A recent article from ClickZ asks, “Will 2010 Be the Real Year of Mobile?”

Yes, we all agree that the Year of Mobile is… ahem… somewhat overdue. The article goes on to list the factors that the author believes makes mobile difficult for marketers. Surprisingly, the article misses the boat on how effective mobile really is as a tool for the savvy marketer.

Marketing is a discipline, not a medium. “Mobile Marketing” is, in fact, a bit of a misnomer as it leads people to think of mobile in a silo – the least effective place for any marketing tactic to reside.

More importantly, the messaging side of mobile (SMS) has the scale, reach and standardization to allow marketers to effectively ply their marvelous trade. If we think of marketing as a dialogue or conversation between a brand and consumer, where a fair value exchange takes place, mobile messaging clearly delivers.

Brands and their agencies use mobile messaging for exactly that purpose: as a mechanism for connecting and deeply engaging with their consumers. It is extraordinarily effective, has huge reach, relatively low cost, easy to measure and immediate in impact.  There is no more trusted device than your cell phone.

BTW, mobile display advertising is *not* marketing (sorry Google/Admob!), it is simply one tactic in the constellation of efforts required to successfully market a product.

The Mobile Conversation reminds me a bit of the PPC Search versus Online Display debate years back. Everyone was initially ambivalent about Search because it wasn’t “engaging”. Hm.

In my experience with marketers, *results* are engaging. *ROI* is engaging. SMS provides both results and ROI. Engaging, indeed.

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…