DEMOmobile conference highlights new technology and new opportunities for marketers.

The hoopla that surrounds the opening of a trade show can be akin to the excitement you felt as a kid on Christmas morning. The glittering displays, the sparkling new products, the press cameras flashing all make you hope that somewhere in that pile of goodies and marketing ploys you'll find a pony. 

No pony, but at this fall’s DEMOmobile conference in San Diego, Nokia and SixApart’s new partnership raced out of the gates like a thoroughbred. The two companies gave attendees a sneak-peek at “Moblogging,” the next generation of mobile marketing using imaging to power-up social networking, create instant communities and put a new face on blogging.

Take cell phone giant Nokia, add blogging tech-powerhouse Six Apart and the two equal a potential promotional jackpot for them, potential media buyers and sponsors seeking a real-time branding opportunity.

It’s also simple to use. With the phone-based application, you snap a picture, type in a short title and description on the keypad, and then transfer the image directly to a blog with a push of a button. No clumsy emailing required. Both the phone and PC version of Nokia’s Lifeblog software now work directly with Six Apart’s much-acclaimed TypePad to enable this next generation of moblogging.

“Several trends are converging, making it not only possible but also easy to document your life and share it with others, from anywhere” explains Barak Berkowitz, Six Apart’s CEO. He says that widespread camera phone usage, ubiquitous Internet access and the popularity of Web blogging make it easy for people to stay in touch no matter where they are.

As a marketer, I can envision a future where children’s moblogs are brought to you by Gerber, Madonna concert moblogs are sponsored by Pepsi, and NASCAR moblogs are underwritten by Pennzoil.

The current catch is that now the system is limited to one vendor and only works on Nokia’s new 7610 one-megapixel camera phone. The good news? It’s not an exclusive deal. Six Apart’s Berkowitz and co-founder Mena Trott told press they already are working with other camera phone vendors to bring similar features to her platforms. Lifeblog software is priced at $30 and a monthly subscription for Six Apart’s TypePad system starts at $5.00. Who knows, maybe a big brand like Pepsi will subsidize these fees and underwrite a “This is Your Life” campaign for the blogging generation?

JANE plays with new toys

Down the DEMOmobile aisles, Mobot, a Massachusetts-based mobile marketing start-up wowed me with its new visual search technology that drives users to interact with consumer brands. Consumers use their camera phones to send a picture of a visual cue in a print ad, corporate logo, product package, t-shirt or even poster to Mobot, which then provides a personalized response.

In reality it’s a lot more fun than the techie explanation sounds. Imagine a young dude in a bar at a loss of words about how to chat up the hot chick sitting across from him. The savvy bartender catches his eye and gives him a heads up that the answer is right in front of him. So dude pulls out his mobile, takes a picture of the Cuervo branded coaster featuring an embedded Mobot visual cue. Zap! He gets text back with three possible conversational openers. Quickly Cuervo saves the night and scores a fan forever.

That app is still in the planning stages, but CEO Russell Gocht explains that in the product’s highly successful pilot they "mobitized" 59 advertisers in the October issue of JANE Magazine. “JANE Talks Back” is the theme of the promotion, says Vice President, Publisher Eva Dillon. Co-branded with emusic.com and Samsung, the promo is spelled out in a one-page ad display inserted around page 65 of the issue. Opening ad copy is inviting as it extols that “JANE is doling out a ton of free stuff” and explains how to cash in on the freebies, sweepstakes and MP3s.

Dillon says thousands of readers are participating, first  by logging on to www.janemag.com/mobot and registering, then grabbing their camera phones and taking a picture of any and all ads in the October JANE and sending the pics to jane@mobot.com. In return for each ad sent, participants get a text message back with offers. Samsung is the official camera phone for JANE Talks Back, eMusic.com is providing a slew of free MP3s, and Mobot is handling the technology to make the cutting edge promo possible.

In a phone conversation, Dillon explained that she and her ad sales team met with each of the 59 advertisers involved in the promotion to explain how the Mobot system would work. It’s that kind of one-to-one marketing that enables early adopters like JANE to make sure that brands are successful. “It’s a great way to reach our younger generation of readers,” Dillon explains. It’s a terrific value-add for JANE’s ad group and a stellar showcase for Mobot new tech. Watch for a Mobot/JANE redux in the magazine’s holiday issue.

By next Christmas …

DEMOmobile wasn’t just whiz bang displays and flashy new promos, though. In the main hall, visionaries like Trip Hawkins (founder 3DO games platform) and head of Bay Area-based Digital Chocolate clued the audience into the true opportunity for mobility. “Two billion people will have a social computer,” Hawkins proclaimed as he renamed what we now call smart cell phones. Mobile gaming will be ubiquitious in the future like Google or Ebay, he envisions. One of his favorite apps is called Dchoc Babysitter where parents turn the “enemy” into a friend as toddlers are caressed by ringtones and mesmerized for up to a half hour by eye-popping mobile screen displays. Other imaginative products like Mia Garden -- a Tamiguchi-type experience -- seem to beg for branding by Smith & Hawken garden tools or Home Depot backyard accessories. Hawkins advises: “Expect these mobile games to be a huge cultural phenomenon.”

Throughout the two-day show, sponsor iLoop Mobile’s Mobile Mania instant-win PSMS (premium text messaging) game gave newbies a chance to send their first text message and win products provided by other brands like home server Mirra at the show. A raise of hands in the main hall showed that only one-third of this tech-savvy but admittedly mostly over 30 year-old crowd had ever sent a text message before.

Michael Becker, president iLoop Mobile and board member for the Mobile Marketing Association sees PSMS as a boon for brands and promoters wanting to liven up not only trade shows but also concerts, ballgames and even shopping mall excursions where real-time gaming enhances the event and puts sponsor’s logos top of mind.

Across the way, low-key MVOEM, a venture-funded U.S. start-up with international ties, showed how popular offline brands are turning to the mobile market to solidify brand affinity using their Mobile Virtual OEM (original equipment manufacturer) capabilities. CEO Peter Bernard says his firm is working with major consumer brands, mobile carriers and MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) in the same category as Boost and Virgin to customize handsets, add logos, leverage Macromedia Flash and unique designs, all in order to enable marketers to wrap their brands around a new customized mobile phone experience. Bernard says his firm can OEM in six to nine months with payment on delivery versus the “white box” phone manufacturers who require two years and millions to customize any of their designs.

As companies like MVOEM innovate we may soon see Mickey Mouse mobiles that play lullaby ringtones, AARP-branded handhelds customized for seniors with bigger buttons and large screens and NASCAR brand handhelds that double as remote controlled toys.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Christmas -- it’s called CES (the Consumer Electronics Show), and it's only a few months away.

Joyce A. Schwarz is an emerging technology consultant and author who heads JCOM a marketing and branding firm located in Marina Del Rey, California.