Forum highlights growth in mobile marketing, consumer adoption

The MMF (www.mobilemarketingforum.com) features industry leaders from across the entire mobile value chain, including operators, brands, agencies, content providers, entertainment and media companies. Keynote addresses have included: Steven van Zanen, VP marketing, Intuitive Messaging, Acision; Cyriac Roeding, EVP mobile, CBS; Richard Saggers, head of mobile advertising, Vodafone Group; Prinz Pinakatt, manager of interactive marketing Europe, The Coca-Cola Company; Alvise Zanardi, CEO, Buongiorno Marketing Services; and Elin Elkehag, head of portfolio marketing, Ericsson.

“The expansion of mobile as part of the marketing mix is already bearing fruit. Companies are beginning to see the value in mobile and moving beyond experimentation, into a new phase of mobile marketing,” said Herve LeJouan, MD, M:Metrics. “Our research shows that as many as three out of four mobile subscribers received text-based adverts on their mobile device during July in Europe, with Spain having the largest audience.”

Zanardi added, "Mobile marketing is not a new concept by any means, but we are now beginning to see more companies willing to integrate mobile into their campaigns. Buongiorno has been working with some of the world's most prominent operators and media houses to deliver campaigns which successfully bring together consumer acceptance and participation. The MMA's event is an ideal opportunity to meet and learn from the industry's leading marketers."

“This year's Mobile Marketing Forum, our fifth consecutive year running the event in Europe, continues to showcase the creativity and innovation we see as more marketers engage the mobile channel as a means of driving brand awareness and consumer engagement,” said Laura Marriott, president of the MMA. “The MMA has been at the forefront of this development world-wide as we seek to drive consistency of consumer experience through our global guidelines and best practices.”

The MMA also released its Introduction to Mobile Coupons guide yesterday, which can be downloaded at www.mmaglobal.com/mobilecoupon.pdf. In September, the MMA released its EMEA mobile advertising guidelines building on the success of initiatives which the MMA has developed to help create a viable and consistent mobile advertising experience.

The association also yesterday announced its newest members, which represent companies from the media, social communities and agency areas from across the mobile ecosystem. A complete listing of all MMA members can be found at www.mmaglobal.com.

Remaining MMA events for 2007 are:

• Mobile Marketing Forum, Nov. 14, Los Angeles
  
• Mobile Marketing Forum, Dec. 6, Hong Kong

• The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is a global non-profit association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies. It is an action-oriented organisation designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelise the mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 450 plus global member companies include agencies, advertisers, hand held device manufacturers, wireless operators, aggregators, technology enablers, market research firms and all companies focused on marketing via the mobile channel. Global headquarters are located in the US and has representatives in over forty countries across the globe. It recently formed the Europe Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) divisions and the Latin American (LATAM) division will be launched in Q4 2007.