Obama supporters were emailed about the announcement with an emphasis on taking Obama's "movement for change" "offline." And by "offline" they meant your cell phone. Supporters can join by either texting the word "GO" to the short code 62262 (OBAMA) or signing on via the mobile registration API on the website.

The campaign is the first to utilize its own Shortcode (OBAMA/62262). The Edwards and Hillary campaign both utilize a shared shortcode that is used for other non-profit or commercial campaigns, though apparently the Clinton campaign is rumored to be working on getting its own.

While it's too early to comment on the quality of the campaign, the Obama people are showing a little ingenuity here in a number of ways. At first I was a little puzzled as to why the incentive being offered to join the text message campaign was a free bumper sticker. Ringtones have been recently labeled "the new bumper sticker" and it would seem to make a lot more sense to offer up one of those. Then I realized, after texting in, that to receive the bumper sticker I had to text in my address. While I am sure a plethora of the people texting into the service are already registered supporters, this still is a great way to gain some more mailing lists and or update already existing ones.

The campaign is also one of the first to offer campaign-based ringtones (what I refer to as the mobile bumper sticker) and wallpaper that can only be sent to your phone by texting or "opting" into the campaign. The ringtones are a fabulous compilation of various Obama speeches (including his famous 2004 NC speech) fixed with a hip beat, one of which is just an Obama chant (to listen to some of them go here). The Obama wallpaper/ringtones are delivered via the standard method of WAP push in which a link to a mobile web page where you can download the tone or image is sent to you via text message. Simply click the link and the dowload should, depending on your phone and carrier, begin automatically. The ringtones and wall paper are free but, of course, standard text message rates apply. Of course this also requires your phone to have data and web access of which standard data rates apply as well.

II also found the little note under the ringtone section to be a little interesting and perhaps and hint to the future... Under the credits for the ringtone's and wallpaper is a message telling people where to send their own Obama ringtone or wallpaper ideas. Now there is an idea that blows a "vote for my campaign song" idea out of the water. Do not just let people vote for a campaign song... let them create it and then let hundreds of thousands self express it on their cellular devices.

Now the challenge will be to make these tones and wallpaper viral enough that people do not have to visit the website in order to learn how to download them. A little outside marketing could do the trick: placing a random combination of "text 'RINGTONE1' to OBAMA (62262) under various signs or outside marketing or speeches would be an interesting idea.

Also, since the campaign has its own shortcode they could be spending some time convincing people to "put Obama in their phone book." That way when the text messages come in it looks more personal and also makes it easier for people to access the shortcode, for whatever reason, if so desired.

As per what the campaign will be doing with the text messages sent to your phone it seems like it will be some of the standard campaign text alert stuff or as the email put it:

Be the first to know about local campaign events. Get reminders about debates and important public appearances. And connect to our organizing staff to build the movement in your community.

It looks like it has been a smooth launch for Obama mobile. I hope the campaign keeps the alerts focused on the mobile medium and doesn't just send out reminders to visit websites and watch television. The mobile medium is best accessed as a form of digital self expression and call to action. Obama has been good with that in the past, now let's see if he can translate it to the fastest growing digital medium in the United States.

Technorati Tags: 08 election, obama, mobile, text messgaing , sms, clinton, edwards

Nevertheless, In her announcement Hillary pulled out all the usual bells and whistles telling people to take out their cell phones and text the word "JOIN" to 77007 (listen to it here). According to an e-mail from campaign spokesman Phil Singer, those who text the word “JOIN” to 77007 can expect:

• “Regular updates from Hillary while she is on the road (messages, photos, etc).” • “Local updates about campaign events in their area.” • To be asked “for their input.”

When you first text the word "JOIN" to 77077, a service being provided to the campaign by a UK/US text message marketing firm called Interlinked Media (a relatively unknown firm), you receive a text message back:

Thank you for joining my campaign for change! Help build the campaign by asking EVERYONE to text JOIN to 77007. Hillaryclinton.com

This message is NOT Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) compliant in that it does not provide the user with instructions on how to opt out (you know, in case I wanted to stop getting the cookie cutter "regular updates from Hillary while she is on the road.") Such things are usually handled by texting the word "STOP" to the very same shortcode. I tried it. Nothing happened -- I did not get a text message back. UPDATE - Peter Daou over at the Hillary Campaign confirmed for me that my STOP message did in fact un-list me. The campaign made the decision not to have an opt-in message in the original text message in order to make it feel more like a conversation, (a choice I d not agree with). According to Daou all future messages will have opt-out instructions, an interesting choice since the opt-out message will take up space with the 160 character limitation. Better to have it in the original message instead of every other message after that, if you ask me. According to the MMA you only need it once, in the first message.

The following is page 10 of the MMA's guidelines: "Upon entering the program, the subscriber must be told how to opt-out of the program."

The HillaryClinton.com website also allows you to enter your number to join the text message campaign, but this had serious flaws as well, in that there appears to be no API in place. What does this mean? Well, when a friend of mine entered his number on the website no message of confirmation was sent to his phone. This would actually prevent the campaign from sending him any messages according to most cell carriers’ best practices, and he of course received no opt-in instructions. UPDATE - However, Daou assured me that there is in fact an API in place and that numbers entered on the website are registered. But the campaign chose to not send outgoing messages to the phones of people who signed up on the web, a practice that I frown upon but was decided upon by the campaign. When people enter the information they should see that it's working right away. Otherwise, as in my case, it looks broken and or people forget about it with the possibility of being annoyed later on when it pops up on their phone. However, the Clinton campaign has their reasons for their choices, and as long as the technology is there I am excited to see where they go with it.

Anyways, those things can be fixed pretty easily, but its not a great start. So far the text campaign has been pretty silent. So, I was curious about the "local updates about the campaign" that the email talked about. The online form asks for a zipcode but the message you get back from joining via text message [the direct mobile-tomobile campaign] does not. I was wondering how they planned to do such a thing if joined via text message and they did not have my zip code... they may have my area code but that does not help with mobile users. Lots of people hold on to the cell number they receive from their hometown even when they move somewhere else. For example, I have a 914 zip code (Westchester, New York) even though I now reside and am registered in New York City. So, I tried texting in my zip code to 77007, a standard function that most political organizations have implemented in their text campaigns. The message I got back was shocking!

Thank you. Your nearest center is: People's Community Clinic, 2909 N.IH 35, Austin TX 78722, Call: 512-XXX.XXXX

Now, I do not think that the Hillary Clinton campaign meant to provide me information on Teen Pregnancy drop off centers in Austin, Texas, but this is the type of information that a standard request of input for a political mobile technology campaign generates in this case. UPDATE- [NOTE: Besides the sign-up form on the website the direct mobile-to-mobile form did not ask me to text my zipcode, this was just me testing the system] This is actually a huge problem on many levels, and one that especially arises when a campaign uses a shared short code (77007) and aggregated lists. But it is one that many other companies such as Mobile Commons, Mobile Accord, Cherry Tree Mobile and a whole bunch of others dedicated to the political space have solved by finding clever ways of creating a clear and total vertical from the very launch. Another solution could have been for the campaign to buy the shortcode "CHANGE,” or "HC2008." The Shortcode CLINTON (2546866) is to long. Shortcodes only come in 5-6 digits and a vanity shortcode costs about one grand a month but may be worth it from a freedom of technical limitations standpoint. But such a process takes a couple of months and I can only assume that the Hillary Campaign is working on it. If they are I could only have recommended to wait till the vanity code comes into play instead of confusing people with yet another shortcode later on. However, it seems to be standard practice now a-days to launch on a shared shortcode as a kind of test run.

Overall I am not overly impressed with the technology, strategy and release of the platform, though I admit it’s too early to tell. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am a little wary about their use of language in terms of calling it a mobile-to-mobile push campaign. Mobile is a pull medium that the user must have total control over from their end; the extremely personal nature of the mobile device demands it. I hope the Clinton campaign has a strategy in place that is unique to the ubiquitous call to action nature of the cell phone and do not just treat SMS and text messaging as "another form of email."

As with any technology launch there are a lot of hiccups. And while I have seen a lot more complicated mobile campaigns launch much more smoothly, for a political campaign to take this on says and means a lot. The mobile buzz is hitting the political air. I give a lot of props to the Hillary campaign for being the first campaign to FULLY integrate text messaging and mobile into their campaign and they certainly received a lot of PR buzz with its release, but with its cookie-cutter "SMS alerts" strategy, lack of mobile marketing best practices and teen pregnancy technical glitches, it’s not shaping up to be a quality mobile campaign, at least one that can go on record and push the envelope for others to follow, yet.

Technorati Tags: 77007, clinton, hillary clinton, interlinked, mma, mobile commoms, mobile marketing assosacion, politxt, john edwards, shortcode, sms, text messaging

Its an article from this past SEPTEMBER in the Roanoke which eerily begins with talking about a Virginia Tech University man-hut for a double murderer. The story highlights how while they relied on e-mail, the Web and messages sent to dorm phones to get the messages out the ability to reach kids on their cell phone was out of the question.
The article then points out that university officials at Virginia Tech already met with University text message provider E2Campus. But Virginia Tech, like most schools, saw this as to much of an an innovative idea.

"We will certainly be investigating other kinds of communications vehicles," Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said, though he cautioned that a text-messaging system was still a "blue sky idea" that would take investigation to implement.

"Blue Sky" idea, huh? Lets compare this statement to and jump to yesterday and some little blurbs from todays New York Post:

"Before the campus alerts went out, students already began using their cell phones and text messaging to warn one another."

I was in my class... two buildings over,: Michelle Billman told ABC News. Someone got a text message saying something was going on. After that, we where told to stay in the building."

The only reason we knew was someone got a text message... no one was there saying "This is what's going on,'" said Billman, the general manager of the campus radio station.

Steger said the university decided to rely on e-mail and other electronic means of notifying members of the university, but with 11,000 people driving onto campus first thing in the morning, it was difficult to get the word out.

Looks like someone's idea of a "Blue Sky" solution actually seemed like the practical thing to do.
Rafat overt at MocoNews also thinks to think so. Besides pointing out the mobile phone citizen journalism that took place with a Nokia N70, Rafat also pointed out how NYC-based Rave Wireless, even has a blog on campus mobility. Its system differs in that, along with allowing text alerts, it enables college police departments to monitor the locations of students, both on and off campus.
The Roanoke article also lists more companies in the mobile university space.
But the crisis also speaks to a larger communication issue than just text alerts. It speaks to the difficulty that universities have in communicating with college students in general. The concern, therefore, does not just lie with universities themselves but with anyone trying to communicate with this demographic.
So if you are media empire, political campaign or non profit you may want to take a look at how kids on campus are speaking to each other (i.e over their phones) and start thinking about how best to go about with a mobile strategy.

Technorati Tags: sms, text message, e2campus, virginia tech, roanoke, moconews