Upstream and Luth Research Study Reveals Untapped Consumer Market for Carrier-Driven Deals & Offers

SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON, June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Upstream, the global mobile marketing technology and solutions provider, today announced the findings of its North American Consumer Attitudes to Mobile Marketing research, undertaken by Luth Research, which reveals a valuable and untapped consumer market for carrier-driven mobile marketing and offers.

The research, which polled more than 2,000 American adults, found that 70 percent of smartphone owners are interested in being notified directly by their carrier with suggestions for cell phone plan upgrades, discounts and special offers, and other personalized services. Carriers scored highly against specialist deal sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial, with 28 percent of cell phone users putting their trust in their mobile service provider and only 4 percent trusting the high-profile daily deal sites.

"Given the consumer trust and openness to receiving mobile offers, there is a clear opportunity for carriers to market their services to their customers to build better engagement and drive higher average revenue per user," said Alex Vratskides, CEO of Upstream. "But mobile marketers need to tread a fine line. Based on our experience with hundreds of brands and carriers all over the world, the opportunity to market over mobile must be carefully managed and limited to a number of personalized interactions per month, otherwise consumers will quickly opt-out or churn."

The survey results indicate that 74 percent of cell phone users prefer two or less notices from their carriers each month. The research also reveals that the consequences of ignoring this preference can be dire, with 56 percent of cell phone owners citing that they would change carriers if contacted more than they desire with marketing notices. In fact, 25 percent of respondents declared that they would make the shift within one month.

Ultimately, 56 percent of cell phone users would prefer the opportunity to specify the number of notices that they receive from their service provider.

"This research speaks to the evolving, trusted role that carriers play in the mobile-marketing ecosystem as well as the respect that must be paid to how brands and carriers engage with their customers over mobile," said Michael Becker, MMA managing director, North America. "Inundating consumers with too many marketing messages adversely affects the specific brand or carrier performing the campaign as well as the mobile-marketing medium itself."

"We have generated more than $500 million in incremental revenue for our customers over mobile by respecting consumers' view of their cell phone as a highly personal device and contacting them with the appropriate number of relevant, personalized messages," said Vratskides. "This new data highlights how sensitive the mobile consumer is to mobile marketing 'overkill,' and the need for brands and carriers to make every single consumer interaction over mobile count."

Upstream campaigns are run on its proprietary Marketing Communications Suite (MCS), a comprehensive, mobilemarketing technology platform that offers real-time, optimized communications; game mechanics and game dynamics; contextualization and personalization; and advanced insights and analytics.

Research Methodology:

Unless otherwise stated, all figures come from Luth Research. Total sample size was 2,007 American adults (aged 18+). Fieldwork was undertaken between June 2-7, 2011. The survey was conducted online.

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ABOUT UPSTREAM

Upstream (www.upstreamsystems.com) is one of the largest mobile marketing solutions providers in the world, and a pioneer and innovator in the industry.

Upstream started its operations in 2001, launching some of the first global mobile marketing campaigns for blue-chip brands like Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Vodafone & Nestle. Since then, the company has executed through its Marketing Communications Suite (MCS) platform, 160,000 campaigns in over 40 countries for some of the largest companies in the world, engaging more than 500 million consumers and delivering unparalleled conversion rates translating to over $500 million of incremental revenue for its clients.

Its unique ability to deliver highly effective solutions that extract value from any customer base has made Upstream the preferred mobile marketing partner for some of the largest companies across the globe including: Vodafone, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Orange, Telefonica, America Movil, Bharti Airtel, STC, MTN, Coca-Cola, Nestle, BSkyB, Unilever and Shell.

The mobile is the greatest direct-response marketing medium ever devised but at the same time the most personal and intimate. On mobile, marketers must speak less but more convincingly. Upstream is singularly focused on effectiveness: developing the technology that maximizes customer response to every marketing pitch via mobile and delivering the highest improvements in customer conversion rates.

Upstream's unparalleled knowledge, built on deep analysis of billions of real customer interactions across all continents, is distilled in its Marketing Communications Suite (MCS): the most comprehensive and powerful mobile marketing technology platform in the world.

SOURCE Upstream