BRANDING UNBOUND

MGM Grand Keeps The Party Going With Tempting Text Campaign

Leo the Lion has come a long way.

The MMA has released a case study on how the MGM Grand Hotel in Vegas used email and SMS to boost room bookings - and to build out guest databases with mobile phone numbers in addition to email addresses.

"Keep The Party Going" and "Winter Escape" email blasts in January and February promoted special room rates - with an added incentive if response came via SMS.

Over 6,192 people opted in via SMS, 404 rooms were booked, and over $49,632 in revenue generated from five simple email blasts.

Apparently mobile solution provider Cellit was living up to its name.

Get the lowdown, here.

But don't be surprised if you're tempted to opt-in yourself.

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Interview With Guys Behind 'Free Doritos' Super Bowl Spot (Pt. 1)

Over at my Gen Wow blog, here. I know, it has nothing to do with mobile, but it's fun.

Inspired by Success, Jaguar/Land Rover Commits $1.6 Million To Mobile Advertising

Jaguar and Land Rover are looking to mobile to drive some serious response.

There was the big to-do about how well the recent iPhone campaign for Land Rover from AdMob did so well.

Now, AD AGE is reporting that the company (many may not realize Jaguar owns Land Rover) will commit $1.6 million - about 10% to 20% of the brand's overall digital budget - to mobile advertising through the AdMob network.

$1.6 million is a lot for a mobile ad campaign budget - but Jaguar thinks it's worth it.

"It goes back to performance," Joao Machado, digital group director at Mindshare, the agency of record for Jaguar and Land Rover, tells the pub. "[Mobile] performed from a direct-marketing perspective, so with that in mind, it was easier to rationalize growth even in the climate we're in."

Porsche recently discovered this power after realizing its mobile advertising effort actually outperformed other media in getting people to test drive a car.

All that said, I'm probably more partial to highly engaging efforts like Audi's "Audi A4 Challenge" iPhone game, which enables you to test drive a A4 using the iPhone's accelerometer - a notion BMW is picking up on with its new "Expression of Joy" iPhone game for the Z4 Roadster.

Still, it seems AdMob is mopping up mobile ad dollars.

Time will tell where it will take Jag-Rover.

Read more, here.

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Study: Mobile Advertising To Top $3.1 Billion By 2013

All those smart phones promise a lot of dumb ads are coming to a tiny screen near you.

The Kelsey Group is projecting an annual compound growth rate of 80% - and will top $3.1 billion by 2013. That's up sharply from $160 million in 2008.

Ads tied to local search are key to the growth.

Personally, I think there are better models for leveraging the mobile medium.

See how brands like Coca-Cola, Burger King, Procter & Gamble and others are thinking way beyond the mobile banner - starting here.

And read more about the Kelsey Group study, here.

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iPhone Apps, How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Days

Your next branded iPhone app may as well come with a warning: This app expires in 30 days.

That's because new Pinch Media research (by way of Fallon) reveals that only about 20 percent of users return to use free apps the first day after they download them, and then usage drops off quickly from there.

In fact, after about 30 days, less than 5 percent of users ever access the app again.

Lessons?

Well, Fallon points to several, but I think the biggest take aways are that when it comes to branded apps, you've got to replenish content continuously, or use apps for specific events in finite time frames.

Like something less than 30 days before the event. 

A good example is AKQA's Target snow globe, which was released in the run up to Christmas. 

Or my birthday, which might come with an iPhone gift giving app this year.

Read more, here.

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Variety Tries New Venue: iPhone App

The trades are trading paper for your pocket.

Venerable show biz pub Variety is mobilizing for a new generation of industry types with a new iPhone app.

You know, so there's no escape from the box office, the overnights, the Nielsens and the Paparazzi.

Not that there ever was, anyway.

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Friend or Foe? Battlestar Galactica 'Cylon Detector' iPhone App

Let's try this on Starbuck.

Sure, Battlestar Galactica may only have four episodes left, and virtually every commercial break is now used to hock props from the show.

But that's not stopping NBC Universal from rolling out a $1.99 Cylon Detector iPhone app.

Baltar tried to build one early on in the show, but lately it's been surprisingly easy to run lab tests on bone matter to tell if someone's human or Cylon. Oh, and there's the small fact that we've already seen all the Cylon models (my fav's Boomer....duh). 

But now you can snap a photo of a friend and within moments you'll see the image in a classic Galactica scene, along with a firm verdict: Human or Cylon.

Should have been a free app, but hey, nobody's perfect.

Not even Boomer.

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Reuters: Kevin Spacey Supports Mobile Film Festival

Well it's not the usual suspects.

None other than Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has publicly endorsed the upcoming MOFILM film festival, which celebrates films made specifically for the smallest of screens.

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spacey tells Reuters, "MOFILM to me is another step in that ability for people all over the world who can now, with technology, make a movie, cut it on their computer, upload it and have an audience be able to see it....What the record industry didn't learn is that you cannot deny giving the customer what they want, when they want it....I think we have to be open to the fact that there is almost any genre (of film) that could possibly work (in short form on mobiles)."

Spacey, of course, has been an avid supporter of filmmakers and other artists, what with the work his production company has supported via TriggerStreet.com.

Personally, I'm not sure I buy the argument for mobile films, however.

In a pinch, I may watch a movie download on my iPhone.

But visually and artistically, a lot gets lost in translation. An interesting approach might be highly-interactive, self-directed story lines. But even then, you're talking about a lot of close-ups.

Time will tell if that's too large a price for some very small films.

Read more here.

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Ode to 'Joy': BMW To Ignite iPhone App for Z4 Roadster

The Ultimate Driving Machine wants to bring you the Ultimate iPhone App.

Mobile publisher Artificial Life has announced it has signed a deal to produce an iPhone advergame based on the Z4 Roadster, called BMW Z4 - An Expression of Joy.

Okay, Audi's A4 Driving Challenge has a cooler name. But while this app will no doubt share some of the iPhone accelerometer-enabled action, it also has another interesting angle. Users will be able to view every aspect of the Z4 in 3D and even break it down to unique components to customize their car.

I'm not sure it that constitutes "joy."

But for Beemer lovers, it may be the next best thing to it.

Read more, here.

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Text Time: H&R Block Goes ChaCha For New Tax Season Mobile Campaign

H&R Block is on the phone - and it wants to text you about your taxes.

The tax prep giant has tapped ChaCha for a new mobile campaign aimed at promoting its Free Online Tax Prep service. But what's nice here is that in addition to an ad campaign, ChaCha enables consumers to text in with their pressing tax issues - and get answers back via text or phone from a live human being. 

And there's a good reason for the partnership. ChaCha, which is now the fastest-growing mobile search service, has a history of tax issues. The good kind: Last year ChaCha experienced a massive 24.6 percent increase in tax-related questions leading up to Tax Day, April 15. With 263 million mobile subscribers in the U.S., ChaCha seems like the perfect partner to host H&R Block's inaugural SMS mobile advertising campaign.

“I think the program not only provides H&R Block with another connection point to consumers at a critical time of the year, but also provides consumers with easy access to much-needed free answers to their difficult tax questions," says Paula Drum, vice president of marketing for digital tax services at H&R Block, in a statement. "And, as an added benefit, taxpayers can also learn about H&R Block’s Free Tax Prep service on-the-go from their mobile devices.”

Now, I don't know how all this works, mind you. My understanding is that when consumers tap in a question, humans at ChaCha Google for answers.

With a brand like Coca-Cola, a ChaCha client, I can see how call center reps get trained to give back promotional information. But tax issues? I have to assume they route questions to experts at H&R Block. Or at least I hope so.

If it works well, then the idea of live human search reps dovetails perfectly with H&R's "You've got people" positioning. Which is to say it sounds like great - and actually useful - consumer outreach.

And how many times do you get to say that about an advertising campaign?

Read more, here.

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