 |
Frost & Sullivan has predicted that mobile advertising revenue in the U.S. could reach the magical $2 billion mark in 2012.
The fact that more than 85% of Americans, around 250 million of them, carry a mobile phone gives mobile advertising companies an enormous chance to reach a diverse customer base. So, we can expect a huge surge in mobile advertising revenues in the coming years.
The only concern, and possibly the most important concern, is that mobile advertisers and the network operators should see to it that they don’t cross the line between ‘targeted advertising’ and ‘invading privacy’. The very thought that someone, in this case mobile advertisers, knows where they are all the time turns off a lot of mobile users. So, mobile advertisers should be careful with what they do with the personal information of mobile users. If used properly, this could result in a highly profitable and highly targeted advertising model where both the customer and the advertiser are happy. If dealt wrongly, this could result in a major backlash from the customers. So, it’s a fine line indeed.
Tags: Frost & Sullivan, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile advertising revenue, mobile phone, mobile users, targeted advertising
Technorati Tags: Frost & Sullivan, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile advertising revenue, mobile phone, mobile users, targeted advertising
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.
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.
Remember I talked about the possibility of free mobile calls some time back? Well; here’s one more company which is excited about that possibility.
Aura Interactive, a Bluetooth marketing company, is the one I’m talking about. The company is known for its Bluezones, which send targeted Bluetooth based ads to mobile users. Recently, the company’s CEO said that they are planning to expand the company and come up with new prospects and innovative marketing strategies. He also hinted at the possibility of offering free mobile calls to users as one of the ideas. However, he quickly added that they haven’t decided anything on that yet and it might take some time before they start working on that idea.
I’ve been watching the mobile advertising industry for the past year or two and I’ve heard people talk about the possibility of free mobile calls, free text messages, free mobile web usage, and a lot more. Especially with companies like Blyk becoming popular, this idea is being considered by quite a few companies.
What do you feel about this? Are you okay with the concept of ad supported mobile calls? Or would you rather pay your bill and have an ad-free mobile phone?
Tags: Bluetooth, bluetooth based ads, bluetooth marketing, bluezones, free mobile calls, free mobile web, free text messages, innovative marketing, marketing company, mobile advertising, mobile phone, mobile users, mobile web
Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, bluetooth based ads, bluetooth marketing, bluezones, free mobile calls, free mobile web, free text messages, innovative marketing, marketing company, mobile advertising, mobile phone, mobile users, mobile web
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
This post is kinda like a summary. Of everything I’ve talked about advertising on mobile games so far. A couple of my friends asked me to explain mobile games, the concept of advertising in mobile games, how they do it, why they do it, and of course some official facts and figures to back up my claims. Though I’ve talked about mobile games and advertising in mobile games quite often in this blog, I thought it would be nice to summarize it in just one post to make it easier for my readers. So, here it goes.
If you were to rate some of the most favorite pastimes of mobile users, mobile video games would certainly be one of them. From kids to teenagers to adults, everyone likes to spend a little time on mobile games every now and then. And downloading a game to your mobile phone has become ever so easy thanks to mobile advertisers. You have ad funded mobile video games that are free to download and they are very popular among people now. In fact, media analyst Screen Digest predicts that by 2012, over 60 million mobile games will be downloaded per year. That’s a monstrous number which just goes to show the popularity of mobile video games.
There are two ways in which advertisers place their ads in mobile video games. First, ads are placed before and after a game. This is by far the most common form of advertising in mobile video games. You download a game and when you’re about to start playing it, you’ll be shown some ad spots. Then when you finish playing the game, you’ll be shown some more ad spots. This method works well with users as they are not disturbed during the course of the game. Also, advertisers tend to gain from this as there is no way these ads can go unnoticed.
Second method is called product placement. Now, this method is even more refined and the ads are blended seamlessly into the gaming environment. In this method, you’ll not find ads popping up before or after the game. Instead, you’ll find them placed within your game. The soccer players might be wearing Nike jerseys, the boxers might be wearing Adidas shoes, and the signboards might have Microsoft logos. This way, the brands are shown to us in a subtle way and it doesn’t distract our attention on the game at all. So, this method is also pretty popular with advertisers these days.
The mobile advertising industry is growing fast and ad funded mobile games have never been so popular. There are plenty of companies that offer free mobile games for download which are completely ad funded. Going by the popularity of these games, the prediction made by Screen Digest very much looks like a possibility in the next few years.
Tags: ad funded mobile games, Adidas, adidas shoes, adults, advertisers, advertising on mobile games, blog, boxers, favorite pastimes, gaming environment, media analyst, Microsoft, microsoft logo, microsoft logos, mobile advertising, mobile games, mobile phone, mobile users, mobile video games, Nike, nike jersey, nike jerseys, popularity, product placement, screen digest, soccer players, teenagers
Technorati Tags: ad funded mobile games, Adidas, adidas shoes, adults, advertisers, advertising on mobile games, blog, boxers, favorite pastimes, gaming environment, media analyst, Microsoft, microsoft logo, microsoft logos, mobile advertising, mobile games, mobile phone, mobile users, mobile video games, Nike, nike jersey, nike jerseys, popularity, product placement, screen digest, soccer players, teenagers
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Games.
It’s weekend time and, as usual, I started digging into the RSS feeds I’ve subscribed to. And I came across this news which I thought was very cool.
Tohato, a snacks company in Japan, has done a phenomenal job in interactive mobile advertising. Tohato has come up with a mobile advertising campaign based on its two popular brands of spicy snacks namely Habanero and Satan Jorquia.
The idea is simple. All you need to do is, buy a pack of snack, scan the 2D barcode printed on the pack, and enter the game via your mobile phone. First, you’ll be asked to pick your favorite brand between Habanero and Satan Jorquia. Each brand has its own ‘evil army’ and whoever chooses that brand becomes a part of that army. There will be a ‘World’s Worst War’ in which both these armies will fight against each other.
You can also move up the ranks in the army by recruiting your friends to join your army. In turn, they could recruit their other friends to join the army. As more and more people join through you, you’ll be promoted. There are twenty battlefields in which these armies will fight against each other and after every fight, details like how many died, how many were promoted, which battlefield was captured by whom, and other things will be delivered to you via your mobile phone.
The response for this campaign has been great so far, as the game is highly engaging. The ad agency in Japan which created this mobile advertising campaign has already got several awards worldwide for the best mobile campaign.
Japan once again has proved that it’s miles ahead of other countries when it comes to mobile advertising. If you notice, using QR codes in mobile advertising campaigns has paid off big time and it has made their job every so easy. I for one, as a mobile user, find the idea of scanning the barcode easier than say sending a text message to get more details on a particular product. I really hope that mobile advertisers in the U.S. and Europe take note of this and use QR codes in their mobile advertising campaigns.
Tags: 2d barcode, advertisers, advertising campaign, advertising campaigns, ad agency, battlefields, big time, fight details, habanero, interactive mobile advertising, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising campaign, mobile advertising campaigns, mobile phone, mobile advertising, mobile campaign, mobile user, phenomenal job, qr codes, ranks in the army, sending a text message, spicy snacks, text message, tohato, weekend time
Technorati Tags: 2d barcode, advertisers, advertising campaign, advertising campaigns, ad agency, battlefields, big time, fight details, habanero, interactive mobile advertising, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising campaign, mobile advertising campaigns, mobile phone, mobile advertising, mobile campaign, mobile user, phenomenal job, qr codes, ranks in the army, sending a text message, spicy snacks, text message, tohato, weekend time
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Games.
Copyright © 2007 - 2008 Cellphone-Advertising.com - All Rights Reserved. Where Cell Phones Become Mobile Adverising.