The big news in the media today is that Lou Dobbs has quit CNN.

Mobile Commons would like to congratulate Presente.org and the BastaDobbs.com campaign. Supporters can text the word BASTA to 30644 to join the BastaDobbs.com campaign.

From BastaDobbs.com – BastaDobbs.com Announces Victory: Lou Dobbs to Leave CNN

NEW YORK – Responding to the news Wednesday that Lou Dobbs will leave his post as a longtime anchor on CNN, the leaders of BastaDobbs.com – a national Latino-led coalition that had been advocating for his ouster – released the following statement:

“Our contention all along was that Lou Dobbs – who has a long record of spreading lies and conspiracy theories about immigrants and Latinos – does not belong on the ‘Most Trusted Name in News,’” said Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org, a national online advocacy organization coordinating the BastaDobbs.com campaign in conjunction with more than 40 local and regional Latino organizations from across the country. “We are thrilled that Dobbs no longer has this legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate.”

The BastaDobbs.com campaign launched in mid-September, and included online petitions, a viral YouTube video, text-message campaign, radio PSAs and a series of events in 18 cities – organized in conjunction with the CNN special Latino in America. The message to CNN was that courting Latino viewers while keeping Dobbs on the network would not with them favor with the fastest-growing demographic in the country. Since then, more than 100,000 people have joined the effort. The events and the campaign garnered significant press coverage in both Spanish-language and mainstream media.

Lovato said the BastaDobbs.com victory marks a key turning point for the Latino community, as it moved from marching in the streets in 2006 to mounting a successful, high-tech campaign against one of the biggest and strongest media voices against common-sense immigration reform.

“The community is newly empowered and energized, and we are ready to fight for a respectful and civil media discourse when it comes to immigration coverage on mainstream news,” Lovato said. “This is only the beginning of a much longer-term effort.”

While we can’t take all the credit for the bill passing, we are proud to be the choice for so many organizations – including the AARP – to drive their grass roots advocacy for so this historic bill.  AARP members who were signed up to receive mobile alerts through Mobile Commons received a text Friday morning asking them to call their Congressional representatives. The members were automatically connected to their representative after hearing talking points. When connected they were ready to advocate for passage of the bill.

Working with one of our partners, M+R Strategic Services, AARP developed a strategic plan to build their group of mobile activists over the last month.  They were able to get them immediately engaged through Mobile Commons’ SMS-to-Voice application.  From endorsement to engagement in less than a day.

There is simply no better or more cost effective way to convert an organizations position into actionable advocacy then engaging supporters on their mobile phone.  It does not escape our notice that AARP understand that its members are using mobile messaging to make their voices heard and knows that every demographic actively uses mobile.

Additionally,  AFSCME, working with the Watershed Company, used a combination of paid online media, email, and text messages to drive thousands of calls to congress this week through our voice advocacy applications to give a voice to their supporters and help pass the health care bill.  As did the Communications Workers of America, Planned Parenthood, Working America (AFL-CIO) and others.

Mobile Commons was just nominated as a finalist for 2 awards at the Mobile Marketing Association’s Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards!

Of course, we are excited to be selected, but we are even more excited for our customers whose programs drove the nominations.

Best Messaging Program Award
“Text to Remember” – National September 11th Memorial & Museum

and

Best Social Impact Award
Center for Community Change

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The National September 11th Memorial & Museum created a SMS program that allowed mobile users to donate money directly to the memorial from their cellphones, as well as enable everyone to raise their mobile phone and participate in the 9/11 Honor Roll. “Text to Remember” was launched in conjunction with a NASCAR race in Richmond, VA on Sept 11th and featured a commemorative car driven by Benny Gordon.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is the not-for-profit created to oversee the design, raise the funds, and program and operate the Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center site. The Memorial & Museum will be located on eight of the 16 acres of the site.

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The Center for Community Change was founded in 1968 to honor the life and values of Robert F.Kennedy. The Center is one of the longest-standing champions for low-income people and communities of color.  Their expert staff and dynamic partners confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow.

The Center for Community Change strengthens, connects and mobilizes grassroots groups to enhance their leadership, voice and power.  We believe that vibrant community-based organizations, led by the people most affected by social and economic injustice, are key to putting an end to the failed “on your own” mentality of the right and building a new politics based on community values.

The use of SMS messaging for engagement marketing, brand awareness, customer retention and user activation continues to grow quickly as more and more organizations realize the power of SMS: it’s the killer app for EVERY phone…

The results from a new Harris Interactive survey show that consumers are increasingly more open to receiving SMS text messages alerting them to deals at nearby stores, restaurants, and other retail outlets. Some highlights from the survey include:

• Only 1% of consumers say they currently receive deal alerts on their mobile phones but 27% say they would welcome such messages, as long as they came from merchants they’ve given permission to send offers.
• Consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most receptive with 42% of respondents saying they would like to get marketing messages from favored merchants.
• 37% of consumers in households with children would like to receive opt-in alerts and in families with children under six that rises to 44%.
• 22% of mobile phone owners responded that they make an impulse purchase at least once a week based on a sale or special promotional event.

Here at Mobile Commons we’ve seen these trends firsthand with our retail customers. One customer recently ran a 48 hour “weekend only” sale for its mobile subscribers that resulted in a 50% conversion rate and a 10% increase in their average purchase size. Another client has been averaging a $10 return for every text message they’ve sent this year!

If you’re interested in learning more about our program geared specifically to retailers please don’t hesitate to contact us.