The concept of mobile marketing, marketing through the mobile channel, is rapidly taking shape. The industry and academia have recognized that mobile marketing is a broad and complex subject worthy of much attention and the MMA International Journal of Mobile Marketing (MMA IJMM) has taken the lead in helping document and memorialize the growing body of the knowledge that encompasses the entire subject of mobile marketing. The readings within this issue of the journal span a broad range of topics, which is a testament to the sweeping impact that the mobile channel is having on all areas business, especially the practice of marketing. This issue of the MMA IJMM (Vol. 2 No. 2, December 2007) reviews mobile and politics, legal issues of text messaging promotions, mobile advertising, consumer perception of free promotions, insights on key factors for successfully launching mobile campaigns, the ability of the mobile channel to reach emerging markets, and distinctions between voice, SMS, and image recognition mobile interaction methodologies. The articles are from academics and practitioners, and are very approachable for the lay reader.

Two of the articles illuminate very timely topics: mobile marketing use in the realm of politics and the upcoming United States presidential election, and recent litigation and legal questions surrounding premium text messaging promotions. Doug Busk, vice president of industry relations for SinglePoint and the mobile technologies adviser for numerous U.S. presidential campaigns, in his article Election 2008: The Mobile Tipping Point provides keen insight into how the mobile channel is helping change our political landscape. Gary Karp, senior vice president and general counsel for ePrize, provides a thorough review of the legal issues surrounding standard rate and premium text messaging promotions in his articl Mobile Marketing—Interactive Promotions on Mobile Devices: Navigating Legal Hurdles.

Two other articles address alterative forms of standard rate and premium rate mobile marketing optin strategies and channels of interaction. Dennis Becker, chief executive officer of CommerceTel, in Participation TV: Premium SMS vs. Toll Free IVR, and G.D. Ramkumar from Snaptell, in Image Recognition as a Method for Opt-in and Applications for Mobile Marketing, provide insightful commentary on two emerging areas for mobile marketing, voice and image recognition. Becker discusses the benefits of standalone and text messaging enhanced interactive voice response (IVR) services over standalone text messaging services for interactive television programming. Also addressing the opt-in issue, Ramkumar details how the camera phone, in conjunction with server-side image recognition technology, can greatly enhance consumer experience over alterative opt-in methods.

Mobile advertising and promotions, a burgeoning sub-thread of the field of mobile marketing, is addressed by authors Jay Newell, assistant professor at Iowa State University, and Morgan Meier, a student at the Iowa State University College of Business. They provide an overview of consumer acceptance of mobile advertising in the form of text messaging coupon alerts to students. Alex Wang, assistant professor at the University of Connecticut-Stamford, evaluates consumer response to free mobile promotions. Ramin Vatanparast, of the Nokia Research Lab and Mahsa Asil, a student at the College of Business at the University of Dallas, provide a set of hypotheses and a conceptual model detailing the antecedents and factors of consumer adoption of mobile advertising.

Four other papers in this issue touch on a variety of mobile topics. Heikki Karjaluoto, professor in marketing at University of Jyväskylä; Heikki Lehto, chief technology officer at Brandson Ltd.; Matti Leppäniemi, researcher in marketing, and Tiina Mustonen, student researcher in marketing, from the Economics and Business Administration at the University of Oulu, provide a detailed case study of three mobile marketing campaigns based on practitioner interviews. The second paper, from a team of MBA students at Loyola Marymount University, provides deep insight into how mobile marketing practices differ between four Asian countries: Japan, Thailand, China, and Singapore. The third piece, from Justin Thorp at the United States Library of Congress, provides a thought leadership piece detailing how the mobile channel can be used to distribute knowledge to emerging markets in an immensely beneficial, cost-effective and efficient manner. Finally, a case study from Ted Bailey, a former marketing promotions manager at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Inc., summarizes two mobile programs, in-venue mobile voting and alerts, and the center’s key take-a-ways.

The editors would also like to highlight two significant events since the June issue. The MMA IJMM was recognized by ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership as the 2007 Gold Circle Award for Peer Reviewed Journals from an association with revenues of $2 million or less. This is a significant milestone for a young journal, and the editors of the MMA IJMM and staff of the MMA would like to thank its readers, contributing authors, the ASAE and the MMA IJMM peer review board for their support and dedication to the journal.

The second milestone is the inclusion of the MMA IJMM into the EBSCO database, the world’s definitive scholarly business database. Subscribers to the EBSCO database, such as leading academic institutions around the world, now may gain digital access to the journal.

Finally, the editors would like to extend their congratulations to the research team of Heikki Karjaluoto (University of Jyväskylä, Finland ) and Matti Leppäniemi (University of Oulu) for receiving the distinction of winning the inaugural MMA Academic of the Year Award for 2007. Both authors have contributed greatly to the world’s understanding of the practice of mobile marketing, including having published articles in this journal, including this issue, as well as contributing to the journals success as peer reviewers.

Correction: In Theo Callahan’s June article “Need Based Calling: Staying Connected in a Disconnected World,” the company name Need Based Calling was inadvertently misspelled. We regret the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.

References

Airwide Solutions. (2006, 21//Feb.). 89% of Major Brands Planning to Market Via Mobile. Retrieved 5/11/2006, from Airwide Solutions: http://www.airwidesolutions.com/news.asp?nav_id=2324&lang_id=E.

Becker, M., & Hanley, M. (2006, 18/Aug.). Mobile Marketing Research Priorities: Roadmap to Engaging the “Connected Customer”. MMA Messenger. Mobile Marketing Association. Retrieved 15/10/06, from http://mmaglobal.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=535.

Informa Telecoms and Media (2006, Sept.). Global Mobile Forecast. Retreived 9/11/2006, from http://www.cellular-news.com/story/19252.php.