High Customer Recall Rates For Mobile Ads

IP Business News recently reported on an interesting study of customer recall rates for various forms of mobile advertisements:

As for the expected consumer backlash, 82 percent of experienced brands claim to have completed a financial action as a result of a subscriber being sent a mobile marketing message, and while that’s not a direct indicator of consumer sentiment, it doesn’t suggest overwhelming disproval.

And there’s even better news for those who have dipped their toes into mobile marketing. In a study from the first quarter of this year by Telephia, 41 percent of mobile video consumers responded in some way to a mobile advertisement, while recall rates across the various platforms of mobile advertising ranged from 20 to 55 percent, with mobile video enjoying the highest recall rates.

Head over to IP Business News for charts, analysis, and more.

Firing Employee for “Calling in Sick” Via Text Message Deemed Unfair

Today we take a look at the lighter side of texting:

If a company can fire a worker via text message, then why can’t a worker “call in sick” via text message?

Apparently he can, an Edinburgh employment tribunal has ruled. Or at least, if an excuse via text message has been accepted once, it has to be accepted again, unless notice to the employee about the change in procedure is given.

Mark Morrison worked as a sales adviser for tile shop Tile It All. When his brother passed away last December, he sent a text message to his manager, Robert Selley, to inform him, and later sent another text message indicating he would be on sick leave until after the funeral.

Upon returning, Morrison heard nothing adverse about his method of informing his employer. Four days later, he again stayed home, telling his manager via text message (over five consecutive days) that he was depressed and not coming to work.

This time when he returned he was dismissed for “failure to follow company procedures.” Policy indicated that he should notifty for reporting absences. The policy stated that absences should be notified by phone calls.

However, the tribunal said that since Tile It All had accepted his notification one week, and hadn’t informed him of any problem, they could not dismiss him for using the same method the next week.

Read the entire article @ RealTechNews

What Are We Thankful For On Thanksgiving? Text Messaging Of Course

Cory Treffiletti at the Online Spin blog writes about some of the things he's thankful for this Thanksgiving:

I am thankful for the iPhone and the ability to take my music everywhere with me, in my phone and on my person. I am especially thankful for the fact that the iPhone comes with a TWO-piece headset, making it easier to block out street noise while calling when away from the office. Why no one thought of that before boggles my mind.

I am thankful for text messaging because it allows me to stay in contact with my fiancé and shoot happy little notes to her at any time of day, making her smile on the other end.

Happy Thanksgiving from Club Texting.

 

New Report: Revenue From Mobile Data Service Continues To Rise

OnlineMediaDaily relays this report from Chetan Sharma Consulting:

For the first nine months of 2007, mobile data revenues reached $17.7 billion, increasing 59% from the year-earlier period. Verizon led the way with $5.4 billion in mobile data sales, followed by AT&T with $4.95 billion, and Sprint at $3.7 billion.

Read the entire article @ MediaPost's OnlineMediaDaily.

The New York Times Now Offers Mobile Real Estate Listings!

The New York Times has made it easy to get information about properties on your mobile device, regardless of whether you are looking in the newspaper, on the Web site or searching directly from a mobile device.

...

From the newspaper:  To get more information about a print ad, text the property ID from a real estate classified to a mobile device.

From your mobile device: To search for properties directly from your mobile device, go to m.nytimes.com/re and enter your property criteria (such as location and price) or  find a specific property by listing ID.

For more details on the program, visit the New York Times' website.

For more information about Club Texting's Real Estate Tools check out our Text Messaging For Real Estate section.

Short Code Basics

RCR Wireless News published an informative article about Short Codes last week.  Whether you're thinking about launching your first mobile marketing campaign, or your a seasoned pro, it's worth a read:

At almost every event I attend, whether for mobile specifically, digital, advertising, etc., dialogue almost always shifts to a discussion around Common Short Code (CSC) mobile campaigns. Those five- or six-digit text messaging (or SMS) numbers marketers provide to consumers so they can interactively engage in a mobile marketing campaign.

Why is everybody talking about Short Codes?

...although many companies are talking about the image-rich opportunities, like video, MMS and so on, text-based campaigns still serve the lion’s share of the initiatives today.

There is a lot of information, but for a quick overview of what a Short Code is and how it works, read on:

One of the most popular examples today in America is “Deal or No Deal." Viewers may participate in the program by texting the Lucky Case to 59595 for a chance to win $10,000. Rather than have consumers enter a long telephone number (xxx-xxx-xxxx), marketers offer the CSC to simplify participation and drive consumer interactions. It is that simple!

In the United States, the CSC process is managed by the Common Short Code Administration (CSCA) and is supported by all of the wireless carriers, mobile application service providers (MASPs), and aggregators. Any company may acquire a short code, but it must work within the guidelines and application process outlined by the CSCA in order 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, although rates are higher than what you might have paid for your Web site. Once your application is submitted to the CSCA, the CSCA will work with each of the carriers to ensure the short code is configured across your selected operator’s networks (for example, some programs may select all carriers, while others may select only one carrier on which to deploy).

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 brand's requirements (and obviously availability of the number from the CSCA). For example, 01234 would be a random number, whereas NIKE1 could be a vanity code for Nike.

Read the entire article @ RCR Wireless News.

Marketers Reach Key Demos Via Mobile

Insight Express put out an important new study this week:

MARKETERS STRUGGLING TO ENGAGE ELUSIVE 18- to-24-year-olds need look no further than mobile devices, according to new findings from market research firm InsightExpress.

Members of Generation Y now use their mobile phones to take 76% of all personal calls, according to an online survey of some 2,000 young mobile device owners in October, conducted by Stamford, Conn.-based InsightExpress.

Over half of the Gen Yers--or 56%--report spending time looking for new things to do with their mobile phones. That engagement leaves the door open for marketers to reach young consumers with short attention spans and busy digital social lives.

Read the entire article at OnlineMediaDaily.

New Service GoMobo Lets You Text Your Delivery Orders In NYC

Thrillist reports on an exciting new tool for hungry texters:

GoMobo's a free, NY-based service that uses text messaging to remove human error/annoyingness from the ordering process -- like a SkyNet for your stomach, but decades away from self-aware falafel. Just pick your favorite spot and input your go-to meal (e.g., Atomic Wings burger, medium rare, American cheese, bacon, onions, ketchup, mustard, no mayo, side salad, side o' ranch, fruit cup) and Mobo will assign it a code (e.g., "1"). Whenever you desire said feast, simply text the code to Mobo, which'll notify the restaurant, charge your card on file, factor in tip, etc, and make note of any special instructions -- like "Don't pack cold Coke with hot pizza", or "If mugged, protect Lo Mein with life".

Find out more at GoMobo.com

SMS Powered Interactive Street Art

Credo Mobile is taking it to the streets.

The progressive mobile phone provider, a division of Working Assets, this week launched an integrated campaign from independent SS+K, Los Angeles, that positions the company as a provider of social change.

As part of the campaign, Credo is producing political street theater in select cities using projected cartoon images on the sides of buildings drawn by political satirist Tom Tomorrow. Images of people such as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are shown next to blank dialogue boxes. Passersby can use their mobile phones to text in what they think the characters should say and then the words appear as part of the images.

Read  the entire article @ Adweek.

The 101 Gadgets That Changed The World

The Belfast Telegraph recently unveiled a list of 101 gadgets that changed the world. Though the Abacus comes in at number one, mobile technology certainly makes a showing on the list:

10. Blackberry, 1999

Ask the average office worker they think of their Blackberry and they will variously call it a boon and a curse. Developed by the Canadian firm Research in Motion and unleashed in 1999, the gizmo has provided legions of roaming desk jockeys with a hotline to their inboxes, and enabled armies of bosses to keep employees digitally shackled to their swivel chairs. The addictiveness of the device led it to be dubbed the "Crackberry".

37. GPS, 1978

Determining your location used to require such cumbersome devices as a map, compass and ruler. Now a single press of a button (and up to 32 satellites) will pinpoint your precise position to within a couple of metres. Great for explorers, paramedics and pilots – not so good for unwitting Latvian lorry drivers sent on cross-country wild goose chases by budget sat-navs. Developed by the US military in the 1970s, the Global Positioning System has been globally available since 1994.

54. Mobile phone, 1947

There are more than two billion mobile phones in the world, and the EU is home to more "cells", as the American's call them, than people. It is difficult to quantify the economic and social impact of the device – of all the gadgets in the average person's arsenal, it is surely the one we would be worst off without. Those who disagree can blame Bell Laboratories for their invention; the firm introduced the first service in Missouri in 1947. Widespread coverage in Britain did not begin until the late 1980s.

76. SMS, 1992

Linguist purists H8 txtspk. The Short Message Service (SMS) has developed the thumbs of a generation of communicators who have devised their own shorthand, textspeak, to stay in touch (and uncover extra-marital affairs). The British engineer Neil Papworth sent the first (unabbreviated) text 15 years ago. It read: "MERRY CHRISTMAS". Their popularity exploded in the late 1990s and now in the UK alone we send millions every day (a record 214 million last New Year's Eve).

How the Blackberry is 44 places higher than the cellphone itself is a bit of a head-scratcher, but the list still makes for an interesting read.

101 Gadgets That Changed The World (via 160 Characters Association)

Google Finally Phone Plans - Open Source Mobile OS 'Android'

The Google Phone has arrived, sort of, but not in the long-rumored embodiment that many had expected. Google announced this morning that it has developed a new mobile OS called "Android"—a result of its acquisition of a mobile software company of the same name in 2005—that will allow the company to get Google's mobile apps into as many hands as possible starting in mid-2008. Android is Linux-based and open source, and aspects of the platform will be made available to handset manufacturers for free under the Apache license.

So who's involved?

Google's handset partners upon launch will include Motorola, HTC, Samsung, and LG, confirming many of the recent rumors that Google would not be developing the hardware on its own. Google has a number of carrier partners worldwide as well, such as T-Mobile and Sprint in the US, T-Mobile/Deutsche Telekom in Europe, and China Mobile in China, to name a few. The whole thing comes as part of the Open Handset Alliance—also announced by Google today.

Read the entire article @ Ars Technica