Extending Your Reach: Leveraging Mobile Content to Drive Your Brand Message

Two years ago, I blogged an ad:tech session called, “Mobile Marketing Gaining Success.” The upshot of the session: Mobile marketing on cell phones will happen in a big way, but It’s early yet.

Last year, I blogged an ad:tech session called, “Mobile Marketing 101.” The upshot of the session: Mobile marketing on cell phones will happen in a big way, but It’s early yet.

This year, I’m blogging an ad:tech session called, “Extending Your Reach: Leveraging Mobile Content to Drive Your Brand Message.” The upshot of the session: Mobile marketing on cell phones will happen in a big way, but It’s early yet.

Okay, I’m being a bit facetious, but you get the general idea. As was repeated often by the session participants—moderator Chris Black (Director, Mobile Marketing and Interacxtive Media, AT&T Mobility), Soren Schafft (CEO, Qmobile), Scott Williams (VP Business Development and Mobile, TIME Inc.), Steve Taylor (CEO, Mobile Messenger) and Dan Berkowitz (Director Technical Product Development, NBC Universal)— we’re in the very early days. We’ll see. It will be interesting to find out.

Of course, there were the obligatory references to American Idol voting and Deal or No Deal type contest as examples of brands properly leveraging the mobile platform, but the point was aptly made that the limited number of text characters in an SMS delivers an equally limited brand experience, so as Berkowitz pointed out, challenge is to find a smart way to blend texting with other media.

Nevertheless, a few companies are offering a good mobile experience given the technology limitaitons that exist today. Williams singled out “functional companies” as doing the best jobs, so it’s not just Deal and Idol, but also Yahoo! e-mail (before the redesign), Google Maps and Fandango.

The best summation was offered by Schafft, who said that it’ll be about a year before we see whether Google’s Open Handset Alliance gains any traction, “but all of it is good. We’re talking about bits and pieces here, but the general trend is that mobile is starting to merge with experiences that are vibrant; all these things are pushing us in that direction, and the more we go in that direction, the more that can be done.”

As we move in that direction, “VCs are throwing a lot of spaghetti against the wall now,” Black observed. “I think there’s gonna be a lot of money flushed down the toilet.”

Once again, time will tell.

Very interesting… as always! Cheers from -Switzerland-.

By Dog training on 2007 11 23

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