As the marketing world gears up to hear the latest innovations in the mobile arena from Google at this year's Technology For Marketing & Advertising (TFM&A) event in London, Orange has unveiled details of a service that lets brands engage and interact directly with targeted segments of its customer base.

Representatives for the network say Orange Shots will enable businesses to create "rich, creative, engaging and fun" advertising campaigns targeted at customers' interests and preferences.

Working across SMS and MMS mobile platforms, the service is aimed at encouraging customers to message back and give their views and opinions, promising high response rates, strong returns on investment and viral potential.

Marc Overton from Orange UK reveals that the service has already been trialled by brands including 4Music and Snickers, who claim it's provided higher conversion rates than other media. As a result, he believes mobile advertising "as we know it" is ripe for transformation.

At TFM&A in Earls Court this month, Google's Sarah Speak is lined up to host a session entitled "The future is mobile", covering the Mountain View giant's developments in search, display and local and learn strategies, as well as best practice for developing mobile sites and campaigns.