Names and Numbers Partners with Convergent Mobile

PITTSBURG, Kan., May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Names and Numbers partners with Convergent Mobile to provide text marketing to local businesses, promote short code in phone books.

Names and Numbers, a leading independent publisher of telephone directories in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and Southern United States, announced today its partnership with Convergent Mobile, a provider of SMS and mobile marketing solutions. The partnership will allow Names and Numbers' advertisers to further extend their reach to customers using one of the fastest-growing forms of advertising today -- text marketing. It will also provide a new way for users of the Names and Numbers phone books to interact with local businesses through the promotion of unique keywords in conjunction with a "5STAR" business short code.

"We are particularly excited by this partnership because it marries two very important concepts for us: the opportunity to offer a new product that makes sense for today's businesses AND the promotion of an entirely new way for users to interact with our phone books," said Todd McKnight, Chief Operating Officer of Names and Numbers. "Our print and online yellow page users will become very familiar with the new '5STAR' short code through our plans to populate thousands of advertisements with a call-to-action decal for each business; just another step we are taking in the direction of bringing local buyers and sellers together."

"Names and Numbers' reputation for maintaining strong relationships with local SMBs opens doors to extending awareness of the benefits of text marketing, making the product a perfect fit for yellow page publishers," said Mickey Breen, President of Convergent Mobile. "Our platform will allow local businesses to leverage the mobile channel and stay engaged with their consumers … efficiently and cost-effectively. We are extremely excited to bring our product into the fold of such a well-established industry."

Convergent Mobile's platform will enable merchants to select a keyword that best represents their business name. Each business will then create a unique promotional offer that is instantly sent to customers' mobile devices the first time they text the keyword to 5STAR. These customers will then receive exclusive weekly offers from the business as a reward for being an "opt-in" member. And, with each business being provided the call-to-action decal to promote in its other forms of traditional and digital advertising, the opportunities for exposure are endless.

"Our promotion of the 5STAR label in conjunction with each customer's ability to spread their text marketing campaigns to other forms of advertising -- radio, TV, web site, and social -- presents limitless possibilities for how successful this product can be," added McKnight.

Each text marketing program comes with a host of features including access to opt-in lists in real time, dynamic reporting functions, and abilities to provide each customer with additional contact information about the business (through the INFO function). Customers can take advantage of mobile offers they receive by simply showing the offer right from their mobile device. And, customers can easily opt out of campaigns at their discretion (through the STOP function), making the overall experience completely hassle-free.

With some projections of yearly text messaging trends reaching 10 trillion by 2012, "the time for businesses to step into the waters of text marketing is now," according to McKnight. "Convergent Mobile's ability to adapt to our needs has made it possible to provide a very cost-effective product for a fast-growing populace. The opt-in aspect of text marketing will allow businesses to build lists of their best customers and instantly reach those customers with exclusive offers anytime, anywhere."

About Names and Numbers

Names and Numbers is a Kansas-based independent publisher of telephone directories for the past 37 years. The company's 59 phone books across 11 states currently reach over four million homes across the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and Southern United States. For more information, visit namesandnumbers.com.

About Convergent Mobile

Convergent Mobile provides a suite of products that include a customized mobile marketing platform and US411(TM). The marketing platform allows businesses to create and manage campaigns for their opt-in consumers, pushing one-to-many SMS messages using a shared, dedicated, or vanity short code. US411(TM) is a national mobile marketing network that allows local businesses to create and manage their content under the US411(TM) label. The suite also includes the creation of mobile web sites for small businesses. Convergent Mobile is headquartered in Sonoma, California. For more information, visit convergentmobile.com.

Contact: Mickey Breen, [email protected], 707 477-2949

SOURCE Convergent Mobile, Inc. / US411