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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.
YuuZoo, a popular name in the world of mobile content and mobile advertising, has moved from its beta phase and will soon start rendering its services to a number of countries including China, India, US, UK, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
In case you don’t know YuuZoo, here’s a small piece of info. YuuZoo is backed and financed by a number of high profile executives from Nokia, Ogilvy & Mather, and Ericsson and is famous world over.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of YuuZoo is the extensive range of mobile content it has on offer. It has partnered with some of the best mobile technology companies in the world and offers a wide range of mobile content, most of which are exclusive.
With the current set up, YuuZoo can easily reach around 1 billion consumers around the world. What this means to mobile advertisers around the world is that they can now easily target a huge number of consumers with the help of YuuZoo. With its technology, YuuZoo can help mobile advertisers send highly targeted ads to consumers – both local and international.
It will be interesting to see the growth of YuuZoo in the coming months. With such a strong set up, I think it is certainly a force to be reckoned with in the mobile advertising industry.
Tags: beta phase, China, ericsson, germany, India, indonesia, malaysia, mather, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile content, Nokia, ogilvy, singapore, targeted ads, thailand, UK, US, YuuZoo
Technorati Tags: beta phase, China, ericsson, germany, India, indonesia, malaysia, mather, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile content, Nokia, ogilvy, singapore, targeted ads, thailand, UK, US, YuuZoo
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
A few weeks back, CBS announced that it will experiment with location based mobile advertising and based on the results, will think about taking the advertising campaign to the next level.
It was announced that CBS Mobile unit will team up with Loopt, a famous social networking service, in this advertising campaign. The team has got two tailor-made mobile websites to run this advertising campaign – CBS Mobile News and CBS Mobile Sports.
As of now, these ads will appear on your mobile screen only if your phone has GPS capabilities and if you are a customer of Sprint Nextel or Boost Mobile, who have signed deals with Loopt. However, CBS is confident of getting more carriers sign a deal with them to reach out to a larger customer base.
Loopt’s GPS based technology will help advertisers send targeted ads based on the mobile users’ location. Now, to stay clear of controversies and privacy issues regarding location based advertising, CBS and Loopt have announced that this advertising service will be made available strictly on an opt-in/opt-out basis. Meaning, if you are interested in getting the ads, you can opt in and you can opt out of the same at any time. Also, they have announced that the mobile ads will be delivered anonymously and they will not store your location history.
Something that Cyriac Roeding of CBS said made a lot of sense to me. When asked further about the importance of adding value in mobile advertising, he said that this is a game in which the customer should win at the end of the day, for if he doesn’t, there is no game to be played. Spot on, I should say!
Tags: advertising, Boost Mobile, CBS, CBS Mobile News, CBS Mobile Sports, CBS Mobile unit, Cyriac Roeding, GPS, location based advertising, location based mobile advertising, Loopt, mobile, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile websites, social networking, Sprint Nextel, targeted ads, value in mobile advertising
Technorati Tags: advertising, Boost Mobile, CBS, CBS Mobile News, CBS Mobile Sports, CBS Mobile unit, Cyriac Roeding, GPS, location based advertising, location based mobile advertising, Loopt, mobile, mobile ads, mobile advertising, mobile websites, social networking, Sprint Nextel, targeted ads, value in mobile advertising
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Social Networking.
MobiBlitz, a well-known media firm in South Africa, recently announced that it will install a number of Bluetooth hotspots in shopping malls across the country. These hotspots will be installed in over 70 shopping malls across the country and the number could go up soon.
These Bluetooth hotspots are a great way for mobile advertisers to reach their customers. Mobile advertising through Bluetooth technology is something that has been discussed a lot in the past. The hotspot, called MobiZone, is like a marketing server which can extend up to 100 meters. A number of such hotspots together will create a network of Bluetooth advertising spots across the country, making it easier for mobile marketers to send targeted ads to mobile users.
To make things easier for people, MobiBlitz has assured that this will be strictly done on an opt-in basis, meaning customers can opt in and opt out any time they want. Also, they’ve assured a zero-virus policy, as Bluetooth activated phones are prone to virus attacks. Apart from mobile ads, customers will be offered movie trailers, weather reports, travel information, news updates, sports updates, and more to make things interesting.
MobiBlitz has already created a buzz and big names like MTV, KFC, and Wrigley will be joining the network soon.
Tags: Bluetooth, Bluetooth advertising, Bluetooth hotspots, Bluetooth technology, hotspots, KFC, MobiBlitz, mobile ads, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile users, MobiZone, MTV, shopping malls, South Africa, targeted ads, virus, Wrigley
Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, Bluetooth advertising, Bluetooth hotspots, Bluetooth technology, hotspots, KFC, MobiBlitz, mobile ads, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile users, MobiZone, MTV, shopping malls, South Africa, targeted ads, virus, Wrigley
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
I think I just stumbled upon one of the most innovative methods of mobile phone advertising in the world. Let’s just forget the usual arguments with mobile phone advertising - your privacy being invaded, you’re being watched, blah, blah, blah. You get cold, hard cash for letting the advertisers reach you via the mobile phone. Now, how about that?
Fluc has come up with an idea which sure as hell could get a lot of people interested. The idea is this – you sign up with them, you get paid for getting adverts in your mobile phone, you could even build a network of your own and let them get ads on their mobile phone, and get paid for that too. And yeah; I forgot to add, you also get free global SMS service. Now, is that cool or what?
Alright; now let me paint the complete picture. Fluc lets advertisers send you targeted advertisements on your mobile phone and you get paid for that. For example, you are going by a burger joint and you get a message which says there is a 30% discount on all your favorite burgers in that joint. All you need to do is just get into that joint, show your message, and get that 30% discount. On top of all this, you get paid for using this service. They have a minimum payout limit and once you reach that limit, you will be paid.
When you sign up with Fluc, you are asked about your location, preferences, likes and dislikes, and a lot other stuff which could help the advertisers come up with targeted ads. It lets you choose the number of ads you get per day, at what time you get those ads, and so on. Also, you can opt out of this service any time you want without any hassles.
There are two types of accounts you can create with Fluc – personal and business. In a personal account, you sign up and you start getting ads in your mobile phone and you get paid for that. It’s a highly individual process. In a business account, you can add your website, start building a network of your own, and when people in your network receive ads on their mobile phone, you get paid for that too. So, the more the number of people you have in your network, the more will be the money you make off them, apart from the money you make from the ads you get on your phone.
The caption in their website says “Monetize Your Mobile,” which I think sums up pretty much everything. This is an international service and I presume a lot of people will try it out sooner or later. Just let me know if any of you guys have already started using it or going to try it out. And if you do get something out of it, remember – you got the information first here.
Tags: advertisers, Fluc, mobile phone, mobile phone advertising, monetize your mobile, targeted ads
Technorati Tags: advertisers, Fluc, mobile phone, mobile phone advertising, monetize your mobile, targeted ads
Categories: , Cell Phone Advertising.
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