Hollywood goes mobile big time

Last year, I wrote a post about Hollywood’s reluctance to use the most powerful marketing medium available today – the mobile phone. I distinctly remember comparing Hollywood with the Indian film industry and discussing how the latter managed to use the mobile phone successfully to promote movies and all that. However, it’s been a year now and a lot of things have changed in Hollywood.

It all started with Iron Man. Paramount Pictures signed a deal with LG and promoted the movie big time through mobile marketing campaigns. Lots of content was offered via mobile phones and users were thrilled to have a glimpse of the movie right on their mobile phone way before its release. LG even went on to release a special Iron Man phone which is the costliest phone to date, valued at around $2000.

The success of Iron Man’s mobile marketing campaigns prompted other major studios to go down the same route as well. So, Warner Bros. went down the mobile lane for three of its films – Speed Racer, Get Smart, and The Dark Knight. Especially, the mobile marketing campaigns created for The Dark Knight were phenomenally successful, just like the movie.

The mobile marketing campaign for Dark Knight included an interactive treasure hunt which directed the users to 25 bakeries in different parts of the country. Once they reached the bakery mentioned in the treasure hunt, they were delivered a cake parcel which had a Nokia phone. The users were asked to use the phone for more clues and stuff like that. The campaign was a huge success and it ended up preparing the audience for a blockbuster of a movie.

Apart from this, movies like The Incredible Hulk, Indiana Jones, Wall – E, and Kung Fu Panda were also aggressively promoted through mobile marketing campaigns this year. All of them were very successful. So, finally, one would assume that Hollywood has come of age and has realized the potential of the mobile phone as a marketing medium after all.

With a lot of high end phones hitting the market and new technologies being introduced, mobile marketing campaigns will become even more innovative and offer a rich experience to users in the future. Ultimately, the purpose of such mobile marketing campaigns is to generate a lot of hype and interest for the movie and bring people to theaters. So far, it’s been bang on target. Don’t you think?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

1 comment.

Some good news for mobile marketers

Finally, here’s some good news for mobile marketers. Access 360 Media’s latest report says brings up a few points which I think will be very reassuring for mobile marketers.

1. Once people subscribe to text message alerts from marketers, they stick to it. The number of people who unsubscribe after getting alerts for some time is very less. In fact, it is only around 4%.

2. The response for mobile marketing campaigns has been very high. On an average, 2 to 4 percent of mobile users click on the ads they get to know get more information. This is way better than the response rate from online ads, which is somewhere around 0.01%.

In my opinion, these two facts prove a point. The one which I’ve been telling again and again and again in this blog. Get your customer’s permission, send useful, relevant ads, and give them the choice to opt out of it any time they want. Rest assured, your mobile marketing campaign will be a success.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Mobicom’s first quarter results and a special request for experts

Mobicom Corp. recently released its first quarter operating results as of March 31, 2008. The figures were astonishing to say the least. The total revenue was $1,382,858. The total revenue for the same period in 2007, just a year back, was only $54,959. No, that’s not a typo. From $54,959 to $1,382,858 in just one freaking year. That’s a whopping, unbelievable, incredible increase of 2416%.

The important thing, though, is that a major part of the revenue was from Mobicom Korea’s consulting division, which helps its clients develop mobile marketing campaigns. So, there you go. A company, whose revenue is driven primarily from its mobile marketing consulting division, has had an astounding increase in revenue – 2416%.

This brings me to a special request which I have for all the so-called experts who talk trash about mobile advertising all the time.

Dear old mobile advertising experts, the next time you decide to write something along the lines of ‘mobile advertising’s future looks bleak’, etc, etc, I humbly request you to read this news item. Once, twice, and then if you don’t understand, one more time. That, in my opinion, will do a lot of good for you.

Thanks.

Categories: Rant.

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UGotItFirst - A unique approach to mobile marketing campaigns

Ever heard of on-the-spot mobile marketing campaigns? Well; you are about to. UGotItFirst is a new entrant in the field of mobile marketing which claims it can come up with mobile marketing campaigns in a matter of minutes.

The company’s marketing process works on an opt-in basis and people who wish to become its members should sign up, give their preferences, and request to get information on those preferred products or services. So, when a member gets an ad on his mobile phone, it will be a relevant advert about his preferred product/service which he can make use of. So, the question of intrusive, spam mobile ads and invasion of privacy does not arise in this situation.

Now, what about the on-the-spot mobile marketing campaign? Let’s say, you are a coffee shop owner. It’s been a dull day and you want to do something to boost your sales instantly by offering a 5% discount on all lattes. You can go to UGotItFirst, choose the number of discount coupons you want to send, and specify your target customer segment. In a matter of minutes, UGotItFirst will send those coupons to people in that location who had indicated their wish to get such deals. The campaign is targeted – the coupon only goes to someone who wishes to get it and he/she is nearby your coffee shop, thereby making it even easier to get a sale.

Apart from this, the company has also got mobile based offers upon completing which mobile users will be paid for. You may have to take part in a survey and complete a poll and you’ll be paid for that. While the amount may not be big, you can always do with a little bit of cash, right?

Despite being a new entrant, there is a lot of buzz about this company in the market. Launched on March 13th, UGotItFirst already boasts of 2000 registered users. Good times, I tell you.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

2 comments.