Mobile marketing company Air2Web has launched Contact Capture, the most recent addition to its Mobile Marketing Solution Series.

Air2Web claims that Contact Capture enables companies to leverage the power of mobile to improve response rates and build customer databases for customer acquisition and other marketing initiatives. By providing mobile calls-to-action that go beyond 800-numbers and URLs, companies can receive responses from prospects and customers anywhere, anytime.

"We focus on text messaging as a marketing vehicle to reach 98 percent of the U.S. mobile market," said Mark Emery, senior director of agency relations of Air2Web, Atlanta, GA. "We're putting mobile tools in the hands of traditional brands and marketers and proving that mobile is a great way to begin a conversation with a consumer.

"Mobile campaigns should be about more than just branding," he said. "As opposed to PCs, mobile is a medium that's always interactive, so mobile campaigns should get consumers involved."

Air2Web's clients include AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Starbucks, UPS, Starbucks Coffee, Office Depot, Foot Locker, Domino's Pizza, Bebe, the Weather Channel, Select Comfort, Aflac, Habbo, Unilever and Evite.

Air2Web is the official mobile marketing provider for Advertising Week, taking place in New York Sept. 22-26 (see story).

Contact Capture is just one of many additional MMSS features Air2Web will introduce in the coming months.

MMSS encompasses Air2Web's complete mobile marketing services offering, which enables clients to promote to, service and transact with their customers via mobile devices.

Each service can be tailored for specific vertical markets and includes unlimited standard-rate messaging

Air2Web claims that each service takes weeks, instead of months, to implement.

Services include promotional messages, coupons, voting, store locators and surveys all through mobile devices.

Contact Capture allows brands to include a mobile marketing call-to-action in its communications that directs customers to respond to the message by texting in a keyword to a shared short code.

Brands can choose what response method is best for each campaign including response with email via SMS, response with convenient times to schedule a call-back, or enable full contact information, such as mobile number and address, from a WAP form.

Air2Web also provides the brand with daily reports, including all contact information that is captured for each user, as well as a weekly campaign summary.

Contact Capture can be implemented within seven business days and is a valuable tool for brands looking for a more direct and open path of communication with its consumers.

The goal of Contact Capture is to increase the response rate of customers by making the capabilities more convenient.

In a recent survey by the Direct Marketing Association, "Mobile Marketing: Consumer Perspectives", results show that mobile marketing will gain more traction with consumers as more data plans become more affordable and broadband-enabled phones gain broader adoption.

The research also found that text messaging accounts for 70 percent of consumer mobile marketing responses, compared with a 41 percent response rate to surveys, and a 30 percent response rate for email offers.

Contact Capture from Air2Web allows the data available from mobile devices to be utilized by brands and help them to further develop effective mobile marketing campaigns.

"With the growing use of mobile device functionalities and the increase in consumption of information found on mobile devices, it is only practical that brands be able to communicate more easily with consumers via this valuable tool," Mr. Emery said.

"As the mobile industry matures and grows, Air2Web's goal is to continue providing innovative campaigns to benefit brands and assist them in building customer relationships," he said.