JACKSONVILLE — A Jacksonville com­pany plans to bring advertisers' messages straight to consumers' fingertips through cellular phone text messages.

AdVieux's use of mobile marketing enhances traditional forms of advertis­ing, such as print and TV ads, by sending consumers coupons and new product up­dates. The two-person company kicked off in November.

Increased use and comfort with text messaging is expected to drive the $1.8 bil­lion international industry, as of 2007, to about $24 billion by 2013, according to ABI Research, a New York-based technology research center.

"It takes a static medium and makes it interactive," said Colin Williams, Ad­Vieux co-founder and director of creative services for Pensive Crow Inc., a creative media studio. A JumboTronscreen could invite Jaguar football fans to text a code to a number so they could receive concession stand deals or player trade updates. Or tourists could text a code advertised in a TV ad to get din­ing and sightseeing suggestions. Advertis­ers would pay to be one of the suggestions or advertise after the travel tips.

Mobile marketing can also replace busi­nesses' emergency phone tree and allow colleges to warn students of a shooter or other dangers on campus. Nonemergency uses include alerting employees of promo­tions or the families of hospital patients on status changes.

AdVieux co-founder Jim Pieretti said the medium's strength is that it reaches people on one of their most prized pos­sessions. It also gives them the illusion that they're receiving insider informa­tion, partly because they're choosing to be linked in. "It's just like MySpace in that it doesn't feel like marketing, but it is," said Pieretti, president and creative director of Left Brain Agency, an advertising agency

AdVieux clients can send out text up­dates themselves using their company's system, or AdVieux can do it for them. Basic text-messaging packages cost from $1,500 to $3,000. Bigger packages, which can include strategic campaigns and a mo­bile Web site, run from $3,000 to $8,000.

Jacksonville-based Scott-McRae Ad­vertising plans to use AdVieux's service because text messaging's popularity continues to increase, especially with young people, said the company's president and chief creative officer, Rick Jones. He agrees with Bill Gates' prediction that the phone will eventually replace the personal computer.

The industry is challenged by text mes­sage spammers who can irritate users by forcing them to call their carriers to have fees for unwelcome texts erased and spam­mers blocked.

U.S. consumers are expected to receive 1.5 billion spam text messages this year, compared with the 1.1 billion received in 2006, said Richi Jennings, lead analyst for Ferris Research, a San Francisco market­ing research company

Despite these challenges, such compa­nies as AdVieux that can show advertisers their approach is voluntary can tap into an increasing number of text-based strate­gies, said Tim Doelger, director of brands for HipCricket, a Washington-based mo­bile marketing partner with AdVieux.

One strategy that is hard to miss in New York City's Times Square allows custom­ers to play an arcade-style game on a giant TV screen using their cell phones. "If you win," Doelger said, "you get a call or text from the Nike Store telling you to come pick up a free pair of [Air] Jordan sneakers."

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