Our new Point of View on mobile advertising, called “Advertiser, Forget the PC, Pick Up the Phone“ presents reports from three regions on technology adoption and use of mobile communications. What it does not address is the issue of mobile advertising’s effectiveness. However, recent work completed by Dynamic Logic, a Millward Brown company, suggests that mobile advertising can have a very strong impact indeed.
In the United States, Dynamic Logic completed a test to evaluate the brand impact of advertising for Hilton’s Hampton hotel chain on weather.com’s WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) site. Conducted using mobile phone survey technology, the research employed a methodology similar to the AdIndex® approach used by Dynamic Logic to measure online advertising. People were randomly assigned to either the test or control cell. The test cell saw the advertising; the control cell did not. Then both groups completed the same survey. By comparing responses between the two groups, the effect of the ad exposure was revealed.
The study confirmed that the advertising reached a relevant audience. Business travelers often want to check the weather, both at their destinations and along their travel routes. Mobile provides a great means for them to do so. Forty-two percent of the people interviewed checked weather.com every day via their mobile phones. By placing ads on the WAP site, Hampton Hotels reached an audience likely to be interested in their message.
The results suggest that the ads effectively engaged the audience. Ad awareness for Hampton Hotels jumped 26 percentage points. Stay consideration rose by 11 percent among those exposed to the ad, an increase of over one-third compared to the control cell. By advertising on a WAP site instead of pushing ads out to people’s phones, Hampton allowed people to choose whether or not they engaged with the advertising. Thus they avoided making their ads an unwanted intrusion. Favorability toward Hampton Hotels rose 27 percent between test and control cells. (For more details, download the case study by clicking here.)
Across the pond, the first test of mobile ad effectiveness in the U.K. was conducted on behalf of Aerodeon, a leading mobile marketing agency. Using the same methodology as the U.S. study, this research studied the impact of a branding banner on a U.K. mobile web portal. The results showed that branded ad awareness increased by more than 30 percent. Future purchase consideration also increased by 23 percent among users of the brand and 11 percent among non-users.
Commenting on the results for the magazine Contagious, Duncan Southgate, a director in global innovation at Millward Brown, pointed to the importance of going beyond exposures and click-through to understand mobile ad effectiveness, stating, “Marketers need to measure thoughts as well as thumbs when it comes to mobile advertising. Looking just at click-throughs or site visits provides no indication of what people feel about brands which advertise in this relatively new medium.” (Click here to read the full article.)
Our Point of View suggests that existing mobile technology is one of the biggest barriers to widespread implementation of mobile advertising. In the United States, the mobile architecture is particularly fragmented, leading well-known commentator Walter Mossberg to comment that it “severely limits consumer choice, stifles innovation, crushes entrepreneurship, and has made the U.S. the laughingstock of the mobile-technology world.” (Click here for full article.)
Walter thinks the U.S. needs a “wireless mobile device ecosystem that mirrors the PC/Internet ecosystem, one where the consumers’ purchase of network capacity is separate from their purchase of the hardware and software they use on that network.”
Elsewhere in the world, the state of the art is already far beyond that found in the United States. In developing countries, penetration of mobile phones has leapfrogged landlines; the development of broadband is likely to help unleash a barrage of mobile advertising. Without an open system like the one Walter describes, it seems unlikely that mobile advertising in the U.S. will ever reach a large scale audience on anything other than a pull basis via WAP sites. But then, that may be no bad thing for advertisers. As one Mexican research respondent declared, referring to ads pushed to their phone, “I’d hate to receive advertising on MY mobile. It is a violation of my privacy!”
What is the state of the art when it comes to mobile advertising in your country? What are the best examples of mobile advertising that you have seen? Please share them with us.
Tags: Millward Brown, Nigel Hollis, Dynamic Logic, mobile marketing, mobile advertising, mobile phone, Walter Mossberg, Duncan Southgate, Aerodeon,
(25 votes, average: 3.24 out of 5)
Loading ...
November 9th, 2007 at 10:45 am
There’s no shortage of examples of mobile marketing in action - though the creative quality is not yet as good as it could be. Two of the best collections of case studies I’ve seen are at the Mobile Marketing Association’s website and on Mobile Marketing magazine.
What I’ve found interesting is how many of these examples are quite heavily focussed on the technological implementation, and far less on the benefits which the end consumer receives. A recent example which does have a clear consumer benefit is this good Knorr example from Poland. I could certainly imagine downloading branded recipes to my mobile - much easier than trying to scribble things down on a tiny sheet of paper, which I’ll end up losing anyway. While the mobile marketing industry is still establishing itself, it’s critical that marketers don’t get too carried away with what the technology allows, and remember that the best campaigns will always give consumers something they genuinely want.
On a different note, I’ve no doubt we’ll see a significant increase in mobile display advertising in the coming years, as content providers look to fund their new services, and consumers become more used to dipping into their handsets for a quick surf on the move. Based on the very positive results in our early tests, I’m fairly sure users will tolerate these ads, as long as they are appropriate and not too intrusive. As on the web, consumers will understand that ads help provide content for nothing, and if the creative is good, they’ll enjoy the variety and entertainment which this advertising can bring. While very simple creatively, this Aerodeon Turkey example of Efes beer sponsoring a sports WAP site certainly seems along the right lines.