2007: A Banner Year for the Mobile Marketing Association
Focus on leading the development of the mobile marketing industry world-wide

Denver, CO, & London, UK: Dec. 18, 2007 — Throughout 2007, the Mobile Marketing Association )MMA) )www.mmaglobal.com) and its 500 associated member companies demonstrated that mobile is clearly beginning to be viable marketing channel for brands globally.  The MMA experienced a 110% membership growth rate and expanded its presence into more than 40 countries.  

Significant milestones achieved in 2007 included:

Global expansion; launch of Asia Pacific )APAC) chapter in Q1 07 and the Europe Middle East and Africa )EMEA) chapter in Q2 07.  Plans for the Latin America )LATAM) chapter are being prepared for a Q1 08 launch. 

“Launching on a global scale in 2007 is a significant milestone for the MMA, having worked to achieve this over the last few years,” said Cyriac Roeding, Executive Vice President, CBS Mobile, CBS Interactive, CBS Corp. & MMA Global Chairman.

Global mobile advertising guidelines; the MMA has developed mobile advertising guidelines for:

•North America )May)
•EMEA )September)
•APAC )December)

Sir Martin Sorrell, executive of ad holding company WPP agrees on the need for consistent mobile ad standards stating in an article on global mobile content site, MocoNews, “I think they [operators] see that having a standard in place would accelerate the growth of the mobile ad business across the board. But that’s not enough of a reason to combine efforts. Usually in these situations, a common threat is more effective than the promise of simply improving a business.” 

Matt Champagne, Director of Product Management, Microsoft )MSN and Windows Live)  explains why Microsoft is one of the first MMA members to adopt the mobile advertising guidelines: “Following the MMA’s guidelines means our campaigns are delivered consistently on the majority of mobile devices, which ensures a positive and consistent consumer experience.  Without the help of these guidelines, we wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic about enabling mobile marketing campaigns via Microsoft’s advertising solutions.”

Metrics & measurement: to identify key market trends, mobile subscriber usage patterns, and success metrics for mobile marketing, the MMA conducted its annual Mobile Attitude and Usage study in the United States as well as key markets in Europe and Asia. The research provides a profile of mobile usage and early indicators of receptiveness to mobile marketing efforts.

Association and industry collaboration; the GSM Association and dotMobi Advisory Group collaborated with the MMA to support the EMEA, APAC and NA mobile advertising guidelines. 

“2007 has been the Mobile Marketing Association’s best year yet as evidenced by our growing collaboration with key industry associations,” said Laura Marriott, president, MMA.  “We appreciate the support of all of our association, media and event partners as we work together to drive the development of a sustainable mobile marketing industry world-wide Industry collaboration will be a key factor to the growth and success of the industry.”

MMA’s events & awards; the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum )MMF) was held four times in 2007; twice in North America, once in Europe and once in Asia. The events attracted a combined audience of over 2000 delegates and speakers. MMF New York, held in June, served as the launch pad for Coca-Cola to unveil its Sprite Yard campaign.  MMF Los Angeles in November, hosted the MMA’s annual awards ceremony, recognising the industry’s innovators and leaders. The 2007 awards saw a 130% increase in submissions over 2006. 

The first of the MMA events for 2008:

•Mobile Marketing Forum, London, April 15 & 16
•Mobile Marketing Forum, New York, June 10 & 11

Education; 10 educational tools were developed to help drive the adoption of mobile marketing globally, downloadable from the MMA website, which includes:

1. US, APAC & EMEA Mobile Marketing Annual Attitude & Usage studies
2. MMA Member Directory
3. Mobile Marketing Industry Glossary
4. Understanding Mobile Marketing: Technology & Reach
5. Off Portal - An Introduction to the Market Opportunity
6. Mobile Marketing Sweepstakes & Promotions Guide
7. Mobile Search Use Cases
8. Introduction to Mobile Coupons
9. International Journal of Mobile Marketing; published twice a year

Committees: have participation from over 400 MMA members, with several new committees launched including; Measurement, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Communities & User Generated Content, Urban, Interactive Voice Response )IVR), Marketing to Children, Mobile Web, Content Leadership, Industry Logo, Participation TV, Women in Wireless and Proximity. 

“2008 is staged as a turning point for the mobile marketing industry. We look forward to taking the industry to the next level and seeing the results of the industry’s collaborative efforts.” concluded Sandy Agarwal, Head of Mobile Ad Business, Nokia & MMA APAC Chairman.

Newest MMA members, from around the globe, include:

1. 12snap AG
2. 2waytraffic USA, Inc.
3. 3rd Dimension Inc.
4. Avenue A | Razorfish     
5. Cellnet S.A.
6. CommerceTel   
7. Empowered Wireless, Inc.
8. IceBreaker
9. Intera Group, Inc.
10. i-Pop Networks Private Limited
11. MangoMOBILE 
12. Mobiento AB    
13. Mobile Data Systems    
14. Mobile Media Cast
15. mSnap Inc.
16. MyThum Interactive Inc.             
17. mywaves inc.    
18. NexPerience     
19. RockeTalk, Inc. 
20. SPH Search Pte Ltd      
21. Thin Multimedia
22. Wieden+Kennedy

About the Mobile Marketing Association )MMA)

The Mobile Marketing Association )MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies. The MMA is an action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices for sustainable growth, and evangelize the mobile channel for use by brands and content providers. The 500+ global member companies, representing over forty countries around the globe, include all members of the mobile media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association’s global headquarters are located in the United States and has recently formed the Europe Middle East & Africa )EMEA) and Asia Pacific )APAC) divisions.  The Latin American )LATAM) division will be launched in Q1-08.  For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com

* Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

NA & APAC
Valerie Christopherson or
Kirsten Woodard
Global Results Comm. )GRC)
+1 949 608 0276
[email protected]
[email protected]

EMEA
Hinda Smith or Jen Allen
Mi liberty Ltd
+44 )0) 20 7751 4444
[email protected]
[email protected]