Weekend news from the world of mobile advertising

Hello folks. It’s weekend time again and I’m again digging deep into the RSS feeds I’ve subscribed to. To begin with, here’s a couple of interesting tidbits.

1. Email giant Critical Path has published a report which says that around 79% of mobile users in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, and Spain are ready to accept ads in their emails if their mobile email service was free. I’ve discussed the concept of mobile web in this blog quite often and to be honest, this news doesn’t surprise me at all.

Just think about it. How much do you pay for your Blackberry email service? What if it was available free of cost? You’ll be able to check emails on the go, right on your mobile phone, for free. So what if the emails had ads attached to them? It’s just a small compromise to be able to use the mobile email service for free, right? At least that’s what a majority of mobile users seem to think. And it’s not just in the U.S. Check out the list of countries – Spain, Germany, UK, US, and Italy. And I’ve not even taken China and India into consideration where mobile web is thriving. So, if you’re a mobile user, be prepared to get a free, ad-funded mobile email service from your operator soon. And if you’re a mobile advertiser, you know where the money is.

2. We already know Google’s penchant for free mobile phones, and it’s been confirmed once again. In a recent interview, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that mobile phones have become so important in people’s lives that a lot of people spend as much as 8-10 hours talking on their phone. With this being the case, advertising on mobile phones looks like a no-brainer. So, he said that the mobile phone should be free. A free mobile phone funded with advertisements is the future, said Eric.

Well; it sounds enticing. A free mobile phone up for the grabs. But the problem is, you need to advertise sensibly. Customers, at least a majority of them, will not be interested in buying a mobile phone if they get bombarded with random ads round the clock. Like I’ve said a million times before, mobile ads should be targeted, relevant, and most importantly, should provide some value to the user. Let’s see.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Cell phone advertisers target teens

What to wear for the prom? What’s hot and what’s not this season? How to say no to alcohol on the prom night? Well; teens can get all this info and more right on their cell phone.

Since teenagers are the ones who spend a lot of time on their cell phone, cell phone advertisers have started target them by offering lots of cool stuff through text messages, WAP links, and more. Now, they can subscribe to ad campaigns and have lots of cool tips, offers, and other things delivered right on their cell phone. They could get fashion tips, news about the latest model jewelry, WAP links to cool mobile sites, discount coupons on famous beauty products, and more. Cell phone advertisers say that teenagers don’t mind getting relevant ads that they find useful and respond to them pretty regularly.

Advertisers find it easier to create a following for their products through cell phone advertising. As these text alerts and ads are delivered only to people who are interested, they are most likely to respond to them. So, the response rate is pretty high in this kind of interactive advertising.

I think it’s a nice arrangement. Teens get what they want and the advertisers get what they want. However, I think advertisers should not send a gazillion ads to their teenage subscribers just because they’re open to it. They could easily get fed up. Also, a lot of teenagers don’t have a regular disposable income and depend on their parents for their cell phone bill. As an advertiser, you sure don’t want to make these parents see red when they come to know how much their son or daughter is spending on text messages. So, a small number of relevant, useful ads at regular intervals could be the perfect recipe to attract a lot of teens.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Yet another interesting report on mobile advertising - II

I recently read a brilliant report on mobile advertising by Arthur D Little, a leading management firm. It says that mobile broadband will gain significant popularity in the next five years and with Europe being the leader in mobile based services now, mobile broadband penetration in Europe will be the highest in the world, up to 50%.

The report also talks about the role of mobile operators in mobile advertising. I was surprised to read that advertising generates only 5% of mobile operators’ revenue whereas in other media, advertising plays a bigger role and constitutes around 16% of the total revenue. This clearly indicates that mobile operators are yet to understand the impact of advertising as a revenue generating model. However, with mobile market growing fast, they need to think of ways to tap the revenue that can be generated from advertising.

Internet kingpins like Google and Yahoo have realized the importance of mobile advertising and are working on making it a successful source of revenue. At this stage, mobile operators need to do something on their own to generate revenue through advertising or they need to at least form partnerships with big players like Google and Yahoo and share the revenue. Either way, there is money to be made in mobile advertising and whether you are an operator or an advertiser, you need to come up with an idea to get your share.

The report also talks about Blyk and takes it as a case study to describe how successful mobile advertising could be, if it’s done the right way.

I’ve always believed that mobile broadband has a great future and moreover, we are now at a stage where we are fed up with 3G networks and talking about WiMax as an alternative. So, the stage is set for mobile broadband to become the next big thing.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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University grads come up with a text message based mobile advertising idea

Two graduates from Carnegie Mellon University are working to make text messaging (SMS) facility in your mobile phone more useful than ever. They believe that text message is the ideal and the easiest way for marketers to reach their customers effectively.

The idea is simple. The advertiser will have text codes in his ads and when a customer wants to know more details about the product/service advertised, all he needs to do is take his mobile phone and send a text message and get the information he wants right in his mobile phone. This technology will be launched this summer by the famous Smash Technologies.

This will be a great opportunity for retailers and small business owners to advertise their products/service more effectively. Also, it’s the customer who makes the first move in this campaign by responding to the ad with a text message. So, he can always choose to only respond to those ads which he finds useful. As a result, what you have is – no privacy concerns for the consumer and an effective advertising method for the advertiser.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

2 comments.

Can you earn money from your mobile phone?

You love your mobile phone; don’t you? You talk to everyone, message everyone, you take pictures with your phone, send MMS, browse the net, transfer data, listen to songs, and what not? But the problematic part is when the bill comes. Admit it; haven’t you thought some times that it would be better if you had a cut in your bill or some sort of a discount? Well; this may be the answer.

MobiMogul is a name probably you might not have heard of. But it might change the way you use your mobile phone forever. It’s a mobile phone advertising network which specializes in producing targeted mobile advertising programs. Wait; don’t say, “Ah; I knew it was coming.” There is a surprise little twist in this mobile advertising program. You can EARN MONEY through this program. I got your attention; right? Read on.

MobiMogul has a unique mobile advertising program called AdTones wherein you, the mobile user, can earn some money. It goes like this. You’ll be provided with a ringback tone which will be some sort of an advertisement for a product/service. So, when a person calls you, he’ll hear the advert instead of the usual ring-ring sound. Now, here’s the main part. If you opt in for this plan, you stand to get a share of the ad revenue generated each time the ad is heard by someone. A part of the revenue is also shared with the mobile service provider. Let me explain.

Firstly, there are three parties involved in this mobile advertising program - The mobile service provider, the advertiser, and the mobile phone user. As an advertiser, you can reach your customers more effectively by making potential customers listen to your ad day in and day out. As a mobile service provider, you can earn some money from the ad revenue generated. As a mobile phone user, you can earn money from the ad revenue generated every time the ad is heard by someone. Doesn’t it sound interesting? I think this is way better than getting text message advertisements or banner ads in your mobile phone. By setting AdTones for your mobile ringback tone, you stand to gain without moving a single muscle and without being interrupted by any means whatsoever. How does it sound?

Here’s the sad part. You’ll have to wait for a month or two to try out this service. MobiMogul is planning to introduce this program in the first quarter of 2008, which I think is not that far. So, prepare yourself. Stop being a boring mobile user, get ready to become a mobile entrepreneur.

Categories: , Cell Phone Advertising.

10 comments.