Barack Obama’s campaign is counting on a potent new weapon for Election Day: the humble cell-phone text message. Bloomberg reports.

Texting may do for the Democratic presidential candidate what arm-twisting precinct captains did in years past: prod millions to get out and vote. The Obama campaign plans to use the millions of cell-phone numbers it has amassed over the past 22 months to blast its supporters with that message today.

The biggest concern for the Obama campaign is getting young people — who have registered in record numbers and shown unprecedented interest in surveys — to turn out. In 2004, only 45 percent of those under 30 showed up to vote, according to Census data, making them just 16 percent of the electorate that year.

… Studies show that texting is among the most effective and cheapest ways of getting supporters, particularly blacks, Hispanics and younger voters, to the voting booth.

Photo of a line of voters stretched around the corner at a polling place this morning from The New York Times. Read More  http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2008/11/021660.htm

Contact ApolloBravo for the latest on Political Mobile Strategy www.apollobravo.com

Mobile isn’t just a snacking medium anymore, with major brands finding that the sites they create for the mobile Web are now outperforming their regular Internet sites.

In order to get the most from a WAP site, companies need to engage consumers in a completely different way from what they’re used to seeing, according to a panelist at Mobile Internet World in Boston.

“In the automotive sector, mobile outperformed the Internet in terms of video downloads,” said Nick Lim, Boston-based director of products for Nokia Interactive Advertising. “Automotive companies are seeing greater success driving consumers into their showrooms with mobile than any other digital media, television or print.

Sign up to receive Mobile Marketer Daily. The premier mobile marketing publication. Free!

“Brands like Ford, Land Rover, Subaru, Hyundai, Toyota and Mercedes Benz are seeing remarkable numbers because of mobile,” he said. “It really works.”

There is definitely an opportunity in the mobile space, with 3.3 billion wireless phones worldwide versus 1.5 billion TVs and 1.1 billion PCs.
Does the moile Web outperfom the Internet?

Studies show that by 2015, there will be 5 billion wireless devices. Contact ApolloBravo for more information on integrated sms and mobile web solutions.

Read more http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/associations/1949.html

Consumers love the mobile Web

More than 50 percent of consumers would substitute their Internet usage on a PC for a mobile device, according to a study conducted by IBM.

The study, titled, “Go Mobile, Grow” found that consumers are open to full adoption of the mobile device as the hub for Internet activity. IBM surveyed 600 consumers in the United States, China and Britain on their preferences regarding the mobile Web.

“The time is now for companies to develop intuitive applications and services that allow people of all ages to effortlessly access and use the Internet while on the go,” said Christian Seider, senior managing consultant of IBV global electronics industry for IBM, New York. “But first companies need to consider what it is that consumers need and want while on the go.”

Sign up to receive Mobile Marketer Daily. The premier mobile marketing publication. Free!

The survey found that communication, travel, navigation, and news applications are expected to increase significantly in popularity and usage over the mobile Internet.

With the world’s population of mobile-phone users expected to increase from the current 50 percent to 80 percent in 2013, companies around the world will have to change the way they operate and relate to their customers, employees and partners.

A whopping 70 percent of consumers worldwide believe that the mobile Internet has the potential to add significant value to their day-to-day lives. Contact ApolloBravo for more information on integrated sms and mobile web solutions.

read more http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/1975.html

Is mobile advertising in Europe finally moving toward the mainstream? In a recent study looking at SMS advertising audiences and response rates in Europe, measurement firm comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) found that fewer consumers reported receiving ads for mobile products and services while more said they were getting ads for consumer goods such as food, fashion, restaurants, travel and financial services. In the three months ended August 2008, the number of offers received for non-mobile consumer goods rose 15 percent, compared to last year. At the same time, the number of people receiving SMS adverts for mobile products and services fell nine percent in Europe.

Food is the fastest-growing category of SMS advertising since August 2007, at a rate of 53 percent, followed by clothing-fashion at 38 percent and restaurants at 37 percent. Ads for restaurants and food had the highest level of response; 16 percent of those receiving an advert for a restaurant responded to the ad, while 13 percent of those receiving an offer for food, such as grocery coupons, responded.

comScore also reported double digit growth in the number of European consumers accessing mobile social network in the three months ending August 2008. In Spain, the number of users jumped 20.8 percent, in Italy the figure grew 17.6, in France, it increased 10.4 percent; while in the UK it expanded 10 percent. The exception was Germany, where the number of users accessing a social net through their phone fell 1.8 percent (release).
from mocoNews.net by Dianne See Morrison