So here we are with our monthly round-up of all that’s been happening in the world of mobile marketing these past few weeks. This month’s round-up is a somewhat special one, as we prepare to embark on our fourth year of reporting on the mobile marketing business. We’d like to offer a heartfelt thanks to all those readers who have been with us since day one, and indeed to all those who haven’t, but who have discovered us at some point over the past three years. A big thank you, too, to all our advertisers, past, present and future, without whose support we couldn’t continue doing what we do.
There wasn’t an awful lot of advertising activity, either on the site, or in the mobile channel, when we launched in earnest on 31 October 2005, but that all seems a long time ago now. Three years on, in October 2008, mobile advertising was, once again, at the heart of things. Mobile ad network AdMob reported that worldwide ad requests on its network during September 08 were 0.8% down on the previous month at 5.1 billion, while ads served increased 26% to 4.5 billion. The company also revealed  that it had secured an additional $15.7 million (£9.6 million) funding.
3 UK selected 4th Screen and Mobix Interactive to run its ad-supported mobile video service, while Qualcomm and Amobee Media Systems revealed that they are working together to offer mobile advertising on Qualcomm’s ‘Plaza’ widget platform. Meanwhile in Turkey, ROK Entertainment Group and Turkish IT company Basari announced that the Geniem Midlogic On-Device Portal (ODP) content-delivery application is being installed on Samsung handsets in Turkey.
Gofresh announced the commercial launch of itsmy.biz, which the company claims is the largest social advertising network in the mobile space, with a reach of 4 million mobile Internet users. The rich media-enabled network focuses on three mobile advertising formats: animated full colour banners; mobile site and content branding; and mobile video and TV.
Mobile agency RingRing Media announced the official launch of I’AM, which it says is the mobile industry’s first mobile advertising network optimisation platform that connects publishers to the largest possible pool of advertisers. RingRing also revealed that mobile social networking company Moblr was using I’AM, to improve the user experience. And Vodafone and Visa reported an enthusiastic response from consumers to a mobile advertising campaign trial testing customer reaction and acceptance to a promotional ‘Welcome’ message sent to them while they were away from their home country.
For those still unsure whether mobile advertising, and indeed mobile marketing, is for them, help was on hand from the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mobile Marketing Council, which released a series of Mobile Marketing Help Notes aimed at guiding businesses through the options available to them.
The DMA also revealed that Incentivated, Steak and 20:20 London had been shortlisted for the Mobile Marketing award in the 2008 DMA Awards. The MMA also unveiled the finalists for its Fourth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards, which will be presented later this month, while at the BT Digital Music Awards 2008, mobile agency Que Pasa took the plaudits for its Red Stripe Camden Crawl campaign, which picked up the award for Best Mobile Campaign.
There was a lot of activity in Russia for some reason. Consumers there got their first chance to get their hands on the iPhone 3G as Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and the CIS, launched the device in the country. A couple of weeks later, MTS was in the news again as it announced a strategic partnership with Vodafone to provide customers with communications services and to collaborate jointly on future technological developments.
And mobile communications and commerce enabler Netsize announced the expansion of its global mPayment mobile transaction and billing service, with the coverage of all 25 nationwide and regional mobile network operators in Russia. Using Netsize mPayment, international content providers can now reach and bill more than 165 million subscribers in Russia.
Also in the news, as ever, was the iPhone, with content and applications providers queuing up to make their stuff available on the iconic device. Applications developer Coolgorilla launched a London Travel Guide for the iPhone, while ROK Comics announced the launch of the ROK Comics application for the iPhone. Devicescape released an iPhone/iPod Touch version of its easy wi-fi application, while Paragon Software Group released ‘The Talking English Dictionary’ for the iPhone and iPod touch.
On the campaign front, mobile agency Candyspace launched a bespoke, immersive, multi-platform mobile game as part of the promotional push to launch the latest DVD box set of hit US franchise ‘CSI’ and to promote a price promotion across the entire CSI DVD range. Tanla Mobile was selected by The Royal British Legion to run the mobile phone element of its 2008 Poppy Appeal. Tanla is providing a Poppy Download service, enabling members of the public to make a donation to the Appeal using their mobile, and in return, receive a poppy for their mobile phone wallpaper.
Mobile marketing firm Phonevalley rolled out a mobile campaign for PUMA around the Shanghai Grand Prix. The campaign was designed to drive traffic to a dedicated mobile Internet site. Other brands launching mobile sites were skiing website Myslopes.com, which launched what it claims is the first European mobile skiing website, at: M.myslopes.com. And cancer research charity Cancer Research UK, which developed its first mobile site to promote its breast cancer awareness campaign: ‘It’s a girl thing’. The site was created by Flix Marketing.
And finally, the Mobile Data Association (MDA) published its quarterly research findings for UK mobile phone activity from July – September 2008. The figures revealed that Britons sending 6.58 billion texts in Q3 2
008, a 38% increase on the Q3 2007 figure of 4.8 billion. They also sent 45.36 million MMS messages, a 20% increase on the Q3 07 figure of 37.83 million.
Conclusive proof, if any were needed, that love affair between people and their mobiles is as strong as ever. Long may it continue.

David Murphy
Editor