Mobile Groove

The advance of smartphones, the avalanche of apps and the heightened interest in mobile video, mobile barcodes and Augmented Reality are combining to take mobile marketing strategies and creatives to the next level. But are marketers and mobile operators getting ahead of themselves? Caroline Doussot argues there is plenty of mileage (and money) left in simple text messaging — particularly when companies ask our permission (and preferences) first.

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While our mobile devices and smartphones may be chock-full of features and functionality and our screen displays may be crowded with a wide variety of mobile applications, consumers still depend on text messaging to connect with the world around them. Whether chatting with friends and members of their social networks, or receiving alerts from banks and favorite brands, text is people’s primary communications tool.

The intersection of mobile and social changes all the rules. It gives people a voice and allows them to praise and/or punish companies/brands in public. What is the impact on marketers? Are people really influenced by posts and tweets they read? New independent research from Jeff Hasen — a brave voice in the mobile marketing space and consistently named one of the top Chief Marketing Officers to follow on Twitter — has stepped up to document just how people use their mobile phones to communicate their brand experiences. The result is must-read analysis that should spark marketers to listen in and answer back.

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At first it

What is the state of mobile retail readiness in Europe? How are Europe’s biggest retail brands extending their brand experience through mobile? What approaches are retailers taking to engage influence consumers throughout the purchase funnel (awareness, engagement, consideration, conversion and loyalty)?

Get the inside track by joining MobileGroove and Acquity Group executives this Wednesday (June 22) for Global Insight: European Retail Goes Mobile. The 30-minute online webinar (12-12:30 CST or click here to see the time in your region) will deep dive into the trends and mobile intelligence gleaned from Acquity’s first-ever European Mobile Audit of the top 300 European retail brands.

Mobile is not just about adapting PC content to smaller screens. Using mobile to drive positive results for brands and advertisers requires marketers to grasp a wide range of concepts, ranging from campaign types and formats, to consumer best practices and privacy, to mobile measurement and metrics.

Put another way, mobile marketing requires us to master a laundry list of fundamental skills. But even if we have the necessary knowledge and hands-on industry experience, we also need a way to communicate our abilities in a way that brands, agencies and other commercial organizations can understand and appreciate.

If you asked me to describe the current state of text messaging in two words, I would say it’s ubiquitous and much maligned.

During the same week that SMS officially turned 18, we read a provocative post suggesting that SMS may not be around to celebrate its 19th year thanks to Apple’s newly-introduced iMessage.

Scheduled to debut this fall, iMessage (available in iOS 5) brings the functionality of iPhone messaging to all iOS devices―iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Built into the Messages app, iMessage allows users to easily send text messages, photos, videos or contact information to a person or a group on other iOS 5 devices over Wi-Fi or 3G. In addition, iMessages are automatically pushed to all iOS 5 devices a consumer owns, making it easy to maintain one conversation across your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The willingness of people to interact with brands on their mobile phones (and their growing reliance on mobile devices for shopping advice and assistance on the move) has jumpstarted a new phase in mobile marketing growth driven by retail brands and advertisers.

From department stores to computers & electronics retailers to luxury fashion brands, marketers are investing in mobile advertising to reach and influence people throughout the purchase funnel (awareness, engagement,  cons…