Optism™

At mSearchGroove this week, Peggy Anne Salz writes about her discussion with Jon Kwan, Head of Strategy at M&C Saatchi Mobile — a full-service mobile marketing agency — and delves into what Jon thinks brands really want from mobile and why. Jon is seeing an encouraging amount of growth in his own firm’s work with brands on mobile strategies. “Brands can’t ignore the transactions and just the amount of engagement that campaigns, [mobile] websites and apps generate.” These days, participating in the mobile channel isn’t simply for those who want first-mover advantage. Mobile is where people are, so brands have to follow. Check out the full article for more valuable mobile marketing insight that can help you as you refine your own strategies.

This week at mSearchGroove, Peggy Anne Salz talks to Jeff Hasen, CMO of Hipcricket, an early leader in mobile marketing. They explore the evolution from the early days of helping broadcasters to build audiences to today’s focus on developing comprehensive brand-focused mobile marketing campaigns. Today, says Jeff, the focus is “all about having an ongoing relationship with the consumer so you can get ongoing sales, ongoing loyalty and lifetime value rather than just a one-off.”

Check out the podcast to learn more about Jeff’s take on winning mobile marketing strategies, including mobile coupons and loyalty clubs and the importance of asking permission first.

It’s been a great week at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona and we’re really glad we’ve had the opportunity to meet many new people who are interested in permission mobile marketing. We start this week’s permission marketing roundup with a few reports from MWC and then finish with several articles that offer new perspectives on the growing power of customers in our industry.

Thefonecast.com captured some of the excitement of MWC with daily podcasts on compelling topics highlighted by the previous day’s agenda. On day three, the podcast featured a discussion on personal privacy in the mobile age. The final contributor to the podcast (starting at around 22.30 minutes) was the Mobile Marketing Association’s Paul Berney. Paul talked about the importance of the key players in the mobile industry educating brands and agencies on how to take advantage of what mobile can offer. To do that, he says, you need to “learn how to speak their language and talk to them in the frames of reference they already have.” Read the rest of this entry »