(For MMW’s complete coverage of Under The Radar: Mobility, click here).

SMS the next big thing in marketing? Hardly. Texting is cutting-edge for some marketers and commoditized for others. But those who want to get to the bleeding edge had better pay attention to the companies who presented at Under The Radar: Mobility in Mountain View this week.

In a nutshell: The marketing industry must be prepared to get multi-channel all on one device. Technologies exist now that will help them enhance content on mobile phones, update Web content via their own cell phones, and use their handsets to communicate in far-reaching ways like conferencing and real-time networking. Companies will also be able to conduct financial transactions via mobile phones, making it more convenient than ever for consumers to make purchases–and that’s not an easy task in these days of economic uncertainty.

Savvy marketers already know that the cell phone is ideal to contact consumers because messages and ads reach them instantly, no matter what time of day or where the person is. Soon (well, now, if you’re an early adopter) marketers can use their own phones as a tool, too.

Here’s how Under The Radar startups can–no, will–help marketers achieve new heights: Read the rest

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(For MMW’s complete coverage of Under The Radar: Mobility, click here.)

So this post isn’t really about marketing. Well, I guess you have to be the ultimate marketer to use your mobile phone to troll fellow singles. (More on that in a moment.)

But I had to share two of the funniest–and oddly compelling–presentations at Under The Radar.

First, there was Smule, which has released several iPhone apps based on music. These guys may be a little cerebral, but their stuff has been selling like hotcakes. The newest, released earlier this week, is “Ocarina”–which turns your iPhone into a flute! Really! Pictured above is Ge Wang, Smule CTO and a professor at Stanford University’s Center For Computer Research In Music and Acoustics, showing how the phone is played almost like an actual wind instrument. Now if only they could create a similar app for the BlackBerry Storm!

Then there was Skout, a mobile dating site that focuses on meeting someone in the same venue or close area as yourself. I gotta hand it to these guys–they found the market glutted with mobile social networks, and found a niche. Thing is, NPR did a story a few months ago about young singles in Saudi Arabia using Bluetooth to remotely troll for romantic interests. (Mobile phone technology–which can be used on the sly, without being obvious–is crucial for young adult socializing, due to social limits that country’s culture places on co-ed interaction.) So there kind of is already a proven mobile dating system. Moreover, I think this might be more niche than these guys think–I mean, who really wants to meet some weirdo trying to contact them via their mobile phone?

The Under The Radar crowd loved these guys–of course, since they’re pre-dispositioned to admire tech of all kinds. What do you readers think?

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(For MMW’s complete coverage of Under The Radar: Mobility, click here.)

Wow. When Under The Radar claimed a “fireside chat” with representatives from major U.S. cellular carriers would have “no filters,” they weren’t fibbing.

I got the honor of starting things off, by asking Verizon Wireless’ Jennifer Byrne (far left in the photo) about the three-cent hike that Verizon might leverage on outgoing text messages–a blow to aggregators and message marketers who felt they helped make SMS popular in the first place, only to be penalized. “Clearly that was a confidential draft… not a final decision. (But) it was an important event because it forced everyone to evaluate the evolution of messaging,” Byrne said, adding that the company is “finalizing” decisions as to any kind of fee increase regarding SMS. “We’ll have a plan to show our aggregator partners soon.” How soon? She declined to say. Read the rest

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(For MMW’s complete coverage of Under The Radar: Mobility, click here.)

In this economy, mobile marketing must get consumers to spend more. Right now, SMS coupons are considered bleeding-edge. But at the Monetize session at Under The Radar, companies are thinking well beyond current marketing abilities. Toro and Billing Revolution in particular have been the most interesting companies so far today…

Toro offers the most futuristic, fascinating solution yet–beyond even what’s happening in advanced mobile consumer markets like Japan and northern Europe. It could usher in a whole new version of multi-channel marketing. Let’s say there’s an ad poster on a bus stop bench or side of a building. You take your phone out–excuse me, phone with an NFC chip inside–and literally “tap” the ad with it. Presto–you’ve just opted in to receive a marketing message.

Here’s where it gets targeted: Read the rest

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 (For MMW’s complete coverage of Under The Radar: Mobility, click here.)

During the session titled Business Apps, presenters offered straight-up business solutions. But these can help marketing efforts, even if they’re not marketing-specific. Rather than reaching audiences on their mobile phones, you can use your cell to reach them.

First, I want to point out that the best marketing strategies require that brands integrate into consumers’ lives as if they, too, are a fellow consumer. That means having campaigns that reach them the way consumers prefer to communicate, such as SMS and email, as well as more sociable platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.

MyBooo seems to get that–which makes moot some people’s concerns that their technology seems more consumer-friendly than business-savvy. Basically, it syncs to one’s PC, and offers more solutions than Blackberry and other current mobile-to-computer syncing providers, said CEO Cyril Attia. It’s especially valuable to people who use social networks as part of their overall marketing strategy–MyBooo allows them to easily update profiles on these networks from their mobile phones. The musicians and artists promoting themselves on MySpace would love this, since not all smartphones have this capability. Professionals on Facebook and LinkedIn would benefit, too. Read the rest

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(For MMW’s complete coverage of Under The Radar: Mobility, click here.)

Things kicked off compellingly at “Under The Radar: Mobility” this morning–at least for marketers. The very first company to present, DialPlus, really offered a unique way to market on cell phones that I haven’t seen before.

DialPlus creates visual content for mobile phone calls–thus making the process of a voice call an enriched marketing opportunity. To illustrate, imagine that you call up a restaurant. Soon as you dial, a profile will come up that shows a photo of the eatery, diners’ ratings, directions, hours of operation, menu, and other data. This then gives the consumer information he/she needs to decide what time to set a dinner reservation–since she/he will know how long it’ll take to get there, and what time the place opens/closes. Heck, they might even be “on the fence” and decide whether or not to make the reservation at all, thanks to the ratings or menu.

Besides offering enticing information to the consumer about to make a decision, DialPlus also offers great branding opps as well, since outgoing callers will be able to display their profiles to call recipients. Enterprises can choose to create a profile of their company. Entrepreneurs or freelancers can create a profile based on their LinkedIn profile. Read the rest

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Oftentimes new technology is touted just for technology’s sake. After the geek dust clears, laypersons are left to wonder how Gadget A or App B will actually effect their lives. So we at MMW have always avoided tech elitism; instead we explain why mobile tech is important to marketers, in hopes of creating more participants in mobile marketing.

That’s why we’re going to “Under The Radar: Mobility,” happening Wednesday in Mountain View, California. Under The Radar events have always attracted veteran and maverick tech writers, not to mention investors and enterprises, who hope to be the first to uncover the “next big thing” in whatever realm of technology is the theme of the pow-wow. This week, MMW hopes to find those companies–among the 32 start-ups scheduled to present–that will set the stage for future mobile marketing endeavors.

I’ll be blogging all day Wednesday to give readers up-to-the-minute information about new mobile tech that could will affect marketers. When the dust clears, I hope to piece together what everything means in the big picture. (To make these posts easier to find, we’ve created a special category called “Under The Radar: Mobility.”)

So watch this space!

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