CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Harris Connect, the leader in providing innovative affinity marketing solutions for alumni and membership organizations for more than four decades, will preview its newest solution at this year’s CASE Summit in San Francisco, CA. Designed to help organizations engage their alumni and members in a way they prefer, Kurt Worrell, Senior Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing, will also host a session focused specifically on how the higher ed marketplace can integrate mobile technologies into their existing communications strategy.

Harris Connect Mobile

Launched in the second quarter of 2009 for the higher ed market, Harris Connect Mobile will soon be available to membership associations and other affinity groups. With this initial release, colleges and universities have the ability to send highly targeted messages and information – on a 100% opt-in basis – to alumni, students and parents via cell phone or other mobile device using a Mobile Content Manager. Constituents subscribe to receive specific types of content by SMS (or text), which can range from sports scores and university news, to event announcements and reminders, to special offers from affinity partners and more. In addition, this solution also allows for downloadable mobile applications to be sourced from existing RSS feeds and admin-generated rich or dynamic content.

According to Worrell, mobile messaging opens up one more powerful communication stream for colleges and universities to use in reaching their constituents. “More than 200 million people in the U.S. today carry a cell phone, and virtually all cell phones are capable of receiving text messages,” he explains. “In fact, with the introduction of smartphones like the iPhone and others, people have begun using their phones for much more than just voice communications – and text messages actually surpassed voice messages in cell phone usage last year.”

While companies and news outlets around the world have been experimenting with mobile marketing strategies for several years, the application has real significance for higher ed and other membership based groups. To begin, the age range for those using text messaging on a daily basis is between 18-49 – making mobile devices a primary communications method for a vast majority of an organization’s constituency. The strategy also has a wide array of applications for colleges and universities. For instance, alumni relations and development offices can push event information to alumni and accept registrations on the spot via click-to-call to increase participation. Plus, the ability to conduct surveys and polls quickly helps keep alumni engaged and provides immediate feedback. The Mobile Content Manager also provides design options using images, text and html – affording colleges and universities the ability to reinforce their core brand by incorporating graphics and audio into messages, such as the school’s seal, mascot or fight song.

All this is combined with in-depth reporting and other backend tools that ultimately help colleges and universities extend their reach and realize higher response rates. CASE Summit attendees can view a demonstration of this next generation marketing tool at Harris Connect’s Product Launch Reception on Thursday, July 9 from 3:45-4:15 Pacific time in the Pacific N Room, as well as at their booth (#28) in the Exhibit Hall. Information can also be accessed by mobile, of course, by texting HARRIS to 258664.

CASE SUMMIT 2009 CONCURRENT SESSION – Friday, July 10

Adopting a Mobile Strategy: Why It’s Important & How to Get Started

In his session at CASE Summit in July, Worrell will discuss the importance of implementing a mobile strategy – looking specifically at how this newest technology can enhance advancement efforts. He’ll do this by examining industry trends and best practices, as well as highlighting cases where alumni and development offices have begun using mobile marketing to build participation and engagement.

In addition to learning about mobile marketing in general, attendees will gain in-depth knowledge of the user experience by walking through a typical mobile campaign – allowing them to opt-in, receive a text message and interact via their mobile devices. A demonstration of how Harris Connect’s mobile platform works to create and distribute content, as well as track results will also be included.

Worrell joined Harris Connect in 1990 and has since held management positions in virtually all areas of the company’s operations. In 2004, he was a driving force in implementing the launch of the Data Services product line having previously worked as a technical consultant teaming with many colleges and universities on projects ranging from data integration to profiling and target marketing. In his current role, Worrell oversees the consumer-facing areas of the operation focused on Consumer Sales and Marketing and Business Development. In 2009, he partnered with Acuity Mobile to create and launch a mobile platform. Worrell received his bachelor’s degree in business communications from Bentley University.

About Harris Connect

Founded in 1963, Harris Connect is the leading provider of affinity marketing solutions including alumni and member publications that range from directories to coffee-table editions to commemorative books; research services to update email, phone and mailing address information; online communities and applications built on the Facebook platform; and now mobile marketing strategies, as well as programs designed to produce non-dues revenue for their clients. Today, Harris Connect serves more than 4,000 clients worldwide. The company is headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia with offices in New York and Texas.

For more information about Harris Connect Mobile in particular, simply text HARRIS at 258664 or go to harriconnect.com/mobile. For general inquiries, send an email to moreinfo@harrisconnect.com or call 1.800.326.6600.

BOSTON – The Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Lab report, “US Consumers Willing to Accept Mobile Advertising Despite Concerns Over Hidden Charges,” looks at willingness to accept mobile advertising, and questions what consumers want in return, identifying preferred modes of delivery.

Strategy Analytics found that the majority of mobile users would accept some form of mobile advertising as long as:

* no hidden charges are associated with participation,
* they receive something in return, and
* the level of intrusion is limited.

“Mobile barcodes and mobile coupons were the most preferred advertising models,” commented Paul Brown, Senior Analyst in Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice. “These methods were most appealing as they give the user direct choice over when and where they receive advertising.”

Kevin Nolan, Vice President at Strategy Analytics added, “On the whole, users associate mobile advertising with junk email. Therefore, if providers give advance, exclusive information, as well as other incentives, mobile users would accept mobile advertising.”

About Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides timely and actionable market intelligence focused on opportunities and disruptive forces in the areas of Automotive Electronics and Entertainment, Broadband Connected Home, Mobile & Wireless Intelligent Systems and Virtual Worlds. Headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, S. Korea and China, Strategy Analytics works with clients through annual multi-client services, management team workshops and custom consulting engagements. For more information, please visit http://www.strategyanalytics.com/

Mobile Media Advertising Opportunities: The Market For Advertising

Personal, always on, ubiquitous and connected, mobile has the potential to become a potent advertising medium. However, some factors are slowing down the development of the market. The report provides basic metrics relevant to the take-up of mobile advertising and gives an overview of the players involved in its value chain. The report then provides a recap of recent consolidation and funding in the industry, before providing analysis and forecasts for advertising tied to four mobile content types: TV, VoD, user-generated content and games. It also examines advertising within search and communication services, and provides insight on operators’ strategies.

The report features results of the survey conducted within GroupM’s 25 international agencies on mobile advertising perception from the advertiser’s perspective. Finally, the report studies key players (including Nokia, Microsoft and Google) and the vertical integration strategies of those companies.

Key findings:

* Global mobile media advertising expected to reach €1.77bn in 2012
* With €1.5bn globally in 2012, mobile TV will capture bulk of audiovisual advertising on mobile devices
* Mobile VoD advertising expected to be worth €213m globally; China, Europe and North America provide the biggest opportunities
* Mobile games and music will be used primarily for marketing and promotional campaigns
* Survey of GroupM agencies shows creatives experimenting with multimedia capabilities of phones
* Nokia, Microsoft and Google are investing heavily in what is seen as the next big advertising medium

In this report

* Overview of the mobile advertising value chain
* Recap of recent industry consolidation and funding in mobile advertising
* Analysis and forecasts for mobile TV, VoD, video user-generated content, games and music
* Overview of mobile search and convenience services advertising
* Advertising industry perspective and the results of the survey conducted among 25 of GroupM’s international agencies
* Analysis of the acquisitions and value chains of key players, including Nokia, Google and Microsoft

Introduction

Objectives

Data sources

Territories covered

Forecast methodology

Definitions

Overview of the mobile market and mobile content

Total mobile subscription

Mobile market penetration

Proportion of non-voice service revenues

Contract/prepay split

High speed data services (3G)

Mobile advertising today

Mobile advertising value chain

Content side

Advertising side

Operator

The handset

Audience measurement

Content and advertising: clarifying the opportunities

Trade bodies

Mobile marketing association (MMA)

Internet advertising bureau (IAB)

Mobile entertainment forum (MEF)

Open mobile alliance (OMA)

Industry consolidation

Mergers and acquisitions

Funding

Advertising and mobile content

Text content and display advertisin

Mobile TV

Broadcast TV

Unicast TV

Mobile TV advertising formats

Mobile TV advertising Forecast

Mobile video on demand

Mobile video on demand advertising forecast

Video user-generated content

UGC as a profiling tool

UGC as a marketing tool

UGC advertising forecast

Mobile gaming

Ad-funded games

Games advertising forecast

Further developments

Music

Advertising ties to mobile music

Search and other services

Search services

Branded search

‘White-labelled’ search

Location-based services

Ad-supported voice and messaging services

Idle screen advertising

The advertiser’s perspective

GroupM’s Survey Results

Study results

Usage

Perception

Towards online-mobile integration

Content types

Service types

Key players in mobile advertising

Nokia Legacy expertise: handset manufacturing

OVI

Operating system: Symbian

Google

Legacy expertise: online search and advertising

Operating system: Android

Microsoft

Legacy expertise: PC operating system and productivity software

Operating system: Windows mobile

Yahoo

AOL

List of tables and charts

Overview of the mobile market and mobile content

Mobile subscriptions (000s)

2007 mobile market penetration

2006 monthly ARPUs in key territories (€)

2007 contract/prepaid subscription split in key territories (per cent of total subscriptions)

2007 Proportion of 3G subscribers among mobile users (per cent of total subscriptions)

Mobile advertising value chain representation

Mobile advertising today

Industry consolidation

2007 mergers and acquisitions deals in mobile advertising

2007 funding deals in mobile advertising

Advertising and mobile content

Table of broadcast mobile TV services

Mobile TV market (million users)

Mobile TV market (€m)

Mobile TV advertising revenue forecast (€m)

Mobile TV advertising revenue (€m)

Mobile VoD forecast (€m)

Mobile VoD advertising forecast (€m)

Paid mobile video user generated content market forecast (€m)

Mobile video user generated content advertising market forecast (€m)

Mobile video user generated content advertising market forecast (€m)

Mobile games market (€m)

Mobile games advertising specialists

Mobile games advertising: dynamic and static markets (€m)

Mobile games advertising: dynamic and static markets (€m)

Mobile games advertising: regional breakdown (€m)

Mobile games advertising: regional breakdown (€m)

Search and other services

Mobile search specialists

The advertiser’s perspective

GroupM’s Survey results

Mobile advertising usage (in percent of respondents)

Mobile advertising types used in campaigns

Pricing schemes per advertising type

Mobile advertising perception

Mobile advertising advantages

Mobile advertising drawbacks

Mobile advertising content uses

Key players in mobile advertising

Nokia’s recent acquisitions

Nokia Value chain

Google’s recent acquisitions

Google value chain

Microsoft’s recent acquisitions

Microsoft value chain

To order this report: click here.

Even as advertisers recognize the reach and effectiveness of the mobile in delivering interactive, customizable, flexible and cost-effective ad campaigns, measuring the effectiveness of such campaigns and finding the right fit for mobile amongst a mix of other media has been less than promising.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), Sizing-up the Mobile Advertising Opportunity in Asia-Pacific, finds that mobile advertising across 13 Asia-Pac countries raked-in revenues of US$807.8 million in 2007 and expects this to reach a market size of over US$4.0 billion by end-2012, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 37.8 percent (2007-2012).

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides service providers, vendors/manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Asia-Pacific mobile advertising market, then send an e-mail to Sarah Lourdes at sarah.lourdes@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Jeff Teh believes that the mobile has huge potential as a highly targeted and engaging advertising medium. “Unlike traditional media which mainly delivers content, mobile advertising has the ability to also deliver services and personalized content to consumers,” he says.

Although mobile advertising is expected to account for only 5.8 percent of the total Asia-Pac mobile data revenues by 2012, it will account for nearly 3 percent of the total advertising expenditure in the region which is significant for a new medium.

“One of the key drivers of mobile advertising is the evolution of the mobile phone into something virtually inseparable from the owners; many even working on their devices beyond simple communication,” Teh says, adding that mobile operators are banking on this trend to leverage on mobile advertising for added revenues, but have yet to find the right business model.

The struggle, he suggests, is proper monetization and establishing a profitable value chain for all players within the mobile ecosystem including operators, ad agencies, content providers, technology or solutions vendors, and even subscribers.

A further challenge also is that mobile advertisements need to deliver value and be presented in an unobtrusive manner to subscribers. “As mobile users pay for services, they are unlikely to be receptive to ads and promotions unless there is a perceived value from receiving such ads,” notes Teh. “Currently however, there remains very little free content available over mobile unlike over the Internet or in broadcast.

“Moreover, consumers’ willingness to receive and participate in ad campaigns depends on whether the campaigns are permission-based, and that subscribers retain control over the extent of their involvement with the campaigns and their personal information is protected,” he adds.

Due to differences in consumer behavior, also, the sell-through rates for mobile advertising, even for available inventory such as news feeds, weather and sports content, are relatively low in Asia-Pacific at under 15 percent, compared to between 20 and 30 percent in regions such as the US.

Hence, for the most part, advertisers and media agencies are still evaluating how the new digital and interactive channels that online Internet offers, given the proliferation of mobile Internet, can fit into their ad campaigns and media mix, beyond just simple SMS-based campaigns.

Teh believes that the ad-funded model – where subscribers are able to download or access content for free (for a limited period) in exchange for receiving selected ads – is likely to prove effective. Incentive-based ads such as offering cash, free minutes and downloads, and discount coupons are also an attractive way of pushing content.

He adds that mobile search, simple displays, banners, interstitials and interactive ads on WAP sites driven by mobile Internet are also expected to drive growth in mobile advertising. Off-deck advertising is expected to see greater adoption along with the growth of off-deck content as Internet usage over mobile increases for search, social networking and ubiquitous information access.

According to Teh, “Mobile operators’ portals remain a significant part of the first point of entry to the mobile Internet and a source of content for most subscribers in Asia-Pac. Operators are in a unique position to exploit subscriber data to ensure that only relevant content reaches subscribers, as well as enable easy single-access for advertisers, publishers and content providers.”

Teh believes that mobile advertising is likely to see wider adoption as the mobile advertising value chain evolves into a more collaborative eco-system and the mobile data industry matures.

He cites Japan, which is one of the early adopters of mobile advertising as an example, “Japan has one of the world’s most advanced data services with high data usage, and a highly mature mobile ecosystem,” he says, adding that Japan alone accounted for 71.2 percent (US$574.9 million) of the total mobile advertising revenues in Asia-Pac last year.

The Sizing-up the Mobile Advertising Opportunity in Asia-Pacific study is part of the Mobile & Wireless Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: WiMAX, emerging mobile markets, location-based services, mobile broadband and mobile content. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Analyst interviews are available to the press.

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company’s TEAM Research, Growth Consulting and Growth Team Membership empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.wireless.frost.com), U.S. Mobile Advertising and Search Markets, finds that the market revenues are expected to reach $1,893.5 million in 2012.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the U.S. mobile advertising and search markets, then send an e-mail to Mireya Castilla, Corporate Communications, at mireya.castilla@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by e-mail.

Mobile operators are developing ambitious new campaigns for both on-deck and off-deck advertising, as they are rapidly realizing the services’ ability to subsidize the cost of content production and lower the cost of service usage. Industry participants are closely observing the run of play within the in-application mobile advertising in the off-deck model.

Adoption by market majors will go a long way in further enhancing the use of mobile advertising across on-deck and off-deck environments.

“Adoption of mobile advertising by the nation’s largest mobile operators and innovative mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) is a testament to the perceived potential of the market,” says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Vikrant Gandhi. “Mobile advertising efficiently serves the expectations of advertisers, mobile operators, and even subscribers when offered in a highly targeted, non-intrusive manner.”

Mobile operators should be prudent while sharing the personal information of their subscribers to ensure that their subscribers do not suffer overzealous marketing efforts. Although advertisers will want to delineate their target audience by demographics, location, handset, and other parameters, mobile operators should be cautious while providing information to preserve their subscribers’ privacy.

Mobile advertisements are mainly broadcast through messaging, wireless application protocol (WAP), mobile video, in-application, and performance-based advertising within search, WAP, and other environments. Each of these channels is suited to a particular situation and type of subscriber, since ad types, pricing models, ad sourcing approaches, and distribution vary among channels.

The channel assumes great importance when it comes to mobile advertising because mobile phones are inherently personal devices and unlike the PC, only one person is likely to access the device and the content delivered to it. This single-user benefit increases the efficiency of advertising campaigns.

Ideally, mobile advertisers would like their messages to appear as informational content and present an immersive experience. They can offer ads that fulfill users’ informational and entertainment needs by delivering relevant messages within the applications and services used by subscribers and tracking their usage history, preferences, location, and device types.

Once subscribers are more accepting of mobile advertising, advertisers could resort to communication services such as peer-to-peer messaging.

“Around 15 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers use mobile Internet regularly to access information through their mobile devices, thus, opening up new avenues for advertising,” observes Gandhi. “Mobile operators are also reporting considerable uptake in the usage of mobile video services that can include advertising messages.”

U.S. Mobile Advertising and Search Markets is part of the Mobile & Wireless Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: mobile DRM markets, mobile social networking markets, mobile multiplayer gaming markets, North American mobile communications outlook, premium mobile content and applications markets, off-deck mobile content markets, mobile video services, strategic insight into mobile content adaptation-porting with transcoding and rendering, mobile handheld devices, mobile office, enterprise mobile and wireless applications, and MVNO markets. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company’s TEAM Research, Growth Consulting, and Growth Team Membership™ empower clients to create a growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates, and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.