Companies discover marketing power of text messaging
Last Updated: Monday, September 25, 2006 | 12:53 PM ET
The Associated Press
Get ready for your phone inbox to fill up faster. From fast-food chains to carmakers, to consumer goods manufacturers and sports franchises, more and more companies are targeting consumers with text messaging.
The practice has taken off this year and appears ready to explode, according to Gerry Purdy, an analyst for Frost and Sullivan.
"Probably the most important medium for advertising in the 21st century is going to be the cell phone — not print media, not billboards. It's just a matter of time — there are just too many of them," he said.
Globally, there are 2.5 billion cell phones in use, up a half billion in 12 months, according to Wireless Intelligence, a joint venture between the GSM Association industry group and the research firm Ovum.
It's also companies going where consumers are. More than 95 million Americans are considered active text messengers, according to the Yankee Group research firm. And marketers see it as low on cost and high in effectiveness.
Unlike other nations, where cell users typically pay for messages they send but not receive, most U.S. cell subscribers pay for outgoing and incoming messages, often buying plans with a monthly allowance.
It's unclear how many will "opt in" to a marketing campaign unless the marketer foots the bill for the incoming promotional message. That is the approach wireless carriers often take when they text-message account information or promotions to their customers.
Verizon Wireless says marketers have shown tremendous interest in arranging text-messaging campaigns where recipients wouldn't be charged, though no deals have been cut as yet.
Text messaging "provides anytime, anywhere access to the consumer because the mobile phone is always on and always available," said Laura Marriott, executive director of the Mobile Marketing Association.
Contests and sweepstakes that require consumers to enter via text message are among the most popular campaigns so far, according to Marriott, citing McDonald's, Burger King, Procter & Gamble Co., General Motors Corp. and CBS Corp. among the corporate giants that have used them.
Text-message marketing campaigns took root first in Europe and Asia, where corporations found it easier to connect.
McDonald's Corp., one of the world's most prolific advertisers, cited success with its "Win World Cup Chicken" game in the United Kingdom last spring. Thousands of customers text-messaged a code they received when ordering products in the restaurants for the chance to win World Cup soccer tickets.
Consultant Frederick Newell says companies using text messaging should move carefully because of privacy concerns and must get customers' permission first.
"I think the potential for it is enormous, but it puts a lot of responsibility on marketers to use it in a responsible way," said Newell, CEO of marketing consultancy Seklemian/Newell in Miami Beach, Fla. "If they misuse this in any way, every congressman in the country is going to be up screaming."
SmartReply, the Irvine, Calif.-based marketing firm involved in the Meijer campaign, said consumers need not fear a bombardment of unwanted messages from the burgeoning industry.
"Mobile marketing has the power of e-mail but we've learned from the mistakes of e-mail in that the mobile channel is regulated from the beginning in terms of spam," said Mike Romano, the company's executive vice president of business development.
Providers of text-messaging services, he noted, also must be qualified and approved to use the carrier networks.
