UBIKWITUS

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Cell phones open more paths for marketers: "Cell phones open more paths for marketers"

location based services

Marketers are cooking up creative ways to get at you through your cell phone. That was evident in Las Vegas, where about 40,000 people gathered for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association's Wireless trade show this month.

"Your phone is about you in ways that are unlike traditional mass media," says Linda Barrabee, an analyst at the Yankee Group research firm. Marketers are dabbling in text messaging, video, location-based services and mobile-payment schemes. Examples:

• Under a deal Sprint announced with the Luxor Las Vegas Hotel, when you land in the city and turn on your cell phone, the Luxor can check you in before you exit the plane.

During your stay, you might get mobile coupons for discounted meals, show tickets and other offers. Using the phone's GPS capabilities, the Luxor can see if you are off the hotel premises and tailor mobile promotions to lure you back.

Sprint is also working with the Las Vegas Monorail on a service permitting riders to buy tickets wirelessly. You punch in a five-digit code plus the keyword "ride," and get a text message with a mobile ticket. You can either wave the phone at a gate scanner to board, or visit kiosks to print a ticket.

"This a great marketing tool," says Sprint's data communications director John Styers, who expects the platform to be used at sporting venues and concerts.

• Cingular Wireless will let viewers of the WB TV show "One Tree Hill" send text messages to determine plotlines in upcoming episodes. Cingular has already had success getting customers to text in votes on "American Idol."

Consumers who sent text messages in response to banner ads for the UPN show "Veronica Mars" got voice mail from star Kristen Bell (in character as Veronica) 45 minutes before the show was to air. Digital agencies Third Screen Media and Carat Fusion that worked on the campaign say ratings climbed from a 1.4 share to 2.7. Traffic to the show's Web site jumped 500 percent.

• At CTIA, Verizon Wireless and Rocket Mobile unveiled a new version of Song IDentity. As before, you can learn the name of a tune by holding certain Verizon handsets next to a radio or other music source for 10 seconds. Now, you can also download corresponding ring tones, if available.

• PayPal launched PayPal Mobile, which lets consumers use phones to transfer money to other people, or companies and charities. If you punch in a code to buy the Fox DVD "Walk The Line," for example, you'll get a callback from PayPal confirming the transaction.

Mobile payments are "a growth opportunity," says Marina Amoroso, an analyst at the Yankee Group. PayPal will face competition from such lesser-known rivals as Obopay.

For any mobile marketing initiative to work, consumers must willingly opt in and feel confident they can opt out. To help prevent mobile spam, the Mobile Marketing Association is asking carriers and marketers to adopt stringent "best practices" policies.

"We're going to be very careful about allowing access to our customer base," says Verizon Wireless Chief Operating Officer Lowell McAdam.