Mobile Groove

How can the charitable sector can leverage mobile to connect with the public and collect donations on a massive scale? We talk with Andrew Darling, Associate Director of Market Development at OpenMarket, a company providing payment and messaging services to mobile retail and commerce clients worldwide. OpenMarket is also a driving force in efforts to help charities put together the approaches and platforms that will allow them to take donations and connect with the people who give to relief efforts and causes around the world.

The benefits and the business models around mobile are the topic of Empowering the Charitable Sector with Interactive Technology II (September 15, London). The all-day knowledge seminar organized by AIME (the Association for Interactive media & Entertainment) is already standing room only (!), an unexpectedly high attendance that tells us the topic strikes a chord with charities, advertising & marketing agencies, service providers, broadcasters, industry bodies and mobile operators–all the players that need to come together and work together to maximize the potential for all kinds of charities to use mobile.

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group and self-proclaimed “fan” of text messaging — advises marketers to focus on what matters most: getting the value exchange right.

There are no easy answers, but there are some questions that will help produce them. Ask yourself: “Would this [marketing/approach] annoy me?”. That’s a good start. “There are just basic rules of etiquette. You use different media judiciously and the ability to do that intelligently is one mark of a mature and intelligent service brand.”

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 …

In the countdown to Apps World Asia (September 1-2, Singapore) we speak with Tak Miyata, senior vice president of global business at Mixi, the fast-growing and number one social network in Japan about Mixi’s strategy to expand its communications platform, enable third-party developers to make mobile apps for its members and encourage commerce that bridges online (digital) and offline (physical).

Mixi started out in 2004 allowing its users to post photos, share comments and links, and interact on community pages and forums based on themes ranging from recipes to rock-n-roll.

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…

How should marketers approach social media marketing? What is the place of mobile in an effective advertising campaign? And why is mobile video shaping up to be the next big thing? These are just a few of the questions I explore in an exclusive podcast with Jeffrey Hayzlett, frequent speaker, Celebrity CMO, change agent and sometimes cowboy.

We also walk through the key themes of The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing?, a must-read business book (authored by Jeff) that has been on USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Inc.’s best-seller lists.