Author: JT

The massive international children’s charity is now appealing to smartphone and tablet consumers.

UNICEF UK has just launched their new mobile commerce marketing campaign, which is entitled “Speak Up for Children”, in order to draw participation from consumers who have smartphones and tablets.

The campaign was created by the charity in order to draw more interaction and participation.

The mobile commerce marketing campaign for UNICEF UK was created by Ogilvy & Mather. According to a recent study by Millward Brown, this campaign has already effectively boosted the brand awareness as well as the support that has been received by the charity. This study indicated a number of overall improvements that were achieved by reaching out to consumers using their mobile devices.

This mobile commerce campaign is only the latest charity marketing effort that has been greatly successful.

Other charities around the world are finding that using mobile commerce techniques such as apps, QR codes, optimized websites, and other forms of marketing, are generating a considerable amount of interest from everyday individuals.

The Millward Brown study’s results indicated that UNICEF saw a 5.1 percent increase in association between the charity and the improvement of the lives of children around the world. Moreover, it also recorded a 5.5 percent rise in the favorable feelings that consumers had toward the organization.

Beyond that, the research showed that there was a 4.3 percent increase in the consumer’s intention to make a donation, as well as a massive 15.5 percent growth in the perception that the organization has an unending commitment to its cause, even though that wasn’t necessarily an element of the campaign.

The female respondents to the research provided a more emotional connection to the organization alongside their enhanced awareness , association between UNICEF and improving the lives of children, and overall favorability. On the other hand, male respondents showed a considerably higher intention to make a donation to the charity.

According to commercial director Paps Shaikh, from Say Media UK, which was responsible for optimizing the campaign for mobile commerce, “Mobilizing an audience of this size used to be the remit of the traditional media.”

Internet giant Google has settled with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in regards to its antitrust lawsuit that allows smaller players in the mobile industry access to mobile patents. The move is said to lower the amount of suits related to patent holders.

Google’s hold on patents

Philip Solis, of ABI Research in Oyster Bay, NY, stated that concerns have been raised about Google buying ‘standard essential patents’ from Motorola, essentially giving Google the ability to greatly suppress smaller competition. This settlement states what Google has said all along – that they would not use the patents in such a manner.

“It could start a trend around standard essential patents not being used for offensive purposes,” Solis said. “That is a good thing because it means potentially less litigation.” He goes on to say that bigger companies are not effected by having to work around patents in the mobile industry, but smaller companies lack the resources to do so.

What it means for competitors

Smart phones, gaming consoles, tablets, and even online search advertising are all affected in this settlement. Google will allow competition to license patents on what are called critical standardized technologies for all of the above. When Google acquired Motorola Mobility, it gained hundreds of different patents. Many of these are for most basic functions like device internet connectivity.

Google agrees to allow use of standard patents and thus the number of patent-related lawsuits should drop. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement that Google has made a step that allows consumers to enjoy the benefits of competition in the online marketplace as well through the gadgets that they buy.

“This doesn’t remove the patents issue in general,” Solis said. Overall, he believes that this agreement opens up markets in both advertising and the mobile device market. Google has agreed not to use patents to delay other companies from releasing new products in a timely manner. It is not perfect, however.

Online Advertising

Google is known as an online giant in search and also in search related advertising. As part of this agreement, Google will give those that advertise online more flexibility to use their program as well as the advertising programs of their competitors. The company also promises that any site can remain excluded from Google vertical search results while still remaining visible under their standard search.