• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, October 7, 2004

When some of the nation's largest marketers begin checking in at the registration desk of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Naples, FL, today for the opening of the Association of National Advertisers annual conference there, they'll undoubtedly find the typical array of chatckes from media vendors that typically come along with their conference agenda materials. They'll also find something a little atypical among their bag of goodies: an advanced wireless phone preloaded with 200 minutes of calling time and data services from AT&T Wireless. But what the sponsor of the stunt says they actually will be getting, is a "brand new medium."

While likely the most expensive giveaway at an industry trade show like this - the LG phones alone retail for $319.99 each, according to AT&T Wireless' Web site - it is also part of an incredibly cost-effective media strategy developed by one of Madison Avenue's seminal media planning minds, Lou Schultz. Schultz, who for years headed several Interpublic units, including its Initiative and Lintas media divisions, acknowledged that the "six-figure" sampling program was pricey, but that it actually may yield the most effective CPM when you consider the quality of the reach (the nation's largest advertisers) and the duration of its frequency (200 minutes).

"You have to think about how much it would have cost for me to put together 600 individual meetings with these people. It would have been a hell of a lot more," says Schultz who is using the stunt to unveil Boomerang Mobile Media, a new company he is heading that's based on a promising new technology Schultz claims could revolutionize the emerging mobile marketing industry.

While mobile marketing is still a relatively small and undeveloped sector of the U.S. media marketplace, it is growing rapidly in overseas markets where more sophisticated platforms have been developed for messaging to wireless devices. And while many observers believe the U.S. has huge potential, the current state of primarily text-based wireless messaging still pales in comparison to the dynamic nature of most other electronic media, and consumers, marketers and agencies have been slow to catch on.

Utilizing a new technology that enables state-of-the-art cell phones to connect directly to Boomerang's "micro-communications sites," the company is able to stream the kind of rich media content that is more akin to a standard Web-based site than to the text messages associated with most current mobile marketing applications. In effect, Boomerang's technology transforms cell phone screens into a tiny Web page capable of receiving streaming media, including short burst of video downloads.

When the 600 ANA conference attendees who receive the phone dial a special number at the conference today they will be greeted by the voice of ANA President Bob Liodice welcoming them to the conference, as well as a text message directing them to a specially programmed ANA "micro-communication site."

Via the site, attendees will have real-time access to complete information about the conference including the daily agenda, program details and other important news happenings at the event. Participants will even receive reminder text messages for key programs and have access to any last minute changes or updates made to the itinerary.

As a bonus, attendees will be able to keep their cell phones after the conference, and after one month convert them over to an AT&T Wireless account or use them as a prepaid phone. Boomerang will also accept returns of phones for those that do not need them.

While pricey, Schultz says the stunt is simply an effective media strategy and one that will get some of the most influential marketing and media decision makers to experiment with a potentially powerful new medium that can render conventional advertising, be used for ecommerce, or tied to specific call-to-action promotions that are based not just on timing, but on the actual proximity of a potential customer.