Targeted SMS is the most powerful mobile advertising channel: Female Friday with Kerstin Trikalitis

It’s the last Friday  of the month, and that means it’s Female Friday! At this time every month, we publish an in-depth feature interview with one of the leading ladies of the mobile industry. For April, we are blessed to have an interview with Kerstin Trikalitis, CEO of Out There Media. The “mobile operator focused” advertiser is becoming one of the dominant forces in mobile advertising, and Kerstin filled us in on her history with mobile and with Out There – and the present and future of mobile advertising.

Have you always been involved so heavily in mobile?

Yes, mobile and I go back almost to the beginning of my career. I consider myself blessed to have spotted the mobile sector’s potential pretty early on, and to have followed a fast and exciting course within it, from day one. Today I can’t think of myself being in a different sector. The rapid growth, the constant change and the fast paces are some of the elements that keep me going and motivate me to give my 100% and more.

How did you get into mobile?

Soon after I completed my MBA, I joined an Athens-based company that was heavily involved in web development – and struggling. I took on the challenge to lead the company out of that state, and it soon became evident that mobile was the only – and the best – way forward. The transition from web to mobile was a challenge in itself, but in the end it was a bet that really paid off. The success of this whole affair was a turning point for me, as it put mobile into perspective. After that, I was just hooked on it – as I continue to be, to this day!

A little further down the line Out There Media came into my life, and that’s when mobile really became my life. Needless to say, nothing I have done in my pre-Out There Media days can compare to the satisfaction of my work with the company – my company – today. A big part of myself has gone (and continues daily to go) into Out There Media: my vision, my beliefs, my attitudes to technology and the future. My work at Out There Media is showing me every day that mobile is the future. I’m really glad I got into it when I did, and I know that I’m here to stay.

Did you know from an early point that mobile was where you wanted to be?

I realised very early on that the potential of the mobile phone as an advertising medium was immense, and the world would have no choice but to wake up to it sooner or later. Today everyone is talking about mobile advertising, and cool new applications and services seem to appear by the minute. Adoption and approval has not always been plain sailing, and the industry is definitely not entirely there yet. It’s been such an exciting ride from the very beginning, though, and I wouldn’t change it for anything else.

When you become part of a sector from its very early days, you become immersed in it and, as you live it through its good and its bad moments, it really becomes a part of you. If that sector happens to be mobile, where there truly is ‘never a dull moment’, then the strength of your bond with it is even greater. Mobile showed me very early on that it had everything I was looking for in my professional life, and I know that there is no other sector that I’d possibly choose over it.

2009 was definitely a good year for mobile marketing – is there any branch of mobile advertising that you’re particularly excited about?

2009 was indeed a very good year for mobile advertising 2010, however, is THE year of mobile advertising. All evidence points to that direction – and I’m not just referring to analyst reports, but also on recent acquisitions and deals, and the overall vibe that we get from the global market on a daily basis.

What really excites me about mobile advertising is its effectiveness – responses, click-throughs, conversion rates – that simply is beyond comparison to any other form of advertising. And I’m particularly thrilled when clients realise it and appreciate its power, and they come back for more. One year ago, pitching a mobile advertising campaign to a client meant trying to persuade them to do something they weren’t absolutely sure of. Today results speak for themselves, and that shows that we’re doing something right. And that’s one of the most exciting aspects of our work!

Out There Media covers pretty much every channel in mobile advertising. Which do you think are the most valuable globally?

We do cover pretty much all channels, and in some cases different channels work better in each one of the 15 markets where we operate.

If I were to choose one channel for global value, I’d probably say that’s targeted messaging. Creative and targeted messaging campaigns constantly yield amazing results across all markets, and, most importantly, regardless of devices. And I am also very happy that mobile advertising has re-positioned (some say “saved”) the MMS, and made it such a valuable and important channel.

Having said all that, we have seen some of our best results from mobile video advertising, where we have offered cool video content as an incentive to participate in mobile advertising campaigns. One such example is our recent work with RIM in Austria, with a brief to target under 26 year-olds to advertise the company’s first touchscreen device, the BlackBerry® Storm 9500 smartphone.

The advertisement achieved a click-through-rate of 5.5% and the Justin Timberlake video on offer was streamed thousands of times. The conversion rate for the entire campaign was an impressive 27.5%. This campaign highlights the importance and success rate of using rich media in mobile advertising and is a trend that we are seeing in all our campaigns globally.

Any advice for people getting into mobile marketing in 2010?

Even though some might say that it’s pretty late to get into mobile marketing/advertising today, I’d say it is a good move, and that the sector has plenty of room for quality players. I would even say that it’s probably the best moment to enter mobile marketing/advertising, as the sector is booming beyond belief.

My main advice, though, would be to get into mobile marketing not for short-term benefits, but to get into it for the long haul – and to enjoy it!

What else are you involved in at the moment, and what do you find most exciting?

Travelling and developing new markets is really exciting for me right now. Ever since the beginning, a big part of the Out There Media model has been tapping ultra-high-growth markets, where no one else dared to go. Even though today, as a global leader, we have immediate plans to enter major, mature markets as well, thinking forward we are always looking for new markets to roll-out into.

What is also very exciting at the moment is talking to top talent globally, as some of the best and brightest executives in the industry are keen to work for Out There Media. Be it at top business school amphitheatres, industry conferences or our various offices around the world, it is great to meet some really talented people, listen to them as they explain in their own words why they want to join Out There Media, and envisage, through them, the company’s next generation!…

What do you do to relax – if you relax?

Relaxation, at the moment, is indeed a very scarce luxury for me. The very little spare quality time that I manage to “steal”, however, I try to devote to my friends and my favourite hobby, scuba diving.

It’s actually been said about me that “the only time she has her mobile turned off and gets away from it all, is when she’s underwater”. I’m pretty sure, however, that sometime soon we will create a Mobile Advertising campaign targeting scuba-divers while they are diving – and then it will all be over!…