Mobile and the web have in common many characteristics. They're interactive, instantaneous and cost-effective. They've both been adopted as direct marketing media and today, they're both contenders for some of the traditional media spend. But are they media competing for the same budget or are they complementary?

Ford Motor Company Ltd, today announced that it is embarking upon a mobile marketing initiative, as part of a digital direct marketing drive to promote awareness of the Ford Ka. The campaign has been developed by CRM agency, Wunderman, together with Flytxt, the leading provider of technology and expertise for mobile marketing and interactivity, and offers mailing recipients the chance to win a shopping spree to New York.

Pioneer of mobile marketing continues to lead the sector - Flytxt, the leader in technology and expertise for mobile marketing and interactivity, today announced that it has closed a second fundraising round of £2m. The company, which has been cash flow positive for the last 12 months, will use the second round of funds for product development, investment in emerging technologies and to support its aggressive hiring and development strategy over the next six months.

Three years on, and the mobile marketing industry is stronger than ever. Volumes of text messages have increased by 200% over the past two years to an average of 55 million per day. Increasing numbers of blue chip companies have been adopting this communication medium and the original pioneers of mobile, such as Emap and Chrysalis, now have retained mobile marketing partners and long-term strategies.

Macmillan Children's books is launching an integrated TV, press and SMS campaign - Macmillan Children's books, part of Pan Macmillan, the global publishing group, today announced that to promote the release of its fifth series of 'The Princess Diaries' it is launching an integrated TV, press and SMS campaign to appeal to its existing loyal Princess text club and to attract budding princesses. Macmillan has again enlisted the help of Flytxt, the leading provider of technology and expertise for mobile marketing and interactivity, to handle the campaign's wireless elements. The campaign will launch on 5th September, in advance of the release of Princess Diaries 5.

Thomas is currently leading Flytxt's software architecture development. Previously Thomas was a senior architect with IBM Global Services in Germany, where he acted as lead architect on large scale e-business implementations in the banking, insurance and travel sectors.