Mobile communications company Orange announced today that it’s joining with Media Systems, a provider of advertising solutions for mobile phones, to run the world’s first in-SMS advertising trial in Switzerland.

 

The companies say that a large number of major brands are participating in the project.

 

To leverage the mobile advertising potential in European markets, Orange ran a trial with SMS-embedded ads in Switzerland and offered the customers who signed up to the trial a discount on their invoice in return for insertion of advertising in the SMS they received. The company’s sources say that the total capacity of an SMS was 160 characters, and advertising was inserted at the bottom of the message in the remaining available characters.

 

Zohar Levkovitz, chief executive officer at Amobee (News - Alert) Media Systems, said that text-messaging represents the largest potential advertising opportunity in the mobile world. Billions of messages are sent and received every day, and the number of total viewers exceeds audiences of the largest Web sites, TV and radio stations and newspapers. He emphasized that when it comes to global audience reach no media format exceeds text messaging.

 

“This is a groundbreaking solution and we’re very happy to be the first to test it,” said Fabrice Allegro, vice-president of marketing and solutions at Orange Switzerland.

 

Allegro said that mobile advertising provides a compelling opportunity for brands and their media agencies while allowing their customers to consume more mobile services for less.

 

According to Orange, ads inserted in peer-to-peer SMS are less intrusive than the usual SMS push and thus have a much higher chance of being read. Also, in-SMS advertising allows for the integration of multiple interactivity features such as click-to-WAP, click-to-call or click-to-download, according to the company. Orange says it’s able to target specific geographical zones or delivery times by leveraging the Amobee’s technology.

 

The companies say that the 9-week testing period delivered positive results

in terms of acceptance rate, service delivery, click rates, number of inventories and the impact on brand recognition.