by
4 Comments

Mobile Advertising Response Up

posted on April 2, 2008

Good news from many quarters for mobile marketing. Not only are Yahoo and Microsoft announcing enhanced mobile features, but mobile advertising response rates are up.

In a survey conducted last quarter, Nielsen reports that mobile advertising exposure and response rates are up in the US. Fifty-eight million mobile subscribers reported seeing ads on their mobile phones in the month before the survey—that’s 23% of all mobile subscribers. Of those 58M, over half of them (51%, 28M) responded to the ads in some way during that period.

The survey of 22,000 “active mobile data users” in the US monitors the recall and response of all types of mobile ads, including “banner ads on mobile web pages, SMS text-message advertising, sponsored applications, [and] video advertising.”

by
1 Comment

Microsoft, Yahoo Announce Mobile Moves

posted on April 2, 2008

Both Microsoft and Yahoo announce big moves in the area of mobile and mobile search today.

Microsoft plans to upgrade its mobile Internet Explorer browser, according to an announcement released yesterday (no word on whether that’s just prank, though). Microsoft’s press release states that this will bring “desktop-grade Web browsing to Windows Mobile phones,” with enhanced features especially for mobile phones.

These enhanced mobile features include:

  • browsing and bookmarking features (“Easily flag, delete or move groups of messages and keep track of conversations through threaded text messaging. Zoom in on text or pictures, or view an entire Web page at once.”)
  • security features
  • mapping features (“For any people in your contacts list/address book, immediately view their address on a map and get directions there” and “View custom maps of locations and events that are created on the PC by you, your friends, or the broader community.”)

by
2 Comments

Join Me at Blog Carolinas May 9th; a Free Social Media Marketing Event in NC

posted on April 2, 2008

I’ve been asked to speak at Blog Carolinas, here in the Raleigh-Durham area. The event is taking place on May 9th and is completely free–although space is limited to the first 200 registrants.

There’s more than a dozen quality sessions and lots of networking opportunities. More details below.

=======

Blog Carolinas
A Conversation about Social Media in the Enterprise

  • See how Social Media is impacting your Marketing and Communications Strategy
  • Learn how Community can serve as a model to improve your organization’s productivity
  • Meet others that are dealing with the same issues you are.
  • Talk to experts in the fields of On Line Reputation, Search Engine Optimization, Web 2.0 Technology and On Line Community Building
  • Experience cool new stuff

Event Details

by
9 Comments

Amazon Launches Shopping by Text Message

posted on April 2, 2008

Amazon.com has a new service – you can compare prices and buy things by text message. It’s called TextBuyIt. You text the name of a product, its description, its UPC or ISBN to the number 262966, which spells “Amazon.”

You can compare prices while you’re in a store and if you like what you see, you enter your email address tied to your Amazon account, and the zip code you want it sent to. You’ll get a call that takes you through the rest of the transaction. Then you’ll get a confirmation text and email. You can also check your order online.

by
13 Comments

Pilgrim’s Picks for April 2 – Birthday Edition

posted on April 2, 2008

It’s birthday cake time at Marketing Pilgrim! No, the blog itself is not celebrating its birthday, but today is the birthday of our own Jordan McCollum! OK, OK, it’s my birthday too!

It’s not a requirement that, in order to work here, your birthday has to be on April 2nd, but it might help. ;-)

For those of you not celebrating a birthday today, you can still partake of these news Picks:

  • The UK’s Times reports on a forecast predicting internet piracy will take food off the table of authors. As an author, I disagree. It’s the very small royalties payments that will take food off our table. ;-)
  • TechCrunch…blah, blah….rumor…blah, blah, blah…multiple sources…blah, blah…Google buying or partnering with Skype? Could be interesting, if true.

by
1 Comment

Is Google’s Departing CIO About to Join the Music Industry’s Dark Side?

posted on April 2, 2008

Normally our headline would read something along the lines of "Google Loses Another Executive." However, it seems the departure of a top exec is a regular occurrence at Google nowadays–especially among those that cashed-in with Google’s IPO.

So instead, we’re focusing on why in the world would Google’s Chief Information Officer Douglas Merrill leave and be rumored to join EMI Music Group as the president of its digital unit? Is Merrill about to drag EMI into the age of sharing and openness? Or, is EMI hiring Merrill so he can use his knowledge of internet technology to better protect EMI’s assets from music piracy?

Is Merrill joining the dark side, or will he help the evil empire seek the light? CNET speculates…

by
10 Comments

I Believe the Children Are Our (Social Media) Future

posted on April 2, 2008

Image Credit: BBCPssst. Hey kid! Want to earn a quarter? Tell your friends about this cool new video game, and it’s yours.

Silly? Not really. Not when you consider a new survey out of the UK that suggests 49% of kids aged between 8 and 17 have a social media profile.

The Ofcom report looks into the impact of social networks on people’s lives in the UK as part of a wider media literacy campaign and surveyed 5,000 adults and more than 3,000 children.

“Social networks are clearly a very important part of people’s lives and are having an impact on how people live their lives,” said James Thickett, director of market research at Ofcom.