Mobile TV to become a $15 billion market in 2012

It seems mobile TV has caught the attention of market analysts big time. A lot of experts are touting mobile TV as the next big thing and here’s yet another report which has come up with quite an optimistic prediction, I should say.

A new research report from Multimedia Intelligence predicts that mobile TV market will be worth a whopping $15 billion in 2012. The report says that customers now demand personalized entertainment from their mobile phones more than ever before, as there is a huge influx of high-end mobile phones in the market these days. This has led to the belief that mobile TV will play a huge role in the future of mobile entertainment.

Also, mobile TV is considered the perfect medium for advertising by many as it has a huge advantage over other forms of mobile ads such as text message ads, banner ads, and WAP links. Ads in TV are something we’ve all got used to. So, when you’re watching your favorite show on mobile TV, an ad break won’t look too strange to you. On the other hand, a mobile banner ad can easily be considered intrusive by many. Also, the recall rates for mobile TV ads will be extremely high, as the ads are highly engaging. This is something I’ve already discussed in detail here.

However, there is one missing link here. While mobile TV could provide some good on-the-go entertainment for users and some good ad revenue for advertisers and operators, it will happen only if it’s offered free of cost. A paid mobile TV service, no matter how good it is, will not find a lot of takers in this era of freebies. We already have an example for this in the form of AT&T and Verizon’s mobile TV service - both got a lukewarm response from users. So, like I already said, ad-funded mobile TV could be the future. What do you think folks?

Categories: Mobile TV.

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Could 3G iPhone become a mobile advertiser’s dream?

No publicity is bad publicity, they say. If that’s true, then Apple can be proud of what they’ve achieved in the past few days. With the release of the 3G iPhone, they’ve made everyone, including yours truly, say something about it. As you can see for yourself, the internet is full of people expressing their opinions, as mixed as they are, on the new iPhone. Isn’t that what Apple exactly wants?

Thankfully, AdAge has come up with an article that stands out a little from the crowd. It looks at the 3G iPhone as a potential marketing weapon. The new features, the rich look, and the extremely good user interface of the new iPhone make it a very good choice for mobile advertisers around the world. However, instead of the usual banner ads, text message ads, and MMS ads, adverts in the new iPhone will be a lot different.

In the new iPhone, software is the content and content is the software. In other words, marketers will focus on building web applications for the iPhone and market them more effectively. The key is to think of a mobile application and then find out if there is actually any demand for such an application. Once you’ve found out the right app which users might make use of, you’re on your way to market your product or service in the most efficient manner ever. For example, a mobile game developer could come up with a kickass game for the 3G iPhone and allow the users to download it for free. This will give him more publicity and exposure than a measly banner ad or a text message ad. Because apps are something that the users look forward to using, the issue of unsolicited, unwanted mobile marketing is out of question. Check out the article and tell me what you think of it.

Categories: Apple iPhone.

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Some good news for mobile marketers

Finally, here’s some good news for mobile marketers. Access 360 Media’s latest report says brings up a few points which I think will be very reassuring for mobile marketers.

1. Once people subscribe to text message alerts from marketers, they stick to it. The number of people who unsubscribe after getting alerts for some time is very less. In fact, it is only around 4%.

2. The response for mobile marketing campaigns has been very high. On an average, 2 to 4 percent of mobile users click on the ads they get to know get more information. This is way better than the response rate from online ads, which is somewhere around 0.01%.

In my opinion, these two facts prove a point. The one which I’ve been telling again and again and again in this blog. Get your customer’s permission, send useful, relevant ads, and give them the choice to opt out of it any time they want. Rest assured, your mobile marketing campaign will be a success.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Using QR codes in mobile advertising

We’ve already seen that the usage of QR codes in mobile advertising has been very popular in countries like Japan and Korea. Now, it has transcended yet another boundary and gone to Singapore.

Singapore Press Holdings has introduced this technology called ZapCodes in Singapore. With this, mobile phone users will be able to get more information on a product or service simply by scanning the ZapCode in an advertisement through their mobile phone camera. The ZapCode software, when installed in your mobile phone, will scan the ZapCode, decipher the message, and send more information to you via a WAP site. The WAP site will have more information on the product or service mentioned in the advertisement. The WAP site might have pictures, gift vouchers, discount coupons, or videos.

This technology, as I’ve always said, is way easier than the usual text message stuff that we are used to. Just imagine, which one is easier? Taking a snap of an ad with your mobile camera and getting the info in a jiffy via a WAP site or typing a code and sending it as a text message to a number and waiting for the info to come in another text message?

This technology could be particularly a huge success in the U.S., if implemented properly. According to statistics, more than 60% of mobile phones in the U.S. have in-built cameras and this makes a huge market for QR code based mobile advertising.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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FTC to keep a close eye on mobile marketing

Trust me, I knew this was coming. I could almost sense it coming.

Mobile marketers will now have to be more careful than ever, because from now on the Feds will be watching them closely. FTC’s event, ‘Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace’, discussed the concept of mobile marketing and the ways in which it can be made less intrusive, more organized, and so on.

A common complaint among a section of mobile users was that some of the mobile ads are vague in nature and don’t inform the reader the exact price of the service or product being marketed. As a result, the customer doesn’t realize how costly the service/product actually is and ends up responding to it. He comes to know it only when he pays a hefty amount later. This, they say, should be stopped immediately.

Based on this, the FTC has clearly stated that mobile marketers, from now on, should disclose the costs involved very clearly and should not send ads that are misleading in nature. The Feds have also informed that they will be carefully monitoring the mobile marketing industry which is growing very fast at the moment.

I’ve always stated that mobile marketers should be very careful about the way they approach the users. They should not forget that people, a lot of them, pay for text messages and they have every reason to hate a text message ad which is vague/misleading/useless or all of the above. So, it’s the responsibility of the mobile marketer to make sure the customer knows what he is getting into.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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