| The Text-Best Thing To Being There |
| Tuesday, 29 March 2005 | |
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Forbes-US - Today's Trend: Text messaging, or SMS, a standard keyboard feature on mobile phones, suddenly seems nifty to consumers, telecos and marketers. Why: "It's a multitasker's dream," says Find/SVP telecommunications consultant Keith Kirkpatrick. But it used to be used mostly by kids, who evolved their own shorthand to accommodate the limited (170) character options (do U get it 2 the max?). Now harried professionals can communicate discreetly in meetings, and "marketers have gotten hold of this technology and realized that it's a great way to generate mind share for their products," says Kirkpatrick. And at 10 cents per message, carriers see this as an easy revenue generator.Opportunity: Over a dozen companies have clustered into the SMS marketing arena, including Enpocket, Flytxt and EHS Brann. Cross-promotions with other types of media are common, says Kirkpatrick, like an American Idol promotion that asked viewers to use text messaging to vote on candidates. Kirkpatrick also sees strong prospects for SMS as an inexpensive survey and upselling tool. "Vendors are able to get instantaneous measurements about their products from people who have actually bought them, and response rates are quite high." Danger: Remember "spam?" Unsolicited SMS messages go by the unattractive name of "spim" and are just as popular. As one industry source noted, "A mobile phone is a very personal thing." Companies to watch: Enpocket, Flytxt, mkodo, EHS Brann, ThinkData, Claritas Interactive, a company of VNU Marketing Information Europe © Copyright Flytxt Ltd 2006. Unauthorized use of any content constitutes a material breach. |
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