Alright people. For one last time, one freaking last time, I’ll try to clarify some of the most common misconceptions about mobile advertising.
What is mobile advertising?
It’s time to come out of the cave, pal. Even my granny knows about it. Mobile advertising is nothing but ads on your mobile phone – as simple as that.
Oh dear god, why do they send me ads?
To help you take part in the space research program sponsored by the NASA. Okay; I’m kidding. Ads on mobile phones serve the same purpose as ads on TV, magazines, newspapers, radio, and the internet. All these ads want to sell you something.
Ugh; can you explain further?
Sure I can. You see, you take your mobile phone with you no matter where you go, don’t you? You get ads on TV, you see ads on magazines and newspapers, and you have ads all over the internet. However, there is a fundamental difference between these ads and mobile ads. The response rate for the former is not so impressive. The reason is – you can always skip those ads. You can change the channel during an ad break, you can simply overlook an ad in a magazine, and you can easily block ads in the internet using your browser. However, with mobile phones, the response rate is very high as people will surely check out text messages and attend calls. In other words, an ad on a mobile phone will never go unnoticed.
What the hell? How can they send me ads without my permission?
Relax bro. No one is going to send ads to your mobile phone without your permission. This is precisely the reason why they’ve come up with something called the opt-in facility. What this means is – you can opt in to a mobile advertising campaign any time you want. If you don’t like it for some reasons, you can easily opt out of it any time you want. Easy as 1-2-3.
But why would I say yes to mobile ads, even if I had the choice to opt out any time I want?
Good question. See, mobile ads are not sent by loonies on a random basis. There is something called targeted advertising which makes things better. When you opt in to a mobile advertising campaign, you’ll be usually asked about your interests, likes and dislikes, brands you like, products you use, and a whole bunch of such questions. Using this data, mobile advertisers will be able to send relevant, targeted ads to you.
For example, if you’re a big foodie, an advertiser can send a discount coupon for a big Mac. If you’re a fitness freak, he can send you a WAP link to a site which discusses the latest trends in fitness and bodybuilding. In other words, the ads you get on your mobile phone will match your interests so you can make use of the information one way or the other.
All that is fine. I don’t want mobile ads. Now what do I do?
That’s cool. If you don’t want mobile ads, don’t opt in to any mobile ad campaign. Strictly say no to them. If you’re already a part of a campaign, simply opt out of it.
Do I only get promotional offers and discount coupons via mobile ads?
No, there are more interesting offers. How does free talk time sound to you? Or how about free text messages? Hell, there are companies that pay you to get ads on your mobile phone. There are companies which offer such things for real. Virgin does that, Blyk does that, and a number of other operators are contemplating on that. If you have doubts, check out this, this, this, this, and this.
Oh that’s nice. But I read in XYZ website that mobile ads are intrusive, a threat to privacy, etc?
Screw them. What do you think? The telecom industry is highly competitive. They just can’t afford to annoy their customers. Especially in this age of internet, they just can’t afford to make a mistake for they’ll be ripped apart by thousands of websites and blogs.
But I’m still not convinced?
Well; I think this story will convince you. China Mobile, the biggest mobile operator in the world, was made to eat humble pie due to mobile ad spam. So, I repeat, operators will not take the risk of annoying their customers with spam ads.
But what if operators all over the world made a pact and started sending ads no matter what?
What if the sun exploded? What if aliens popped out of your PC? What if George Bush got elected for the third time? What if Paris Hilton became a professor in Harvard?
See, these what-ifs are endless. Most importantly, they’re not gonna happen. So, stop thinking like a fiction writer.
Phew; so there it is folks. Hope that clarifies all your doubts about mobile phone advertising. Now, tell me. What more could I do to convince the so-called experts who constantly spew hate-filled passages about mobile advertising without any basic understanding?
Tags: Blyk, China Mobile, discount coupons, free talk time, free text messages, George Bush, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile advertising campaign, mobile phone, NASA, Paris Hilton, promotional offers, rant, targeted ads, Virgin, WAP
Technorati Tags: Blyk, China Mobile, discount coupons, free talk time, free text messages, George Bush, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile advertising campaign, mobile phone, NASA, Paris Hilton, promotional offers, rant, targeted ads, Virgin, WAP
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.
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.
Tags: advertiser, advertising on mobile phones, Blackberry, ceo eric schmidt, critical path, email service, free mobile phone, free mobile phones, Google, mobile ads, mobile advertiser, mobile user, mobile users, mobile web
Technorati Tags: advertiser, advertising on mobile phones, Blackberry, ceo eric schmidt, critical path, email service, free mobile phone, free mobile phones, Google, mobile ads, mobile advertiser, mobile user, mobile users, mobile web
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.
How do you judge the impact of an advertisement? How do you find out if it was effective or not? In most cases, you go by brand recall - the ability of the customer to recall your brand after being shown the ad a few times. Until now, TV was considered the best medium to place ads as it had the highest brand recall rates. But mobile advertising has simply changed everything.
According to reports from analysts, mobile ads have higher recall rates than TV ads. At the recent Mobile Advertising Degree conference, the representatives of Verizon Wireless emphasized the same fact. They also added that despite being costlier, mobile ads are preferred over online ads because they have a phenomenal click through rate.
This is incredible. I’ll explain you why. First, TV has a huge reach. Second, ads in TV are so common that people no longer consider them a problem. Third, a TV screen is more fit for rich ads and watching an ad on a TV screen could be actually fun.
Now, let me compare this with mobile phones. First, a mobile phone, until now, is not considered a primary advertising medium. Second, ads in mobile are considered intrusive by many, so you can’t expect mobile advertisers to start sending ads to all and sundry. Third, watching an ad on a mobile screen, especially a low end mobile phone’s screen, is not exactly a great experience.
Going by what I’ve said above, anyone can say that the odds are stacked against mobile advertising. But guess what? Mobile ads have a phenomenal click through rate of 2% and more, which is way better than online ads.
Now, just imagine. If these kinds of results are possible right now, what could be the case in future when we have more high-end mobile phones, richer ad formats, improved technology, and most importantly, an open-minded society which is not averse to mobile ads? All I can say is one word – unimaginable.
Tags: advertisement, advertising medium, brand recall, click through rate, high end mobile phones, mobile ads, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile phone, mobile phones, mobile screen, online ads, recall rate, rich ads, TV, TV ads, TV screen, Verizon Wireless
Technorati Tags: advertisement, advertising medium, brand recall, click through rate, high end mobile phones, mobile ads, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile phone, mobile phones, mobile screen, online ads, recall rate, rich ads, TV, TV ads, TV screen, Verizon Wireless
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.
Media analyst Screen Digest recently released a report on mobile advertising which brings out some interesting points.
The report emphasizes that mobile advertising is still in its nascent stage and will grow rapidly in the next few years. However, this is something we’ve all been told about mobile advertising for quite some time now. So, my focus is on two points which I thought stood out from the rest.
Mobile TV will be the major revenue generator as far as mobile ads are concerned. However, it needs to have its own set of metrics in order to be considered an important advertising medium by advertisers. While mobile TV is touted as the next big thing in mobile advertising by many, people need solid data to assess how effective the ads have been and to calculate the ROI. This, I think, is a valid observation.
By 2012, ad-funded mobile games will become hugely popular and over 60 million of such games will be downloaded per year. That is a huge number and should give a lot of hope to mobile advertisers. In my opinion, ad funded mobile games are a great way to reach users without actually ramming ads down their throat. We’ve already seen some examples like product placement in mobile games which have been quite successful in sending a subtle message to viewers through strategically placed ads within the mobile game. However, the report also says that such mobile games will not be the major source of revenue. Even then, I think mobile based games and other such content are a great way to interact with customers which can popularize the brand well.
Tags: ad funded mobile games, advertisers, advertising medium, games, media analyst, metrics, mobile ads, Mobile advertisers, mobile based games, mobile game, mobile games, Mobile TV, mobile advertising, product placement, screen digest, subtle message
Technorati Tags: ad funded mobile games, advertisers, advertising medium, games, media analyst, metrics, mobile ads, Mobile advertisers, mobile based games, mobile game, mobile games, Mobile TV, mobile advertising, product placement, screen digest, subtle message
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
Ever heard of on-the-spot mobile marketing campaigns? Well; you are about to. UGotItFirst is a new entrant in the field of mobile marketing which claims it can come up with mobile marketing campaigns in a matter of minutes.
The company’s marketing process works on an opt-in basis and people who wish to become its members should sign up, give their preferences, and request to get information on those preferred products or services. So, when a member gets an ad on his mobile phone, it will be a relevant advert about his preferred product/service which he can make use of. So, the question of intrusive, spam mobile ads and invasion of privacy does not arise in this situation.
Now, what about the on-the-spot mobile marketing campaign? Let’s say, you are a coffee shop owner. It’s been a dull day and you want to do something to boost your sales instantly by offering a 5% discount on all lattes. You can go to UGotItFirst, choose the number of discount coupons you want to send, and specify your target customer segment. In a matter of minutes, UGotItFirst will send those coupons to people in that location who had indicated their wish to get such deals. The campaign is targeted – the coupon only goes to someone who wishes to get it and he/she is nearby your coffee shop, thereby making it even easier to get a sale.
Apart from this, the company has also got mobile based offers upon completing which mobile users will be paid for. You may have to take part in a survey and complete a poll and you’ll be paid for that. While the amount may not be big, you can always do with a little bit of cash, right?
Despite being a new entrant, there is a lot of buzz about this company in the market. Launched on March 13th, UGotItFirst already boasts of 2000 registered users. Good times, I tell you.
Tags: advert, buzz, coffee shop, customer segment, discount coupons, good times, invasion of privacy, lattes, marketing campaign, marketing campaigns, marketing process, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile marketing campaigns, mobile phone, mobile users, preferred product, preferred products, target customer, ugotitfirst
Technorati Tags: advert, buzz, coffee shop, customer segment, discount coupons, good times, invasion of privacy, lattes, marketing campaign, marketing campaigns, marketing process, mobile ads, mobile marketing, mobile marketing campaigns, mobile phone, mobile users, preferred product, preferred products, target customer, ugotitfirst
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
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