SMS/MMS
Virgin 1, Terminator: Great mobile campaign
Great mobile campaign out of the UK to promote the Terminator series on Virgin1. Here’s the run-down:
1. Targeting very tech savvy males who are dubious of advertising, Virgin1 put together a campaign called “Terminate A Mate” whereby entering a someone’s mobile phone number friends could be geo-targeted and sent a mobile video message telling them that they were being tracked by a live terminator.
2. Display and WAP banners were the primary campaign drivers, which drove people to a website/mobile site where they could enter their friend’s name in order to commence with the termination.
3. The message was then sent out and by using information from the mobile operating network, targets were geo-tracked. So, the message actually showed their exact position on a map making it that much more personal.
4. The recently deceased could then get revenge by sending their own terminators after people, making the whole thing very viral. In fact, the word spread via fan sites, which always makes for great free PR.
Text messages form Santa
For a mere $5.49 you can schedule an SMS package that creates the illusion of Santa sending your child a text message. The service from https://www.textsanta.net/ lets you create, customize and deliver this little miracle and should your child be without a mobile device (god forbid) then you can have the text messages sent directly to you. Oh, how I love Christmas traditions.
Contxts. Cool mobile idea.
This is pretty cool. In order to cut down on business cards, and if you like digital parlor tricks, you get get people to opt into an SMS number in order to get all the info that would normally appear on the card. Here’s how it works.
1. A user texts your name “Daniel” a short code “50500.”
2. The user gets a reply message with all of Daniel’s info on it including IM, twitter info.
3. Mobile number is automatically stored on Daniel’s account.
Oh and you can also send the user’s number to an SMS shortcode and do it in reverse. So if you asked someone “what’s your number?” you would just text that number to “50500″ and that user would have all your info.
Check it out at http://contxts.com/
Apple Search vs. Google Search
Great Article from Alex Salkever yesterday laying out the argument for why Apple will more than likely take on Google for control of mobile search. They certainly have the financial motivation to do so, regardless of whether or not they decide to monetize it or simply give it away and use it as a competitive difference for the iPhone. But here are a few basic points to keep in mind.
1. Apple has recognized that after voice and email, search will be the number three priority for mobile users. As such, there are inherent revenue streams that apple would clearly take advantage of, specifically location-based search which will only improve in the next few months.
2. Apple (and AT&T) cearly like the gated community approach and will go out of their way to make sure that there are as few companies in the mobile pond as they can. Google on the other hand is all about open source, which could not be more opposite and their army of developers are a clear advantage.
3. The king of mobile search will likely come down to who can design the better user interface. People always short change this factor, but it’s the core of what makes Apple so great. Currently, search is more of a nusiance than anything, and whoever figures out how to fascilitate an easier experience with more relevant results will likely take the lion’s share of the mobile search market.
Boomers are fastest growing audience for text messaging
Text messaging is no longer just a young person’s activity. The average age of a texter is 38 years old – up from 19 years old in 2003. The fastest growing demo is 45-64,” says Jeff Hasen, CMO at HipCricket. “ Part of the reason is that kids and grandkids don’t often use phones for talking – if you want to communicate with Johnny or Sue, you need to speak their language. In 2008, for the first time, the number of texts sent in the U.S. exceeded the number of calls.
A mobile marketing classic
One of my favorite mobile ideas to date. In case you haven’t seen this mobile-to-screen idea for Motorola you can see it now. http://vimeo.com/4273766
