With all the hype surrounding new fancy phones with amazing features and data capabilities, it is easy to overlook that we are still talking about a telephone.

In the quest to find the “killer app”, we overlook the original one. Dialing a number and being connected to something or someone.

A new service called Unwired Nation has taken mobile marketing to the next level.  As reported by Kristen on Mashable this morning, Unwired Nation connects your blog or website content to a text to speech process. You can now read blogs by calling a number, and listening to it as it’s read over the phone in an excellent simulated voice.

Unwired Nation makes money by incorporating your ads into the recording, as well as inserting its own ads, and splitting revenue with you. So Unwired Nation is also in the mobile marketing arena, and promotes several uses for its service other than having blog content read out loud. Some of these services include touch pad interaction for users that don’t have access to a computer with the Internet, to do things like bid for an eBay listing.

I can see huge potential for this. The ability to include consumer interaction into the process can build marketing and sales applications right into the content.

One of my favorite mobile marketing campaigns was done by Jessica Simpson. A text message was sent out announcing a new single. You clicked on the phone number link and you could listen to it. This is brilliant! It can’t be stolen, and potential fans can now run to the store and buy the album (or press “1″ to buy if we had done the campaign).

With a concept like this it can now be taken one step further. No need to make a recording. Simply post to a blog, or your site, and new content is available. What makes this so powerful for the marketer is the ability to sell a product or service right from the recording.

Let’s say I am “listening” to Mashable’s blog. A short ad is played halfway through  and I am given an option to press a key for more information or to make an actual purchase.

Awesome idea!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 8:35 am and is filed under Mobile Marketing, Startup. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.