Adeye Powers Drinks Brands Promotions

Different World Drinks, a Molson Coors company established earlier this year to sell a range of specialist beers, including Kasteel Cru, Grolsch Weizen, Dos Equis, Blue Moon, White Shield and Zatec - is using mobile marketing services from Adeye to promote its brands.
Adeye is using a range of mobile marketing and live promotional techniques to help Different World Drinks showcase its beers at a boat launch in Bristol Docks for its top 30 regional customers today. Invitations and tickets for the event were sent out via SMS and recipients were directed to a new mobile site developed by Adeye to get the latest information about Different World Drinks beer brands, as well as the chance to win a meal for two at Smith’s of Smithfield.
Bluetooth technology will also be used on the boat to promote brands direct to guests’ mobile phones, while an interactive application will deliver a multimedia brochure designed for mobile, that can be viewed during or after the event.
“We have been working with Adeye on a number of exciting initiatives that integrate new mobile marketing campaigns with our traditional print and in-bar marketing,” says Molson Coors Sales Manager, Gavin Hogg. “Mobile is definitely the way forward for our industry and also allows us to build valuable marketing data and help our clients target customers directly, wherever they are.”

Coke Promo Offers Mobile Credit

Coca-Cola Great Britain has announced a promotion designed specifically for its teen audience, offering consumers of its Fanta, Dr Pepper and Sprite brands 50p free mobile credit with every purchase.
The promotion, running across all mobile networks, recognises that mobile usage continues to grow amongst the teen audience and Coca-Cola says it has used this insight to give them a reward they really want, free mobile credit.
The Every Pack Gets 50p mobile credit promotion will run for approximately one month, from mid-July until stocks last. During this time, consumers will receive 50p free credit from every 330ml can and 500ml bottle of Fanta, Dr Pepper and Sprite they purchase. Each can and bottle will carry a special code, the first of which should be redeemed online at a bespoke website, gimmecredit.co.uk. Subsequent codes can be redeemed by returning to the website or via SMS to 85888. Credit will be added to the consumer’s account within 48 hours.
The offer can be redeemed against all major network operators on pay as you go and contract phones. Each consumer can claim credit a maximum of eight times (equal to £4) during the promotion. Every Pack Gets 50p Mobile Credit is aimed at the core 16-plus teen market in the UK.
The promotion will be featured at the end of the latest Dr Pepper TV ad campaign, with a special 10-second tag, and will feature in a high profile outdoor activity. The promotion will also be supported by a peer-to-peer sampling campaign, which will see 16-20 year old brand fans talking about the promotion within their peer groups online.
To add to the on-shelf cut through, and to help consumers identify with the promotion, there will be new bespoke packaging designs across the three variants, which will be on shelf from the end of July for a limited time.
“We are always looking at innovative ways to engage with our teen consumers,” says Coca-Cola Great Britain Marketing Director, Cathryn Sleight. “We know mobiles are integral to their lives and we wanted to bring them both value and a point of difference that will fully engage them with the promotion."

Volvo Turns to QR Codes

Ad-serving firm Eyeblastermedia agency Mindshare have been running a QR (Quick Response) Code campaign for Volvo, promoting the company’s Volvo Ocean Race Special Edition cars. QR Codes have been used in Volvo ads in magazines and newspapers around Europe (including The Observer, Newsweek, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, La Repubblica and El Pais, among others). QR technology was provided through HH&S.
The ads offer a shortcode to text in to in order to receive a link to download a QR Code reader application. The consumer then captures the QR Code using the app, and receives a link which routes them via the Eyeblaster server to the official Volvo Ocean Race mobile site. There, they were presented with live updates, race news and images illustrating how the race, which finished at the end of June, was progressing. Using Eyeblaster’s Campaign Monitor solution, Mindshare was able to measure the response to the campaign in real time, though as yet, it says no campaign results are available. A pity, as the received wisdom seems to be that while QR Codes are undoubtedly very cool, the fact that most people need to download a barcode reader to interact with them means that response rates to QR Code campaigns are likely to be low. If Mindshare has some stats to prove otherwise, it would be nice, and actually rather useful for those pushing QR Codes as a viable mobile campaign tool, to see them.

Mobile Coupons Launch in Swindon

Swedish mobile startup Kaskado is piloting a mobile discount scheme in Swindon, in conjunction with inSwindon, a local retail association. 15 shiops are involved in the scheme, which according to Kaskado, attracted around 200 users in the first week.
The scheme is being promoted in-stor and in ads in local papers. Initially, the system is web-based, but Kaskado says it is working on versions for the iPhone and Android devices, which could include location-based recommendations. After registering on Kaskado.com, users pick their city and can access the various promotions. After the first registration, you go to the website on your phone, select the offer uyou want to use, then show it to the retailer when you arrive in store. Offers include money off in resturants, plus 2-for-1 deals, free coffees and other, similar deals. McDonalds, which was an early uswer of mobile marketing at the turn of the century, is one of the participating outlets.
The retailers have access to a backend system where they can access, edit, modify and track their promotions. They can also use the system to upload images, create new promotions, set their budgets and launch their campaigns. Once the campaign is up and running, they can see statistics such as impressions, views, and usage.

Co-op Uses Mobile to Campaign for Journalists' Release

UK retail group The Co-operative is calling for the release of young video journalists (VJs) who risked their lives to tell the story of the 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma. Co-operative Members and the public are being encouraged to ‘Free the VJs’ via the film’s website, postcards in cinemas, twitition (a Twitter petition) and by texting ‘Free the VJs’ to 87103. The digital campaign is being delivered by digital marketing agency Substance, supported by mobile messaging company Mediaburst.
Burma is a nation of fear and poverty despite its wealth of natural resources. Its rulers are intolerant of free speech and many of the journalists and activists shown in the award-winning Burma VJ film face prison sentences of up to 65 years.
The individuals imprisoned include Htin Kyaw, Su Su Nway, Ohn Than, Si Thu Maung and Ko Win Maw, together with over 2,100 others in Burmese jails, including Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who have been imprisoned simply for peacefully calling for democracy and freedom in the country.
The Co-operative does not trade with Burma. Co-operative Travel has delisted the country as a tourist destination, and The Co-operative Bank will not finance any organisation supporting the Burmese regime.

i-Free Supports Stella's Russian Movie Campaign

Russian mobile marketing firm i-Free has been engaged as the mobile partner for a ‘Movie World Bonus’ promotion run by premium lager brand Stella Artois.
The campaign, created by ad agency Progression, invites consumers who buy promotional packs of Stella to text a unique code under the cap to a Shortcode, or to enter the code on a promotiojnal website. In return, they earn credits, which can be exchanged for gifts, including T-shirts with quotations from the movies; DVD-cases; and beer glasses. In addition, the consumers with the most credits are entered into a weekly prize draw to win a DVD player.
“The SMS channel provides extra convenience for participants, making it possible for them to log in their code right now and right here,” says Progression Project Manager, Aleksandr Filatov. “This log-in method gives greater freedom and mobility for the users.”
Over the past six years, i-Free has been successfully marketing mobile services to major FMCG-brands, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Chupa Chups, Gillette, Duracell, Reebok and Foster’s.

Smooth Operator

Turkcell is a mobile operator with a reputation for innovation. David Murphy talks to Head of Mobile Marketing & Advertising, Melis Turkmen, to find out why the company seems to be so far ahead of the game when it comes to mobile marketing

DM: So Melis, first off, tell us a little bit about Turkcell please.

MT: Sure. Turkcell operates in eight countries, and we have 62 million subscribers. In Turkey, we have 37 million subscribers so we are the second-largest operator in Europe and the 13th largest in the world.

DM: So, mobile operators do not have a great reputation. People talk about them as the ‘dumb pipe’ and say they are very slow to innovate, but whenever I hear Turkcell speak at conferences, or when other people talk about you, you seem to stand out from the rest, and you also seem to be very keen to share your experiences.

MT: Well we have more than 20 mobile marketing products and we are keen to give more information about them to people from other countries. We believe we are a leader in the sector, and the job of a leader is to educate and share best practice.
When we talk to some other operators, most of them hardly think about mobile marketing, but we see mobile marketing as a huge opportunity. Therefore, we have been active on new products and services since the beginning. Our database of 7.6 million opt-in subscribers that we can use for mobile marketing and advertising is a healthy revenue generator. This is one of the largest databases of its kind in Europe, possibly in the world, and we know a lot about them, including their location, demographics, and their data usage that we target subscribers accordingly

DM: That’s an impressive number. Do you give these people any incentive to opt in?

MT: We give up to 20 credits (which equals 10 texts) for pre-paid and 10 texts for post-paid, as they opt-in to the database. But the main incentive that we offer is to tell them that the mobile marketing that they will receive on their phones will be targeted to their needs and interests. So the youth segment will get texts offering discounts off Adidas equipment, and housewives will be targeted with offers for things they can use around the house.

DM: And when did you first get in to mobile marketing?

MT: We started in 2002 started with a Sweepstakes campaign for Lipton Ice Tea. We used a keyword and a Shortcode on the packaging that people could text in to in order to win a brand new car!

DM: So what sort of campaigns do you run?

MT: We try to reach our opted-in database via many different channels, SMS, MMS, WAP Push, video, even IVR (Interactive Voice Response). So a customer might get a call asking if they have any Olive Oil in the house, and they are asked to press 1 for Yes and 2 for No. If they press 1, then we send them a gift. If they press 2, then we tell them, if they buy the brand today, we will send you a gift, maybe something you can use in the kitchen.
Credit and airtime campaigns are also very popular. In fact, campaigns account for more than 60% of our mobile marketing revenues, with the rest coming from advertising. We sell credit and airtime to brands, in millions of units, that they can then give away for free to their subscribers
In May 2007 for example, we ran a campaign for Pepsi, where consumers had to text in to a Shortcode printed on cans of Pepsi. This was charged as one text message, but by texting in, they were guaranteed five credits, which equals two and a half texts or two minutes talk time. That was an enormous success. We received 13 million texts from 1 million people in three months.
The great thing about a campaign like this is that the consumer can’t lose. Everyone gets the guaranteed minimum, but you may get more. In this campaign, for example, we gave away 2009 credits and 500 minutes of talk time every hour.

DM: And what sort of revenues are you generating from mobile marketing?

MT: We estimate that in 2009, there will be $91 million (£55 million) of revenues from mobile marketing in Turkey, and we will take a 70% share of that. Next year, we are forecasting $125 million, of which we will take 69%, and in 2012, $260 million, with Turkcell again taking 69% of those revenues. These revenues are made up of all three operators in Turkey, plus the agencies. We have around 20 agencies who are selling our products to advertiser brands.
We are also now selling advertising on other publishers’ sites, and within iPhone applications, as well as our own mobile portal. We have set up a mobile advertising sales house to do this.

DM: And of course, many people will associate Turkcell with the Tone&Win campaign, where Turkcell subscribers get credit in return for using advertising messages as a Ringback Tone that their friend here when they call them. We came out and criticised the idea when you launched it, but it has been winning awards, so I guess you must be doing something right.

MT: Yes, Tone&Win was selected as the best mobile marketing and advertising service in the GSMA Global awards, Visiongain’s Mama and the Meffy Awards. This could only be explained by a technically well-powered service which is built on a good business model. Tone & Win is now hitting record levels with Pepsi’s new promotion in Turkey. Earlier this year, Turkcell cooperated with Pepsi for the brand’s summer promotion. Although the promotion mechanic is a typical text & Win, consumers are experiencing a one-of-a-kind interaction throughout the campaign. Pepsi’s new viral advertising on mobile has been so unique and well received by the consumers that 3.8 million consumers took part within the first month, outperforming all previous promotional campaigns.

DM: And what else are you planning?

MT: We have recently launched mobile surveys. It’s like a ‘fast-food’ survey service. The market research firms are still trying to do surveys on the streets, but you need a lot of people for that and it costs a lot of money. But with a mobile survey, we can profile the database, send them a WAP Push link to the survey and they can answer it right there on their phone. We are also talking to the big research firms about the service.

DM: Is anyone using it?

MT: Yes. One client, Garanti, has a credit card called Flexi. When they run a TV ad, we send out a WAP Push link to a mobile survey asking people what they thought of the ad, whether they liked it, whether it would make them want a Flexi credit card. 
For the future, we are launching 3G this summer, so we will have new products like Mobile TV with advertising, video calls and ad-funded video, so there will be even more mobile marketing and advertising products. We are also giving out information for free to subscribers in the form of ad-funded text messages, things like weather updates, lottery results. For the Weather service, we have 2 million subscribers, and Pepsi have bought the entire inventory for June, July and August. In fact, the whole year is sold. And when 3G arrives, we will offer video versions of these services.

DM: You have won lots of awards this year for mobile marketing and advertising, what is your secret?

MT: As I said, we are a leader in the sector, and the job of a leader is to educate and share best practice.  So that leads to appreciation in the local and global arena not only in mobile marketing articles and research studies, but also reputable awards. Tone&Win was selected as best mobile advertising service by the GSMA, the Mobile Entertainment Forum (Meffys) and Visiongain, and Visiongain also named our permission database as the runner-up for the best network for delivery of mobile marketing and advertising.

DM: Good stuff, keep us posted on what you’re up to, sounds like there’s plenty to talk about.

MT: Will do.

Incentivated and RAPP Launch Bowtime Loyalty Campaign

Cider brand Strongbow is launching a mobile loyalty campaign to reconnect with customers who took part in last year’s multiple award winning 6-month ‘Bowtime’ campaign. 
Bowtime is Strongbow’s new through the line communication idea which was seeded in through 2008 and integrated into the wider above-the-line campaign in 2009. In 2008, mobile was the core channel used, as the campaign was managed and delivered by RAPP and mobile agency Incentivated.
Over 80,000 customers signed up for the campaign, which included mobile barcodes and a pub locator, on-pack promotions, and a promotion on social media site Flirtomatic. All participants were entered into a 4-month CRM campaign, featuring free pint and festival ticket offers, MMS animations and ‘wind-up-a-mate’ promotions.
The campaign prompted a 39% response rate, and following the campaign, research conducted by Millward Brown among those who had received the CRM activity versus those who had not, showed that the campaign had a statistically significant impact on purchase. For the CRM group, claimed purchase increased by 44%, and brand preference increased by 8%. This compared with decreases in claimed purchase of 4% and decreases in brand preference of 10% for those who had not received the CRM messages.
This will be the third year that Strongbow has used mobile to connect with customers. The loyalty campaign, which launches on 10 July, integrates mobile, email and web elements. A series of text & win competitions invites drinkers to win 60 prizes a day for 60 days, including both high- and low-value prizes like JVC DVD Home Surround Sound Systems, Tangent DAB Digital Radios, iPod nanos, iPod docks and Sharp 19” LCD TVs, as well as Strongbow-branded merchandise.
Strongbow has been building a detailed CRM database, including customers’ interests, consumption behaviour, ages, mobile numbers, email and postal addresses. This information will be used as the basis for targeted outbound campaigns in 2010.  
“The Bowtime campaign proved that mobile is an exciting and effective way to connect with our customers, providing interesting and engaging branded content and competitions,” says Strongbow Brand Manager, Fiona Seath. “This creates a platform for us to deepen customer relationships and build loyalty throughout the peak summer months.”
Incentivated Commercial Director Robert Thurner says that in 2009, the company is witnessing a growing number of clients focusing on the rich data mobile delivers and converting it into highly targeted and relevant campaigns which keep their brands front of mind.
“I expect this will pave the way for more expansive, integrated campaigns as market conditions improve later this year,” he says.

Pathé Uses QR Codes to Promote Vampire Movie

Arena BLM, the Havas-owned “performance media agency”, is to run a QR (Quick Response) code campaign to support the launch of Pathé's  ‘Blood: The Last Vampire’, which opens in UK cinemas on 26 June.
The movie is an adaptation of the 2000 animated Manga film of the same title. It tells the story of Saya, a 17-year old girl who harbours the tormented soul of a 400-year old ‘halfling’ (half vampire, half human). In her quest to destroy the evil matriarch of all vampires she forms a friendship with the young daughter of an American army general. 
Pathé will use QR codes on outdoor and print advertising, where the user can scan the code through a mobile phone. If the phone has a QR Code reader installed, it will recognize a URL embedded in the QR code, which links directly to a dedicated mobile Internet site.
The site allows movie fans to watch the trailer directly on their handsets and download themed wallpapers. There is also a link to a ‘Create your own comic strip’ viral, which allows users to ‘mash up’ individual scenes from the first five minutes of the film and the original Manga version. Users can create their own adaptation by dragging and dropping the scenes into their own storyboard.
The QR execution forms part of a wider campaign running online, on TV and through a movie fan page on Facebook. The TV campaign will run on satellite and cable television during programs such as ‘Lost’, ‘Buffy’ and ‘Family Guy’. The outdoor work will run nationally on six-sheets, while the print campaign, also containing the QR code, will appear in magazines including Nuts, Sport and Time Out. Online activity includes social networks, gaming, film and music websites, such as MySpace, UGO and Monkey Digital Magazine.
“The technology is spot on for our primary audience of Manga fans who are technologically savvy and more likely to have redeemed QR codes in the past,” says Arena BLM Account Manager, Amy Matthews.

Orange Wednesdays Gets a Pizza the Action

Orange is capitalising on the current craze for discount vouchers by extending its Orange Wednesdays 2-for-1 cinema ticket offer to include a similar deal for meals at Pizza Express. The restaurant chain is one of several that has turned to 2-for-1 deals in a bid to drum up business in the past few months. Now Orange customers can enjoy a free pizza after their free trip to the cinema, though we assume they will share their good fortune with whoever they take along. To make the deal even better, the deal also includes free garlic bread or dough balls.
To take advantage of the offer, Orange customers should head for the offer microsite, where they can download the Pizza Express voucher and take it along to any PizzaExpress, along with their Orange Wednesdays text ticket. 

Play.com Uses Mobile in Sponsorship Push

Play.com, headline sponsors of Take That’s ongoing ‘The Circus Live 2009’ tour, has unveiled a bespoke mobile marketing campaign to support its sponsorship, including two exclusive SMS promotions for customers. The promotional activity will run throughout the Summer, and is a first for Play.com. The company is working with mobile marketing firm Sponge to amplify the Take That tour sponsorship deal and bring extensive value to its 9.5 million customers online. 
The first SMS promotion offers customers the chance to order exclusive formats of Take That’s new single, ‘Said It All’ via an SMS service promoted through external marketing channels including stadium screens. Customers text the promotional number to receive a voucher code which can be redeemed on the Play.com website in exchange for the MP3 single. Play.com is also offering customers a special Take That single bundle for £6, which includes three versions of ‘Said It All’, two of which are exclusive to Play.com.
The second SMS promotion sees Play.com offering customers rewards, including discount vouchers for use on Play.com, plus opportunities to win iPod Nanos, PlayStation3s and 19” LCD TVs. Every entrant who completes the competition mechanic will win money to spend at Play.com.
Play.com will also host a series of exclusive short video clips, featuring edits of the live performances. Consumers will also be invited to pre-order a Play.com version of the live tour DVD via the Play.com website. Ticketholders will also receive discount cards, personalised to each of the tour dates, which will be given out by promotional teams throughout the tour.
“We are extremely excited to be a partner of The Circus Live 2009 tour,” says Play.com COO, Stuart Rowe. “The mobile marketing campaign is a strong vehicle to reach and reward our customers and offer them exceptional value and exciting promotions.”

HarperCollins Turns to QR Codes

HarperCollins Publishers and Melbourne-based mobile marketing firm QMCODES have launched a mobile marketing tool to close the gap between the print and digital worlds. The initiative, which is being piloted with new releases ‘L.A. Candy’ and ‘The Amanda Project’, plus the paperback release of best-seller ‘Freakonomics’ leverages 2D (Quick Response or QR) barcodes, mobile websites, social networking features, mobile video and SMS. HarperCollins says it is designed to enable the publisher to connect directly with their increasingly mobile-savvy readers.
The promotion kicks off in the US, Canada, and Australia, with L.A. Candy, by Lauren Conrad, which goes on sale on 16 June. To access the L.A. Candy content, users download a barcode reader from http://m.harpercollins.com to their phone and scan the 2D barcode with their phone's camera. The codes will be located on the back of book jackets and on marketing materials, and will link to a mobile site with exclusive content about the author and the book. Fans can access a video featuring Conrad, read a Q&A with the author, or share the new site with their friends via SMS. The site can also be accessed directly from a mobile device at http://lacandy.mobi/pr
“We are excited about the potential of 2D barcodes for the teen market,” says Susan Katz, President and Publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books. “Teens use their mobile phones for everything from texting to updating their Facebook pages; this is one more way we can offer them content to share with their friends. HarperCollins is committed to reaching readers where they are, regardless of the device or platform, and a mobile marketing platform is a natural next step.”
Working with QMCODES, HarperCollins will create a dedicated mobile website for each book in the pilot program. The code for the paperback version of Freakonomics, on sale August 25, will include exclusive content related to the book and to the autumn  publication of its follow-up title, Superfreakonomics. Additionally, HarperTeen's The Amanda Project, a collaborative, interactive series that is both printed book and online adventure, will incorporate the codes to further extend the experience.

Samsung and O2 Team Up for AQA Offer

Samsung, O2 and AQA 63336 have teamed up to offer 10,000 customers who buy the Samsung C3050 handset on O2 will to download a new application from AQA 63336 that gives them 30 free questions (worth ££1 each), check their Q&A history, and access the best daily answers given by AQA 63336.
10,000 leaflets have been printed with a code that enables customers to download the AQA application and get their first 30 answers free of charge. These leaflets are available in O2 stores and online, and will be distributed to customers who buy a new Samsung C3050 phone , priced at £48.93, on Pay & Go through the O2 network from 1 June.
The C3050 is the latest slider handset from Samsung that features a VGA camera, Bluetooth, micro SD card slot with expandable memory and MP3 player.There’s more information about the promotion here.

Buongiorno Renews Orange Wednesdays Contract

Buongiorno Marketing Services UK has renewed its contract as Orange’s lead technology supplier enabling Orange Wednesdays, the network’s flagship 2-for-1 cinema ticket offer, through to 2011. Buongiorno has been powering Orange Wednesdays since 2004, or at least, Buongiorno now owns Flytxt, the company that launched the promotion with Orange in 2004.  Five years on, the service continues to grow in popularity, and has so far been used more than 14 million times.
Orange Wednesdays represents the world's largest mobile vouchering campaign outside Japan. Each week in the UK, Orange customers can get 2 for 1 cinema tickets every Wednesday at many cinemas throughout the country. Buongiorno says it has worked closely with Orange and the Cinema Industry to evolve a simple mobile couponing promotion into the most innovative CRM programme of its type - driving repeat cinema visits and increasing customer loyalty for Orange.
B!MS delivers the voucher direct to the handset and manages a wireless redemption terminal network in cinemas nationwide on behalf of Orange. In renewing its partnership with Orange, B!MS UK says it continues to focus on customer loyalty and CRM programmes which has traditionally been the main focus of its business.
“We are the number one brand associated with film, and Orange Wednesdays continues to help us differentiate from our competitors, while giving customers a great reason to be with Orange,” says Orange UK Senior Partnership Manager, Andy Pearcey. “Buongiorno have been with us from the beginning, and it is testament to their work and commitment that five years later, our partnership is stronger than ever.”
In March, Juniper Research produced a report which forecast the value of coupons distributed and redeemed using a mobile device to grow 30% to reach 100 million mobile users globally, and $3.2 billion (£2.3 billion) in value by 2010. The strongest growth is predicted to be in developed mobile markets like Western Europe, North America and the Far East.

Graphico Takes FAB Award for Pepsi QR Campaign

GraphicoDMG, a Digital Marketing Group company, was honoured at the FAB Awards, the Food and Beverage industry’s annual creative awards, last Friday. Graphico took the ‘plate’ award in the Mobile category, for its Pepsi ‘Kicks’ campaign. The Pepsi campaign beat off competition from rival non-alcoholic drink brands’ Fanta and Coca Cola to pick up the top award.
The Kicks campaign used QR codes as the gateway to a dedicated mobile website by placing the 2D graphic across all 400 million packs of Pepsi variants between December 2008 and April 2009. Pepsi aimed to put the ‘Pep’ back into Pepsi and offered consumers a humorous ‘kick in the right direction’ as the site carried motivational videos from pep-talker ‘Rusty’, stills and out-takes from the shoot of Kelly Brook’s Pepsi video, and a selection of Pepsi’s ‘best bits from the web’ together with free games and downloads – all aimed at inspiring consumers and giving something back in a technologically innovative way.
The campaign was supported with PR imagery of Kelly Brook and QR codes both online and in the national press, while the video in which she starred received 12 million views across social network sites such as YouTube.
There’s more information about the campaign here.

SMS Campaign Delivers Impressive Results

Mobilize, the company behind the award winning M BAR GO® mobile CRM platform, has released the results of a mobile campaign for Approved Food & Drink, the UK's largest online seller of clearance food and drink. 
The campaign was a simple SMS call to action, tied to an online offer, which was sent to 6,000 opted-in Approved Food & Drink customers. According to Mobilizie, it proved very effective. Site visits in the hour immediately after the texts were sent (4pm) were 90% higher than average. Revenue for the day was up by 150% on the previous day. Orders placed in the three hours immediately after the texts were sent out were up by 550% compared to the previous day
“Although this campaign only scratches the surface of what our platform can achieve from a CRM perspective, it shows just how effective the humble SMS can be in persuading consumers to shop,” says Mobilize Managing Director, Stefan Magnusson. “Fortunately, Approved Food's website can accept discount codes, which means we can start building profiles and really leverage the mobile CRM capability of our platform in the future".
Approved Food & Drink Founder and CEO Daniel Cluderay was impressed by the company’s first mobile campaign.
“What would have been a low to average revenue day turned into a very strong revenue day,” he says. “I sold in the order of twice as much as I expected and set against the cost of the campaign it was an outstanding result. Mobilize provide a terrific service which I will definitely use again."
Mobilize operates the SHOP SCAN SAVE mobile savings club, whose mobile coupons can be redeemed securely in over 21,000 convenience outlets in the UK. 

O2 Launches Fitness First Campaign

O2’s recently-launched media business unit has launched a location-based mobile marketing campaign for health club group, Fitness First. The campaign offers five days free membership and a personal training session via SMS to O2 customers living in specific postcodes near Fitness First gyms. The use of location to target consumers maximises both the effectiveness and relevance of the offer, says O2.
In creating the campaign for Fitness First, O2 was able to target the brand communication to opted-in O2 customers who are interested in health, well-being and sports, aged between 18 and 35, while at the same time removing current Fitness First members form the database of those targeted.
Target customers within three miles of a Fitness First gym are sent a short text message which asks them to respond to a Shortcode with their postcode. Those that respond receive a personalised text message reply with the address and phone number of their local gym, and with a five day voucher to use in that gym. O2 provides Fitness First with a daily email with qualified leads of customer mobile numbers and postcodes to call the customer and book an appointment.
“Using this highly targeted medium is helping ensure maximum campaign effectiveness, proving mobile to be one of our most successful acquisition tools to date,” says Fitness First Marketing Manager, Sophie Lawler-Hall. “We are delighted that so many O2 customers have already taken up the offer.’’
O2 Media provides marketers with targeted brand communication opportunities across O2’s mobile, email, online, in-store, direct and experiential channels, enabling brands to tap into the wealth of information O2 has about its customer segments, across multiple channels. 

MMA Case Study: FuturLink/SEAT

The brief
Car manufacturer SEAT wanted to create buzz amongst target consumers to mark the launch of the new SEAT IBIZA CUPRA. The company turned to FuturLink to develop and execute a mobile campaign that directly engaged consumers with the new model.

Objectives
SEAT tasked FuturLink with creating a mobile campaign that created excitement and interest around the launch of its new model of car, at the same time as making the user an active participant in its brand values of design, sportsmanship and quality.

Strategy
FuturLink developed a CUPRA RACE CLUB SEAT application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, which was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009. Based on an entertainment and communication portal promoting CLUB SEAT, a mobile portal allowing customers to access information about events, news and new brand features of the brand at any time from any place, the application allowed users to experience driving the new SEAT IBIZA CUPRA from their mobile device. Employing a powerful 3D engine, the application enabled the user to access a virtual garage where they could customise the colour of their vehicle and apply exclusive stickers to the design before choosing one of three competition modes:

1. Test Drive – trying out the circuit
2. Time Attack - beating the timer in a frantic race
3. Race Mode - competing against five expert drivers.

After the initial launch in March the contents of the application were updated periodically with new vehicles, circuits, competition modes and other new features so that consumers could use it again and again.The application was available for iPhone and iPod Touch users to download free of charge from the iTunes website from March 16th 2009.

Results
The application achieved 43,670 downloads in three days, with German, Italian and French consumers leading the way. It received glowing reviews on a range of blogs and communities, as well as on iTunes itself.
FuturLink’s application and mobile portal enabled SEAT to position itself as an innovative brand, using a variety of different communication mechanics to establish direct contact with the consumer, taking advantage of the ubiquity of the mobile device.

MMA Viewpoint:
Mobile applications are a rapidly growing area for mobile marketers and provide a great way for brands to establish an interactive relationship with their target consumers that is based on entertainment or utility. Gaming applications have proved to be particularly popular with the arrival of the iPhone App Store and its counterparts which have galvanized the gaming market in Western Europe, according to a recent report by Juniper Research. This development in app stores is likely to lead to further growth in ad-funded or sponsored apps as marketers embrace the fact that consumers want to be in control of the content that goes onto their handsets.

Hospice Turns To Mobile To Raise Funds

The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham, UK, is launching a mobile charity campaign today, helped by a grant from Help the Hospices, the UK’s leading charity supporting hospice care, which was funded by the Towergate Charitable Foundation.
Serving a population of more than 600,000 across West Surrey and North East Hampshire, Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice has been offering specialist palliative care to adults facing the end of their lives and to those who love and care for them for the last 30 years. Palliative care is more than just controlling symptoms and pain; it's a holistic approach that embraces every aspect of the needs and worries of the terminally ill as well as the needs of their families. 
The Hospice treats 100 patients and families every day at a cost of £10,000 per day. Only 16% of funds received to cover operational costs comes from the NHS. The rest comes from legacies, sales at its 12 charity shops, fund-raising events and local businesses.
The mobile campaign is being launched to enable carers to provide more help and support to patients and their families beyond the physical space of the Hospice. Donations received will help enable it to be more mobile in its operations, providing more care to the terminally-ill in their homes.
Today, and each day for the remainder of the week, passengers at Farnham railway station in Surrey will be handed a leaflet urging them to text HELP to a Shortcode, 84433. Those who do will immediately receive a mobile response containing a link to view a mobile video. After viewing the video, they will be encouraged to donate by texting GIVE to another Shortcode, 80556 and agree to be billed £5 as a donation to the charity. They then receive an SMS, thanking them for their donation. The campaign has been organised by mobile marketing company Mediaburst, and will be repeated on 18 May at Guildford railway station.
“Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice believes that while we can't add days to life, we can certainly add life to days,” says Elle Georgiou, the charity's Communications Manager. “In the Hospice's 30th birthday year, we're looking for new and innovative ways to raise the funds we need to achieve our vision of providing specialist care in the location of the patient's choice, which is usually in the comfort of their own home. We believe that harnessing the immediacy of mobile phone technology to better engage with our community could well become an effective way of generating immediate responses and donations.”

Púca Creates Multicoloured Mobile Building

South Dublin County Council has teamed up with The Farm and mobile marketing firm Púca to create the Big Picture, a multimedia exhibition space in Tallaght Town centre in Ireland. On arrival at the building at night, people can text either RED, YELLOW, PINK, BLUE or GREEN to 51500 and see the building change colour before their eyes.
The Big Picture is an Interactive Exhibition Centre set up by Dublin South County Council where visual and relevant multimedia content will be exhibited for public interaction on council developments.
Visitors to the Big Picture can also download a planning game to their mobile, send messages and pictures to the big screen, and take part in a quiz to design a 21st century community. They can also explore the themes of the County Strategy: ‘South Dublin - a Place for People’; discover hotspots around the County; take a virtual tour of Tallaght; and record their views on life.
The overall aim of the Big Picture is to encourage people to have an opinion on the issues directly affecting them and to afford them the opportunity to voice their views. The first of its kind, the Big Picture aims to create a new medium of communication through the visual, creative and learning process.
“Púca are delighted to be part of this digital initiative by Dublin South County Council,” says Púca CEO, Eamon Hession. “We believe mobile to be a hugely important part of any digital strategy, but particularly where offering information to the general public."

Happy Birthday, Orange Wednesdays

Orange is celebrating five years of Orange Wednesdays – one of the longest-running and most high profile mobile promotions. The 2-for-1 cinema offer has been enjoyed 14 million times by Orange customers, and, says Orange, has helped to increase brand loyalty.
In the first week of Orange Wednesdays, back in 2004, just 12,039 Orange customers took the plunge, texted FILM to 241 and watched blockbusters such as Gothika and Starsky and Hutch. These days, the number has increased somewhat, with up to 300,000 people going on an Orange Wednesday cinema outing on any given week. 
Orange says that Orange Wednesdays has saved customers more than £30 million, and at the same time, has resulted in up to 3 million additional annual visits to UK cinemas, adding investment and growth to the industry. Wednesday is now the most popular day of the week to go to the cinema outside of the weekend - when it used to be the slowest.
The most popular movie to date for Orange Wednesdays was the Abba hit Mama Mia, with 276,549 customers taking advantage of the 2-for-1 deal. The top 5 Orange Wednesdays customers have redeemed 2-for-1 tickets an average of 70 times each. And around 85,000 customers have benefited from the Orange Wednesday Pizza Express Partnership, which launched in February, and equates to 170,000 pizzas and approximately 1.36 million doughballs.
“The success of Orange Wednesdays goes beyond the enjoyment of millions of customers and the loyalty that has fostered, and it has helped solidify our position as the number 1 brand association with film in the UK,” says Orange UK Brand Director, Spencer McHugh. “As our brand and our range of services have evolved, film has become central to our vision of providing entertainment to our customers when, where and how they want it.”
Phil Clapp, Chief Executive of the Cinema Exhibitors' Association, says the profile that Orange Wednesdays has brought to UK cinema has been both welcome and effective.
“I would like to congratulate Orange on five years of sustained excellence and look forward to our continuing to work together in the years to come,” he says.
To celebrate five years of Orange Wednesdays, the company created the largest bucket of popcorn in the world and hung it at Tower Bridge earlier this week. Inside the tub, there was one tonne of popcorn and £10,000 worth of prizes, and it was released to 100 lucky competition winners who joined in the festivities.

Mobile Campaign Promotes Pathé Movie

BLM Quantum, Arena BLM’s digital media agency, has created an integrated media campaign with a strong social media and mobile focus to support the launch of Pathé’s latest film ‘Tormented’, which opens in UK cinemas on 22 May. 
The film is a scary high school movie starring Alex Pettyfer as a merciless bully who teases anyone considered a loser. The story sees a young overweight boy, taunted so badly that he committed suicide, come back as a zombie ghost to seek revenge on his ex-classmates. The film also stars April Pearson and Larissa Wilson.
BLM Quantum and Pathé have created a social networking application running through the Tormented fan page on Facebook to drive awareness and excitement of Tormented amongst a key audience of 15-19 year-olds, and to drive and sustain viral activity up until the film release. The application will be promoted through a two-stage messaging campaign to 30,000 mobile phone users within the target audience group.
At the heart of the campaign is the Tormented movie fan page on Facebook. The competition encourages groups of people to show how much fun they have on a night out to win a chance to party with the cast and attend the Leicester Square Premiere.
Groups will gain points for posting status updates, links and photos to their individual profile which prove they have the most fun. The application, built by Nudge, calculates your score based on the content you’ve uploaded and the groups with the highest points will secure places at the premiere and after-show party. BLM Quantum is running targeted events and fan page banner adverts across Facebook to push traffic to the Tormented Facebook page.  
The mobile campaign will be driven by an interactive SMS targeted directly to 30,000 15-19 years olds, booked through Blyk. Recipients will be teased with the question: ‘Want an invite to the party of the year?’ Those who respond with a ‘Yes’ will receive an MMS with an image and audio message from April Pearson, if they are male, or Alex Pettyfer if they are female.
The MMS will link to a WAP site, and there will be additional follow up message to respondents letting them know when the film goes live, inviting them to visit the WAP site, and directing them to the Facebook fan page.
Other online activity includes viral seeding and display advertising across various sites including Kiss, Kerrang, NME, MTV and E4. The movie is also being supported offline with a TV campaign and targeted six sheets billboards, together with a print campaign in Metro, New and STAR Magazine.
“We have developed a brand new campaign that gets right to the heart of the target audience,” says Arena BLM Account Director, Laura Langthorne. “Using their media, mobile and online, we have created a new competitive community, creating constant user engagement which will ensure continued viral presence right up until the release of the film.”

3's Golf Campaign Drives Mobile Opt-in

As official sponsors of the Irish Open, 3 Ireland wanted to develop a marketing campaign to bring the sponsorship to life, drive people into its retail stores, collect consumer data and feedback, and promote 3's Postpay, Prepay and mobile broadband offerings.
The result was the 3 Irish Open Golf Challenge, a national roadshow featuring an outdoor golf simulator game near key retail locations, where players can test their golf skills and win prizes that can be redeemed in store and online via a dedicated website.
Working in partnership with 3's advertising agency Irish International Proximity, mobile marketing firm Púca developed an integrated mobile and web mechanic whereby players' scores are submitted via SMS to receive a response SMS containing a unique prize code. Winning prizes can be redeemed in store and online by entering the SMS prize code into a dedicated campaign website, which captures key customer data and validates the winning codes.
In addition, members of the public can send text GOLF to 50100 for free for the chance to win tickets to the Irish Open Golf Championship. All data is captured, reported and provided to the client daily via a secure log-in. Púca says the campaign has been highly successful to date, creating a huge PR buzz, in store sales promotion and generating a significant database of prospective customers for 3.
“This is a great example of how mobile marketing, when closely integrated with Online and point of sale can support, enhance and reinforce promotional activities” says Púca’s Head of Client Services, Malcolm Fogarty.

MMA Case Study: Golden Gekko/Disney

The brief
Disney wanted to mark the DVD launch of its hit teen film ‘Camp Rock’ in Sweden, principally by driving consumer awareness of the film’s soundtrack stars. Via its pan-EMEA communications agency Carat, Disney turned to Golden Gekko to create and execute a mobile campaign that directly engaged the target audience.

Objectives
The campaign had two key objectives. The first was to capture the attention of the film’s core audience, made up of teenagers and students. The second was to identify a creative means to market the launch via mobile, which would engage the audience on an interactive level and heighten the experience of the film.

Strategy and solution
Taking into account the day-to-day relevance that the mobile channel holds for the target demographic, Golden Gekko looked to employ interactive handset technology to create a fun and entertaining application that users could download to their handset and share with their friends. The application turned the handset into a rock instrument, allowing the user to play music clips and cool guitar riffs from the film. Users were also able to download free images of the cast, including US pop stars, the Jonas Brothers. This concept not only utilised the power of mobile as a direct marketing channel, but also plugged into the trend of sharing and exchanging information via mobile Internet services.
The campaign went live within three weeks of conception, including the development of the Java application, establishment of the mobile website and creation of the SMS Shortcode. The Java application was optimised and tested to work on 95% of all active mobile handsets in Sweden, representing over 400 models.
The launch of the application was marketed via banner advertising on a number of popular online social networks in Sweden, and through the inclusion of the SMS Shortcode on posters, and on the Disney website. The application was also added to top Scandinavian app stores, including Getjar, Nokia Mosh, Mobango and Mobile9.

Results
Golden Gekko leveraged the power of mobile to develop direct engagement between Disney and its target audience. The interactive element was highly effective in meeting Disney’s main objective of raising consumer awareness of the film launch. The ability to access music and images from the film resonated effectively with the target demographic,  and was a particular success with teenagers and students. It also demonstrated how mobile can be used as a quick and effective marketing tool within a short timeframe.
The success was evident in the results the campaign garnered. During the first two months, 79,378 people downloaded the application from Sweden alone, and over 150,000 people downloaded the application from other regions - despite a clear text stating that it was only available in Swedish. Disney and Carat considered the launch a huge success.

MMA Viewpoint:
The Golden Gekko campaign for Disney clearly demonstrates the power of mobile to drive brand awareness, engaging different demographics with the interactive use of compelling and relevant content. The interesting element here is also the way in which the campaign leverages the social aspect of mobile, especially amongst teenagers, as users share the application and images. Branded applications such as this provide marketers with a rich immersive platform with which to target customers, and create a deeper level of emotional engagement and interactivity for the user, producing strong results.

GSK Breathes Easily After SMS Success

Incentivated has released the results of the mobile response element of a TV campaign that it handled for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The pharmaceutical company is running its first mobile response TV campaign, for anti-congestion product Breathe Right. The text response element of the campaign attracted 25,000 text responses in two weeks, which shifted all available samples, halfway through the month-long campaign.
The national TV campaign, created by Grey and planned by MediaCom, ran on digital and terrestrial channels, including Channel 4, ITV and Sky throughout February. Viewers were invited to text in to receive a free sample of Breathe Right Nasal Strips. Respondents were prompted to submit their name, house and flat number, and postcode. These details were then sent to GSK’s fulfilment house, which sent out the samples in the post.
The text call to action appears on screen for the last five seconds of the 20-second spot. The
message reads: ‘For free samples, text BREATHE to 62233 to receive a free sample’ alongside
‘standard network rate’. Having received their samples from the fulfilment house, respondents then receive SMS reminders to use the samples.
“We were overwhelmed by the scale of response to this campaign,” says Breathe Right Brand Manager, Lee Beale. “It proves the power of mobile in connecting with our customers, and provides valuable customer data capture for ongoing marketing activity with these customers”.
The campaign coincides with a report from the Mobile Data Association showing that SMS use in the UK grew by 38% in 2008 to reach 79 billion messages.

Home Office Turns to Mobile for Anti-Knife Campaign

Digital agency Saint at RKCR/Y&R and Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) have created a viral mobile application for the Home Office’s ‘It Doesn’t Have To Happen’ anti-knife crime campaign, which enables users to engage with the app, and then send it on to their friends. ‘Pocket Beatz’ consists of a mobile music studio where users can play a range of beats, synths and loops to create mini tracks which can be recorded and played back.
Adding to an already wide mix of communication channels targeting 11 to 16 year olds, Pocket Beatz, which will be downloadable from the campaign’s social networking website, offers a viral function that automatically links to the user’s address book in the phone, allowing them to select unlimited friends and forward content. Its technology not only increases the potential reach of the campaign but also enables full campaign tracking identification and reward of key brand advocates. It also creates a clean database of users at whom future campaigns can be targeted.
‘Pocket Beatz’ will be distributed via youth-targeted media on youth-focused mobile portals, as well as Bluetooth promotions in suitable locations throughout the UK.
“Mobile is clearly a key channel for targeting a youth demographic and those who might be affected by knife crime; therefore continuing to spread the ‘It Doesn’t Have To Happen’ campaign message via the mobile device is a natural move for us,” says RKCR/Y&R Deputy Chairman, Tony Harris. “Highlighting music as a positive alternative to knife crime, in launching Pocket Beatz we hope to further engage an already strong online community, and enable young people to connect with the issue in ways most relevant to them.”

Volvo Uses Mobile Codes in C70 Campaign

Volvo is launching an ad campaign incorporating 2D barcode technology to promote its C70 Coupe Convertible. Marketing communications agency HH&S is managing the 2D code function as part of the campaign to link print ads directly to the mobile Internet.
The ads, which will be placed in a number of specialist motorist titles including Autocar, Top Gear and What Car, will invite readers to text VOLVO to 60777 and follow links to download a free 2D code reader to their mobile phone. The technology will be used to encourage readers to view video footage of the car and allow them to request a test drive.
“Consumers reading the press ads will be able to snap on a 2D barcode with their mobile phones and connect to video content of the C70 and request a test drive,” says  HH&S Managing Director, Mike Halstead.  
The campaign, created by Mindshare’s Invention Group with creative designed by Nitro, breaks in the UK tomorrow, and in Germany and Spain later this month.It will run for three months. It is constructed around the idea that consumers should open up to new experiences. Based on the concept of “open up and come alive”, the creative indicates the roof opening on the car to reflect the opening of minds.
“The use of the 2D codes will make the press campaigns work harder,” says Volvo Cars Corporation Global Investment manager, Paul Walder. “Consumers in the market for more information can move swiftly from an offline to an online environment and can immediately view richer content.
“The use of this new technology in media makes a nice fit with the advanced technology in the Volvo C70. There will also be some very valuable metrics off the back of the campaign."

Shoe Campaign Drives Footfall

Leeds-based marketing agency, ‘an agency called england’, has announced the results of a  text-messaging campaign it ran for national shoe retailer Brantano. The company says the pre-Christmas ‘Friends and Family’ campaign created such an effective return on investment that the retailer is planning to repeat it this spring.
Over 12,000 Brantano customers were sent text messages advising them of a 25% discount on all in-store products. This could be redeemed by bringing the phone in to any of Brantano’s 148 stores and showing the message to staff. Customers could also forward the text to friends and family, widening the campaign’s reach. 
850 customers redeemed the offer, a redemption rate of just over 7%.
“an agency called england have helped us run an effective text-blast campaign, which generated an impressive return on investment,” says Karen Staton, Retail Operations Director at Brantano. “We have high hopes for the spring campaign and look forward to continuing to work with england.”

MMA Case Study: Ogilvy/IBM

The brief
IBM wanted to engage IT professionals with Rational, its brand of software development products. Traditionally, IBM has promoted the Rational brand every six months through a flagship event, the Rational Software Development Conference. In September 2007, IBM turned to Ogilvy to implement a mobile marketing campaign to directly target registered attendees for the event.

Objectives
The campaign had two key objectives. The first was to directly target registered participants and ensure that all of them attended the event on the day. The other core objective of the campaign was to market the event using direct content via the mobile, engaging attendees with the conference themes prior to the event.

Strategy and solution
Ogilvy looked to the targeted power of mobile to market the event content and engage attendees in a direct conversation with the Rational brand. Ogilvy needed to ensure that all mobile communication with attendees was not perceived as spam; rather it needed to deliver clear, concise messaging in an easy-to-access, absorbable format.  
The first stage of the activity involved asking all participants upon registration if they would like to provide their mobile number to participate in the pre-event mobile service. Through Ogilvy’s mobile partner, Response Mobile, all registered opted-in attendees were contacted via a staggered mobile content feed sent directly to their handsets. Ogilvy used this staggered content feed to converse with conference attendees, ultimately to increase attendance and to heighten the impact of the Rational brand offering.
All those who registered were sent a series of messages direct to their handsets in the days leading up to the conference, reminding them about the event and promoting the concepts and content behind it. For example, two weeks and one week before the event, attendees were sent SMS messages reminding them of the event date and the website details. Two days before the event, attendees received a WAP push message. Clicking on this sent them to a mobile Internet site where they could watch a 30-second video clip from the keynote speaker, welcoming them to the conference.

Results
Ogilvy leveraged mobile messaging as a practical solution that sat perfectly with the style of messages that IBM wanted to deliver. The mobile marketing strategy for The Rational Software Development Conference proved to be extremely effective in delivering the two key objectives.
Attendees were effectively engaged with the event prior to attending. 75% of all attendees opted to provide their mobile number when registering, and during the course of the pre-event outreach, over 50% of attendees accessed the WAP site, with over 20% downloading the video clip. In utilising mobile as a means for direct outreach between the brand and participants, overall attendance at the September 2007 event was 25% up on the previous event.

MMA Viewpoint: The mobile marketing industry needs to build faith among consumers that mobile marketing is a positive way to engage with their brands of choice. Brands using mobile as a marketing channel need to project and deliver a message that consumers believe is positive, welcome, and of benefit to them. Case studies such as this one from Ogilvy show that the mobile channel is an ideal way in which to engage with a group of individuals such as event attendees in this manner, and can be done in a positive and useful way.The initial registration for the event provided a great way to build a database of people who were willing to receive communications on their mobile device and had opted in, meeting with the MMA’s Code of Conduct. The communications sent were also timely and relevant, providing attendees with information that was of true value to them ahead of the conference they were joining. When a customer knows that the messages they are receiving are trustworthy and of genuine relevance to them, that’s when a true conversation between brand and customer can really begin to develop.  

Maximimising Your Mobile Campaign ROI

Evanna Kearins, Director of Marketing at Valista, offers tips and tricks for advertisers and service providers who would like to successfully augment their mobile marketing and merchandising campaigns

In the current economic decline, even small adjustments within a mobile marketing program can make all the difference between increased revenue and disappointing results. Reaching out to customers via multiple channels and keeping campaigns simple are central. If you want to dramatically improve the success of your mobile marketing campaigns, create simple offers that focus on loyal customers.
According to a recent Experian survey, there are over 2.7 billion mobile phones currently in use, and ABI Research expects mobile marketing to grow to over $24 billion (£16.5 billion) worldwide by 2013. Smart companies are leveraging the mobile channel to reach consumers more effectively. Here are a few pointers to help you get the most value out of each mobile campaign...

Keep it simple
Keep subscription terms and conditions simple. Make sure that every customer understands the terms and conditions of each offer. Clearly explain any discounts or commitment periods associated with offers to avoid complaints due to misunderstanding. The more complex the terms of a promotion, the less likely customers will be willing to participate. 

Keep it similar
Bundle only similar or related products. To simplify the delivery process for anything sold, bundle products that are of similar type. For instance, package a movie ticket offer with a ringtone associated with the movie that the customer is watching. Bundling only digital goods together and only hard goods together keeps within the customer’s area of interest, and increases the likelihood of purchase.

Keep it to three
Limit bundled items to three. Bundling more than three items together pushes the purchase price for products up and the discounts down – and we know that a significant increase in price often decreases customers’ interest. To avoid pushing customers away, merchants need to evaluate what would be of most interest to customers when bundling products, and ensure that complementary and similarly-priced products are offered together.

Sell across multiple channels
A company’s best customers are typically the best customers across multiple channels. So use cross-channel loyalty to reduce churn and increase customer satisfaction, leveraging other channels to communicate with target customers. For instance, augment SMS campaigns with one-off emails that are easily readable on both mobile phones and PCs.

Provide value for money
One of the most common complaints levelled against the mobile content market is poor value for money. Ensure that the prices charged reflect value for money to consumers. Poor value is becoming even more apparent in today’s economic climate.

Make loyalty programs relevant
To keep customers loyal, make sure that loyalty programs offered are attractive and usable against future purchases that customers find valuable. There’s nothing more annoying to customers than receiving points for items that they can never use. 

Mobile marketing has continued to take off in both North America and Western Europe over the last couple of years. As more consumers move to flat-rate data plans and embrace mobile messaging, we expect advertisers and service providers to see more value from mobile marketing strategies. Companies that are able to identify smart ways to leverage their customer knowledge and apply that to their mobile marketing campaigns will experience the most success.

I’ve Seen the Future

I’m at the Technology for Marketing show in London, where I’ve just spent 10 minutes talking to mobile marketing firm Piri. We’ve written about the company before, focusing on its work with radio stations. Piri provides an interface designed to enable DJs them to handle incoming texts from listeners and to send out advertising messages in return texts.
Today though, Managing Director Lee Bowden told me about the company’s work with Future Publishing, and it’s a great example of how consumers can be convinced to opt in to third party marketing messages on their mobile phone, something that many marketers are sceptical about.
Here’s how it works. Future has a raft of magazine titles, covering everything from home cinema systems to mountain bikes. By definition, subscribers to these magazines are a self-selecting group, with an avowed interest in the subject matter of the magazine they subscribe to.
Over the past few years, Future has asked subscribers to opt in to receive relevant third party offers and advertising messages on their mobile phone, and many have agreed to do so.
“The key word when all this was being put in place was ‘relevance’” Bowden told me. “We made sure that the mountain bike magazines would not be able to target subscribers to one of the knitting magazines just because they were opted in, even if they wanted to.”
Future uses the Piri platform to target these subscribers in various ways. Every other week, the games retailer GAME targets opted in subscribers to Future’s console gaming magazines with offers on the latest game due in store that weekend.
“For every big game release, every retailer wants a bigger slice of the pie,” said Bowden. “This allows them to target known gaming enthusiasts and get them into their store rather than the competition’s. They can even time the message to go out on a Saturday morning if they wish.”
In the weeks when GAME is not targeting the gaming enthusiasts, a rival games retailer uses the Piri platform via Future, and between them, Bowden estimates that the two firms are sending out around 65,000 messages each month.
In another campaign, Future ran a telemarketing exercise to pitch consumers with the idea of subscribing to T3 magazine via their mobile for £5 per issue, at a time when the cost of buying the magazine on the newsstand was £3.99. So that’s a £1 premium for the convenience of paying by mobile, rather than the usual discount you get when you sign up for a 12-month subscription.
Out of 10,000 people called, 6,000 allowed Future to pitch them with the idea. Of these, 1,600 went on to subscribe, with 283 of these agreeing to take the mobile subscription, for which they are charged £5 every month on their mobile, until such time as they text ‘STOP’. All of which is, of course, spelled out to them at the time of subscription, and in each of the monthly messages they receive.
I was very impressed by what Piri had to say. The concept being deployed by Future is “Blikesque” in its targeting. Even better, in fact, because the people being targeted don’t just say they have an interest in mountain bikes or cross-stitching or whatever it is. They put their money where their mouth is and subscribe to a magazine on the subject. Who said third party offers on the mobile couldn’t work?

David Murphy
Editor

E.ON Enjoys Success with Blyk Recruitment Campaign

UK energy company E.ON has used a mobile campaign as part of an apprentice recruitment drive. Recruitment communications consultancy TMP Worldwide devised the campaign, in partnership with E.ON.
E.ON apprenticeships offer training for jobs such as electrical and mechanical fitters, overhead linespeople and cable jointers. The scheme attracts mostly male applicants, but E.ON was keen to promote its schemes to wider social groups that reflect the community in which it operates, especially a female demographic.
To meet this need, TMP Worldwide approached ad-funded mobile network Blyk. Blyk’s network offers free texts and minutes to 16-24 year olds. In exchange, users receive appropriate advertising based on collected lifestyle information.
On 23 December, E.ON sent a targeted Christmas message to young women through Blyk. The message read: “Turn on more than fairy lights this winter. And earn good money while you’re at it. Interested? Yes or No.”
Anyone who answered “Yes” received an animated picture message, encouraging them to join an E.ON Apprenticeship. Further information was available by scrolling down, with an option to visit E.ON’s Apprentice website. A follow up HTML email was sent as a reminder, once the application period started. The campaign achieved a 23% positive response rate.
Alan Davies, Employer Brand and Attraction Specialist at E.ON, says:
“This campaign has got 2009 off to a great start, and demonstrates how we are looking to use technology to target a specific demographic, as part of a wider campaign. TMP’s campaign has already attracted interest from an under-represented group in this area while keeping response costs to a minimum.”

Valentine’s Day News

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, and lots of people reading this no doubt celebrating the occasion by getting on a plane to Barcelona, leaving their partner at home with the kids or the telly or both (that’s what I’m doing – Ed), it’s time for a round-up of some of the mobile-focused Valentine’s Day stuff going on.
Mobile and online flirting service Flirtomatic is offering its users the ability to send real presents to each other, in addition to offering lots of new digital Valentine's content. This year, in addition to around 30 new digital Valentines gifts, users also have the option to send one of two real items, either a chocolate heart, a combination of two of the top-selling virtual gifts. Flirtomatic says that premium content has always been incredibly popular among users and for Valentines Day this year, it decided to test something a little different.
“Knickers and roses are two of the most popular pieces of content sent between users (over 130,000 in 2008) so we jumped at the chance to be able to sell a real, unique gift combining the two, the ‘Panty-rose’” says Flirtomatic CEO Mark Curtis. “We're always looking for fun and innovative ways to put a smile on a user's face. So far we've been good at doing that online, but to be able to give users the chance to send that special someone something tangible, it's exciting and unexplored territory for us".
Meanwhile, Melodi Media has launched its ‘Love Calculator’ mobile application.
The Love Calculator features a simple interface with slick graphics and audio. It enables consumers to type in two names, and get a percentage ‘love compatibility’ score within a matter of seconds.
Melodi says that Love Calculator products have recently been hugely popular as interactive SMS services, but until now, they have not been available as a standalone application for traditional handsets.
“The Love Calculator, as well as our upcoming Flash Lite products, offers a new type of interactive mobile product, with superior features similar to that being enjoyed by iPhone users,” says Melodi Business Development Manager, Gemma Warburton.
Finally, if you catch the wrong plane and end up in Singapore, you might want to take part in Rednano Locate’s 'Rednano Hunt for Love' contest, though in fact, the competition is only open to Singaporeans and permanent residents. Entrants are required to pay a “nominal” registration fee per couple and will be given a goodie bag worth more than SGD$100 (£45) for taking part.
The competition is being staged by Rednano Mobile, the mobile touchpoint of  rednano.sg, Singapore’s local search and directory engine. To take part, each participating couple downloads Rednano Locate, a location-based mobile service application, to their mobile. Rednano Locate is enabled by messaging company Acision and location-based service technology company Seeker Wireless, a member of the Acision Innovation Network.
Acision conceptualised, designed and implemented the service infrastructure and the client user interface on the handsets, in collaboration with Rednano’s content repository and Seeker Wireless' location-based technology, SeekerLocate.
Armed with game cards marked by clues, couples then search for keywords and proceed to checkpoints where they are required to complete tasks assigned to them, using their phone to take photos as proof that they have visited their checkpoints.
Participating couples stand to win more than SGD $18,000 worth of cash and prizes in three categories: Fastest Couple (to complete the route and returns to the starting point); Most Photogenic Couple and Most Popular Couple. For the latter two awards, participants will upload photos of themselves donning Rednano t-shirts to www.rednano.sg/huntforlove for the public to vote for their favourites. The participating couple who garners the most number of votes in each of the two categories, wins. There will also be draws for SGD$5,000 cash prizes.
The Rednano Hunt For Love’ contest will be held on Sunday, 15 February, at the Singapore Press Holdings auditorium from 1 - 5pm.

Mobile Game Promotes Recycling

The latest Recycle for London campaign is using mobile technology to encourage Londoners to think before they throw away their rubbish and to feed their recycling habit instead.
The campaign, which launched yesterday, puts the recycling message directly into people’s hands with a mobile game. The game has been translated for mobile use by London-based mobile marketing agency Incentivated, which says that this is the first time that such technology has been used for a public sector campaign.
The game challenges the user to starve their hungry ‘evil bin’ by catching all recyclable materials in a green recycling box. Players score points for every item caught, but if the evil bin eats three items which should be recycled, it’s game over.
The game has been built as a Java application. By texting BIN to 62967, players receive a link to a mobile Internet site where they can download the game, ringtones, wallpaper and a  30-second ad. iPhone users can download the game from the Apple Store. The iPhone version uses the handset’s gyroscope: by tilting the phone left and right, the player moves the bin left and right. All users can forward the game to friends.
Despite recent reports of a downturn in the market for recycled materials, the Mayor of London is confident that the recycling market will recover. Over 60% of the rubbish we throw away can actually be recycled and yet Londoners on average are recycling only 20%  of their waste. Now everyone in London can recycle paper, glass and cans at the very least, and the message from the Recycle for London campaign is to reassure people and encourage them to recycle more.
“In London, we throw away so much rubbish that could actually be recycled - it is an important resource which is simply being chucked away,” says Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Chair of the London Waste and Recycling Board. “I am very excited that the new Recycle for London campaign is using innovative technologies to boost recycling and my message is to starve your bins and recycle, recycle, recycle.”
For the first time, the Recycle for London campaign will feature in TV ads, in addition to radio, press and online ads and bus and Tube posters. The campaign is funded by the London Waste and Recycling Board, which is chaired by the Mayor. The London Waste and Recycling Board has a budget of £84 million to deliver funding to boost recycling and ensure London's waste is managed sustainably, with minimal damage to the environment.
The ad campaign was devised by WCRS, while the media campaign was planned and bought by Mediaedge:cia (MEC), with strong digital elements planned by MEC Interaction, the online, digital and direct response arm of MEC. The activity follows on from the initial burst of activity pre-Christmas for the Greater London Authority to develop The Bin character further. The character, used previously in a game to promote recycling in London, will be voiced this time, and will appear in ads featured on pre-rolls on ITV.com as well as on TV and on Capital Radio. MEC Interaction has also negotiated for the video ad to run on user homepages of Facebook’s Green Cause Cluster in London, an audience defined by their ‘Green’ page content and interests.
Incentivated Commercial Director Robert Thurner believes that adding a mobile game with a viral element to the mix is a smart move by Recycle for London.
“The game is intuitive and fun, and reflects a fast growing trend by brands to harness the advances in mobile technology which mobile users are now adopting readily,” says Thurner. “At the same time, RfL is raising awareness of the serious need for us to change behaviour and recycle more each and every day.”
There’s more information about recycling in London here.

Britvic Goes Mobile with mirada

Soft drinks company Britvic has appointed content interaction and transaction company mirada to drive its mobile marketing and promotional activity. As Britvic’s preferred technology partner for mobile campaigns, mirada will work in partnership with Britvic’s appointed creative agencies to deliver compelling new ways for consumers to interact with Britvic’s brands, which include Tango, Robinsons and, through an exclusive bottling agreement with PepsiCo, Pepsi.
The partnership with Britvic will see mirada provide a wide range of mobile solutions for on-pack promotions, including mobile games and scratchcards. mirada will work with all the creative agencies on Britvic’s roster on the planning and implementation of mobile campaigns, and their integration with other marketing activities. 
“We recognise the need to provide consumers with new and innovative ways to interact with our brands,” says Britvic UK Digital Marketing Manager, Denise Meek. “We also recognise that we need to have a multiplatform presence to engage with the fragmented consumer audience. With mirada’s knowledge and expertise of the multiplatform environment we now have the ability to follow our audience as it moves away from traditional forms of marketing and advertising, to interact with other platforms, such as mobile. As the mobile phone is the most personal of all consumer devices, it has become a key channel for us to target our customers.”

Pure Garage Campaign Generates Double-digit Clickthroughs

Mobile marketing agency Phonevalley and Warner Music collaborated on an engaging mobile campaign for the release of Warner Music’s ‘Very Best of Pure Garage’ album towards the end of 2008. The campaign was run in partnership with Zenith Optimedia.
From 29 November to 7 December, Phonevalley broadcast a ‘Pure Garage’ MMS to a targeted group of over 32,000 16-24 year old Blyk subscribers who had expressed an interest in dance music. The message encouraged them to enter a competition to win a Nokia mobile phone. They could also click on the MMS to download a ‘Pure Garage’ wallpaper for their phone. The campaign generated a clickthrough rate of 12.85%. 

THMBNLS - The Soap on Your Phone

In what the companies are claiming is a world first, 20:20 London, Incentivated and the COI (Central Office of Information) have collaborated to launch ‘THMBNLS’, an interactive, ad-funded mobile soap opera for the Department of Children, Schools and Families. THMBNLS follows the lives of six teenagers and raises awareness of sexual wellbeing. The 22 weekly episodes will be available exclusively via the mobile Internet, and will be free to download. 
Viewers register online via their mobile browser at: www.thmbnls.mobi Traffic is being driven to the site via mobile banner ads placed across the six operator portals; 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Virgin and Vodafone. The first of the weekly 30-second episodes was  released at 7pm on Friday 9 January, with viewers reminded to watch the next episode by text message or vCalendar entries they have previously downloaded to their phone thereafter. The ‘vCalendar’ can be downloaded to activate the handset’s alarm function, thereby avoiding the cost of additional SMS reminders.
THMBNLS is a made-for-mobile soap opera which provides viewer engagement. Viewers can interact with the show, and many of the episodes will be personalised. Viewers’ names will appear in characters’ mobile phone books featured in the plot, on posters and graffiti featured in soap opera, and they can sign-up for voice messages from TMBNLS characters. Viewers can also vote on issues and dilemmas faced by characters in the soap to direct future storylines. 
In a campaign first for the UK, THMBNLS is free to receive. Following negotiations between Incentivated and the five UK mobile networks, all data charges are zero-rated,  including SMS alerts and WAP browsing sessions both for viewers on contract and pay as you go plans. THMBNLS is being promoted with mobile advertising, web advertising and a PR campaign.
“It’s a really exciting project, as it enables us to reach the audience in a powerful and personal way,” says Emma Cowan from the COI. “Because it’s unchartered territory, it’s been challenging to work with so many parties and agencies to ensure that it’s free to the user, as well as get the word out to the audience to get them to sign up.”
Incentivated Managing Director Jonathan Bass says the campaign is one of the more demanding briefs the company has seen, and one it has enjoyed solving.
“It’s a privilege to bring to life an ingenious idea which harnesses the power of mobile in delivering rich interactivity to a tech-savvy audience,” says Bass.

Incentivated and Carat Power Save the Children Text Petition

Save The Children captured the public’s imagination over the weekend with a text-based appeal to take action and put pressure on decision-makers to do everything in their power to end the violence in Gaza.
The appeal, carried in half- and full-page ads under the strapline: ‘Stop the suffering’, ran in The Guardian, Daily Mail and Sunday Times amongst others. The campaign carries the call to action: ‘Text CEASEFIRE to 81819’.
Real-time reporting reveals that the appeal generated 115,000 responses across three days. Responses were received regardless of the time of day, and the campaign spread virally. Respondents were sent a follow-up SMS carrying the message: ‘Save The Children is taking 115k CEASEFIRE requests 2 Downing St @ 3pm today. We need more. Pls ask your friends to txt CEASEFIRE 80 81819’.
The campaign was planned by Carat with the mobile response element run by mobile marketing agency Incentivated. According to Incentivated, across all press titles, the cost per response was just a few pence. Save the Children now plans to publicise the huge level of support in order to request that politicians everywhere push for a ceasefire.
Incentivated adds that mobile is becoming a mainstream communication channel to galvanise public support for small businesses, multinationals, public sector organizations and charities. Mobile was an important element of the Presidential election campaign which swept Barack Obama to victory in the US elections in November 2008.
“This is an unprecedented response, and the message from our text campaign is loud and clear - the British public want an end to the bombing in Gaza,” says Save the Children Director of Campaigns, Adrian Lovett. “A huge number of the British public care what is happening in Gaza and have taken action. Politicians are well aware of those messages and we will continue to ensure their voices are heard. Right now, the fighting is still going on and one child dies in Gaza every three hours. Public support can and must make a change.”
Incentivated Commercial Director Robert Thurner says the campaign proves the ubiquity and popularity of text as an immediate activation channel to traditional media which people respond to 24/7, regardless of their location. 
“It also proves the power of mobile as a viral marketing channel,” says Thurner. “In this digital age, mobile is unique in allowing us to support the issues which effect us, and to spread the word among others with similar beliefs."

Animal Welfare Charity Turns to Text

Global animal welfare charity IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare), has selected an autonomous web-based SMS solution, supplied by Text Messaging Centre (TMC) to deliver calls to action by text message to its substantial supporter base, in its ongoing fight to protect animals from cruelty and suffering.
TMC’s web-based application allows IFAW to communicate information and instructions quickly to everyone included in its supporter database via a simple text message at any time. The company says that the quick send and respond times of its SMS solution have speeded up reaction time from registered campaigners, resulting in more emails to parliament than ever before, which in turn has benefited seals, whales, and endangered species in the UK and around the world.
“IFAW is a campaigning organisation so we rely heavily on quickly communicating with all our supporters at once, calling them to take action,” says IFAW Communications Manager, Rosa Argent. “Using SMS enables us to send messages to a large number of people instantaneously. Each message is managed highly effectively through the Internet application and allows us to receive immediate responses back.”
Because TMC is a web-based application, it can be accessed from any computer. All messages are fully auditable and compliant through the interface. TMC says that its ‘no contract, no minimum term, no fixed monthly fee’ approach was one of the key business drivers for IFAW, along with its reputation for cost efficiency and reliability.
Following a successful trial period, IFAW has fully integrated the TMC text messaging solution throughout all of its campaigns. The charity is now considering an expanded service that will allow it to include photos in its call to action campaigns. IFAW is also using TMC text alerts as a means of educating would-be campaigners and gauging public awareness of the charity.
“Text alerts are a very useful tool provided by TMC in terms of education and awareness,” says Argent. “People who want to learn more about the important work of IFAW can text the Shortcode number featured on our website to receive regular SMS updates about how they can become involved in campaigns.
IFAW recently incorporated the Shortcode into marketing posters on the London Underground, advising the public to text the charity if they were interested in offering their support. Within two weeks, over 600 text messages were received.

MMA Case Study: Kraft Foods/YOC Sampling Campaign

The Brief
Kraft Foods tasked YOC with the creation of a mobile campaign to promote the launch of its new instant coffee products, Jacobs 3in1 and Jacobs 2in1. The campaign was to be integrated with traditional media and was intended to provide consumers with an uncomplicated way of ordering product samples via mobile, whilst minimising usual sampling wastage levels and associated costs through accurate targeting and tester self-selection. The target group was defined as young coffee lovers.

Objectives
The main objective of the Kraft Jacobs 3in1/2in1 mobile sampling campaign was to place product samples among the early adopters, who are considered to be the most innovation savvy, and the opinion leaders, amongst the target group.
Additional objectives that defined the campaign development were to maximise the reach of the target group, and to increase the conversion rate of the sample requests, while at the same time decreasing product distribution costs. The success of the campaign needed to be transparent and easy to measure. Kraft also wanted to gather data from the mobile campaign to develop a customer database for CRM purposes.

Strategy and solution
YOC created a mobile advertising and sampling campaign, integrating a mobile call to action with online and traditional TV and print media. Shortcodes and keywords were promoted across traditional print and TV ads, inviting consumers to send an SMS with the media-specific keyword to the campaign Shortcode, allowing them to directly respond and request a product sample, simply by sending a one-word text message. Participants were then sent a WAP push link to the mobile sampling portal, where users were invited to enter their personal details, so that they could receive a sample product.
Alongside promotion across traditional media channels, banner ads for the sampling campaign were also placed on the Vodafone portal, on the Nokia, Sat1, Pro7 Mobil MTV, Viva and YOC.mobi sites. 
The campaign placed control directly with the consumer, inviting them to send an SMS to request a sample once they had seen a print or TV advert. Promoting the mobile campaign through traditional media provided users with a direct opportunity to interact with the brand and request a sample via their mobile, only if they were interested in the product. 
YOC also provided a community of selected and profiled individuals as part of the target group. This group of targeted, opted-in mobile users received push text messages inviting them to text their details to a Shortcode to receive a product sample in the post. Text messages were only sent directly to YOC Community members who had already opted to receive targeted messages and were part of the defined target group. Following MMA guidelines, the campaign placed choice and control in the hands of the consumer.

Results
The ‘3in1/2in1’ campaign across TV, print and mobile advertising channels enabled almost 500,000 samples to be placed directly among the target group. Over 450,000 customers registered with Jacobs throughout the duration of the campaign. More than 80,000 users registered their details to be used for permission-based marketing in the future. 
0.4% of users who saw the TV advert ordered a product sample via the mobile. The campaign saw high responses from users of mobile portals that were led directly from mobile banner advertising to the mobile registration portal. Almost 650 banners were placed on selected portals relevant to the target group, and these achieved a clickthough rate of more than 3%. 250,000 text messages were sent to the profiled opted-in YOC community members who were part of the defined target group. Thanks to the detailed profiling and selection of community members, 10.6% responded and YOC distributed more than 26,000 samples to these respondents.
“The success of the campaign, especially in the mobile sector, exceeded our expectations,” says Kraft Marketing Manager, Marco Gottschalk. “The mobile phone has hereby established itself as promotional tool.”

MMA Viewpoint: Initiatives which leverage cross-media integration effectively, such as the campaign discussed in this study, often see success in using mobile to drive consumer adoption and achieving excellent results for their brands. The use of SMS as a call to action is a great way of encouraging consumer involvement in mobile marketing, and engaging them with a particular brand. MMA’s latest Global Attitude and Usage Study of more than 2,500 mobile phone users in Western Europe found that 68% of respondents already use their mobile phone to text, indicating widespread comfort with SMS as an application, making it a broad avenue to participation in mobile marketing campaigns.
The mobile channel creates an exciting opportunity to build a dialogue with the consumer, and an opportunity to build an ongoing relationship with the consumer, which is clearly demonstrated in the YOC case study. Leveraging the mobile channel allowed Kraft to create a database of relevant and interested consumers to contact in future campaigns. The free coffee sample offer in this mobile campaign demonstrates that marketers increasingly understand the importance of providing value to the consumer, in exchange for the opportunity to communicate with them on their mobile device - and adding sampling via mobile definitely creates this value.

Blumo Offers Free Mobile Campaign

US mobile marketing agency Blumo is offering a free mobile marketing campaign to advertisers in the 2009 Super Bowl, which takes place on 1 February. All advertisers airing a national commercial during the game are eligible and will receive free campaign development and execution services, paying only for messaging costs.
“In our current economic climate, marketing accountability is of utmost importance and there is no better way to quantify marketing activities in real-time than by a mobile interaction,” says Sean Bartlett, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Blumo. “Adding a mobile marketing element to Super Bowl ads is a tremendous opportunity to connect with consumers from all demographics and to take a broadcast message and make it truly engaging.”
The Blumo team will select one recipient of the free mobile marketing campaign based on eligible inquiries and will lead the advertiser and their agency through the development and execution of the campaign. The advertiser will be able to choose from a range of mobile marketing services, including auto response, digital collateral, mobile coupons, ringtones, wallpapers, trivia, voting, text-to-win, store locators, or any custom mobile deliverable.
Advertisers and agencies can submit their inquiry to superbowl@blumo.com
Submissions must be received by this Wednesday, 7 January, and all eligible entries will receive a response with 24 hours.

Incentivated Celebrates Mobile Success at DMA Awards

Mobile marketing played a decisive role in securing eight awards in six categories in this year’s DMA (Direct Marketing Association) Awards. Four of the awards won were Gold.
Mobile agency Incentivated provided the mobile solutions for seven of the eight award-winning campaigns, working in partnership with three agencies: 20:20 London, Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, and Rapp. 
In the Mobile Marketing category, Incentivated worked with 20:20 London on the mobile element of its ‘Terminators’ campaign for Virgin Media Television, which took the Gold award. In the same category, Incentivated picked up a Bronze award for its ‘Strongbow BowTime’ campaign for Scottish & Newcastle, in partnership with Rapp.
The Terminators campaign also picked up Gold awards in the Leisure, Ents & Media category, and the Creative Solutions category, as well as a Silver award in the Digital Innovation category.
In the Customer Acquisition category, Incentivated worked with Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw on the mobile element of the DCSF ‘Bookstart’ campaign, which took Gold. The campaign also picked up a Silver award in the Broadcast category.
“To those who think mobile is yet to gain traction and be taken seriously by marketers, I’d say it’s time to think again,” says Incentivated Commercial Director, Robert Thurner. “The roll call of winners at this year’s awards proves beyond doubt that mobile is now firmly established as a powerful channel which delivers exceptional results. Marketers who continue to ignore the strides made by pioneering mobile users risk being left behind. Mobile has come of age and the prospects for mobile in 2009 are exceptional”.
Jon Mew, Head of Mobile at the Internet Advertising Bureau , says the increased awareness, recognition and success of mobile campaigns at awards events industry-wide underlines the exceptional progress that mobile marketing has made this year.  “Those leading the mobile market have moved well beyond experimentation phase and embrace the medium’s unique ability to deliver personalized, one-to-one marketing which is time- and location-sensitive,” says Mew.

Ford Goes 3D With Mobile Ka Campaign

Ford of Europe is launching its first “3D interactive” mobile phone campaign through Wunderman, is for the new Ford Ka, and seeks to engage new young drivers and influence their choice of car.
The campaign is focused on stickers that look a bit like QR Codes, but aren’t. When a consumer points a cameraphone at one of the stickers, provided they have the right model, they see a mobile URL (gofindit.net) for a Ford Ka prelaunch site.
When they go to this site, users can see films and photos created for the campaign. They can also click on a link to go to another mobile site (fordka.mobi) from where they can download an application that enables them to see a 3D image of a Ford Ka when they launch the app and point their cameraphone at one of the stickers.
Wunderman says the 3D Ka is viewable on Nokia cameraphones released within the last two years, plus most Windows Mobile cameraphones. In fact, the fordka.mobi site  lists 21 models of Nokia phone that the app will run on.
The stickers that the phone needs to be pointed at in order to see the 3D Ka are contained in packs that are being given out to individuals who match the Ford Ka target audience in bars, clubs, universities and other venues. Experiential youth marketing firm Don’t Panic is handling the distribution of the packs.
The campaign will launch initially in the UK and roll out across Europe. Wunderman says it is the first mobile campaign by an automotive brand to use ‘augmented reality’. As Wunderman describes it, this is: “a field of computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data (virtual reality) where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time”.
“The people we want to attract look beyond the obvious to discover the hidden treasure and that’s the essence of the Ford Ka ‘Find It’ campaign,” says Ford Europe Small Car Communications Manager, Claire Hepworth. “Our augmented reality mobile campaign is a key component of the pre-launch activity ahead of the official launch in January 09.”
Perhaps the best way to fully understand the campaign is to check out the video here.

 

Mobile Barcodes Deployed in Recruitment Campaign

FCO Services, a Trading Fund of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has employed 2D mobile barcode technology as part of a recruitment drive. Working with TMP Worldwide,the recruitment communications business, FCO Services launched a campaign to recruit security and technology experts using 2D mobile barcodes in November.
“This is the first time that a 2D barcode has been used as a targeting tool in a recruitment campaign,” says TMP Worldwide Director of Digital and Media, Marco Bertozzi. “We know that, for most people, 2D barcodes will mean very little. However, when FCO Services needed to recruit technical security specialists, they understood that their applicant base would recognise this technology, know how to interact with it and be curious about its use in a recruitment drive.”
The campaign launched at the end of November and ran until the end of the first week in December. Applicants used their phones to scan the 2D barcode, which launched a mobile Internet recruitment site. This acted as a first-stage filter for the campaign, says Bertozzi, as only those who understood the technology and its application would progress their application.
The technology to power the campaign was provided by TMP Worldwide’s mobile partner, Velti. The company’s Mobile Marketing Platform (MMP) enabled the creation of WAP landing pages and the use of 2D barcodes.
The print campaign initially ran in the technology section of a national newspaper and also in local newspapers. It was supported by a more traditional digital campaign on major job boards to ensure that FCO Services maintained visibility and captured people who might not have the required technology on their phones or access to the press choices.
2D barcodes are a way to encode information, just like conventional barcodes, but they can encode significantly more. The FCO Services 2D barcode contained the information www.fcossecurity.mobi. When the image is photographed or scanned by a device equipped with a 2D barcode reader, the application reads the encoded information and prompts the phone’s browser to visit the URL.
FCO Services is part of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. It deliver a unique range of security-related services, installing security and communications systems in embassies and high-security sites around the world. 

FedEx Express Launches Mobile Superhero Campaign

Express transportation company FedEx Express has launched an interactive multimedia marketing campaign, featuring mobile technology, to support the new FedEx Express upgraded service from Europe to the US East Coast.
FedEx Express announced the upgrade in September. With the enhanced service, FedEx can now deliver shipments to more than 3,500 US East Coast zip codes overnight from customers who previously could only use the two-business-day service. Customers who already have next-business-day delivery service to the East Coast will be able to take advantage of later pick-up times of up to six hours. 
The campaign centres on a microsite that FedEx Express customers are invited to visit. Once there, they see a short video which places them in the role of a superhero saving the world from an invading alien. During the film, they receive a call on their mobile phone from a character in the movie looking for a solution to save the planet. The customer action influences the movie storyline and outcome.
The campaign is accompanied by pan-European, above- and below-the-line activities in various channels, including web banners, outdoor and print advertising and e-newsletters. Additionally the movie has been posted on YouTube. You can experience the video for yourself here.

Marines Turn to Incentivated for Recruitment Campaign

The Royal Marines and the Central Office of Information (COI) have engaged mobile agency Incentivated to develop and deliver an integrated mobile campaign as part of their recruitment drive to coincide with the release of the latest Bond movie, ‘Quantum of Solace’. The campaign, which combines SMS, a WAP site and Bluetooth, delivers exclusive Royal Marines content repurposed for mobile at cinemas nationwide.
Targeting adventure-hungry, cinema-going 18 -25 year old men at the start of an important phase in the Royal Marines’ recruitment cycle, an action-packed video message - made for mobile - is delivered direct to the handsets of potential recruits via Bluetooth. This demographic are hard to reach through traditional media, says Incentivated, but mobile is central to the way they communicate and organize their lives.
In addition to delivering the video footage, the Bluecast also supplies a clickable link, taking prospects direct to the Royal Marines’ recruitment WAP site. Posters accompanying the campaign also carry an SMS call to action, linking to the mobile Internet site. The site offers a range of download opportunities for Royal Marines video and image content, but is also designed to capture names and emails to subscribe potential recruits to the regular Marine’s e-newsletter. The campaign was supported by real Royal Marines in participating cinemas pointing users to the various ways prospects could register their interest and keep in contact with the force.
“Our challenge was to harness the mobile habits of this elusive target audience whilst respecting the sensitivity of contacting under 16s with armed forces recruitment messages,” says Incentivated Managing Director, Jonathan Bass. “The SMS and WAP contact strategy achieves the goal, provides a clear audit trail, but allows participants to receive tailored marketing messages going forward. Using both Bluetooth and mobile display ads together in one campaign allows us to compare and contrast these different acquisition media; we all know they have different pros and cons.”
To view the Royal Marines WAP site, text MARINES to 62233. To view the video on the mobile site, click the ‘See Us in Action’ link.

BRIK Launches 'Stressless' Mobile Response Campaign

Newly-formed digital marketing agency BRIK has launched an integrated mobile and online campaign for Norwegian recliner and sofa manufacturer, Ekornes, promoting its ‘Stressless’ recliner range.
BRIK's creative strategy was to re-develop the promotions area of Ekornes website to create a central, engaging digital space, bringing to life the strapline, ‘Stressless Living’. The agency connected the offline activity to the new promotions space through the use of mobile, encouraging consumers to respond to Stressless advertising via text for more information, driving them quickly and easily online. Early returns have already resulted in visitor dwell time increasing from 20 seconds to over two minutes.
“The key to the new Stressless campaign has been a radical re-think of the way the brand engages with consumers and vice-versa,” says BRIK Projects Director, Danny Brooks. “The challenge was to achieve this in a way that worked for customers who are looking for the ultimate in comfort and quality furniture and keep them coming back to the site to ultimately drive footfall to Ekornes retailers. We implemented mobile marketing to simplify the customer journey from offline to online, allowing the consumer greater freedom and convenience to interact with the brand in their offline advertising.”

O2 Launches Cameraphone 'Priority' Campaign

O2 is running an image recognition campaign in support of its ‘Priority’ initiative, which aims to highlight the exclusive experiences O2 customers can receive from the network operator, including free tickets to events at The 02.   
The campaign offers O2 customers the chance to win tickets to one of the New Year's Eve events at The O2, featuring Elton John, 2ManyDJs and Hed Kandi. It centres on the latest O2 ad campaign, encouraging customers to interact with it using their cameraphones.
The ad campaign features posters, press, TV, online and in-store ads showing the word ‘Priority’, with the letter ‘i’ resembling as a door. O2 customers are invited to take a picture of one of the ads and send it as a multimedia message with the subject ‘NYE’ to the Shortcode, 63333. A few minutes later, the image is returned to them, but with the door in the word ‘Priority’revealing either a Christmas scene, or an image of The O2 – the latter signifying that the customer is a winner.
The campaign has been developed by archibald ingall stretton in partnership with Kooaba, which specialises in image recognition technology. Customers are being alerted to the campaign via altered versions of existing above-the-line executions, as well as emails, SMS and national press advertorials. archibald ingall stretton has also created an iPhone app in support of the campaign.

Text & Win - Or Maybe Lose

Mobile marketing company bCODE has unveiled a pilot mobile-marketing program for casino operator Harrah’s. The mobile program, branded ‘T.I.P. (Texting Important People) by Harrah’s’ is currently being tested at three of the company’s venues: Harrah’s Atlantic City, Harrah’s New Orleans, and Showboat Atlantic City.
Guests of the selected Harrah’s properties sign up to receive personalized offers as bCODE mobile coupons sent via SMS text messages to their mobile devices. These offers are redeemed at the Harrah’s properties using bCODE’s self-service media plane scanners.
The mobile program pilot was created and implemented by Harrah’s Innovation Team. It leverages the latest in Web 2.0 technologies, including integration with a real-time online software-as-a-service CRM platform.
The text-messaging-only-based system means that anyone with a text-enabled mobile device, which is more than 99% of the market, can instantly benefit from the offers. And the secure nature of the scanned bCODE mobile coupons means that high-value offers can be sent to the program members, to increase the appeal of the program to them.
“We are excited about bCODE’s innovative mobile marketing platform,” says Tim Stanley, CIO and SVP of Innovation, Gaming and Technology for Harrah’s Operating Company. “It provides Harrah’s with another method for real-time guest interactions by enabling the delivery of targeted, personalized information and offers to guests’ mobile phones via SMS.”

PocketSurfer Celebrates Ad Campaign Success

DataWind, the maker of the PocketSurfer web-surfing device, has announced the results of the first mobile advertising campaign deployed on the device during the summer. More than 30% of PocketSurfer users clicked the ad to be redirected to the EnjoyEngland website.
The mobile campaign was part of EnjoyEngland’s wider marketing initiative to generate visibility to both UK residents and tourists, particularly those who enjoy “the great outdoors”. Datawind says that a large portion of PocketSurfer users in the UK have indicated enthusiasm for outdoor leisure pursuits, such as cycling, hiking and boating, where the ability to access the Internet in often remote areas is highly valuable.
“We were pleased with the success of the partnership and the wider audience it enabled EnjoyEngland.com to benefit from,” says EnjoyEngland Head of Marketing, Amanda Smyth.   “Working with PocketSurfer provided us with an ideal platform to reach an Internet-savvy audience on an increasingly popular form of technology.”
PocketSurfer2R is an ultra-thin, handheld device for accessing the web on the move. It features a full-colour widescreen display, a backlit QWERTY keyboard and touchpad. The device includes a built-in GPS receiver and integrated location-based services. It costs £199, including up to 20 hours of Internet usage per month for the first year in the UK. Unlimited monthly usage costs £5.99, and an annual subscription fee of £39.99 after the first year entitles users to an additional year of 20 hours per month. There’s also the option to upgrade to unlimited Internet usage within the UK, for the lifetime of the product, for an additional one-off payment of £59.99.