:: Media Viper ::

Amazon.com Intros Service Allowing Purchases Via Text Message

Amazon.com has bridged the link (no seo pun intended) between Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley this week, sending a shot heard round the internet, that mobile transactions and marketing have arrived Amazon.com style on your cell phones.

The new service, called TextBuyIt, lets Amazon.com customers search, find & buy products in less than one minute via text message through Amazon’s Web site. Using Amazon’s service simply requires consumers to send a text message to “AMAZON” (262966) with the product name, search term, UPC or ISBN.

Amazon will send a message in rerply that includes options to buy one or more of the items, send a request more information about the listed item or any other that Amazon carries, you can also get help. Once Amazon receives a text messaged order, the retailer calls the customer’s phone to confirm. On approval, Amazon processes and ships the purchased items to the shipping address.

Advertisers are always looking for more methods for consumers to find & purchase their products or services because they are counting on impulsive behavior on the part of cell phone consumers. On Wednesday, Yahoo introduced easy search features and voice recognition in oneSearch 2.0, attempting to cut down the time and effort it takes to find information on restaurants, retailers, flight information and more.

Consumers are happily addicted to thumbing text messages to each other. In 2007, U.S. cell phone subscribers sent 48.1 billion of them –up from 9.8 billion in 2005, according to a study released this week by the wireless trade association CTIA.

It remains to be seen if Wall Street will find the link between mobile financial transactions and marketing and advertising, advertising agencies have.

Zaw Thet, CEO of 4info of Palo Alto, Calif., says the “dream goal” for marketers means closing the financial transaction from the mobile device.

“Amazon won’t change the industry, but it’s an important first step,” he says. “It signals other retailers they must provide mobile commerce. Banks have been introducing services. The technology they use makes it easier to advertise and market to consumers because they have found a method to get people through the purchase funnel.”

Amazon will be able to more easily track marketing and advertising campaigns. If Amazon targets adults 18 to 25 with incentives to buy the latest Video Game, it would likely ask thier shoppers to text a keyword to a short code.

Amazon could then track not only companies that place advertisements, but also shoppers who text a keyword to complete the transaction. “Keyword recognition will track the ads through the mobile phone to the purchase,” Thet says. “Madison Avenue is a whole different world from Silicon Valley, and it helps to understand both.”

Microsoft wins Facebook

In a great win for Microsoft the software giant announced Wednesday that is investing $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook.com — The deal concludes that the social network is valued at a huge $15 billion. Beating out Google, Microsoft also won exclusive global rights to sell third-party banner ads on Facebook.

To put this in perspective for everyone, you know I have to toss in the reality, the Microsoft wins Facebook deal is reportedly expecting a profit of $30 million on revenue of $150 million. So the $15 billion valuation is based on earnings of just 10% of that amount.

A lot of people were thinking Google would win this one but Microsoft has an agreement to sell ads on Facebook in the U.S. since August of last year so it seemed they were in the pocket already. Another smart move by microsoft was to expand the agreement internationally because 60% of Facebook’s nearly 50 million registered users live outside the USA.

Microsoft believes that user base is on track to exceed 200 million and eventually 300 million members, said Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s platforms and services division, during a conference call Wednesday.

On the call, Johnson downplayed what one analyst called the “faddishness” of Facebook. “Figured with [Facebook’s] monetization opportunities,” said Johnson, “you could very quickly get to the valuation” of $15 billion.

Analysts agreed that whatever Facebook’s prospects, social networking can no longer be considered a fad. “These are seasoned companies making well-thought-out investments,” said Gartner analyst Andrew Frank of the deal.

As you may know Microsoft owns a branded social networking offering, “Windows Live Spaces,” which has attracted an audience of 9.8 million, according to comScore.

Johnson said he was pleased with Microsoft’s ability to monetize Facebook’s network thus far, but that there are “many initiatives underway to drive that higher.”

Owen Van Natta, Facebook’s vice president of operations and chief revenue officer, did allude to Microsoft’s recent acquisition of aQuantive, saying the deal was “a deep strategic move for them.”

With this latest victory, Microsoft still faces an uphill battle against Google in the war for online ad dollars. In its fiscal year ending in June, Microsoft’s online ad revenue rose 21% to $1.84 billion. During the same period, Google’s ad revenue totaled $13.3 billion.

It seems this is also another shot at Myspace which was once the dominant social network but it seems first to market in the social networking space may not have been the best idea given the amount of negative press they were under initially.

NFL Marketing Chief Resigns

Lisa Baird resigned her job as the senior Vice President of Marketing for the National Football League. (NFL) Lisa worked for IBM, General Motors & Proctor & Gamble prior to working for the NFL. Lisa will continue her work till the end of the year.

This is a loss for the NFL & other corporations, as Lisa has tremendous insight, and is often found at the forefront of using new marketing methods, or using marketing to combat negative publicity.

Two examples of Lisa’s shrewd marketig savvy was the NFL’s decision to use personal generated content which found it’s way to the big game with a commercial starring Don Cheadle which was shown during the Super Bowl.

Another of Lisa’s advanced marketing strategies was to fight negative publicity the league was facing recently with the Michael Vick dog fighting situation. Lisa ran an ad campaign using the NFL players who work in the various communities and featuring their contributions.

Lisa is leaving to spend time at home, having spent the last four plus years at home earning a very nice income I would say that is a great thing for her to do. Seeing how smart she is being at home will allow the creativity to grow further.