Tag archives: mobile marketing

Movies, advertising and stress

I must start by saying I have a negative attitude towards product placement in movies, because most of the times it’s done in a stupid way. Fortunately I’m not the only one thinking product placement is going to far. Rance Crain, editor in chief of Advertising Age wrote an interesting article yesterday on movies becoming “one gigantic product placement” and consumers getting tired of paying to watch a movie full of advertisements. Now there is also a new source of stress for movie lovers: Bluetooth promotional kiosks eager to connect with their mobile phones while they wait for the movie in theater lobbies. The New York Times reports 20th Century Fox has signed a deal with Loews Cineplex Entertainment to distribute movie trailers, ring tones and pictures through kiosks in three Loews theaters, in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. To me, the only good thing about this kind of initiative is that if you’re really interested in this such goodies, at least you get the content for free. Actually I’m not against Bluetooth technology used to deliver (permission-based!) marketing messages, I’m just against movies becoming an advertising show. If you’re interested in movies and product placement read also this: “Must love dogs” becomes product placement bonanza

Mobile marketing for the Herbie Parade

On July 30th Berlin will host the probably longest “Herbie Parade” in the world. On the occasion of this very special event, MindMatics has created an SMS campaign with a prize draw for Volkswagen, which invites Beetle and New Beetle drivers to come to Berlin and do their bit for the Guinness World Record attempt. The mobile marketing mechanism isn’t obvious, and requires some active behavior in the recipients who can text back to be sure they’ll have a place at the parade and also to enter a draw and win one of ten weekends with a Volkswagen New Beetle Cabriolet. Of course, the main idea behind this campaign is not to set a Guiness World Record with hundreds of Beetles “marching” in Berlin, but to promote the movie remake which will debut in Germany on the same day.

Marketers discovering the “third screen”

Big brands are launching this summer mobile marketing campaigns in the US. Bringing with them the experience of similar initiatives run in Europe in the last few years, companies like Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Heineken have started using mobile elements to target the American market. AdAge reports consumers packaged-goods brands like Nesquik and Starburst are particularly active, opting for low risk on-pack promotions. Coca-Cola instead is exploring the rich and fascinating world of mobile games. But the article highlights an interesting aspect: marketers are increasingly interested in mobile marketing, but the agencies aren’t (yet) there to help them and provide ideas and resources… All right, if you need help, you know where to find me… Tag = mobile marketing

Mobile marketing, it’s a question of trust

On his company’s blog, Juanjo gives us some insights from a recent campaign Duplex Marketing has carried out for Sony. It was an on-pack promotion which urged people to text the shortcode they found on the CD pack to a special number, in order to win prizes. The initiative obtained a 10 percent redemption rate, with about 20 to 40 percent of the people submitting codes more than once. I know text2win is just the simplest way to try mobile marketing and it’s doesn’t help much in building a relationship, but I do like it as a “way-in”. On-pack promotions and SMS codes are a good solution to educate both advertisers and the public to the potentials of wireless marketing. It’s a question of building trust: advertisers will learn there is a new, direct and personal channel to promote themselves, and users will understand they can enter mobile sweepstakes at no risk of being spammed with unwanted SMS. Of course this is a delicate game that needs to be played by the rules. Cheat and die. Tag = mobile marketing

3G mobile marketing for Audi

The Audi TT Quattro Sport model is currently being pushed in the UK with a rich media mobile marketing campaign. Thanks to the technology provided by MindMatics and MassOne, smartphones users are able to view content related to the TT Quattro Sport just texting a shortcode. The content is sent as a self-contained data packet that’s designed to run on 2.5G and 3G smartphones on UK networks. Viewers can take a tour of the entire car, using their keypads to zoom in on particular features. There are also wallpapers available to download and the option to send the content to a friend. Print direct marketing and online advertising are also part of the effort.

Small business explores mobile marketing

Salon Text Alert is a new SMS marketing tool which enables hair and beauty businesses to send out promotional messages to the customers’ mobile phones. Having collected customer’s mobile phone numbers, salon owners simply enter the message, input the numbers of their customers into an online address book, and click “send”. The service is available on a pay-per-use system, so hairdressers just pay for the messages they send out. I like the idea of small business exploring mobile marketing. I know it might appear like an expensive solution if their clients’ database has more than, let’s say 500 contacts, but we have to consider the advantages of such communication channel. You directly and immediately reach the person you want to reach. Of course this has to be based on an strict opt-in policy. Furthermore, we have to remember such kind of mobile marketing promotion should not be run more than once per month, in order not to annoy recipients.

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MMS postcard offered by Lastminute

Lastminute.com has partnered with Mobycards to enable users sending personalised postcards to their friends from the MMS pictures taken during the holidays. Netimperative explains the service costs 2.5 pounds and holiday makers will be able to send post cards to any address in the UK just texting the MMS to a special number.

Mobile marketing for dummies

DMNews explains the basics of mobile marketing. Nothing special, but if you don’t know anything about it, take note: - it’s not a mass marketing tool - it’s not (just) about advertising - works better if integrated with other media - it’s a two-way channel and last, but not least… - people are very sensitive: to spam is to die!

Mobile marketing for the Mayor of London

Incentivated has been selected by the Greater London Authority to provide targeted mobile marketing communications to Londoners. Texting the word “Mayor” to the shortcode 62967 Londoners will have the possibility to discover a new range of location-based services and mobile commerce services such as the “Ticket request by SMS”. Mobile marketing will also be used to promote events in the capital and inform people about the GLA initiatives. [News via E-Consultancy]

Mobile marketing not just for teens

New market segments are opening their doors to mobile marketing. If we look at the results of the recent Ogygen Media initiative for Mr Romance, we see conversion rates where pretty good also among young women (18-33 years old). The campaign was based on a permission-based list provided by ipsh! which allowed targeting by age and geographic location sending out about 50,000 messages. Over 15 percent of the women who received the SMS actively responded to the message, and Oxygen also reported a 30 percent jump in traffic to its website during the two days the campaign was running.