Mobile Marketing

I reckon it must be 11 years since I got my first mobile phone and the uptake since has been phenomenal. The mobile phone has changed from simply being a means of communication to being nothing short of a tiny mobile computer. The latest phones bring more and more remarkable features from radio receivers and MP3 players to photography and video. Soon all phones will probably take the Blackberry route of combining phone and PDA, although the iPhone may provide a new direction.

The main events as far as I recall would be the initial emergence of the mobile from the 'yuppy' market into the mainstream. The second landmark would be the introduction of SMS text messaging. The third being the launch of pay as you go mobiles having a dreastic effect on mobile billing and bringing the phone into the hands of younger people. The latest landmark has been the increasing pressure especially amongst young people, to have the latest phone with all the latest features...

Marketing professionals have not missed the opportunity of exploiting the text-message as a powerful means of communication directly with the public, this is the subject of a well-written post called Mobilizing market by Jay Seaton. If you want to know the proportion of major companies that are employing this technique or you have views on mobile marketing, then take a look at this article to get a clearer picture of the future.