Coca-Cola Sued For Holding SMS Subscribers Hostage

Coca-Cola apparently doesn’t understand that STOP means STOP, especially when you’re running an SMS marketing campaign. Coca-Cola is now now facing the consequences in a new class action lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that consumers were unable to opt-out of receiving text messages, which is a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Tatango reports.

The Defendant, Shaghayegh Missaghi says that she received the following message from the short code 2653, which spells the word ”COKE”.

“MyCokeRewards: Enter now for your chance to win Coke(R) and Pringles(R) for a year. http://cokeurl.com/mSnacks NoPurNec. Ends 2/29/12 Reply HELP for help.”

After receiving the message, Shaghayegh attempted to opt out of the SMS campaign by texting STOP to 2653, which was unsuccessful. The plaintiff continued to receive unwanted text messages from Coke, regardless of her attempts to opt out and despite their own confirmation that the defendant would no longer receive text messages.

The plaintiff decided enough was enough and filed a class action lawsuit.

Read more.

For Facebook, Wi-Fi is a growing barrier to the success of mobile ads

Out of its over 900 million monthly active users, more than half — 488 million — already use Facebook on mobile, and that number is steadily growing. All ThingsD reports.

Its mobile ad strategy is already showing significant engagement, with click-through rates 14 times higher on mobile than desktop ads. But Facebook is still new to the mobile game, and has more to offer. With the right strategy, it could even save the entire mobile advertising industry.

What’s the problem with mobile advertising?

An increasing number of mobile users are connecting to the Internet via Wi-Fi, which makes it impossible to use important targeting information, like wireless carrier, to send more relevant ads to mobile users. Compared to ads served to users connecting via wireless network, those served to users connecting via Wi-Fi perform noticeably worse.

A mobile user’s carrier reveals a lot about who they are and how they might interact with an ad — information that’s essential for an ad to reach its target audience and to ultimately be profitable.

Wi-Fi is a growing barrier to the success of mobile ads, and will become a bigger point of discussion as the amount of Wi-Fi traffic picks up — it’s expected to be 51 percent of all Web traffic by 2016.

And Wi-Fi isn’t the only issue: third-party browsers also hide the device type, and since they use proxy IPs, they often conceal the country location of the user as well — which makes it impossible to accurately target relevant ads, and results in massive losses for mobile advertisers.

Read more.

Bill Introduced To Let Robots Call Your Cellphone

Since '91, it's been illegal for telemarketers to use autodialers and other robot-like devices to call your cellphone. Last week, reports The Consumerist, a bill was introduced to change that.

While in the past email hoaxes have gone around saying that your cellphone could be opened up to telemarketers, bill HR 3035 seeks to let businesses contact your cellphone "for informational purposes."

Here is a letter written by various banking associations supporting the bill.

Be afraid.

Are Billboards Banning SMS Advertising?

According to Tatango's SMS Marketing Blog, several of the major billboard companies may be moving towards a ban on SMS advertising on billboards, according to an industry insider.

This is in reaction to the both the popularity of SMS marketing and the increase in accidents due to texting while driving. Is this potential ban just playing it safe or are there actual studies on the effects of SMS campaigns on billboards?

If this ban can help reduce the urge for drivers to respond to a billboard ad via text message, I’m all for it, writes Derek Johnson from Tatango. On the other hand, are they forgetting that there is usually 4 other seats in most cars, all of which are not driving the car?

If you have any strong feelings about a ban or no ban, add your comment here.

Advertising on mobile phones up 128% in last 2 years, study says

Display advertising on mobile devices has more than doubled in the last two years, according to a study from research firm ComScore, reports The LA Times.

... In April 2011, 689 advertisers used mobile display advertising campaigns to reach consumers, up 128% from two years earlier, comScore said.

"Mobile content and publishing" made up about 50% of mobile ads, while 26% of mobile ads were for "consumer discretionary goods," the research firm reported.

Seven percent of ads were for "information technology" companies and 6% were ads for "financial services," ComScore said.

Read more and full comScore press release.

McDonald’s billboard in Sweden is controllable by phone

McDonalds put a giant phone-controlled, video-game billboard in the middle of Stockholm enabling users to play a game of public pong by linking their phones up with the giant ad.

If someone can keep the ball bouncing for 30 seconds or more, an electronic coupon is automaticaly sent to their phone.

[via Guyism]

Ethics in business: Mobile marketing or SMS spam?

On the eve of the Pakistan-India cricket semi-final, there were few if any who were spared from SMS spam. These messages ranged from tickets to match-viewing events to various special deals just for the day. The Express Tribune reports.

One SMS marketer, on the condition of anonymity revealed that he had lists of over 30,000 subscribers within the Defence Housing Authority area in Karachi. He was a relative new-comer to the market and installed readily available bulk SMS software on a used computer.

How he got the lists was a trade secret but the computer itself had a couple of GPRS modems fitted with SIM cards that were kept on rotation which is information readily available to anyone who cares to Google it. When questioned about the legitimacy of the medium his response was a nonchalant “there is nothing really wrong with it, nobody really cares”.

... While it is hard to estimate the contribution of spam to the overall SMS traffic in Pakistan, the problem seems to be growing worse as more telemarketers enter the fray and phone number catalogues grow larger. Telecoms are reluctant to take any proactive measures since higher SMS volumes result in higher revenue.

Read full article.

Advertisers want to dominate your phone

If you think that your mobile phone is one place where you can get away from advertising, think again. The BBC reports.

The marketing industry has decided that mobile is the platform of the future and is rushing to send messages to your phone.

2010 was the breakthrough year for mobile advertising," says Kerstin Trikalitis, chief executive officer of Out There Mobile Media. "We've seen triple-digit growth rates in the last eighteen months and this trend is continuing through 2011."

... "We are at the start, there's lots of enthusiasm, and the industry is set to hit $20billion this year," says Marco Veremis, President of UpStream, a mobile marketing consultancy.

"But it's a bit like TV in the 1950s, it's still under development and we don't know what the killer format will be."

Read full article.

Mobile Makers Target Rivals on Phones

Mobile-phone companies are experimenting with a new way to steal their rivals' customers: the mobile insult to the device in hand. The WSJ reports.

Their new tactic involves mobile ads that appear when a person using a competitor's phone or network launches an application or browses the Web on their phone. The basic message: Oh, you could do better than that thing. In industry jargon, the tactic is called "intercept campaigning."

Nokia Corp. recently targeted ads for its Nokia Twist device at users of the Motorola Inc.'s Razr phone. Razr users who surf the Web would be dealt an ad saying, "Are you really still rockin' a flip phone?" It then suggests upgrading to a Twist.

Read full article.

Almost Half of European Mobile Users Received Advertising via SMS

Mobile marketing in the EU5 countries UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy reached 100 million mobile phone subscribers via SMS ads, according to a study by comScore. The most common type of SMS advert recalled was product, service or brand information. Cellular News reports.

Other interesting figures:

-- SMS ads for donations to charities and non-profit organisations reached 9.7 million people and 11.6 percent of subscribers that received this type of SMS responded at least once during the three month average ending in September 2010.

-- Coupons or discounts sent via SMS followed with a 10.3 percent response rate.

-- Out of the 33.4 million people who received an SMS that promoted a contest, 7.3 percent responded.

Read full article. comScore press release. Image from Mobile Marketer.

Understanding legal challenges on the mobile Web

Mobile Commerce Daily on how to plan a mobile marketing campaign without breaking any laws.

Mobile phones present marketers with unique opportunities for interacting with consumers, but they also present unique legal challenges.

Laws written for a wired world do not always translate well into the mobile world. But before figuring out how to comply with these laws, the first challenge is often figuring out exactly which laws apply.

Unfortunately, that is not always easy. In part, that is because mobile phones allow marketers to interact with consumers using different technologies and these technologies can be governed by different laws.

Read full article. [via @mobileFringe]

Google Claims $1 Billion In Annualized Mobile Ad Revenues

During Google’s Q3 earnings call the company disclosed that mobile ad sales were now at a $1 billion “annualized run rate.”

[via mocoNews.net]

Buyer Beware: Short code shutdowns

Street Savings, a leading innovator in mobile marketing, has released a white paper addressing a headline issue: short code shutdowns.

Recently, several companies’ short code services have been terminated for non-compliance. These service terminations and the resulting legal proceedings illustrate the risks for many small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) if they do not understand industry rules surrounding text message mobile marketing programs or the consequences of non-compliance.

The white paper, “Text Message Mobile Marketing: Risks for Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), Agents, and SMBs Involved with Non-Compliant Programs” is available at www.streetsavings.com/news.asp.

[The Green Sheet via @ChasRamer]

Mobile marketing

Around the world, people are increasingly conversing using SMS, and making fewer and fewer voice calls, particularly in the youth market. A recent Washington Post article looks at how the “texting generation doesn’t share boomers’ taste for talk”. Increasingly consumers are having interactive and effective asynchronous conversations, even though they are not in real time, via SMS. By: Dr Pieter Streicher, MD at BulkSMS.com.

So why, wonders Dr. Pieter Streicher, managing director of BulkSMS.com, are so few companies really engaging with their customers via this channel.

Read full article.

Daffy's "Text Models to Undress" Campaign

In celebrating last week's "Fashion's Night Out," Daffy's "Undressing Room" featured live models standing in the store's windows on Herald Square in New York. People in the street texted them which outfits to change into while exposing themselves for everyone to see.

In total, more than 1,500 text messages were received between 6:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Many incoming text messages included comments to the models, which were posted on a giant flat screen TV placed in the window for all to read.

[Full press release via Mobile Behavior]

Non-Profit Uses Foursquare to Raise Environmental Awareness

Spotted on Mashable, a poster that takes a critical look at the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

That particular poster — as seen above — reads, “Use your cell phone to drill the oil industry.” For each Earthjustice ad checkin, a company donor with donate $10 to the cause in question — in this case, “unsafe oil drilling.”

The effort is specifically targeted at younger audiences who don’t typically respond to messages in advertisements. The hope is that by combining a compelling and relevant message with the Foursquare checkin donation, the younger demographic will be inspired to take an active interest in environmental causes.

Read full article.

Recent Trends in Commercial Text Messaging

BulkSMS, a leading wireless application service provider offering bulk text messaging solutions, has published insight on how text messaging is being used commercially

-- Promotional campaigns using text messaging aim at providing an immediate and interactive experience with a brand via a consumer's mobile phone. Contests, voting line, customer satisfaction research, or in-store campaign is used to attract customers' attention.

-- Scheduling appointments - Text messaging is increasingly becoming the standard way of confirming appointments and sending out appointment reminders a day ahead of a scheduled appointment.

-- Promoting properties - Estate agents use text messaging as a convenient way to communicate with prospective buyers by sending them information about a new property on the market.

Read full press release.

Google sees mobile ad rates passing PC rates

Google Inc said that it expects the rates that companies pay for search ads on mobile phones could surpass the rates of its existing PC-based ad business thanks to the growing popularity of powerful smartphones.

[via Reuters]

Dutch Commercial to Help Haiti by text messaging

Spotted on Adverblog, a very simple commercial from Amsterdam, to support donations via SMS for Haiti.

The Mobile Advertising Industry Is Worth At Least $1 Billion Now

Following Google’s purchase of AdMob and news that Apple is buying Quattro Wireless, the mobile advertising industry has passed the $1 billion in value—which is quite the accomplishment given that the total U.S. mobile advertising market was only worth $416 million in 2009.

[via mocoNews.net]

T-Shirt-Based Interactive Marketing

The shirt on your back has long been used as an advertising billboard, but Chicago-based Apparel Media Group (AMG) is now turning it into an engagement marketing platform that creates an emotional bond with consumers by combining demographic targeting, group sponsorships and SMS/URL interactivity.

The company matches brands with groups such as college organizations, youth sports leagues and young mothers looking for sponsors to cut the costs of custom apparel. The brand receives premium real estate on the shirt to publicize its service or product, and the buyer, grateful for the price break, becomes a brand ambassador.

Brands can also include an SMS code or unique URL inviting consumers to send text messages to receive special offers or visit a campaign website, enabling t-shirts to serve as interactive mobile marketing vehicles with potential viral reach.

Full Press release.

Clickatell's Festive Mobile Marketing Handbook

This landed in my in-box from Clickatell, not as an insertion order (Clickatell is a longstanding sponsor of textually.org), but because my name is on their mailing list when they send out a new handbook. I'm including it here because I think it's a very clever marketing idea and extremely useful. You can download a free copy here.

Clickatell's 2009 Festive Mobile Marketing Handbook

As organizations look for more effective and cost efficient ways to reach customers during this year's holiday season, many of Clickatell's customers are taking advantage of mobile marketing for immediate reach, reduced campaign costs, higher customer satisfaction, increased traffic—ultimately resulting in higher profits.

SMS global gateway Clickatell has published its '2009 Festive Mobile Marketing Handbook' to help large and small businesses conceptualize, implement and monitor effective mobile sales, mobile marketing, and customer relationship management campaigns this festive shopping season, using the power of SMS.

Read full Press release.

India. Most Indians buy cars based on mobile phone advertisements

Car makers like Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors and others have begun advertising heavily through cellphones which is generating higher buying decisions among Indians this year compared to global buyers. The Economic Times reports.

The mobile phone advertisements constitute 31% of buying decisions among Indians while globally this is only 8% according to the latest estimates from Carsonline.

Vodafone Australia fined for Coke SMS campaign

According to the Brisbane Times, Vodafone Hutchison Australia has been slapped with a $110000 fine after it sent out 100000 text messages as part of a marketing campaign for Coca-Cola that might have breached anti-spam laws.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) launched an investigation into whether the messages breached the 2003 Anti-Spam Act because they did not give recipients information on how to unsubscribe or contact the sender.

Read full article.

Google buys Mobile Advertiser AdMob for $ 750m

Google Inc. is paying over $750 million for mobile advertising firm AdMob, one of the Web giant's largest acquisitions to date, reports The Los Angeles Times.

As AdMob itself has described, the volume and effectiveness of mobile advertising has been skyrocketing over the last several years as more advanced smartphones have caught on, making it easier to deliver more kinds of graphical and text-based advertising to phone-toting consumers.

In a recent report, Admob said that the number of mobile ads it served had increased nearly 540% from September 2007, to 10.2 billion per month from 1.6 billion.

Read full article.

Mobile Advertising and Commerce in the UK

The Guardian on the UK's love affair with text messaging and how it's being used successfully in marketing and commerce.

Although mobile advertising is likely to grow as new functions are added to handsets, the vast majority of revenues will continue to be generated through the humble SMS for many years to come, if only because they are so popular, and cheap.

... SMS is also being used increasingly for mobile commerce as well as advertising. Orange research shows that 35% of mobile phone users have engaged in e-commerce and a good number would consider using micropayments to buy goods and services. Nearly two-thirds – around 64% – said they would be happy to buy items for under £10 if the cost were added to their phone bill.

Read full article.

Innovative use of SMS in Marketing a Deodorant

This is certainly an innovative use of SMS as a a marketing teaser, only mildly related to the product. Spotted about on Gizmodo:

To launch a new deodorant in Uruguay, the Lowe Ginkgo agency in Montevideo created an incomplete ad. The ad showed a purrty neekeed girl in a suggestive pose. It didn't, however, show any of her naughty bits. Instead, it came with blank spaces and the following text:

To complete this ad send AXE to 2345 after 9 pm.

The message made a server to send a multimedia message to your cellphone with the rest of the ad, so you could admire the complete image.

A Small Business Guide to Text-Message Marketing

The New York Times has published a Small Business Guide to Text-Message Marketing with quick tips, recommended reading and case studies.

Additional resources missing from this guide:

-- SMS and Business category on Textually

-- SMS Marketing and Advertising category on Textually

-- 101 Business Uses for SMS, a report published by Clickatell, recipient of the Moby award in the "Best Mobile Direct Response" category for its industry-first SMS campaign working with the US State Department, which sent 'live' text messages to global citizens during President Obama's Cairo and Ghana speeches this past summer.

Dot Go could be 'the Internet for text messaging'

For better or worse, text messaging has become, according to a company called Scientific Media, the most popular mobile application on Earth. And while many companies are trying to build marketing efforts around people's use of texting, it's clear there is a long way to go before those efforts are coherent. By Daniel Terdiman for CNet.

At the DemoFall 09 conference here Wednesday, Scientific Media unveiled its Dot Go service, a tool it hopes large numbers of companies will employ to try to boost their text messaging-based marketing.

The idea? Blow apart the current texting/marketing dynamic, in which companies try to get users to text questions to them, but in which there's no easy way for people to remember the so-called short codes (the five- or six-number codes people text their questions to) used by most companies.

Scientific Media's solution to this problem is to do away with each company having its own hard to remember code, and instead have all text messages to companies go through its service, which is reachable by a single short code, "Dotcom."

Dot Go imposes a single rule, Scientific Media said: The first word of any text message sent to Dotcom (368266) specifies the Internet domain a user is looking for.

One major value proposition of this, the company argued, is that text messaging works on every mobile phone, meaning that anyone with such a device can use the service.

Read full article.