Last month, SAP unveiled a new mobile marketing campaign, along with related online and print ads.

As part of the campaign, the company used an ad network to seed banner display ads on the mobile version of 11 different IT and business technology sites, including CBS, Gizmodo and CNN. Users can click on the display ads and connect to an SAP site that hosts five different short videos. Those videos focus on the connection between clarity and successful business and are hosted by such notable people as Accenture‘s Royce Bell and James Surowiecki, a writer for The New Yorker.

The company began using mobile marketing in an attempt to reach its target audience of C-level executives and senior business decision makers. Although this particular campaign is too new to have quantifiable results, OgilvyOne found that mobile banner ads have a 2 percent click-through rate, compared to Internet banner ads, which have a .15 percent click-through rate.

As mobile usage in general continues to grow, it’s likely that more advertisers will jump on the mobile bandwagon. Currently, 11 percent of the country’s 267 million mobile phone users own Internet-ready smartphones. Even big companies like Buick, Kraft and Wal-Mart have begun building mobile-ready Web sites.

Other viable mobile marketing options for advertisers include text messaging and Quick Response Codes. M:Metrics has reported that 49 percent of mobile phone users in America actively use text messaging, making it a convenient way to reach a target audience.

QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes that, when scanned by a phone, connect you to a specific URL. This option is more popular in Japan, where QR codes have been used since the mid-90s and come preloaded on mobile phones.

Mobile TV seems to be catching on in America, and that could mean new avenues for advertisers.

Strategy Analytics predicts the mobile TV broadcasting market will increase by 50 percent this year, from $200 million last year. Some big name brands, such as Ford and Microsoft, are already buying commercial spots within mobile network content.

Until recently, mobile TV wasn’t that popular in the United States. South Korea led development and now half of that country’s 45 million cellphone users watch mobile television. Japan and Hong Kong have grown fond of it as well.

In hopes the American audience will soon grow, broadcasters and technology companies have created Mobile Digital TV, a technical standard for transmitting video to portable devices. That will be tested later this month in Washington, D.C.

MobiTV, a California-based company that provides subscription-based content across 20 mobile networks, already has 7 million subscribers and has seen a 600 percent growth rate during the last three years. Flo TV, Qualcomm‘s mobile TV service, is planning to expand to 100 major U.S. cities.

According to a report from Transpera, the largest mobile video ad-network in the country, more than 13 million Americans watched TV on their mobile phones during Q1. This is a 52 percent increase from the same time last year.

This means mobile TV advertising could soon start to grow. Several TV networks are hoping that will be the case, as a total of $1.5 billion in ad revenue was brought in during Q1, a decrease of about 11 percent from the $12 billion brought in during the same time last year, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising.

During the last few years, there has been a migration from the television to the Web, and now it seems to the mobile phone. CBS, ESPN, MTV and Disney have all launched programming made specifically for phones. These include live broadcasts that show the same commercials that are seen on TV and on-demand videos with ads already chosen.

An example of mobile TV’s success is the Rachel Maddow iPhone app from MSNBC. That app, which allows viewers to watch a three- to five-minute segment of the show or the whole episode on their iPhone, BlackBerry or Palm Pre, brought in $750,000 during June. Another example is the 1 million people that watched the recent Michael Jackson memorial from their phones.

In an attempt to focus more on mobile users, Facebook is teaming up with DeviceAnywhere to ensure its mobile applications are optimized for specific handsets.

DeviceAnywhere is an SaaS platform that allows application developers and device manufacturers to test software on a variety of handsets from more than 30 mobile operators throughout the world.

Facebook has already had some success with its mobile applications, as the iPhone Facebook app is often on the App Store‘s most-downloaded list. Now Facebook is hoping to have that kind of luck with other smartphones.

“Although many companies offer mobile sites or applications for their consumers on-the-go, Facebook is taking it a step further by developing multiple applications that are customized to a user’s device,” DeviceAnywhere CEO Faraz Syed said. “Not only does this require testing an enormous amount of handsets, but also on carriers and networks on a global scale.”

Almost 20 million users access MySpace through a cellphone, causing the company to look at the mobile market as a strong growth avenue that could be monetized with relevant ads. However, neither Facebook nor MySpace have been able to significantly monetize its mobile users. The fact that neither company has strong location integration – a strong facet for other mobile social networks like Loopt, Brightkite and MocoSpace – could be the reason why.

BuzzCity recently released a mobile advertising campaign planner for users of the company’s Global Mobile Advertising Network.

The tool, which is the first of its kind, allows marketers and brands to better plan their mobile advertising campaigns by providing information on traffic and demographic data from each of the 200 countries included in the BuzzCity network.

The Campaign Planner has an easy-to-use interface and provides key data that will help companies receive maximum results from their advertising spend. Media planners, researchers and strategists can use the tool to implement a strategy for a successful mobile advertising and marketing campaign.

The Campaign Planner includes a map display, which is colored to note the mobile Internet advertising page views available in markets throughout the world. Darker colored countries have more inventory compared to lighter colored countries, which helps advertisers identify where they should advertise.

When users roll over each country with their cursor, a pop-up window displays the number of ad impressions available per month and the average cost-per-click recorded for that market. Other information available through the tool includes carrier and network information; handset information, including brand, model, operating system and features; and user information, including gender, age and location.

“Each of the millions of ad impressions served across our network daily tell us a little more about the mobile internet landscape,” BuzzCity CEO KF Lai, BuzzCity said. “The data accrued is a trove of valuable insight for advertisers and media planners, and also paints a coherent picture of mobile internet trends – what markets are expanding, who is engaging and the types of handsets they are using to surf.

“BuzzCity’s advertisers are now able to do away with much of the trial-and-error of planning, and can establish effective campaign metrics upfront,” Laid continued. “There is no other advertising network that provides this amount of data, enabling marketers to better set goals based on their target markets, optimize their campaigns, continue to adjust performance to achieve the best click through rates, and ultimately achieve the best conversion and customer acquisition rates.”

The BuzzCity Global Mobile Advertising Network provides global wireless communities and consumer services. It is one of the largest mobile Internet advertising networks and includes more than 2,000 mobile Internet publisher sites in 200 countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, along with the company’s myGamma mobile social networking community.

ChaCha is focusing its efforts on finding advertisers, but is going about it in a unique and different way.

The company, which is an SMS search start-up based in Indiana, has been growing rapidly as of late. So it was a surprise to some when ChaCha strayed from the conventional efforts of advertising, such as those of Google and Yahoo, and decided to take more of a grassroots approach.

The company is looking for anything from direct placement advertising to mobile loyalty programs to digital coupons. ChaCha claims to have a “much closer relationship with its users” than larger companies and therefore wants to use that to its advantage when it comes to finding advertisers.

In light of this, Founder Scott Jones has been hosting get-togethers for potential advertisers at his home. The company considers the more personal form of going after customers and advertisers to be an important strategy to maintain a high level of growth and loyalty.

“It’s a relationship we’ve developed, and you get to get in on it,” Jones recently told a group of potential advertisers. “You get to insert your brand message.”

The Nielsen Company previously reported that ChaCha has answered more than 150 million questions, mostly by cellphone. While that number doesn’t compare to Google or Yahoo, it does put the company ahead of any other SMS-based answering service.

It seems that u2, one of the world’s biggest bands, is forming quite a relationship with mobile.

U2 has released an ad with BlackBerry as part of the group’s joint effort to promote its upcoming mobile album. The Blackberry Loves U2 ad shows what looks like an App that will work with your BlackBerry GPS to locate the band, your friends and other people that have a BlackBerry.

U2 also signed an agreement allowing RIM and BlackBerry to sponsor the band’s current 360° tour.

A new study found some surprising statistics when it comes to how those in the United Kingdom view mobile marketing.

The study – which was a collaborative effort among Aeneas Strategy, Wasabi Mobile Marketing, Camerjam, MSEARCH Groove and Every Single One Of Us – took an in-depth look at the progress that mobile advertising is making in the United Kingdom.

Perhaps the most surprising, the study found that 70 percent of UK consumers would give permission for mobile ads if they were in control and received some sort of incentive. That could open a lot of doors for those looking to reach a particular audience, job-related or otherwise.

Currently, mobile advertising in the United Kingdom is worth about 30 million GBP. However, mobile advertising accounts for only .16 percent of the overall advertising market, which compares to Internet advertising circa 1998. Despite that, mobile advertising saw a growth rate of 99 percent from 2007 to 2008 and is predicted to grow significantly during the near future.

The study found that ad spend among various marketing channels is not proportional to time spent by consumers. In other words, the amount of time someone spends viewing an ad does not correlate with how much was spent on that ad. Overall, much more is spent on press, Internet and TV ads.

Another surprising figure is that less than half of the people questioned think that mobile advertising can be considered trustworthy. Among the respondents, only 43 percent in the UK, 47 percent of men, 39 percent of women and 46 percent of those 16 to 24-years old thought mobile advertising to be trustworthy.

The study further found that consumers are willing to share some, but not all, personal information. Most consumers are willing to share certain information to receive more targeted messages, such as those pertaining to gender, interests, music or hobbies. However, they are significantly less willing to share information such as location or information about income. Overall, the 16 to 24-years old age group is the most willing to share general information, but the least willing to share information on location and income.

The full report will be available for sale later this summer.

Three big name companies are targeting consumers with location-aware ad campaigns on a new social network.

Centrl has partnered with Navteq, a provider of digital map data for location-based services and vehicle navigation, to enable its location-based social network with Navteq LocationPoint, a mobile location-based advertising service.

Navteq LocationPoint Advertising allows advertisers to reach and engage customers on their handsets when and where they are making shopping and purchasing decisions. For example, Centrl users looking for nearby friends and a place to meet can view offers from nearby merchants.

Companies that have taken advantage of this so far include LaQuinta Inn, Chili’s and Jack in the Box. As with employers who are looking to reach job candidates, being able to cater to the location of the user makes the experience more pleasant and more efficient.

Merchant locations will be displayed on Navteq maps. On top of that, merchant services and special offers can be advertised with graphical promotions, mobile coupons and calls-to-action.

“The social element creates huge value for advertisers and also for users,” Murat Aktihanoglu, founder and CEO of Centrl, New York, said. “You don’t need to print or clip anymore offers, you can just show the merchant the details and the coupon page to enjoy the offer.

“Navteq has a very strong brand and they are visionaries in how mobile advertising can be best improved to become a powerful messaging medium,” he continued. “We very much enjoy working with Navteq on optimizing our system both from the advertisers and users point of view.

The new service, which is available on the Web, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, enables users to access discount offers, keep track of and communicate with friends, as well as access restaurant reviews, local events, real estate listings and nearby gas stations.

Social features allow users to login from social networks, send virtual gifts and free text messages while accessing maps with various content. The location-based social network allows users to connect with nearby places and people that match their interests on smartphones and social networking sites.

“Centrl is working on establishing the guidelines for the next-generation of how advertisers will best communicate with consumers,” Aktihanoglu said. “We believe that geo- and behavioral-targeted messages will be the best way and will almost provide a ‘benefit’ to users because of the high degree of targeting.

“In this regard, we found Navteq to be a great match to what we are trying to do,” he added. “While most mobile ad networks are still at the ZIP-code level in terms of geo-targeting, we have worked with Navteq from the beginning to take advantage of Centrl’s real-time rich interface and send offers to users in a very relevant way, right next to them.”

AdMob recently released new research on the demographics and behavioral characteristics of iPhone and iPod touch users. The research found that while there are several similarities between users of the two devices, there are key differences in the demographic makeup of each group in areas such as age and household income.

The research found that five in 10 people use the iPhone and iPod touch more frequently than they read printed newspapers. More than 40 percent say they use the Internet on their mobile device more often than using the Internet on a computer or listening to a radio.

The research further found that iPhone users are generally older. About 69 percent of iPod touch users are between 13 and 24-years old, while only 26 percent of iPhone users are in that age group. About 31 percent of iPhone users are 35 to 49-years old, while only 12 percent of iPod touch users are in that age group. Overall, 74 percent of iPhone users are older than 25, compared to 31 percent of iPod touch users.

On top of that, more than 70 percent of iPhone and iPod touch users are male. iPhone users also have higher incomes, with 78 percent seeing an average annual household salary of at least $25,000, compared to only 66 percent of iPod touch users seeing that salary.

Also, iPhone users are more likely to have children than iPod touch users, which can be accounted for by the difference in age of the two user groups. About 46 percent of iPhone users have children, while only 28 percent of iPod touch users do.

And the research found that in the next six months, 57 percent of iPhone users plan to buy clothing, 47 percent plan to buy enteratinment and 45 percent plan to travel. When it comes to iPod touch users, 61 percent plan to buy clothing, 53 percent plan to buy entertainment and 36 percent plan to buy mobile phones within the next six months.

“This research highlights how important it is for marketers to understand the mobile landscape and the characteristics of the users of a particular platform or mobile device,” comScore Vice President Loftlon Worth said. “Putting a little extra effort into the planning process can help a mobile campaign be significantly more successful.”

The research was conducted by comScore on AdMob’s iPhone network of mobile Web sites and applications, meaning it’s representative of AdMob, but not necessarily the overall mobile population.

If you’re an adult, you won’t be able to use a recently-launched mobile application. But for teenager’s, that’s the draw.

Fanta, a soft drink brand of the The Coca Cola Company, recently teamed up with Ogilvy Advertising to create the Fanta Stealth Sound System. The mobile application allows teenagers to talk in secret without adults being able to know they’re even communicating.

The application works by using technology that incorporates very high pitched sounds that are audible to teenagers but unidentifiable to adults. This is the same technology that was previously used to prevent teenagers from gathering in public places.

The application plays a series of sounds, which users can choose from a pre-set menu. The sounds all have pre-defined meanings, allowing teenagers to secretly communicate. The application allows for quick response and doesn’t require data charges.

The product will play to Fanta’s brand message, of which teenagers are an important part, by conveying its playful imagination.

“Mobile advertising is all about using the unique elements of the wireless device as opposed to borrowing inventory from previous media channels,” Scott Seaborn, head of mobile technologies at Ogilvy Group UK, said. “Mobile phones are communication tools. This fact was not forgotten in our creative work for Fanta on mobile.”

Sander Munsterman, CEO of XS2TheWorld, which served as Ogilvy’s technical partner on the project, said the application took only two weeks to create.

“The most important thing was the app had to look flashy and had to work on the broadest range of handsets,” he said. “The development process went very smooth as Ogilvy provided us with all the right material.”

The application has been distributed free of charge from the Fanta mobile site, which also offers games, ringtones, wallpapers and 3D downloads. The mobile site’s URL also was placed on 60 million cans throughout the United Kingdom. Ogilvy also created a humorous video about the application. The application has been downloaded more than 320,000 times during the past month alone.

“We felt this was a perfect way of engaging with our core target group of teenages in a way we hadn’t done before,” Prinz Pinakatt, group interactive marketing manager at Coca Cola Europe, said. “It helped us to become part of a community – the community is teenagers. It’s brilliant.”