Let me preface what I’m about to say by confessing that my career began in direct marketing, and in many ways, still lives and grows there.  I love DM.

That said, I’m 100% NOT SURPRISED that the crowd at a DMA event did not know about how to text.  The DMA has been lagging in for years, its members frequently ages behind in technology.  The DMA membership has always been more focused on snail-mail, email, and has pretty much caught onto SEM in recent years.

But it took a long time for them to embrace the web, so the fact that they’re behind the curve on mobile isn’t at all shocking.  From one exhibitor:

It was amazing to us how many people didn’t know what a short code or keyword is, and how many people couldn’t send a text message. With their smartphones they could text, but only to people in their address book. It was a challenge to be able to enter a short code. We need a lot more education.

By all accounts, show traffic was light this year. And a new “mobile pavillion” area only housed four exhibitors.

The mobile browser is the leading access method for seeking local information, with 20.7 million users in March 2009, up 34 percent versus year ago. However, the strongest growth in the category is coming from downloaded applications, which grew 83 percent versus year ago, followed by SMS at 72 percent. However, despite the attention mobile applications have received from developers, carriers and device OEMs, they remain the least popular access mode for mobile access of local information, with 11.3 million users in March. A marginally more often used channel for obtaining local information is SMS, with 11.7 million users, and an impressive 72-percent growth rate. Overwhelmingly, though, the preferred mode to access local content remains the mobile browser.

Thought this was *definitely* worth sharing. And it makes sense, too: Why wouldn’t we use our mobile devices to search for local info? Isn’t your handheld, portable browser the best way to find information about the things around you – right this very second?

And some good news there for those who want but maybe can’t afford apps: Mobile sites seem to be more popular today.

Among other news from Burger King:

BK is also making news with its introduction of a branded iPhone app for mobile ordering. The application, which uses a platform developed by restaurant industry technology provider GoMobo, enables iPhone users to automatically log in and locate nearby BK locations for mobile pre-ordering, and generates promotions and incentives based on individual order history. (GoMobo CEO Noah Glass told QSRmagazine.com that now that the platform exists, other restaurants could create their own branded iPhone ordering apps in a matter of a couple of weeks.)

Along with Subway and other QSR chains, BK had already established BurgerKingNow.com that enables ordering online or by texting from any mobile phone, also on a GoMobo platform.

I’m always happy to see major brands diving into mobile marketing, but I’ll be interested to see what the take rate is on this one, how frequently people use it, and how long they keep it…

…and it’s good news for advertisers.  Even though iPhones make up a small-ish percentage of the mobile market today, SmartPhone giant Blackberry and others are developing iPhone-like models (like the Storm) which could drive similar behavior.

Beyond that, I lost an earring on the way to the office and my iPhone battery died. And we’re out of milk at the office, so I had to practically ruin my Starbucks with powdered non-dairy creamer. The Tassimo seemed to regard me with some disgust after this.

And it’s raining. And will be for most of the week.

So, thank goodness a little sunlight shined (shone?) on my inbox this morning. My MediaPost Online Media Daily greeted me with this happy headline: Mobile Ad Spending Mobilizes, Albeit At A Slightly Slower Rate

When you work at a mobile marketing startup – during a recession! – there’s no better news.  According to the article, while the rate of growth for mobile advertising has slowed somewhat, it’s still among the fastest growing media channels.  The report, released by Interpublic’s Magna Group states:

U.S. advertisers are projected to spend $229 million on mobile media this year, up 26% from $169 million in 2008. Those numbers have been revised downward from Magna’s last forecast in July 2008, when it projected that mobile ad spending would rise 43% to $298 million in 2009. Even so, Magna now expects mobile ad spending to nearly double by 2011, when it will reach $409 million.

I think that’s good enough news to add a slightly Friday-esque feel to my Monday.  Hey, look! The rain’s stopped.

When Papa John’s International executive Jim McDonnell with business results the pizza chain had gotten from its iPhone application at the OMMA Mobile conference this week, his seemed a rare voice of dissent….mobile.papajohns.com), which includes a store locator and a shortcut to the main ordering menu. Papa John’s doesn’t offer an app through the App Store. The limitations of the site could be one reason why they have not seen better results from the iPhone…

But it turns out that when he referred to Papa John’s “iPhone app,” he actually meant its iPhone-enabled mobile site ….

Good story…

Research in Motion (RIM) launched the “App World” earlier this month for their Blackberry smartphone in hopes of capitalizing on the success of Apple’s App Store.  Users can download the update for free on their compatible phones, but it requires a PayPal account to pay for apps.  Many popular iPhone applications are already appearing in the store and it offers a new marketplace for mobile developers.

Thanks to TwitterBud @db for the link!

See the link above for CNET’s review of Yahoo’s new move to dominate the mobile world, unveiled at the CTIA show yesterday..

Yahoo is clearly taking mobile pretty seriously. The new iPhone app is nice – intuitive interface, loads of timely information. (My only peeve is that it can’t be viewed horizontally – no tilt, but I’m sure that’ll change.)  It’s as good as any other news app out there.

The new mobile site is a total winner, giving Goog a run for the money.  Screen shot pretty much says it all. There’s a lot of scrolling, but a lot of info. It’s easy to read – really well optimized for mobile. It’s so much like an app, in fact,  you might wonder why Yahoo needed to develop the app at all – the mobile site is that comprehensive and usable.  With a brand with as much recognition as Yahoo’s, the app’s a no-brainer because people *will* download it, and they will have that “desktop” visibility. And this is an app that people will continue to use, too.

Yahoo's new mobile site looks goooood.

Quick take: If it wasn’t before, Yahoo is now a serious player in the mobile space. Look out for Yahoo’s mobile messenger, which the company plans to launch soon. Can’t wait.

With the launch of app stores for RIM and Nokia now imminent, it’s probably time to start thinking a little smarter about apps. The nascent market is already getting pretty crowded, so one can’t reasonably expect to just build an app and expect every smartphone user to gasp at its novelty and download away. 

As the article points out, the battle for the top of the page in the app store is increasingly heated. There’s a lot of competition there now. And the likelihood that the app will be used for more than a month are also slim.

The average shelf life of an app is limited, with usage declining by almost a third in the first month after use, according to Pinch Media, which has studied iPhone-app usage based on 30 million downloads. By the company’s estimate, only about 1% of downloads translate to long-term use…

…Getting a top ranking requires a lot of downloads in a narrow window that can be anywhere from 24 hours to five days, according to Pinch Media. Six months ago, 10,000 downloads earned a top-25 ranking; today it takes twice as many.

Actually, what I take from that is that your app needs to be (apart from relevant to your brand)  a) useful or highly entertaining - so that people will access it on a regular basis. (Like “Flixter” which I use often since all my local theatres refuse to update their marquees anymore, vs. “Atomic Fart,” which was funny for about 5 seconds.) and b) well-marketed and tied into a broader campaign. Not that American Idol can do any wrong in the market, but creating an iPhone app that’s publicized on the show and on the site, and ties in perfectly with the show — that’s a home run. 

And apps like Shazam, which ar leverages mobile technology in a unique, entertaining and useful way? Well, that’s kind of the goal, right there.

Not every brand or every product is right for an app. As with any trend in marketing, we all really need to stay technology and channel agnostic.  Don’t add an app to your marketing plan unless you’re 100% certain that that is the best way to tell your brand’s story. Sometimes it won’t be:

… some are asking whether the functions of an app can’t be provided by the mobile web instead, particularly if the app doesn’t leverage the iPhone’s native capabilities. “It just depends on the brand objective. If you don’t need the shake and tilt experience, maybe you can have an optimized web experience,” said Jon Vlassopulos, CEO of Moderati, the branded-entertainment shop behind the Zippo-lighter app.

In the end, just keep your head. Don’t be seduced by the lure of the sexy app and the coolness of the channel.  Look at your brand, your campaign. Determine the best course to extend into the mobile space based on your brand’s personality, the goals of your campaign and the needs and habits of your audience.

And of course, don’t hesitate to ask us for  help!

Top 10 Mobile Advertising MYTHS (via David Berkowitz | Insider the Marketers Studio)

1) Not enough scale:

• Mobile extends publisher unique reach 14-22%; iPhone has 8% market share, 66% of mobile internet usage
• 63MM mobile internet users

2) Ads are too small

• Usually only one ad unit per page, less clutter
• Larger units are here and getting more prevalent, like full screen rich media

3) No creative standards

• Okay, so there are (IAB, Mobile Marketing Association)

4) No tools

• Nielsen, comScore mMetrics, 3^rd party ad serving becoming the norm

5) Can’t measure mobile

• Increases future purchase consideration by 23%
• Performance measures better than web (3x for brand favorability, 5x for recall)

6) No one clicks anyway

• 2-8% CTR average (Verizon, Jumptap)
• Click to call response rates 2-3x over CPC

7) CPMs High, Economy Underwater

• Now more supply than demand. It all must go.

Mobile only reaches young adults

• 41% of browsers accessed by people over 35

9) I’ll wait until others do it

• Wrong. Lots of people are doing it. You’re not doing it, you’re too late. You’re about to miss the boat. It’s leaving without you. Companies you never even heard of are doing mobile. Your mom’s running mobile ads.

10) I missed one of them. He went really quickly. I’ll add my own: Santa Claus ran the first mobile web display campaign back in 2002.

• Wrong. It was 2001. And it was actually run by a media elf without Santa’s consent. This elf was promptly fired, got hired by the Easter Bunny. Making a fortune in the egg trade, he invested it all with Bernie Madoff and has since returned to the North Pole, hat in hand, just waiting to get his job back.

Thanks, David – #10 is a gem!