Archive for January, 2010

A recent text message voting application run by Advanced Telecom Services, in conjunction with adidas, chose the ski goggles that a British athlete will wear in the upcoming Vancouver Olympics.

Fans voted by text message for one of many ski goggles that were designed by artists from around the world.  The top ten vote getters were then sent to adidas which chose the winner.  The winner will receive a $20,000 contract and his goggles will be worn by a British skier in Vancouver in February.

John Felipe of Portugal was the winner of the contest with a striking design that used the colors of the Union Jack.

You can see Felipe’s winning adidas ski goggle design here.

The response by the American people to make a text message donation for the ravaged people of Haiti has been nothing short of phenomenal.  Reports today indicate that over $30 million has been

raised through premium SMS text message donation services for Haiti.

First Lady Michelle Obama has appeared in prime time commercials promoting viewers to Text HAITI to 90999 and donate $10.  The Obama campaign knows a thing or two about mobile marketing; it helped launched President Obama into the White House during the 2008 election.

“Raising this amount of money $10 at a time is a true testament to the American spirit,” Jeffrey Towers, American Red Cross chief development officer, said in a statement. “The success of the mobile campaign shows the powerful impact and opportunity this channel can have on fundraising.  The needs in Haiti are tremendous and we want to thank the people who continue to donate and help the American Red Cross meet that need.”

84444.com and Advanced Telecom Services has announced that it will donate 20% of all net revenue received from text message donation programs in February 2010 to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

The following is an updated list of relief organizations that are accepting Haiti relief contributions via SMS:

In the US:

• Text the word “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 On behalf of the American Red Cross in the U.S.
• Text the workd “HAITI” to 864833 to donate $5 On behalf of the United Way
• Text the word “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5, or text the word “Yele10” or “YeleTen” to 501501 to donate $10 On behalf of the Yéle Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean
• Text the word “QUAKE” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
• Text the word “Haiti” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund
• Text the word “Haiti” to 52000 to donate $10 On behalf of the Salvation Army
• Text the word “Hope10” or “UNICEF” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of UNICEF
• Text the word “Haiti” to 40579 to donate $10 On behalf of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB)
• Text the word “Save” or “Safe” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of Save the Children Federation, Inc.
• Text the word “Give” or “World” to 20222 to donate $10 On behalf of World Vision Inc.
• Text the word “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $10 On behalf of the International Medical Corps
• Text the word “Haiti” to 25383 to donate $5 On behalf of the International Rescue Committee
• Text the word “Oxfam” to 25383 to donate $10 On behalf of Oxfam America, Inc.
• Text the word “PP” to 25383 to donate $10  On behalf of Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc. (CARE)
• Text the word “Americares” to 25383 to donate $10 On behalf of Americares, Inc.
• Text the word “Habitat” to 25383 to donate $10 On behalf of Habitat for Humanity
• Text the word “Give” to 25383 to donate $10 On behalf of the MTV telethon
• Text the word “AJWS” to 25383 to donate $10 On behalf of the American Jewish World Service
• Text the word “LWR” to 40579 to donate $10 On behalf of Lutheran World Relief

In Canada:

• Text the word “Haiti” to 30333 to donate $5 on behalf of the Plan Canada
• Text the word “Hope” or “Monde” to 45678 to donate $5 on behalf of World Vision Canada
• Text the word “CAHAITI” to 20222 to donate $5 on behalf of the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative
• Text the word “Haiti” to 45678 on behalf of the Salvation Army in Canada

T-Mobile has informed us of an issue on their SMS platform between December 17th and December 30th, 2009 which meant that a significant proportion of Delivery Reports were not correctly routed. Because of this, the billing transactions for PSMS traffic were not correctly completed; however, it is likely that the end users did receive the content correctly.

We will be working with T-Mobile to rebill these users correctly.

Because these messages will be rebilled in January, T-Mobile will outpay for the billing transactions as part of the January settlement. Partners should therefore be aware that the December settlement will be lower than expected, and the January settlement will be correspondingly higher.

The 84444.com team had a celebratory dinner last night (January 6,

2010) at local restaurant Fleming’s.  The 84444.com mobile marketing team was there to celebrate its outstanding growth in 2009 and to welcome the new  year.

Significant growth was made in the areas of text message marketing, mobile coupons, and text message sweepstakes in 2009 and 84444.com is even more confident that its growth in 2010 will exceed that of 2009.

Thanks to the 84444.com mobile marketing team for a great year!

84444.com — Your Message on the Move

Chief Marketer surveyed 737 of its readers about their plans for social

marketing tactics for 2010.

It was an interesting endorsement of mobile marketing, especially that of mobile coupons.

• 20% plan to use mobile coupons or downloadable web coupons.
• 13% plan to use mobile text message campaigns.
• 7% plan to use mobile short codes in offline marketing.  In other words, “Text RESULTS to 84444″ on a billboard or radio advertisement.

The use of interactive text message programs and mobile short codes allows all advertisements to become interactive.  It also allows for the brand or product to be able to gauge the effectiveness of the advertising through the direct response mechanism of the short code.

If you think your teenage daughter sends a lot of text messages, think again.  It’s nothing compared to the amount of text messages being sent worldwide.

Figures released by the CTIA show that during the first six months of 2009 over 740 billion text messages were sent!  That breaks down to about 4.1 billion text messages per day!  That’s 17 text messages per cell phone, per day!

And, while we are texting more, people are actually talking less.  Average call length for cell phone calls topped 3.13 minutes in 2007.  In 2009, with the increase in text messages, average talking time dropped to just 2.03 minutes.

Don’t Text and Drive

If you live in Illinois, New Hampshire, or Oregon, you are no longer able to

send or read text messages while driving as of January 1, 2010.

Illinois, New Hampshire, and Oregon are just three more states that have recognized just how dangerous it can be to text and drive. Unfortunately, its a situation that continues to be a problem that is making our roads increasingly dangerous.

A recent study showed that 20% of drivers still send text messages while driving, despite the obvious danger that it imposes.  Moreover, 44% of all drivers read text messages while driving.

This is despite a University of Utah study that showed that drivers who text and drive at the same time are six times more likely to be involved in an accident.

At 84444.com, we love text messages.  84444.com is, however, adamantly opposed to any form of text messaging while driving and we hope that all of our customers refrain from doing so.

Job Opportunity — Article Writer

84444.com, a product of Advanced Telecom Services, seeks a qualified American author to write a series of 25 articles per month about mobile marketing.  Most articles will be targeted toward vertical markets served by mobile marketing and  mobile advertising.

You can find the complete article writing job description on Elance.

Or, contact sales at advancedtele dot com.

 

The number of households that have cut the cord to the landline phone continues to increase.  We have documented this trend in previous posts about cell phone only households.

Now, Arbitron has received the message too.  In an attempt to make its radio ratings more accurate, Arbitron has announced plans to increase its diary market cell-phone-only (CPO) households.  Arbitron plans to increase its cell-phone-only households to 15% across all of its diary markets in the USA by Spring 2010.

Text Message Sweepstakes are a big part of interactive text message use and a great way to build your opt-in

database.  In fact, it’s such an important part of mobile marketing, that 84444.com has a special part of its site with enhanced features just for sweepstakes and contests.

“Many people are overwhelmed at the thought of creating an opt-in database at the outset of their mobile marketing project,” said Bob Bentz of Advanced Telecom Services.  “But, it doesn’t have to be a daunting task.  Using a text message sweepstakes or a mobile coupon is the best way to build your initial opt-in database.”

There is no doubt about the power of text message sweepstakes to gain maximum exposure for your mobile marketing product.  People like to win things and sending a text message to a short code is an easy thing to do to enter.  You can do it during your down time and it doesn’t require starting a computer or mailing in an entry form.

A recent study by VSS Communications Industry Forecast shows that sweepstakes spending continues to grow, despite a failing economy.

• 2003 — $1.798 billion
• 2005 — $1.804 billion
• 2007 — $1.854 billion
• 2009 — $1.870 billion