Wireless Enters the Political Arena
Good article from Wireless Week entitled
Wireless Enters the Political Arena .
Campaign advertising could see a boom, too, he says, since wireless phones are ever-present and capable of downloading increasingly complex video and other digital content.
The trend was evident in this past election in the United States. For example, Verizon Wireless, marketed a special 3-day package of election result coverage in November that allowed users to track news on specific races, top races and have access to political news stories from the Associated Press.
Does this open up the communication and process or does this pummel the public with political ads through another type of media? What are the implications on mobile advertising? Should opt-in or opt-out be required for political messages?
-Andy
U.S. Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption
I found this chart to be interesting.
| Activity subscribers
(in thousands) | Percent | Percent change |
| Sent text message | 69,048 | 36.3 | 5.9 |
| Used photo messaging | 22,644 | 11.9 | 8.0 |
| Browsed news and information | 19,038 | 10.0 | 5.4 |
| Purchased ringtone | 18,830 | 9.9 | 4.0 |
| Used personal e-mail | 13,823 | 7.3 | 7.2 |
| Used mobile instant messenger | 12,221 | 6.4 | 4.6 |
| Used work e-mail | 7984 | 4.2 | 8.4 |
| Purchased wallpaper or screensaver | 6609 | 3.5 | (1.8) |
| Downloaded mobile game | 4840 | 2.5 | 8.5 |
| Source: M: Metrics |
Just a validation of the dominance of text messaging on phones. In that light, I'm working with a company called TextCaster that allows texting from the PC to mobile phones. People opt-in to an application and then can receive updates on their phones. Pretty simple, but it really works. Current applications include University Athletics, school district news, media news updates, election offices and public safety. The CEO is Rob Sweeney and their website is http://www.textcaster.com/.
-Andy
Insider's Report 12/2006
A few times a year often quoted Robert Coen of Universal McCann Presents an
Insider's Report on Advertising Expenditures It's worth the read.
-Andy
