India Mobiles

Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plan, has teamed with mobileStorm , a digital marketing company with a decade of experience under its belt, to launch an innovative SMS-based patient reminder solution . Like most organizations, Kaiser was faced with the problem of needing to cut costs, and decided to target the most cost-sensitive areas of their business- patient communication.  The healthcare giant chose mobileStorm’s mobile marketing platform to provide efficient and cost-effective paperless reminders to its subscribed customer base, while continually allowing customers to opt-out or into the appointment reminder database. To meet Kaiser’s goals for patient communication, mobileStorm developed an end-user SMS platform solution that allowed for the creation and managment of general appointment reminders, such as scheduled office visits, specific treatment reminders, such as mammograms, and even specific notification of completed lab results, such as a text saying “your lab results are ready.” Beginning October 1st, 2008 mobileStorm began a one month pilot program with Kaiser to prove it’s effectiveness.  Taking 87,950 cell phone numbers from Kaiser’s patient database, mobileStorm first launched a carrier query, or number verification, to verify that all numbers were valid cell phone numbers

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Kaiser Permanente Teams With mobileStorm For SMS Reminders, Sees 30% Cost Savings

Mobile marketing, and in particular, the mobile coupon, is about to hit its stride. In 2009, we saw large corporations test out mobile marketing campaigns to raise awareness of their brand and products, often giving away discounts and free products to tempt consumers into opting-in to their campaigns. Looking back at 2009, we can predict how much of an impact mobile marketing will have in 2010

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Will 2010 Be the Year of the Mobile Coupon?

There seems to be a constant debate as to when the so-called “year of mobile” will come about, or when mobile marketing and advertising will finally make the breakthrough to the masses.  One mobile ad network in particular thinks the year of mobile has already come and gone in 2009, and is already looking ahead to its top 10 mobile predictions for 2010. Millennial Media, who operates one of the largest mobile advertising networks in the US, looked at advertiser and industry data, surveys, device and technology trends, observations of consumer behaviors and campaign analysis pulled from its network over the past year to pick out what it sees as the top 10 mobile predictions for the coming year.

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Millennial Media: 2009 Was The “Year Of Mobile,” Predictions For The Top 10 In 2010

It’s not what you would expect from men’s entertainment magazine, Playboy. The iconic publication is finally dangling its feet into mobile waters with a new iPhone application that is subtle if not downright boring – at least in terms of the substantially more controversial, risque content common to the magazine itself. Likely aware that pushing the envelop would mean a rejection from Apple, Playboy Enterprises International released its first official Playboy app with little content to raise eyebrows

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Playboy Goes Mobile With iPhone App

There’s a lot of buzz in the blogosphere about the upcoming Google Nexus One smartphone. While nothing is to be sure yet, rumors have it that the phone will appear on T-Mobile sometime soon, and that the phone may have more to do with advertising than competing Android models. The FTC approved the Nexus One about 15 hours ago, so we can at least be sure it’s not all rumor at this point

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Google’s Nexus One: Advertising, Marketing, and Disruption?

I was interviewed last week by Brian Prows of Mobile Beyond for his excellent mobile marketing podcast . He interviews a lot of great people in mobile, like Michael Becker and Mickey Alam Khan, and I was glad to do the interview when he asked. Brian asked a lot of great questions and we covered a lot of ground in the interview titled Practical Mobile Marketing Advice for SMBs with Kim Dushinski .

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Podcast Interview: Kim Dushinski on Mobile Beyond

It’s always amazed me that carriers, who know more about mobile consumers than anyone, have been the slowest to adopt mobile marketing and advertising.  While there’s some undeniable barriers carriers must overcome, third-party providers are already doing their part to help in the cause. Oracle, for example, recently launched a new platform aimed squarely at wireless carriers to help them get on the mobile advertising bandwagon without being left in the dust by competitors and other mobile ad startups that are gaining momentum left and right

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Oracle Aims To Help Carriers Cash In On Mobile Advertising With New Platform

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that South Korean operator SK Telecom is moving forward with a $343 million proposal to acquire a minority stake (49%) in Hana Financial Group’s credit card unit. If finalized, the partnership could engender a host of new and combined products fusing together both banking and telecom services. In recent months, SK Telecom, in fact, has been preparing for the forthcoming introduction of a “mobile credit card” that will allow subscribers to enact and complete transactions or similar purchases via a wireless device or through personal banking information. Evidently, the deal now on the table would focus on the ultimate goal of cultivating and promoting the “proliferation of mobile credit cards” and to develop futuristic, next-generation payment models and mechanisms.

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New Payment Tools Born of SK Telecom and Hana Deal?

Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the advertising group WPP, predicts a slow growth in the upcoming year for the advertising industry, but sees great potential in mobile advertising and marketing in the coming years, most notably in countries like China and India where mobile usage is exploding. A recent study from Magna, part of Interpublic Group, predicted “mobile marketing, well beyond advertising, will likely hold the most promise for… commercial activation going forward.” In response to this, chief executive of WPP Group, Sir Martin Sorrell, told the Media Group that mobile advertising and marketing has a “lot of potential and power,” especially in countries like India and China. The fact that Google is chasing after this market, with its recent purchase of AdMob and other plays in space, prove that the reports are on to something. Google’s moves fuel Sorrell’s belief that the mobile advertising and marketing industries are in infancy now, and bound to take off

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WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell Sees Big Growth in Mobile Marketing

Lowering the cost of expensive mobile marketing features for small businesses is key in the growth of the mobile marketing industry in the US. One company looking to do this is InvolveMobile , which late last week launched its integrated mobile marketing platform in the US. Priced at $45 per month for small businesses, the Software-as-a-Service technology allows clients to set up interactive text message and mobile campaigns from a browser and send them to mobile phones on any carrier.

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InvolveMobile Launches SaaS Small Business Mobile Marketing Platform

Those of us consumed in the world of mobile marketing and its subsequent topics tend to easily forget about the backbone of the mobile industry- the wireless companies themselves.  While they exist with a tremendous amount of regulation, the FCC and other government organizations are flooded with consumer complaints and internal inquiries each and every year. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has taken notice of the problem and called on the FCC to not only increase oversight of the entire wireless industry, but to do a better job of enforcing consumer protection rules as well

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Government Calls On FCC To Keep Closer Eye On The Wireless Industry

Elvis may be gone, but he certainly isn’t forgotten. On the perennial list of top celebrity earners who just happen to be dead, Elvis Presley remains both a hot brand and lucrative industry – a veritable business of music, merchandise, and memorabilia that continues to drive revenue for the many employed by all things Elvis. It’s no wonder then that Elvis has finally arrived in the world of mobile marketing. To commemorate a series of events honoring the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s birth next month, Elvis Presley Enterprises is preparing to launch a free Elvis Mobile app for Apple’s iPhone and iTouch.

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Elvis Presley Goes Mobile

Want a free Slurpee with that? This month, about 200 7-Eleven stores in San Diego are testing a GMR Marketing campaign where users can get free drinks using UBC bar codes. For customers without Internet access on their mobile phones, the coupon can be redeemed with a numeric code. The test, which will run through Dec 31, asks consumers to send a text with the word “FAST” (or fast in Spanish, “RAPIDO”) to “72579.” In return, they will receive a message for a free beverage at 7-Eleven stores.

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7-Eleven Tries Out Mobile Marketing with Free Drinks

The Federal Trade Commission has set its sights set on Google. According to the Wall Street Journal this week, the FTC is looking into Google’s proposed $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising network AdMob. Although many expected the mega-deal to provoke at least some attention from the FTC it seems unlikely at this time that any steps or actions will be taken to preclude the acquisition from actually taking place. No names affiliated with either Google or the FTC were directly sourced in the article to provide inside details. According to a representative for Google, the “investigation” is presented as routine protocol.

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Google’s AdMob Acquisition Eyed By FTC

Google has begun a massive mobile marketing campaign surrounding Place Pages, the small pages that display info for local  businesses on Google Maps.  What’s interesting is that the centerpiece for the campaign is the use of QR-Codes. Google is starting things off by sending QR-code decals to some 190,000 local businesses across the US.  Google determined the most searched for and most clicked local Place Pages for the initial run, though a full release is imminent

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Google Starts Pushing Local QR-Codes For Business Listings, Will It Pay Off?

In regards to why Verizon decided to block 4INFO text messages from one of its short codes, it’s come to light that the dispute is over ads being placed in 4INFO’s SMS messages, not per-message fees as we had previously speculated . I had a chance to speak with Zaw Thet, CEO of 4INFO, who stated that Verizon had made requests prior to Friday’s blockage in regards to the advertising attached to 4INFO’s messages via its 44636 short code, and that he believed compliance with their terms had been met.  Obviously, Verizon saw it otherwise. “We can’t comment on any part of this dispute other than that we believe that we complied with the Verizon requests, regarding our SMS advertising on 44636, in a timely manner, explained Thet

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Update: Verizon Blocked 4INFO’s Shortcode Over Ads Attached To Its SMS Messages

There’s a lot of opportunities in regards to mobile marketing these days, but many new-age methods rely on the hope that most of the target audience is equipped with smartphones.  Unfortunately, as most marketers know, that’s simply not a reality. HipLogic, a unique startup previously known as Numobiq, has the simple intention of bringing smartphone-like features and capabilities to simple feature phones, or mass market devices.  Put simply, the company’s platform is designed to bring sophisticated applications to the simplest cell phones by keeping all the complexity in the network.  In theory, HipLogic wants to bring the quick, easy interface of the iPhone, Android and Blackberry to more simple-in-nature and lightweight phones that are available for the mass market. By keeping the heavy-lifting in the background, HipLogic’s platform allows users to toggle on a more iPhone-like interface that can bring with it more smartphone-like content such as real-time data, social networking and apps.  It’s all accomplished via a free mobile app that connects the device to HipLogic’s behind-the-scenes technology that incorporates a lightweight JavaScript virtual machine connected to the cloud.  That virtual machine can then aggregate information from network operators and the Web to create mash-ups on the device

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HipLogic Brings Smartphone Tech To Simple, Mass Market Feature Phones

I am so honored to be included on Mobile Marketer’s Mobile Women to Watch List for 2010 . It is so exciting to be listed with other “achievers who have already left their stamp on mobile marketing.” There are some seriously awesome women on this list, like Laura Marriott , who is the Former President of the Mobile Marketing Association, and Tamara Gruber of Crisp Wireless who is one of my long-time mobile women friends and super smart marketer. I’ll let you read the entire list on your own, but want to leave with a couple of the quotes I especially liked: “In mobile, you need to keep an eye on the future and a foot grounded in the present” ALLISON MOONEY Vice president of emerging trends, Omnicom’s MobileBehavior “We need to connect with women in other industries who want to be where the action really is today in marketing” LYNN TORNABENE Chief marketing officer, Quattro Wireless “Currently 0.8 percent of email newsletters are optimized for mobile, yet 20 to 30 percent of folks are checking their email on mobile devices” DEBORAH HALL CEO, Web2Mobile See the Mobile Woman to Watch 2010 list at Mobile Marketer

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Kim Dushinski Named on Mobile Women to Watch 2010

NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., a well-known force in mobile barcode scanning solutions, has revealed a partnership with Sony Ericsson that will preload NeoMedia’s NeoReader barcode scanning application in Sony Ericsson mobile phones. According to the announcement from from NeoMedia, the NeoReader will be pre-installed across all Sony Ericsson platforms. Robert Westin, Business Development Manager at Sony Ericsson, says: “We see great potential in the 2D barcode market and support NeoMedia’s strategy to promote and drive the open 2D barcode standards.” With new evidence mounting by the day that the marketplace is eager and ready for 2D barcodes, Sony Ericsson now appears equally willing and ready to explore the potential of new technologies increasingly utilized by an expansive assortment of retail outlets and brands. To prevent users from needing multiple barcode readers, the NeoReader is a universal barcode scanning application that reads all standard 1D and 2D barcode symbologies, including QR, Data Matrix, Aztec, UPC and EAN.

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NeoMedia Barcode Scanning App Gets Pre-Loaded

The concept of augmented reality (AR) is still very much in its infancy, but the opportunities it presents in the areas of mobile marketing, commerce and gaming is more than plentiful.  How far have we come in bringing AR to fruition and what does the future hold for the concept? A new report from Juniper Research projects the technology combining the physical world with virtual imagery and information will generate only $2 million in revenue next year, but the projection is set to increase dramatically to nearly $714 million by 2014.  By then, most of that revenue will be derived from things like  paid application downloads, subscription-based services and advertising, according to Juniper

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The Future Of Mobile Augmented Reality

Baidu, the Chinese search engine equivalent of Google, is taking aim at their US competitor by directly targeting Google with a new mobile search application that, according to multiple published reports, will begin turning up pre-installed on mobile phones. For now, Baidu will only say that the much-hyped search will start shipping “sometime in 2010.” If you’re wondering which mobile devices will carry the app, your guess is as good as anyone’s. Baidu is still ironing out details with yet-to-be named device manufacturers

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Baidu Targets Google with New Search Engine App