Call for Mobile Marketing Taxonomy (and it’s sorely needed)

Jonathan MacDonald has had enough. And so have I.

The industry is continually comparing Apples and Pears when it comes to mobile marketing. Witness the following from Jonathan’s recent post on the matter:

Page 12 of NMA (27.11.08) contains a piece by Charlotte McEleny who writes that “Some 65% of young consumers find mobile messaging from brands too intrusive, according to a report by lifestyle research company Tuned In.”

The headline screams ‘Young people alienated by brands using mobile for marketing’

I think its time we nail down some taxonomy here.

Jonathan continues:

Just adding the words ‘without permission’ to the end of the above headline would have shown a more accurate picture. As it stands, at a glance you could argue that mobile is troublesome, anti-productive and interfering.

Jonathan is absolutely right.

What does ‘mobile marketing’ mean. Is that receiving MMS messages — that you HAVE signed up for?

Or is it getting a Bluetooth message sent to your handset automatically because you have Bluetooth turned on and you walked by particular bus shelter with the gizmo activated?

Thus, my suggestion is to clarify for clarity’s sake. Let’s add the context where we can to enable balanced decisions and rational actions based on the full story rather than propaganda.

I nominated you, Mr MacDonald, to write the taxonomy!