MMA Turkiye founded to support, educate and empower local mobile marketing players

New York, London, Sao Paulo and Singapore; November 4, 2009 – The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today announced the launch of MMA Turkiye, headed by two elected co-Chairs Sukru Dincer, ALGiDA Marketing Director at Unilever - the first brand marketer to be elected as a local council co-chair, demonstrating MMA Turkiye’s progressive approach and dynamism - and Elvin Altun, Mobile Marketing Project Manager at Turkcell. The objective of the local council is to foster the burgeoning mobile marketing industry in Turkiye through local participation from industry stakeholders, driving the early integration of global standards and industry guidelines across the mobile channel in the country and providing a powerful platform for knowledge sharing.

“More and more brands are executing mobile campaigns because of the huge return on investment it offers,” stated co-Chair Sukru Dincer. “Mobile marketing offers personalised and direct interaction with consumers, which is a very exciting prospect for brands, I’m honoured to be part of the MMA Turkiye team assigned with driving the growth of this channel and helping mobile to flourish in Turkiye.”

“The past year has been a very exciting time for mobile in Turkiye with the widespread introduction of 3G technology and now the launch of MMA Turkiye. The creation of a dedicated mobile marketing body to unite industry stakeholders will be vital to the development of a strong mobile marketing ecosystem,” added Elvin Altun, Mobile Marketing Project Manager at Turkcell.

The Co-Chairs will work closely with the European Board of Directors and MMA Managing Director for Europe Paul Berney to determine in-country strategy and local priorities. Commenting on the announcement, Berney said, “The rapid growth of mobile in Turkiye and the eagerness of local brands and agencies to adopt mobile as an integral aspect of the marketing mix has been the driving force behind the launch of MMA Turkiye. The overwhelming Turkish participation at our recent Mobile Marketing Forum in Berlin is testament the country’s vision and enthusiasm for mobile. “Through our local presence, we aim to provide the tools and global expertise to help guide brands and agencies in Turkiye to deliver effective mobile marketing campaigns with international skill and local know-how.”

MMA Turkiye boasts 29 founding member companies and anticipates doubling this in the next 12 months. The council is the second to be established in Europe this year following the launch of MMA Germany at the Mobile Marketing Forum in September. The founding members are: 4 Play, Aerodeon, Argela, Avea, CEP Dunyasi, Coca-Cola, Codec, ComScore, Dataport, Digital Platform Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Ericsson, Figensoft, Garanti, Integmo, Kahkaha.com, MOBILERA, Mobiltim, Move, Neilson, P&G, Pharos Consulting, Project House, Rabarba iletisim Hz, Teknomart, Turkcell, Unilever, Unkasoft, Velti and Vodafone.

Paul Berney and European MMA Chairman Hervé Le Jouan attended Digital Age 2009 in Istanbul this week and discussed the future of mobile and convergence. The event was attended by over 700 industry professionals and highlighted the continued growth of mobile marketing in Turkiye. For more information please visit http://www.digitalage.com.tr/

About the Mobile marketing Mobile (MMA)
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association established to lead the growth of mobile marketing and advertising and their 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 use of the mobile channel. The more than 700 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 it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Latin American (LATAM), Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com. For information relating to the MMA’s Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit www.mobilemarketingforum.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

EMEA
Jen Allen or Camellia Zarbhanelian
Mi liberty Ltd
Tel: +44 207 751 4444
Email: [email protected]

NA
Valerie Christopherson or Kirsten Woodard
GRC for MMA
Tel: (949) 608-0276
Email: [email protected]

LATAM
Maria Ramirez or Julio Gama
Newlink PR
Tel: 305 5327950
Email: [email protected]

APAC
Sonya Madeira Stamp, Jeff Tan or Joan Khor
Rice Communications Pte Ltd
Tel: +65 6227 1550
Email: [email protected]