As Sarah leaves work, worn out from dealing with e-mails, phone calls, customers and her boss, she realizes she’s totally unprepared to face fixing an evening meal. She grabs her cell phone to go online, hoping to find inspiration in the form of a recipe she can throw together for the family. As she’s connecting with foodnetwork.com, a banner ad hits the phone screen. “Let us cook dinner for you!” it says.

Right now, not even a Rachael Ray 30-minute meal could sound better, so Sarah clicks on the ad, which is for a local cafeteria that features carry-out. Her phone automatically dials an 800 number, connecting her to the cafeteria’s menu listing. Before she gets her car started she’s ordered dinner and gotten directions to the cafeteria’s nearest location. Things are already looking up!

What makes this possible is evolving technology and the resulting marketing innovation – mobile marketing – that is picking up steam as Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless begin permitting banner ads on their landing pages.

In a January 8, 2007 article by Kenneth Hein in Brandweek, John Hadl, creator of Procter & Gamble’s Mobile Ad Lab, says, “There’s a great deal of cautious optimism (about mobile marketing). We know the Internet is an impactful channel for brand marketers. The mobile phone promises to deliver many of the same benefits and results.”

Mobile marketing strategy is coming on line as cellular providers loosen the prohibition against marketing messages and as more and more of the 200 million people who carry cell phones are upgrading to wireless access protocol (WAP)-enabled phones – those with video and web-access capabilities. According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, consumers update their wireless devices an average of every 18 months.

According to the Brandweek article, many brand marketers are beginning to add a line item for mobile marketing in their budgets. Some that have tried it are Pepsi, Sheetz convenience stores, Ford’s Lincoln Mercury division and Toyota. The question is, is it time for you to make this innovation a part of your business’s marketing strategy?

Methods that companies have used to reach consumers by cell phone are evolving as well. You have probably seen traditional billboard or TV ad messages prompting consumers to text in a code to vote, answer trivia questions, etc. Other examples are banners on web sites (where Sarah happily discovered the cafeteria) or actual programming, termed “mobisodes,” that run on cell phones just like traditional broadcast or cable content.

With nearly three-fourths of adults in the U.S. equipped with a cell phone, and with the most active users being among two highly desirable demographic audiences – college students and business travelers – Brandweek points out it’s no wonder marketers are chomping at the bit to take advantage of this targeted-message capability. Mobile marketing can reach customers in a specific demographic location, and can reach them at a time and place when they are making a purchase decision.

Yet, while the potential for reaching consumers on cell phones is huge, the Brandweek article notes that most consumers do not yet have WAP-enabled phones, most carriers still have strict rules about marketing content, and most consumers are still resistant to receiving ads on their cell phones. It quoted a Forrester Research study that revealed that nearly eight of 10 consumers and five of 10 students are turned off by the idea of ads on their cell phones. To stave off complaints, the Mobile Marketing Association has established marketing guidelines that require cell phone users to opt in before marketers can send them text messages.

It’s really too early to tell how effective mobile marketing may be. However Brandweek reported that in the Sheetz stores text initiative, 13,000 people opted in and more than three-fourths responded to text messages or redeemed coupons. In addition, mobile outperformed radio by more than 64% and billboards by more than 24%.

With online marketing, there has been enough experience to develop a process to measure click-through rates and results. Procter & Gamble’s Hadl admits, “We have not figured out what a click is worth in the mobile channel.” Research and testing during 2007 should contribute to this knowledge.

So should you put mobile marketing in your budget for 2007? Bill White, partner in MillerWhite Integrated Marketing points out that as consumers trade in their current phones for the next generation model every 18 months, it will take another year for a majority of Americans to make the switch to the WAP-enabled phone. And considering that programming is still being developed, methods of tracking results are still being tested, and consumers are still warming up to receiving ads on their cell phones, you will probably want to put off budgeting for mobile marketing at least until 2008.

"All businesses need to plan for the upcoming marketing shift, when the Big Three – radio, television and print – will be equaled by the Next Three – Internet, eMail and mobile," White said. "Working with an integrated marketing firm can help you make the Next Three an effective part of your comprehensive marketing plan."

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