On how mobile advertising could be improved in the US

It is a well established fact that the Asian market is far more sophisticated and developed than the West, when it comes to mobile advertising. Services like MMS, mobile internet, and mobile video, things which are considered premium services in the U.S., are commonplace with mobile users in Asia. Thanks to this, mobile advertising is far more developed in Asia.

Mobile advertising experts point out that in Asia, mobile phone is an integral part of any advertising campaign, while in the U.S., it’s only considered an afterthought. There are several reasons for this. The relationship between mobile content providers and network carriers is not good, as they have disputes over revenue sharing. Also, the U.S. market in general needs to be educated a lot about mobile advertising and the kind of impact it can have in making a product/service reach out to its target customers.

What could be the solution? Firstly, mobile content providers and carriers need to settle their disputes and understand that by working together, they can profit way more through mobile advertising. Also, the market in general needs to be educated a lot about mobile advertising.

For example, I still get mails from people who read this blog asking questions like “I’m not selling my mobile inbox to anyone”, “Why do you want to know where I am and what I am doing?”, and “Why should I let someone profit from my mobile phone?”, yada, yada, yada. You get the drift? These people need to be educated and made to understand the point that mobile advertising is not some kind of a monster trying to gobble you. For which, I suggest you guys read this, this, and this.

Well; a lot of changes need to be made. But when you look at this on a positive note, you’ll realize that despite all these issues, mobile advertising has become notably important in the market today. So, let’s just hope that the West will soon catch up with Asia in mobile advertising.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.

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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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