Will consumers embrace ads on cellphones?
Advertising is a funny thing. You say you hate it, but then you end up laughing out loud at that Jack in the Box commercial or humming the McDonald's jingo when you're in the shower (and lovin' it). We've gradually become accustomed to ads on TV, on the Internet and flat-panel TVs in public places. Now analysts say we don't even mind advertising on our cellphones.
Although only about 9% of people agree with the statement that advertising on their cellphones is acceptable, 31% say it's acceptable if it lowers the bill, Paul Kultgen, director of mobile advertising at the Nielsen Co., said during a presentation at Billboard Mobile Entertainment Live in San Francisco today.
"We're at a tipping point," he said. "The best days for mobile ads are in front of us." Advertising has to be relevant, meaningful and creative, he said. If it gives people something of value to them, he said, they're not opposed to it.
A new study out today from Local Mobile Search, an advisory service of Opus Research, backs up ...
... this theory. About 43% of people interviewed said they were amenable to receiving "offers or deals" on their phones from merchants they select.
"This shows a great deal of possibility around mobile advertising," said Greg Sterling, a senior analyst with Local Mobile Search. "A lot of surveys have been done that show that people are just not really interested in mobile advertising. But if you give people assurances that they have some measure of control, then they become much more interested."
Both researchers said that as people become more accustomed to using the mobile Web and to receiving texts and other services on their phones, they become much more open to advertising there. That indicates that as people across the country really begin to get swankier phones and data plans, they'll become less averse to advertising too.
Unless, of course, people don't warm up to advertising as the analysts think they will. There are some places in our lives still free of advertising -- churches, homes, most people's foreheads.
What do you think? Are people really warming up to seeing advertising on their mobile phones?
-- Alana Semuels
Photo: stirwise via Flickr
Nice post. In my view, consumers are going to accept this. Why not? The adoption rate for both cell phones and the remarkably growing number of wireless ear pieces has gone through the roof, so why not ads? Your readers interested in this topic might get a kick out of seeing
http://writingfrontier.com/2008/07/12/are-you-talking-to-me/
It's a light hearted take on the current cell phone/wireless situation.
Enjoy.
Posted by: Writing Frontier | September 09, 2008 at 05:25 PM
Exactly!
Consumers - all of us - would love the idea of being able to select the merchants and have control about when and where we choose to see our advertising. We want to know about all of the really great deals. But, we don't like be bombarded with intrusive messages. And, we're just a bit beyond some of the fitty cent burger promotions of the past few years. Give us a great deal, one mobile location to go to, to select from the groups of advertisers (we don't have the time to visit everyone's website anymore, we're on the go) and if the deals are good enough, we'll be there to redeem them and we'll all be happy together.
Where that's all finally possible is www.GripOffs.mobi.
It allows advertisers to create and publish their own eCoupon offers at a central mobile site, change the ads whenever they want and monitor the views and redemptions of their offers, gathering valuable demographic information with absolutely no intrusion to us. We love it.
It says to us that this is the type of smart company that we would like to deal with because they're just like us. They realize that we're always on the go and hate being interrupted and so they've made it convenient for us to simply check out their offer alongside all of the other ones in the area at that particular time and we make the choice. All about preference.
Since ideally we're making the choice when we're on the go when we're truly ready to take advantage of the offer, it would be an advantage for any advertiser to be there for us to review their offers to compare.
It's green - eco-friendly - paperless - can be changed - instantly - and it's a medium that exposes advertising to a local market on a global scale.
It's amazing. All About Preference.
Saves Great - Less Billing!
Posted by: Jim Dugan | September 10, 2008 at 09:48 AM
“The best days of mobile ads are in front of us.” This comment by Paul Kultgen of Nielsen Co. provides an accurate depiction of the current state of mobile advertising. As with any new, ground-breaking advertising medium, it is natural for there to be initial trepidation and skepticism. In fact, it would be a surprise if there wasn’t given the savvy nature of today’s mobile consumer.
However, the inherent value and relevance of mobile advertising is just too great to ignore. Promotional offers coming through a mobile device (both visual and voice-based) provide opportunities that exist in no other advertising medium today. These mobile ads, as Kultgen stresses, must be “relevant, meaningful, and creative” and “give people something of value.” This means going beyond generic banner ads and associating an offer specific to the consumer’s interest and intent.
One of the best examples of this is a consumer calling into a movie show time service while they are on-the-go. Statistics show that almost 50% of movie audiences dine out either before or after the movie. As the consumer identifies the specific movie theater they are looking for, a promotional offer from a restaurant in that area can be played with the ability to request and receive a text message containing a coupon or code for a discount on their meal. In this case, it’s a win-win situation for both parties. The advertiser reaches a highly targeted prospect (50% chance that the caller will be dining out) and the consumer receives a valuable offer for dining out – something they were likely to do regardless of the offer.
Just as the ads we encounter today via search portals and content-related web sites have become part of the accepted online experience, so to will the ads across mobile devices. Only in this case, these mobile ads can offer a level of value and relevance unparalleled by any other medium.
Posted by: Frank Riva, Apptera | September 10, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Let me see. Six out of ten people say 'no way'. Three out of ten say 'well if you pay me enough'. One in ten say 'OK' ... and that makes the market 'amenable'? That's like saying the prisoner actually gets used to water-boarding. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK with a marketing campaign that has the potential to really p**s off six out of ten prospects, and mildly give the s***s to three out of ten. The more personal the device the more aggravation from unsolicited intrusions.
Posted by: John Grono | September 10, 2008 at 05:29 PM
"Best days are ahead of us." This guy should run for office.
"Tipping Point." ??? You don't reach a tipping point thru what people say they might do in a survey. You get there thru behavior - only.
Posted by: Kevin | September 17, 2008 at 10:57 AM