Marketers still don't know mobile: Sybase exec

By Dan Butcher

August 7, 2008

Picture messaging

LAS VEGAS - At Sybase TechWave 2008 at Mandalay Bay Hotel, an executive from mobile software provider Sybase 365 defined an effective mobile campaign.

Rich media, including graphics, videos and advertisements, is omnipresent on the Internet and if deployed on mobile, would be an opportunity for marketers and media companies to reach consumers more effectively. Sybase 365's mobile rich media product is MMS 365, a multimedia messaging service.

"We provide pop-up advertising, we will move into ad insertion into SMS, which is still the number-one mobile data service," said Greg Dunn, Chantilly, VA-based vice president of the Americas for Sybase 365 Mobile Services. "There's lot of extra unused space at bottom of text messages and we can trigger a graphic or WAP session or tag the message with an ad saying 'sponsored by so-and-so.'

"Ad agencies and major brands can target their potential consumers," he said. "Carriers are coming to us saying, 'We want to advertise to our subscribers.'"

The first step is to develop innovative strategies to make mobile marketing ubiquitous.

"People still don't know how to do mobile marketing in the most effective way possible," Mr. Dunn said. "We have to be able to come back with specific info and say, 'Hey your last campaign has these results, so let's tweak this and try that to be more effective.'"

A balance has to be struck between all players involved, including the consumer.

"Carriers don't want mobile advertising to be invasive, and if you start getting zapped with messages all the time it could be intrusive," Mr. Dunn said. "In U.S. it's still very opt-in centric, since data RPUs are helping carriers keep revenue up, and they don't want to jeopardize with intrusive ads.

"Agencies and advertisers have a different agenda, but they also know that the carrier is king," he said. "They can't get their messages out there without them, so both sides look to us and we're like Switzerland mediating between everyone."

Sybase 365 enables messaging across various devices and has connections to more than 700 mobile carriers around the world

Sybase 365 was one of the first major players in mobile messaging interoperability and claims to be the leader in SMS, MMS and WAP delivery using both IP and SS7.

Sybase 365's worldwide interoperability solution processes more than 6 billion SMS and MMS P2P messages every month.

"We allow carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile to expand internationally and we help international carriers get a foot in the lucrative U.S. market," Mr. Dunn said.

MMS 365 is a new content delivery gateway that sends and receives MMS from multiple sources.

MMS 365 provides a solution for content providers, marketers and media companies to deliver MMS content directly to consumers' handsets.

A Value Added Service Provider connects to MMS 365 with a single connection to deliver off-net content to the wireless subscribers of operators connected to the product.

MMS 365 supports rich media content, including graphics, audio, video, ringtones, wallpaper, alerts and photos.

In addition to its services that facilitate mobile data delivery, Sybase 365 backend payment and settlement solutions.

Sybase Inc. has partnered with international communications firm Cable&Wireless to market and sell mobile data roaming services (see story).

"We've formed a strategic relationship with Cable&Wireless to propel our messaging business internationally," Mr. Dunn said. "The GRX piece letting U.S. travelers roam on a GRX network and to take their mobile services with them is long-term strategic."

Sybase 365 is also preparing for mobile to mimic Internet Protocol functionality.

"We have IMS services that, for example, let users share videos and pictures via email while talking," Mr. Dunn said. "Once mobile moves to a true IP environment, multiple functions through the same channel will be ubiquitous, available anytime, anywhere."

Sybase 365 has enabled inter-carrier SMS for years, and started developing MMS as mobile technology became more sophisticated.

"As handsets started to evolve, we built that carrier-grade infrastructure and an inter-carrier MMS platform to fulfill people's desire to send pictures back and forth," Mr. Dunn said.

Sybase 365 is helping partners and clients use advanced mobile technology for marketing campaigns. AvantGo is one of its mobile advertising products.

"MMS is among the fastest growing areas for us and we're seeing high margins and high uptake by consumers," Mr. Dunn said. "We already have a significant international MMS presence, and we are growing it well in the States."

This reporter was a guest of Sybase at the event