Mobile Phone - Personal Interactive Media Points

Seana from MediaPost posed the questions:
As brand marketers and advertisers, we must pay close attention to how the mobile phone fits into everyday life. I'll leave you with a question. Are mobile devices taking time away from our media?

Here is my response:
I agree that mobile phones are just a new form of media - but a better, more targeted, always on, always there form that have eclipsed PCs in world-wide use - and will soon eclipse PCs in over-all functionality.

Because mobile phones are "always on, always there" they are the ultimate tool for geo-targeted daypart advertising. Consider this: On his morning commute, a person receives an ad for a free coffee with purchase of a bagel. During lunchtime he receives an ad for a lunch special from a nearby restaurant. While grocery shopping, receives an in-store reminder to buy milk and gets an ad for an instant special on produce that the store has overstocked. That evening receives an ad for discounted theater tickets for an undersold show. 2 days later receives an ad for an "escape the city weekend special" from a nearby resort that has open reservations. The target agrees to receive these ads because his phone bill is part-paid by the ad network (similar to agreeing to receiving online ads from the GAIN network in order to use the file sharing service Kazaa.)

And the amazing thing is - because a phone is delivering the message - the person can easily take action - whether it's making the reservations, buying movie tickets - or walking over to the produce section and buying the overstocked oranges.

Mobile phones are not just phones that are mobile - they are personalized interactive media points.

There is a great article on the site PDA Today about the explosion of mobile phone use and the future of mobile phone technology: Mobile Phones Could Make Your PC Obsolete
http://www.pdatoday.com/pdaviews_more/1647_0_4_0_C/