Hot on the heels of E-commerce comes...M-commerce!

M-commerce, or mobile commerce, is expected to be the next step in consumer convenience. J.P. Morgan defines m-commerce as “Business-to-consumer transactions conducted from a mobile device.” And thanks to Apple's iPhone and subsequent “iPhone killers” by the likes of Nokia, LG, Samsung and others, accessing the internet on a mobile phone is now a normal, everyday activity for many, and just as necessary as say, breathing, is for others.

Today's phones can access the high-speed 3G internet connection, and use custom-designed browsers like Google’s Opera Mini that formats web pages for the hand-held screen. With mobile screens larger and with faster speeds, today's phones are more accepted as a decent “PC on the go,” one that can fit into a pocket instead of having the weight equivalent of a child's bowling ball hanging from your shoulder.

According to July 2008 report by Nielsen Mobile (a part of that same company that does those TV ratings), out of 254 million mobile phone subscribers in the US in the first quarter of 2008, 144 million were active data users, and 40 million subscribers are active internet users. Also, the number of subscribers to mobile internet increased from 74 million at the start of 2007 to 95 million this year. Pretty heady numbers. Factor in that 32% of mobile internet users reported that they would be interested in more mobile advertising as a means to subsidize their wireless bill, and you have a built-in audience of nearly five times the amount of moviegoers “The Dark Knight” attracted on its record-breaking opening day ready to embrace m-commerce. Most likely quite a few of them probably purchased their tickets from their mobile phone, or at least used it to check theaters and showtimes.

Remember 2007’s Super Bowl XLI? I’ll bet Sprint and Pepsi do. As the exclusive advertiser on the Sprint Nextel mobile web, Pepsi offered a ‘Design the Can’ contest to win tickets to the Super Bowl and a jewel-encrusted Pepsi can worth $100,000. Four different advertising banners directed users to Pepsi’s mobile web site, and resulted in views of up to 9 million on Sprint’s made-for-mobile video programming to see the designs of 15 new Pepsi cans and also view live clips of the Super Bowl itself. A case study posted on Enpocket, a mobile advertising specialist and one of Pepsi’s partners in the campaign, stated that “At a time when advertisers are vying for consumers’ attention across multiple media channels, Pepsi built awareness and engagement for a major marketing initiative using the Sprint Mobile Media Network – leaving a lasting impression with the 175,000 people that now see the Pepsi wallpaper every time they look at their Sprint mobile phone.” Pepsi is currently using mobile marketing in China, tied in with the arrival of the Olympics, and Sprint has expanded its sports sponsorship and coverage to NASCAR events.