Mobile Groove

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, a leading integrated advertising and marketing communications agency, challenges the view that mobile is somehow in its infancy and has yet to grow up and compete with the Big Boys (such as online, TV and print) that continue to account for the lion share of advertising spend.

As Rory sees it: the proper way to measure the importance (and effectiveness) of mobile in the marketing mix is not to look at spend. The cost of developing a brilliant text-based …

How and why should brands and marketers take advantage of the unique characteristics of mobile to connect with us at the moments we need them most? Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, a leading integrated advertising and marketing communications agency, tells why marketers need to think beyond reaching a target audience.

As Rory sees it: The real power of mobile is context. It allows brands to interact with people during  target moments (I need something now), target moods (I want s…

Last week an independent panel of highly acclaimed thought leaders in the advertising ecosystem finished the first phase of screening dozens of submissions from agencies, brands and talent all over the world competing for the coveted International IAB MIXX awards. Lisa Ciangiulli, who sat on the panel of judges, draws from her personal experience to give us the inside track on the ideas and approaches pushing mobile marketing and interactive advertising to new levels.

***

Read more »

#FF at MobileGroove amplifies the voices you need to hear, and profiles Derek Johnson, CEO of SMS marketing company Tatango and — more importantly — a brave (sometime edgy) voice in the mobile marketing space. This week Tatango published a controversial infographic that shows the real impact of spam on users in the U.S. (and the size of the lawsuits for leading companies that blatantly disregard best practices).

Editor’s note: From mobile professionals and practitioners to outstanding and passionate individuals doing their part to improve mobile communication, connectivity and collaboration the world over, this new feature introduces you to new people and new viewpoints that merit our attention (and a ‘follow’ on Twitter). In the next weeks we’ll profile Chetan Sharma, David Berkowitz, Judy Breck, Nora Goodman and Ajit Jaokar – to name a few. If you would like to be considered for this series (or suggest someone you admire), then reach out to me directly (@peggyanne).

Groupon’s most interesting offer to date doesn’t involve a discount but instead a deal with consumers to provide relevant offers via its new Groupon Now service in exchange for user permission to factor in location and buying habit data.

In the last week, Groupon gave mobile users in select cities the option to receive relevant, on-the-go offers (via iPhone and Android apps or the mobile Web).

In an email to users, Groupon put it this way: “If you use a Groupon mobile app and you allow sharing through your device, Groupon may collect geo-location information from the device and use it for marketing deals to you.”

Since launching its permission-based marketing service with Indian mobile operator Aircel in November 2010, mobile messaging media company Blyk reports over one million opted-in users. But the milestone doesn’t only confirm the attraction of a model that delivers advertising to people with their permission and in tune with their preferences. Blyk country manager Shubhodip (Shubho) Pal reveals the company has also tested (and proven) brand new approaches to raise awareness and acceptance of Aircel’s service among Indian youth.

***

Aircel gets high marks for understanding and responding to the requirements of its user base. With some 54 million customers — 34 percent of them in the 16-29 age bracket — a permission-based, youth-centric service focused on delivering relevant advertising about trendy brands makes business sense.