Tag archives: sms

Happy Texting - 20 Years of SMS

Neil Papworth is the engineer who sent the world’s very first SMS/text to a mobile phone. On Dec 3 1992, Neil sent a text to Vodafone executive Richard Jarvis, saying ‘Merry Christmas’. Little did they know they were setting the foundation for a 20-year long habit enthralling billions of teenagers (and unnerving their parents). Agency THEY in The Netherlands celebrates the anniversary through an interview with Neil Papworth … naturally conducted via SMS/text.

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Text for Haiti

Very simple yet very strong ad to support donations via SMS for Haiti. The agency is N=5 Amsterdam.

Text and recycle in London

Mobile marketing is not just for brands, it can prove effective and powerful for public administrations also. In London residents will be able to request details of when their recycling is collected or where their nearest recycling facilities are, all by texting RECYCLE and their full postcode to the number 63131. E-Consultancy reports the service is part of an effort to encourage Londoners to recycle more. An outdoor advertising campaign by Recycle for London has also been launched to support the initiative.

Smartphones and mobile advertising

According to the numbers recently released by Gartner, smartphones will represent one fifth of all mobile handset sales by 2008. 3G eventually appears to be around the corner, and we need to start thinking about the real opportunities on a mass market scale the new technology will provide us with. After the failures in the early stages of the mobile market, mobile advertising is about to come back but, of course, we need to take into account the lesson learned from past mistakes. Basically the marketing approach to mobile phones should be “push” not “pull” but, with the growth of WAP 2.0 portals and mobile HTML browsers, this concept will evolve. I see a near future of “light” contextual advertising, while I believe we still have to wait a couple of years for mobile rich media. Of course the technology is already there to support streaming media ads and now even Flash animations, but marketers need to remember the “pricing” issue. Given the current prices of 3G connections in Europe (recently I spent 15 Euros with Vodafone to download 300 Kb!!!) making the user pay to watch your ads is a crazy idea that could absolutely damage a brand. So while we wait for 3G to reach the mass market with carriers applying fair prices, SMS and partly MMS will still remain the best mobile marketing option.

Thoughts on outdoor advertising and SMS

Integrate and innovate, this is the lesson Kinetic Worldwide is trying to teach its clients, educating them to the benefits of including mobile shortcodes on outdoor advertising. New Media Age (sub. req.) reports the company believes starting a mobile relationship via SMS is even more important than driving traffic online by adding an URL on billboards.

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Traffic updates via SMS

Traffic reports will be delivered to mobile users in the Cincinnati Area thanks to an initiative by Zebra Mobile Marketing. As the Cincinnati Business Courier explains, people can start the service by texting “traffic” to a dedicated number. Too bad they don’t tell how the billing system works and how much is charged for each message.

SMS push for Interflora

Interflora is running its first ever direct marketing campaign, using direct mail and SMS. As DM Bulletin reports, the campaign, by WWAV Rapp Collins Leeds, includes elements like an advent calendar, which reminds customers that Interflora takes orders up to 11am on Christmas Eve for delivery the same day.

Text 2 win when the Knicks play

TextnWatch2Win100K is an initiative launched by Unwired Appeal and Insite Media Group to engage spectators during NY Knicks basketball matches. During the first quarter of select Knicks

Blogs for smokers (willing to quit)

The British Heart Foundation is online again with another anti-smoking campaign. The ads, featuring the message “give up before you clog” as well as a dedicated web site, have been developed by DNA. BHF’s site gives users the possibility to keep their own weblog to tell people about their experience trying to quit smoking. Smokers wanting to stop, can also sign up to receive free email and SMS reminders to keep the motivation high.

Texting isn’t cheap

SMS prices in Europe vary from country to country. The most expensive service is offered in The Netherlands where users are charged 0.21� per message, than comes Germany (0.19 cents). In Italy the average price is 0.15�. Scandinavian countries offer the lower rates: only 0.04� in Denmark, 0.11� in Sweden and 0.12� in Finland. In the UK each SMS costs about 0.16�, while in France 0.13� are charged. The prices of course affect the average number of messages sent per month, with Danish users leading the way with 66 SMS’. The research was carried out by Xonio (in German).