By Patrick Seymour

Mobility for millions in the United States and billions of individuals globally means never leaving home without our mobile phones.

Beyond making calls, the capabilities of our mobile devices help us maintain connections with family, friends and colleagues. Smartphones allow us to search for information, to educate and entertain ourselves, and give us the ability to make transactions -- all elements that will continue and will compel increased usage.

These sophisticated mobile capabilities and services, combined with mobile subscriber behavior, will not be ignored by marketers. Advertisers and marketers are increasingly looking for ways to develop and use consumer information.

An ecosystem made up of wireless carriers, aggregators, applications, content-providers, search engines, location-based services, payment services, ad networks, agencies and marketers have been collecting information about consumers. Each of these companies has developed ways to collect, use and potentially abuse this information to contact consumers.

Consumer groups, federal state and international agencies, regional mobile marketing associations and others within the industry have made efforts to establish best practices and standards for contacting mobile consumers.

All mouth, no teeth
An agreement was recently announced with the four largest U.S. carriers to align their mobile marketing practices with the guidelines and best practices of the Mobile Marketing Association.

I applaud the efforts of partnership between the U.S. carriers, Mobile Marketing Association and others in the mobile marketing ecosystem. And while I agree with the standards and best practice published by the Mobile Marketing Associations, they are, at best, guidelines with few clear enforceable standards.

Since the beginning of 2009 Consumer groups such as the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group have petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to investigate mobile marketing practices.

The Federal Trade Commission released guidelines regarding the self-regulatory principles for behavioral advertising on the Web. However, its recommendations fell short of meaningful protections of consumer privacy and relevance to organizations within the mobile ecosystem.

A recent study by comScore M:Metrics revealed a surge in mobile spam across five European Union markets -- Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Germany.

The study reported the number of people receiving SMS messages from companies without permission is increasing by 61.3 percent in France and 21.3 percent in the EU5 year on year.

Also in recent weeks, social networking sites such as Facebook have changed user agreements around privacy. Google has recently announced a behavioral targeting program.

Voluntary guidelines, behavioral targeting and opt-in/opt-out agreements are all evolving elements in an effort to deliver responsible communications. But they will not stop spam, nor do they deliver the full potential of mobile's value to their own organizations, or meaningful, relevant interactions to consumers.

Permission-based and relationship marketing have been gaining momentum for some time, reflecting a widespread trend among consumers to avoid unwanted advertisements, and a willingness to receive content, promotions, or special offers from companies. However, these permission-based communication models alone are not the answer.

How many data collection screens, permission-based or opt-in, email messages have you received this week?

A recent report from Merkle, "View from the Inbox," 2009 found:

? The percentage of total permission email viewed on a mobile device increased five points since last year
? More than half of respondents were less willing to sign-up for permission email compared to a few years ago
? The main reasons subscribers choose to opt out of email programs -- perceived irrelevance and sending too frequently (cited by 75 percent and 73 percent, respectively)
? Thirty percent of permission email recipients have stopped doing business with at least one company due to their poor email marketing practices

Reconciling trust with data
Clearly, mobile subscribers are concerned and frustrated with how information is being collected and used to contact them. Consumers want relevance, privacy options and interactive experiences that add convenience to their mobile lives.

Conversely, organizations who wish to attract and retain customers want relevant, actionable consumer information.

Companies want better methods of data collection, consumer profiling and measurement. Most companies currently collect elements of consumer information. Even without permissions companies may share consumer data, but typically the shared detail is an aggregate -- without individual specifics.

Marketers want more than just aggregate information, such as mobile browsing histories, demographic, device, geographic details or purchase behaviors to target, tailor and deliver relevant communications at every point of the relationship.

Certainly it is in everyone's interest to work together to produce a solution that will meet the needs of consumers and marketers.

The following model is an attempt towards this solution and can provide relevant, responsible communications for every organization within the mobile ecosystem.

I believe what is necessary to achieve this common ground is a trusted third party which collects consumer information, applies the desired consumer preferences and distributes the information to companies within the mobile ecosystem.

Customer involvement and trust are essential to this model. Consumers generate profiles of all of the brands with which they wish to interact. Consumers would then manage their profiles (which include privacy options, permissions to share information, as well as preferences for the types of desired communications) on a regular basis, with options to update profiles at any time.

I believe this model provides consumers with the relevance, control and convenience they desire.

Also, I believe those in the mobile ecosystem would find this model compelling, allowing greater capabilities to profile, deliver and measure relevant communications to their intended audiences.

Serious -- give it to the do-no-evil guys
Who is capable of developing a trusted environment that will balance consumer demands for privacy and relevant communications with the desires of brands and marketers?

In Japan and South Korea, wireless carriers have formed joint ventures with advertising agencies for new companies exclusively focused on mobile marketing.

This arrangement allows each company to focus on their core competencies. However, it does not necessarily provide a full picture of consumer profile. More important, consumer preferences for privacy and communication are not fully realized.

While effective in Asian markets, in my opinion, carriers and marketers -- or a union of the two -- are not the most trusted entities to deliver this model in the United States.

I believe consumer organizations, government regulators or industry self-regulators could position themselves to become this trusted third party. However, their history of influencing consumer data collection, privacy and communication practices has not engendered significant trust or enforcement.

A search engine marketing company such as Google is perhaps the most knowledgeable, capable and trusted entity that could execute such a model. It has the clout, infrastructure and trust to develop and champion this model.

My instincts suggest the only way such a model could be implemented is through alliances and effective partnerships among members of the mobile ecosystem.

Mobile devices have become a necessity in our daily lives. In the effort to reach consumers, mobile technologies will be the vehicle of choice used by marketers and advertisers in the future.

Consumers need a trusted system to receive communications from the horde of companies wishing to contact them and must take an active role in this evolving process.

A model that allows consumers to develop and manage their own information and communication preferences that are adopted by companies and marketers is compelling to both consumers and the entire mobile ecosystem.

This model is not only possible, it is imperative to provide the greatest value for consumers, as well as every company within the mobile ecosystem.

Patrick Seymour is president of Seymour Consulting Service, Park City, UT. Reach him at .