Alexander’s Blog

Mobile marketing is an exciting industry segment. It is still fairly new, although more and more companies are using mobile marketing tools in one way or another. However, what constitutes optimized mobile marketing remains a hotly debated topic.

On the one hand you have marketers who use mobile based on the “hit and miss” principle of traditional media: reach as many people as possible and hope that your target market is among them and responds. This includes for example tagging “Please Call Me’s” with your ad message. Established market research companies like Nielsen, although providing nothing more than educated guesses, are the alpha and omega for media planners when they decide on such campaigns. But say what you will, it works, even though everybody knows that 50% of your marketing budget evaporates in this traditional media approach to advertising without having any impact at all.

Then you have the sheeple, those that follow the latest trend because it is oh so sexy. They are the type of people who went crazy with the internet, which eventually led to the burst of the .com bubble. They will have a mobi site just because “everyone has one”, and lately they all invest in iPhone apps. Few of them will actually see any tangible results, but at least they are gaining experience in something new

Lastly you have the visionaries and thinkers who earnestly discuss and find solutions on how to best utilize the 26 contact points which the “always with me, always on and always personal” mobile phone offers marketers. These visionaries usually take some time to be heard, but they are always at the forefront of exciting new developments and, more often than not, co-responsible for them. They create real competitive advantages for their companies, brands, products and services and last, but not least, for their customers and clients.

Such a bunch of visionaries will gather on 20 August 2009 in Johannesburg for the Thinking Mobile™ Conference. Representatives of MTN, FNB, Clickatell, AdMob, MXit, Starfish Mobile, Brandsh, lovelife, myMOBworld.com and myMOBworld.mobi will share their know how, knowledge and latest offerings in optimized  mobile marketing solutions. Also joining them will be US mobile marketing expert Kim Dushinski.

The beneficiaries of this event are NGO’s, parastatals, brand managers, event organizers and the like who will have the opportunity to learn from the best.

Many mobile conferences are held around the world, but few focus on practical mobile marketing solutions. This is particularly true for Africa in general and South Africa in particular. So anyone who has to do with mobile marketing in one way or another should attend this conference and also utilize its Early Bird and Group specials.

Visit the official conference website http://mobilemarketingwinners.com or the conference mobi site http://mobilemarketingwinners.param.mobi