Mobile Marketing Magazine

Sony Ericsson and 3 Team Up for Spotify Offer

Sony Ericsson and 3UK have unveiled the final phase of their Spotify promotion, with the launch of  www.sonyericsson.com/musiceverywhere  which is home to a selection of personal playlists from an eclectic mix of artists ranging from The Stereophonics, Keane and Ellie Goulding to The Courteeners and Mumford & Sons.
The artists have collaborated to provide a playlist of songs inspired by recent journeys they took. The Stereophonics for example, created a playlist inspired by their tour bus travels from Newcastle to Glasgow, while Keane travelled a lot by night train on their last tour and have put together a soundtrack for rail journeying through the night. Other playlists can be found from Amy MacDonald, Erick Hassle and Delphic.
The campaign was created to support the partnership between 3UK and Spotify that gives customers buying the Sony Ericsson Xperia  X10 or Vivaz a free Spotify Premium subscription for two months.
To take advantage of the offer, XPERIA X10 and Vivaz owners should text ‘Spotify’ to 39000. They will then receive a link by text which will let them create a new Spotify ID, or use an existing Spotify ID to get the 2-month pass. Just make sure you remember to cancel it if you don’t want to keep it running, because if you don’t, you’ll find a fee for £9.99 per month on your mobile phone bill until you do.
Other campaign elements include a series of print adverts, along with a competition on 3UK & Sony Ericsson’s Twitter site, Twentertain_Me, offering consumers the chance to win a trip to a concert or festival of their choice.
The Xperia X10 is Sony Ericsson’s first Android phone on 3. The handset features multi-tasking applications like Timescape which includes a scrolling application that shows updates from Facebook, Twitter, recent photos, text messages, emails and Spotify tracks.
Spotify is a digital music service that offers access to millions of tracks from major record labels. With Spotify Premium users can stream their favourite music to their PC and mobile instantly.

Zavvi Attracts 10,000 New Customers With Sponge Mobile Campaign

Entertainment retailer Zavvi.com has attracted over 10,000 new customers with a re-launch mobile marketing campaign.
The campaign, created and executed by mobile marketing agency Sponge, encouraged people to text in and enter a draw to win £1,000. All entrants received a unique code sent to their handsets to obtain a £1 discount on any order placed on the Zavvi.com website. Posters throughout the tube network in London promoted the competition.
Over a one-month period in December 2009, 24,000 discount codes were issued, with over 19,000 redeemed, generating over £150,000 of revenue and adding more than 10,000 new customers to Zavvi.com's database.
Zavvi, which folded on the high street last year, re-launched online in November under new owners The Hut Group. The company appointed Sponge to increase consumer interaction with the Zavvi.com brand, and to drive people to the website. Sponge, which specialises in mobile marketing campaigns, high-end mobile websites and apps, also worked closely with Zavvi.com to use social media and offer forums to publicise the campaign.
"Sponge over-delivered in terms of creative planning of the project, and the quality continued throughout the campaign,” says The Hut Group Commercial Director, Richard Chapple. “I'd recommend the company to any retailer looking to penetrate the m-commerce space."
Over 10,000 campaigns by some of the biggest international retailers and brands have run across Sponge’s TG3 platform, resulting in hundreds of millions of interactions with consumers.
“Using a simple mechanic to engage Zavvi.com’s audience was key to the campaign,” says Sponge Chairman, Alex Meisl. “By offering an easy-to-enter promotion, which was quick and cost-effective to set up, Zavvi.com successfully generated a significant number of new customers in a short timescale at a low cost.”

Maserati Goes Mobile with 4th Screen Campaign

Premium mobile advertising agency 4th Screen Advertising has completed a deal with global media agency MEC for a mobile campaign for luxury car manufacturer Maserati, to support the launch of its latest model, the GranCabrio. 
Using 4th Screen’s rich media advertising format, iSlide, mobile advertising for the new car targets iPhone users across 4th Screen’s premium mobile advertising engagement platform, Mpression, to include high quality inventory in UK from publishers such as Guardian mobile and ITN. This is the first time that Maserati has used a mobile advertising campaign targeted specifically at Smartphone users, with bespoke rich media formats.
The iSlide expandable format is similar to online formats, where users can click on the banner which expands the ad to deliver a full screen, rich media display. The iSlide format also integrates seamlessly with the iPhone, enabling a direct connection to be made to a full blown ‘above-the-line’ advert. For Maserati, the expandable ad format features a hero shot of the GranCabrio, which links through to a dedicated micro site for the new car, enabling consumers to explore the car in more detail.
The mobile activity forms part of an integrated campaign to raise the profile of GranCabrio as it launches in the UK. The mobile activity will run alongside online and press. All media was planned and bought by MEC.
“Detailed analysis of TGI and Comscore, which provides information on target demographic groups and mobile behaviour, showed that Maserati’s customer base correlates highly with Smartphone consumers,” says 4th Screen Account Manager, Will Rusack. “More than this, new Smartphone demographics allow us to execute high-quality campaigns based on an array of campaign parameters and this is essential for Maserati’s brand. We are delighted to be working and engaging with such a premium brand. It is a sign of the growing maturity of mobile as an advertising channel."

AdMob Campaign Boosts Game's App Store Ranking

Zattikka’s ‘Finger Frenzy’ game has raced up the UK App Store ranking with the help of an ad campaign on mobile ad network AdMob. The iPhone-focused advertising campaign pushed Finger Frenzy’s position from within the 100’s to number 24 in just a few days.
Following the successful launch of the game with an Apple ‘What’s Hot’ co-promotion at Christmas, the number of downloads and popularity level declined sharply. With 140,000 apps currently available in the App Store, Zattikka found it difficult to get its paid-for app noticed. To achieve its objective of breaking into the UK’s top 25 paid games, Zattikka turned to AdMob to help propel Finger Frenzy back into the App Store rankings and increase public interest.
Zattikka used AdMob’s cost-per-click text and tile ads, which send users directly from the ad to the app’s download page. With just one click, consumers were able to buy the game, which challenges them to type the alphabet as quickly as possible.
The campaign concentrated on the 3G and 3Gs iPhone and iPod touch handsets, reaching consumers in the UK across more than 3,000 iPhone apps in AdMob’s network. To provide transparency to the consumer and ensure qualified clicks, the £0.59 game price was highlighted.
 “We turned to AdMob to re-ignite download activity, and our campaign resulted in an immediate increase in downloads, and an even higher ranking impact than the ‘What’s Hot’ placement we previously held in the UK App Store” says Matt Spall, Head of Product Development at Zattikka.
Thomas Schulz, Managing Director at AdMob, EMEA, notes that with nearly 38,000 apps added to Apple’s App Store so far in 2010, and millions downloaded every week, it is becoming increasingly difficult for developers to grasp the attention of consumers.
"The Finger Frenzy campaign is a fantastic example of how developers can employ mobile advertising to improve sales of their applications,” he says. “Mobile advertising benefits both consumers and developers, as the ads help consumers find new apps, and developers can devote more time to creating and updating their apps." 

Ogilvy Powers WIRED UK Safe Text Campaign

The May issue of WIRED UK, marking its first birthday, heralds the roll-out of a multichannel marketing campaign for the magazine, which includes a mobile text programme. Condé Nast has worked with WIRED’s agency Hurrell Moseley Dawson & Grimmer (HMDG) for the creative, with M2M handling the media channels, FMG Media for the online sampler using Ceros, and Ogilvy Advertising looking after the text campaign.  
The digital outdoor campaign breaks today and incorporates giant Transvision screens and digital LCD 6 sheets at 15 national mainline train stations, including nine in London (including Victoria, Waterloo, Euston, Liverpool Street, Kings Cross) and six major cities across the UK (Edinburgh, Manchester Piccadilly, Glasgow Central, Birmingham New St, Leeds and Liverpool). The creative will last for 20 seconds and reveals the line ‘The future is under construction’. The combined audience of this element of the campaign numbers 3.5 million people. In addition to the May issue, this outdoor activity will be replicated to support the June, September and December issues of WIRED.
WIRED will also have a presence from 1 April on the Premier Ocean sites at Holland Park Roundabout, the Two Towers site on the A4, and Eat Street, the new digital site that can carry animation at Westfield. Combined audience figures for these sites total over 3 million a week.   
Also breaking today is the ‘Safe Text’ campaign created by Ogilvy Advertising. This is a WIRED ‘self-destructing’ text, promoted using the creative ‘The Future can be erased’. Users register to send Safe Texts from a dedicated mobile site by texting ‘WIRED’ to 83118. Once registered, they can send 10 Safe Texts per day, though the recipient will also need to connect to the mobile web to read the text. Once read, the text disappears to reveal the anniversary issue cover of WIRED. The WIRED-branded Safe Texts will work on any mobile which can connect to the Internet. Recipients of Safe Texts are encouraged to use the service themselves and forward it on to friends and family.
The opportunity to spread the WIRED word will be communicated through advertising on 12 giant Transvision digital screens, across the country. The Safe Text campaign is powered by Velti, while media is provided by Blis Mobile.  

Out There Campaign Goes Down a Storm

In 2009, BlackBerry maker RIM launched the the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm 9500 Smartphone.
RIM and Out There Media teamed up to create and manage a mobile advertising campaign across Austria to target the under-26 year old market with the new device. The campaign ran for two weeks in August 2009 and was delivered to Vodafone subscribers via the Vodafone live! portal. Visitors to the portal were offered a free Justin Timberlake music video as an incentive to watch a short 15-second advertisement.
Over the course of the two-week mobile advertising campaign with Out There Media, the BlackBerry Storm ad was viewed a total of 140,000 times via the Vodafone live! portal. The advertisement as a clickthrough-rate of 5.5% and the Justin Timberlake video was streamed a total of 2,101 times. The conversion rate for the entire campaign was 27.5%.
“This is a great example of targeted mobile advertising in action and the fantastic results that brands can achieve through this medium,” says Out There Media CEO, Kerstin Trikalitis. “We believe very strongly in the power of reaching out to consumers directly and we are very happy to witness through all our campaigns that mobile advertising is an ideal way of doing so. Targeted and appropriate campaigns, such as this one for RIM, prove that this approach can achieve great results.”

Myxer Campaign Drives 1.1m Mobile Content Downloads

Mobile entertainment site Myxer has teamed up with urban entertainment artist Quincy Jones III (QD3), for a mobile entertainment campaign that used free mobile content downloads to drive sales of DVDs.
On behalf of QD3, Myxer offered free mobile content from its site to support the  DVD launch of ‘The Carter with Lil Wayne’. Over the course of the four-week campaign, consumers downloaded more than 1 million pieces of mobile content from the documentary, including ringtones, wallpapers, and videos, which led to a 20% increase in DVD sales, helped to drive the DVD to a No.5 position on iTunes.
“While we were expecting several hundred thousand downloads of the free mobile content in the one month period, we were blown away by the fact that there were 1.1 million downloads in such a short time period,” says QD3. “It was great to have so many fans of The Carter ‘broadcasting’ and acting as our ‘DVD ambassadors’, as their phones rang. “We’re thrilled to have worked with Myxer to create such a huge impact on our sales.”
Myxer CEO Myk Willis says the campaign shows that the branding power of mobile personalization content is superior to many other forms of digital advertising. He says:  “The quality and frequency of user engagement with a mobile download, such as a ringtone or wallpaper that users seek out and carry with them for weeks, is clearly differentiated from that offered by traditional digital ads. The sustained brand awareness and viral potential of personal mobile content simply can’t be matched by short-lived banner impressions or clicks in isolation.”
You can see the free content available for download here.

Pulse and POKE Collaborate on Skype Mobile Campaign

Pulse Films, in partnership with digital agency POKE, have developed Skype.Outside., an ambitious live web project to help market Skype’s Mobile service. Users are invited to use Skype to send a personal message to one of five artists located in Australia, Tokyo, Turkey, Barcelona and Minneapolis. The artists pick up the message on Skype Mobile and then interpret the message as outdoor art using methods related to their territory, such as tree-carving in the Turkish forest, crazy Japanese street theatre, or playing with light and shadow in the Australian outback.
The messages are filmed and edited by local film crews, overseen by project director Ben Woolf of Pulse Films, and are uploaded locally to a website, created by POKE, within 24 hours. Weekly summary videos highlight the best video messages. The project will run for four weeks, after which Woolf will turn the messages into a series of five short documentaries. 

The Devil's in the Detail

Virgin Media Television secured the first-run TV rights for Emmy Award-nominated US drama ‘Supernatural’ in 2009 and from February 2010, series five will be shown exclusively in the UK on LIVING. The fourth season of the paranormal drama ended on a high as Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) unwittingly opened the gates of hell and freed Lucifer. Now, along with his older brother Dean (Jensen Akles), the demon-hunting Winchester brothers must face their toughest battle yet, the apocalypse.
To promote series five, LIVING has created Fight the Apocalypse, an 'Alternate Reality' game which calls on Supernatural fans to mobilise their armies and join the fight against Lucifer, with a chance to appear in the show on offer to the winner.
The game is based around collecting hidden symbols – ‘Enochian Sigils’ - which players must locate, photograph and send via MMS to the campaign Shortcode. The game utilises online, mobile, print and real-world elements. A video featuring Castiel (Misha Collins), Supernatural’s resident angel, will launch the game. 
Enochian Sigils have been hidden online and at real-world locations throughout the UK, with every unique Sigil having a different number of points to help the users score. Clues to the Sigil locations will be delivered by Castiel (Misha Collins) in specially filmed sequences on the ‘Fight the Apocalypse’ website.
Once located, Sigils are photographed on any mobile device and using technology from SnapNow, which recognises any image taken on a cameraphone, they are uploaded to the player’s profile.
In the AR game, players have two ways of making it to the top; locating and photographing the Enochian Sigils, and building an online army of support. Players can invite friends to join their army via email and through Facebook.
On the luciferiscoming.com online and mobile hub, Supernatural fans can create their own profile and contact friends to join their army, and manage their game-playing, and heir collection of Enochian Sigils. For fans who want to play on the move, all core game functions will be available on the mobile site.
Online media partners are collaborating in the game, with some sites creating their own bespoke mini challenges for gamers to find sigils. These online partners will bring the game to a mainstream entertainment audience and help raise the profile of the show. The campaign will also use Twitter, and a number of Supernatural fan sites.
The game, Fight the Apocalypse website, mobile site and bespoke content have been created by Candyspace Media. The game will be supported by a TV, outdoor and press campaign to raise awareness of Supernatural’s move to LIVING. Media was planned and bought by Manning Gottlieb OMD. Fans can register for the game here.

Faith in SMS Pays Off for Fashion Footwear Chain

Fashion footwear retailer Faith required an interactive platform to power mobile marketing campaigns to enable the brand to communicate to its ever-growing database and mobile opt in customers. The purpose of each SMS campaign would be to provide new product information and promotional offers to drive footfall into high street stores and build brand loyalty.
To run the campaigns, it selected Mobile Interactive Technology’s (MIT) MIDAS Communicate platform. All opt in consumers received a text message containing a promotional code, which was redeemed in-store or online to claim their offer. To comply with industry regulations, the platform offers the facility for consumers to unsubscribe from the service at any time.
There were two separate campaigns, both of which ran online and in-store. Firstly, a ‘Friends and Family’ promotion offered 25% off full-price products, over a three-day period. The second promotion, run in conjunction with a high circulation fashion magazine, offered 20% off full-price products over a six-day period. SMS interactivity ran across both campaigns, and delivered impressive return on investment, brand engagement and customer loyalty.
The SMS campaign contributed to 47% of the uplift in revenue delivered by the Friends and Family promotion. It also contributed to 30% of the uplift in revenue delivered by the fashion magazine promotion. Over 70,000 SMS messages were distributed throughout both campaigns, with the redemption of promotional codes higher for the second campaign.
“SMS marketing has proven to be an extremely successful revenue generation tool for Faith,” says Faith’s Head of e-Commerce, Talin Vartevanian. “It is quick to set up, and once launched, the message is instantly communicated to the customer, which is especially beneficial if they are already out shopping. This makes SMS particularly strong at driving footfall in-store, but has also proved to be very effective in increasing online traffic. Licensing Mobile Interactive Technology’s (MIT) MIDAS Communicate platform has enabled Faith to have 100% ownership of all campaign delivery from start to finish, including real-time stats reporting.”

Marvellous Creates Mobile Game for Santander Launch

Following Santander’s UK launch and the renaming of the Abbey and Bradford & Bingley brands last week, creative agency Marvellous has created a mobile and web game to engage users with the Santander creative device – red bricks.
The game, called ‘Red Brick’, is a problem solving exercise available to play as an iPhone app, a mobile game and a Facebook widget. It challenges users to test their playing skills by moving the Santander red brick across a landscape and building a bridge. In doing so, players negotiate various obstacles and collect bonus coins as quickly as possible. The game gets progressively more difficult with each level and the aim is to achieve the highest score. Players can challenge a friend and scores can be posted to Twitter and Facebook.
“This game is a clever opportunity for Santander to positively engage with consumers across social digital channels and increase awareness of the brand as a market leading banking group with a common global identity,” says Marvellous CEO Jon Carney. “Social channels offer a great way for brands to cut through with their message in surprising ways.”
The iPhone app version of the game is available from the Apple App Store, or you can obtain the version for other phones by texting GAME to 83040. The Facebook version is available here.

MIG Powers Haiti SMS Donations

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) has launched a text donation programme on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to raise funds for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal. When you text GIVE to 70077, £5 goes to DEC. All mobile network operators have committed to 100% out payments.

Myxer Powers Estée Lauder Web & Mobile Storefront

Estée Lauder, one of the world's leading manufacturers of cosmetics, fragrances, and skincare products, has launched a web and mobile storefront where users can go to send gift ‘wish list’ ideas to friends and family during the holidays.
The storefront, custom-built for Estée Lauder by Myxer, contains product images that users can select and send to their friends and family members’ mobile phones. Estee Lauder’s famous fragrances, best-selling skincare products and makeup are included, along with complimentary gift wrapping, customized gifts and more. Estée Lauder is also sponsoring the Myxer ‘Happy Holidays’ Channel, where consumers can download the latest in holiday-themed mobile wallpapers and ringtones.
“We were looking for an innovative technology solution for the holidays along with a company that has a large audience to market to,”  says Mendy Charlton, VP, North America Marketing at Estée Lauder. “We were thrilled to find both in the same place via Myxer.” 
According to Deloitte’s 24th Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends (2009), one in five consumers (19%) plan to use the mobile channel for holiday shopping, with 25% of those customers planning to use a mobile phone to make a purchase.

Velti Goes Huge

Mobile marketing and advertising technology provider Velti has announced a partnership with HairTech International to provide mobile marketing capabilities for the launch of Paris Hilton’s ‘huge’ line of hair and beauty products. The campaign, which kicked off in late November, enables budding socialites and fans to opt in to receive product information and giveaways via mobile from Paris Hilton.
The mobile program is focused around a Velti-powered, Shortcode (text PARIS to 72747) that enables people to log on to a mobile Internet site to learn about Paris’s new line, sign up for giveaways and get text alerts about upcoming promotions. As a call to action the Shortcode has a powerful media schedule behind it, including social media initiatives, with tweets to Paris’s 1 million followers and communications to her 140,000 Facebook friends.
Mobile users who text in to the Shortcode will be sent product information relating to Paris’s new product lines. Additionally, the mobile campaign will incorporate SMS contests tied to the new products that Hilton will launch this quarter.
“Paris Hilton can certainly generate her own buzz, but having a means of engaging in a two-way dialogue with consumers is where our technology provides deeper value to HairTech’s marketing,” says Velti CEO, Alex Moukas. “Velti’s mobile offerings will enhance the engagement level of the campaign and also provide the capability to measure and enhance the effectiveness of other media buys.”

MDA Hails Picture Messaging Success

BBC Radio 1’s Free Picture Messaging Day on Friday 11 December has been hailed a success, after attracting the equivalent of five months’ picture message traffic in one 24 hour period.  Produced as part of the BBC Radio 1 Access All Areas week, listeners were invited to take pictures of their faces using their mobile phones, then send them to the Shortcode, 81199.
Coordinated by mobile trade body, the Mobile Data Association (MDA) and with the active support of UK Mobile Network Operators, O2, Vodafone, Orange, 3, T-Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile, who all enabled all picture messages to be free for the day, message traffic hit record levels.
Over 42,000 MMS messages were received during the 24 hour period, equating to approximately five months of BBC Radio 1’s usual picture message traffic levels.
Also supported by WIN plc, an enabler of interactive mobile media, entertainment and data services, images were moderated and then used to populate an online mosaic for listeners to view and share their images.
“These figures demonstrate that when picture messaging is combined with a compelling and intuitive campaign through a simple call to action, people will and do respond,” says MDA Operations Director, Martin Ballard. “Mobile industry stakeholders collaborated in a unique way to ensure that the technical, functional and educational elements of this project delivered a seamless experience. Together with the DJs’ commentary and the MDA’s settings information portal, a positive impression of the picture messaging experience has been produced.”

Velti Offers Free Credit in Drinkaware Campaign

Drinkaware, in collaboration with Enable Interactive, Frank PR and mobile marketing firm Velti, have created ‘Party Season Survival Packs’, which include tips for staying safe during the party season, free condoms and, in a first for the charity sector, mobile phone credit.
Enable and Frank PR, who started working with Drinkaware in April, came up with the survival pack concept after holding focus groups with 16 and 17 year olds who felt that mobile phone credit, as well as free condoms, were a fair exchange for receiving the campaign’s responsible partying message.
Enable joined forces with Velti to supply young people with a unique voucher code to get a free top up credit across the major mobile networks. In addition to an initial £1 free top-up, users will be sent another bonus £1 credit on 30 December, designed to help them get home safely on New Years Eve, along with a message reminding them that drinking can ruin the night, and to carry a condom.
“We are committed to understanding Drinkaware’s target audiences,” says Matt Connolly, Strategy Director at Enable Interactive. “When looking at how to engage with 16 and 17 year olds, we simply asked them. They suggested using text messages to communicate with them and told us that mobile phone credit is an essential commodity, so delivering our campaign messages in this way works well for everyone.” 
The survival packs are part of Drinkaware’s Christmas ‘Have fun. Be careful’ campaign, which is its first initiative in conjunction with Brook, which aims to keep young people safe over the festive season. The survival packs will be available at certain Brook sexual health clinics and further education centres across the UK between now and Christmas.
“Providing advice over Christmas and the New Year is especially important, as this is when teenage conceptions are at their highest,” says Drinkaware Chief Executive, Chris Sorek. “But young people need to know that drinking to excess can make them vulnerable all year round. We hope the Drinkaware and Brook packs will help 16 and 17 year olds remember that drinking alcohol can mean doing something you might regret.” 

Marks & Mobile

Marks & Spencer is launching a Wallace & Gromit-inspired mobile website gift service to help shoppers select and buy the right Christmas presents for themselves or their friends.
Developed, built and hosted by M&S’s mobile agency Incentivated, the made-for-mobile site features a 'Wallace & Gromit Gift & Cheese Profiler', a wacky invention of Gromit’s which asks shoppers questions of themselves and their friends. Depending on the answers, the profiler creates a ‘cheese’ profile (e.g. ‘Ravishing Roquefort’, ‘Wild Wensleydale’, ‘Gorgeous Gouda’), and produces up to five suitable M&S gift suggestions, complete with prices and product codes.
The shopper can then forward their wishlist or suggestions to a friend via MMS (picture message) and a link to the personalised WAP site. The shopper also receives an email with deep-links to the M&S website where the gift(s) can be bought.
Visitors to the site can also download screensavers and wallpapers and ‘vCalendar’ mobile reminders, with last dates to buy gifts for delivery before Christmas, each depending on the destination and type of delivery. Data downloads for the site have been zero-rated by the networks, making browsing free to the user.
M&S is introducing the Wallace & Gromit Gift & Cheese profiler to existing customers via SMS, with embedded links to the mobile site, and is promoting the service with mobile banner advertising, direct mail print ads which will carry a text call to action, and via Twitter and Facebook.

GoSpoken in Literacy Drive

GoSpoken.com has partnered with actress and author Michelle Gayle, The Reading Agency and BlackBerry-maker RIM to help develop literacy levels in schools, through a national workshop study.
The workshops gave select secondary school pupils aged 12-15 across three schools in Halton, Southampton & Crawley in the UK, the opportunity to read, write and share stories on BlackBerry handsets. Led by Michelle Gayle, author of ‘Pride & Premiership’ - a mobile novel, students engaged with the creative writing workshop, discussing and contributing their own ideas using the Smartphones.
The aim of the workshops was to research the adoption of reading digital books on mobile phones, and the interaction of users with digitally created content, as authors or contributors, in an innovative and modern way.
“The pupils seemed to take to reading on the BlackBerry's immediately and when they began to write their own stories on them a teacher remarked that they seemed to focus more than they do in the classroom,” says Gayle. 
The project is part of GoSpoken parent company Mobcast’s research and development strategy to investigate the impact of mobile technology and distance learning. The goal is to encourage user engagement with authors and content, and to create a mobile platform for users to contribute to a story, or to contribute as an author. GoSpoken notes that similar concepts such as Keitai books in Asia have proved very successful in Japan where books written on mobile-for-mobile became physical bestsellers.

Clickatell Releases Festive Mobile Marketing Guide

As organizations look for more effective and cost efficient ways to reach customers during this year’s holiday season, S. African firm Clickatell says that many of its customers are taking advantage of mobile marketing for immediate reach, reduced campaign costs, higher customer satisfaction and increased traffic, ultimately resulting in higher profits.
Clickatell has published its ‘2009 Festive Mobile Marketing Handbook’ to help large and small businesses conceptualize, implement and monitor effective mobile sales, mobile marketing, and CRM campaigns this festive shopping season, using the power of SMS.
“The mobile phone adds an incredible marketing tool to the mix,” says Clickatell CEO, Pieter de Villiers. “It’s highly cost effective for businesses to implement, and customers want to receive information and special deals before, during and after they shop, conveniently to their mobile.”
Clickatell notes that with its SMS Gateway, retailers can get started in less than a day and begin sending SMS messages to reach consumers instantly. The company adds that its solutions are already being effectively used by a broad range of businesses for mobile marketing campaigns, to send timely promotions, respond to orders, alert customers on order and shipment status, schedule timely collections of goods, and to monitor the progress of the supply chain, including manufacturing and shipping.
One of these is Banta Furniture, which produces home furnishings, and relies on Clickatell to alert customers when their custom-made furniture is ready for pick up. It also uses mobile to ensure efficiencies in the manufacturing production cycle. Mama Mikes, a US-based online gift portal, allows East Africans living abroad to buy gifts and vouchers for their families back home. The website sends Clickatell SMS alerts to notify recipients in Kenya and Uganda when their gifts or vouchers have arrived.
With more than 50 bricks and mortarshoe stores across the UK and Ireland, Schuh works with Clickatell to reach customers via SMS. Schuh’s Systems Manager Blair Milligan says:
“Through SMS, we’ve not only increased our reach, but we’ve saved money doing it. We use Clickatell to market and communicate directly to customers, including sending information on special offers, sales and promotions. We also send text alerts to customers when orders have been received, letting them know they can pick up their new shoes. We’ve seen great response from our customers; they are very happy with the mobile service.”

Blismobile Reports Campaign Success

Blismobile Media, Europe’s biggest mobile media owner, has released results of what it describes as the UK’s first fully integrated mobile out-of-the-home campaign, for the launch of ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassuss’ movie.
The national campaign ran across Blismobile’s mobile media network, which includes train stations and some train services, such as the Gatwick express, across the country. It offered commuters the chance to download the film trailer via SMS, Bluetooth or the mobile Internet. Over the course of three weeks, the campaign was exposed to over 20 million commuters and delivered over 205,000 successful interactions, which amounts to 1% of successful engagements.
Because of Blismobile’s ‘zero wastage’ campaign structure, client Mediaedge: cia was charged only for each successful download with the mobile Internet build, SMS and Bluetooth elements all provided within this fee. In addition, MEC also received display exposure via various outdoor touchpoints.
Blismobile has channelled significant investment into developing Blis360, its multi-channel mobile media platform which creates content across the three major mobile media channels - SMS, Mobile Internet and Bluetooth media.
“Our clients aren’t interested in specific mobile channels, for them it’s about outcomes and ROI, which is why we charge for successful interactions only, giving consumers the choice and delivering fully integrated campaigns with no production costs, which completely takes the risk out of mobile,” says Blismobile Media Managing Director, Greg Isbister.
Ross Cunningham, Marketing Manager at film distributor Lionsgate, says this is the first time the company has used multiple mobile channels to support the launch of one of its films and that it is   very happy with the result. He says:
“As part of the overall campaign, Blismobile helped us deliver a solid box office result. With 205,000 views of the trailer, mobile remains an integral element of our marketing strategy.”

Trust and Clarity are Key, says DMA

Marketers must go way beyond the current regulations to win consumer confidence in mobile marketing, according to the findings of a study published by txt4ever in association with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).
The ‘Mobile Marketing White Paper: UK Spam Study’ polled consumers to identify attitudes towards  acceptable engagement via mobile. Almost 70% of consumers polled are happy to receive mobile marketing messages, and more than half stated that they would welcome SMS marketing messages from trusted brands with sales promotions and offers that they find of genuine benefit.
However, over half of respondents felt that companies did not make the opt-in process clear enough; two-thirds of respondents wanted to choose the time of day they received mobile marketing messages; and the majority of respondents did not know who had contacted them.  
“Trust and clarity are key to developing an effective mobile marketing strategy,” says Mark Brill, Chair of the DMA Mobile Marketing Council. “It's therefore important to be explicit about opting in. Customers who have opted in should be quickly contacted with confirmation of their choices and information on how to opt out. Brands may find that their reputation is quickly damaged if mobile marketing messages are too frequent, sent at the wrong time of day, irrelevant or unclear to the user.”
While only one-third of respondents believe that they are increasingly receiving more spam, the report reveals that people are confused about the financial cost of spam. One-third of respondents believe that simply receiving a spam message will result in a charge to their mobile bill, while the same number believe that opening a spam message results in charges.
The report also points to a lack of understanding on dealing with these unwanted messages. 34%  would complain to their mobile operator, 39% would not complain at all, and 51% would complain directly to the company responsible for the message. With 68% of respondents having received unsolicited messages, the report suggests a need for mobile operators to become involved in dealing with spam.
You can access the full report here.

QR Codes Used To Promote Passion Pit Album

 
Columbia Records and We Love Mobile are using mobile QR (Quick Response) Codes to support sales of ‘Manners’, the debut album by Passion Pit.
The rich mobile codes feature artwork from the album, and will be available via posters, flyers and printed marketing collateral, as well as via the web, including the Passion Pit Myspace and Facebook pages. New codes will be posted over the coming weeks, each one revealing a new free track or video. To maximize reach, fans can also use a standard Shortcode – text MANNERS to 88600 - or URL (passionpit.mobi) - to access the same content.
The campaign is being run in partnership with 7Digital and independent record stores throughout the UK, delivering online and offline discounts for Manners as further reward for interaction with the campaign.
Users will be encouraged to interact with the codes to download exclusive content directly to their phones. They will also be pushed links and money off vouchers to paid-for downloads via partners, including a reduced-price full album. All mobile interactions and downloads are trackable, and Sony Music and We Love Mobile will be closely monitoring and assessing response rates and ROI across the campaign.

Sybase 365 in Money Messaging Deployment

Sybase 365 is working with The Western Union Company, to enable the money transfer specialist to engage with its consumers via SMS-based notifications and mobile marketing campaigns.
Sybase 365 delivers text messages to Western Union loyalty card members who send money transfers from nine countries worldwide, including the UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, Gabon, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The notifications are available in the senders' preferred language French. When consumers send money, they can receive an SMS message confirming the funds have been paid out. The service will be extended to Western Union Gold Card members in six additional countries by year-end.
Sybase 365 will also deliver SMS-based messages to Western Union consumers who have opted-in to receive offers such as coupons, promotional codes and additional information on products and services.
“There are now more than 4 billion mobile phones in use worldwide,” says Gail Galuppo, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Western Union. “In select markets, we are already putting the power of Western Union in our consumers' hands by offering transactions via mobile phone. By furthering our agreement with Sybase 365, we are able to bring even more value to our consumers by notifying them that their funds have been received and by offering discounts and special offers directly on their mobile phones.” 
This agreement builds on an alliance with Western Union announced earlier this year, where Sybase 365 was selected to participate in Western Union's Digital Vendor Program with its mWallet and mBanking Platforms. Facilitating mobile finance initiatives in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Sybase 365 says that such programs will help build the mobile finance ecosystem, benefitting enterprises and end-users worldwide.

2ergo Wins Hopenhagen Mobile Brief

2ergo has been selected by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather to create an interactive mobile website for ‘Hopenhagen’, a global marketing and communications initiative created by Ogilvy & Mather on behalf of the International Advertising Association to raise awareness of, and involvement in, December’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.  
The website will allow people around the world to learn more about the Hopenhagen initiative, sign a petition, read related news, and spread the word through Facebook and Twitter. The site reinforces the social networking strategy behind the Hopenhagen campaign and the Hopenhagen website that serves as a hub for mobilising the citizens of the world to become citizens of Hopenhagen.
Hopenhagen has been created in order to influence the United Nations Climate Change Conference. By creating a worldwide movement to connect individuals around the world with their leaders, Ogilvy & Mather hopes to lead the world leaders to make the right environmental decisions. The Climate Change Conference, taking place from 7 – 18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, will consist of leaders from 192 nations, charged with addressing the future of the planet and ratifying a new international climate treaty.
Together with Ogilvy & Mather, who created the strategy and creative concept for Hopenhagen, 2ergo donated its services to build the Hopenhagen mobile website at http://m.hopenhagen.org. The companies also placed mobile detection code on the campaign’s main website to automatically redirect users visiting the URL from a mobile phone to the mobile site.  
“More than 90 companies donated their time, expertise or advertising media to bring Hopenhagen to life,” says Seth Farbman, Managing Director of OgilvyEarth, Ogilvy & Mather’s global sustainability practice. “From our website and social networking channels to print publications and the Thomson Reuters ticker in Times Square, this global campaign spans a wide variety of communication channels, of which mobile is a key component. 2ergo has been great to work with, and we’re pleased with the quality of the mobile website. Every piece of this puzzle plays a part to affect positive change on our planet’s environment.”

NeoMedia Hails Barcode Campaign Success

NeoMedia Europe AG, which specializes in mobile barcode and scanning technology, has announced the successful completion of a youth-focused mobile barcode project across Austria. The campaign, delivered in partnership with mobile marketing firm IQ Mobile on behalf of Austrian operator tele.ring, yielded a clickthough rate of 0.5%, which in turn led to a 51.3% download conversion rate.
The campaign launched in May 2009 with a series of attention-grabbing posters, encouraging students at 263 schools where the posters appeared to send a free text to download the NeoReader – something which 250 students did in the first five days of the campaign. With this enabled, they were able to scan the barcode which appeared on the posters in order to connect directly to the campaign site, where they could access free mobile content such as ringtones and wallpapers.
Interestingly, with 75% of all clicks coming from non tele.ring handsets, the campaign proved successful in connecting tele.ring with an audience outside of its established customer base. Neomedia says the campaign was pivotal in extending the ubiquity of mobile barcodes and creating all-important ease of use. The secondary school demographic provided the optimum sounding board for the campaign, given students’ susceptibility to nascent tech trends and the popularity of ringtone downloads.
“The results of the tele.ring campaign show the undisputed ease of adoption of mobile barcodes, not least for the youth market which is already mobile, alert and interested in new technologies and new ways of doing things,” says NeoMedia CEO, Dr. Christian Steinborn. “This is important in demonstrating how mobile barcodes are becoming a force to be reckoned with in the move towards opt-in pull marketing. The growing ubiquity of a tech-savvy consumer and advanced Smartphone technology will only do more to drive the market.”

Takeaway Text Success

London-based take-away company Deliverance has selected a web-based SMS solution from Text Messaging Centre (TMC) to provide it with an instant marketing channel to its existing customer base. The solution enables Deliverance to contact its customers quickly and easily, highlighting the latest offers available and prompting recipients to visit the Deliverance website or call the takeaways hotline to place their food order.
Operating over five London sites, Deliverance is an online multi-cuisine takeaway business serving customers throughout the capital. Deliverance began using the TMC solution in April 2008, as a means of communicating quickly with staff. Following the success of the solution, the company decided to use the solution as a marketing tool to target its existing customer base.
“The takeaway industry is extremely competitive, so it was important for us to implement a marketing solution capable of reaching a large number of customers quickly and effectively, with minimal input from staff,” says Deliverance Marketing Executive, Fabiana Gomide. “Using SMS to send timely offers and prompts to our existing customer base is ideal, as a text message is instant and reaches the customer at the time we want.”

Sendster Launches Text Marketing Tool for SMEs

UK-based mobile marketing firm Sendster has launched Sendster.co.uk, a low-cost text message-based marketing tool designed specifically for the 4 million UK businesses employing 10 people or less.
Sendster allows businesses to quickly notify customers of last-minute, perhaps perishable, offers, in-store events and other marketing opportunities, at a cost of 8p per customer contacted via SMS.
Consumers opt-into the service by visiting the local firm’s branded page on the Sendster website or by texting in to a Shortcode, 80408. Sendster provides businesses with in-store posters and business cards to help raise awareness of the service and encourage sign up. The sign up is specific to the business concerned, thought consumers can sign up for text alerts from multitple local businesses.
“This truly is a revolution in marketing for local businesses” says Sendster CEO, Carlo Platia. “For considerably less than the cost of a classified advert in a local paper, local businesses can offer last-minute deals, promote sales and events and start to build close relationships with their most loyal customers, as well as target new ones, all through an easy to use website.”
The Sendster service is powered by mBlox’s global mobile transaction platform, designed to manage mobile messages and data reliably between all mobile operators at the fastest possible speeds. mBlox ensures that Sendster’s text marketing messages are delivered in a rapid and secure fashion.
Using the Sendster database costs nothing; local businesses simply pay 8p per customer contacted, plus a one-off fee of 24p per customer that signs up via the 80408 Shortcode. Customers signing up via the website are free. Businesses will also benefit from a referral scheme, whereby they get credits for referring other local companies to use the service.
Sendster advices businesses, however, to ‘buy’ their own number for messages. This lets customers respond directly to promotions and offers and creates a dialogue between the business and a potential sale. The current cost for this service is a special rate of £8 per month for a minimum 12-month contract. The end customer pays only the mobile operator’s standard SMS rate.
Sendster says there are many user scenarios for the service. A local restaurateur, with few bookings for a Monday evening, could send out a two-for-one text offer to people who they know are genuinely interested in their business. Or a hairdresser who has an appointment cancelled can contact their loyal customer base and let them know they have last-minute vacancies.
“Local businesses depend on quick turnarounds; tables for restaurants, appointments for hairdressers, stock for retailers,” says Platia. “Our service is dedicated to helping these local businesses let local customers know about offers and availability so they maximise every opportunity to generate revenue.”
Sendster is also seeking to build a strong affiliate network for the service, citing any business with local companies as customers and consumers as end users, such as business directories, as ideal partners, though in reality, any large company with a high number of local business customers could benefit from becoming an affiliate partner. Negotiations are already under-way with one of the UK’s major drink suppliers to the on-trade and Sendster says it expects an announcement to be made shortly.
The Sendster service is available now, and for a limited period, all local businesses can send a free message to 25 customers. You can find out more, and register to use the service, here.

Phonevalley Campaign Drives OU Recruitment

Mobile marketing agency Phonevalley has devised a mobile marketing strategy to help The Open University to recruit new enquirers and generate extra registrations. Phonevalley designed two mobile marketing waves at the end of 2008 and from April to June 2009. Both were developed in partnership with Zed Media.
The first campaign was centered around two different versions of a recruitment MMS, one aimed at 17-18 year-olds, the other at 19-21 year-olds. Both messages encouraged subscribers to click on the MMS and order a free prospectus from The Open University. From 25 November to 5 December, Phonevalley issue the MMS messages to Blyk subscribers, and almost 5% of subscribers clicked through to the site to request the prospectus.
For the second wave of the campaign, which ran from 24 April to 30 June, Phonevalley designed a display media plan on major UK mobile portals, includingVodafone Live!, Planet 3, O2 Active and Orange World. Conversion rates from this campaign were 2.6%.

Sony Ericsson Kicks Off World Cup Campaign

Sony Ericsson has launched its 'Extra Man’ campaign to celebrate its position as the Official Mobile Handset brand for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which takes place in South Africa next summer. The company says it plans to reward soccer fans with exciting activities both before and during the World Cup, enabling them to create and share their own content, at the event, via the Extra Man website,
or through their Sony Ericsson handset.
The centrepiece of the campaign will be the launch next year of a football application which will provide fans with access to videos from World Cup qualifiers and friendly games in the lead up to the tournament. Fans will also be able to share all their football moments directly with their friends using social networking site applications built into the handset. 
The website, which is live now,  includes WorldCupedia, described as the world's first football-focused search engine. The site also offers highlights from FIFA World Cup qualifying matches, iconic moments from past tournaments, exclusive football content and footie-ralted mobile downloads. There’s also a Golden Ticket promotion, which offers consumers the chance to follow their team all the way through the tournament.   
In a separate move, Sony Ericsson has also announced the next stage of its on-going business transformation, with the realignment of its external visual identity and brand values, and adoption of the newly-announced Sony brand message 'make.believe' in all consumer communication in order to reinforce its entertainment credentials and collaboration with the Sony Group.
(Choosing a brand message that could be translated as something that doesn’t really exist could be considered either brave or foolhardy. In any event, ‘make.believe’ replaces the previous Sony brand message, ‘like.no.other’, so for anyone who doesn’t like it, don’t panic: there should be a new one along in about five years – Ed).
Visually, Sony Ericsson will expand the appeal of its 'liquid identity' logo by adding seven new colour variations plus a new a 'liquid energy' flowing from the logo to make it “more playful and visually appealing for the digital arena”. The company says it also aims to adopt a more open and questioning attitude by inviting greater consumer participation in the brand through a stronger focus on interactive digital and social media channels.

Yahoo! and Nissan Team Up for Simplicity Campaign

Yahoo!, car maker Nissan, and media agency OMD have launched an integrated mobile and online campaign to raise awareness of the ‘Simplicity’ positioning of Nissan’s small car range across Europe, and to promote Yahoo!’s online and mobnile offerings. The campaign went live last month in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and will run initially for six months. 
Planned and bought from OMD International’s office in Paris, the campaign comprises two main elements. The first is a co-branded channel that houses a series of tutorials, showing users how to make their web experience simpler through Yahoo!’s communication tools: Mail, Answers, Messenger and Mobile – all of which, the campaign point out, share the same focus on innovation and simplicity as Nissan’s City Car range. To drive traffic to the channel, co-branded adverts and editorial placements have been created and placed across Yahoo! sites.
The second element is a customisable application on the Yahoo! Mobile homepage called ‘My City’, which sits in the ‘My Interests’  section of Yahoo! Mobile and offers users the chance to add content about a particular city they visit, such as events, places to eat, travel and weather information.
The partnership between the two brands follows a successful campaign in February 2009, when Nissan turned to Yahoo! to create an integrated campaign around its activity in major ski resorts in Europe, under the Nissan Sports Adventure banner. As part of the activity devised and managed by OMD, Yahoo! created a microsite to provide local information and interactive entertainment to skiers visiting any of the five ski resorts in which Nissan installed its All Mode Runs. These specially designed snow courses featured cameras that took a series of around 12 photographs in a matter of seconds to capture pictures of skiers and snowboarders on the slopes. The pictures were automatically uploaded onto Flickr from Yahoo!, with each skier given a unique code so that they could find their pictures online. This became one of the biggest photo streams ever on Flickr.

Study Highlights Power of In-call media

As more marketers begin to leverage mobile marketing as part of their media mix, new research suggests that audio ads deliver branding impact that marketers should take note of. Dynamic Logic, Safecount and VoodooVox, which specialise in mobile measurement, recruitment and media, respectively, teamed up to carry out a study to explore the branding effects of In-call Media - the insertion of audio ads directly into the call stream of a targeted consumer. According to their research, In-call Media can have a strong influence on both brand awareness and intent.
In the study, Dynamic Logic measured the branding impact of an In-call Media promotional campaign for redbox, a subsidiary of Coinstar, which provides automated kiosks featuring $1-per-night new release DVDs. The campaign was targeted to mobile phone users and ran throughout the month of December 2008, delivering 900,000 audio ad impressions during this time. Safecount, who led recruitment and data collection, used VoodooVox’s In-call Media technology to survey callers. Callers who opted-in received a text message with instructions to access the telephone survey. VoodooVox’s technology identified which survey respondents had been exposed to the audio ads, and Dynamic Logic’s control-exposed research methodology was used to determine the overall impact on respondents who heard the redbox advertising. 
Results demonstrate that exposure to the redbox messages increased Aided Brand Awareness by over 9% among overall respondents. This is a significant increase for the brand and higher than typically seen with Dynamic Logic's mobile display norms. Furthermore, among respondents who occasionally rent DVDs, the campaign increased those saying they were very likely to rent from a redbox kiosk by almost 10.7%.
“Dynamic Logic has always put a strong focus on digital innovation and marketing insight, says Ali Rana, Vice President, Digital Strategy, at the company. “Therefore, we’re continuously working with clients to measure their newest mobile and new media marketing efforts. As demonstrated by these results, In-call Media can provide an opportunity for marketers to explicitly communicate brand propositions to an engaged audience while in a relevant mindset.”
The campaign was executed through VoodooVox, whose In-Call Advertising Network serves upwards of 100 million ads a month across dozens of call sources. In the campaign, callers who were on hold for a popular toll-free movie ticket line heard a variety of 10-second messages about redbox in an effort to build awareness and encourage trial of their movie kiosks.  Interested callers could engage further to hear more or get a text message coupon.
“In-call Media provides brands (with) a targeted way to reach and engage consumers,” says VoodooVox COO, Gregory Webster. “On ad-sponsored services like movie ticket lines and dozens of other call publishers, advertisers continue to reap the benefits of the In-call Media. It’s simply a highly effective way to engage the mobile consumer.”
Other findings from the study include:

• Awareness of the redbox brand significantly increased after just one exposure to the advertising. According to Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms, it takes the average online campaign 10 or more exposures to generate a similar increase
• Direct communication of brand attributes in the audio ads, combined with multiple ad exposures, led to significant increases in respondents’ agreement that redbox is “the easiest way to rent a movie” and “the best value” among DVD renters.
• Among “Frequent DVD Renters,” Aided Brand Awareness increased by 11.9%.

Urban Game Supports HTC Launch

Mobile agency Marvellous has created the world’s first branded urban game on an Android handset to promote and raise the awareness of the Vodafone HTC Magic launch in the Netherlands.
The game, ‘Go Tag’, was engineered with latest image recognition technology, and played out in a street event in central Amsterdam. It involved an army of enthusiastic contestants equipped with HTC handsets running around the city and tagging each other with pictures.
Split into two teams, the players had to ‘tag’ the other team, by taking pictures using an app on the HTC magic phone. The team that was tagged the most lost, while the other team won HTC Magics for all team members.
50 players were drawn from 200 applicants in five days on a dedicated Vodafone microsite. The two teams played three rounds of five minutes. Each team had a Dutch celebrity leader: singer and songwriter EliZe, and TV presenter Dennis Storm.
Marvellous and Vodafone says that after the success of the event, they are considering organising more urban games with mobiles in the future.

AT&T Turns to Mobile to Promote Vans Tour

Mobile marketing and technology firm 2ergo has announced a joint venture with AT&T’s Youth Marketing Group in the US to promote the annual ‘Vans Warped Tour’, a popular youth-oriented music and sports festival, featuring bands and extreme sports athletes.
As part of the agreement, the AT&T Youth Marketing Group will utilize 2ergo’s Mobile Campaign Manager technology to manage pre-tour text messaging campaigns to concert enthusiasts who opt in via their mobile devices. By texting the words WARPED VANS 09 to a Shortcode, 826709, consumers can then enter their city of choice to receive customized Warped Tour exclusive stage schedules, information regarding contests, and more.
“We’re excited to again be providing AT&T and the Vans Warped Tour with the means to easily and effectively reach their customers and fans via the mobile channel,” says 2ergo Group Managing Director, Chris Brassington. “According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 97% of SMS messages are read immediately, compared to just 25% for email communications, making mobile marketing an extraordinarily effective solution for AT&T, as they convey targeted messages.”

Coca-Cola Coupons Go Mobile

Coca-Cola was one of the first companies to recognize the power of coupons for sales promotion purposes. In 1887, one of the company’s Partners, Asa Griggs Candler, helped to launch the company into the public eye using innovative and never-tried-before advertising techniques, one of which was a coupon, hand written by the man himself.
Soon, Candler was creating coupons offering complimentary Coca-Cola to people who he believed might ultimately be interested in buying the product. These coupons were mailed out to potential customers and were also placed inside magazines for readers to discover. The advertising worked. More than eight billion free Coca-Cola drinks were given out to people and within eight years Coca-Cola was being served in every single state that was part of the United States at that time.
The tradition continues. In May and June of this year, Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB) carried out a mobile coupon campaign in the UK, powered by digital voucher company, i-movo. Using the PayPoint network, hundreds of thousands of bottles of Fanta, Sprite and Dr. Pepper were distributed free, using secure digital vouchers delivered to mobile phones.
Selected PayPoint stores were given eye-catching point-of-sale material, including door posters, shelf blazers and fridge-top stands, which made clear the simple step required of customers to get their free drink. All they had to do was send a text message with the word ‘YES’, followed by their date of birth. Valid voucher requests received a text message reply within a few seconds that included a unique voucher code that was validated by the retailer using the PayPoint terminal.  
Because voucher redemption was performed in real-time using the PayPoint terminal, vouchers could not be used twice, eliminating the risk of fraud. Another immediate benefit was that brand managers could monitor the campaign’s progress store-by-store, bottle-by-bottle, eliminating the risk of over-subscription. Retailers were reimbursed automatically, within six days, via PayPoint.
“We are very focused towards driving additional footfall and profits for our retailers, and this activity has done both on a significant scale by making customers the compelling offer of free products,” says PayPoint Retail Strategy Director Mike Igoe. “The real-time redemption solution offered by i-movo and PayPoint makes this type of activity attractive, because it mitigates the financial risks for all parties.”
By the conclusion of the eight-week campaign, over 200,000 drinks had been given away to nearly 100,000 consumers across the UK, with the campaign delivering a redemption rate of 87%, according to i-movo, leading the company to describe it as: “the most popular and effective mobile coupon campaign the UK has ever seen”. 
Coca-Cola Head of Communication, Ed Knight, says: 
“We always strive to engage our consumers in an appropriate and exciting manner and this campaign has achieved exactly that. PayPoint and i-movo have created a national marketing network that allows us to activate promotions for specific products in specific stores. In addition, this system allows us to run sampling campaigns across thousands of retailers simultaneously, without any additional staffing costs or impact on the supply chain. The feedback we have received from retailers and consumers alike has been relentlessly positive and the campaign itself has been both a commercial and technical success."

2ergo Powers AT&T Campaign

Mobile marketing and technology firm 2ergo has announced a partnership with AT&T’s Youth Marketing Group in the US to promote teen music star Demi Lovato via the mobile web and text messaging campaigns. As a part of the agreement, 2ergo has created a mobile portal using its Mobile Site Builder and is providing text messaging capabilities for fans using Mobile Campaign Manager. Fans can log in to Demi Lovato’s mobile site at http://demi.m2ergo.com to check tour dates, download songs and play games.
Powered by 2ergo’s mobile messaging platform, Multiserve, fans are encouraged to text the word DEMI to 8787 to receive more information about her, and to take part in promotions, such as the recent ‘Demi Flyaway’ sweepstake, which offered a first prize of two tickets to see her perform live in Hershey, Pennsylvania, including travel.
The texts also contain information about AT&T’s new Quick Messaging Phones, which are geared toward the 8-to-16-year-old market and are designed to make messaging faster and cheaper.

Faith Puts Faith in SMS

Mobile Interactive Technology (MIT), the operational technology business that is part of Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) has been selected by high street retailer Faith to power SMS marketing campaigns to its opted-in database of 50,000 customers. The deal will see Faith license MIT’s MIDAS platform, enabling the company to manage all its SMS mobile marketing activity in-house.
Faith’s SMS marketing will fully integrate and support all campaign activity surrounding the launch of the new Faith website, which went live at the beginning of the week, and will also inform customers of New Season collections; raise awareness of sales and promotional activity; drive footfall in-store throughout the UK and online by delivering mobile redemption codes and supporting discount promotions; and build consumer loyalty to the Faith brand by supporting awareness and applications for the Faith VIP card
Talin Vartevanian, Head of e-Commerce at Faith, says:
“Our customers are continuously craving the latest sale offers and information from their footwear store. Adopting mobile and integrating SMS was the perfect solution for us. There is no cost to our consumers, with all being kept informed of marketing and promotional activity, as well as receiving exclusive offers to use online and in-store.”
MIT notes that SMS alerts, delivered by its SMS Gateway, have a wide range of uses, including internal and external news, announcements, promotional offers, and marketing services. All MIT products are supported by MIT’s operations, client services and technology teams.

Recipe for SMS Success

Live music restaurant group Bistro Live reports that an SMS marketing strategy deployed to increase bookings at its three venues has been remarkably successful.
The group was looking for a cost effective way of getting its party offers out to existing customers and prospects at a reasonable cost. The campaign, devised by SMS marketing firm Text Marketer, has more than delivered on its objectives.
“SMS seemed like an obvious route for us as we can set up bulk SMS campaigns quickly and easily, and the response is almost instant” says Bistro Live Business Development Manager, Theresa Abbott. “When people make a booking with us, we always collect their mobile number so we can send them news of all our latest offers and events by text. We now have over 10,000 people on our list that we can contact at a moment’s notice.
The company recently booked Michael Jackson tribute act ‘Navi’. It sent out 10,500 text messages to customers, resulting in 280 bookings at two of its venues. The total spend resulting from these bookings was over £8,000, while the SMS campaign cost a total of  £472, “a quite remarkable return,” as Abbott describes it.
Text Marketer says it has recently seen a big increase in the use of text messaging as a communication tool in the restaurant sector.
“It’s a tough time for many restaurants at the moment, so any tools that can get more customers through the door at low cost are very attractive,” says Marketing Director Richard Hawley. “Restaurants of all sizes can use bulk SMS as a way of driving up bookings. Response rates typically outperform more traditional channels such as mailings or even e-mail.”
Text Marketer provides bulk SMS software to a wide range of customers in the catering industry. Current clients include Renaissance Hotels, Wickwar Brewery and Pizza Hut.

MMA Calls for Award Entries

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is calling for entries for its 2009 MMA Global Awards. The deadline for entries is 7 September. There are 31 awards up for grabs, consisting of six categories, for each of five regions, plus a ‘Best Mobile Campaign Overall’ award, selected from the submissions for the regional awards.
The categories and regions are as follows:
Channels:

• Display
• Messaging
• Emerging Technologies
• Multi-mobile Channel
• Social Media
• Cross-Media Integration

Regions:

• North America
• Central & Latin America
• Europe, Africa & Middle East
• Asia Pacific
• Global

In addition, there are six “Industry Awards”, namely:

• Mobile Marketing Association Award for Overall Excellence
• Innovation: Creativity
• Innovation: Reach
• Mobile Marketing Academic of the Year - Individual
• Mobile Marketing Academic of the Year - Institution
• Social Impact

The award-winners will be revealed, and the awards presented, at the MMA Global Awards Ceremony following the Mobile Marketing Forum on November 17, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
There’s more information about how to submit your entry here.

YOC Powers Fanta Campaign

YOC and Coca-Cola have launched a mobile campaign for the company’s Fanta brand in Gemany. The on-pack campaign uses the strapline: ‘Need a top-up? Grab a Fanta!’ and offers consumers free talk time, texts and downloads. It combines a zero-rated Shortcode, cross-operator free surfing on the m.fanta.de mobile portal, and free talk time and texts, and will run until December with German mobile operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, and O2.
To take part, consumers enter a bonus code, found in promotional Fanta bottle tops via SMS to the Shortcode 24200 for free. Within 72 hours of sending the code, the customer’s mobile phone is topped up with the relevant incentive. Customers of other operators can send a code in the same way to receive Fanta content such as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones or games for free. Any mobile phone number can take part in the promotion a maximum of five times per week.
“This promotion adds great value to the product for the consumer, since no extra costs occur for the participation or the incentivation itself,” says Dominik Schneider, Senior Brand Manager at Coca-Cola GmbH. “This is an absolute first for Germany.”
Supporting media include POS, a co-operation with Germany’s largest youth magazine, ‘Bravo’, and a TVC tag-on.

Marvellous Rolls Out HTC Magic Wish Factory Campaign

Mobile agency Marvellous has created The Wish Factory, a digital platform for Vodafone HTC Magic that lets people make a wish about what their mobile could do and then turns the best one into reality. The campaign is running in The Netherlands, where the HTC Magic made its debut on Vodafone.
The Wish Factory aims to showcase the strengths of Vodafone HTC Magic without blinding consumers with the science behind Google’s Android platform. The platform allows users to discover the capabilities of technology on their own terms by asking them what they’d like their mobile to do.
“Rather than just creating a campaign to launch the product, we wanted to create an environment where fans of the HTC Magic can comment on and learn more about the handset capabilities,” says Marvellous Founder and CEO, Jon Carney.
The Marvellous campaign extends out from a dedicated Wish Factory website to embrace social media, mobile, retail, outdoor and live events. It is supported by an in-banner game for the online advertising. A street event orchestrated by the Amsterdam office of Marvellous to mark the arrival of the first wish will takes place in August.
“The consumer we are aiming to reach wants leading edge technology, but needs to discover and experience it on real terms,” adds carney. “Wish Factory amplifies the mission of benefitting people’s lives with life-enhancing services, not only by involving and engaging users, but by ultimately building the apps they desire.”

Bluetooth Campaign Drives Footfall

Indian mobile marketing firm TELiBrahma has released the results of a two-week campaign it ran to drive traffic into Banglaore-based mobile phone retailer Sangeetha Mobiles stores, during the company’s annual sales period in June.
Customers were segmented based on their phone type, with relevant communications delivered to each customer segment via Bluetooth. Owners of mid-range handsets, for example, were targeted with memory card offers, encouraging them to upgrade their phone’s memory.
Sangeetha used its existing ‘BluFi’ network in shopping malls, youth hangouts, restaurants and busy shopping streets. The message delivered to the phone included the address of the nearest Sangeetha store, and prompted recipient to visit the outlet to receive “more offers and surprises”.
In total, the campaign targeted more than 50,000 users. Over 4,000 consumers visited a Sangeetha store after receiving the promotional message, with footfall increasing by 20 - 150%, with an average 45% increase across all outlets.
There’s more information about the campaign here.

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.