“You can’t approach mobile like the Internet or other media,” said Mandel. It’s a personal device. Some of the best ad campaigns offer utility in the form of a useful application or some kind of entertainment such as video or a game, she said. Both utility and entertainment were included in a campaign for DHL created by Mandel and her team at Ogilvy earlier this year.

Marketing using mobile devices is very new.  It is very hard to predict how mobile users will react to advertising on their personal device.  Users will not want to be bombarded with messages each day especially when they have no interest in the product or service that the company wishes to offer.  One drawback to advertisers looking into mobile: Carriers don’t provide data that metrics-minded advertisers crave to target messaging. Data include demographic and psychographic information, location, and other useful information.However, there is a huge benefit for marketers using mobile as a vehicle to consumers. “Most people have their cell phones on them all the time, so if they’re if watching TV or reading a magazine and they see an invitation that says they can use their mobile phone to enter a contest or to enter a vote, they don’t have to move – they can respond to that call to action right where they’re sitting.” Globally, there are 2.5 billion cell phones in use, up a half billion in 12 months, according to Wireless Intelligence. (CBC) The key to mobile advertising is to let the customer be involved and engaged similar to web advertising. Imagine you’re watching a music video on your mobile device and at the end of the video you have the opportunity, through a single click experience, to buy the artist’s T-shirts, CDs, live tracks not available through any other media, or event posters. Last year, Molson used MyThum technology to issue concert “tickets” by SMS. Ticket recipients get a bar code on their mobile phones, which are then scanned when they get to the theatre.

In addition “As the technology for hand-held devices has advanced, more and more people have traded in their traditional cell phones for gadgets such as smart phones and PDAs,” said Jeffrey Glueck, chief marketing officer for Travelocity. “Whether it’s changing a flight or adding a rental car to their booking, mobile.travelocity.com gives travelers options for managing their trip while they’re on-the-go.” Coupled with increased marketing for online banking, retail banking customers are looking ahead to where the two technologies meet: mobile banking.

“Probably the most important medium for advertising in the 21st century is going to be the cell phone — not print media, not billboards”.  Although mobile advertising is not very big right now, marketers take this into consideration for the future. One of the main concerns with mobile marketing is that the user has to pay for incoming and outgoing messages. If companies can eliminate this barrier by paying the bill themselves then it will open up enormous opportunities. Cell phone users in Singapore can now get free e-mail access, thanks to the development efforts of St. John’s-based Consilient, a developer of “push” e-mail, multimedia and advertising solutions for mobile phones.  If marketers in North America can follow Singapore, it will open up a huge doorway for companies to reach their target market.

References  

ClickZ: The iPhone and Local Search Marketing                                                                           http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626458 

ClickZ: Mobile Advertising 101: Tips for Beginners                                                                               http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3627376 

ClickZ: Music Gone Mobile                                                                                                                  http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3624661                                                                                      

The Globe and Mail Technology: Target audiences give text messaging the thumbs uphttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070920.wsrfastmythum20/BNStory/Technology/ 

The Globe and Mail: Pushing the Mobile Envelope http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20070911.TQ7PG5_2%2FTPStory%2F%3Fquery%3Dmarketing%2Busing%2Bsms&ord=25085713&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true

CBC: Companies discover marketing power of text messaging                                              http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/09/25/text-messaging.html

Business Wire: Travelocity Launches New Service for Mobile Devices             http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071114005168&newsLang=en 

CNN Money: Diebold Reveals Branch of the Future Updates at Retail Delivery 2007Company presents mobile banking technology at concept room                                                                 http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/CLW05814112007-1.htm