MediaTel

Permission-based mobile media is 50% more successful at building brand awareness than TV and 130% more successful than radio, according to independent research from Enpocket.

The report, The Branding Performance Of SMS Advertising, claims that 44% of consumers recall a brand after receiving a text message, compared with the 30% recall level for TV ads and 19% recall for radio.

Jonathon Linner, CEO of Enpocket, commented: "Because it is such a personal and direct medium, the strength of an individual's relationship with their mobile phone is unique. It is an uncluttered medium in which the marketer's message can be tightly targeted by time of day or week, location and demographics to optimise relevance."

However, critics of SMS marketing have claimed it may have a negative effect on the brand advertised as unlike tangible direct marketing, SMS does not give the recipient the option to reject the marketing message before interacting with it.

According to Enpocket's research, SMS marketing makes the recipient feel more positive about the brand being advertised. On average these positive effects are 4.5 times greater than negative ones. Enpocket limits the frequency of its SMS campaigns to two per month and all consumers are required to give permission to receive third party marketing.

The research, which was taken from over 5,000 telephone interviews, also claims that on average 36% of SMS campaign recipients say they are more likely to buy the product advertised as a result of the campaign.

Earlier this month, Nightfly, the Diego-backed mobile marketing company, released the results of a study showing that 39% of 18-35 year-olds prefer to receive promotions via SMS than any other medium (see SMS Ads Come Out Top With Younger Consumers).

Enpocket: 0207 404 2090 www.enpocket.com

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