** As published in FierceWireless **

Mobile advertising has had its share of fits and starts. It hasn’t really taken off–and not for lack of want or opportunity, but rather confusion and a justifiable perception that wireless subscribers’ personal information could land into the wrong hands.

How can network providers overcome the perception that advertising might impede on customer privacy?
Mike Wehrs, president and CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, said it’s all about disclosure. Network providers should make their privacy disclosures permanent and readily available, he said. End users also need to feel like are in control through a simple opt-in or opt-out mechanism, and be given the ability to purge all the information that’s been held about them. Read more

As published in RCR Wireless News on Sept. 10

SAN FRANCISCO – The spark that led Motorola Inc. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha to reinvigorate his company’s relationship with Google Inc. was similar to two drunks finding each other in a bar, or at least that is what Jha half-jokingly explained at this week’s Mobilize conference in San Francisco.

As was widely expected, Jha took the stage to announce Motorola’s plan for a new lineup of devices that run on Google’s Android operating system.

The first device out of the gate will be the Motorola Cliq, a decidedly innovative first step for the fledgling handset maker, which has been looking for cures from the years-long hangover it brought on following its incredible success with the Razr.

Motorola, like many of its competitors, has fallen in and out of the good graces of the mobile space before, and this is surely the boldest step the company has taken to reverse that latest downward trend in years. At minimum, Jha has put his stamp on Motorola’s future, little more than a year after joining the company, by anchoring its upcoming device releases to the Android OS. Read more

As published by RCR Wireless News on Sept. 8

On the surface, there isn’t much to suggest that this newly Democratic-led FCC will make any radical regulatory changes in the wireless industry. There is a loud camp cheering for new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to take a more heavy-handed approach in wireless affairs, but popular opinion inside the Beltway paints a different picture.

While the President Obama appointee is digging into wireless matters such as competition, innovation and third-party application control perhaps more swiftly (and publicly) than his predecessor, the Federal Communications Commission is only asking questions at this point. Questions are cheap. Policymaking is an entirely different matter that must measure political fallout against results. And more important: the nation is still digging out of the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression. Read more

Summer is here and that can only mean one thing in the mobile arena: a new iPhone has come on to the scene. Apple beat all expectations last weekend and sold more than one million units of the third-generation of its game-changing mobile phone. Hundreds of thousands more will surely be sold in the coming days and weeks.

With a vastly improved operating system launched just days before the iPhone 3G S hit store shelves, marketers have an array of new opportunities to consider for future targeting campaigns.

Apple says the “S” stands for speed, and it couldn’t be more on the mark. Read more

Google has rarely made missteps in its 11 years. Sure, the search giant has shuttered some business plans over the years, but often those failures were either too grandiose and fell outside the company’s core strengths, or too simple and rudimentary to ever grasp scale.

Google Wave doesn’t fall into either of those categories per se. It’s grand, yes, but it’s also a complex new service that capitalizes squarely on Google’s depth of expertise. Since its beginning, Google has been on an unrelenting quest for thinking outside the box and introducing new products and user experiences to consumers that they didn’t even know they needed. Success can be measured by how often these products become entrenched in people’s daily lives.

Brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen are the minds behind Google’s latest and greatest feat: Google Wave. Originally named “Walkabout” by the Danish-Australian brother duo, a five-person “startup” team sought to create a new communications model that built on what they considered the most spectacular success in digital communications thus far. Read more

Marketing isn’t always measured in absolutes, but marketers and their clients strive to hit key targets with their campaigns. They all know that email — while not the most media rich or active engagement option with consumers — is one of the most effective ways to reach the people that matter most to their brands.

The cloud has quickly become one platform that email marketers can harness to boost the opportunity that email messaging presents.

Say “software as a service” in a room full of marketers and you’re bound to see many eyes veer to their phones or whatever else might be nearby. Shift the conversation to “email marketing from the cloud,” and you might get a little more attention, but not much. Read more

Listen in on any conversation in the wireless industry, or one about cellphones in general, and the iPhone is bound to pop up sooner than later. The device has changed how digital marketers can leverage a rich media experience on a handheld, but it also presents some inherent challenges that have to be kept in mind.

While so much chatter about Apple’s trailblazing mobile device is gushingly positive, iMedia decided it was time to play devil’s advocate and determine where the iPhone’s marketing power is overhyped.

The device has turned developers — working in their basement — into millionaires overnight, yet the marketing return is nowhere near the scale needed for larger campaigns. Read more

For most in the wireless industry, marketing has been an opportunity lurking in the shadows — plenty of hype and lofty dreams resting squarely on the potential that marketing can deliver. And yet most companies’ interest ends when it comes time to pay the piper.

That’s not to say there aren’t companies making hay out of the existing mobile marketing business. Mobile marketing has climbed to a $4 billion market annually, according to the latest projections. While that number pales in comparison to traditional marketing spend, some wireless executives and industry leaders say the market will double this year alone. Read more

Shelly Palmer often criticizes big media for ineptitude and slowness to change, but for digital marketers at the Breakthrough Summit, he offered advice on succeeding in trying times.

Shelly Palmer isn’t one to mince words. Seemingly always on the lookout for a well-placed jab, his no-nonsense commentary is a trademark on his daily MediaBytes wrap-up. Palmer promised much of the same in his “Digital Power User Crash Course” at the iMedia Breakthrough Summit in Coconut Point, Fla.

Calling it a “get digital preview,” Palmer set out to give attendees the core skills and understandings they need to prosper in the 21st century. Read more

Linguist David Crystal believes strongly in the power of words. Here are some lessons he’d like to share with marketers on semantic targeting.

Prolific author and linguist David Crystal brought his expertise and knowledge of the English language and semantics to the Tuesday morning keynote at iMedia’s Breakthrough Summit, and he quickly caught the undivided attention of those in attendance.

After thoroughly waking up the audience with a few lighthearted jokes, Crystal dove into one of the most pressing and promising areas in all of digital marketing — semantic targeting. Read more