"They will be quick to turn on the backlash," Hyder said. That's why "brands that target the teen audience are looking at more authentic ways to insert themselves into the conversation, as opposed to advertising."
For a Nintendo Co. campaign, rather than send teens an ad about a new Nintendo game, mobile-phone marketing firm Hyperfactory published a brain teaser relating to it in game magazines. Users sent a text message to get the answer, and they received a message back with a link to sign up for alerts about the game and download free wallpaper and mobile games. The company declined to say how many consumers participated.
When Kiwibox.com, an online teen magazine, launches a service to send teens text messages with horoscopes and celebrity alerts this year, they'll include a short advertisement at the end sponsored by different brands such as Sparq Inc., a company that designs workout training programs for aspiring athletes, and Paramount Pictures.
But it can be a thin line between the type of product pitches that teens will accept on their mobile phones and those they won't.
Quentin Brown, an 18-year-old high school senior from Santa Monica, said he texted to vote during the National Basketball Assn.'s slam-dunk competition at this year's All-Star game. In return, he received a flurry of text messages with offers to buy jerseys and other basketball-related stuff. He didn't mind the texts for the jerseys, since he's interested in them and always looking for deals. But he didn't like getting ones about things he didn't care about, such as asking him to join an NBA fantasy draft or go to NBA summer camp.
"They were kind of stalking me," he said. "But then they stopped and I was glad."
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alana.semuels@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Mobile nation
8 million
Number of 8- to 12-year-olds with a mobile phone
16.5 million
Number of teens with a
mobile phone
29%
Percentage of 13- to 17-year-olds who respond to ads on a mobile phone
46%
Percentage of 13- to 17-year-olds who say they're open to
advertising on their mobile device if it lowers their bills
Source: Nielsen Mobile
