go2 Media, as we’ve seen, has been busy launching a new mobile advertising service called “Dynamic Content Marketing.”

With a heavy slant on all things local, the mobile site for go2 delivers local entertainment and information to users. And because the new service allows for front pages to be “branded,” the feature bodes well for the movie industry, for whom that service is exclusively available for now.

The first campaign underway is for the Transformers sequel, “Revenge of the Fallen.”

Cutting to the chase, Transformers is an enormous beta test for go2, which is stepping up efforts considerably to brand the movie on its site and allow a one-click link to local showings of the film.

It obviously isn’t much, but it’s a start for Dynamic Content Marketing.

And if things go well for the Transformers campaign, you may very well come to see more of the same at a theatre near you.

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Microsoft has unveiled a mobile advertising agreement with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

In hopes of tapping into Microsoft’s search and display ad partnership with Verizon Wireless, the deal is driven by the heightened prospect of raising Hyatt hotel’s web presence and giving hotel-seekers a mobile advantage through their Gold Passport frequent guest rewards program.

Microsoft announced that Verizon Wireless subscribers will have an easier and more effective means by which to find hotels and points of interest through the mobile web. This includes, of course, finding, booking, rescheduling, and even checking out of rooms at Hyatt hotels. As you can imagine, the partnership also brings to life a number of other bells and whistles well suited for the mobile hospitality industry.

“Microsoft Mobile Advertising provides us with a compelling and scalable solution that can drive awareness, and encourages people to interact with our mobile Web site as another channel to register for our rewards program and reserve a room,” said Amy Curtis-McIntyre, senior VP of Brand Communications for Global Hyatt Corp.

“The powerful combination of Microsoft’s popular destination sites like MSN and Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Web service not only offers exceptional reach to our target audience, but provides us with an efficient solution to work with both a large publisher and service provider through one simple platform.”

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Volkswagen, promoting itself as “the official automotive partner of Major League Soccer,” has embarked on a 19 city mobile marketing tour.

In this regard, they are mobile in a physical sense as well as a digital one.

The goal, to introduce soccer moms everywhere to the new fleet of Volkswagen automobiles, is well served by this effort.

In addition to a text-to-win opportunity to take home a $25 gift card, potential customers are also offered the incentive for merely test driving a VW at a local dealership.

And, chances are, if you’ve been to a soccer game recently, there is a lot of promotional material on hand for VW. Volkswagen’s lineup of Routans, Jetta Sportwagens, Tiguans, Passat Wagons and CCs are typically featured prominently at the youth soccer events

The campaign is now underway and will run through November when the brand joins the MLS Cup championship in Seattle.

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It isn’t often that you hear a major news organization use the “word” regret when it comes to discussing their ventures in mobile marketing.

For USA Today, however, there is regret. And plenty of it.

Given the popularity of their iPhone app, USA Today regrets that they made it available as a free download.

Hoping to buttress their revenue by taking major steps into new marketing ventures, USA Today apparently feels that they have a gold mine… without the gold.

According to publisher David Hunke in an interview with the Associated Press,”I’m not sure we realized what we had. I think that’s a value readers will be willing to pay for.”

The iPhone app, which has only ben available since late December, has captured the essence of the print edition of USA Today (and is much cooler, by the way) and supplements ths paper’s news stream with a host of bells and whistles ranging from social media elements to GPS based features.

The announcment by USA Today may come as a lesson learned to other news carriers aiming for similar success in the mobile realm.

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Procter & Gamble’s Gillette razor will be the focus of the new mobile marketing endeavors of one of America’s largest and most respected companies as they tap into the potential of the iPhone as a means of reaching current and prospective male shavers.

Gillette is all hyped up about “uArt,” an iPhone application that allows its users to “shave and create” facial hairstyles based on a unique model that lets you upload a personal photo and select a facial hair style even with the nuances of hair length and color.

The next step? Shave until the desired appearance becomes a reality. According to Gillette, it’s just that easy - so simple, in fact, that I can’t help but imagine some dudes are going to get drunk out of their mind one weekend and shave themselves up to look like Mr. T.

This app is just too cool to not be used for both good and evil.

According to Mike Norton, director of external relations at Gillette: “As a grooming company, we want to help guys be their best and to achieve that, we want to provide tools to help them find the look and style that is right for them so they can express themselves.”

P&G, which bought Gillette in 2005, is giving uArt a substantial push in both print and electronic media. With any luck, this endeavor will have as much success as the last, when Gillette completed a program with New York Yankee Derek Jeter where baseball fans were encouraged to send a text for a chance to win… you guessed it, a free Gillette Fusion Razor!

Welcome to mobile marketing, Gillette! I think you’ll find its “cutting edge” appeal very appropriate.

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Skyfire has been a leader in mobile browsers for a while now, and yesterday marked the long-awaited release of the 1.0 version of it’s full-Web enabled browser for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.

The key difference with Skyfire remains the ability to support popular Web standards and plug-ins such as Flash 10, Silverlight 2, Ajax and JavaScript that we’ve all come to expect from the traditional Web experience.  The browser will now let users watch any Web video and live event on a small-screen mobile phone, and Skyfire users can even customize their start pages with RSS feeds from their favorite Web sites, integrate their Facebook and Twitter accounts to import status updates and tweets, and easily publish their status to these networks with a single click.

Read the rest

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Warner Brothers Digital Entertainment is planning to flood the mobile realm with dozens of new apps (at least forty in all) by the end of this year.

Hoping to increase its presence in the digital sphere with an assortment of apps that will promote individualized projects and promotions, Variety is reporting that Warner Brothers has released more than a dozen iPhone apps so far, all pushing films like The Dark Knight, Watchmen and the new Terminator flick.

But apart from standard movie-trailor themed apps, Warner Brothers has bigger plans for their forthcoming anticipated blockbusters like Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes.

In short, Warner Bros. is reportedly entertaining everything from animated episodic video apps to other original content offerings based on winning brands. Variety also touched on Warner Brothers’ possible interest in developing mobile games centered around newly released films.

The director of worldwide marketing for Warner Bros., Stephanie Bohn, struck a cooperative tone regarding the studio’s relationship with Apple. “It’s difficult for developers to have a direct call into Apple,” she said. “We spend time talking with them weekly, if not daily.”

“It doesn’t cost a lot to launch an app,” Bohn added. “Relative to a TV show or a film, it’s nothing.”

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