Mobile Marketing: Its Time Has Come Part I
Nov 17, 2008
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To help on-the-go viewers follow the 2008 Beijing Olympics, NBC offered its global audience a choice of mobile web, video, TV and alerts. In Europe, a Coca-Cola mobile-web campaign to support Turkey's national soccer team in EuroCup 2008 drew 9 million participants. In Latin America, 46 Brazilian radio stations used Hanzo's mobile marketing platform to generate more than 1.3 million text messages in first quarter 2008.
"The global market right now is crossing a chasm from niche novelty to a major new medium," says Russell Buckley, VP Global Alliances, AdMob, in Munich, and Global and European chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). "When brands like Jaguar, Ford and the BBC start to seriously invest in mobile advertising, this is clearly a market whose time has come, finally."
The Mobile Marketing Association defines mobile marketing as the use of wireless media as an integrated content delivery and direct response vehicle within a cross-media marketing communications program. Mobile marketing can be marketing using wireless media, including voice, text messaging (SMS), picture messaging (MMS), video and television, downloadable applications (games, videos, podcasts, ringtones, wallpapers); and mobile web.
The MMA helps to ease market entry for all players in the ecosystem with industry guidelines and publications that focus on consumer protection and privacy, since industry growth would be more difficult without broader education to ensure sustained consumer satisfaction, says Laura Marriott, president of the Mobile Marketing Association.
Richard Saggers, head of mobile advertising, Vodafone Group Services Limited and MMA Global chairman emeritus, points to three elements which helped to strengthen the mobile marketplace: Introduction of flat-rate data tariffs, technical improvements in screen quality and an improved user experience as more web-related features and applications become available. "For marketers, this means considering how best to mobilize their brand and engage consumers in the mobile domain," he says.
While mobile web usage is increasing due to the iPhone and other innovative handsets, other delivery channels are on the rise as well. "Every trend in mobile is growing web, video, TV, advertising, location, messaging, IVR," says Tom Daly, group manager, global interactive marketing at Coca-Cola and MMA NA chairman. "It's a rising tide that's lifting all boats."
A World of Opportunities
For brands and marketers, new opportunities in the mobile space are developing across the globe. Today, mobile can be an integrated content delivery, a direct response vehicle, cross-media driver or stand-alone marketing communications program.
"With the exponential growth of both mobile users and advertisers, especially in
Asia, mobile presents the best opportunity to go mass market- beyond the reach of TV, print and other traditional media," says Rohit Dadwal, director, platform and mobile services at Microsoft Online Services, Singapore.
Around the world, leading brands are moving from early adoption to using mobile as part of a daily diet of interactive marketing, says John du Pre Gauntt, senior mobile analyst, at eMarketer Inc., in Louisville, Ky. "The technology and reporting have improved, allowing brands to follow their audiences."
Mr. du Pre Gauntt notes that consumers who integrate mobile into their lifestyles are an attractive demographic. "It's not just the teen interested in gaming," he says. "Mobile has moved up the chain to reach the mom carrying a Palm Treo and the executive using his BlackBerry in the airport."
Nielsen Mobile reports that 40 million mobile subscribers in the U.S., plus millions more across Europe and Asia, surf the web through their mobile device each month- checking email, exploring their social networks, making bank transactions and engaging in other web activities right from their hands.
"Everything is in place for a boom in mobile advertising," says Jesse Goranson, senior vice president of mobile media, Nielsen Mobile. "The steady rise of mobile Internet usage among all demographics, and the popularity of categories such as search, news, weather and sports, shows that cell phones are increasingly being utilized as sources of information rather than a simple tool to place calls."
And mobile marketing isn't just for major brands. "We are now seeing small businesses find the medium more and more accessible due to the advent of simple, self-service mobile marketing platforms," says Steve Livingston, chief marketing officer at mBlox Limited in Sunnyvale, Calif. "From local retail stores to amateur garage bands, it is now possible to design and implement campaigns to connect with customers and fans alike, with little effort and money."
Today, mobile marketing is increasingly focusing on providing utility and value to the consumer, including these types of applications:
• Couponing. Coupons delivered via mobile have the advantages of simple storage and transport for the consumer and often use bar coding to ease redemption or provide ease of access to the web.
• Subsidized or free content. Brands are offering free or heavily discounted digital content as an incentive for participation in mobile marketing campaigns.
• Social networking. Viral marketing is proving to be a major driver, not only for consumer interaction on mobile but also as a key means for "cool application" pass-off between friends.
"Platforms are becoming increasingly important in growing the mobile ecosystem," says Ken Mandel, vice president and managing director, Yahoo! South East Asia, Singapore. "Platforms such as Yahoo Go 3.0 widgets and Apple's new App store are making it much easier for developers and consumers to find each other."
Growth in All Regions
There are 3.4 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, according to eMarketer; this is more than triple the 1 billion PCs forecast by Forrester Research by end of 2008.No wonder then that brands and marketers are using a variety of strategies to reach key audiences in their regions. With rising rates of cell phone adoption in emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India, and China, mobile is positioning itself as a powerful medium for firms seeking to engage with their target consumer.
In Europe, the mobile channel has found its place in the strategy of top brands and retailers, portals and publishers, according to Roland Tauchner, managing director, DIMOCO Direct Mobile Communications and Chairman MMA Austria. "It's time for everyone in Europe to understand the value of the mobile channel and to develop a strategy."
Mr. Tauchner says making a multinational mobile buy in the European market will become easier, as leading players like AdMob and Third Screen Media move to cover additional markets for mobile advertising. "While mobile marketing initially caught on more quickly in Europe, North American brands like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble are now leading the way," he adds.
Across the Pacific, Asia is seeing a renaissance in mobile messaging, says Jimmy Poon, managing director of Púca China and MMA Asia-Pacific chairman. Among the key drivers: the 2008 Olympic Games, which demonstrated mobile's ability to connect with consumers and a crackdown on SMS spam from China Mobile. "Now, brands are finding new ways to use messaging as a genuine marketing medium," says Mr. Poon. "Messaging 2.0 in China is being invented as we speak."
eMarketer expects Asia-Pacific to pull ahead of the U.S. in total mobile advertising spending by 2012, largely because consumers in China and India use mobile as their primary interactive screen.
Australia's mobile advertising market is projected to grow more than 300 percent this year, driven by the growing consumer take-up of 3G data services coupled with attractive campaign pricing, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan study, "The Australia Next-Generation Mobile Advertising Market."
In Latin America, mobile provides consumers with their digital connection to the Internet, says Federico Pisani Massamormile, CEO of Hanzo and MMA Latin America chairman. Because more than 80 percent of Brazil's 133 million mobile users are using prepaid services, brands and media companies are concentrating now on SMS campaigns. "All the major media here are doing something in the mobile sector," he says.
In Mexico, mobile advertising is just getting under way, according to Eugenio Velasco, mobile services director at Televisa. "As the major carriers launch new 3G and data plans, I believe that we will see a strong ush for mobile in 2009, including video and the mobile web."
For more MMA Awards Coverage:
Welcome Note
Mobile Marketing: Its Time Has Come Part I
Mobile Marketing: Its Time Has Come Part II
12 Things You Must Know to Be Successful with Mobile Marketing
Mobile Metrics
2008 MMA Awards Winners
2008 Selection Committee
adidas: Award for overall excellence for company or committee
Laura Marriot: outstanding individual achievement award
Academic of the Year
The Global Award Winning Strategies
More Winning Strategies
