Mobile advertising discussion at the World Economic Forum - II

I hope some of you know that mobile advertising and mobile technology were among the most discussed topics in the World Economic Forum in Davos. Among the points discussed, two things caught my attention.

First one being the statement made by the CEO of China Mobile, in which he said that people actually consider mobile phone as their extension and they use it continuously, day in and day out, to reach out their near and dear ones. He also went on to add that “if someone doesn’t have a mobile phone they will lack basic functions of what it is to be human.” This is one reason why I feel world will soon wake up to the power and potential of mobile advertising. When 2/3rd of the world goes mobile and feels it’s a part of their life, you have no choice but to devise a way to reach them via their mobile phones.

The second one is the point made by Zucker from NBC. He said that the mobile advertising market, especially in the U.S., is fragmented and it’s the reason why it hasn’t reached a point where it could be considered a mainstream advertising medium, at least right now. He said that mobile content providers are only paid 10% of the revenue and the rest goes to the carriers, which he thought was atrocious. This disparity makes it tougher for content providers and carriers to get along and improve the mobile advertising sector.

I think that’s quite a revelation. But like any other industry, it’ll be tough to get going in the initial stage for mobile advertising. One hopes content providers and carriers soon realize that it’s a symbiotic relationship and one cannot exist without the other.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Mobile advertising discussion at the World Economic Forum

I’m still checking out the latest happenings at the World Economic Forum at Davos and interestingly, mobile advertising and technology is being discussed quite seriously.

Firstly, let me throw you some numbers. China Mobile adds roughly 6 million new subscribers every month; that’s right, month after month. Going at this rate, it could add 72 million mobile subscribers by the end of this year. Already, there are 3 billion mobile phone users in the world and the number is growing stronger than ever. Sounds amazing; doesn’t it?

A lot of people in the panel, including Google CEO Eric Schmidt, were of the opinion that mobile advertising could be huge. Panel Moderator David Kirkpatrick said that mobile phone is rapidly becoming the de facto internet device, replacing the need of a PC or a laptop for that matter.

Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile, seconded the opinion of Eric Schmidt that location based mobile advertising could be the future of mobile advertising. He believes that it will enable advertisers to send special, customized information that the subscribers can make use of. As I already discussed, location based mobile advertising, when implemented properly, could be a great way for both advertisers and customers to benefit from each other.

It’s really interesting to see a lot of high profile people discussing the issue of mobile advertising at a stage as big as the World Economic Forum. Mobile advertising industry couldn’t have expected a better way to kick off the new year.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Location based mobile advertising the key - Says Google CEO

We’ve heard a lot about mobile advertising, haven’t we? We’ve seen people talking for mobile advertising, people talking against mobile advertising, and hell; even people who don’t know a thing about mobile advertising giving their opinions. Finally, we have a voice, an authoritative one that is.

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt talked about mobile advertising at the World Economic Forum at Davos and made a few interesting points. Forrester has predicted, rather cautiously, that mobile advertising will reach the $1 billion mark in 2012. Talking about it, Eric said that mobile advertising could reach that mark very soon, in fact it could even happen next year.

Location based advertising, which is the most talked about aspect of mobile advertising as of now, has the potential to make mobile advertising far more powerful and effective than what it is right now, according to Eric. So, he was pretty bullish about the “revolution” that is mobile advertising.

Well; this has been my opinion for a long time now and finally we’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth. What remains to be seen is, how well these mobile advertisers could exploit location based advertising in their favor.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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