The willingness of people to interact with brands on their mobile phones (and their growing reliance on mobile devices for shopping advice and assistance on the move) has jumpstarted a new phase in mobile marketing growth driven by retail brands and advertisers. From department stores to computers & electronics retailers to luxury fashion brands, marketers are investing in mobile advertising to reach and influence people throughout the purchase funnel (awareness, engagement,  consideration, conversion and loyalty). Mobile Marketing Mobile Research MORE >>

Everything is advertising. So whether we like it or not, every time a brand outwardly communicates that they’ve done something good for the community, it crosses over from public relations into advertising. For example, the fact that McDonald ’s mascot Ronald McDonald is the icon for the Ronald McDonald House is advertising. But in the end, it’s all advertising. But the fact that they use commercial mediums to advance these programs makes it advertising. Everything’s advertising. The New Advertising originally appeared on Spin Sucks on March 17, 2011. MORE >>

The MAD ( M obile AD vertising) Movers series profiles the mobile advertising companies high on my radar. Rather than choosing a me-too model that serves up ads based on bid-for-placement, AdXplore — a privately-held company headquartered in Santa Cruz, California — has burst on the scene in August with a pull model that allows people to request and receive the advertising they want when they want it. In practice, AdXPlore’s approach (and own IP in the form of “mobile advertising search engines&# ) lets people look for offers and establishments nearby. MORE >>

Whether you’re anxious to get started marketing on Facebook, already there but looking for better results, or not sure if Facebook is right for your company (despite the eye-popping audience numbers), you’ll find guidance here in some of the best posts on Facebook marketing so far in 2010: tips, tactics and best practices for building Facebook pages, growing your fan (or “like&# ) base, advertising, optimizing for search, using Facebook apps and tools, and more, from experts like Mari Smith, Lisa Barone, Ching Ya, John Haydon, Brian Carter, Marty Weintraub and Shel Holtz. MORE >>

Ideally, the advertiser wants to see the real effectiveness of a campaign in real numbers. The Value Game is applied to a new jet charter start-up called Social Flights and offers an opportunity for advertisers to become part of the experience of the traveller, rather than a distraction to everybody. Advertising is essentially FREE until the traveler exercises their discount option. Even then, the advertiser has all the information that they need to determine the quality of the effectiveness their campaign and the effectiveness of a competitor’s campaign. MORE >>