Consumers typically do not receive 'push' marketing messages to their handsets. If consumers want to participate, they send a text message using the 'short code' to enter the campaign that way.

The mobile channel offers substantial benefits to agencies, brands, and consumers. Don't delay, move now! If you have not yet begun to learn about the benefits mobile can provide, start to learn now. Mobile is simple, start now.

The amount spent by media companies and brands has increased dramatically in 2005 and continues to escalate in 2006. It's no longer a question of should you integrate mobile into your campaigns but rather a question of how you integrate mobile into your campaigns.

The U.S. system is built around a closed model with controls placed between the brand-name marketers and the carrier gateways. By contrast, the system they designed in Europe was totally open. It gave connectivity to almost anyone who wanted it without any controls in place at the carrier level.