• by June 1, 2004

We learned about a new group dedicated to advancing word-of-mouth marketing techniques at Ad:Tech; it's a sector that appears to be gaining some traction as marketers aggressively look for new ways to break through traditional advertising clutter. Word-of-mouth marketing also relies on the power of so-called "influentials" to propagate ideas and trends, and also leverages viral methods derived from Web marketing practices.

Wireless and other mobile marketing techniques are also gaining ground, finally, after several years of hype.

In fact, today there is word of a new mobile advertising channel. Enpocket, a provider of wireless marketing software, says it's partnered with MauiGames which builds games for play on multiple platforms, including on wireless devices. Maui will provide games with embedded advertising. The offering sounds similar to Massive's recent announcement regarding ad delivery to online, multi-player games. Enpocket cites research from the University of Wisconsin showing that brand placement and advertising within mobile games enables brand recall scores of 30 percent in the short term, and 15 percent after 5 months.

Professor Michelle Nelson, the author of a study on embedded advertising within games, says that such advertising is effective, in part, because gaming is such an immersive experience. " ... Video games with embedded advertising represent an important new advertising medium," says Nelson, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is author of "Exploring Consumer Response to Advergaming." She adds, "Our studies have also found that players welcome ads in certain types of games because the ads provide greater realism."

Enpocket says it will offer games with a variety of ad opportunities including sponsorships and banners. Ads can be targeted by time, location and demographic segment.

And in another twist on mobile marketing, a company called m-Qube has partnered with g8wave, a U.K.-based wireless entertainment company, to deliver something called "txt2flrt," a mobile text application that integrates personals listings and ads from print publications. The idea is to offer the listings via wireless handsets and devices. I read recently about the trend in online dating where dates, contacts and meetings are initiated via instant messages over Blackberry devices.

The txt2flrt service is available to 125 million North American cell phone consumers and covers 80 percent of the daily newspaper market, according to m-Qube.

Some interesting applications to keep an eye on.