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.

Wikipedia is one of the best known websites on the Internet, but did you know it’s actually run by a non-profit called the Wikimedia Foundation? Thanks to the generous support of donors over the years, Wikipedia has been able to keep their invaluable service running for us all to use. Wikipedia also runs a fantastic mobile version of their web site, optimized for small phone screens and mini web browsers.

Mobile Commons is thrilled to announce that we’re working with Wikimedia Foundation to power their new text-to-give mobile fundraising campaign. By simply texting the word WIKI to 25383, Wikipedia users can immediately give $10 to the foundation. U.S. visitors to the mobile version of Wikipedia will see a small call-to-action asking them to support Wikipedia just by sending a text.

How Does it Work?
Through a special partnership with the mobile carriers and the Mobile Giving Foundation, Mobile Commons is able to collect charitable donations via text message without the carriers taking a percentage of the transaction. Typically, when users pay for a ringtone or wallpaper with their mobile phone, the carriers take a fee, which isn’t ideal for non-profits trying to raise money.

The end-user experience is incredibly simple. First, users send a text message to a special 5-digit short code that has been approved by the carriers for charitable donations. They then receive a text message back asking to confirm their donation. At the end of the month, a $5 or $10 charge shows up on their phone bill and the organization gets the donation.

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.