I’ve said it over an over again. Mobile Marketing by itself is strongest when coupled with traditional mediums. Mobile has yet to become a destination the way that TV, Radio, and the internet has become. Mobile however, strengthens traditional mediums because it is able to personalize messages for customers and also acts as quick updates to keep people “in-the-know”. The strength of mobile is that it is with a consumer all the time. Recent studies have shown that 92% of mobile users never leave the home without it. Furthermore, rarely does a mobile user ever turn it off.

That being said, mobile components have been added to things such as billboards and magazines because the traditional media has the reach, but mobile gives it an interactive push. That got me thinking about other things or places that have a strong consumer base and I came up with one in particular that I wanted to break down; the Shopping Center/Mall.

Malls or shopping centers are based on one single principle: people like the idea of an all you can shop stop. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4000 shops. The  Grand Bazaar extended 10 kilometers worth of shopping and vendors.

This is the idea that Sam Walton had when he started to think about Wal-Mart; one  place for almost everything. Now, auto malls, outlet malls and even online vendors have sprung up doing the same thing.

The reason why I am talking about malls is because they are a great place to implement some kind of mobile marketing. Although numbers are down due to the recession, malls are still one of the most popular places to catch people’s eye and are still the number one destination for after thanksgiving and after Christmas sales.

With that many people going to these locations, a mobile marketing plan would be beneficial to not only the mall itself, but the vendors within the mall.

Last month, General Growth Properties (the second largest Mall Management Company), released a mobile marketing platform to the malls that they manage. Club Mobile is a mall subscription service that notifies opt-in customers of mall sales and events. The Club Mobile extends the value of The Club (GGP’s email campaign) by delivering discounts and offers to on-the-go consumers through text messages.

“This type of marketing innovation is a great example of how we are meeting the needs of today’s consumer,” says Keith Maladra, vice president of Consumer Intelligence at General Growth. “We believe this provides a unique tool for our retailers and gives value to our consumers by allowing them control of what type of offers they receive and how they receive them. The bottom line: we want to help our retail tenants drive store traffic, and this is a great way to accomplish that.”

Imagine walking through the mall and being sent text or picture message coupons for stores that you plan on going to. Imagine a mall where you didn’t have to use a single credit card or where you didn’t have to worry about paper money because if you wanted to buy something, you simply just use your phone to scan the bar code on the item and BAM! it is yours.

Now at this point you could be thinking that it is cool but what about the security of it all. For those of you who are thinking that, I just want to say that all of this would not be implemented if security was not taken into account.

GGP is taking the first step into a mobile world by paving the way for mobile commerce and mobile transactions. Though we are still a couple years away from this actually being adopted, the reality is, is that it is coming.

Additionally, for other mall and shopping center management companies, I would suggest looking into a mobile system for your shoppers. Not only can it provide for convenience but it also allows shoppers to interact with your stores on a more personal level. The key here is operating on a personal yet unobtrusive fashion. No one wants to be sold on anything. People want to make active, non-pressuring decisions.