Cell phones are becoming advertising, media and brand building devices all over the world. In Japan and Europe, shoppers press their cell phones against sensor plates to pay for groceries or beam them to vending machines for soda. In Poland, messages from local retailers scan across cell phone screens, enticing passersby with discounts. In the U.K., users enter sweepstakes via six digit numbers punched into cell phones.
The devices now compete with PlayStation and Xbox for videogame players. They offer GPS tracking, cameras, PDAs, MP3s, Web browsers, walkie talkies and more. Soon there will be a directory akin to 411 and cell phones will replace credit cards, directly debiting bank accounts at retailers and restaurants. One day they will store personal data and become driver's licenses, building passes and passports. With gigabytes of storage, they'll run PowerPoint presentations and accounting programs. The list seems endless.
As the ultimate interactive mobile communications platform, it even seems silly to call them cell phones anymore. Perhaps "mobile communicators" is a better term. But whatever we call these devices, marketers will covet them. Because wherever the eyeballs go (or now, fingers), advertising dollars will follow.
Will marketers be able to take advantage of this new media? Or will consumers resist a marketing invasion on their cell phone screens? Will regulators step in with restrictive rules to avoid clutter or are cell phones doomed to the ranks of the "Do Nots"Å\do not mail, do not call, do not fax, do not e-mail?
What should marketers do now to forestall repressive regulation that will choke off this media of the new millennium? Here are a few critical first steps:
• Establish best practices before regulators do. How can we protect consumers? What standards of intrusion and disclosure should apply? A concerted effort by key trade associations that cross platforms and industriesÅ\advertisers and their agencies, the telecoms and othersÅ\is crucial. We must also establish an effective opt-out mechanism that allows consumer choice after marketers have been given the opportunity to reach out to an existing or new customer.
• Mount a united lobbying effort to educate legislators of the benefits and cost savings realized via truthful and fair marketing practices, unhampered by restrictive regulation. The new media needs to be allowed to develop free of knee-jerk legislation based upon anecdotal evidence of abuse. Legislators and regulators need to be convinced that they should embrace the new media as a benefit, not a bother, to consumers.
• Embrace consumer concerns with open discussion and debate. Help educate customers why ads on cell phones makes sense. Devote media dollars to efforts that champion cell phone marketing. Create incentives to deliver extra value to consumers to stay in and not opt out, before an opt-in regime looms large.
• Find ways to measure the effectiveness of the new media. Bring together consultants and academics to create workable models that the C-suites can accept as sound business practices.
• Anticipate legislation, regulation and consumer resistance, and develop innovative ways to reach the consumer by migrating branded entertainment from broadcast television to broadband cell phones.
• Above all else, don't make excuses and be apologetic for aggressively pursuing the potential in this new market. It is never helpful for the ad community to advance its interests with a bowed head. The economy is fueled by advertisers and marketers. Take on the pundits proudly.
Without doubt, mobile devices will become one of the primary media for one-to-one communications with customers. Whether it will be hampered like it is in Europe or nurtured in an open market, depends on marketers taking a leadership role and adopting innovative measures to enhance effectiveness for all sides. If that leadership role is lost, it will be lawyers, not marketers, who will reap most of the benefits.
By Douglas J. Wood - January 10, 2005
