Now their mad existence has now become even more ridiculous.

A new iPhone app can now even tell them which carriage to board so that they can exit right bang in front of the station exit.

John Harrison has launched an Apple iPhone application called TubePro which allows commuters to hasten their exit and will duly charge them £1.19 for the privilege.

Incredibly it is not on it’s own with a competitive ‘Tube Exits’ iPhone app, developed by Australian-born Wimbledon resident Lance Stewart launched just last month but more expensive at £1.79.

Nice functionality but utterly pointless

According to reports in addition to the offers of free music, free calls may also be part of the deal.

The deal is expected to be confirmed soon.

Fair play to Orange, they can innovate.

As of today we have a demo that you can have a look at:

text VIDEO to 84433.
Rich media direct to your mobile!

It’s latest promotion, the Stealth Sound System, aimed at teenagers allowing them to play and communicate via a series of sounds supposedly inaudible to anyone over the age of 20, achieved 400,000 mobile downloads.

You know when you’ve been mobiled…

Even though the directory has been approved by the Information Commissioners Office as complying with both the Data Protection Act DPA) and Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR)the thought of a mobile directory has still created considerable concern.

I guess the fact remains that most consumers regard their mobile number as private and personal.

We have said many times before that mobile marketing is a highly influential medium, but one that must be treated with repsect.

The issue right now is that while the site is down then no one can access the site to remove their details so the question is how will this impcat on mobile marketing.

Abuse of the opt in -opt out rights of these consumers could seriously damage the credibility of the industry.

• 360 – 380 billion mobile phones are in operation worldwide.
• There are twice as many mobile phones as credit cards worldwide.
• There are 70 million mobile handsets in the UK, of which 4.2 million are vulnerable to ID theft.
• 80% of mobile phones contain enough data to commit identity fraud.
• 40% of mobile users state that losing phone would be worse than losing wallet.
• In the UK 16% of people carry their bank details and 24% carry passwords and pin numbers on their phone.
• In 2006, 2% of mobile users were victims of phone theft. That is 800,000 people.

The article highlighted how TfL and 02 had developed the swipe phone, German supermarkets had developed a bar code scanning system that allowed users to have shopping lists and payment details on their phone and how NTTDoCoMo is set to launch a new phone that makes house keys and cash redundant.

Is this not just making it worse?

Burma is a nation of fear and poverty despite its wealth of natural resources. Its rulers are intolerant of free speech and many of the journalists and activists shown in the award-winning Burma VJ film face prison sentences of up to 65 years.

The individuals imprisoned include Htin Kyaw, Su Su Nway, Ohn Than, Si Thu Maung and Ko Win Maw together with over 2,100 others in Burmese jails including Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who have been imprisoned simply for peacefully calling for democracy and freedom in the country.

The Co-operative does not trade with Burma, Co-operative Travel has delisted the country as a tourist destination, and The Co-operative Bank will not finance any organisation supporting the Burmese regime.

The digital campaign is being delivered by digital marketing agency Substance of “Shine a Light” fame, supported by mobile messaging company Mediaburst.

Gary Bury, Mediaburst’s managing director, comments:

“Clearly, Mediaburst is pleased to be working with Substance and The Co-operative on this campaign, which represents yet another innovative use of mobiles to generate response and interaction from the general public.”

The campaign was created by our good friends at Multiply UK based in Edinburgh. According to Highland Spring,

“Our exciting new on-pack provides the chance for a lucky individual to enjoy a once in a lifetime experience they’ll never forget.”

We think so too, and are certainly looking forward to Wimbledon next year.

http://www.foodbev.com/news/highland-spring-issues-alert-on-murray-mania

Their new app called “find it”, enables prospective eBay purchasers to send a photo of an item they want to buy and then matches it with the closest item on sale, sending back a picture plus the sellers details.

ebay was simple enough before but this is brilliant.

Watch out now for more happy snappers in your local retail stores.

The winning teams are; Proxama with Minima Design, Therefore Product Design with Imagination Technologies Limited, Rodd Design with TTP (The Technology Partnership) and Data Transfer Communications and PDD Group Limited with You Get It Back.

The purpose of the scheme is to help the UK reduce the impact of ID fraud as we get ready for MCommerce. The winning teams will aim to produce market-ready solutions which may include hardware and software for handsets, new services and other innovations, which will be showcased and promoted in early 2010, with a view to widespread and rapid take-up by the market.

According to the British Crime Survey, a mobile phone is stolen in half of all robberies. Another recent survey found that 80% of people carry information on their mobile phone handsets that could be used by criminals to commit fraud -and 16% keep their bank details saved on their phone, yet only 4 in 10 people currently lock their mobiles using a PIN. Such sensitive data includes website passwords, bookmarks, emails, personal security data and locations/addresses on map applications.

The free app available via Orange is designed to provide music fans with the ultimate guide to the UK’s biggest summer festival. The app will allow music fans to personalise their own artist schedule and they can also access an interactive map of the site, as well as essential festival news, advice and alerts. In addition, at noon every day a ‘bull’ icon will appear on the GlastoNav map showing where festival goers need to go to find a life-size bull on site. Once at this secret location, music fans are encouraged to click the icon on the map and enter a code word written on the bull to be in with a chance of winning VIP access for one of the featured performances. lets hope for the mud, that the future really is bright

The application, called “Ocado On The Go”, places users within virtual aisles so they can buy food, drink, books and toys.

Incredibly they are over 18,000 products stored on the iPhone so that users can keep shopping even when offline with orders updated when an internet connection is made. The application ia available to customers from today, but officially launches following final testing on July 13.

Indeed their latest issue follows up with evidence that their prediction was accurate. We’ll I’m pleased to report that Mediaburst are seeing more and more brands utilising mobile in their marketing campaigns, ranging from simple SMS marketing to more integrated campaigns.

If this is not the year of the mobile then it’s not difficult to predict that there is a huge amount of growth yet to come, and we certainly look forward to that time.

“Now is not the time to be cutting back on mobile investment” quotes Justin Pearse ”Media companies and brands can’t afford to be left behind as consumer behaviour continues to shift toward the mythical year of mobile”.

Interestingly, Orange found that click-through ads are the most popular form of mobile marketing, with 47% of participants preferring to click on ads that go straight to a brand’s website; 43% preferring to click on voucher codes or coupons and 34% using click-throughs to enter competitions.

Bucking the youth perception of mobile the average age for mobile media users is 36 and 81% use mobile media more than once a week, with 46% using it daily. Mobile internet pages viewed most often are search engines, e-mail, news, music and film, although 55% of people browse mobile internet with no specific agenda. How long before mobile browsing replaces the PC?

The service would be for non-emergency crimes and include criminal damage, graffiti, anti-social behaviour, theft and low-level burglary. The police will reply by text message with a non-emergency phone number and details of local police or community support officers. The calls will be answered by an operator, who will take details of the complaint. A police officer must address the complaint and call back within 24 hours. If no officer is available, callers can leave answer phone messages.

I have to admit, as a recent victim of burglary I wouldn’t be happy waiting 24 hours for a call back or indeed leaving an answer phone message. However, it does provide a means of contacting the police that is more in touch with an increasingly mobile world.

If you really want you can go whole hog and send MMS but unfortunately it doesn’t link to your existing contract meaning you have to purchase credit seperately. I was never a big sender of MMS but I do like being able to receive the odd picture of snow covered roads or friends on holiday, and now I can!

More than half a million texts were sent in the five minutes after 8am. Vodafone reported a 58 per cent leap in texts to over 30 million Employees contacted bosses, family and friends to tell them they had been snowed in, or were unable to get into work. There was also a surge in MMS picture messages with people sending images of their snowy surroundings. Network 3 saw MMS double as people took photographs and uploaded them to blogs or social network profiles.

The mobile channel is already used by a greater proportion of the population in many counties to access the internet than fixed access points, and is likely to become the global norm. Nokia estimates that by 2015 some 5 billion people will have access to an always on mobile internet connection and there will be an incredible 100 fold increase in mobile network traffic.

Within Western Europe alone Forrester Research predicts 125m will have access to mobile internet on their mobiles, with 1 in 4 utilising 3.5G enabled handsets. The challenge however facing mobile internet access will be the ability to provide search and discovery facilities comparable to that experienced for internet access via a PC and fixed line. The second challenge is then how to monetise mobile search and discovery, the answer will be mobile advertising.

The mobile advertising market is admittedly still in its infancy but it is being carefully studied by all participants engaged in the mobile value delivery chain: brands, agencies, mobile service operators, application service providers, content providers etc. Juniper Research is forecasting direct advertising revenue of some $1.5bn this year to nearly $5bn within 5 years.

The annual growth rate is forecast at an impressive 27%. Many industry watchers confuse Mobile Internet and its messaging derivate Instant Messaging (IM) and its relationship to SMS text messaging. Whilst IM will grow Text messaging will continue to grow regardless. Monthly person to person SMS traffic in Western Europe is set to climb form 190 billion messages seen last year to 233 billion again over the same 5 year period.

Mobile applications compliment, they rarely compete and let us not forget it is always the choice of the consumer that will drive the market.

Mediaburs are a leading SMS Provider based in Manchester.

The association has also published an array of industry research, educational tools and guidelines, fuelled by an increase in mobile marketing receptiveness and adoption among consumers worldwide. The mobile internet audience has grown by 61% since Q3 2007 in the UK, according to Nielsen research, with one in five UK mobile users now recalling seeing a mobile ad. Laura Marriott, president of the MMA, said: “2008 has been one of the most productive years for the industry, the MMA and our members. We’ve experienced tremendous forward momentum in mobile marketing education and guidelines, and further extended our global reach, creating greater opportunities to leverage knowledge and experience across our member base. “As I prepare to leave the MMA in 2009, I’m confident that by continuing to collaborate and innovate as an industry, across geographies, companies and trade organisations, it is realistic to expect mobile to represent a significant portion of media budgets within the next five years.” With significant traditional advertisers reporting declining revenue in core advertising sectors it is interesting to see how many previously sceptical players are now seriously watching the mobile channel and wanting to engage with a mobile partner such as Mediaburst.

The mobile channel is already used by a greater proportion of the population in many counties to access the internet than fixed access points, and that is likely to become the global norm. Nokia estimates that by 2015 some 5 billion people will have access to an “always on” mobile internet connection and there will be an incredible 100 fold increase in mobile network traffic. Within Western Europe alone Forrester Research predicts 125m will have access to mobile internet on their mobiles, with 1 in 4 utilising 3.5G enabled handsets.

The challenge however facing mobile internet access will be the ability to provide search and discovery facilities comparable to that experienced for internet access via a PC and fixed line.

The second challenge is then how to monetise mobile search and discovery. The answer will be mobile advertising. The mobile advertising market is admittedly still in its infancy but it is being carefully studied by all participants engaged in the mobile value delivery chain: brands, agencies, mobile service operators, application service providers, content providers etc. Juniper Research is forecasting direct advertising revenue of some $1.5bn this year to nearly $5bn within 5 years. The annual growth rate is forecast at an impressive 27%.

Many industry watchers confuse Mobile Internet and its messaging derivate Instant Messaging (IM) and its relationship to SMS text messaging. Whilst IM will grow Text messaging will also continue to grow regardless. Monthly person to person SMS traffic in Western Europe is set to climb from the near 200 billion messages seen in 2008. Mobile applications compliment, they rarely compete and let us not forget it is always the choice of the consumer that will drive the market. Happy New Year Gary.

This generates a one off donation taken from the cost of the text message. Andrew Cameron, chief executive of London’s Air Ambulance said: “Although we are partly funded by the NHS and Virgin, the majority of our costs are covered through public donations, charity fundraising events and collection schemes. We hope that the new text-to-donate service will provide another method in which people can easily and quickly donate a small but important amount of money to London’s Air Ambulance”. Messages are charged at £1.50 per text, of which 90p goes to the London’s Air Ambulance, with the remainder going to the mobile network the message was sent from. London’s Air Ambulance costs approximately £2million pounds per year to run and maintain. The Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is based out of The London Royal Hospital in Whitechapel and covers the area inside the boundary of the M25 ring-road. Martin

The year you’ll see Mediaburst focus on becoming the SMS provider of choice for Britain’s SMEs, as well as the mobile marketing provider for brands and agencies alike. We’ll also be introducing new products and services such as MMS for mobile applications.

They also use social networks to stay in touch, with 50% saying they message as many as 250 friends on a regular basis. The majority of teenagers (31%) would most like actor Will Smith to be an online friend, closely followed by High School Musical leading actress Vanessa Hudgens, with 30% of votes. Brad Pitt came last out of the list with just 5% of votes.

“These findings back up what our community already knows: that communicating is one of the most popular hobbies among teenagers today. If technology enables them to do this more easily, then it makes the experience all the more appealing to them.” Jo

Chennai-based Dhanus Technologies Ltd, an alternative telecommunications service provider, earlier this year inked a memorandum of understanding with the 20,000-strong Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation and has finalised a deal with the 10,000-strong All Kerala Bus Operators Organisation. People will now be able to know where the bus is on the route and how long it will take to reach their stop just through a simple SMS. Also in Abu Dhabi you can now pay for your taxis by text. Gulf News reports that under the new “Q-Cash” system available in the Emirate state, people can pay for their taxi fares by text. Even the super rich can be caught without cash… Once again – SMS simple but effective John

They do however take much longer to read and understand compared to conventional English text. A small group of students were asked to compose messages. They were then asked to read the message aloud in English and as they saw it in “textese”. Although the majority of the students were faster using the textese, it took half of the student twice as long to read these messages and say aloud than the messages written in proper English.

So it may be quicker to write in textisms, but reading and understanding the messages is taking longer. We are used to reading full words and sentences, it is harder for us to decipher the message. “Research showed that despite the popular belief that textese is ruining spelling, it actually does not reflect our literary skills. Sound structure and grammar was significantly linked to the ability to decipher textese” So If u cn rd this quickly, gd 4 u!!!!

Although the surgeon had never performed such an operation before, he knew without the surgery the boy would die within a matter of days. He contacted a surgeon from London’s Royal Marsden Hospital who texted him step by step instructions. The surgeon, David Nott, commented, “I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter. I knew exactly what my colleague meant becasue we had operated together many times.” A truely inspirational use of SMS! Gary

So, as the world’s financial woes deepen, how are clubs such as Man Utd making fans part with their hard earned cash to pay the wage bill? It’s taken a while, but the top clubs and now taking mobile campaigns more seriously than ever before. And it’s a trend that’s likely to increase in the years ahead.

Why? It’s a fundamental marketing principle – the company that gets closest to the consumer gets the biggest bite of the apple. And apart from his or her clothes, what’s closest to the fan? A mobile phone. Everyone’s got one, and unlike a PC, it’s rarely switched off. You don’t have to cut down a tree either to send a message to fans.

Mobile messaging specialist Mediaburst is one company that’s helping clubs to promote merchandise deals, sell half-season tickets, and increase gates at all important home games directly to fans. Increasingly, it is text services that are seen as a vehicle for clubs to better communicate and interact with fans.

We caught up with Mediaburst’s managing director, Gary Bury, at the recent Northwest Football Award 2008 event. The company’s text services were used by organisers Out There Events to let over 450 club directors, managers, sponsors and personalities attending the event use their mobiles and vote live for the player they believed should win the Goal of the Year Award, sponsored by Brown Shipley.

Gary explains: “Clearly, clubs are looking to enhance their marketing initiatives to move closer and create more personalised relationships with their fans, and mobile is the obvious choice. The same applies to corporate hospitality – it makes more sense to scrap paper invitations in favour of a mobile solution. These are the kind of solutions that clubs want to explore and that’s why Mediaburst is launching MMS products this month, so that clubs can send information in a rich format including video, images, animation, and sound to opt-in fans’ mobiles.”

Gary also believes that sending text alerts to fans will become a significant money earner for clubs going forward. “Team news, signings – these are the areas that the clubs obviously know about first. And fans are willing to pay to know these things. Take Man Utd as an example. The club charges fans 25p per alert, and it has millions of fans around the world. The impact of selling news alerts on the bottom line could be massive.”

Westley Gillard, head of business development at Velti echoes my sentiments in a recent letter to the NMA. To quote Westley, “Worries about budgets in the current climate and fear of the unknown have seen some agencies retreat into safe territory. However, this is missing the point somewhat as mobile provides a harder-working and more accountable touchpoint in places that the internet simply can’t always reach, namely everyone’s pocket, 24 hours a day.” Couldn’t have put it better myself! Gary

More than six in ten (61%) of respondents of legal voting age, age 18 and older, would be open to voting by text. Eight in ten teens, ages 13-17, say that if they were allowed to vote in this year’s Presidential election, they would have voted via text message instead of going to the polls. There are obvious issues with authentication but accepting the progress being made in that area, you never know. Martin

To quote from the MDA site, “All three measured metrics continue to grow; SMS has again surpassed expectations with 1.4 billion text messages being sent in the UK every week. SMS has established itself as a true social connecting tool and continues to have mass consumer appeal, at the same time there are signs of SMS being applied in commercial applications which will see the volume continue to rise”.

In a move to cut the cost of patient DNAs (Did Not Attends) appointments, NHS Trusts across the country are beginning to embrace a two-way SMS text messaging service that securely reminds patients of their hospital out-patient appointments and allows them to reply with a confirmation or to advise that they won’t be attending.

Called MARS (Managed Appointment Reminder Service), University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust are just two examples of how NHS Trusts are using the service to cut financial losses from missed appointments. Additionally, a consortium of NHS Trusts in the Midlands have also recently begun deploying the service this month.

A missed out-patient appointment costs each Trust £100, bringing the total wasted across the NHS to more than half a billion pounds each year. In London, where the problem is worst (visit here for details), the loss is more than £134 million. Another example is NHS Scotland where more than £30 million is lost each year through DNAs.

According to Dr. Jonathan Fielden* of the British Medical Association, missed appointments “cause huge disruption for patients and hospital staff. Patients need to have more respect for the service, but the NHS also needs to work harder to make appointments more convenient and flexible.”

As each NHS Trust has a patient treatment quota to meet, any shortfall means that forward budgets will be cut. DNAs also lead to other patients having to wait longer than necessary for treatment.

The MARS two-way messaging service is very secure and simple to use and is a significant step up from one-way systems. The service sends a text message reminder to the mobiles of patients ahead of an appointment. On receipt, patients are able to note the reminder and can reply back with a “yes” or “no” response if unable to attend.

A returned “no” response allows hospital Administrators to arrange an alternative appointment if required. They also have the opportunity to reduce waiting lists by filling cancelled treatment slots and help the Government hit its 18-week patient treatment targets.

MARS has been developed by communication company Island Communications in conjunction with the NHS, and is delivered to NHS organisations via a C&W’s Catalist Specialist Solutions “framework” contract, which avoids organisations having to Tender for the service.

The C&W MARS service uses the highly-secure SMS API messaging services of SMS provider Mediaburst to deliver appointment reminders to patients.

“MARS is possibly the most effective appointment reminder solution on today’s market and comes with an integrated management system giving hospitals instant awareness and measurable effectiveness of the service,” says Ken Higgins, managing director at Island Communications.

Cable&Wireless also provides Trusts with Island Communications’ opt-in tool to help collect patient names and mobile numbers. The data is transmitted through a secure on-line system to hospital administrators who then update the hospital or trust PAS (Patient Administration System).

About Island Communications

Island Communications is a communications company based in Larbert, near Stirling. The company develops web-based communications solutions for NHS Trusts, environmental monitoring and flood protection systems for local government, and boat monitoring and satellite tracking systems for boat owners. Island Communications is a key member of a European Consortium developing high-specification solutions for the Europe-wide treatment of Alzheimers Disease and all forms of Dementia. The Consortium is made up of representatives from Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Spain and the UK. For more information, visit www.islandcommunications.co.uk.

About Cable&Wireless

Cable&Wireless is one of the world’s leading international communications companies. It operates through two standalone business units – Europe, Asia & US and International. The Europe, Asia & US business unit (formerly known as the “UK” business) provides enterprise and carrier solutions to the largest users of telecoms services across the UK, US, continental Europe and Asia, and wholesale broadband services in the UK. With experience of delivering connectivity to 153 countries – and an intention to be the first customer-defined communications services business – the focus is on delivering customers a service experience that is second to none. The International business unit operates integrated telecommunications companies in 39 countries offering mobile, broadband, domestic and international fixed line services to residential and business customers, with principal operations in the Caribbean, Panama, Macau, Monaco and the Channel Islands. For more information about Cable&Wireless, go to www.cw.com

* In an interview published in the Daily Mail earlier this year on DNAs.

The following link provides more information regarding Walkers Sensations lastest promotion.

Sensations Winter Windfall.

]]> http://www.mediaburst.co.uk/blog/walkers-winter-windfall/feed/ 0 http://www.mediaburst.co.uk/blog/best-public-use-of-mobile/ http://www.mediaburst.co.uk/blog/best-public-use-of-mobile/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0000 Mediaburst http://blogs.mediaburst.co.uk/news/2008/10/16/best-public-use-of-mobile/ Finalist for Best Public Use of Mobile Award

Mediaburst announces that it was nominated one of three finalists for Mobile Industry Review’s 2008 Best Public Use of Mobile award alongside Vodafone/UN and Orange Rockcore.

The judges considered Cleveland Police’s use of dynamic text services for the deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired people as one of the most innovative public uses of mobile phones.

Until the mobile came along, and SMS with it, deaf and speech-impaired people had great difficulty in contacting emergency services. They had to rely upon family and friends to report life issues or social misbehaviours on their behalf. Today, the deaf community is one of the most prolific users of SMS.

All that the deaf community in Cleveland Police’s boroughs need now do to report an incident is to text the word POLICE to 87202 giving their address and explanation of the problem. The message is automatically converted into email and forwarded to Cleveland’s communication centre where incidents are recorded and actioned.

The eventual winner of the award was Vodafone/UN.

“Clearly, we’re delighted to be nominated for this prestigious award and we congratulate Vodafone and the United Nations on becoming eventual winners,” says Gary Bury, Mediaburst’s managing director. “Cleveland Police’s initiative has proved an outstanding success and police forces across the country are now looking to adopt SMS for their deaf communities.”

Visit here to read the full article.

To really drive the benefits of moofing you need to look at a combination of different mobile technologies to provide an improved working solution. SMS, MMS, mobile internet, mobile e-mail, all spring to mind. Converged technologies provide a powerful tool, one that can be tailored to an individual business to drive exceptional results, but interestingly James McCarthy from Microsoft comments, “Far too few companies are trying real innovative things to find new ways of working”. There looks to be difficult times ahead but with the accessibility of mobile technologies, those who take the time to review their operating model might well prosper.

Northwest Business Insider Magazine has published a wide-ranging feature on mobile marketing leader Mediaburst in its September 2008 edition. The feature focussed on the rapid development of text messaging in brand campaigns because of the mobile’s simple, interactive nature with the consumer.

Northwest Business Insider is owned and published by Insider Media Ltd. It is a leading independent publisher of business information and news, providing a portfolio of professional magazines, listings and events covering deals, property, and general business activities of importance to a company director.

Visit here to read the full article.

The appointment of the IAB as the trade body for mobile advertising builds on the work of the IAB Mobile Council, launched in November last year, which will now seek to extend its membership to include representatives from publishers, agencies, advertisers and technology companies all active in the mobile market. Guy Phillipson, IAB chief executive, said: With the new resources we’re going to get from the mobile operators, we can really put a rocket under it [mobile advertising].

The IAB will concentrate on research and promotion for mobile advertising, while the mobile phone operators remain committed to the global Mobile Marketing Association, concentrating on best practices and the protection of consumer privacy. The IAB will also be liaising with the GSM Association on its mobile audience measurement project. As a mobile marketing innovator we are delighted at this cross network initiative and trust that the adoption of standards will only accelerate the continued growth of mobile in the wider advertising market Gary

Mobile messaging was in the top three forms of marketing communication most likely to result in respondents seeking further information. However it’s been said before but with power comes responsibility. The research also highlighted that most consumers (75%) feel overwhelmed by the number of marketing communications they receive, although they remain happy picking and choosing between them (70%).

“As the number of communications grow, consumers have become better at filtering information,” says Victoria Bytel, Head of Research at the DMA. “People are able to de-sensitise themselves from content, but in doing so they also disconnect from the brand. To avoid becoming wallpaper, marketers need to work even harder to make communications stand out.” Jo

Interestingly the group while often an unknown entity offline, are able to achieve expert status online and form the core of a consumer group as a result of their enthusiasm for and knowledge of a particular product. Gaining their favour, the study says, will be a “critical battle” for enterprises in China. Something that could catch on in the West? Jo

Over seven out of ten of us admit delegating difficult tasks at work by email and text. More than half use an email or text message to apologise for mistakes. One in eight of us has resigned via email or text message while 2 per cent of bosses have fired someone with an email or text message, according to a survey by Post Office Telecoms. Also revealed is that 3 per cent of adults admit to ending a relationship by text in the past 12 months.

“Each generation’s communication style can differ dramatically, sometimes leading to inappropriate behaviour or cultural insensitivity, says Stewart Fox-Mills, head of telecoms at the Post Office. “Digital technology is constantly giving us new ways to communicate. But we’ve found that many are using modern technology to avoid face-toface or verbal confrontation.” Gary

A panel of judges described his skillset as a “powerful combination of innovation and growth in mature markets” and for his “contribution to the wider community on issues relating to advertising to children, and a whole series of excellent below the line initiatives.” Kellogg’s King Tut and Zookeeper for a Day mobile marketing campaigns run via Mediaburst’s SMS Gateway are recent examples.

Brennan joined Kellogg’s in 1999 and has also held senior marketing roles in Europe and Australia. He quickly acquired a reputation in the grocery trade as a marketer who knows how to grow and develop his company’s share of both mature and growing markets.

Healthy eating and lifestyle are now the key drivers behind Kellogg’s formidable £72m media spend – not including the substantial sum invested in below the line activities. Brennan is the highest ranked North West-based marketer in national trade title Marketing’s Power 100.

The furniture retailer, which sponsors Coronation Street on ITV1, offered discounts to visitors to its area of the soap’s iTV service. The initiative, created by Eagle Eye Solutions, invited viewers to text to receive an eight-digit shortcode that entitled them to discounts in selected Harvey’s stores. Mobile vouchering is highly targeted, lower cost and more effective than paper based products, and you can accurately record who has redeemed the incentive.

Strengthening its position as a mobile promotion support company for brands and agencies alike, Mediaburst today announces that it has developed a best-practice guide to using phone-paid services for download from its website www.mediaburst.co.uk. The company also announces the appointment of Dawn Hedley as its compliance officer.

The guide aims to help brands and agencies to establish a culture of compliance in SMS promotions, helping the advertising and marketing industries to fully understand the do’s and don’ts of mobile marketing campaigns. The guide can be downloaded here and has been reviewed by telecoms regulator PhonepayPlus.

Hedley joined Mediaburst in December 2003 as operations manager. Previously, she was production manager for Centurian (now known

as Redactive) where she was responsible for budget management, print buying, quality control, workflows, scheduling and delivery of publications.

As Mediaburst’s operations manager, she helped develop the company’s web-based SMS communication products, introduced billing mechanisms and service level agreements, as well as processes for testing, sales orders, incident management and frontline support to business partners such as O2 and Thus.

“Brands today face a challenge keeping up with the complex regulations surrounding phone-paid services,” says Hedley. “Mediaburst’s best practice guide will help brands and agencies alike to create compliant mobile marketing promotions, avoid costly investigations and build confidence with the consumer.”

Mediaburst’s compliance officer is available for agency and brand briefings upon request. Call 0845 050 0000.

Sir Michael Pitt, the man asked to assess the response to last summer’s floods has finally published his long-awaited report – and he says many lessons need to be learned.

His overriding message will be that the lack of preparation last year must be addressed without delay, and he has included 92 recommendations to ensure this happens. He told Sky News: “What we are arguing is that we were not well prepared last summer for the scale of flooding that took place.”

In response to the needs of business mangers to better plan communication in a crisis SMS Providers Mediaburst are advocating SMS for Business Continuity.

This is a low cost, feature rich SMS based communication tool that has proven to be a very effective solution. Neil Davison IT operations manager for city based legal firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain commented: “Mediaburst’s Business Continuity text tool is one of the most cost-effective and efficient means of instantly communicating and interacting with people during emergencies. At a time when phone networks become congested and communications fail, text messages get delivered. That’s why Mediaburst’s tool has been selected as the prime communicator in our disaster recovery plan.”

If you want to understand how this tool can help your business then get in touch.

Mobile marketing company Mediaburst today announces that its secure and robust text services are being integrated into a bespoke online electoral roll system for local authorities. For the first time, voters will be able to register to vote by simply texting a unique ID and Pin to their local authority.

Part of a system called Democratic Solutions, the product will be available from local authority provider Dsi from August 2008 onwards and its deployment will enable the general public to securely register their voting intentions with a local authority during their annual canvass by telephone, the Internet and SMS.

Dsi is a trusted provider of fully auditable “closed loop” solutions to over 150 local authorities in Britain. Its product portfolio used by the authorities includes electoral registration and management software, revenue and benefits billing systems, case load management tools for councillors, consultation software, as well as printed postal voting packs, poll cards, annual canvass forms and ballot books.

Dsi’s extended software will be win-win for voters and local authorities alike. On the one hand, the public will have more choice in the way they wish to register with a local authority during their annual canvass … by calling a hotline, by visiting www.securemyvote.co.uk and completing an online form, or by texting a unique ID and Pin received in the post to the authority’s long or short code. On the other, local authorities will be able to leverage the public and their mobile phones and the Internet to compile electoral rolls faster and at less cost.

“Compiling electoral rolls today is traditionally a costly, paper-based exercise for local authorities and an online solution offers voters a more convenient method to ensure that they get involved in local elections and democratic issues,” says Simon Verdon, Dsi’s business development director. “By integrating Mediaburst’s highly-secure SMS service into our new online registration system, Dsi again demonstrates how it is helping local authorities to better engage and interact with the voting public and for the public to protect their democratic rights.”

For further information on Democratic Solutions, local authorities can contact Simon Verdon on 07957 880 480 or by email to simon.verdon@dsigroup.com

About Dsi

Dsi was established in 1993 to provide software, document production, management and distribution services. With a turnover of £110m, 5 Communication Centres based around the UK and 1100 staff, the business provides services to a wide range of client from the Public and Private sectors.

The Newspaper says Scots MPs have been unhappy with reception since the building opened several years ago. The parliament uses Vodafone as its network supplier, but apparently the building itself is to blame, rather than the operator, for the weak signal. Work on improving coverage has commenced with a system of Pico cells being used to increase mobile reception. For £50,000, you’d hope the MPs would find something useful to say. Martin

According to the New Zealand Herald, the Kiwi’s national carrier is planning to introduce an in-flight texting service. However despite European and antipodean enthusiasm for in-flight SMS, Asia and the US don’t look like planning to introduce any mile-high connectivity any time soon. Surely long haul flights are perfectly suited to that time when we can catch up on all those outstanding messages or simply take the time to stay in touch?

Mobile marketing company Mediaburst announces that its finance director, Gary Bury, has been appointed managing director of the company with immediate effect. In his new position, Gary will consolidate the progress made by the company over the past year, particularly as a mobile marketing support company for marketing and advertising agencies, helping them to develop and deploy their digital media strategies.

A qualified accountant, Gary developed his skills with a fast growing group of finance companies in New Zealand. He returned to the UK in 2003 and was appointed finance director of property consultants Ep2 where he was instrumental in improving management reporting systems and grooming the company for an eventual trade sale in April 2005.

Gary joined Mediaburst in January 06 as finance director and became a major shareholder in

August 06 and part of a new management team that purchased the business. His remit was extended by the board in November 06 to cover all technical and operations departments. Mediaburst is now a more focused company, delivering products and promotions that bring commercial gain to Mediaburst and value to its customer base of enterprises, marketing agencies and re-sellers.

Gary’s contribution to Mediaburst’s success was recognised at the prestigious Fast Growth Business Awards event this year having been nominated as one of three finalists for the Finance Director of Year Award.

“Mediaburst has made significant progress over the past year as a mobile marketing company and 2008/09 will see the company consolidate and build its business relationships with marketing and advertising agencies,” says Gary. “Mobile messaging campaigns are becoming essential to brands to better interact with consumers and Mediaburst has the expertise and products to help ensure their success.”

Mobile marketing company Mediaburst today confirmed that its text services were selected by Square Meal’s Imbibe Magazine to invite the nation’s sommeliers to taste over 200 new wines that are destined to be chosen for the wine lists of many of Britain’s restaurants, bars and gastropubs this summer and thereafter.

The invitation was part of a unique wine tasting event in London. Called the Sommelier Wine Awards 2008, it is Britain’s only on-trade wine competition. Criteria for entering wines are twofold … they must be available to the UK’s wine trade and must not be sold in mainstream off-trade outlets like supermarkets.

Some of Britain’s finest palates were recruited earlier in the year to judge the quality of wines entered on the basis of their food-friendliness, versality, character and value for money.

After the first round of tasting, 300 wines entered for the event were chosen to become the Sommelier’s shortlist. They were then re-tasted and the judges picked the best 100 to make up a Gold List. Categories include a suggested selection for House Wines, Sparkling Wine and Champagne, Rose, Stickies (Dessert Wines), and selected red and white wines from wine growing countries such as Australia, France, Spain and Italy.

“Texting personalised invitations to people to attend national events such as the Sommelier Wine Awards was a first for Square Meal and the campaign advice and support we received from Mediaburst ensured a great result. We expect to use this kind of communication more in the future as guests at the event found the SMS reminder and e-ticket really useful.” says Rachel Curran, Marketing Manager for Imbibe Magazine.

About Imbibe Magazine

Imbibe is published by Square Meal, London and the UK’s leading restaurant & bar guide, whose strong relationship with over half a million consumers provides Imbibe with the benefits of a unique relationship with the on-trade. Imbibe is a bi-monthly magazine with an ABC-audited readership of 11,400 on-trade drinks professionals. For more information please contact Rachel Curran on 020 7840 6269 or visit www.imbibemagazine.co.uk

About Mediaburst

Mediaburst is an award-winning mobile messaging and interactive telephony company. Created in 2000, the company is today the trusted mobile campaign partner for advertising, marketing and media agencies and the preferred supplier of messaging solutions and aggregation for businesses, developers, and network operators. Mediaburst’s interactive platform allows companies to automate communications with their audiences in a reliable, cost effective, and scalable manner.

Note for editors

A booklet listing the wines chosen for the Gold List and Sommelier’s Shortlist is available upon request. Contact Rachel Curren – rachel@squaremeal.co.uk.

A recent campaign for Big Brother 2008 in Australia saw the installation of Bluetooth transmitters in over 20 bus shelters around Perth.

The transmitters automatically sent two anonymous messages to any bluetooth enabled phone in the area.

The first message was tailored for the local location, along the lines of: “I’m watching u Ur at the (bus stop location)”.

The second message is received about 30 seconds later saying: “Big Brother is back 7 PM weeknights on TEN”.

Interesting, possibly a little scary, but certainly effective!

Based in Guildford, Matelco is part of the privately owned Ampito Group, which is a hybrid IT solutions provider, looking at emerging and leading technologies. The group ethos is built on the principles of good service, customer care and an innovative approach to solutions and doing business.

Heather Menzies, Matelco’s business development director, comments: “Mediaburst is a best-of-breed mobile marketing company offering products and support that are unrivalled in today’s marketplace. Our customers will be well served.”

Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales and marketing director, adds: ” Matelco are precisely the kind of forward thinking organisation that Mediaburst wishes to partner with and we look forward to supporting Matelco as they promote and sell our text and business continuity solutions.”

About Mediaburst

Mediaburst is an award-winning mobile messaging and interactive telephony company. Created in 2000, the company is today the trusted mobile campaign partner for advertising, marketing and media agencies and the preferred supplier of messaging solutions and aggregation for businesses, developers, and network operators. Mediaburst’s interactive platform allows companies to automate communications with their audiences in a reliable, cost effective, and scalable manner.

At the inaugural North West Football Awards 2007 held last November in Manchester, Out There Events used Mediaburst’s text services to run the text vote for Barclay’s Goal of the Year Award. For the first time, club directors, managers, sponsors and personalities used their mobiles to interact and vote live at the event.

The initiative of introducing live text voting at awards ceremonies has since been recognised by judges at the prestigious SWOT Marketing Awards event on 24th April 2008. At a gala ceremony announcing the winners of twenty-two marketing awards in Manchester, Out There Events was named winner of the Best Event or Experiential Strategy Award.

“Text gave us instant audience participation” says Stacey Chandler, Event Director North West Football Awards “For the first time the audience could use their mobiles to really get involved in the event”

The awards were sponsored by the northern regions of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, Tayburn, Maincolour, Thompson, The Internet Advertising Bureau, News International, Feather Brooksbank, Oxford College and The Recommended Agency Register.

About Mediaburst

Mediaburst is an award-winning mobile messaging and interactive telephony company. Created in 2000, the company is today the trusted mobile campaign partner for advertising, marketing and media agencies and the preferred supplier of messaging solutions and aggregation for businesses, developers, and network operators. Mediaburst’s interactive platform allows companies to automate communications with their audiences in a reliable, cost effective, and scalable manner.

From airline notifications to an advertising medium its credibility and revenue generating potential is riding high. Indeed, current industry forecasts foresee mobile messaging revenues of $165 billion globally by 2011, 200% higher than previous industry predictions.

Since its inception 15 years ago, mobile messaging has delivered a 6000 per cent return on investment, but the growth phase is not yet over, with markets such as India, North America and China seeing phenomenal traffic increases. Even within the more mature markets of Western Europe and South East Asia, messaging still has huge growth potential.

So how will the humble SMS be developed to fuel this growth?

• Personalising the messaging experience with added functionality relevant to specific consumer and enterprise segments.
• Using partnerships and multi-play strategies to extend mobile messaging to the fixed environment using converged messaging.
• Subsidising mobile internet revenues through messaging integration with interactive web applications such as Facebook and eBay.
• Mobilising enterprise applications.
• Leveraging the mobile marketing opportunities offered by the reach of messaging platforms. The peer to peer capabilities of SMS are widely documented and are used by us all everyday. It is the continual development of Application to Peer messaging that will deliver differentiation within service providers and drive both the volumes and the revenues.

According to government statistics, over 9 million people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing and over 250,000 are profoundly deaf. It is unknown how many live in the boroughs covered by Cleveland Police… Hartlepool, Redcar & Cleveland, Middleborough and Stockton, which have a high population density of 9.3 people per hectare compared with the national average of 3.5.

Until the mobile came along, and SMS with it, deaf and speech-impaired people had great difficulty in contacting emergency services by themselves. They had to rely upon family and friends to report life issues or social misbehaviours on their behalf. Today, the deaf community is one of the most prolific users of SMS.

All that the deaf community in Cleveland Police’s boroughs need do to report an incident or ask for assistance is to text the word Police to the dedicated shortcode 87202 giving their address and explanation of the problem. The message is automatically converted into email and forwarded to Cleveland’s communication centre where incidents are recorded and actioned.

“Mediaburst’s text messaging service is a welcome and very dynamic solution for Cleveland’s deaf community,” says Mick Little, Acting Chief Inspector of Cleveland Police’s Control Room. “For the first time, deaf people can interact with Cleveland Police in near real time.”

Cleveland Police has issued a leaflet explaining how to use the new text service and issued a warning that any misuse of the service by people that are neither deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired may be liable for prosecution under the Communications Act, 2003.

GP Bullhound the UK technology investment bank has made their Technology Media and Telecoms sector predictions for 2008. They believe that 2008 will be the year when mobile specific Internet applications, such as WAP, disappear. Because handheld devices are provided with the power and display capabilities of laptops (albeit in mini format) this will eradicate the need for differentiated web and mobile applications. This should mean that developers no longer need to duplicate web content into WAP sites.

They also predict that mobile specific applications will also find it increasingly challenging to argue a unique value proposition to consumers. This however will not happen overnight and they recognize that there will be a significant installed base of low-bandwidth / limited form-factor users who continue to demand mobile specific applications for a long time to come.

Alongside this they predict that Ad funded mobile services will become mainstream. Mobile advertising didn’t take off as expected in 2007 with most deployments still in trial and evaluation phases. 2008 developments will see advertisers pay for this service by integrating mobile marketing messages on screen, through pre and post call voice messages, branded icons placed within SMS messages and also by branding on the actual device itself. What this all shouts to me is that if 2008 is the year when the mobile and PC devices become as one then brands and their agencies need to re-evaluate digital offerings and “Think Mobile”. The collaboration of service providers and the full integration of mobile into digital campaigns will become a more compelling proposition than ever before.

The trio were stuck for two hours until Mr George-Carey finally managed to send a text message saying: “trapped on a rock, surrounded by water, SOS, send coastguard”. Thankfully George understood that SMS travels on a different part of the network to voice and therefore does not rely on signal strength to succeed. “I had tried phoning the hostel but there was only one signal bar left and they couldn’t hear me. In the end, I texted someone.” stated a relieved George. Ray Farnham, station commander of the National Sea Rescue Institute, said: “A few more minutes and they would have been swept off the rock.” This is why many businesses rely on SMS for disaster planning communications

Marketing agency Fresh Consultants has contracted mobile messaging company Mediaburst to provide its groundbreaking free to text services to people in North Liverpool and South Sefton as part of a £30 million local government sponsored enterprise creation initiative called StepClever.

The initiative is using the power of enterprise to regenerate one of Britain’s most deprived neighbourhoods and aims to create 500 new businesses and 1500 jobs in the area over the next two years

Under the patronage of the City of Liverpool and Sefton Metropoliton Borough Council, the enterprise creation initiative was launched in late 2007. In the first six weeks over 200 potential entrepreneurs in Everton, Anfield, Kirkdale, County, Derby and Linacre contacted StepClever to gain early access to a range of free enterprise creation services including business advice, support and grants.

The scheme was the subject of a community-wide radio, public relations, poster and print campaign encouraging residents in the area to contact StepClever by phone, email or SMS to obtain enterprise creation support. Over 60% of repondants chose SMS as the initial engagement route with StepClever and are now well advanced in setting up their businesses. Residents were able to text StepClever with their mobiles at no cost using a dedicated shortcode.

“Free to text shortcodes has proved the prime tool for StepClever to engage and interact with residents in the deprived North Liverpool and South Sefton area and we see Mediaburst’s technology being widely used in similar government initiatives going forward,” says James Dunningham, a director of Fresh Consultants.

The in-store campaign ran from 14^th January to 23^rd March, 2008 and was featured on 22 million packs of such leading Kellogg’s brands as Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Frosties and Coco Pops. It invited consumers to send an SMS text to Kellogg’s dedicated shortcode to receive back an amazing animal fact and a link to a WAP site where they could download one of ten animal ringtones. Tens of thousands of consumers participated.

Consumers were charged only standard network costs to access and download the ringtones. The campaign was designed, developed and implemented by Blue Chip Marketing and SMS Provider Mediaburst.

Stuart Brown, sales director of Mediaburst, comments: “Clearly, Mediaburst is delighted to have teamed up again with Blue Chip Marketing to develop and run Kellogg’s inspirational and educational campaign, bringing tens of thousands of young consumers closer to the animal world.”

NHS Trusts nationwide are now looking to adopt a remarkable reminder service that helps reduce missed patient appointments and resulting losses in hospital revenues. Called the Managed Appointment Reminder Service (MARS), the system aims to help NHS Trusts slash an estimated £614 million out of their operating costs each year due to patient no-shows.

The MARS service was developed by Island Communications in association with the NHS and mobile messaging partner Mediaburst, and has been successfully piloted at Hull and East Yorkshire Woman and Children’s Hospital.

The hospital’s Paediatric Outpatients Unit was the first to test the system. Providing specialist and general care to children who have been referred to its consultants, around 15,000 outpatient appointments are scheduled by the unit each year. Over 20 percent of these are missed each year because outpatients simply forget to attend.

“Clearly, missed outpatient appointments are a prime concern to the unit for a number of reasons, the most important being the health and well-being of the child,” says Jackie Timson, the Hospital’s Paediatric Services Manager.

She adds: “First and foremost, we want to ensure that children under our medical care are receiving the attention and treatment they need to recover fully from any health problems they have experienced. A further concern is the financial impact of missed appointments as PCTs do not fund missed appointments. This represents a significant loss to the potential income to the Trust.”

Like all areas of the NHS, the Unit is constantly striving to maximise its resources so that it can improve the service it offers to the community. One of its principal aims is to reduce the length of time between a patient being referred into the service to receiving treatment, in line with the Government’s 2008 18 week referral-to-treatment target. Because missed appointments usually need to be rescheduled, the end result is delays for other patients, which makes it harder to achieve this aim.

Mobile Messaging

The Paediatric Services Unit uses the MARS service to send a text message to the parents of outpatients several days before their appointment to remind them to attend. Of a sample of patients who were asked whether or not they would be happy to receive this type of reminder, over 90 per cent said they would like to, confirming that patients simply forget that they have a forthcoming appointment.

Jackie Timson believes that reminding patients of appointments via the messaging service is playing a valuable part in reducing the number of missed appointments at the unit: “During the last three months, we’ve experienced a noticeable drop in the number of patients who haven’t attended appointments,” she says.

“In some cases it’s unavoidable that an appointment will be missed, but because we provide an option to reply within the reminder we send, patients can let us know through the MARS management system if they’re not able to attend and in many cases we can allocate their slot to another patient, which is a further advantage of the system.

“The challenge going forward is to capture as many Mobile numbers as possible and integrate the MARS Messaging system with our appointments booking system,” adds Jackie Timson.

Of 2,500 surveyed:

• 40 per cent could not spell “questionnaire”
• 38 per cent were stumped by “accommodate”
• 37 per cent were defeated by “definitely”

Nearly a third were unable to spell “liaison”, “existence” or “occurrence” and other simple words which caused problems were “calendar”, “embarrass”, “library” and “receipt”. Two-thirds blamed their inability to get words right on the predictive text function on their mobile phones.

Alarmingly, 14 per cent did not think it was important to spell properly, and 11 per cent were not bothered by colleagues’ spelling mistakes. Twenty per cent said they avoided writing documents by hand because their spelling was poor, and 59 per cent said they relied on their computer’s spell checker to get things right – even though some are programmed with American English.

Frighteningly 6 per cent said their spelling was so bad they had lost a job because of it.

The Plain English campaign commented:

“People seem less inclined to consider correct spelling important. When we spell words incorrectly, it is bound to cause confusion and make writing more difficult to read.”

The 20 simple words we appear unable to spell:

1. Questionnaire
2. Accommodate
3. Definitely
4. Liaison
5. Existence
6. Occurrence
7. Referring
8. Occurred
9. Millennium
10. Embarrass
11. Calendar
12. Receive
13. Necessary
14. Separate
15. Cemetery
16. Library
17. Accidentally
18. Independent
19. Occasionally
20. Receipt

At Mediaburst we take time to offer blog content that we hope will be of interest to those involved in SMS text messaging in all its many guises; Business Messaging, Mobile Marketing, Business Continuity and simple SMS Gateway applications. We believe that it should always be us who take the time to post appropriate blogs and as such some months will have more entries than others, but we always aim to have our website as a valuable source of current and useful content. We hope our time is well spent and we are always keen to receive feedback on the blog.

Mediaburst brings a gamut of incredible features to its ever-growing client base with its web-based SMS text messaging service, more popularly known as ‘Textburst’. We offer you a unique opportunity to integrate with your mobile phone and enable text messaging to individuals or groups though an online mechanism. Textburst now also provides its clients with data management services so that they can create numerous distribution groups such as product-specific, location-specific, quantity-specific and much more.

We assist you in designing ‘Template’ messages that can be used over and over again and save you time and effort in retyping the same message. We are also pleased to acquaint you with the feature of ‘merge’ through which you can personalise your message with your contact’s name. In addition, with Textburst’s text messaging service, you can even generate business enquiries and increase your response rates by using a short code with a keyword. Simple Data Entry is another incredible feature through which your numbers can be uploaded into the phonebook and save you time and effort of manual entry. We also help you with the effective management of your marketing campaigns through promotional messaging strategies and keeping track of the delivery status of your messages and the responses even whilst you are on the go. Customer Service

Following the success of the Asian tsunami appeal in 2005 where VAT was suspended on SMS donations, there has been extensive lobbying to have this position standardised. Until now, VAT has been charged on SMS donations, putting them at a disadvantage compared to other means of giving. Text donations are a highly effective way for charities, particularly small ones, to raise money quickly and to communicate with supporters. The practice of charging VAT on the whole amount of any donation was previously widespread practice amongst UK mobile networks. Removing the VAT charge makes donation by text from mobile, for small donations, equally as efficient as debit or credit card. Congratulations here go to The Mobile Data Association and 160 Characters who have backed the campaign. Mike Short Chairman of the MDA commented that “now we have policy clarity we will need to develop a cohesive plan that blends the right mixture of comfort to charities and trust for donors”. His suggestion is interesting- “To be successful there may need to be dedicated charity short codes”. Precedents within the EU exist in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic who are doing something similar. We will have to see how the Revenue views it Stuart

I have become aware how companies are getting used to the fact SMS is a way of life. It can be used in so many ways; keeping in contact with staff, marketing to customers, competitions, information services and the list goes on. But there is still some that are not convinced at what SMS services can offer a business. It is so much more than just keeping in touch. I can understand the apprehension when it comes to SMS and what is involved for a company; because this is how I felt when I had to remember everything that I was taught about how it works. It was very daunting task when trying to retain all the information but it is worthwhile.

My advice to businesses thinking of using a SMS solution is, go for it; it will improve communication within your company and can be used in so many ways. Those of you that are unsure speak to the experts and see what they have to say and see how they can help your business. Finally I would like to thank everybody at Mediaburst for their support; I have really enjoyed my time here and will miss everybody. I promise that I will come back and visit soon.

Twenty-five thousand fake scam messages were sent by Mediaburst to opt-in young consumers warning them to be on their guard when receiving suspicious SMS messages. The first message read: “Urgent! U may have won £1k cash with ’2 Good 2 B True’” and was then followed shortly afterwards by another making clear that there was in fact no prize, and that it was simply a warning about text scams.

The message also revealed a new service being promoted by Mediaburst – regulator PhonepayPlus’ SMSus service allowing users to text details (to 76787) of suspicious texts that they receive.

“Young people can fall for exactly the same types of scam as anyone else, often delivered through the latest technology,” says Mike Haley, OFT’s director of consumer protection. “We hope that our innovative approach of sending fake scam text messages will remind young consumers to be on their guard if they receive a suspicious offer.”

Trays O’Reilly, director of standards and communications at PhonepayPlus, adds: “More and more people are using mobile phones to pay for a range of products and services and in most instances this happens without problems. Our job is to crack down on scams and other misbehaviour when it occurs so that everyone can use phone-paid services with confidence.”

According to the Mobile Data Association, 95% of 16 to 24-year-olds use text messaging regularly, each sending an average of 100 texts per month.

And whilst there is a general trend towards lower data and SMS roaming costs, with Spanish carrier Telefonica, owner of the O2 group of companies proposing to reduce costs by as much as 40%, authorities remain concerned about the high prices across member states. SMS and data roaming charges are to be considered for regulation by the end of 2008. The impact on cross the cross Eurpoe application to peer market, e.g. Business Messaging, and Mobile Marketing is yet to unfold.

Therefore I was pleased to read that O2, the last remaining network to enable these services, is due to make the functionality available sometime in April 2008. Advertisers and media owners will now be able to offer their consumers just one number to interact with them, irrelevant of how that consumer wishes to communicate. This will hopefully be another reason for the Direct Response agencies and other areas of the advertising industry to adopt mobile marketing as a key channel. Now all the networks need to do is bring the prices down and make unified shortcodes comercially viable to the masses. Jeremy

According to the National Consumer Council, 6 million families in the UK are already struggling to make repayments towards their debt. But how much of this debt has been overcharged?

The LoanCheck Foundation helps individuals to freely check to see if they are being or have been overcharged on a loan or mortgage. It also assists charities, good causes and community initiatives and allows their members or users free access to the LoanCheck facility, through LoanCheck’s calculator available on its website www.loancheck.co.uk.

The Loancheck project has been developed and refined over the last 6 years, and has involved the collation of data and information from lending institutions, and the development of a computer-based assessment process to enable anyone to find out whether or not they too have been a victim of overcharging.

All consumers need do to benefit from Loancheck’s services is to visit its website, fill out a questionnaire and the online calculator generates a full audit of a mortgage or loan account and all the reports necessary to pursue lenders. The process brings together nationwide firms of solicitors allowing consumers anywhere to pursue potential cases to a satisfactory conclusion on a no-win, no-fee basis.

Since inception, Loancheck has helped protect the interests of several thousands of consumers and has even managed to stop their homes being re-possessed.

“Consumer awareness is the key to the Loancheck service, together with ease of access and use,” says John Whittaker, Loancheck’s managing director. “To this end, we have decided to run an SMS campaign through Mediaburst and we see this as a vital piece in the accessibility jigsaw.”

The campaign begins today and runs for 4 weeks.

Obama supporters who signed up with the candidate received a text message reminding them to vote. The text message included a phone number to help them find their polling station. The personal effectiveness of SMS and the immediacy of the medium has really shone through “They’ve been using [texting] to get out the vote, which is incredibly smart because it gives people a way to take immediate political action,” says Julie Germany, director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. “It’s just what mobile technology is suited for.” Not to be out done by their neighbours in the West Russians can now sign-up to receive text message updates relating to their country’s upcoming Presidential Election The information on the ballot and presidential election results in Russia will be available through SMS by a short code response mechanism. The number of votes collected by each candidate will be available by simply sending request to number 5503. Fairly standard stuff. However they can also learn the voting results at a certain polling station of a certain region, again by SMS request. For example, to find out the voting results in the Republic of Karelia 201 polling station, it is necessary to indicate 10 201 in your SMS, where the first two figures reflect the number of the Russian federal subject, while the numbers after the gap correspond to the number of the polling station. Advanced thinking? Maybe this is why they put the first man in space and we didn’t STUART

I think it’s time we all considered SMS for business continuity.

The current volatile climate could be something that we all need to start getting used to. Severe weather could become the norm over the next 25 years, according to the experts.

The prediction comes from the Met Office, which has started to develop ten year climate forecasts in the hope of giving practical help to those charged with tackling the effects of global warming. Flooding will be a risk for many more UK businesses, with torrential rain, stronger hurricanes and more violent storms on the increase. Spokesman Wayne Elliot said: “We expect more active and energetic weather systems in the UK in the future. In the summer months, we expect more scenes like last year’s flooding.”

All business managers must face the challenge of the effects of changing weather and review their Business Continuity plans. Ask yourself how would you quickly and easily communicate with staff and customers in the event of a crisis? STUART

Of all these components, the technical capability of your chosen mobile partner is probably the most over looked. Mobile platforms vary across the industry; some smaller (and frighteningly not so small) mobile companies have nothing more than a couple of severs under the desk; larger and more technically orientated mobile marketing agencies may have their platform across multiple hosting sites, fully redundant functionality and 24/7 monitoring.

With big brand campaigns running into the millions of pounds, and mobile often at the core, it is worrying me how few brands or lead agencies actually undertake any form of technical due diligence on the chosen mobile partner. As Mobile Marketing moves beyond SMS to MMS, vouchering and WAP sites and Mobile Agencies start to stretch their technical capabilities it is important to ask some key questions to your chosen mobile partner:

• How secure is the mobile service?
• How reliable is the mobile service?
• Who actually owns the technology?
• What are the capacity and message throughput rates?
• What level of technical support and service monitoring is provided?

Mobile messaging leader Mediaburst today announces that it has been selected by security services company SOS Response to provide the text interface platform of a security system that aims to stamp out bicycle theft.

According to Home Office statistics, a bike is stolen every 71 seconds with the top three crime spots in Britain being Central London, Kingston-upon Thames and Cambridge. With an increasing population and the government backing initiatives for people to cycle to work and to have a more active lifestyle, it’s inevitable that bike theft will rise.

But not if SOS Response’s Wireless Asset Security Protection (WASP) Cycle Monitoring System is rolled out nationwide, allowing owners to lock up their bikes in CCTV-controlled secure areas at railway stations, campuses, and town centres. All that owners need do to protect their asset is send a text message to a security control room which activates a lock on their bicycles. If anyone tampers with it, a movement sensor on the lock emits a silent alarm, which triggers a CCTV camera to zoom in and record the event. The live images on the security control room monitors are then verified against the owner information and a security officer can be sent to the crime scene if necessary to intervene. If the thief leaves the crime scene before the officer arrives, the images can be used as evidence for a successful prosecution.

SOS Response developed the WASP security system in partnership with Hampshire Constabulary and the University of Portsmouth. By combining state-of-the-art miniaturised electronics, intelligent use of proven RFID technology, CCTV and communication software integration, the system was piloted in Portsmouth last October through December and bike crime was reduced by 90 per cent. Following the successful pilot, the WASP system is to be rolled out nationwide and extended to include motor bikes and scooters with Mediaburst’s text interface platform being the system’s communications hub.

“Mediaburst is a proven business partner and already routes incoming text from our Lone-Worker and social care GSM/GPS devices through its text platform to our IP-based monitoring solution,” says Len Weaver, SOS Response’s managing director. “From this experience, we know all about their excellent customer service and very robust platform and both are key to any business dealing with personal and asset safety.”

A total of 60 billion texts were sent in the UK in 2007, 40% more than the previous year, with a staggering 290 million of these sent on New Year’s Eve alone. More interesting however was that nearly 18 million mobile phone users accessed the Internet on their phone in December 2007 and, surprisingly, there were just shy of 2 million MMS messages sent on New Year’s Eve. This saw MMS figures for December 2007 up 55% on the 32 million sent in December 2006. Overall UK MMS volumes for the year were nearly half a billion. The MDA commented that “The report contains some very compelling indications that mobile usage is evolving. While the strong upward curve of SMS volumes continues, perhaps a more telling headline number is the penetration of mobile Internet usage and multi-media messaging (MMS). We are really starting to see a much greater variety of mobile data volumes. New devices, competitive data tariffs and wider content choice mean it has never been easier for users to send an email, take a picture or access Internet content. This is a very important set of indicators.” More evidence that the new mobile services are evolving fast?…Maybe My question is will MMS suffer from the “Mini Disc” syndrome with consumers all too soon preferring to send pics and videos as E Mail attachments delivered onto smart phones? STUART

Mobile marketing leader Mediaburst today announces that property consultants King Sturge LLP has deployed Mediaburst’s Business Continuity (BC) tool across 50 offices in Britain and mainland Europe.

The web-based tool enables King Sturge to resolve a weakness in communicating with staff across these offices in the event that it has to invoke business continuity plans at one of the locations. The ability to use Mediaburst’s BC tool from any location at anytime to communicate to all offices or just one was also central to King Sturge’s decision to adopt the solution.

“Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool is the perfect business continuity product for any business with multi-site operations,” says Adam Collins, King Sturge’s group telecoms manager. “It is exactly what King Sturge wanted to make its offices business-continuity ready, is easy to deploy and great value for money, and Mediaburst’s ongoing support is second to none.”

All businesses face a common problem during emergencies be they floods, fires, bomb incidents, or otherwise. Phone lines will be come congested and people will be difficult to contact.

As text messages do not rely on voice channels for transmission, they don’t piggyback on enterprise mail servers and travel as small packets of data on a wireless carrier’s control channel – the same portion of the spectrum that keeps a mobile network appraised of a particular phone’s location and status. Being isolated in the control channel, SMS messages are therefore usually unaffected by heavy traffic or adverse conditions that overwhelm wireless networks.

Following the successful deployment of Mediaburst’s BC tool across 50 offices, King Sturge has extended its business relationship with Mediaburst using its award-winning text messaging services to engage and interact with delegates and exhibitors at European property shows and exhibitions.

More on Business Continuity

Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool is more than an online communications platform. Its rich features allow businesses to better manage the whole communications process and to analyse the results.

The tool sits on Mediaburst’s secure servers and customers pay an annual license for the service. Businesses then upload contact details of staff to their licensed phonebook for access from any location. Using the contact management feature, they create specific distribution groups such as “Crisis Team” or “Senior Management” to receive specific group messages.

Mediaburst recommends that users create time-saving template messages for use as appropriate and leverage the “merge name” feature to personalise messages for added effectiveness. Using the instant response feature, they can interact with staff and send response messages and content to individuals seeking information. This is particularly useful when distributing a series of instructions or questions.

Conforming to government guidelines for businesses during emergencies, Mediaburst’s tool records all messages sent and delivery receipts thereby establishing an audit trail covering the status and whereabouts of employees. As part of the business-as-usual process, Mediaburst’s tool provides a Fax to Email feature allowing people to receive faxes directly into their Email inbox.

Security and Costs

A total security audit has been conducted by O2 to ensure Mediaburst’s systems are secure, robust, and resilient and that there is no risk to data integrity. The Business Continuity tool is hosted on a secure Mediaburst site with full SSL encryption. Annual licenses for the tool cost just £995,00, excluding VAT and includes 24/7 support for up to 20 working days each year, 3,000 messages and 10 Fax To Email accounts.

Korea Telecom Freetel is targeting pre-school kids in an effort to cash in on the mobile frenzy that has ensnared the nation. Eighty five percent of teenagers in South Korea own a phone, sending an average of 60 texts a day.Now the government has introduced legislation to try and stop children running up huge phone bills. Is there such a thing as “freedom of text”? A British snowboarder who fell down a rocky pit in Germany sent a text message asking for help. The snowboarder became separated from her husband and friends in the Alps, said police in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria. The 35-year-old slipped into the pit but managed to text a friend to raise the alarm.

Sadly despite Two helicopters and mountain rescuers searching for the missing woman, she sadly died. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends. However the most provocative suggestion was to learn that Police are thinking of asking victims of rape to trap their alleged attacker into a confession using a controversial text messaging tactic. Senior detectives and prosecutors are considering the idea that rape suspects could incriminate themselves if their alleged victim tried to extract an admission of guilt via text message or in a phone call So-called “pretext” phone calls are used to try to get sexual attackers who are known to their victim to confess or incriminate themselves. The tactic is currently used in some US states and it is thought the measures could be adopted in the UK to improve the low conviction rate in rape cases. However, there is a question mark over whether pretext phone calls would be allowed under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. It is thought that British police forces would favour using text messages rather than phone calls, which are preferred in America. STUART

A qualified accountant, Gary joined Mediaburst in 2006 as financial director and began driving best-practice financial accounting procedures throughout the company’s operations and offerings. In the past 12 months Gary has successfully overseen a significant restructuring of the business, managed the company’s remarkable growth during this period, resulting in the company becoming one of the nation’s top 20 digital media companies.

Fast Growth Business Awards are organised by Growing Business magazine, the UK’s leading magazine for entrepreneurs, and showcase the UK’s most cutting edge businesses. More than 300 entrepreneurs, business journalists and industry leaders will be present at the awards ceremony.

The 12 judges who will evaluate the merits of Gary’s nomination include star of Dragons’ Den and Tycoon, Peter Jones, entrepreneurial expert, TV presenter and adviser René Carayol, and Sir David Arculus of the Better Regulation Taskforce and numerous top-flight boardroom positions.

In 2007:

1. I commented on the importance of understanding the relevant regulations that govern a mobile marketing campaign,
2. stated the importance of having a clear focus for your mobile campaign and making it relevant to your audience,
3. and advised that in my opinion, it was important to integrate mobile fully into a campaign and that in most cases it could not stand up as an advertising medium in its own right.

This year I want to start with commenting on how important it is to keep up to date with the pace of technology. I am a strong believer in what I call leading edge technology, not bleeding edge technology (that is technology that may be new but has been tried, tested and has a sufficient enough audience to make it worthwhile).

However the Mobile World moves quickly and yesterdays bleeding edge technology becomes today’s leading edge technology. There is increased convergence onto mobile devices with many phones now supporting an internet browser and video capabilities. Whilst these technologies are yet to become as popular as SMS, they are no longer niche. This was recently highlighted when brand giant Kellogg’s asked us to build their first ever WAP site for their current ‘Zoo’ promotion. Whether you work for a brand or an agency, stay up to date with mobile technology and you won’t get left behind by your competitors.

Mobile marketing leader Mediaburst today announces that it has again partnered with Blue-Chip Marketing of Manchester to deliver what’s expected to be one of the largest in-store promotions of 2008 …. a text-to-win draw on 22 million packs on leading Kellogg’s brands offering free animal ringtones as downloads to encourage consumers to take part in the draw.

Every day, between 14th January and 23rd March 2008, one lucky winner will be drawn every 24 hours, meaning 70 consumers will become a zookeeper for a day. Aside the top prize of spending a day as a zookeeper, free tickets to zoos and aquariums across the country can also be won.

Mediaburst’s contribution to the overall in-store campaign is a complete end-to-end mobile marketing campaign. It spans packaging advice, provision of ten bespoke animal ringtones like moaning whales, roaring lions and chattering monkeys, design and hosting of a dedicated WAP site to download ringtones, training of Kellogg’s call centre staff, and second-line consumer support.

Consumers texting Kellogg’s dedicated shortcode for the UK and Republic of Ireland will automatically receive back a message to their mobile giving an amazing animal fact and a link to the WAP site where they can download the animal ringtone of their choice. Only standard network costs will be charged to access and download ringtones from the site.

“Mediaburst and Blue-Chip Marketing kick off the year with a bang,” says Jeremy Bygrave, Mediaburst’s managing director. “The promotion further cements Mediaburst’s growing business relationship with Kellogg’s, and our mobile partner-of-choice position with one of Britain’s leading marketing companies.”

In fact if you look at the growth of SMS on a graph from ’99 to date you will see that SMS growth is exponential, volumes are growing faster now than ever before. See www.text.it We have also seen this trend within our business. Our messaging volume doubled in 2007. A lot of this growth has been organic, from existing customers who are clearly seeing more and more benefit from using SMS. It is often dangerous to compare peer to peer SMS traffic with application to peer messaging, however I think in this case both show that far from being dead, SMS has had its greatest year yet.

The 2007 bestseller list, recently published by Japan’s biggest book distributor, Tohan, revealed that incredibly five of the year’s most successful novels, including the top three, were first written for downloading on mobile phones. The number one seller, Love Sky, selling two million copies in the last year, has now been released as a film, and has made a star of its author, a woman in her early 20s known only as Mika.

The new dominance of mobile novels – keitai shosetsu in Japanese – is all the more remarkable for the revenue opportunities they have created. In 2006, the revenues from these applications rose to 9.4 billion yen (£42 million). Several publishers operate mobile novel websites from which phone users can download novels for a subscription of about 300 yen (£1.33) a month. The stories are divided into bite size chunks called “gobbets” which can be read in about three minutes, the typical distance between two stops on the Japanese subway. Watch out on the Bakerloo line.

In October they benefited from some £ 375,000 of incremental revenue derived from commission payments based upon transferring an incredible £ 7.5m of micro payments by text, through their Kenya based M-Pesa innovation. In a country where relatively few people have bank accounts and the journey to the nearest bank can take hours, it has been little short of a revolution, allowing people in poor, rural areas to transfer money via a text. Already 1m customers from a total base of 7m have registered at Safaricom, Vodafone’s part-owned operation in Kenya.

Some users are texting money to themselves so they don’t have to carry cash on long journeys and Vodafone has even begun a trial with two companies to pay staff wages via text message. To put this into perspective, the mobile industry’s body, the GSM Association, sums up the financial opportunity for the sector. While 3 billion people worldwide have a mobile phone, only 1.8 billion have a credit or debit card. In addition, it believes that the value of cash sent home by migrant workers to developing countries could quadruple to £400 billion by 2012 if transfer by text message becomes the norm. Not insignificant! STUART

Mobile marketing leader Mediaburst today announces its support for the Good Karma Drive charity (www.goodkarmadrive.org), which hopes to raise £300,000 for the St. Mary’s school in Dharasalam, Northern India. Good Karma will use Mediaburst’s interactive telephony platform to engage with potential doners, allowing them to donate by phone or text.

The funds will allow the school to continue providing learning to more than 400 impoverished children who have been marginalised by mainstream education, and to build a further school building to welcome and educate growing numbers of children that need the school’s support each year.

Good Karma Drive is the brainchild of property entrepreneur Jonny Knowles. Together with a small team of fellow drivers, Jonny will leave “a trail of goodwill and inspiration” on their six-week drive from London to Dharasalam. The trek began on 3rd December, 2008.

“Mediaburst is committed to supporting humanitarian initiatives such as the Good Karma Drive and wishes it every success in raising the much-needed £300,000 so that growing numbers of poverished children in India are no longer marginalised from mainstream education” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director.

All funds raised will go to St. Mary’s.

Just look at ITV, GMTV and the impact the recent scandals have had. It frightens me, that even in today’s nervy climate, how many brands are still running illegal competitions. For the avoidance of any legal action I will not mention names; however I recently read a very high circulation magazine that was running what some may see as an illegal competition. One of the major problems promoters face is the sheer volume of regulations and regulatory bodies.

In the UK alone you have advice, guidance and regulation from PhonePayPlus, ISP, CAP, ASA, OFCOM, Vodafone Code of Practice, Gambling Commission, The Information Commissioner and EU legislation. All cover slightly different areas, often overlapping and often conflicting, the result is a patchwork and somewhat confusing regulatory landscape. Rules can be different in Northern Ireland and then, if like a lot of FMCG brands, you operate in both the UK and ROI you also have to consider RegTel and the various other Irish bodies.

Add this to having to meet brand guidelines and you can see the potential minefield. When running a campaign, everyone’s reputation is on the line from the brand to the brand manager, the agencies and the account directors and managers and finally service providers. I don’t intend for this blog to put you off running campaigns, far from it, all I am suggesting is that you ensure you have the appropriate experience and compliance procedures in the supply chain to ensure you don’t end up as the lead story on the Ten O’clock News. I like to compare it to scuba diving, which in principle and practice is quite easy, however get it even slightly wrong and the results can be disastrous.

Which is why most people go diving with experienced professionals!

I called in to take the time to personally thank Ewan for his efforts in putting together such a strong daily industry blog, not a small commitment, and was taken a back by just how many of my peers, competitors and even the team from PhonepayPlus were all in attendance.

Such events help build contacts and promote discussion in a relaxed atmosphere. Well done Ewan, keep up the great work

Apparently, since its launch a year ago, they have clocked up over 100,000 distinct website visits and visited schools across the country as part of its educational roadshow.

PHONEbrain is aimed at teaching young people how to recognise and access phone-paid services, appreciate the costs involved and pre-empt potential problems. I’ve posted a link to this site before but with new and interactive initiatives planned for the New Year it’ll be worth keeping a close eye on. Gary

Davis Langdon chose the SMS Providers web-based tool to provide a trusted and proven Business Continuity solution for use during a traditional Disaster Recovery event to communicate with staff, suppliers and customers. However, having worked with Mediaburst’s consultants, the company also uses the solution to provide initial business-critical communications in the event of the loss of one or more of its Microsoft Exchange servers.

Davis Langdon already had Business Continuity solutions in place for email in the event of a loss of service, but the challenge to the company’s IT department was how to communicate the cut over to the Business Continuity email solution without using email or swamping the Support Centre with thousands of incoming calls.

“With Mediabust’s assistance, we have implemented a robust communications solution that takes the risk out of this element of the Business Continuity scenario,” says Ant Daykin, Head of Davis Langdon’s I.T. Business Support. “Mediaburst shared their deep knowledge of Business Continuity with us, and this collaboration enabled IT to deploy possibly the most robust solution on today’s market.”

Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool is a web-based enterprise-class solution that allows businesses to securely communicate with staff, suppliers and customers during emergencies. Text messages do not rely on voice channels for transmission, and travel as small packets of data on a wireless carrier’s control channel – the same portion of the spectrum that keeps a mobile network apprised of a particular phone’s location and status. Being isolated in the control channel, SMS messages are therefore usually unaffected by heavy traffic or adverse conditions that overwhelm wireless networks during emergencies

“Clearly, we’re delighted that Davis Langdon has adopted our Business Continuity tool,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. “This highly-secure and flexible service takes the cost out of possible business downtime during emergencies whatever their nature.”

The IAB’s involvement just underlines how seriously mobile is now being taken by the major media players. The IAB is funded by digital media owners and has 375 members. IAB’s mobile expansion starts this week with its first conference dedicated to mobile. The trade body holds annual IAB Engage conferences for those organisations involved in digital media and from now on will include Engage for Mobile. The alliance with the MMA would suggest that the IAB has gained the blessing of companies in the sector to push forward mobile advertising, rather than becoming a rival player in the space. All very interesting.

There are ten top prizes of a trip of a lifetime to Egypt for 4 people including a private tour of the Cairo Museum, a visit to the Valley of the Kings, and exclusive access to the tomb of Tutankhamun. There will be ten runners up prizes of a trip for four to the London “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs” exhibition at the O2 Arena, which opens this month. All consumers will qualify for a £5 discount on a family ticket to the exhibition when buying a promotional pack.

Using and owning one dedicated shortcode aimed at developing the “Kellogg Code” for current and future on-pack promotions to the UK and Republic of Ireland markets enables Kellogg’s to deliver a simpler and clearer on-pack communication to the enlarged market and also save packaging costs. It also ensures that Kellogg’s consumers can’t accidentally opt in to another company’s promotion, as well as providing tighter control and security of consumer data.

“Clearly, Mediaburst is delighted to be chosen once again by Kellogg to provide text-to-win services for its on-pack promotions,” says Jeremy Bygrave, Mediaburst’s managing director. “Extending the business relationship enables Mediaburst to gain a better understanding of Kellogg’s special relationship with its consumers, and to the tailor text services to match the high expectations of Kellogg’s consumers.”

It’s incredible that something that is still, by many, perceived a new media technology is actually 15 years old! Like most technologies the humble SMS clearly took some time to take off, but how it has, now running at in excess of 1.2 billion messages per week.(Source www.text.it) The event will also include a panel discussion on the evolution of SMS and the future of mobile messaging featuring participants from Vodafone, Ovum Research, the MDA and MMA so it will be very interesting to see where the industry sees the next 15 years taking us. Congratulations to all involved.

A UK-wide study, commissioned by online security company Garlik and conducted by YouGov, found that around 15% of the population were engaged in writing or contributing to blogs, while one in five were blogging at least once a day and spending an average of 30 minutes doing so.

Blogging certainly seems to have developed a rapidly growing fan base, and creates an exciting new communications channel for a business.

We hope that our blog offers useful thoughts and advice for those interested in Mobile Marketing and SMS technologies.

Mobile marketing leader Mediaburst today announces that it will provide services at the inaugural Northwest Football Awards Dinner (Midland Hotel, Manchester, 12th November 2007).

Organised by Out There Events, over 450 club directors, managers, sponsors and personalities attending the event will be able to use their mobiles and vote live for the player they believe should win the Goal of the Year Award, sponsored by Barclays.

When it comes to football, the Northwest can put forward a credible case that it is the centre of world football and related expertise. The region’s 26 professional clubs are globally recognised as leaders in raising revenues and brand awareness and have combined revenues of approximately £600 million (source: Deloitte). Each year, the Awards ceremony recognises the talent and creativity housed within the region’s clubs and the commercial teams responsible for building their brands in the national and international communities.

Aside the Goal of the Year Award, the other Awards comprise Community Club of the Year, Best Club Marketing Campaign, Best Club Sponsorship, Best Non-Matchday use of Grounds, Commercial Team of the Year, Business Award for Services to Football, Player of the Year (for each League plus Conference), Northwest Player of the Year, Northwest Manager of the Year, Northwest Club of the Year, and Lifetime Contributions to Northwest Football.

“Clearly we’re delighted to support the mobile initiatives of Out There Events again and to provide interactive text services for guests at the Northwest Football Awards ceremony,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. “This is the first time that they will be able to use their mobiles during the event to vote live for a particular award.”

SMS Provider Mediaburst today announces that one of its business partners, 8K Media, has won the latest text-to-win mobile competition of holiday provider Ski Collection. The competition is now featured in Circle Publishing’s Snow Magazine and comprises a seven night holiday for four at the 4 star ski-in, ski-out 4 Les Balcons de Val Thorens residence in the French Alps.

All that skiers need do to stand a chance of winning the competition is text the height of the Val Thorens resort. Three options are given in advertisements now appearing in Snow Magazine – a) 1,500m, b) 2,300, or c) 2,500m. Text answers to shortcode 84383 cost £1 plus standard network charges and the competition closes on 30^th November 2007. The winner will be announced on Monday, 3^rd December.

Ski Collection is a Peak Retreats brand. Set up in 2002, the company is an independent niche operator giving British skiers the opportunity to experience skiing in France, the French way. It also runs holidays to the French Alps in both winter and summer.

Ski Collection’s business model is simple: only 4 star residences in France will do, and they must be located in prime high-altitude resorts. Holidays can be accommodation-only or packaged with a ferry or Eurotunnel crossing. Central to the business model is price and Ski Collection offers the lowest price available in the UK for such holidays. Thousands of British skiers have embraced the business model since 2002.

“Mediaburst is fast becoming the de facto mobile campaign provider for travel companies to better engage with customers and Ski Collection is another addition of this text-to-travel trend,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. “We expect the trend to continue with mobile marketing digging deep into the revenues of postal-dependent direct mail companies.”

More interestingly there are now 25% more text messages being sent than the same time last year. Such growth was never anticipated and has triggered the Mobile Data Association to revise their 2007 forecast from 48 billion to 52 billion.

Coincidently, Mediaburst have also just recorded its monthly highest volume ever, representing 140% increase on the same period last year and is backed up by consistent growth over the 12 month period.

The media are attributing the growth to new “all-you-can-eat” mobile deals, I have no doubt this plays a large part but I think it’s wider than that. The younger generations are always first to embrace new technology and have certainly driven increases thus far, however, it’s taken until earlier this month to receive my first text message from my Nana, and my parents growing use is testament to it’s overall acceptance across all age ranges.

Are you data gathering? Pushing a brand? Advertising a new product? Engaging with new customers or trying to earn revenue through mobile billing? My advice is to think carefully about the objective of the campaign and maximize every component of your campaign to achieve that goal. For example; if you want to engage with new customers by letting them text for a sample, don’t charge them a premium SMS to do so. Whilst you may think it will stretch your budget, in reality it is likely to reflect badly on the brand and is only going to reduce the number of respondents.

If you are running an on-pack promotion and one of your key measurements for success is the number of respondents. Don’t go and hide the instructions on how to respond just to try and preserve as much space for brand images. It may all sound obvious, however as mobile marketing is so measurable mistakes can be exposed quite quickly.

The latest report into pandemic planning was published jointly by Marsh and The Albright Group earlier this month providing some interesting thoughts. It would appear that modern transport networks will distribute the influenza virus more quickly and more widely than previously.

Anybody who has been travelling recently will agree to this as they reach for the Kleenex! The report continued- “However while the modern transport infrastructure provides a factor which may increase the likelihood of a pandemic, today’s communications infrastructure may increase the chance of preventing a pandemic. Warnings can be passed very quickly amongst governmental and healthcare sectors allowing for increased vigilance and the swift introduction of preventative measures. Accurate information can also be quickly passed to businesses and individuals enabling wide-spread awareness of the necessary preventative measures and also enabling people to watch out for disease symptoms and to seek rapid help and treatment”

Business Continuity is planning for the consequences of many business affecting issues, not just the headline grabbing disasters. Take a look at our news section to learn how SMS Providers mediaburst have helped our customers by implementing SMS for business continuity.

Personally I believe handset devices, network speeds and consumer acceptability are not good enough for Mobile to become a stand alone marketing tool. Sure, this will be a huge growth area with the development of mobile search engine optimisation, banner type advertising and the development of rich media broadcasts. However, apart from a select few user groups, these mechanics just aren’t commercially viable for most brands. Used correctly mobile marketing can drive consumer interest beyond passive viewing, into interacting with a brand.

Whether entering an on pack promotion using MMS, requesting a brochure sample via SMS or offering personal information via WAP; mobile offers instant gratification not available through any other medium. In most cases it is as a response to some other advert / promotion. The key to success, as suggested in part one, is ensuring that there is a purpose for using mobile. There is little point in sending out an email broadcast asking them to respond by SMS if SMS is going to offer little benefit over an email response. Or why offer an information service that text’s your customer at 2am in the morning (see Julian Hucker’s [Esendex] blog).

However imagine a TV advert during Big Brother, where in the past the audience have shown a preference to text. The advert is shown at 9.45pm, during what is generally perceived as an addictive program, and when the advertisers call centers are closed. Yet the advertiser still chooses to promote an 11 digit, unmemorable telephone number and expect the consumer to call back the following day to engage. Surely asking the viewer to text their name for a call back the following day would be the better practice. If you can orchestrate a situation whereby using text will delight the audience, whereby it adds an unexpected piece of value, this is where mobile is at its most powerful.

A consumer texts in to claim a free cinema ticket, not only should they get back confirmation of when the tickets will be delivered but also information on their nearest participating cinemas. If the consumer enters an on pack promotion, in most cases they will just receive a confirmation of entry. However, the consumer texts to enter this because they want to win, they want to engage. Not winning is one thing, but not being advised if they have won or not is even worse. Imagine a football information service that only lets you know the results when your team wins! So many brands pass up the opportunity to further engage with their consumers at the end of a promotional campaign by letting them know what happened with the competition.

Imagine…

Thank your for entering Brand X’s competition. Congratulations to Mrs B from Cheshire who won the car. Don’t forget to Brand X is now available in throw away packs from Boots. We’re sorry you didn’t win this time. A personal message of interest to a known customer all for the price of a sms message! Mobile is like every other form of advertising, it must be appropriate for the audience at that given time. Next week I will discuss the importance of having clear objectives when using mobile.

Following the successful showing of its Business Continuity tool at last week’s Convergence Summit at Sandown Park, SMS Provider Mediaburst today announces that it will showcase its product this week at the IP07 exhibition (Earl’s Court, London, October 16 – 17, 2007). Presentations will take place throughout the show on the stand of Mediaburst business partner, TeleWare (Stand 566).

Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool is becoming central to the disaster recovery plans of businesses nationwide. The web-based tool enables them to instantly communicate with staff, suppliers and customers during emergencies because text messages to not rely on voice channels for transmission. Instead, they travel as small packets of data on a wireless carrier’s control channel – the same portion of the spectrum that keeps a mobile network apprised of a particular phone’s location and status. Being isolated in the control channel, SMS messages are therefore usually unaffected by heavy traffic or adverse conditions that overwhelm wireless networks during emergencies

City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) LLP views Mediaburst’s solution as one of the most cost-effective and efficient means of instantly communicating and interacting with people during emergencies. It’s a view now shared by the latest business to subscribe to the service, property and construction advisers Davis Langdon LLP.

“Mediaburst is breaking down the resistance barriers to rolling out business continuity plans,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. “For under £1,000 each year, businesses can instantly deploy our highly-secure service with the minimum of fuss and maximum efficiency.”

Notes for Editors

Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool is more than an online communications platform. Its rich features allow businesses to better manage the whole communications process and to analyse the results. How it works.

The Business Continuity tool sits on Mediaburst’s secure servers and customers pay an annual license for the service. Businesses then upload contact details of staff to their licensed phonebook for access from any location. Using the contact management feature, they create specific distribution groups such as “Crisis Team” or “Senior Management” to receive specific group messages.

Mediaburst recommends that users create time-saving template messages for use as appropriate and leverage the “merge name” feature to personalise messages for added effectiveness. Using the instant response feature, they can interact with staff and send response messages and content to individuals seeking information. This is particularly useful when distributing a series of instructions or questions.

Conforming with government guidelines for businesses during emergencies, Mediaburst’s tool records all messages sent and delivery receipts thereby establishing an audit trail covering the status and whereabouts of employees. As part of the business-as-usual process, Mediaburst’s tool provides a Fax to Email feature allowing people to receive faxes directly into their Email inbox.

Security and Costs

A total security audit has been conducted by O2 to ensure Mediaburst’s systems are secure, robust, and resilient and that there is no risk to data integrity. The Business Continuity tool is hosted on a secure Mediaburst site with full SSL encryption. Annual licenses for the tool cost just £995 ex VAT and includes 24/7 support for up to 20 working days each year, 3,000 messages and 10 Fax To Email accounts.

The way people get fast facts on properties they might just want to buy could be about to change if SMS and mobile marketing leader Mediaburst gets it way. The company today announced that it has partnered with 8K Media and launched the first managed text response service for estate agents enabling anyone interested in buying a specific property to get key details texted to their mobile and to then book a viewing via their mobile.

The first estate agent to subscribe to this unique service is Helling Massey of Bury. One hundred of its properties now have unique reference numbers pasted on their sales boards. All that anyone passing by one of them needs do to get key details is text the reference on the board to 80889. Texts cost 50p. An auto response is then sent to the potential buyer’s mobile giving key details including price and they can then book a viewing via their mobile by replying VU. A further charge of 50p is incurred.

The details of each property is managed by on-line using textburst allowing Mediaburst’s partner 8K Media to change response messages per the estate agent’s instructions at anytime and from any location. Typical responses include price reductions and new instructions. The tool collates all enquiries for a specific property and sends details at the frequency determined by the estate agent to an assigned email address.

The service also allows for analysis – how many times a specific caller has requested details of properties, for example, and to send proactive messages such as “you recently enquired about 129 Darlington Road, 149 Darlington Road is now on the market. To view rely VU.” Replies cost 50p.

“Mediaburst believes that the mobile is destined to become the new black when it comes to buying homes,” says Mediaburst’s sales director, Stuart Brown. “We feel sure that home buyers will prefer this instant property service and that other estate agents will follow the pioneering spirit of Helling Massey.”

The text apparently read “This is amazing; you can do words and everything.” The second article was all about a new generation of writers in Japan who are now tapping out entire novels on their mobile phones. Stories, called Keitai novels, are proving extremely popular with half the top 10 fiction best sellers for 2007 starting life on mobiles. The success of the stories is due to the intentional use of short sentences and less complicated expressions. STUART

The Royal mail has cancelled all door-drop deliveries for the next three weeks ahead of strike action by the Communication Workers Union. It would appear that door-drop companies were notified of the move only this week, which is expected to affect up to 80 million items scheduled for delivery. They were told that they would be compensated for the costs of delivery and other logistics, but not for the cost of printing the items. This means door-drop firms could lose out, especially in the case of having to compensate clients who planned to send time-sensitive creative, which it would be impossible to deliver at a later date. I would invite all door drop companies to embrace Mobile Marketing. Time sensitive content can be delivered directly into the hands of consumers, rather than the doormat, without the cost of printing, and without the hidden cost of industrial action.

The campaign is the first to use the new unified shortcode system for UK and Republic of Ireland on-pack promotions.

Just like Nurofen Express, everything happens twice as fast in New York and all that shoppers need do to enter the free prize draw and stand a chance of winning one of two weekend breaks on offer to the Big Apple is text “Nurofen Express to 57782.” Return flights, two nights in a luxury Manhatten hotel and a choice of pulse-pumping activities and distractions are included in the breaks.

The campaign is now current and runs until 31st December 2007. Texts are charged at standard network rates.

“In this age of instant communications, mobile messaging is fast becoming the new point of sale and possibly the most effective way for a brand to engage with its publics in a personalised way,” says Emma McCafferty, account director at Multiply. “That means you need a trusted partner with the credentials to get the job done and in our book that means Mediaburst.”

Multiply is one of Britain’s key communications agencies. Its talented staff have developed a customer base that most other agencies can only dream of and was named Best Newcomer Agency at the 2006 MCCA Awards. For more information, visit http://www.multiplyuk.com

Almost half make do with just one mobile phone, but 40% of us now have more than one number. An extraordinary one in ten (9%) have more than four mobile numbers and handsets. Such a ready market has not been lost on our friends at Google. The internet giant is attempting to drive take-up of mobile pay-per-click advertising by allowing brands to extend their existing search campaigns onto mobile for free. Advertisers will be included in the trial for a two-month period, after which they will be charged per click on mobile keywords unless they opt out. Unsurprising then that the Nielsen Monitor Plus has just reported that US ad spend has gone into reverse for the first half of 2007, with radio and newspapers the worst hit, whilst according to the Internet Advertising Bureau, UK paid-search revenue grew by 52% last year to reach £1.2bn. With TV advertising revenues in decline and mobile phones outselling PC’s and TV’s by a considerable factor I think many brands will be watching these developments very closely!

All that shoppers need do is text the word “Summer” to a short code that appears on the in-store screen and they’ll receive the auto response “Save an Extra £50 per booking off last minute summer holidays. For more information call 0870 574 9272, or text “CallMe” to 87103 for a Co-operative Travel booking agent to call them.”

Mobile marketing is another touchpoint for The Co-operative Travel to engage with its customers. Going forward, the company believes mobile marketing will become one of the preferred marketing channels for travel companies in the near term.

The Co-operative Travel is the UK’s largest independent travel provider, with over 400 branches on the high street, state-of-the-art customer call centres and an award-winning website. The Co-operative Travel is not owned by a parent Tour Operator and is therefore able to offer its customers a much wider range of holidays.

Being part of The Co-operative Group, co-operative values underpin the whole of The Co-operative Travel business, which is conducted in a socially responsible manner. In November 2006, The Co-operative Travel became the first ever high street retailer to offer its customers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions arising from their holiday travel.

“Clearly, Mediaburst is delighted to team up with The Co-operative Travel to support its initiatives in bringing this special travel deal to the attention of Co-operative shoppers,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales and marketing director. “The campaign win follows our recent Bostik win and serves to further strengthen our position as the number one mobile marketing partner in big brand promotions.”

Mediaburst’s surge into the top 20 classification from nowhere is remarkable and validates the business model adopted by the company in April 2007 aimed at becoming the mobile messaging partner-of-choice for advertising, marketing and media agencies.

“Becoming one of Britain’ top twenty new media agencies in such a short timeframe underlines a number of facts,” says Jeremy Bygrave, Mediaburst’s Managing Director. “Brands are spending more on mobile messaging campaigns than ever before to get closer to the consumer in the fastest possible timeframe, and unlike direct mail, mobile campaigns are neither affected by postal strikes or subject to environmental pressures like save a tree.”

According to their survey nearly 50% of respondees said they failed to respond to traditional advertising as they “forget the brand name and contact details after their initial interest has passed” The article went on to say “more than one in three people”, however, had sent a text response to an advert.

Simple message, mobile is where your advertising needs to be——not necessarily! Media Agency Universal McCann also commissioned a study into the attitudes towards mobile campaigns and unsurprisingly their research shows that consumers find traditional format advertisements delivered via their mobile handset ‘irritating’. As digital agencies realised that what worked in print did not necessarily work online, well the same is the case for Mobile. Don’t assume that by simply attempting to “mobilise” a campaign you will succeed. Mobile marketing is an exceptionally powerful tool. We all seem to have developed close relationships with our phones, they always appear to be with us and we feel lost without them. There are some very simple rules when it comes to running a mobile campaign.

Firstly the content must be relevant to the consumer. This may mean a targeted creative. It must also be timely and simple to execute in terms of a call to action. Get it right and you will form a strong bond with your consumers, get it wrong and you have lost them forever.

Bostik’s new promotion goes live on 1^st September 2007 and runs to 29^th February. From September, Blu-Tack packaging will feature a promotion asking consumers to make a Spider-Man related model with the adhesive and send their photos to Bostik from their mobiles to a special campaign number.

Calls will cost no more than standard network rates and Bostik is looking for weird, wacky and wonderful entries Spider-Man’s web, badge, himself, a hairy spider, or an idea that breaks new ground. The best 33 entries will win a Sony MP3 player, and the best 33 runners up will receive a Spider-Man goody bag.

Bostik has long been recognised as a campaign innovator and Mediaburst’s multimedia messaging service (MMS) will help the brand to again push the envelope. By adopting Mediaburst’s technology into its new promotion, Bostik will widen its audience and engage with them in a different way.

“Using multimedia messaging for competition entry is a medium still in its infancy, but a channel that brands will increasingly embrace going forward,” says Michelle Hayman, Bostik’s product manager. “The success of our Blu-Tack promotion hinges on making sure people who have taken the time to enter can do so easily and with limited restrictions, and Mediaburst’s MMS allows us to achieve this.”

Bostik selected Mediaburst to enter the world of MMS because “Mediaburst are the pros of the business – they have the knowledge, expertise and deep understanding of what mobile campaigns are all about,” explains Hayman.

“Clearly, winning Bostik’s Blu-Tack campaign is another feather in Mediaburst’s cap and a further example of this company’s leadership in helping brands to engage with consumers in the most immediate and cost-effective way,” adds Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director.

It now looks it has already had an effect! According to the latest National Email Benchmarking report produced by the Direct Marketing Association’s Email Marketing Council, for the first time, email marketing has now overtaken direct mail in terms of volume. As a campaign provider to marketing agencies we are also seeing this market response in increased enquiries. Many of our SMS clients are now asking us to provide a fully integrated SMS and E Mail campaign service. Once again the underlying message here is clear–.. Once technology offers an alternative to the established practices many customers never go back.

City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) LLP is the latest business to adopt Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool as central to its disaster recovery plan. The web-based tool will enable the law firm to instantly communicate with partners, lawyers and support staff during emergencies to ensure business continuity.

“Mediaburst’s Business Continuity text tool is one of the most cost-effective and efficient means of instantly communicating and interacting with people during emergencies,” says Neil Davison, RPC’s IT operations manager. “At a time when phone networks become congested and communications fail, text messages get delivered. That’s why Mediaburst’s tool has been selected as the prime communicator in our disaster recovery plan.”

Davison’s comments refer to a specific communications problem that all businesses will face during emergencies be they floods, fires, bomb incidents, or otherwise. Phone lines will be come congested and people will be difficult to contact.

As text messages do not rely on voice channels for transmission, they don’t piggyback on enterprise mail servers and travel as small packets of data on a wireless carrier’s control channel… the same portion of the spectrum that keeps a mobile network apprised of a particular phone’s location and status. Being isolated in the control channel, SMS messages are therefore usually unaffected by heavy traffic or adverse conditions that overwhelm wireless networks.

“Reynolds Porter Chamberlain joins the growing numbers of businesses across the spectrum of sectors that have put business continuity strategies in place for immediate deployment during emergencies,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. “Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool has been developed specifically to enable businesses to instantly communicate and interact with their people at any time.”

More on Business Continuity

Mediaburst’s Business Continuity tool is more than an online communications platform. Its rich features allow businesses to better manage the whole communications process and to analyse the results. How it works.

The Business Continuity tool sits on Mediaburst’s secure servers and customers pay an annual license for the service. Businesses then upload contact details of staff to their licensed phonebook for access from any location. Using the contact management feature, they create specific distribution groups such as “Crisis Team” or “Senior Management” to receive specific group messages.

Mediaburst recommends that users create time-saving template messages for use as appropriate and leverage the “merge name” feature to personalise messages for added effectiveness. Using the instant response feature, they can interact with staff and send response messages and content to individuals seeking information. This is particularly useful when distributing a series of instructions or questions.

Conforming with government guidelines for businesses during emergencies, Mediaburst’s tool records all messages sent and delivery receipts thereby establishing an audit trail covering the status and whereabouts of employees. As part of the business-as-usual process, Mediaburst’s tool provides a Fax to Email feature allowing people to receive faxes directly into their Email inbox.

Security and Costs

A total security audit has been conducted by O2 to ensure Mediaburst’s systems are secure, robust, and resilient and that there is no risk to data integrity. The Business Continuity tool is hosted on a secure Mediaburst site with full SSL encryption. Annual licenses for the tool cost just £995,00, excluding VAT and includes 24/7 support for up to 20 working days each year, 3,000 messages and 10 Fax To Email accounts.

I like many others of my generation hope that the current plans for a memorial service are fulfilled and I am delighted to see that the Manchester In the City event in October has released plans to include a tribute to Tony Tony Wilson did a great deal to promote this region and in particular progressive thinking in the creative sector. Fitting then that one of his last engagements was to host the 10th Big Chip awards in May, celebrating the Manchester Digital sector. Mediaburst were proud to be a key sponsor of this event sponsoring the Best Digital Marketing campaign, won by Pavilion Communications for their Lifeworks project Also fitting then that the event was the most successful ever and that the independent trade association for the regions ICT industry, Manchester Digital, is now financially independent for the first time in its history.

Tony will sadly not get to see the continued success of the region or what many believe to be the catalyst for the transformation of the regions digital sector, the move of the BBC to the Mediacity:uk development in Salford Quays. He does however leave a city and digital sector that is vibrant and expanding.

Mediaburst believes that this outstanding result is the highest ever achieved by a mobile messaging business.

“We’re clearly delighted with this result,” says Jeremy Bygrave, Mediaburst’s managing director. “Team Mediaburst strives to provide the highest level of service to all customers, so it’s gratifying for all involved to learn that what we’re doing works for them.”

Examples of customer comments from the survey include:

• staff excellent on the phone as is customer service
• great service and very helpful staff
• easy system to use
• good customer service and staff
• when we moved offices and changed e mail addresses, Mediaburst re-directed our messaging service promptly

Survey administration and results tabulation were performed by TNS Prognostics, an independent research organisation retained by Microsoft to manage the survey process. Meeting survey criteria for score results as well as quantity of responses helps Mediaburst to maintain its status as a Microsoft Certified Partner.

There is a fine line between the rights of both the employee and the employer and the subsequent effect on the consumer. I don’t argue against the rights of any employee but let us please remember that consumers make the market, not us involved in the supply. I am sure that the direct mail industry also applauded this news. The “junk” mail that we all receive in our homes has become an accepted facet of modern life.

Whether the employees of the many organisations who depend upon the direct mail industry, be they designers, printers or fulfilment houses, would agree with the postal workers we may never know. The issue that maybe all concerned should consider is that once given an alternative many markets simply never return. The increasing use of mobile marketing to provide, what in many cases is a cheaper and more effective solution, to unsolicited direct mail is evidence of this.

As a customer of ours recently commented in a TV interview “It would seem that we can never control whether people will open an e mail or a letter, but frankly we’re all to tempted to open a text the minute we get it.” Mobile networks don’t take industrial action and rarely do consumers throw their mobile phone in the bin without digesting the contents. To see the interview in full view Interview

But that’s just the start. Businesses, developers and network operators will also find a wealth of data and facts on the site that will help them to get the best out of Mediaburst’s award-winning solutions. The sheer number of customer testimonials on the new website attesting to the quality and scalability of the company’s products and services is staggering and explains why Mediaburst is now the supplier and partner-of-choice for messaging and aggregation to thousands of businesses, developers, and network operators across Britain.

“We believe the new website well-reflects the leadership that Mediaburst has brought to the mobile messaging and interactive telephony markets these past 7 years,” says Jeremy Bygrave, Mediaburst’s managing director. “It’s a position we fully intend to maintain, helping advertisers, businesses and partners alike to take full advantage of the mobile community market.”

Bygrave’s comment is spurred by new data from First Partner Research & Marketing. The research authority has found that mobile campaigns now generate an average response rate of some 12% – 4 times greater than direct marketing, or over 10 times greater than a typical bulk email response rate.

One of the other interesting additions to Mediaburst’s new website is a blog. The blog becomes one of the company’s vehicles to raise issues with customers and partners that could hamper the projected 630% increase in mobile messaging over the next 4 years. It will be updated regularly.

“As one of the most experienced providers within Mobile Marketing we are delighted to share our thoughts and experiences with the wider marketing community” comments Mediaburst MD Jeremy Bygrave. He continues “our case study with Granby exemplifies how we work in partnership with agencies to provide a fully managed service to the brand”

The interactive book is also to be published on line and is available at:

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/item/56916/259/263/3

About Marketing Week

Marketing Week is the UK’s premier weekly magazine for senior marketers and brand managers. It has been at the forefront of the marketing profession for over 25 years and continues to be the one stop solution to events in the marketing industry.

Independent research has proven time and again that Marketing Week is the title businessmen and women choose to read and is hailed as being the most reliable, informative and constructive publication in the industry.

Pavilion Communication recently received the Mediaburst-sponsored Big Chip award for the Best Digital Marketing Campaign for its Siemens Lifeworks campaign. The campaign launched the Siemens vision of integrated communications across fixed and mobile voice and data channels.

Just like its subject matter, the campaign spanned traditional and new media, delivering video in online ads and websites, downloadable podcasts, search listings, email and direct mail to engage and involve our target business audiences.

But what about future mobile marketing campaigns?

“We see mobile marketing as a real opportunity to enhance our activity with many of our forward looking clients, such as Siemens and others across entertainment, retail, travel and technology sectors,” says Steve Nettlehill, client services director of Pavilion Communication. “Mobile devices provide both an ideal and instant response mechanism and a valuable route to building customer relationships, augmenting other permission-based channels such as email.”

Pavilion believes that two key foundations need to be established to realise the full potential of the highly-personalised channel of contact that mobiles represent – acceptance and trust from the audience, including assurances around privacy and costs, and the provision of truly engaging and accessible content, applications and response mechanisms.

Mediaburst is on the same page. “Today, it is simply not enough to select a feature-rich mobile marketing application,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. “It is now essential that all involved in brand promotions become best-practice mobile messaging practitioners themselves, as well as adopters of audited mobile platforms such as Mediaburst’s that guarantee network resilience and data security.”

About Pavilion Communication

Established in 1986 and independently owned, Pavilion is a full-service integrated service agency based in North West England. Pavilion believes that strong ideas lead to better business results. Its compelling integrated approach enables the agency to deliver effective, creative and cost-efficient campaigns, as well as ensuring consistency across all client communication. Pavilion comprises four groups: a creative team producing distinctive, integrated and campaignable ideas, an in-house media team with expertise in off and online media incliding search marketing, a technical department delivering high quality web solutions and a full range of bespoke applications, and a dedicated CIM qualified Client Services team with communication and planning skills. More at www.pavilioncommunication.com

Mobile messaging and interactive telephony leader Mediaburst today launches its free SMS MediaDAYS program aimed at helping brand promoters to get the best results out of their SMS-driven mobile messaging campaigns.

“There are now over 56 million mobile subscribers in the UK and Mediaburst is possibly the only mobile messaging business that can help advertising, marketing and media agencies to best engage and interact with them,” says Jeremy Bygrave, Mediaburst’s managing director. “Participants in our free SMS MediaDAYS will be able to tap into our expertise in big brand mobile promotions and then offer even greater service to their brands and brand masters.”

Mediaburst was formed in 2000 and has since partnered with many agencies to help them get the best results out of SMS campaigns. Agencies behind brands such as Bailey’s, Coca Cola, Kelloggs, Sainbury’s and TfL all find that Mediaburst SMS techniques deliver instant results and allows them to develop profitable one-to-one relationships with consumers.

All that creative, marketing and media leaders and members need do to benefit from Mediaburst’s free MediaDAYS offer is call 01625 588 620. Just tell Mediaburst when you want their training team to turn up at your offices, and how many of your colleagues will be involved.

Remember. More and more brand owners are now beginning to seriously exploit SMS as an instant and cost-effective campaign channel. And if the experts are right, about 90% of brands will use SMS as a fundamental part of their campaign tools by 2008. So, if you’re in the business of promoting brands, better call 01625 588 620 now rather than later.

It is also becoming clear that consumers are increasingly comfortable communicating with promoters by SMS, as a vehicle for entering competitions and instant win prize promotions. Brand owners are now starting to exploit this additional channel as a complementary cost effective route to target time-poor consumers with promotional campaigns.

SMS can be used both as a solus channel and also in combination with “traditional” web, mail and telephone entry methods. As a medium, the channel provides consumers with an opportunity to respond immediately and conveniently to promotional offers. For brands, high volume response can be managed efficiently and with cost savings as consumers enter their own data without the need for re-keying by the response management house.

However, it is critical that the “back-end” fulfilment partner has the capability to integrate this new channel seamlessly into the response management process. From both the promoter’s and the consumer’s point of view, the growing popularity of this new channel will not be sustained if fulfilment quality standards do not match those provided when using alternative response routes.

Granby Marketing Services has been working with SMS Provider Mediaburst to provide a solution which meets promoters’ needs for secure, reliable data management and rapid fulfilment of premiums and prizes. As a specialist in delivering SMS text messaging and automated voice solutions, Mediaburst has the proven experience of seamlessly integrating SMS into the marketing mix. Granby has particularly chosen to partner with Mediaburst due to their expert staff, 24-hour assistance and the speed and quality of message delivery.

Granby and Mediaburst are therefore now offering a one-stop SMS promotional package which combines Mediaburst’s leading edge telephony platform and Granby’s proven fulfilment capability. Consumer records entered via SMS are automatically uploaded into Granby’s SCOPe data management and order processing system under a promotion code which may be handling response from multiple channels. Records are source coded for reporting purposes and premium or prize fulfilment orders are then picked, packed and despatched within tight turnaround times to ensure customer delight.

Says Chris Robinson, sales and marketing director, Granby Marketing Services: “Our partnership with MediaBurst provides a unique solution for promoters using SMS to create a proposition with one or several calls to action. Utilising MediaBurst’s technology in combination with Granby’s response management expertise delivers a completely integrated platform to capture consumer data, select prize winners using unique codes or random selection processes and fulfil to winners. Furthermore, we can provide promoters with the re-assurance that all prize promotions are handled in compliance with the CAP codes and ISP best practice standards.”

“Clearly, SMS is transforming the way that promoters are reaching the consumer,” adds Mediaburst’s managing director, Jeremy Bygrave. “The combination off Granby Marketing’s big brand expertise and Mediaburst’s award-winning mobile messaging services is unique and is the fast track for promoters to securely and instantly engage with millions of mobile users,”

“Any new brand initiatives such as digital media campaigns needs its innovators, as well as educators and promoters,” says Stuart Brown, Mediaburst’s sales director. ” As a leading digital media business that partners with marketing, advertising and media agencies nationwide, Mediaburst is delighted to support such a core regional event.”

During the ceremony, Mediaburst will provide its unique Text 2 Screen application to help the organiser’s better engage with the audience.

About Big Chip

The Big Chips Awards are run for the industry each year, not for profit, by independent trade association Manchester Digital with support and help from industry volunteers. This year’s awards will be judged by a distinguished panel of experts from organisations such as industry magazine New Media Age, as well as the BBC, Trevor Beattie’s new agency and The Chase. Big Chip are the top awards for ICT and new media outside London, and have attracted entries from the region’s best over the last 9 years.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM1f_UptvFw

It’s official voice messaging and SMS provider Mediaburst is now one of Britain’s fastest growing digital media companies. The company enters the industry’s Media Momentum 2007 league table for the first time having achieved revenue growth of 236% over the 2 year qualifying period.

Each year, Media Momentum publishes the definitive list of the top 50 digital media companies. The Top 50 companies in the 2007 list successfully grew their revenue base from £139m to £453m in the 2 year period, 2003 – 2005. Mediaburst is 31st on the list.

Mediaburst’s sales director Stuart Brown comments: “Clearly, Mediaburst’s entry into Media Momentum’s coveted league table results from the growing use of quality SMS and voice messaging as part of the overall spend on brand promotions. Advertising and marketing agencies nationwide are impressed by the immediacy and return of our mobile solutions.”

But over the past few years, the brand has grown to represent even more value to couples, giving them the confidence and freedom to enjoy even better sex.

Strengthening its unique bond with sexually active partners, Durex introduced its exclusive Play range comprising vibrators and lubricants to add an extra dimension to their love life.

Durex’s Play campaign included TV ads, which offered viewers the chance to text for a lube sample. They sent a text with the keyword PLAY to 87103. All texts were charged at 25p plus the cost of a standard text message.

Ruth Gresty, Duex’s Senior Brand Manager, comments: “We believe using SMS as a medium for sample requests is the easy choice for potential customers to trial a product before purchasing. Most people have their mobile phone close by whilst watching TV which means it is easy and accessible, making response to a TV ad more likely compared with phoning a number, accessing a website or visiting a post box.”

Gresty continues: “This is Durex’s first mobile marketing campaign. Whilst I’m confident of the results, like any campaign these will be closely monitored so we can take these lessons forward when looking at other SMS initiatives we can implement to increase interaction with consumers.

“Mediaburst won the Durex trial because they know how to design and implement campaigns. They’re ahead of the curve in terms of knowledge and expertise, and deliver results,” she adds.” That’s why Durex now recommends Mediaburst to any business considering SMS for part of their marketing mix.”

Stuart Brown, Sales Director, of SMS Provider Mediaburst concludes: “Mediaburst is increasingly working with large brands such as Durex to implement mobile marketing campaigns. We have the expertise in-house and the ability to offer fulfilment, allowing us to deliver customers with the complete package making SMS an accessible element of the marketing mix. Compared with phone, post and web alternatives, our clients see significant increases in response rates through SMS. And thanks to tools such as address validation, promotions are delivered to the correct address ensuring an excellent customer experience, as well as minimising cost.”

Rising Star in 2005, SMS Provider Mediaburst today announced that it has been selected as the winner in the North and ranked sixth overall in the 2006 Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the UK and Ireland. Rankings are based on average percentage revenue growth over 5 years.

“Growing the top line enough to make the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 is especially meaningful during competitive times for the technology sector,” said Simon Kerton-Johnson, Chairman of Deloitte’s UK & Ireland Fast 50. “We congratulate Mediaburst on becoming one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the Northern Region.”

Jeremy Bygrave, Managing Director, Mediaburst says his company’s emphasis on providing complete flexible solutions has enabled it to take advantage of changes in the market:

“The market has matured. Five years ago there was a lot of ‘spam’ and the telecommunications companies worked hard to eliminate this. The cost of a message has increased to a level where it is not practical to use the network for spam now. But SMS is now being seen as a real business opportunity.”

“We have a wide range of customers, across a variety of sectors who use our applications to send and receive SMS for staff and customer messaging. For example, Tesco use SMS to distribute KPI information to it’s management team. Selfridges use our SMS API to inform customers their garment is ready for collection from their alteration service. Durex receive sample requests via SMS with the text number shown in their latest TV advert. Hachette Filipacchi use SMS for text to win competitions, lowest unique bid, voting, collating feedback- Think Money send automated balance updates to customers to reduce enquiries into their call centre. The opportunities and benefits of SMS are endless”

“Other services include IVR, for example, Kellogg’s used this service for brand awareness for Frosties. Advertised on the radio, listeners are encouraged to ring a freephone number to record their own version of the tune from the latest Frosties ad. The winners will be featured on the radio.”

Jeremy says future growth is expected to come from its virtual services provider (VSP) proposition and what he calls Application Exchange:

“We have the infrastructure that content providers and application developers can use to offer services to others on the network which we see as a big growth area.”

Managing Director, Jeremy Bygrave concludes “It is an honour to be listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 and is testament to the experience, expertise and unique technology capability Mediaburst offers its customers.”

Usave.tv launched a competition to win a massage chair, which retails at around £1,800. Even if entrants are unsuccessful, Usave.tv will provide the chance to purchase the chair at the highly-discounted price of £699.95 – a saving of £1,100!

For a chance to win the chair, viewers watched Usave.tv on Sky Channel 670. Then with the answer to the question, sent a text CHAIR + A, B or C to 87202 (£1.50) or rang 09077 071 101 (£1.50) with their answer.

Usave.tv selected SMS Provider Mediaburst as their communications partner to supply the text and IVR line.

Martin Breffit, Director at Usave.tv, explains: “Mediaburst’s consultative approach and expertise are singular in the industry and are compelling arguments to doing business with the company. They have listened to our needs and created a solution to meet them. That’s why we like many other brands also recommend Mediaburst messaging.”

Stuart Brown, Sales Director at Mediaburst, concludes: “Competitions like Usave’s can be extremely successful. People tend to have their mobile phones next to them when watching TV therefore it’s quick and easy to send a text or phone a number compared with logging on to a website or snail mailing an entry.”

Launched nationally via local radio, winning entries were to feature in the next radio ad. Consumers could also submit their entries via Kellogg’s website, www.frosties.co.uk.

Kellogg selected award-winning messaging IVR and SMS Provider Mediaburst as its communications partner to build and manage this IVR line.

Tom Newitt, Kellogg’s Senior Brand Manager, explains why: “At Kellogg, consumer data security is paramount and we only partner with messaging companies that can deliver a totally secure and reliable service. From our perspective, that means Mediaburst and only Mediaburst.”

Newitt adds: “The new Frosties campaign is the first one we have worked on with Mediaburst. They have been both professional and flexible throughout, taking a consultative approach to the project and suggesting ideas we had not considered to increase campaign success.

“Mediaburst’s expertise was clear when it came to preparing the script for the IVR and then putting this into action with the build. We are now looking at other opportunities with Mediaburst to incorporate SMS and IVR into our campaigns.”

Jeremy Bygrave, Managing Director of Mediaburst concludes: “Clearly, we’re proud to be associated with the Kellogg brand and look forward to working with them time and again to increase consumer interaction across their compelling portfolios.”

When advertising the university across TV, radio, press, schools and colleges, Salford University includes an SMS shortcode e.g. 87202, allowing prospective students to immediately text for a brochure.

Students need only provide their postcode, which allows address validation via mediaburst’s systems. Once the address is validated, this information is passed to fulfilment for the prospectus to be mailed to them.

Mediaburst’s solution is win-win. From the student’s perspective, they receive the brochure quickly; from the university’s, they know that the brochure has been sent to the correct address, saving significant time and money of re-distributing items or managing inbound calls via a dedicated person.

Stuart Brown, Sales Director at mediaburst, comments:

“Salford University’s mediaburst-driven SMS solution is a really simple and effective tool for communicating with young audiences and is a beacon for all other universities across the country. Brochure requests via SMS is increasing, and when linked in with address validation software, saves time and money. It represents a great example of what can be achieved with a touch of creativity and a powerful SMS API“