I just read MediaPost’s Engage:GenY article “Mobile Marketing Won’t Work Here” and wanted to respond. The author of this post has taken a rather uneducated (some would define it as simply clueless trolling) view of mobile marketing that stands in contrast to a growing number of reports and case studies that reflect the health of the mobile marketing industry, particularly among Generation Y.

The statistics are there: just last fall, Nielsen reported that the average mobile phone user sent more text messages than phone calls in a month, and this is particularly true among younger demographics. Creative opt-in marketing campaigns by way of couponing, sweepstakes and audience interaction all have proven track records, and teens are the most likely to engage with short code marketing. Mainstream examples of mobile engagement with today’s youth include:

• American Idol’s ongoing incorporation of audience engagement by way of SMS text-messaging voting
• President Obama announcing his VP candidate via SMS to 3 million subscribers
• Text-2-screen campaigns at concerts and sports games

However, those statistics and success stories don’t address the author’s most egregious statement, his definition of mobile marketing:

Essentially, a marketer will gain access to a list of private cell phone numbers, unbeknownst to the owners of the devices, and will send them a text message with advertisement copy.

The cell phone is an extremely personal device and any reputable marketer is mindful of a heightened sensitivity surrounding the medium. Frantic urban legend e-mail forwards about telemarketers invading the mobile space have been popular for years but the Mobile Marketing Association works hand-in-hand with both mobile marketing companies and the carriers to ensure the sanctity of the personal device is not encroached by overzealous marketing clients. Each of us in the industry supports (or should support) this effort by offering built-in MMA and carrier compliant message flow policies into each campaign our clients run.

The possibilities for the mobile channel marketer are extensive – messaging, polling, ringtones and wallpapers, mobile websites, store locators, coupons, last-minute announcements and deals – but they, as always, need to apply standard marketing principles to ensure that their campaign or brand message not only reaches their targeted pool of potential customers in a creative and compelling way, but that it’s done in a manner that is beneficial to all involved: customer, client, mobile marketing platform providers as well as the carriers themselves.