Mobile Posse to launch mobile ad-supported sports content

By Dan Butcher

July 18, 2008

Sporting ads

Mobile content and advertising company Mobile Posse Inc. has partnered with sports information provider Stats LLC to bring ad-supported sports content to mobile.

Stats will provide Mobile Posse with up-to-the-minute information for MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, college football, college basketball and NASCAR games. The product automatically updates real-time data, including scores and trivia, on every player, team and event played.

“We partnered with Stats to deliver targeted ad-supported sports content to consumers,” said Jon Jackson, CEO of Mobile Posse, McLean, VA. “We’re delivering optimized targeted ad content, and because we know consumers’ interests and tastes, we send consumers promotional messages generally in the zone of things they’re interested in.”

For example, after a mobile consumer opts in, if he is in Cleveland he will get Indians and Cavs scores and information.

If the same consumer expresses interest in another location, Mobile Posse will provide that as well.

United Stats

If a consumer clicks on the banner ad next to the copy, he is taken to a full-screen version where advertisers’ content can be displayed, including coupons, promotions and nearby locations.

Part of the appeal of the platform is that the results are measurable.

Mobile Posse claims that surveys of its current sports content subscribers found idle-screen click-through rates of more than 20 percent.

Screen arrow

The Mobile Posse service offers various other categories of mobile content, including Weather, In Theaters Now, Hot New CDs, Travel Tips and portals dedicated to specific advertisers.

Delivery of free, ad-supported content provides incentives for the consumers to opt in for occasional promotions and offers as part of the content. Brands target promotions and offers by age, gender, ZIP code, time-of-day and day-of-week.

Mobile Posse has run campaigns for Panera Bread, Air Tran, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Chevrolet, Progressive, Tickets Now and Cruises Inc.

“This is an ad-supported model, so from a consumer's perspective it’s completely free,” Mr. Jackson said. “We monetize it through advertising delivery, although most of what consumes receive is content, such as sports info.

“Occasionally we’ll send a message from advertisers, but we wait until they finish whatever it is they’re doing,” he said. “We don’t interrupt the consumer, but if they’re not using their phone we’ll deliver content or ads.”

Stats is owned jointly by The Associated Press and News Corp. It offers a worldwide portfolio of sports information services, including real-time scores, historical sports information and turnkey fantasy sports operation along with AP editorial content, breaking sports news and photos.

Mobile Posse claims to be the first company to commercially roll out the delivery of permission-based content and advertising messages to the idle screens - the home or welcome screen - of mobile phones in partnership with a U.S. carrier.

The first deal for Mobile Posse was with regional carrier Revol Wireless, which operates in the Ohio and Indiana markets, offering flat-rate unlimited pricing of around $50. Mobile Posse’s white-labeled platform is known as Revol Perk on those handsets.

“From a carrier perspective it’s their product, and we enable it from a technology perspective,” Mr. Jackson said. “We had a great response from Revol subscribers, and we’ve reached a deal with a major national carrier, which we’ll be able to announce shortly, and the take-off rate has been stellar.”

Top-tier carriers typically boast an entire team of people who have been given the task of figuring out the best ways to do mobile advertising.

“Carriers have had some success with mobile advertising, and we haven’t seen a backlash from consumers,” Mr. Jackson said. “If you do it right, not only will consumers not leave you, but they’ll actually welcome it.

“It can’t be spam, though—it has to be opted into, targeted and relevant,” he said.