Multimedia messaging service or MMS is considered by many brands as the next big thing for mobile-advertising.
Brands including Ikea, Kellogg, Bloomingdales, Starbucks and TV networks ABC, Fox and CBS have started marketing outreach programs designed for SMS and MMS as the medium can be used for multimedia ads, inclusive of videos.
Chicago's Iris's co-founder and COO, Deep Malik said that through this platform, brands can reach any phone, whether it's an iPhone 5S, a flip-phone or a Lumia as consumers are more apt to open text messages than emails and more likely to redeem offers as well, Mashable reports.
According to the report, Iris is not the only brand working towards the good old texting way as Mogreet, a unit of Payvia, is also leading the multimedia MMS way.
With the advent of smartphones and popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber, which are also considered a way of advertising, MMS is seen as growing faster, with 74 billion MMS messages being sent in 2012, as revealed by CTIA.
However, marketers are wary of texting because open rates are a mystery and the campaigns can be expensive and thus brands have been cautious of exploiting the service.
ePrice's account manager for mobile, Zach Zimmerman said that MMS isn't for everyone as not all mobile devices are MMS-enabled and MMS doesn't provide the tracking that an SMS with a URL to a mobile web site does, adding that using the service is a tactic, not a strategy, the report added.