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Preying on the young: targeting young teenagers with SMS campaigns in a bid to collate lists is a risky business. But are there ways to do it ethically? (Special Report: List Developments).

Article Excerpt
ASK A GROUP OF young teenagers to name their favourite things, and pop bands, fast food and text messaging will probably be near the top of the list.

Any marketer who can combine all three is therefore onto a winner. So the Pop & Txt campaign targeting those aged over 12, launched by McDonald's in November as part of its sponsorship of Popstars--The Rivals, should provide the restaurant chain with a flood of new opt-ins to its SMS-based McDs;-)TXTClub.

The initiative gives consumers text vouchers, added value content and games. The latest campaign is backed by significant TV advertising, as the girl and boy bands launched by the show battle to secure the Christmas number one single.

For McDonald's, the promotion will provide new data on thousands of customers who will choose to receive future marketing messages via their mobile phones.

Targeting children has always been a minefield for brands that can only retain data if they obtain parental consent, The popularity among the young of a still relatively new medium like SMS means companies must tread very carefully.

While permission-based SMS campaigns are acceptable ways of collating fresh data, there are concerns about the growing number of unsolicited SMS messages being sent to children. Many offer recipients the chance to win a prize, but they must reply to a premium rate number which will cost them as much as a [pounds sterling]1.50 a minute.

The mobile marketing industry says these problems are...