MOBILE INDUSTRY ISSUES CELL PHONE AD GUIDELINES

As pharmas such as Pfizer and Procter & Gamble begin to experiment with mobile messaging, the Mobile Marketing Association and the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association have released guidelines for mobile marketers, the groups report. The principles were written by five major wireless carriers and cover rules for advertising and promotion, opt-in and –out choices, and subscription services, and include a glossary of standard terms and abbreviations. For example, the guidelines list the exact words that consumers may use to opt-in (yes, go, okay, yep, yeah) and opt-out (stop, quit, end, cancel, unsubscribe), according to Advertising Age. They also require that consumers opt-in twice to ensure that they want to accept the offer, says Ad Age. Some marketers who use mobile messaging to reach consumers have reported a 90% response rate and 30% conversion rate.