text messaging is new. Thus, it simplifies the data entry process and the ability to participate in campaigns.

To aid in the launch of campaigns, the MMA has released a short code primer that outlines the steps a brand or agency should follow when pursuing a CSC-based mobile marketing campaign.

Brand Uses of Short Codes

At the MMF event last week, I heard several case studies outlining mobile marketing successes using short codes. "GQ" magazine, for example, realized the power of mobile and short codes for its audience. Of the GQ consumer base, 100 percent own cell phones and 93 percent use their phones for text messaging. One campaign GQ launched was a text-to-win promotion using its short code 47624 (GQMAG -- a vanity CSC), which consumers could use for a chance to win a Kid Rock CD.

According to Scott Carlis, GQ's executive marketing director, 64 percent of contestants entered within the first day of the campaign launch. What an incredible response rate -- on day one, no less! The campaign's ease of use and the targeted marketing with a marketing channel consumers already knew and understood helped drive GQ brand awareness and encourage program participation.

Cyriac Roeding, CBS Corp.'s VP of mobile, shared some of CBS's recent short code-based mobile marketing successes as well: allowing consumers to vote for the returning housemate on "Big Brother"; downloading a ring tone from a new Coldplay song, which launched on "CSI"; and downloading a wallpaper of the housemates from "Big Brother." All programs were based on a consumer requesting and interacting with the brand through CBS CSCs.

Perhaps one of the best-known short code campaigns, particularly in New York's Times Square area, was "Wrinkled or Wonderful." It was connected with Dove's 2005 "Campaign for Real Beauty" campaign. Dove displayed pictures of women on Web sites and out-of-home advertisements and asked consumers to vote via short code 43683 (4DOVE) whether the woman was wrinkled or wonderful. The campaign encouraged lots of buzz and helped drive non-texter adoption of text messaging and short codes.

Conclusion

As I've written numerous times, mobile allows brands to connect with their consumers like never before. It gives them the chance to develop a one-to-one dialogue and relationship with consumers anytime, anywhere. CSCs are one way to do exactly this. They allow brands to offer easy-to-use, relevant, entertaining information that ultimately drives consumer action.

CSCs are easier than many other campaigns out there. I'm able to get information delivered to my fingertips at the point I'm ready to receive it. On that note, I leave you with one of my current favorite short codes with a real-world utilization.

After landing in New York last week, I grabbed a taxi to my hotel. The driver didn't know the location of my hotel, so I simply entered the text "Paramount Hotel New York City" to 46645 (GOOGL). Within seconds, the hotel's address and phone number were returned to me, via text message, compliments of Google. Rather than use mobile Web or standard 411 directory assistance, I had the information I needed, when I needed it -- while racing through the streets of New York. If you haven't already participated in a short-code-based campaign, try GOOGL. It's easy and addictive!

CSCs provide a great alternative for brands to quickly and easily add mobile-messaging-based marketing to their initiatives, including information, text-to-win, interactive voting, and other innovative mobile messaging applications.

For further information on how to launch a program using short codes, visit the CSCA or MMA for guidelines, primers, applications, and case studies.

To view the MMA Short Code Primer, please click HERE.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> 

Advocacy and the MMA

Jim Manis
Senior Vice President
m-Qube, Inc./VeriSign
Chairman Emeritus, MMA

The MMA has organized an advocacy outreach initiative to the FCC, FTC and other public policy makers designed to educate key decision-makers on the nature and status of the “off-portal” common short code driven industry, and the good work we have undertaken to create and publish rules of engagement through the MMA Consumer Best Practices.  This is an important initiative of the MMA as our industry continues to undergo rapid growth and expansion.

Last month, the FTC and FCC provided an opportunity for the MMA Advocacy Committee, with the support and participation of CTIA and Wiley, Rein & Fielding, to discuss how our industry works and review in detail the MMA Consumer Best Practices.  These meetings were successful and productive, and underscored the power of the consumer when demanding access to mobile data, news and entertainment in an “open garden” environment.  Consistent with this power is the MMA approach to best practices that ensures control is in the hands of the consumer through standards developed by representatives of those who create and deliver value to the consumer. 

Feedback drew attention to unique concerns about marketing to children, the importance of clear dispute resolution paths when questions arise, and the need for clear advice of charge in advertising materials.  In general, I thought there was a good and healthy dialog that netted consistent acknowledgement that all participants that the industry are taking the correct steps for healthy and sustainable growth.

More discussions like this with a wide range of audiences are important as our industry continues to expand.  Premium SMS revenues grew at a rapid pace over the last 18 months.  New premium services are expanding rapidly and will undergo further growth and modifications as new network functionality makes richer messaging formats available and as new revenue models emerge.  Sponsorship revenue models and higher value mCommerce services will create more opportunities for consumer interaction.  This somewhat fragile but yet dynamic and pervasive new channel presents each of us the challenge of delivering better value to the consumer while focusing on customer retention and loyalty. We are all partnered in this shared goal.  <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Measuring WAP Ad Campaign Success
BY Laura Marriott | June 1, 2006

ClickZ 

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WAP, or mobile Web, adoption is growing in North America. According to M:Metrics, approximately 10 percent of consumers use the mobile Web for gaming, messaging, and browsing. Demographics skew higher for male users, and overall mobile Web users are generally in the 18-44 year old age group (though predominantly within the 25-34 age range). In terms of income, mobile Web users have large disposable incomes, with 38 percent earning over $75,000 and 22 percent earning over $100,000. In Europe, WAP adoption numbers are even higher.

The mobile Web is here to stay!
As I described last time, there are many applications consumers can use via the mobile Web. But how, as a brand, do you participate in and measure success from a WAP-based ad campaign? Measuring a mobile Web campaign's effectiveness is done in a similar way to measuring an Internet campaign's success. Key terms to know include:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

• Impression: Successful viewing of an ad. For example, when a subscriber browses a data product (WAP, video, downloadable, or even MMS), ads appear within the content. Ads are sent to the user's screen by an ad server that reacts to "calls" from the mobile content provider. An ad impression is recorded each time an ad is called and subsequently displayed on the user's screen.
• Click rate: User interaction (highlights and clicks) with the ad (banner, text link, interstitial). Brands can then measure the participation in a campaign through consumer action, whether it's a clickable banner, click to call, or something else.
• CTR: A click on an ad that takes the consumer to a jump page for more information or to take advantage of an offer. A jump page enables consumers to get more information on the product/service being marketed and creates an opportunity for the consumer to interact with the brand.
• CPM: A measure used by Internet marketers to price ad banners. Sites that sell advertising will guarantee an advertiser a certain number of impressions (number of times an ad banner is downloaded and presumably seen by visitors), then set a rate based on that guarantee times the CPM rate.
• Redemption: The number or percentage of consumers who actually take advantage of a particular offer. Most often, redemption is tied to mobile couponing applications.

I recently asked Courtney Leimanis, director of sales at Zingy, what brands can expect in terms of success rates from a mobile Web campaign. (Zingy has offered WAP advertising since 2002). Leimanis says average campaign click rates are 3.25 percent, with average WAP CPM around $45. This seems to be a lot higher than what we see from the Internet, where average CPMs are about $5 and click rates are less than 2 percent.

According to Leimanis, the nice thing about the mobile Web is it's so much like online that brands and consumers find it easy to make the connection. And the simplicity of mobile Web will help to drive overall adoption.

Why should brands consider mobile Web advertising in their overall strategies? First, mobile allows a brand to establish the one-to-one dialogue with its consumers. Due to the nature of the personal device, we have always-on, always-available interaction with consumers. The mobile Web is something they understand. Leimanis believes users already knows what to do with the Internet, so extending to mobile is easy for the brand.

What types of campaigns can be deployed using mobile Web and mobile Web advertising? A few sample WAP campaigns launched by Zingy:

• The Travel Channel. The Travel Channel promoted the debut of a new show, "No Reservations," by launching its own WAP site. The site featured a bio of celebrity host Anthony Bourdain and detailed his weekly travel itinerary to bring fans back each week and remind them to tune in. The Travel Channel ran ads across Zingy's WAP network and enabled direct click through to the custom site. The application was good brand extension for the Travel Channel, as it allowed consumers to take the brand with them wherever they went.
• Reebok. Reebok launched a new customizable shoe by promoting it with personalized content (including ring tones and wallpaper) that consumers can use to customize their phones. Reebok enabled opt-in for consumers to receive an e-mail with retail locations where they could customize their shoes.
• The U.S. Navy. The U.S. Navy used WAP for recruitment efforts, reaching young adults by appearing throughout such WAP sites as Vindigo and FilmFan.com to promote a free Navy film giveaway. The campaign enabled immediate click to call to the Navy recruitment center.

For more information on how to integrate mobile advertising into your initiatives, see the Mobile Marketing Association's (MMA's) mobile advertising guidelines, which outlines the basics for mobile Web banners and mobile posters (coming soon). The guidelines are published by the MMA's Ad Standards Committee, chaired by Kim Olson, of Sprint Nextel, and Heidi Lehmann, of Third Screen Media. Committee participation is open to all MMA member companies.

Integrating Mobile into the Mix<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

June 01, 2006

By Fawn Fitter

www.imediaconnection.com  

To View the Direct Article, please click HERE.

ipsh! pulls off the first cross-continental mobile campaign as part of an integrated global marketing effort for Elizabeth Arden's Fantasy fragrance.

Say you're trying to launch Britney Spears' new fragrance, Fantasy. You know her biggest fans are teen girls. Where are you most likely to find them? That's right: on their mobile phones.

From personalized phone accessories to text messaging, the mobile market is sizzling among young women aged 13 to 24-- and that, in a nutshell, is why Omnicom's mobile marketing firm, ipsh!, was chosen to develop what it says is the first truly multinational mobile marketing campaign.

The campaign rounds out an integrated marketing effort developed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners for Elizabeth Arden that includes television and internet advertising. The mobile elements leverage the FantasyBritneySpears.com website. On the site, visitors can listen to the pop star talk about her romantic dreams, play a game where they hunt a crush with Cupid's arrow, and send e-cards with the site's fairy tale theme. Through late October, thanks to ipsh!, they can also download four free ringtones, letting Britney's soft Southern accent alert them to an incoming call with phrases like, "This could be your fantasy coming true" and "Hey, hottie, your phone's ringin'."

"What we know about ringtones is that they're incredibly viral," says ipsh! CEO Nihal Mehta. "People listen when a phone rings, and then they'll ask, 'hey, where did you get that?' and download it themselves."

While the mobile campaign is designed to drive awareness of the new fragrance, Mehta adds that it's also a fun bonus for customers who already have it and want to increase their interaction with the brand. "People love personalization," he points out. "For kids, it's 'I want this phone, this phone is me, it's in my pocket all day long, I want it to reflect who I am.'"

After just one month, Mehta says the Fantasy campaign is one of ipsh!'s top 10 successes in terms of traffic, with thousands of downloads around the globe.

Bringing Britney to mobile phones in seven countries on four continents has been no small feat. The firm needed to be able to deliver downloads through at least 20 different cellular carriers, each with dozens of different kinds of handsets. Pulling it all together required months of product research, including sending a product manager to Barcelona to assess performance in real time. In other countries, ipsh! recruited a bevy of paid volunteers to test every possible combination of phone and carrier.

"This is documented as the first cross-continental mobile campaign ever," Mehta says.

The ipsh! CEO confesses he's a little surprised by the mobile marketing campaign's success-- not because of any shortcomings in the campaign, but because he didn't grasp the enduring popularity of a pop star who hasn't released a record in three years. Still, he says, she's clearly a global phenomenon, and so are ringtones and wallpapers.

"The United States has been behind the rest of the world in mobile, [although] most of the world spending on mobile comes from U.S. companies," Mehta notes. "This shows that the United States is catching up and is a center of a lot of creativity, because this is where the brands are. This is a U.S. campaign with a global reach, and it's showing the world that we know what we're doing and that we're catching up."

A Shorter Short Code
By Enid Burns | May 8, 2006 | ClickZ

Mobile Internet usage is on the rise, but getting consumers to respond to a call to action by using their mobile phone is still fairly uncommon. Newcomer mobile technology firm Zoove hopes its implementation of "StarStar dialing" will make things easier.

Instead of requiring mobile subscribers to use SMS to respond to advertisements with mobile components, Zoove's StarStar Dialing recognizes the request when a consumer dials "**" and a unique word or number. The product uses an existing telecom protocol, SS7 (define) to connect consumers to a mobile Web site. SS7 works worldwide, meaning Zoove can offer the service on a global scale.

To View Entire Article, please click HERE. 



Submitted by    

·          Content and function support users' goals. Half of the sites reviewed by Forrester failed to provide the content and functions required to do simple mobile Web tasks, like finding flight information or getting stock updates.

·          Site design improves. Navigation and presentation problems permeate the consumer experience. Most of today's sites provide little value.

·          Users can find mobile sites more easily. Mobile Web features available today from a mobile version of a site are often buried, making them hard to access or even find.

Part of the problem is that many existing Internet sites are grounded in desktop PC-oriented services and were not designed with a mobile phone in mind. In the U.S., consumers use a PC as our primary Internet access point. This usually means using a full keyboard, a large monitor, one dominant operating system and browser, and there are generally no limits on how much data can be downloaded in one sitting. This model works well when we have time to take advantage of all that information.

But using the mobile phone to access the Internet is a different story. There are more than seven types of operating systems, including, Palm, Symbian and Windows CE – and at least seven types of browsers, such as Firefox, Mozilla and Opera. The devices have numerous ways to input data: some use a typical phone pad, some use QWERTY and some have limited keyboard functionality. And with all of them, the screen size varies greatly. Most importantly, we don't “browse” the Internet from a mobile phone in the same way we do using PCs. On a phone, we want contextually relevant information delivered in bite-size bits.

When we access the Web with a mobile phone, our expectations for ease of use are the same ones we have when accessing the Internet from the PC. Namely, we want it to be simple and reliable. On top of that we want information that is relevant, timely and quick. But we soon discover it doesn't work very well.

For the developer, designing content and services for mobile phones that meet these expectations is difficult. How do you design content when there are so many variations in devices, browsers, operating systems, operators, etc.? Operators have tried to deliver a consistent and reliable user experience by developing “walled gardens,” which deliver pre-set menus of content. But as many consumers will tell you, choices are limited and reflect a “one size fits all” orientation.

In the early days of the Internet, companies like Prodigy, AOL, and CompuServe gave users a stable and controlled environment to browse good content. This met the needs of the time and subscribers grew modestly … until the boom. What happened? Standards like HTML were widely adopted as did tools based on those standards that enabled everyone to easily access the Web – and also allowed users to publish their own content (and to do so cost effectively). Ultimately, there was a standardized way for content developers (from Amazon, to Home Depot, to your local plumber) to generate Web sites accessible by any Internet user, regardless of his or her Internet Service Provider.

History does repeat itself, albeit with slight variations. Today in the mobile Internet, we are at the early stages, where good content is found within the walled gardens and mobile Internet usage has not taken on the critical mass of consumers. To grow the mobile Internet in the same way that the PC-based Internet evolved, what is needed is a standards-based approach that is backed by a cross-section of the mobile industry that has a stake in its success. Enter dotMobi – the informal name of mTLD, Ltd. dotMobi’s backers include the “who’s who” of the mobile and Internet industry. They all share the same goal: growth of the mobile Internet in a user-centric, achievable and standardized way.

To achieve that growth, dotMobi has launched the first in a series of Switch On!™ Guides. These guides are based on the work of leading mobile companies as well as participation in the W3C Mobile Web Initiative. dotMobi is committed to developing Switch On! Guides based on open standards with a focus on predictable user experience and interoperability. This brings the standardization needed to make mobile Web sites work for both consumers and for content developers. By following the SwitchOn! Guides, developers can create sites that work independently of carriers or phone types, and they provide content designed to meets needs of users on the go. And since dotMobi is backed by many of the world’s leading telecom and Internet companies, there is little doubt that the principles behind the Switch On! Guides will quickly gain adoption.

And to make sure consumers can easily locate these sites, dotMobi has launched the “.mobi” domain, which is the first – and only – top level domain dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices. Domain names using .mobi are designed to lead users to made-for-mobile Internet content and services that can be quickly accessed and utilized.

Today, for example, the Yahoo! URL is http://wap.oa.yahoo.com; AOL’s is http://mobile.aol.com; ESPN’s is http://proxy.espn.go.com/wireless/espn/ and the ABC News mobile URL is http://wap.go.com/abcnews/. Now, with .mobi, users can simply type yahoo.mobi or aol.mobi or espn.mobi or abcnews.mobi, and know that the site will work on a mobile phone. Keep in mind that mobile Web users don't want to access all of CNN.com. Instead, .mobi sites are about addressing what mobile users do want – bite-sized portions of information such as weather, directions, news and sports updates – and delivering it so that it can be navigated and read on a small screen.

Once content developers are able to create mobile sites and consumers are able to find them, the question of distribution arises. Up to now, content developers had to rely on operators for both placement and for billing. But if you are able to create sites that can be accessed by anyone regardless of their location or operator, you now have the option to offer your content directly to the customer. As m-commerce options continue to improve and gain acceptance, the reliance on operators for billing also diminishes.

Is this all bad news for the operators? Absolutely not. The operators need to encourage additional data traffic. If the Internet becomes friendlier and offers more optimized and relevant choices to the average mobile customer, those consumers are far more likely to pay for and use data services, thus increasing operators’ revenue.

Given the expense of mobile phones versus personal computers, there is no doubt that – on a global level – many people will access the Internet primarily by using mobile phones. In fact, globally, just over one-fourth (28%) of mobile phone owners worldwide have browsed the Internet on a wireless handset, up slightly from 25% at the end 2004.[2] Many industry observers, such as Forrester, predict that by overcoming mobile Internet usability hurdles, dotMobi is likely to create strong demand for new content and services, and significantly drive up mobile data traffic. This is sure to provide a new revenue stream for companies who meet the needs of the mobile user.

The promise of the mobile phone to become the communication and computing device of choice is about to be real.  Now the US market and the players have to step up.