68100 - Ad-funded Mobile Directory Enquiry Service in the U.K.

One of the complaints of people who live in the U.K. is that the directory enquiries service in the country is pretty expensive. Popular companies like Yell, Maureen, and BT charge about £1 per minute which is not cheap by any stretch of imagination. Now, there is a cheaper alternative available in the form of 68100.

The directory enquiry service offered by 68100 covers both business and residential landline numbers in the country and costs only 35p per minute. Now, some of you might be thinking ‘there has to be a catch somewhere’. It is true. There is a catch. You need to listen to an ad when you call this number. It is a concept that you are all familiar with – mobile advertising. Let me tell you how it works.

1. You call 68100.

2. Your call is attended by an operator who searches for the number you request.

3. You listen to a small 20-second ad.

4. An automatic voice reads out the number you requested.

5. Once you hang up the phone, you get a text message which contains the requested number and an offer from an advertiser.

6. If you want the service to connect you to the number you requested, you can press 1.

7. If you are interested in the offer from the advertiser, you can press 2.

It is like any other directory enquiry service. The only difference is that it is available at an affordable price since a significant portion of the cost is covered by mobile advertisers.

The question now is whether people will be willing to listen to ads or not. It is difficult to answer this question. Some might avoid using this service because of their rabid aversion for ads. Some might use this service since it is cheap. I, for one, wouldn’t mind using such a service if I can save a pound or two. So, it all depends on people’s preferences.

The only problem with this service, in my opinion, is that it primarily caters to people who have low end mobile phones without internet connectivity option. If a person has a high end mobile phone, like I do, he can easily get the information he wants by visiting the website of Yell or Maureen. He does not need to use this service at all. Apart from this, I do not see any other problem with this service. This, I think, is yet another example as to how useful mobile advertising can be if presented the right way. What do you think?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.

Working Mothers - The Target Customer Base for Mobile Advertisers

Here’s a quick question for you – whom do you think is the most important target customer segment for mobile advertising? I bet most of you would not hesitate to say that teens and young adults are the target customer base for mobile advertisers. Well; guess what? You are in for a surprise. Let me tell you why.

Working moms, according to a recent report, are more likely to spend money on mobile content than most other people. The latest report from Scarborough says that married women who have at least one child and a steady job are more likely to download mobile content and respond to mobile advertising campaigns than most other people.

The report says that the mobile bill of a working mother is nearly 20% more than the mobile bill of the average mobile user in the country. This is a significant difference and it just goes to show that married women with jobs do not mind spending a lot on their wireless bills. The report also says that a working mother is 40% more likely to download multimedia content to her mobile phone than the average mobile user. These are important data and they make us look at the mobile user demographic in a slightly different manner.

It is not hard to understand why working moms spend more money than most people on their mobile phones. A married woman who has a full time job and a kid is likely to make important decisions for her family. She gets to choose a lot of things for her husband, kids, and herself. So, when she comes across an offer which is good and could save her some money, she is likely to make a decision immediately. So, when mobile marketers send her targeted ads, she is likely to respond. This is why the working mother demographic is considered important by many.

If you remember, I already talked about people in the 30-50 age bracket who are likely to spend money on mobile related stuff here. Now, with this report, it becomes very clear. People with a considerable amount of disposable income are certainly an important target for mobile advertisers. They have money, they are used to taking quick decisions, and they do not think twice before responding to what they consider good offers. So, it is a good idea for mobile advertisers to widen their approach and target different customer segments to get better results.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

3 comments.

Customer-centric Mobile Advertising in 2020?

A recent report from OgilvyOne and Acision predicts an interesting scenario for mobile advertising in 2020.

The report says that in about a decade from now, in 2020, mobile phone advertising will be a lot more people-centric. Mobile advertisers, instead of spamming the inbox of the end user with random ads, will start delivering personalized ads which will be customized according to the end user’s preferences and tastes. In other words, the end user will determine what comes into his mobile phone. Since the content will be personalized and useful, a lot of people will be glad to opt into mobile advertising campaigns.

The report also says that the proliferation of 3G and 4G networks will fuel mobile advertising’s growth significantly. It will make services like mobile web, mobile social networking, and mobile TV, which are currently used only by a small percentage of mobile users, a lot more accessible for a large number of mobile users.

The report also goes on to add that the market will not be controlled by a handful of mobile operators in 2020. It is likely to become segmented and a lot of operators might consider offering ad-funded services. This could very well lead to a cohesive, symbiotic environment where both mobile operators and service providers complement each other and offer a lot of value for the end user.

Basically, the report pretty much sums up what I have been trying to say for a while now. If you need a little primer, you can check out this post. The future of mobile advertising, despite the objection of privacy champions, looks bright. In fact, it looks so bright that you can’t even look at it directly unless you are wearing shades.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

4 comments.

Is Mobile Web the Future?

Ever since I started focusing my attention on mobile advertising and mobile communication, I have been hearing a lot about mobile web. A lot has been said about mobile web - How big it is going to be, how big an impact it will have on mobile phone advertising, what kind of revenue it can bring in, and how it can simply change the way we perceive our mobile phones. In short – it is considered the future.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project’s latest survey says that the mobile phone will be the primary connecting tool for people all over the world by 2020. If you notice carefully, the role of the mobile phone has changed enormously in the past few years. A decade back, mobile phones were meant strictly for calls and text messages. Now, we can take photos, shoot videos, surf the web, send and receive emails, listen to music, watch TV, transfer data, and more. The mobile phone has become much more than a tool for communication. This gets reflected on the sales figures as well.

Over three billion mobile phones have been sold by mobile companies around the world so far. Interestingly, it took them over two decades to reach the one billion mark. The two billion mark was reached in the next four years and the three million mark was reached in the next two years. Can you imagine? The time taken to sell one billion phones has diminished rapidly – from 20 years to 4 years to just under 2 years. By the end of 2008, there will be 4 billion mobile phones in the world. In other words, over 60% of the population will use the mobile phone as their primary connecting tool.

An important thing you should know is that mobile web is not as prevalent as most people think. Of these 4 billion mobile phones, only 15% are internet enabled. So, an overwhelming number of mobile users still use their phones for calls and text messages only. The reasons are not hard to find.

1. Mobile web is still out of reach for most people thanks to its cost. The data plans cost a lot and it makes people think twice before surfing the net on their phones.

2. Unless you have a smart phone, surfing the web on the mobile phone can be quite cumbersome. The user interface is not good enough and the speed is very low in most cases.

Experts predict that these things will change rapidly. Already, a lot of mobile carriers around the world have come up with flat rates for data plans which make them a lot more affordable. Also, a lot of people tend to buy smart phones these days as they have become a lot more affordable than what they used to be a few years back. Most importantly, with the advent of 3G (high speed internet), surfing the web on the mobile phone could become a lot easier.

The biggest challenge for both carriers and mobile advertisers is advertising. Advertising will be the primary means of revenue support for mobile web and it needs to be done carefully. While the mobile web could open a lot of avenues for mobile advertisers to reach the end users, they need to do it in such a way that people do not find it irritating or intrusive. How well they adapt to this new medium is something we will have to wait and see. But, the signs are clear. Mobile web is the next big thing. What do you think?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

0 comments.

Mobile Advertising Startups Attract VCs Despite Rough Economy

We already saw how bad economy has managed to make a lot of companies interested in mobile advertising. It does not stop there. It keeps getting better and better. According to the latest reports, a lot of VCs (venture capitalists) are interested to invest in mobile advertising start ups as they show a lot of promise despite the rough economy.

Two examples come to my mind right now.

1. Blyk, one of the most popular companies in the market right now, recently managed to raise more than $50 million in private investments in its third round of funding. Considering the growth it has had so far, I would have to say that the investors have made the right choice.

2. AdMob, yet another famous U.S. based company, managed to raise around $16 million a few months back. Again, considering the numbers we have seen so far, this does not sound surprising at all.

If you notice carefully, you can see that there has been a paradigm shift in the advertising industry lately. The money spent on traditional advertising methods like TV ads, radio ads, and print ads has come down significantly. At the same time, mobile advertising is slowly becoming a lot more affordable than it used to be in the past. And thanks to the state our economy is in right now, businesses cannot afford to spend money on ads that don’t deliver results.

The biggest advantage with mobile phone advertising is that it delivers terrific results. The average CTR (click through rate) of a mobile advertising campaign is in the range of 1.5% to 2%. In some cases, it has been unbelievably high thanks to specific, targeted advertising campaigns. For example, the average response rate of Blyk’s mobile ad campaigns is a whopping 29%. So, even if you spend a little more money than what you usually spend, you are bound to get very good results. This is what makes mobile advertising so good.

Research firm eMarketer says that mobile advertising market will grow significantly in the next few years. It says that the proliferation of high end phones has made things easier for mobile advertisers as these smartphones open a lot of possibilities for ads.

In summary – I just have to say what I always say. Mobile advertising is here to stay. Don’t you guys think so too?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

0 comments.

Older »