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: Kiran Aditham
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Kiran Aditham is a Business Management grad from the University of Central Florida, Aditham earned his stripes as a freelance writer in music/arts publishing.

Mobile Marketing: Is the Machine Fueled by Hope or Hype?

Written on: February 1st 2006
Author: by Kiran Aditham |
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Audience scarcity aside, iLoop VP Myung’s most valid argument for mobile marketing is the efficiency of SMS campaigns, the allegiance and profit-sharing between carriers and the lack of spam issues. “I think the model’s very clean,” he says. “The wireless carriers are involved, and there’s a very clean model as to how to monetize the space and the profit-sharing that goes along between the wireless carrier, the potential aggregator and the technology provider. That’s why the combination of mobile search, mobile storefronts and interactive text campaigns will really have their place.”

It’s the spam issues in particular that have hampered email marketing campaigns and related online blitzes. Myung claims that the opt-in requirement and carrier involvement that comes with mobiles eliminate the need for blanket campaigns. “People have to opt-in, which makes it great for mobile advertisers. People as you know have 8 or 9 email account that you register with, but you never read. But the phone is very discrete, you can opt-in to something and you can really opt-out. No one can sell your mobile phone number, the carriers just don’t allow it.”

He adds that by uniting web and mobile promotions, the appeal is that much more for the advertiser. “People can use the web as the means to opt-in, and then they’ll get the text message that they agreed to opt-in. It’s great for a mobile advertiser or a brand, that if they have that kind of mailing list of phone numbers, they can count on the fact that these are people who are really interested in the content.”

But Tony Quin shrugs at the alleged immunity of mobile phones to spam dissemination. “There’s no perfect model out there,” he says. “Somebody will figure it out. I read the other day that getting advertising messages on your phone is a way to get all kinds of nasty viruses. It hasn’t happened yet, but they’re starting to look at it.” As for the synchronicity between carriers in regards to content and policy, he adds, “I would think the big infrastructure companies would be delighted to hold hands with everyone in the advertising space because they’re looking for their own business model. Their old business models are crumbling beneath them. But that doesn’t mean the consumer’s going to hold hands with them. The jury is totally out on that.”

Yet John Myung’s colleague, iLoop co-founder/CTO Michael Becker, foresees imminent proliferation. In his published predictions for 2006, Becker states:

“Handset technology, mobile network interoperability, ubiquitous message delivery, broadband data, industry technology regulations, mobile marketing guidelines, and user adoption have all matured and reached a common plateau where commercially viable and cost effective mobile marketing and data services can be launched. These services include text messaging campaigns (quiz, votes, polls, contest entries), content downloads, instant voice response, community services, and mobile search which are ready to be offered to the mass market by brands, content, owners, and marketing agencies.”

Becker uses the graphic below to emphasize his point: