Westlake Ace Hardware has launched a marketing campaign designed to drive mobile database opt-in. Westlake is working with marketing technology services company SoundBite Communications on the campaign.

Though consumers clearly use their tablets to shop — a survey released Jan. 16 by rich media marketing company Zmags found that 87% of tablet owners did their holiday shopping using their tablets this year — only 4% of those surveyed said they prefer using mobile branded apps for shopping.

Mobile marketing and related ad spending will grow significantly this year, predicted Bruce Biegel, managing director of the Winterberry Group, a marketing consulting company, during a Direct Marketing Club of New York (DMCNY) presentation on Jan. 12.

The increased use of cell phones and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) has changed the way the Do Not Call Registry operated over the past two years, according to a required biennial report to Congress from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

More than 18% of Christmas Day online traffic was initiated on a mobile device, an 8.4% increase year-over-year, according to an IBM report. Transactions completed on mobile devices also grew, from 5.3% in 2010 to 14.4% in 2011. Christmas Day online sales rose by 16.4% compared with last year's sales figures.

Consumer packaged goods marketer Specialty Foods Group Inc. (SFG) launched its first mobile campaign on Nov. 23 to promote the Kentucky Legend Ham product line, said Laura Luth, marketing manager at SFG. The contest targets a younger demographic who may not be familiar with Kentucky Legend Ham, she said.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) this week issued new guidelines that seek, respectively, to streamline the mobile ad market and codify privacy regulations.

EBay's third-quarter revenue increased 32% to $3 billion versus 2010, the company reported. It also reported Q3 net income of $490.5 million, a 14% year-over-year bump.

Executives from Apple and Google met with Congress regarding the issue, indicating that the privacy versus marketing debate will only become more heated as smartphones gain in popularity.

Marketers such as AT&T, American Express Corp. and Westin Hotels & Resorts are flocking to location-based initiatives, saying the precision of GPS-enabled mobile devices gives them a unique 
chance at conversion.