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 and as usual I checked out the feeds in my mailbox. One article stood out from the rest and caught my attention more than anything else.
Just when I thought mobile advertisers and operators will be more careful in the future to avoid unfortunate incidents like the China Mobile and Focus Media problem, I stumbled on to this news. Honestly, I was annoyed big time. Let me explain.
SingTel, a very famous mobile operator in Singapore, has the habit of sending mobile ads to its subscribers. What’s the big deal, you ask me? Well; here, the customers only have the option to opt out of the ads, not to opt in. Confused? Let me explain further.
With a mobile connection from SingTel, you automatically get ads on your mobile phone. You can’t do a damn thing about it. In other words, there is no opt-in option for people so that only those who want ads can opt in and those who don’t want can simply stay out. In this case, the operator only gives you the choice to opt out any time you want. In other words, you’ll get ads on your mobile phone whether you like it or not. If you don’t like it, it’s your duty to opt out of it.
Seriously, I cannot think of a better way to annoy the hell out of customers. But then, this has been a trend in some third world countries for quite some time now, and I know it better than anyone else. Airtel, the leading mobile operator in India, has been accused of sending unsolicited text message ads and marketing calls time and again in the past. Again, it’s the duty of the customer to opt out of these ads if he doesn’t want them.
This is plain stupid and someone needs to do something about it. At the end of the day, no matter how good your mobile ads are, there are still some people who prefer to stay out of them. And you have no rights whatsoever to poke your nose into their mobile phone. Like I’ve mentioned time and again, mobile advertising will be a success only if you respect the privacy of consumers and give them a choice to choose what they want and what they don’t want. Hope the powers-that-be realize this sooner than later.
Tags: advertisers, Airtel, china mobile, focus media, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile connection, mobile operator, mobile phone, rant, singapore, singtel, subscribers, third world countries
Technorati Tags: advertisers, Airtel, china mobile, focus media, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile connection, mobile operator, mobile phone, rant, singapore, singtel, subscribers, third world countries
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.
A lot of people ask me why I think mobile advertising has a great future. Some others ask me why I get annoyed with anti-mobile advertising experts. Worse, some others ask me what on earth mobile advertising is. Let me answer you one by one.
First, why do you think mobile advertising has a great future?
The number of mobile phones in the world outnumbers PCs by many times. Yet you think online advertising has future and mobile advertising doesn’t have one? Either you haven’t read this blog yet or you need medical help.
Second, why do you get annoyed with anti-mobile advertising experts?
Well; I don’t really get annoyed with them when they talk/write something against mobile advertising. You see, freedom of speech/expression and all that. But when they assume things and predict things for people, I see red. Clear?
What on earth is mobile advertising?
Well; you’re a little too late. But fear not – you’ve come to the right place. Start right from here and read this blog in its entirety.
Tags: anti mobile advertising, experts, freedom of speech, mobile advertising, mobile phones, online advertising, PC, rant
Technorati Tags: anti mobile advertising, experts, freedom of speech, mobile advertising, mobile phones, online advertising, PC, rant
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant, All things mobile phones.
Let me state two things.
First, mobile advertisers and cellular operators, at least as of now, give you the option of opting out of mobile advertisements. I, like every other mobile user, believe that it will stay that way.
Second, don’t ever predict things. Operators know their customers too well to do any such stupid thing like making mobile adverts compulsory. They know that customers can switch to some other network at the flick of a finger if they want to. So, operators will be careful enough not to push their customers too far to make them take a strong decision against them.
I’m done. Now you can read what David Haskin said about ‘the demon’ that is mobile advertising and why I said what I said in the beginning.
PS: Now don’t come up with another post which states that mobile operators around the globe will conspire against mobile users and make mobile ads compulsory, thereby leaving them with no choice or some crap like that. If you actually think that way, contact Mr. Steven Spielberg and get your script ready for the next sci-fi movie.
PPS: I already wrote a rebuttal for an expert who ‘claimed’ something similar. Now, here comes another. Let me see how long this series goes!
Tags: cellular operators, David Haskin, experts, mobile advertisements, Mobile advertisers, mobile adverts, mobile operators, mobile user, rant, rebuttal, sci fi movie, Steven Spielberg
Technorati Tags: cellular operators, David Haskin, experts, mobile advertisements, Mobile advertisers, mobile adverts, mobile operators, mobile user, rant, rebuttal, sci fi movie, Steven Spielberg
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant, All things mobile phones.
First, I read this article a few days back. I thought of coming up with a rebuttal immediately, but then I was too tired to do that. Thankfully, a few days later, Allen Wastler has come up with another article which makes a little sense.
Now, if you notice, in the first article, he had assumed that mobile phone ads, especially location based advertising, will be annoying for everyone. He mentioned that there is an opt-in facility available for mobile advertising – meaning you get ads only if you want to. But immediately he went on to add that he was not sure whether it would stay that way or people would be compelled to get ads on their mobile phone, even against their choice. Now – THAT – got my goat and other domesticated animals.
In this latest article, he has expressed his surprise for the fact that he didn’t get as many voices against mobile advertising as he expected. While a few of them have expressed their opinion against mobile advertising, an equal number of them have also said that they don’t mind getting ads if they were to get something in return – like subsidized mobile bill or some kind of value added service from the carriers.
This is precisely what I’ve been trying to tell people around the world ever since I started this blog. I’ll say it once again. Repeat it with me.
1. There is an opt-in facility available as far as mobile advertising is concerned. In other words, you get ads on your mobile phone only when you want to.
2. You get lots in return for getting advertisements on your mobile phone. Ever heard of Sugar Mama? Virgin gives free talk time to people who get ads on their mobile phone. Blyk offers free talk time and free text messages for people who get mobile ads. Talkster allows you to make international calls free of cost, thanks to ads. The list is just endless.
3. If you feel that you can manage your mobile bill all by yourself and don’t need any sort of freebies from the advertiser or the carrier, fair enough. You just don’t have to get ads on your mobile phone. It’s as simple. Nobody is pointing a gun at your head. So, stop screaming.
When I thought of starting a Rant section in this blog, I was wondering what to write in this section. But there are people who help me keep this section alive. Thanks guys.
Tags: Allen Wastler, Blyk, carrier, free international calls, free talk time, free text messages, location based advertising, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile bill, mobile phone, mobile phone ads, opt in facility, rant, subsidized mobile bill, Sugar Mama, Talkster, value added service, Virgin
Technorati Tags: Allen Wastler, Blyk, carrier, free international calls, free talk time, free text messages, location based advertising, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile bill, mobile phone, mobile phone ads, opt in facility, rant, subsidized mobile bill, Sugar Mama, Talkster, value added service, Virgin
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Rant.
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