Mobile marketing and the right to privacy

A mobile phone is a highly personal device, even more so than keys and a wallet or purse--most people have with them at all times. That makes the mobile phone a highly effective way to provide relevant and timely information to individuals--not only by their friends, family and colleagues, but also by brands and marketers.

As an advertising and marketing tool, mobile phones offer benefits not available with PCs, TV, radio and print. That's partly because the phone is a personal device in contrast to a PC, TV or newspaper, which typically have multiple users.

But the power of the mobile channel comes with responsibility to consumers, to advertisers and to the industry itself. For example, if mobile users feel as if they're being spied on, then they're less likely to opt in to mobile marketing campaigns, whose reach and effectiveness are then diminished. If mobile users are concerned enough, they'll also urge regulators to investigate and take action, potentially damaging the industry's reputation and revenue potential. This is why it's essential for the participants in mobile marketing space to ensure privacy standards are never compromised.

The spamming-spying conundrum

It's not easy balancing and respecting the needs of both consumers and the companies that want to use the mobile channel. Part of the challenge is perception.

For example, the less information about each mobile user that can be collected, the less relevant the marketing messages are to recipients, who then will perceive them as spam. That perception also makes them less receptive to future messages, and if enough mobile users become indifferent, the whole mobile channel and the consumer suffer because its reach, relevance and effectiveness are diminished.

Collecting more information about each user allows for marketing messages that are more relevant, benefiting the consumer as a whole. The catch is that some users will wonder how the messages can be so targeted and feel as if too much personal information is being collected.

The solution is to allow mobile users to opt in to a campaign. That's already an industry best practice under Mobile Marketing Association guidelines, and it helps strike a balance and allay consumer fears: By opting in, mobile users understand and acknowledge that some information about them and their habits--such as the Web and WAP sites they visit--will be collected and used to send them relevant offers and other information...Continued

Next page