Premium rate text messages are a useful and highly convenient way of using a mobile to charge for a service or product, or to make a donation to a worthy cause. You simply send a text message with a keyword and short code and quickly receive a text response. It is the text message you receive that triggers the premium rate charge rather than the message you send.
Well, probably not, but you never know! For a number of weeks now, rumours have been floating around in the ether that certain unscrupulous employers are asking job seekers in interviews to hand over their Facebook password, presumably so that they can further screen the candidate’s suitability for the job.
I’ve been aware of NFC for sometime and back in January we published a consumer guide to NFC centred around how I believe it will be the next big thing in mobile. At the weekend I mentored at Launch48 in Birmingham and one of the participants showed me what he was doing with NFC, and all I could say was “Wow!”
It seems that in the world of the smartphone we are reaching a plateau. In the late 90s and early 2000s the trend was to make mobiles smaller and smaller, more recently the trend has been in the other direction, with manufacturers making mobiles as large as they feel you will tolerate, and this trend seems likely to be around for a while.
Like many millions around the world, I tuned in to the Apple event last night (okay, I was watching a quickly updating twitter feed) with excitement and anticipation. I’m not a big fan of Apple, and do not own any of their devices, but I have to admit that when they call a press conference, with the exception of the iPhone 5 that never was, they normally announce something that makes people sit up and say “Wow!”
Well, maybe! We blogged a few weeks ago about the issues facing workers who are forced to use two mobiles, one for work and one personal, and the ‘bring a device to work’ trend of using your personal mobile for work related tasks and why that is a bad idea. We suggested a solution and it seems like someone, namely O2 may have been listening.
Text message mobile marketing for business is still the most effective way for an organisation can use mobile advertising to promote their business. We are not talking about bulk messaging, but rather inbound SMS marketing, where you publish a keyword and a short code, combined with a compelling reason for your potential customer to send your business a text message.
It seems unlikely to think that some of the more popular mobile apps would be taking personal and private data from your mobile and storing it on their own servers for whatever purpose they deem appropriate, but it appears that this is exactly what has been happening without either your permission or your knowledge.
Groupon recently announced its first set of results since going public, and the market reacted badly. Yes, revenue tripled, but where a modest profit had been expected, came a $37m loss. Is the consumer no longer attracted by a discount? Have we fallen out of love with daily offers?
The rise of the humble mobile phone is phenomenal. For most, they are never without their mobile, and when it beeps or vibrates, they check to see what it is. It is a marketers dream! We’ve all become annoyed at receiving unwanted text messages (which we very much disapprove of), but marketers are becoming more and more creative at getting their message in front of you.