Barack Obama has created a mobile Web site with content related to the presidential campaign, voter interactivity and viral messaging showcasing the power of mobile audience engagement.

Mobile marketing software solutions provider iLoop Mobile is powering the mobile Internet presence at http://m.barackobama.com or http://obamamobile.mobi for Sen. Obama's presidential campaign. The mobile site will enable supporters, media and the general voting public to receive the latest news, campaign developments and multimedia Obama content anytime, anywhere, via their mobile phone.

"For Obama the important thing was that we present a complete solution for any type of content such as text, video and interactivity and the ability to mobilize his Web page," said Michael Becker, executive vice president of business development for iLoop, San Jose, CA.

"We offer a turn-key solution over all mobile and Internet channels and provide the software, professional services and training so brands can effectively use our mFinity platform," he said.

The news comes soon after the Obama campaign said it will soon announce his choice of vice president through email and text message in a deft move that will also balloon his database (see story).

People can access the Obama campaign's mobile Web page by texting SITE to 62262 or by going to http://m.barackobama.com or http://obamamobile.mobi on their Web-enabled mobile phone's browser.

"This will allow the campaign to reach the millions of constituents who have already opted in to their SMS database and provide links via text message to click through to the media-rich environment of mobile Internet," Mr. Becker said.

"Many more people will opt in from the mobile Web site and we can drop them right into their existing messaging database, so we've been able to tie the two pieces together," he said.

The iLoop mFinity platform lets brands, marketing agencies, content owners and other companies create mobile phone initiatives worldwide.

The program offers a self-service integrated solution for creating and managing all types of SMS marketing and messaging, mobile Internet sites, mobile advertising, Web sites for mobile content delivery and other mobile initiatives and services.

The iLoop-powered Obama mobile site engages voters using a wide array of mobile capabilities, each tactically deployed for specific communications objectives such as raising voter awareness to Sen. Obama's position on key political issues, driving viral voter communications to get out the vote and engaging the voter with videos, images, ringtones and information.

The news and press releases sections of the site selects and extracts content automatically from the Obama broadband Web site and dynamically places it in the mobile site instantly as it changes.

Other Obama mobile features include opt-in to SMS alerts for appearance schedules, speeches and downloadable content such as videos, wallpapers and ringtones, as well as a viral tell-a-friend component on every page of the site, which allows a user to easily forward the site to another person's phone.

The Share the Hope viral component lets users forward an animated image to a friend with a personal message attached.

There is a Meet Barack section with media-rich bio information. Video downloads of portions of important Obama speeches are also available.

Also, there is a rotating ad banner, so that every time people visit the site, they will see a link to a different position paper explaining Sen. Obama's policy views. The subjects of the eight essays are energy, economy, Iraq, education, ethics, healthcare, technology and veterans.

"If people enter in their email address, it'll actually email them a copy of the position papers," Mr. Becker said.

"We're helping them to leverage ad-serving technology, but instead of spinning different ads, we're spinning different content," he said.

The site's mobile voting portal polls the users' opinions on various issues.

The Obama campaign has received an enormous amount of attention for its groundbreaking use of digital media and the creation of vast communities of supporters.

The Illinois Democrat's new mobile Internet presence is an example of the Obama campaign's evolving digital strategy to foster interactivity with voters.

"What makes Obama's site unique is that it can push users from the Web to the mobile Web to email and create user-generated content and viral buzz through peer-to-peer messaging," Mr. Becker said.

"If I get something from my friend, he is a very trusted source, so if he sends me a link to Obama's mobile site, that is much more persuasive since it's coming from a peer, as opposed to other marketing devices that aren't as personal," he said.

This is just one of the ways in which the Obama campaign is leveraging technology to its advantage.

"They're using their network of blogs, they have an incredible social networking and widgeting solution and they're doing an amazing job of leveraging the social sphere," Mr. Becker said.

"Today consumers are a vital part of the marketing, and the viral components let people to share in the vision and power of what he's doing and every voter can become a proponent and spread the message to other potential voters by clicking a single button on their handset," he said.

"This is one of those few mobile sites that have done it really well."