Carnival of the Mobilsts: 21

Be sure to check out this weeks host for the Carnival of the Mobilists: MOPocket

You can read the full carnival here!

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Mobile Marketing to Children

In an article in the London Times today it was reported that junk food firms face a ban on targeting children on their mobile phones. Read more...

The concern over marketing to children as a means to combat the growing obesity problem in the UK comes at a time when there is an increasing attention to what constitutes best practice guidelines that relate to marketing to children in general - but also specifically when it comes to marketing to children via the mobile.

Best Practice Guidelines

The MMA-UK has a specific section regarding marketing to children in their Code of Conduct. There are specific guidelines on what you can and cannot do based on age.

The DMA UK has recently released their best practice guidelines for mobile marketing - missing the section on marketing to children. That section has been under review for some months now and the DMA is looking to harmonize their overall code for marketing to children and including mobile as a direct marketing channel. The DMA’s current Code of Practice covers marketing to children with specific references to Online Marketing.

Within the UK, different jurisdictions have defined children as anything from under 12 to under 18. Some research provides for age groupings of 7-10 years of age and 11-14 – Children 15 and up are sometimes considered to be young adults where restrictions are typically related to adult content, tobacco and alcohol.

As today's youth market is increasingly mobile enabled, there is a significant amount of attention and investment being made by brands in reaching these consumers via their mobile phones. It is encouraging to see the marketing community recognizing the opportunity and the need for respecting the end consumer - in this case a child.

What about mobile TV?

As mobile technology advances, the mobile phone is capable of more than just talking and sending the odd text message - it is a rich multi-media device. Consumers are spending a growing percentage of time looking at their phones, watching the screens, compared with the percent of time they spend with their phones glued to their ears in deep and meaningful conversation (like your nail polish colour...) And with this new media rich device comes a more interactive and rich Internet experience - the mobile web as well as streaming and broadcast mobile TV.

Whether it is WAP pages with banner ads or Mobile TV from Sky - these are services that the mobile phone user requests and then consumes personally via their mobile phone. There is no requirement for permission because the consumer is requesting the content. (i.e.; it is not an unscheduled/unsolicited message that just turns up). And there may or may not have been any traditional marketing involved in raising awareness of the availability of the service. But even with no requirement for an explicit permission, there may be a case for requiring age verification.

Age verification systems are already in place to help restrict adult/objectionable content from the prying eyes and fingers of minors. With trends such as we see from the Times article above, age verification could be required for mobile marketing of any product targeted at children including marketing of junk foods.

No wait a minute - kids that young don't have mobile phones!

Well - that's what I'd like to think. But I'm a single 40 year old with no kids. For those of you who are parents - you tell me. When did you child first start pestering you for their very own mobile phone? When did most of Johnny and Susie's classmates start turning up for play dates fully equipped with their own mobiles?

A recent Mobile Youth report shows that consumers as young as 11 are starting to have mobile phones and in 2004 the majority of growth was from children aged 5-10. The primary driver being for children having these mobile phones was the parents who wanted to have contact with their children – rather than the kids asking for the phones on their own. As they say, everything at a price. You can have better access to your children by giving them a mobile phone - from which the children can access all kinds of mobile content.

Where does "mobile marketing" begin?

Because mobile marketing (at least in the UK/EU) requires a consumer's opt-in prior to first contact, I would propose that a majority of mobile marketing actually begins with the traditional marketing effort and if there are any regulations, it should be certain to include direct marketing to children via traditional channels.

If a brand is going to promote themselves via on-pack promotions then it should not include a mobile response mechanic and/or mobile based incentive if the marketing is targeted to children under a specific age.

If the marketing is so broad that the reach is towards both children and young adults, it should be made clear in the creative that only young adults and adults above a certain age are eligible to participate. The mobile mechanic should then have a built-in age verification step to ensure compliance.

In the recent flap over the Crazy Frog ringtone, the Advertising Standards Authority stepped in and required Jamster to restrict their advertising to the post-9PM watershed hour to restrict the impact on children. (Read more…) This was marketing of a mobile content service that was arguably targeted at children that were too young to understand the terms and conditions of the subscription service they were signing up to. It wasn’t necessarily mobile marketing – but it certainly was content that was delivered via the mobile.

If, as marketers we take care in creating our marketing campaigns to ensure that any mobile component or mobile channel is sensitive to the age of the participant, we're on the right track. And if in doubt, we can refer to the DMA or MMA codes of practice on marketing to children.

Carnival of the Mobilsts: 20

Be sure to check out this week's Carnival of the Mobilists. Dorrian Porter has done an excellent job summarizing the best of the mobile bloggers this week. Read the whole post here.

Using mobile for customer acquisition

I've felt very strongly for the last 3 years that mobile and e-mail are actually very poor channels to use for acquisition - especially considering the legislation and best practice guidelines requiring opt-in prior to 1st contact.

The only means of using e-mail and mobile for acquisition was to rent lists... a practice that I frown on quite seriously as the lists are often of low quality and even more often of questionable opt-in. (See my post earlier this week)

But there are good ways to use lists - and there are good ways to use mobile for customer acquisition.

Good ways for list rental

Rather than go on about this in a long diatribe - I'll cut straight to the point.

If you have collected a large amount of data and have built revenues from list rental into your business model - you can change the way you monetize the value of the list and still maintain the revenue stream.

Instead of renting the list itself, rent advertising space as part of your own regular communication with your customers. If you've got a newsletter - sell advertising space to your trusted partners. If you've got an alert system, offer sponsorship as part of the alerts. One of the leading consulting firms in London - E-Consultancy - has been doing this for years. It's not new and it works.

And your trusted 3rd party advertisers are directly affliated with your brand. That means 3 things: 1) it means they are benefiting from the full power of your brand 2) because you are giving them benefit of your brand you can charge significantly more than if you just rent access to a bunch of e-mail addresses and 3) it means that you have fully vetted these 3rd parties to ensure they are credible partners before you put their name on your newsletter or other company communication.

The bottom line -the money is the same or even greater - while driving the credibility higher!

And once a consumer clicks through one of those embedded ads - the customer relationship begins between the consumer and the 3rd party partner. Customer acquired - job done.

And what about good ways to use mobile?

You can apply the same principle described above to SMS or MMS alerts just as well as you can to e-mail newsletters. And you can take the Internet web model and make it work on the mobile Internet through banner ads and paid search listings etc. Again - all coming from fully vetted and credible sources.

And then there is the advent of mobile video. Whether it's streaming media over 3G or mobile access to broadcast television. The 10 second mobile advertising spot works just like today's 30 second television slot - only better. Today's mobile phones can't skip commercials like a PVR can! And with the right application on the mobile, you can have a built in response mechanic... It's like RED Button marketing right there on your phone. And you don't have to dig around in the cracks of the sofa to find the remote to do it - because you're watching the program on the remote control!

Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies

Ok - so as I was finishing my last post it occurred to me that there may be an opportunity to offer a public service. Maybe we should call it - "We Read Them"

Too many people don't bother to read the terms and conditions because it is so much fine print that they don't want to bother. What if we came up with the top 15 things that are buried in terms and conditions that companies want to enforce on you - but don't want you to know? Things like:

• Giving away permission to market
• Giving away permission for 3rd party marketing
• Giving away permission for tracking via cookies
• Giving away permission for background tracking processes

Consumers could go to a single site and put in the name of the website or software they are using to find out what was buried in those terms and conditions!

Anybody else like this idea?

Hard or Soft Boiled Opt-In? - How good is that list?

I recently found a posting from Maria Millares over at MobileMarketingNews on Mobile Spam In this article she has managed to sum up today's mobile marketing challenges in the US very succinctly.

I especially like the quote from Gary-Andereson Jones of Quartez:

"a disreputable minority with a 'gravy train' mentality are spoiling the opportunity for those businesses that operate their marketing campaigns with integrity."

Which she follows up later with her own quote on mobile spam:

"Business ethics aside, why should a company refrain from spamming with response rates ranging between 5% and 35%?"

So how does it start - well it starts with a list broker...

A list broker who contacted me recently - not realizing who he was approcahing - made some aggressive claims on the effectiveness of marketing to non-organic (3rd party opt-in) lists. We exchanged a few e-mails and to demonstrate where his philosophy leads him I'll take a quote from the e-mail:

"There will always be clutter and when you go down the motor way, how do you respond to bill boards, or ads on the sides of buses? Where do you draw the line.

I think Can Spam has worked, as it has given consumers the way to opt -out and I think Spam for email has lessened. "

It seems he is confusing out-of-home advertising and public television/radio advertising - all content over which we have a greater degree of control - with mobile marketing which appears on our mobile phone and we simply can't ignore... And clearly he hasn't been reading the same studies that I have that show that CAN-SPAM has been largely ineffective in stemming the tide of SPAM. [Info World] [ClickZ]

This same salesman bases some of his claims that marketing to non-orgranic 3rd party lists are both effective and legitimate on the similarities between mobile and e-mail lists and even provided me a link to a 2004 DoubleClick Consumer study on e-mail marketing. Here are some highlights - but not necessarily the ones that he will point out to you...

From the Executive Summary on the front page:

"Despite the fact that two-thirds of emails received are considered spam, consumers are increasingly likely to make purchases either online or offline in response to permission-based email (PBE), to see it as a replacement for direct mail communications like bills and statements, and to use it for customer service."

Please note the phrase "“considered SPAM"… if the e-mail is unexpected, from an unknown sender it is possible that it will be considered SPAM – even if there is a legitimate permission that can be traced. So - in spite of the unethical 2/3 of marketers out there, consumers are still willing to do business with the brands that follow best practice.

And from within the document:

"Spam Management: Increasing Sophistication in Management of In-Boxes

Consumers had consistent views of what constitutes spam both this year and last. Deceptiveness and unknown senders are on par with offensive subject matters. Once again, frequency and irrelevancy (even though permission was granted) can be the consumer tipping point between considering something permission-based and considering it spam (58% and 57% respectively noted those negative attributes) [Chart 5]. Interestingly, opinions vary on how much of an impact spam has on their ability to send and receive email: while 22% said it interferes a great deal, 33% said it has little or no impact."

...

"How do consumers manage the increasing glut of spam? They turn to the simple act of deletion (72% as compared to 60% two years ago) [Chart 6]. They have all but given up on the act of unsubscribing (only 20% do this as compared to 33% two years ago). Consumers are clearly sceptical of these messages and a median of only 7.2% of spam actually gets opened. Sixty-nine percent of consumers say they opened only 1 - 10% of them."

...

Some thoughts to consider:

• Without an ACTIVE 3^rd party opt-in the chances are great that a consumer will not recognize the sender.
• List rental is a volume business that will result in greater frequency.
• List rental may or may not qualify the relevancy of the campaign associated with the list rental.

All of this relates to e-mail marketing where consumers have been desensitized over the past few years as well as where they have been given greater tools to control the flood of SPAM arriving in their inboxes. When it comes to mobile SPAM the sensitivity is significantly higher, the consumer has fewer controls (today) on how to stop the unwanted messages and once the volumes reach the point where SPAM compromises their ability to use messaging as a means of person-to-person communication they will be tempted to turn it off altogether - something I assure you the carriers don'’t want to see.

Hard or soft boiled opt-in?

Opt-in permission is something that I take very seriously and as such the only acceptable opt-in permission - especially for 3rd party opt-in - is an ACTIVE opt-in.

An active opt-in is acheived when a consumer is given an express statement of intent that they may receive communications from 3rd parties. After presenting the consumer with this statement, the consumer must actively select (tick the box) to receive these 3rd party communications.

I should note that this is separate from 1st party marketing permission. In this case the consumer should also be given the statement that they may receive further marketing communications and should be required to opt-in to receive those communications.

But if we do this our opt-in consumer list volumes will plummet! Oh no!

Oh yes! You are absolutely right. But what no one seems to pay any attention to is the fact that the quality of the contacts goes up substantially - and marketing costs go down as you are not sending communications to people who aren't interested! This is actually a great thing - not a bad thing! And yes - revenues from 3rd party list rental will also go down - unless you increase the piece rate to account for a significantly higher value through a solid ACTIVE opt-in.

A list broker who recently contacted me claimed to have 8M "opt-in" mobile numbers that they will happily rent to marketers. 8M is a huge number by any standard even in the US where there are 180M mobile users. Anytime the number seems disproportionate to the market, you need to immediately question the thoroughness of the opt-in. And so I did.

Upon reviewing one of his source websites, I found that the opt-in permission for 3rd party communications is indeed contained in the website's privacy policy (see bottom of this article for the text) and covers both e-mail and SMS communications. This is legitimate, even if not as rigorous as I recommend to clients. The consumer's permission is implied with the acceptance of the Ts and Cs which include acceptance of the Privacy Policy. Thus - technically - this list broker can claim they have an opt-in list from the one website I reviewed. They can claim opt-in permission from this single source - although I haven't checked it for all the different sites that were used to accumulate the 8M.

So what's the point Troy?

Am I out to put all the list rental companies out of business - no. Marketing has used list rental for years - and very successfully. Today's list brokers have a wealth of information about consumers including more than just old fashioned demographics, but behavioural patterns and trends and more. I absolutely support the responsible use of these services to offer consumers communications that are timely, relevant, valuable and requested (TRVR).

My goal is to raise awareness on the best-practice guidelines and be an advocate for the consumer. It is up to the marketers and the list brokers to ensure best practice and legislative and regulatory compliance. The point is this: Don't be part of the disreputable minority with the 'gravy train' attitude. Be a responsible, ethical marketer. It's not that hard to do things right and the pay offs for your brand will be evident both today and in the long run.

If you're going to rent a list for mobile marketing:

• Make sure that you do your due diligence to confirm that it is truly an opt-in list
• Where possible, only rent lists that have an ACTIVE 3rd party opt-in process
• When using a list to communicate with the consumer, make sure your message is TRVR!
• Always follow best practice and code of conduct guidelines for your country/region

Feel free to comment on this piece or drop me a mail with any further questions you might have.

Troy

The Websites Privacy Policy Wording:
In addition, as a User, member of XXXXXXX and/or agreeing to receive e-mail marketing from XXXXXXX, you agree that such act constitutes an inquiry and/or application or purchase, as applicable, for purposes of the Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR §310 et seq. (the "Rule"). Notwithstanding that your telephone number may be listed on the Federal Trade Commission's Do-Not-Call List, XXXXXXXX retains the right to contact you via telemarketing in accordance with the Rule. You also grant to XXXXXX the right to supply offers to you via text, SMS and/or MMS messages to the mobile phone number you may supply to XXXXXXXX. Moreover, by registering with, or requesting information from, a third-party advertiser at or through the Website, such action shall constitute an inquiry, application and/or purchase with the respective third-party advertiser for purposes of the Rule and you may be contacted via e-mail, direct mail and/or telemarketing by such third-party advertiser in accordance with the Rule.

E-mail Marketer Slapped for Privacy Violations

E-mail Marketer Slapped for Privacy Violations

Yes - ok - so someone has finally been slapped on the wrist for buying a list that they knew to be a bit shady.

And it is fairly (but not perfectly) clear that Gratis didn't sell them this list. I want to know who did? And how did they get the list from Gratis? These are the people I want to see fined!

Product Placement

Consumer group objects to any relaxation of product placement ban - BR Bulletin - Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news by Email - Brand Republic

The ever growing push back from consumers against marketing. In this article the National Consumer Council expresses concern at allowing product placement as part of programming.

Marketers are bemoaning the death of the 30 second commercial with the advent of PVRs (define) and the fact that more and more consumers are switching off television in favour of the Internet.

Driving marketers to mobile

This trend away from television is driving marketers to experiment more with new and emerging marketing solutions including mobile. And while that is good, there is a certain desperation in their efforts that comes through. Too often the first attempts at mobile marketing are based on traditional marketing philosophies and styles ( broadcast more SPAM to the masses - just use mobile ).

So - while the death of the 30 second commercial may mean more opportunity to develop mobile - we need to temper the efforts and find the best way to use this channel or we'll kill it before it ever really finds it's place!

Tesco rejects traffic light system

Tesco under siege as it rejects traffic light system and faces OFT investigation - BR Bulletin - Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news by Email - Brand Republic

Normally I focus on consumer preference when it relates to mobile marketing - but in the case of this story it is consumer preference as it relates to healthy choices vs. those that are either subject to misleading marketing or lack of consumer education.

Personally I'm in favour of any system that helps consumers to better understand how to make more healthy choices.

One of the arguments in this article states that the traffic light system is broken because both apple juice and cola have the same sugar rating. Well DUH! - That's the problem. Consumer's think they are making a better and more healthy choice by selecting juice. But today's manufacturuers make it so that they are adding tons of sugar to their juices. If you want to have apple juice - have it in modeartion. If you want the benefit of apples - eat apples!

UK trails the field at enforcing digital marketing laws - Digital Bulletin - Digital news by Email - Brand Republic

UK trails the field at enforcing digital marketing laws - Digital Bulletin - Digital news by Email - Brand Republic

An ongoing problem where it seems that the only solution is tougher enforcement of legislation.

We spend a lot of time and energy trying to educate marketers on how to act responsibly. And many of them listen and follow best practice guidelines - but what about educating the public?

Fines and shaming for consumers who respond to SPAM!

Now there's an idea. If you made it a penalty for consumers to respond to SPAM then the effectiveness would drop off dramatically.

The reason that marketers use these aggressive practices is that they perceive they are working and that is at least partly true.

How can we make aggressive - and yes illegal - marketing practices vanish? - Make them so they are not effective!

Carnival of the Mobilists - 19

This week's carnival is hosted by C. Enrique Ortez. Be sure and read all the best from the worlds best bloggers on mobile technology and mobile marketing here!

TXT4 - a great system and now exactly what you think...

My original post was entitled:
TXT4 - a great system but not exactly what you think...

UPDATE 18-April-2007

TXT4 - a great system and now exactly what you think... Please read more about TXT4's changes to their data policy.








Broadsystem partners with TXT4 for mobile response services - Data Bulletin - Data news by Email - Brand Republic

LONDON - TXT4 and Broadsystem have established a partnership that will allow Broadsystem's clients to use TXT4's range of mobile response services.

An excerpt from the article gives only a clue of what's really going on...

"Consumer details gathered through this channel can still be stored alongside those gathered in other channels in one central marketing database, giving Broadsystem and its clients a single view of the data."

I was recently contacted by another mobile marketing consultant who was emphatically stating that the way this was done was in violation of various data protection laws and had asked me to take a look.

The fine print

Working from an example campaign, I tried the response mechanic myself and this led me to the Privacy Policy for txt4. If you go to their home page the link for the Privacy policy is at the bottom of the page in almost the same colour as the background. (Makes you wonder why it's so carefully hidden). Nonetheless - I'll make it easy to find. TXT4 PRIVACY

You can read the policy yourself but there is one particular point that is clear upon careful reading. Your data relationship is with TXT4 and not with the brand. This means that it's the privacy policy of TXT4 that you need to read in very close detail.

Perception is reality - sometimes.

TXT4 has a number of high visibility brand clients including Ford, Volvo and Vauxhall. The Telegraph recent promoted the Visit England campaign suggesting that people text the word "enter" to 84118.

If you've never used the service before you may be prompted to reply with your postcode and house number so that you can be sent a brochure from Visit England.

The terms and conditions of the competition don't make any reference to how the data collected will be used or who owns the data - but most consumer's would most likely assume that their data was being given to Visit England. But alas - this perception is not reality.

Fast forward a little bit in time...

At some point in the future you see a very sexy add for the new Ford Supercar and are invited to text "supercar" to 84118 in order to receive a brochure in the post. You send the text message and you get a snappy response telling you that the brochure is en route to you in the mail without ever having to tell them your address. Isn't that snappy!?

Hang on a minute!

UPDATE 18-April-2007

TXT4 - a great system and now exactly what you think... Please read more about TXT4's changes to their data policy.

That's right - the information that you gave to Visit England is now being used by Ford. But did you really give your information to Ford? Did you give your information to Visit England? Actually you gave your information to TXT4 and they can then use that information for any of their future clients that run a campaign where you respond.

On the one hand, TXT4 is providing a unique and valuable service to the benefit of both you - the consumer - and each of their advertisers. TXT4 collects your personal details once and then provides them to any future advertiser where you ask for information. No more entering your house number and post code for each and every campaign - that's cool. But the problem is that it was not fully disclosed and made clear that is what is going to happen.

I contacted James Critchley, M.D. of TXT4 and expressed my general dismay at the fact that my details had been shared between brands without my express permission. James was very apologetic and offered to immediately unsubscribe me from his system.

After a bit of explanation James finally caught on to my point. It's not that I object to his service, I actually think it's very cool and convenient. What I object to is that the service operates in a way that is misleading and does not make clear to the consumer what is going to happen with their data.

How to make this better.

TXT4 has a good service and really can add value to consumers and to the brands that use their service. I would suggest adding a statement to the terms and conditions of the every original campaign that explains to the consumer that the brand doesn't hold their data - but that TXT4 holds their data - and I would explicitly include the contact information for TXT4 and their Privacy Policy on how consumer data will be treated.

Oh yes - and I'd recommend that TXT4 make their Privacy Policy link just a bit more visible -- It's so hidden away it makes one wonder what's in there!

Service Discovery and Mobile Network Operators

In a recent article: Mobile Marketing Magazine: If The Clip Fits... Liora Bram provides a great interview and explanation of how the mobile network operators could potentially benefit from the access they have to their subscribers. Liora promotes the idea that operators have a great deal of access to the previous activity of their subscribers and could use that data - CRM style - to better understand what they should promote for future services.

However...

Time and time again mobile network operators have proven that they do one thing really well - run a network - but not market services. If we're talking about voice or data then the mobile network operators know exactly how to do that. Unfortunately, this space has become near commodity in nature and as such the only way they know how to compete is on price.

Content is the key

For multiple quarters mobile network operators have been trying to figure out how to market content to these subscribers. Liora points out that, "Operators are sitting on a potential content goldmine." - but the consumer is largely unaware. How do you get the message out. Maureen Scott from Openwave will constantly jump in with one of her favorite mantras - "It's all about service discovery." and I couldn't agree more.

Too many options to promote them all

If you include both on-portal and off-portal content there are literally thousands of different offerings in this content goldmine. Some have a broad base of appeal and others are very niche specific. What is problematic is to know which ones to promote and how. And as this is a difficult question, the operators choose not to promote any specific service but instead to promote their platform.

Vodafone promotes Vodafone Live! and spent £100M in the launch alone. But what if they would have spent £1M on 100 different services that all run on Vodafone Live! ? Wouldn't that have given a better result?

As much as operators would like to disagree, practical observation shows that consumers don't do well when trying to discover services from a standard WAP Portal. If what they want is not available within the first few clicks - they aren't likely to bother. And that means that only a few products and services are ever made known to the consumer.

But there is an even better idea...

Ok - so operators don't want to spend money on services that may not go anywhere - they only want to back winning horses. What about another strategy? What about giving more of the revenue back to the individual content owners and letting them spend the extra money promoting their content. Each content owner knows and understands their consumers at a depth that far exceeds any understanding that the operator can hope to acheive - at least initially. Most content owners are already promoting their services through traditional media. Let's give the content owners more of the profits and let them promote their services.

(If this sounds familiar - think NTT Docomo and imode... Imode is as much about empowering the content owners as it is about the underpinning technology.)

But then we are just a pipe!

Newsflash! - Mobile network operators are a pipe FIRST. Ask anyone in the boardroom where they are putting their energy and their investment and it is ensuring that nothing detracts from their voice and data revenues. Yes - they pay lip service to transforming themselves into "content" companies - but only Hutchison 3G has managed to pull that off.

With the exception of 3, mobile network operators have demonstrated and proven beyond reasonable doubt that they are incapable of developing a strategy that truly focuses on promoting and delivering content. ( I'd love to have to eat my words in a few quarters - but I'm not too worried right now...)

Leave service discovery to the people that understand the content and services being offered. Successful content owners will grow and the duds will fade away through a completely organic process. Mobile network operators will benefit from increased data traffic and increased revenue share through higher volumes of transactions at lower percent from each transaction. Btw - in case anyone is wondering - I believe that 15%-20% should be the maximum operator take. That's 10-15%% for the transit and 5% for the transaction clearing through the operators billing relationship with the consumer. The rest of the money should go to the content owners so they can promote their services. Today in premium SMS the rates can go as high as 55% and are seldom less than 30% for the highestariffif and volume combinations. No wonder the content guys are struggling!

One final note on Hutchison 3G

I'd be remiss if I didn't take a minute to talk about why 3 is an exception to the premise that mobile network operators are lousy at marketing content. 3 has done an exceptional job. And it has happened because they started off with the idea of being a content company first - and a voice/data company second.

When you walk into a 3 shop you don't get presented with several 100 different devices to chose from, you presented with a wide range of content and services to chose from. The sales team is focused on presenting, educating and selling the consumer content and services first. The device and the voice plan are secondary.

Admittedly this approach isn't the best for the price conscious consumer who is looking for a glove-box phone solution - but you know - those customers are probably better off going with an operator that understands voice and data and how to milk revenue out of even the smallest voice and SMS service user - like a traditional network operator.

Mobile Marketing Magazine: BlueCasting - The Next Marketing Faux-pas?

Mobile Marketing Magazine: BlueCasting - The Next Marketing Faux-pas?

Nicely written article that demonstrates at least some of the agencies actual "get it!".

The Mobile Technology Weblog: Mobiles Hot for Sex Search

The Mobile Technology Weblog: Mobiles Hot for Sex Search

Ok... OK!!!! I admit it... In my recent post regarding Mobile Search I didn't allow for the single exception that PORN Searches will be popular regardless...

The Mobile Technology Weblog: Sponsored Post: Cellfire

The Mobile Technology Weblog: Sponsored Post: Cellfire

Cellfire has an interesting business model of delivering coupons to mobile phones via an on-device application. They stress -in several places- the opt-in nature of their application. This, of course, makes me very interested to find out more.

Because coupons are delivered to an application that you have specifically loaded onto your phone, they definitely qualify for opt-in. If Cellfire doesn't deliver on the value - the consumer will stop using the application and/or delete it from their device... Ala Opt-Out.

But I've got a few questions for the folks at Cellfire - and happy to post any comments they would like as answers:

1) How does Cellfire get promoted? Marketing this application to consumers will be one of the biggest challenges. I would assume that the advertisers that have coupons available would cross-promote but that's not quite enough. And I don't see any viral aspect to the service.

2) From the looks of the service, coupons are downloaded over WAP ( and a WAP Push is used to deliver the application in the first instance ). For consumer's on unlimited data this is not a problem - but I would like to know how consumers are made aware that there are data charges they may incur associated with receiving the coupons and/or for updating the application from time to time.

3) In the FAQ they state:

"Do cashiers scan my phone like a barcode?

Nope. Cell phone screens can't be scanned. The coupon code on Cellfire coupons looks a bit like a barcode, but that's just to make them look a bit like regular coupons."

And that's not true as there are a number of mobile coupon companies that deliver standard and pixelated bar code coupons to the phone where the phone is scanned as part of the redemption process. It's a small point - but it adds confusion to the other players in the market place.


Cellfire is starting off only in California and only with Cingular - I wish them great success as they release on a broader basis. I like the idea and they have some good advertisers to start. Let's see if they can find the right way to get consumers to adopt the service.

Carnival of the Mobilists - XVII

This week, the Carnival of the Mobilists comes from Emily Turrettini’s Textually.org

A whole bunch of great writing about all things mobile from around the web. Check it out here.

The Pondering Primate: Neomedia Gets Camera Phone Bar Code Patent

The Pondering Primate: Neomedia Gets Camera Phone Bar Code Patent

Should I - or shouldn't I - identify the biggest obstacle to uptake of this service?

You'll have to have a significant market penetration - maybe an entire store, or an entire mall so that consumers have a reasonable chance of getting a hit. If consumers scan 3 barcodes and only 1 of them gets a result - but they get charged the data rate for checking all 3 - the consumer won't try this again.
Solution: This is an opportunity for tipping point philosophy. Once enough brands, marketers and consumers get used to the service it will reach a tipping point. Once that occurs we'll likely be in a winners circle situation. The question is - how can we get here?

Consumers have different mobile phone subscriptions for sure - and some including all-y0u-can-eat data - and some get charged per Kbyte. And I challenge you to randomly sample consumers to find out if they even know! - But most will assume that they are going to be charged as soon as the WAP session starts. i.e.; - this service will cost them something.
Solution: The mobile operators will eventually move consuemers to the flat rate data plans they are used to at home - so this is a temporary problem.

So in the end - I guess I should point out what I perceive as a major obstacle to the uptake of this service. It's only when people see the objection that they can actually begin to do something about it.

Adverblog: MMS marketing worked for Samsung

Adverblog: MMS marketing worked for Samsung

Very few people, including Samsung, will argue the effectiveness of MMS as a marketing channel, but where I take issue is with the response rates. Enpocket has been using these types of statistics for some time. What would be more interesting to me is the response rate to the initial creative that secured the consumer's opt-in in the first place.

It's not clear from the article where the campaign was run, but if it was in the EU then the consumer had to opt-in to receive the content in the first place.

Samsung is sending these messages to members of their Fun Club. How many Samsung customers were presented with the option to join the Fun Club? What percent of those customers chose to join the Fun Club?

My point is this: Opt-In members of the Samsung Fun Club are pre-qualified as consumers who a.) want to receive fun mobile content and b.) are expecting to receive MMS or other messages from Samsung. As such, to get a 15% uptake and 2% conversion on a highly pre-qualified audience is not such a big deal.

It's all a matter of putting the statistics into perspective.

Let's put them into a new perspective. 1%-3% of consumers will respond to traditional marketing - let's be generous and say that Samsung attracted 5% of their customers to join the Samsung Fun Club. Of those 5% - 15% responded and 2% converted. So - of the original Samsung customers the effective results are 15% of 5% or 0.75% response and 0.30% conversion rate. Suddenly, those numbers are not the stuff of headlines.

But enough negativity....

The premise Mike makes that, "Conversion rates are more immediate and more dramatic when brands market to customers on the same device where mobile content is downloaded and consumed". Is absolutely true and spot-on. And mobile is a great channel to deliver content to opt-in consumers. But let's be realistic about the effectiveness. The last thing we need is more unnecessary hype in the market place.

Not all mobile SPAM is the same...

Mobile phone spam is here to stay

An often overlooked "technicality" is that not all mobile phone SPAM is the same.

In this article the author bemoans the fact that mobile phone SPAM is an unfortunate scourge for which there is no remedy or solution. And in this case, he is not far from right.

Mobile phone SPAM in Japan and some other parts of Asia is attributed to e-mail SPAM delivered to mobile phones. E-mail spammers are resourceful and driven individuals and even the most draconian of spam filters sometimes misses an occasional message - or worse - decapitates something that isn't spam at all.

In Europe this is not true. Most European networks do not have the ability to deliver e-mail to consumers on their mobile phones. And while some business enterprise customers may not like this, it is truly a blessing. Besides - those business guys have their Blackberries!

The author also notes the objection of regular international travelers to the Welcome Roamer Network messages they receive every time they turn on their phone in a foreign country. Are these SPAM? Technically they aren't - but as I write so often, "It's SPAM if the consumer says it is." - In some way those network service messages are no longer TRVR.

Is mobile SPAM here to stay? - Maybe in some countries. In European networks - at least for now - the problem is only slightly above nuisance levels.

To understand Web advertising, first understand history

To understand Web advertising, first understand history:

At the end of the article there are some predictions for future trends:

"*Mobile marketing: Some estimates predict that mobile marketing and advertising spending will reach $219 million in 2006. Advertisers need to understand how to reach iPods, MP3s, cell phones, BlackBerries and other on-the-go devices."

This is a nice restatement of an earlier premise of mine that mobile is more than just your phone. Mobile when it comes to marketing or CRM or media should include anything that is always with you when you are on the go, when you are mobile.

"*Permission-based marketing: New technologies and applications will allow consumers to better control their e-mail from unwanted spam and marketers. It is important to get permission to deliver targeted messages to the right people when they want to receive it."

And this further promotes the fact that not only do consumers want more control over who, when and how marketers communicate with them, but that people and businesses are listening.

Three Steps for Mobile Marketing

iMedia Connection: Three Steps for Mobile Marketing

Well - the title is a little misleading. The reality is that the article is about 3 trends in mobile that are making mobile marketing more appealing to advertisers.

Rich Media - Multimedia Messaging (MMS)
Using CRM for Mobile - Mobile CRM
Contextual Advertising - Mobile Banner Ads

These are all nice trends - but they aren't really steps to having mobile marketing take off. Here are my 3 steps for mobile marketing:

Step 1 - Mobile Call to Action (MCA)

The one step that is absolutely required to have mobile take off is an MCA - a Mobile Call to Action. Until marketers are willing to commit a portion of their creative to include an MCA - consumers will never know that there is rich content available to them on their mobile device.

And for those who think that Step 1 is "Buy a list" - be prepared to have your brand and your campaign labeled as SPAM. Even if you can prove to the consumer that you have their permission - you may not have their preference. SPAM isn't just bulk messages delivered indiscriminately - SPAM is the label given to any message that shows up on the consumer's phone that isn't TRVR - Timely Relevant Valuable and Requested.

Step 2 - Make it timely and relevant

In this case using CRM for mobile - as pointed out in the article - can ensure that your campaigns are both timely and relevant. Make the extra investment to understand your customer and where possible, make sure that you know that it's a good time to send the message. You can incorporate proximity and location into the plan and/or you can offer the consumer more control over when, how and how often they receive communication from you.

Step 3 - Deliver Value

Mobile is not channel suited for broadcast marketing. When someone gets a message on their mobile phone it better have some value. And in today's mobile world you can add value in any number of ways. Send your consumer a new ringtone or screen saver or game, send them a coupon for discount in your shop, send them their latest horoscope or sports score. Deliver value!

Rich Media, Mobile CRM and Mobile Banner Ads are all elements of communicating with your consumer on their mobile device, but if you want success in mobile marketing - Start with an MCA, be courteous when you communicate and do more than advertise - deliver value!

Mobile Entertainment: Rush to mobile search begins

Mobile Entertainment: Rush to mobile search begins

Is Mobile Search really the next great frontier? - I'm still reserving my final judgment on this one.

The right tool for the job.

My uncle Marvin was a fantastic carpenter and he was always fond of the saying, "Use the right tool for the job."

Don't use a tweezers when you need to tighten a lug nut and don't use a pair of plyers when you're trying to remove a splinter from your hand. We might same something similar about mobile search.

Don't use Google mobile when you need to type a lot, see a lot and might even want to print out what you find.


Google Mobile - Not for research

It is unlikely that consumers are going to do research from their mobile phone. The point being that people will use mobile search in a different mindset and with different goals in mind.

I can see using mobile search to check the movie times or find the nearest Thai restaurant - but I don't know that it will be done through Google or one of the other rapidly emerging mobile search companies. I see it more like this.

Consumers will use mobile Google to find the mobile website that has the best movie listings. They will then bookmark that site as one of the ones that they will return to frequently to get exactly the information they need. Consumers will wind up with a bookmark for movies, restaurants and train times. They will probably also have a link for Amazon mobile or maybe EBay Mobile (all the ringtones and content you want from a name you trust) and possibly a link to their favourite mobile games provider.

And once they have those links in their phone's bookmarks - they won't be doing general searches so often.

Mobile search while standing in the shop

Will consumer's really stand in the aisle at Walmart and try to tap in the make and model number of the television they are looking at to get a review and price comparison? Or will the ones who are Internet savvy enough to know this is possible have already done so and have done all their research on their PC at home and simply walk into the store with several printed pages to review? I know that's what I'm likely to do.

Oh yes - the money bit.

Musn't forget that the reason everyone is rushing to mobile search is that they think the Google Ad Sense model, paid search, pay-per-click and more are the next big frontier for marketers. But do you think so?

Mobile devices have tiny screens, no mouse and a poor user interface ( Blackberry's and PDA's exempted of course - but they are not truly mass market devices). Exactly how will a consumer view all of these search marketing options? How will they know to click through? Will all the marketing sufficiently degrade the search results they want to the point the system becomes unusable? I don't know. But I'd really be interested in running some independent usability and interest tests.

Maybe I'll grab my trusty Nokia 6230i an go sit in the park and research this to check my premise... Nah.... I'd rather sit here at my desk!