“This week, Ad Lounge attended Mobile Media World 2009, which brought together the best and the brightest in mobile marketing in Toronto and beyond. This two-day conference, held at CBC’s gorgeous Glenn Gould Theatre, focused on innovation in the wireless world and ranged in topics from consumer insights to mobile giving.

Our five key takeaways from Day One of MMW ‘09 are:

1. Media Budgets Moving Towards the Gadget that’s Always With You. The smartphone demographic is composed of smartphone newbies - In fact, 50% of smartphone users have had their phone for less than a year. There’s been explosive growth (considering that there are 2.1 million Blackberry Curves and 1.8 iPhones in the marketplace), and most users are just learning how to use the various features that these smartphones have. This poises mobile marketing to be the next revolution in marketing as a whole – as consumers learn how to use new features, they’ll interact with this new media on a more consistent basis. The introduction of the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Blackberry Storm have appealed to a whole new demographic of cell phone users, and has pushed mobile marketing over the tipping point – so be prepared for larger pieces of media budgets to be allocated to the gadget that’s always with you, and always on.

2. Charity Giving via. Mobile is Here! Charities are going to love this news. The Mobile Giving Foundation has finally come to Canada, which means that consumers will be able to donate to their favourite charities via text message. MGF serves as the so-called middle-man between the charity, the carrier, and the user. They ensure the credibility of the charity, collect the donated funds from the carrier, and provide the charitable giving receipts to the consumers. It’s cost-effective, convenient, and oh so very cool. Watch for the Mobile Giving Foundation to publicly launch within the next two weeks.

3. Mobile internet is becoming a replacement for traditional internet and media. The Weather Network has seen a huge number of downloads and use of their WeatherEye app, but consequently those that are using the WeatherEye app aren’t watching the channel or visiting the website anymore. As such, it’s important for marketers to watch their allocation of advertising dollars, and ensure that their mobile applications and mobile websites are optimized for advertising. Try one of the many mobile ad networks to keep the dollars flowing in these new advertising mediums.

4. People want more - for less! This concept is hardly new, but is exceptionally prevalent in the smartphone revolution. As smartphones become more and more popular, consumers are crying out for unlimited data plans - something that Canadian carriers have been reluctant to provide. In addition to cheaper data, people also want cheaper applications - the average that people are willing to pay for an app has declined to less than half, and is expected to continue declining over the next few years.

5. It is truly the “year of mobile”. Since diving into the mobile marketing world close to three years ago, people have been touting statement – and I’ve heard it every year. It has led some to wonder – “will it ever be the year of mobile?” However, after hearing some unbelievable stats that were quoted at #MMW09, including:
a. 22 milllion Canadians have cell phones;
b. Less than 10% of Canadians have said they can live without their phones;
c. 16 BILLION text messages were sent in the first six months of 2009
It’s almost undeniable that we’ve finally reached the “Year of Mobile”, even in an economy that was severely impacted by a recession.