Is Mobile Advertising the next big thing for advertisers?

Mobile phone technology is advancing rapidly, but what can we expect to be using in 2015? What will our mobiles be able to do and what will they look like?

Recently, there’s been lots of news regarding mobile applications- native apps, mobile web apps, and hybrid apps and most particularly, iPhone applications. And it’s the one device that has caught the attention of some of the most prominent advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Burger King and Kraft, as a means to communicate with their target market. Why?

As explained by Vodafone’s international development management of mobile advertising, Jeremy Makin, the new gadgets and apps offered by iPhone (which can also be developed by other manufacturers)  offer a great opportunity for branding due to their functionality and entertainment. And it’s that fun and entertaining aspect that makes them very popular amongst customers, thus becoming a strategic place for brands to be present in.

A recent study by ABI revealed that the global mobile marketing spend will grow nearly $16 billion by 2011, led by the Asia-Pacific region with $7.7 billion, which accounts for over 50% of this total spend.

Although the financial recession has influenced the mobile phone market significantly, the development of new apps and mobile ad formats are now playing an important role in mobile marketing and advertising, according to a report by WARC.

Jeff Orr, ABI senior media analyst affirmed that “spending on mobile marketing and advertising in 2009 worldwide is at least flat compared to 2008 if not slightly growing…That’s very encouraging compared to the numbers for advertising in other media. It’s less money per campaign, spent more intelligently, with greater benefit per dollar.”

Despite its significant lower campaign cost, however, even mobile advertising is not completely immune from the economic recession. Some typical case scenarios could be, if mobile marketing already plays a significant role and established part of the marketing mix of a company, spending will most likely be maintained or even increased. However, if mobile marketing is part of the experimental budget, then chances are it will get cut.

What do you think the future of mobile marketing will be like?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Mobile Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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