Mobile TV to become a $15 billion market in 2012

It seems mobile TV has caught the attention of market analysts big time. A lot of experts are touting mobile TV as the next big thing and here’s yet another report which has come up with quite an optimistic prediction, I should say.

A new research report from Multimedia Intelligence predicts that mobile TV market will be worth a whopping $15 billion in 2012. The report says that customers now demand personalized entertainment from their mobile phones more than ever before, as there is a huge influx of high-end mobile phones in the market these days. This has led to the belief that mobile TV will play a huge role in the future of mobile entertainment.

Also, mobile TV is considered the perfect medium for advertising by many as it has a huge advantage over other forms of mobile ads such as text message ads, banner ads, and WAP links. Ads in TV are something we’ve all got used to. So, when you’re watching your favorite show on mobile TV, an ad break won’t look too strange to you. On the other hand, a mobile banner ad can easily be considered intrusive by many. Also, the recall rates for mobile TV ads will be extremely high, as the ads are highly engaging. This is something I’ve already discussed in detail here.

However, there is one missing link here. While mobile TV could provide some good on-the-go entertainment for users and some good ad revenue for advertisers and operators, it will happen only if it’s offered free of cost. A paid mobile TV service, no matter how good it is, will not find a lot of takers in this era of freebies. We already have an example for this in the form of AT&T and Verizon’s mobile TV service - both got a lukewarm response from users. So, like I already said, ad-funded mobile TV could be the future. What do you think folks?

Categories: Mobile TV.

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Indian company to introduce audio ads in mobile phones

How many times have you called your friend on his mobile phone and heard a song instead of the usual ringback tone? It’s quite common these days, right? Well; we’re about to get to the next stage of it. How about getting some audio ads instead of ringback tones?

OnMobile, an interactive advertising company in India, has come up with this idea. Suitably named AdRBT (Ad Ringback Tones), the program allows mobile users to opt in to the program which will replace the usual ringback tone with a variety of audio ads. In exchange, the user will get special discounts and offers.

OnMobile is confident that these audio ads will have high response rates and excellent recall rates and the impact might be huge. However, I think it’s only a 50/50 chance. Not many will be excited at the prospect of replacing their ringback tones with arbitrary ads and it might not be a smooth sail for the company initially. The way I see it, even people who are fine with text message ads and banner ads might find these audio ads a tad intrusive. But then, it’s just my opinion. And the Indians in general are not as finicky about mobile ads as their US counter parts. So, I might as well be proved wrong. Either way, it will be interesting to see the progress this company makes.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Ford’s innovative mobile marketing campaign in India

Okay folks, let me ask you a question.

You’re a billion dollar automobile company, you’ve just released a new, peppy edition of your car which appeals mostly to youngsters, and you want to grab the attention of young car enthusiasts all over the country. What do you do?

Simple. You do mobile marketing.

Ford did the exact same thing in India when it released its new Ford Ikon Music Edition car called the iKool. Ford used the services of MindShare, a mobile marketing company, to come up with a creative mobile marketing campaign for iKool. MindShare contacted Nokia and made an agreement to advertise on Airtel Live!, the WAP site of India’s leading mobile operator, Airtel. Airtel is part of Nokia Media Network and it readily agreed to this arrangement.

MindShare created an innovative, content rich WAP site for Ford iKool. Mobile users around the country were served with banner ads through Airtel Live!. Those who clicked on the banner ads were taken to the iKool WAP site where they had the chance to download mobile games, wallpapers, ringtones, and many more.

The response rate for this mobile marketing campaign was a terrific 8.58%. Especially, two content pages – “Services For You” and “News & Sports” – saw a phenomenal click through rate of 14%, which is unseen before.

Ford has actually set an important precedent, as far as I’m concerned. I still remember, when Ford came up with its new model called Fiesta in India about a year and a half back, it mostly relied on TV ads and newspaper and magazine coverage. Now, just within a couple of years, things have changed so much that it went straight to a mobile marketing company to get the job done. And the result was there for everyone to see, right?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Could 3G iPhone become a mobile advertiser’s dream?

No publicity is bad publicity, they say. If that’s true, then Apple can be proud of what they’ve achieved in the past few days. With the release of the 3G iPhone, they’ve made everyone, including yours truly, say something about it. As you can see for yourself, the internet is full of people expressing their opinions, as mixed as they are, on the new iPhone. Isn’t that what Apple exactly wants?

Thankfully, AdAge has come up with an article that stands out a little from the crowd. It looks at the 3G iPhone as a potential marketing weapon. The new features, the rich look, and the extremely good user interface of the new iPhone make it a very good choice for mobile advertisers around the world. However, instead of the usual banner ads, text message ads, and MMS ads, adverts in the new iPhone will be a lot different.

In the new iPhone, software is the content and content is the software. In other words, marketers will focus on building web applications for the iPhone and market them more effectively. The key is to think of a mobile application and then find out if there is actually any demand for such an application. Once you’ve found out the right app which users might make use of, you’re on your way to market your product or service in the most efficient manner ever. For example, a mobile game developer could come up with a kickass game for the 3G iPhone and allow the users to download it for free. This will give him more publicity and exposure than a measly banner ad or a text message ad. Because apps are something that the users look forward to using, the issue of unsolicited, unwanted mobile marketing is out of question. Check out the article and tell me what you think of it.

Categories: Apple iPhone.

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Virgin Mobile enters mobile advertising - will display banner ads to users

Looks like it’s the season of banner ads. After Google, Third Screen, AdMob, Yahoo, and most recently Microsoft, Virgin Mobile USA has announced that it will display banner ads to its mobile users who surf the web in their cell phone.

Virgin Mobile will use AOL’s mobile advertising system to display banner ads to users. This is the first time Virgin Mobile is entering the mobile advertising market. However, the CEO of Virgin Mobile has made it clear that they are being very cautious with these ads. These banner ads will be displayed on an experimental basis and depending on the response they get, they might think of expending their territory further.

The way I see it, this is a perfect partnership. Virgin Mobile’s growth has been not so impressive recently due to various reasons and AOL is the classic example of an erstwhile famous company trying to come to terms with the fact that it’s struggling. These two entities have joined hands. So, if things work out well, it might be good for both of them.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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