Marc Bodner, the CEO of Ping Mobile, sent us some suggestions on why mobile media is such a good medium to reach customers and prospects alike.

Here’s what Marc wrote:

In this deepening recession with continued chaos in the markets, brands and retailers are more focused than ever on controlling their marketing budgets. This heightened concern makes mobile marketing campaigns the perfect solution due to their heavily targeted approach and low cost execution. The following are the four key elements of effective mobile marketing campaigns.

1.    UNIQUE INCENTIVE – A GOOD “CALL TO ACTION”: Since mobile marketing is a push/pull form of communication, the marketer must incentivize the consumer to text-in. To do so, we encourage our clients to offer a solid promotion, whether in the form of a discount, free item or a sweepstakes with an opportunity to win a worthwhile prize.

2.   RE-MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES: It is not good enough to simply push out a “one off” message. The goal is to build a data base of interested “double opt-in” consumers and to utilize the database in a targeted manner for re-marketing purposes.

3.    EASY REDEMPTION: Once the consumer receives the mobile offer, he or she must be able to easily redeem it. Whether in the form of a unique code, an embedded bar code or a click-2-call functionality.

4.    TRACKABILITY: Finally, what makes mobile marketing so unique is the ability to track receipt and redemption of offers and promotions.

Marc Bodner is the CEO of Ping Mobile and has broad global management experience in the telecommunications and Internet sectors. Ping Mobile, a subsidiary of Ping Media Group, Inc., is the leading provider of mobile coupons and promotions, enabling retailers and vendors to communicate directly with their customers via their mobile phones.

Are you as tired of hearing all the doom-and-gloom business stories as we are? We’ve done an investigation into some businesses that are weathering the storm quite well. They range from Mom-and-Pop stores to mega-brands like Walmart and Coca-Cola.

Tomorrow, we’re starting a five-part series on Good Economic News. Each day, we’ll share stories about businesses that have refused to participate in the economic downturn.

Do you know a business that is weathering the storm? Then leave us a comment about it and we’ll include it as part of our 5-part series called, simply, Good Economic News.

In a recent posting by Fredrik Balfour on the BusinessWeek.com site, Mr. Balfour mentions that Kodak is going to pull the plug on its sponsorship of the 2012 games. Regular readers of The 60 Second Marketer will recall that we found Kodak’s sponsorship of these games perhaps ill-advised, especially considering that Kodak has had its share of challenges recently.

I’m sure the argument was that Kodak was a long-term sponsor of the Olympics and, given the industry they’re in and the visual nature of the Olympics, they couldn’t pass up this opportunity. But a basic rule of marketing is that you cover yourself at the retail level first, then spend money building a brand. Then, and only then, do you even consider spending money on sponsorships.

There are those who would argue against what I just said. Unfortunately, they’re wrong.