With all the attention to music, and Al Gore’s 7-Point Pledge, the use of text messaging (or sms) was more like an afterthought.
Saturday’s Live Earth event urged viewers in the US, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Brazil and Germany and the UK to send different keywords to a short code. Keywords were "home," "ride," "share" etc.
I tried it out, and received a prompt response saying:
"Thanks. You have answered the call. U will get weekly updates. More info at http://www.liveearth.org"
That’s it?
No follow up to the double opt-in, asking me for an email address.
No redirect to a custom website or landing page.
Considering the event was riding on the music platform, there was so much more they could have done. How difficult would it have been:
- To get one of the stars to write a song and use it for viral distribution only –spread by people who opted-in via cell phones?
- Forget music. How difficult would it have been to get the 7-point pledge spread via phones?
- They could have tapped into the user-generated content bandwagon and asked citizens to create their own pledges.
- They could have beamed those pledges up to outdoor venues in the seven continents. They could have re-purposed those contributions and fed it to the media…
It was a huge, huge, missed opportunity.
Sending my phone the URL for Live Earth was so lame, considering, I already knew the web address!` (it was all over the screen on TV!) and it was not providing me any new information, or linking me to any new medium, or event.
Let’s hope they answer the call!
Hoipolloireport 
What they really spoiled was a chance to capture and interact with an engaged audience.
Part of the solution is combining SMS with email communications (www.bboing.com). The other is knowing exactly how you are connecting with your mobile campaign, and why it is so valuable to deliver rewarding content in return.
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Nathan,
Give me some examples of ‘rewarding content.’
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Some examples of rewarding content:
– Information: the most valuable content when in search of it, or wanting more of it.
– Messaging that completes the connection from the call to action, promotes continued interaction (ex: a micro-website), or provides real-time opportunities to opt-in to the next big thing!
– Exclusive videos, music, or a collective report from linked sites (from around the world?)
– An second step opportunity to be rewarded with a prize, a one-of-a-kind golden ticket to be part of something special.
– A direct link to a 30 character URL, or direct links to blogs, wikis, and a social network.
– Other? Something so cool that the recipient / participant is going to tell a friend and pass it along.
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Nice stuff… tough to keep track of all that is happening. I end up reading 100 odd blogs daily. Plus there is news. You could also enrich your blog by adding current news on your blog… try out the news widget from widgetmate.com
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