As millions of eyes were tuned to the Oscars last night, the stage was set for one man to use the massive platform for a unique SMS call-to-action, whether the show’s producers wanted him to or not.

During the acceptance speech for winning best Documentary, the subject of which, Ric O’Barry, held up a sign that read “text DOLPHIN to 44144.”  Even though the camera cut away quickly, the message was still understood.

O’Barry, who captured and trained the first five dolphins who played Flipper in the popular 1960s TV series, dedicated the rest of his life to protecting and freeing dolphins from captivity after witnessing the ramifications of his actions — as well as the suicide of one of the Flipper dolphins in his arms.  His life’s work was chronicled in the documentary “The Cove,” which won the Oscar last night for best documentary of the year.

Following through on the campaign and texting “Dolphin” to 44144 returned a link to an Online petition and a means to send a letter to Pres. Obama.  MsgMe, the provider of the 44144 short code used in the call-to-action, said even though cameras cut away quickly when O’Barry held up the sign, the response was still significant.

“We saw steady traffic for the next five hours and have seen a huge spike in support over Twitter which we believe is generating the bulk of the traffic,” said Matt Silk of Waterfall Mobile, provider of the MsgMe SMS platform in an email today.  ”New subscribers are still coming in at a pretty healthy clip to sign the petition so we are ecstatic with the viral explosion of the campaign.”

Share This

Although mobile apps are clearly all the rage, Shaun Gregory, the managing director of O2 Media, says it’s important not to place apps ahead of sound mobile marketing practices when it comes to utilizing the mobile space most efficiently in the promotional process.

Gregory advised firms to avoid the temptation of becoming wholly preoccupied with creating their own apps. Instead, he advised spreading one’s focus across a broad spectrum of opportunities in the mobile realm.

“Brands need to work out how apps fit into their wider mobile marketing strategy but many want to launch one before considering the alternatives,” Gregory told his audience at the FT Digital Media and Broadcasting Conference.

According to coverage of the event from New Media Age, Gregory revealed his view that applications “come into the advertising conversation far too early.” Rather, he offered, it’s vital to remember that traditional mobile marketing strategies like SMS marketing remain the most efficient and effective way to connect with mobile users.

Share This

It’s always nice to come across use-cases for SMS beyond the basic confines of marketing, and a perfect example is the increased usage of the medium for appointment reminders.

Headrush Hair Salon, an up-scale and high-traffic salon in the U.K, enlisted the help of TextMagic to introduce SMS reminders to cut down on no-shows and reduce the standby time for their stylists, helping curb the untold amount of revenue lost during idle time.  With over 4,700 clients total, no-shows had become a huge problem.

“TextMagic has improved our amount of no-show clients who may have forgotten the date and time of their appointment, therefore leaving a stylist in the salon with sometimes up to 2 1/2 hours of down time, which is clearly bad for business and profits.  We calculate that our number of no-shows has been reduced by approximately 70% since we’ve been using TextMagic and we expect this number to improve further as we obtain more clients’ mobile numbers.”

With SMS being inexpensive, easy to implement and having the ability to reach anyone quickly and easily no matter the type of device, it’s no wonder SMS reminder solutions have proved so successful.  Nearly every use-case I come across is deemed a huge success, with ROI that goes above and beyond most expectations.  As the concept makes itself known, wide-spread usage in a variety of industries will begin to take shape, for good reason.

Share This

The following is a guest post from Simon Vella, CEO of InvolveMobile…

If you have any doubt whether SMS spam falls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), you will be one of the remaining few in 2010. The TCPA has struck again, with the District Court of Northern Illinois recently upholding the FCC’s view of text messaging in Abbas v Selling Source. In this case, Abbas allegedly received SMS spam messages and sued Selling Source under the TCPA. Most of Selling Source’s arguments were rejected by the court, including their attempt at First Amendment defences.

There are now an increasing number of judgments extending back to 2005 that put SMS spam messages firmly into the sights of the TCPA. With the CAN-SPAM Act only regulating email to sms gateways, it now appears to be the primary vehicle for plaintiffs dealing with unsolicited text messages. Further to this, a Minnesota judge recently rejected the application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to a receipt of text message spam.

While mobile marketing has not yet enjoyed the spotlight it should do, it has also avoided heavy handed regulation which affects other marketing channels. Text message consents often seem to lack clarity for consumers, both through website registrations and mainstream media interaction. The proliferation of mobile cell phone lists in past years shows that consent for mobile direct marketing has sometimes been a murky area. The cases we have seen to date are already having some significant impact on the mobile direct marketing industry, with recent removals of mobile phone lists from circulation by major list providers concerned about massive legal payouts. It gives a welcome reprieve to an industry that will be increasingly under fire.

Read the rest

Share This

On the heels of Placecast deploying several very successful pilot programs across the US, the company is set to debut its innovative ShopAlerts solution to help drive foot-traffic and sales to brick-and-mortar businesses based on its unique geo-fencing technology.

When a business signs up for ShopAlerts, consumers can opt-in via in-store sign-up, Online, via text message, mobile Websites and even Facebook to receive location-triggered SMS advertisements.  Once opted-in, and the Placecast technology is activated, consumers are alerted via text message when they’re either in close proximity to a location they’re interested in, or when a business is offering sales or specials.

The basis of Placecast’s technology is its use of geo-fences placed around a particular business or location.  Once opted-in, when consumers come within the virtual boundary, SMS messages are triggered- creating a true location-based SMS advertising solution.  Consumers will only receive a maximum of three SMS messages in any given week, and can opt-out at anytime by simply sending STOP back to Placecast’s platform.

Following successful trials for the likes of North Face, REI and American Eagle Outfitters, Placecast surveyed users to get a sense of their willingness to the idea.  60% of participants found the location-triggered messages to be innovative, 79% said it increased their likelihood to visit a store, 65% made a purchase as a result of a ShopAlerts message and 73% of participants would definitely or probably use the service in the future.

Read the rest

Share This

The North Face, a trendy maker of some of today’s most fashionable outerwear and other outdoors gear, is gearing up for its first ever location-based mobile marketing campaign.

For the duration of the campaign, The North Face will target text messages to potential customers in close proximity to a store carrying North Face apparel. For now, the campaign is in effect for shoppers in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. Additionally, the text alerts will only reach customers who have already opted in to receive such messages from company.

Although this campaign is the first of its kind for the apparel maker, The North Face has previously dabbled in the mobile channel with some degree of success. Last year, in fact, The North Face introduced “Snow Report 2.0,” a free iPhone weather app targeted toward skiers and snowboarders.

If the latest endeavor proves successful, look for The North Face to continue ramping up their mobile marketing endeavors in the coming year – a year in which mobile advertising is predicted to account for an estimated $561 million of all advertising dollars spent.

The LBS campaign for The North Face was created by Placecast, a location-based mobile ad company in San Francisco.

Share This

Reflecting the increasingly important role played by mobile technology in the food and service industry, Sundrop Systems has created and unveiled Txt-To-Go Mobile Ordering, a new (and free) service that enables restaurant patrons to place orders for pick-up with their chosen restaurants via text message.

Working as conveniently in practice as it does in theory, the service makes it possible for mobile users to text their food order to Txt-To-Go, which then “redelivers the order” to the selected restaurant. After the order is placed, the customer receives a confirmation number.

For expediency, you can even pre-register your favorites online with Txt-To-Go so that you can simply order the “usual” and still end up with what you wanted.

So how does it all work? According to the folks at Txt-To-Go: Read the rest

Share This