Proximity Marketing for "Fast and Furious"

Interactive trailers for the movie "Fast and Furious" are available for download free-of-charge to Bluetooth enabled mobile phones at select cinemas and other public locations throughout Germany. The interactive trailers offer the mobile viewer a one-click access to "Fast and Furious" sweepstakes contest and allows them to purchase movie tickets for upcoming screenings of the film in select cinema chains in Germany.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/advertising/20090331/SF9150631032009-1.html

DMA Bluetooth Marketing Guidelines Released

New mobile marketing guidelines for Bluetooth campaigns have been developed by the Direct Marketing Association for the U.K. and other markets, and are designed to protect users from "spam." Good move.

http://www.dma.org.uk/_attachments/resources/4756_S4.pdf

Bluetooth-Based Mobile Marketing Campaigns

Though most mobile marketing campaigns up to this point have been based on use of text messaging (short message service), more common availability of Bluetooth also offers an opportunity for proximity messages over short distances, without the expense of the data network, says Mark Brill, Direct Marketing Association Mobile Marketing Council chairman.

That means creating a local Bluetooth zone at a physical location with high traffic, such as restaurants, public transit stations, bars or retail locations, able to reach users within a relatively confined area of possibly 260 feet in diameter.

"The key to a successful Bluetooth proximity marketing campaign is to provide a clear incentive or offer, explain why you are communicating and gain the trust of the user," he says.

About 30 percent of people have their Bluetooth turned on all of the time, mostly to use hands-free headsets. The TV show "Lost" has used such a technique to promote the new season by allowing users to download wallpaper and ringtones, images or a trailer.

Bacardi Rum has used Bluetooth at music festivals, sending drink vouchers and allowing users to send their own photos and messages to a large screen at an event.

Levi’s Jeans has equipped personnel with backpacks equipped with Bluetooth units and small screens.

Still, there are issues. A Bluetooth connection to a mobile does not provide the marketer with a phone number or user information, so tracking a user requires some form of registration. As always, opt-in rules are needed as well.

http://www.mycustomer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=134286

Mobile Fusion: Mobile Rendering on the Fly

MoFuse, or Mobile Fusion, is a Web application that allows a user or company to easily and instantly create a mobile version of a blog or Web site.

If a blog or site has an RSS feed, MoFuse will use that as the main source of content for a new mobile site. The advantages are obvious. Content creators can continue to create "PC" sites and MoFuse will do the translations. MoFuse also can create static content pages.

http://fuelingnewbusiness.com/2008/08/28/mobile-marketing-for-advertising-agencies/

Best New Google Voice Feature: Visual Voicemail

Some of us prefer text messages of any sort to voice messages of any sort. So the best new feature of Google Voice, compared to GrandCentral, is the automatic speech-to-text feature, so now I read my "voice" mails, instead of "listening" to them. Very useful.

Mobile Marketing Growth: Inevitable Result of Mobile Web

There's a simple reason so many executives and practitioners now are exploring mobile marketing: Industry executives widely believe mobile computing devices will be the "primary" Internet access device for most people, globally, by 2020.

More than three quarters of the expert respondents (77 percent) recently surveyed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project said they agreed with a

scenario that posited that the mobile computing device will be the primary Internet communications platform for a majority of people across the world by 2020.

http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2008/PIP_FutureInternet3.pdf.pdf

Advertising Hits Tipping Point; Mobile Video Hasn't

It is probably worth noting, with significant attention focused on substitution of mobile and Internet video for traditional packaged multi-channel video, that there's lots of activity, money and attention focused on substitution of other services such as advertising.

And advertising already is at an inflection point: video isn't there yet. That's important for anybody who thinks they may have a chance to build a business based on changes in user behavior.

And inflection points are crucial. Move too early and you die. Move too late and you miss the opportunity.

The analogy: assume firms have a chance to establish themselves when water turns to ice or to steam. Since most major changes in established markets do not occur overnight, the analogy is a gradually rising or falling temperature. For a long time, it appears as though not much is happening.

But then the quantum change occurs. Almost instantly, water changes to gas or forms ice.

That's pretty much what happened to the U.S. newspaper business in early 2009: an accumulation of decades worth of changes produced a quantum change. Video is not there yet. Advertising is, in at least one segment of the business.

Since the tipping point has been reached, we should expect change at a faster rate than has been happening.

http://www.fiercewireless.com/ctialive/story/ctia-scorecard-mobile-content/2009-04-06