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Mobile Marketer
Mobile Marketer
A CLASSIC GUIDE
TM August 14, 2009
$395
THE NEWS LEADER IN MOBILE MARKETING, MEDIA AND COMMERCE
www.MobileMarketer.com
Mobile
Classic Guide to
Advertising
simple. mobile. advertising.
Mobile Marketer TM CONTENTS
37 Forbes on mobile: the new capitalist tool 75 Time to flip the script for mobile
by Jeff Bauer by Josh Webb
39 Why a mobile ad network matters to publishers 77 Calling for a trusted third party to manage mobile consumer data
by Eric Holmen by Patrick Seymour
42 Making a case for mobile video advertising 83 Overcoming mobile advertising ecosystem hurdles
by Thomas N. Ellsworth by Scott Cotter
43 Reaching the fragmented mobile audience 84 Hachette Filipacchi monetizes magazine titles with mobile ads
by Faraz A. Syed by Dan Butcher
44 7 ways to make your idle screen campaign delivery 85 ESPN: Mobile lucrative channel for publishers
by Jon Jackson by Dan Butcher
45 MMS advertising as a utility for advertisers 86 What are the requirements for a mobile marketing executive?
by Richard Eicher by Heather Baker
46 Tips on branded mobile apps beyond the iPhone 87 Mobile advertisers continue to face legal challenges
by Ken Singer by Gonzalo E. Mon
47 How to ensure that the brand’s iPhone app isn’t deleted 88 Audience engagement more important than click
by Maya Mikhailov by Paran Johar
W
and pretty much leaving money on the table for bigger competitors. Or
elcome to the second edition of Mobile Marketer’s Classic Guide maybe they are not putting up a better fight for mobile ad dollars.
to Mobile Advertising. Equally, advertisers will also benefit by offering mobile consumers
A one-stop source for everything related to the workings of mobile an opportunity to view timely offers on the go, but they need the plat-
advertising, this Classic Guide targets executives from brands, ad agen- form and trusted media brands to make their case.
cies, media planning and buying shops, publishers, mobile marketing So it is in the vital interest of advertisers, publishers, agencies and
firms and other marketers interested in reaching out to busy consumers mobile marketing firms to get mobile advertising right and not just treat
on the go. it like a stripped-down version of the wired Web.
While the nation is weathering this downturn, the mobile advertis- Luckily for all, there are voices of reason working to get mobile
ing and marketing sector has proved the one bright spot for marketing right, if this Classic Guide is any indication. The key players in the mo-
growth, albeit on a smaller base than most channels. bile advertising and marketing ecosystem – the ad networks, publishers,
Fueling that positive trend is a reality: more consumers are taking SMS firms, mobile marketing shops and ad agencies – contributed
their daily lives with them on the road, including talking, texting, ex- heavily their time and effort to produce this work.
changing email, accessing work documents, searching, shopping, To all executives and their marketing communications specialists
checking weather, playing games and consuming news and content. who helped make this edition a reality – a big thank-you for your pa-
What fertile ground then for marketers to interact with mobile consumers. tience and hard work.
This guide comprises 56 articles authored by some of the top exec- It is only through collaboration with all the key players in mobile
utives in mobile advertising and marketing. The topics graduate from advertising can a work like this become effective in its aims: to inform
basic level to intermediate and then advanced, following Mobile Mar- and educate marketers on the value of mobile advertising and perhaps
keter’s established pattern with its Classic Guide series. entice those sitting on the sidelines to jump in – now.
While the mix may seem eclectic, the guide is chock-full with ad- Many thanks also to Mobile Marketer’s Giselle Tsirulnik and Dan
vice, best practice and how-to tips on everything, from a lay of the land Butcher for their reporting, Jordan Crook for her help with images and
and an Interactive Advertising Bureau primer on how to buy media on Jodie Solomon for convincing others to invest in this Classic Guide
mobile to structuring and deploying mobile advertising campaigns and and others before it. Chris Harnick is new here, but he will participate
programs as well as their issues, analysis and measurement. in future efforts.
Must-read articles include viewpoints on mobile advertising and And then there’s Rob DiGioia, art director on this effort. As many
publishing from key executives at Microsoft Mobile Advertising, The will notice, this is Mobile Marketer’s largest Classic Guide to date – 88
New York Times, Forbes and The Associated Press. pages at 16 megabytes – so try sending a link before emailing the entire
PDF to friends, colleagues, prospects or clients.
Banner year Rob worked many hours on getting the pages and images right, no
This guide will have succeeded in its mission if it convinces readers easy task with a finicky yours truly. Thank-you to him as well, although
to begin a dialogue on mobile advertising or extends the commitment his mutter in the newsroom was within earshot: “It passed being a guide
of those already in the field. at 40 pages. You mean the Old Testament.” I
A lot is at stake here. Mass media are rapidly fragmenting, making
the task of advertising to consumers more difficult. This is an issue not
just for advertisers. Publishers also recognize that they need to be where
the consumers are – on mobile devices and on the wired Web.
However, as SmartReply president Eric Holmen points out in his ar- Mickey Alam Khan mickey@mobilemarketer.com
ticle, “only the top 50 [publishers] account for 91 percent of all mobile
advertising revenue.” Please subscribe to Mobile Marketer for the latest news and analysis
What Mr. Holmen’s observation implies is that smaller publishers of mobile marketing, media and commerce. Click here.
Mobile Marketer covers news and analysis of mobile marketing, media and commerce. For advertising: For newsletter subscriptions:
The franchise comprises Mobile Marketer, MobileMarketer.com, the Mobile Marketer Daily http://www.mobilemarketer.com/ http://www.mobilemarketer.com/
newsletter and MobileMarketingDaily.com 2009 Napean LLC. All rights reserved. cms/general/1.html newsletter.php
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 4
M
Mobile is critic al component of Microsoft Adve rtising’s strategy
icrosoft Corp. has stepped up its commitment to mobile with savvy audience which is in “decision mode” from anywhere on the Mi-
an aggressive push to promote new mobile services and en- crosoft network.
courage clients to run campaigns across online, gaming and The goal is meaningful experiences that keep the consumer em-
mobile channels. powered, engaged and entertained.
Charles Johnson, general manager of Microsoft Mobile Advertis-
ing and a former brand executive at Procter & Gamble Co. and Coca- You’re in a room with a brand marketer. What would you say
Cola Co., is charged with ensuring his company’s place on the mobile to him or her about mobile advertising?
advertising map. In this interview with Mobile Marketer’s Mickey As a former brand marketer for Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and
Alam Khan, the Redmond, WA-based Mr. Johnson explains Mi- Yum Brands, I have a unique perspective when it comes to developing
crosoft’s take on mobile and its strategy going forward. Excerpts: and launching convenience and on-the-go consumer products for advertisers.
With mobile adoption increasing around the world and mobile de-
What does mobile advertising vices becoming more sophisticated, there is a prime opportunity for ad-
mean to Microsoft? vertisers to connect with consumers who no longer use their mobile to
Mobile is a critical component of simply place calls.
Microsoft Advertising’s strategy and Mobile advertising allows companies to connect their brands with
vision to offer smarter, simpler and audiences when they’re on the move and away from the computer, and
more cost-effective digital advertising do so in a way that is empowering, engaging, entertaining and meaningful.
solutions that span multiple screens, Incorporating a mobile element into a digital campaign comple-
platforms and devices. ments other avenues for engaging today’s in-
We have made, and will continue to creasingly fragmented audiences.
make, significant investments and part- In fact, we recently completed a re-
nerships to develop an agnostic plat- search study with Toyota in France in
form that works on any device, so advertisers and publishers can preparation for the launch of its IQ car that
provide their target audiences with empowering, engaging and entertaining found a synergy between mobile and
mobile experiences on-the-go. online campaigns.
Our findings indicated that incorporat-
Microsoft has a multi-screen strategy – computer, gaming and ing mobile advertising into the online dis-
mobile, excluding its MSNBC cable channel with NBC. How does play campaign provided a 200 percent
that play out for an advertiser? incremental lift in ad recall and a 40 percent
The ability to bridge multiple screens, platforms and devices is crit- lift in brand recall of Toyota’s online presence.
ical if you are going to follow your audience throughout their digital day.
At Microsoft, our goal is to drive greater reach and impact with tai- Have you seen any mobile advertising
lored ad experiences that are empowering, engaging and entertaining, campaigns recently that you really liked? What was the
optimized for the three accepted media channels – TV, PC and mobile. standout quality?
I am really proud of the mobile portion of the “Deadliest Catch”
What strides has the industry made this year that makes mobile campaign we ran for the Discovery Channel.
advertising more acceptable to brands and agencies? Not only did we execute a homepage takeover of the MSN mobile
The industry has made significant strides in improving the value of site, but also with the help of Microsoft subsidiary ScreenTonic, we
mobile effectiveness for advertisers and consumers. That said, I believe created a dedicated WAP site where viewers could interact by entering
we still have a long way to go. their cell phone numbers to receive tune-in reminders for the show via
While the technology is in place to drive digital to the phone, the text message.
mobile industry now needs to turn its focus on the end-to-end experi- The Deadliest Catch campaign was the first time Microsoft Adver-
ence to help audiences become aware of and consider the purchase tising had led a simultaneous launch that utilized our full breadth of
cycle throughout the day. Microsoft assets including the PC, mobile and TV gaming via Xbox
Advertising, mobile apps and search must focus on the consumer. and Massive, and featured the first ever MSN homepage and MSN mo-
For example, the Microsoft Mobile Advertising platform supports lo- bile homepage conjunction takeover.
cation-based advertising of Bing with our exclusive YellowPages.com partnership.
Together with YellowPages.com we’re able to improve a con- So what’s the mandate that Microsoft has given you for this
sumer’s search experience, i.e., finding a store, restaurant or place of year and next?
interest nearby. We’re committed to partnering with the carriers, like Verizon, and
Location-based advertising is a strong component of mobile search the OEMs to provide these experiences we all want our customers to
and we are already generating strong ecosystem interest in that space. have today, and continue to evolve our platform and services in the
Marketers who advertise on Bing can target a high-quality, search- coming years. I
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 6
T h e N e w Yo r k Ti m es o n m o b i l e
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A l l t h e n ew s t h a t ’s f i t t o pi nc h
By Mickey Alam Khan and Jordan Crook mobile Web. The [New York Times]
iPhone app and mobile Web site
hile The New York Times is not immune from the advertis- have grown tremendously over the
ing and circulation woes afflicting newspapers nationwide, past year.
there is no doubt that the brand has a finger on the pulse of There have been a number of
news consumption trends. great campaigns, and we have future
In addition to its status as one of the top-circulating broadsheets, campaigns booked. The real value of
the Times is also admired for its comprehensive wired Web site at it is the great demographic they are
http://www.nytimes.com – one of the most trafficked English-language reaching. Our team is really deliver-
news sites online. Now, the publisher is intent on planting a stake in ing on the mobile ads.
mobile ground with its iPhone site and application as well as a site op- I think nobody underestimates
timized for other mobile devices. the future of the mobile Web. The product development, NY Times
Robert Z. Samuels, director of mobile
Aware that consumption of news is rapidly moving to Web-enabled challenge is that up until now con-
phones, the Times has developed a mobile presence that is evolving tent publishers haven’t provided a robust mobile experience. They rel-
into the richness offered on its wired Web site but adapted to on-the-go, egated the mobile Web experience to partial feeds to third-party WAP
content consumption behavior. site providers – they don’t have the same robust experience as we do
Such attention to detail is paying off: The Times’iPhone application on the Times.
has been downloaded 2 million times and the iPhone site approached The mobile Web isn’t known for a robust experience. As content
nearly 1 million unique visitors in June 2009. Overall, the publication’s publishers update their content publishing systems, regular site content
mobile Web presence is around 40 million page views per month. publishing systems work on more capabilities so they have the database
Not surprisingly, the mobile New York Times has attracted adver- that allows a dynamic CMS.
tisements from noted brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Starwood, Hopefully they are thinking about mobile so they can ensure they
Land Rover, Hewlett-Packard, Continental Airlines and Cartier. have the capability of producing a great mobile site internally.
However, mobile publishing requires special attention given the As you go to site XYZ it will automatically create a single-column,
limitations of screen size, mobile device and data plans, as well as ad- mobile-friendly view that has navigation scaled to produce videos or
vertiser attitudes and consumer expectations. slideshows so users won’t have to pinch or scan or scroll or download
In this interview, Robert Z. Samuels, director of mobile product an app for everything. The Internet should work like it does on PC screens.
How does the Times position its print product versus its online
product versus its mobile product?
There’s two angles. Positioning towards the readers and then there
is our place in the advertising agency ecosystem.
From the advertising side, we keep on with the theme of “We’re a
What kind of traffic are you seeing on your mobile properties? multichannel, multiplatform company,” whether it’s video podcast, mo-
Our app has been downloaded coming up on 2 million times. Our bile Times reader, [Amazon] Kindle, we want to provide content to our
mobile Web site is approaching 1 million unique on the iPhone in June. readers however they want to read it.
Our mobile Web presence is right around 40 million page views We work with carriers and manufacturers directly to make sure
a month. we’re on their roadmap and give the best experience on mobile. It’s
about creating more value for print by being able to read the article in
That’s bigger than most wired Web sites. print but maybe then see the video [and] you want to email the story.
Yes, it’s bigger than most wired Web sites. [But] you have to mon- Then from the advertising side, really we have a single sales team
etize your mobile channel. This is what I’ve been losing my hair over that is well-versed in all our content. We are thinking to the next gen-
the past couple of years. eration of products, whether it be netbooks, whether the Crunchpad
comes to market.
Which device sends you the most traffic? There is no place that we don’t want to be and it creates more value
We’re dominated by usage in smartphones. If you combine the for both our readers and our advertisers. I
BlackBerry, iPhone and Palm Pre, the iPhone and BlackBerrys con-
sume the most amount [of New York Times content]. Reach Robert Z. Samuels at robert.samuels@nytimes.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 10
W hat is m obile a dve r t is ing ?
W
By Michael Becker SMS message and banner place-
ment within mobile Web sites
e live in a mobile world. We live in a world where the ma- and applications.
jority of the global population carries with them a mobile However, there are many other
phone or wirelessly enabled mobile terminal. paths that can be leverage for ad-
It is estimated that nearly 60 percent of the world population – vertising within the mobile
around 4 billion people – now have a mobile phone. In the United channel, including:
States, mobile phone penetration has reached roughly 75 percent of the • Voice and messaging paths,
country’s population, or 232 million individual mobile subscribers. short message service, multi-mes-
The mobile phone is considered by many to be the most effective saging service, automated interac-
channel for direct and indirect marketing and advertising. tive voice response channels
Advertising is a critical activity within the practice of marketing. As • Local frequency proximity Michael Becker, VP of mobile
marketers it is our job to communicate, deliver and exchange value paths, specifically Bluetooth
strategies, iLoop Mobile
with our audience and advertising. Including mobile advertising is a and Wi-Fi
key tool that marketers can leverage to fulfill this mandate. • Data paths, carrier portals, mobile Web sites, content (for example.
Many marketers, however, consider mobile marketing and mobile radio, mobile television and games), downloaded and device-resident
advertising as being the same thing. They are not. applications, and the idle screen of the phone
This article provides a definition for mobile advertising and em- • Organic and paid search as integrated within mobile Web, appli-
phasizes the need to create a persistent and lasting mobile strategy cation and related services
alongside mobile advertising experiences to enhance the possibility of Each of the above paths is illustrated in the mobile advertising
long-term, sustainable, value exchange between marketers and ecosystem figure below:
their audience.
Mobile marketing is practice of communicat-
ing, delivering and exchanging value through and
with the mobile channel. It encompasses all mar-
keting to mobile subscriber engagement activities,
including direct, proactive, permission-based voice
and messaging engagements, mobile enhancement
of tradition and new media, as well as mobile advertising.
Mobile advertising, simply stated, refers to the
practice of placing a marketing message or a call-
to-action within any of the many media paths of
the mobile channel.
Worth
being one of the most successful in the market – and marketers together
in order to support the buying, selling and serving of ads to the mobile
phone. This process is limited not just through the carrier networks, but
repeating.
also over Wi-Fi. Many new Wi-Fi-enabled phones, such as the iPhone
or Palm Pre, and dedicated devices including the Sony PlayStation and
the Apple iPod touch generate a significant amount of mobile advertis-
ing traffic and consumer engagements via Wi-Fi connections
• Mobile ad aggregators play the important role of aggregating mo-
bile ad inventory from multiple ad networks in order to amass ad inven-
tory to fulfill demand. Aggregators provide the message traffic
connections between the other players and the carriers
• Mobile search providers. These players enable organic and Reprints and
e-prints of your
paid search
• Application service providers. These players provide all the appli-
cation services such as text messaging, mobile Internet site develop-
ment and management, content delivery, voice and related services favorite articles
Experience the mobile Web
appearing in
Mobile advertising is a powerful consumer engagement tool. How-
ever, marketers are often missing out on a tremendous opportunity.
Mobile Marketer Daily
The majority of leading brands and marketers have not considered and on
MobileMarketer.com.
or executed on the development and maintenance of a persistent mobile
presence, or they may think that enough consumers have phones that
can visit a regular wired Web site.
This is evidenced by the fact that most company Web sites, for ex-
ample, are not ready for the mobile Internet. Yet few consumers – less
than 10 percent – have phones that have any chance of providing a rea-
Perfect for media kits,
sonable experience with an untailored site.
Company Web sites that are not tailored to provide a compelling
trade shows, hand-outs,
and lasting consumer experience when visited by a mobile phone leave sales presentations
and mailings.
consumers with a bad experience. Consumers see garbled pages, non-
functioning menus and poor navigation. They are left wanting.
These companies are missing a huge opportunity by not having a
persistent mobile presence as a foundation for any and all mobile ad-
vertising campaigns they may run. Please contact
For example, when marketers run mobile Web banner advertising
campaigns they will drive traffic to a landing page that provides the reprints@mobilemarketer.com
details surrounding a specific promotion or program such as a brand for pricing and details.
awareness generating sweepstakes program.
In this context, marketers will often run the program for a limited
period of time. Once the campaign is over, they will turn off the site and
shutdown the campaign.
What these marketers may neglect to consider, however, is that if
the campaign was successful, consumers will want to come back and
engage the brand via mobile.
For instance, the consumer may try going to the brand’s Web site on
its mobile phone. But if the brand’s Web site is not mobile-ready, the
consumer will be left wanting and with a poor experience.
This poor experience may drive the consumer away. At best it may
minimize the effect that the campaign may have made and at worst have
a negative and lasting impression on the consumer’s take on the brand.
To this end, successful mobile marketing and long-term consumer
engagements through mobile require more than simply running mobile
advertising programs. They require a long-term strategy and approach,
an organized commitment to customer-relationship-building and a fo-
cused approach toward the communication, delivery and exchange of Mobile Marketer
lasting value with one’s audience. I
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H o w to p la n f o r a m o b il e m ar ke ti n g p r o g ra m
By Ben Gaddis to use it yet, but we have planned for it.
We cannot tell you how many
obile is much like the Wild West right now, plagued with marketers we have talked to re-
many of the same issues that we faced in the early days of the cently who have run a “mobile test”
Internet: little to no standardization of operating systems, and cannot answer the question,
browsers, ad unit sizes and formats, and CPMs. “How did it perform?”
Add to that the fact that in most organizations there is no “mobile That is because more often than
lead,” and mobile initiatives end up in a virtual no man’s land. Mar- not, success metrics and analytics
keters have more questions than answers. are not defined upfront. First of all,
In this article, we will navigate the mobile badlands and tackle the what is the goal? Is it brand lift?
three most common questions we hear from our clients: When do we Engagement? Conversion?
plan? How do we plan? How much does mobile cost? All of those things can be meas-
Start thinking about mobile as early as possible. The biggest issue ured, as long as you plan for them Ben Gaddis, director of mobile and
that we see marketers encounter in the mobile space is a lack of plan- upfront.
ning. So if you are asking that question, you are ahead of the pack. The The frequent failure to get measurable results often comes from
emerging media strategy, T3
more important question is “How do we plan?” poor planning. Set the goals, and make sure that what you are bench-
marking against yields a clear, actionable view of success or failure.
Commit to a lasting dialogue
As you begin to plan, look at mobile the same way you look at all Budget for ongoing conversations, not just campaigns
your marketing communications: as part of a long-range plan. Then re- The No. 1 question we get is how much to spend on mobile. It is
alize that it is more than a series of campaigns – it is an ongoing dia- kind of like asking, “How long is a piece of string?” or “What’s Twit-
logue with your consumer. ter’s monetization strategy?” There is no good answer.
The cost of acquiring a mobile contact is high and so are customer A simple SMS campaign may cost $20,000 whereas a yearlong mo-
expectations once you have acquired them, so it is critical that you de- bile initiative may cost $500,000. During the planning phase the best
liver – for the life of the relationship. question to ask is, “With the available budget, how do we make the
Many marketers fall short by missing that long-term view and in- greatest impact on our customers?”
stead look at mobile in terms of campaigns or flights. Before you start looking at mobile campaigns, analyze your current
Much the way a goldfish continually rediscovers the castle in its consumer touch points. Is your Web site optimized for mobile devices?
bowl, marketers tend to lack object permanence when it comes to mobile. If not, that cost may need to be included in your mobile budget.
Marketers start fresh with every new campaign (“Oh, look, a chance Buying a banner ad on weather.com’s mobile site is not going to be
to talk to customers via mobile!”), yet the customer has been there since very successful if the click-through takes you to a site that is not opti-
the moment they opted in, expecting valuable communication from the mized for mobile.
brand. Show your customers you remember them by picking up where Next, look at individual campaigns. How do you thread campaigns
you left off. together to create an ongoing conversation with your consumer instead
Find a way to create a conversation that delivers value and moves of a series of one-offs? Allocate resources during the down times to
the consumer farther down the funnel with every interaction. This keep your consumer engaged.
means planning for what happens before, during and after big campaigns. Now look at how you are going to drive traffic and interaction with
If a customer texts in to get more information or a reminder about those campaigns. Use mobile advertising, traditional media, your Web
a product, what happens when that product is released? Do they get an- site, retail signage and other vehicles.
other text message with a link containing directions to the stores where Any first mobile effort will need to do some heavy lifting to acquire
they can buy that product? Great. But then what? customers, so frontload your budget accordingly. Once you have con-
If you set up your campaign correctly and can track purchases, you sumers who have opted into your mobile list, the cost of subsequent
now have the mobile number of a loyal customer. Engage them. Ask campaign efforts goes down.
them what they think about the product. Can it be improved? Do they Determine where the budget comes from. Some organizations pull
need an accessory? And by the way, here is a coupon for that accessory. all mobile costs from a media budget, regardless of whether it is truly
This kind of long-term planning turns mobile into a powerful CRM a media expense or not. Others budget specifically for mobile. Some
tool that can drive repeat purchase. look at mobile as a part of the “digital” budget.
We know that yearly planning can be daunting, especially when None of these options is wrong, as long as mobile has a strategic
marketers do not have a clear picture of how they will be using mobile and early seat at the planning table. I
throughout the year.
The goal is to approach mobile with the same long-term commit- Ben Gaddis is director of mobile and emerging media strategy at T3,
ment as any other channel – we do not know exactly how we are going Austin, TX. Reach him at ben.gaddis@t-3.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 15
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The ABCs of SMS advert ising
I
By Philippe Poutonnet • Click to video: One SMS with
a link pointing to a video at the bottom
n August 2008, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign made either • Click to listen to a personal
history or political spectacle when it attempted to announce Joe message: One SMS with an IVR at
Biden as the vice presidential candidate over SMS text message. the bottom pointing to either a call
SinglePoint and Distributive Networks handled this campaign. center or voicemail
Before the campaign could send the text message announcement to • Click to capture personal in-
supporters, mass media scooped the news and broke the story, but the formation: One SMS with either a
magnitude of the campaign’s mobile efforts is noteworthy. WAP Web address at the bottom
Nielsen estimates that the Biden text was received by 2.9 million pointing to a WAP site or an IVR
mobile phone users nationwide over the course of that weekend last number or a SMS response, where
August, making it one of the biggest, broadest mobile marketing stunts the user will be asked to enter Philippe Poutonnet, director of
How does SMS work? to-person messaging. This increases the probability of users responding
The process of executing a common short code marketing campaign to the campaign and interacting with the mobile marketing application.
is actually very easy thanks to a number of firms that have emerged as Short codes can also relate well with the brand being marketed.
valued partners and simplified the process. For example, a brand such as Apple could have a short code of
This leaves a marketer to focus on the best way to engage their cus- 27753 (which translates into APPLE on the mobile phone keypad) for
tomers 40, 60 or 160 characters at a time, which is the current length its particular application. This introduces a fun element also and makes
limitation on each text message. it easy for the mobile subscribers to remember the numbers, provided
Multiple ad mechanisms have been created by SMS advertising they know the brand being marketed.
firms such as: The initial SMS-based campaigns were restricted to subscribers of
• Click to WAP: One SMS with content and a WAP Web address the carrier launching the mobile marketing application.
at the bottom For example, AT&T Wireless’ short-code SMS-based “American
• Click to call: One SMS with content and a phone number at the bottom Idol” campaign was previously restricted to its own subscribers.
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 17
Moreover, an application
provider had to negotiate sep-
White paper,
arately with each carrier to
persuade them to launch
the campaign on its net-
right crowd.
work, which led to as-
signment of different
short codes for the
same mobile market-
ing application
across carriers.
This created is-
sues for brand mar-
keters that could not Make sure your case
studies, best practices
advertise a single short
code in their “call-to-action”
advertisements.
To address these issues, the Cel- and research are seen by
lular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) reserved a
set of five-and six-digit numbers that can be assigned as short codes in
the right audience.
a mobile advertising campaign.
Referred to also as common short codes, they range from 20000 to
99999 and 222222 to 899999 for five-and six-digit codes, respectively. Our white paper
e-blast is an effective and
Content providers or application providers can reserve a short code
for a particular campaign and then interact with each individual carrier
to reserve that number on the network. Reserving a common number
ensures consistent brand representation. affordable channel in
While content providers include brands or advertisers that sponsor
programming or interactive short-code SMS promotions, application
reaching the entire Mobile
providers develop the actual software application.
Connection aggregators have authorized links to carriers and con-
Marketer Daily e-letter
nect the messaging application to the carriers. subscriber base.
In some cases, an application provider may also choose to establish
the connection with the carrier itself, especially when more than one
campaign is being handled. Carriers can launch campaigns on
their networks. Please contact
Is SMS advertising effective?
ads@mobilemarketer.com
For all this texting, it is fair to wonder what effect SMS advertising
could have on consumers. For that matter, how do consumers feel about
for pricing and details.
talking to brands in the same way they talk to their friends and family?
According to Nielsen’s second-quarter 2008 Mobile Advertising
Report, 16 percent of text messagers nationwide see some form of text
message advertising every month.
Teens, in their endless texting, are the most likely to engage with
some form of SMS advertising —35 percent of teen texters say they see
some form of text message advertising every month.
African-American and Hispanic mobile subscribers are also more
likely than the typical texter to engage with some form of text message
advertising in a month – 24 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Of those text messagers who recall seeing some form of advertising
while using text messaging, 45 percent say they have responded.
Furthermore, the most popular response action to any type of mo-
bile advertising – text, mobile Web or video – in the second quarter of
2008 was actually to send a text message.
Among mobile subscribers who saw any form of mobile advertising
in the quarter, 25 percent say they responded at least once by sending
another text message – emphasizing the interactivity and engagement
Mobile Marketer
this medium presents. I
the campaign launch in? These and other critical issues must be visited television spot.
during the planning stage. Seventh, define success metrics prior to the start of the cam-
Second, understand the client’s challenges just as much as you paign and make sure your client is looking at the same metrics you are.
understand the client’s goals. This will be critical when discussions of renewals take place. I
If this is a mobile coupon campaign, what are the limitations at the
point-of-sale? Does the client have scanners that can read mobile bar Shira Simmonds is cofounder and president of Ping Mobile, Englewood
codes? Can they easily upload codes into their cash register system? Cliffs, NJ. Reach her at shira.simmonds@pingmobile.com
process of taking your SMS ing a live campaign is reasonably simple. Carriers revise their guide-
campaign from concept to a lines from time to time, so you will want to make sure your program
implementation. reflects any changes in policy.
Timing is everything Carriers may potentially audit your service for carrier compliance.
when launching an inte- As long as you are running the campaign you submitted, there is noth-
grated marketing initiative. ing to worry about.
Prepare for the ride of your While the terminology discussed above may sound somewhat for-
life as we embark on the eign, do not let this process overwhelm you. Your aggregator will guide
six-step process comprising you through each stage in the lifecycle of a short code.
the lifecycle of a short code. Your ultimate takeaway should be a clear understanding of the
To be fair, this is not ex- process such that you can effectively integrate it into your project time-
actly thrilling, but the knowl- line during the planning stages of a marketing campaign.
edge of how to launch a short As mentioned earlier, timing is everything when launching a mobile
Devote sufficient lead time to SMS
cess in this industry. By understanding the stages and timing associated with the lifecycle
upwards of six to eight weeks. The last
thing you want is promotional material
While it may seem te- of a short code, you will easily be able to integrate SMS into your cam-
going to print before the service is live.
dious now, you will be thankful that you took the time to learn it as you paign instead of adding it as a disconnected afterthought.
outmaneuver your competitors in the mobile space. Be sure to devote sufficient lead time to SMS programs, as this
1. Carrier application: Once you have chosen an aggregation part- process may take upwards of six to eight weeks. The last thing you
ner, it is time to get down to business. You will need to work with your want is promotional material going to print before the service is live.
aggregator to complete an application for the carriers. Navigating the mobile ecosystem should not be complicated. As
All carriers have campaign guidelines, generally emulating the Mo- long as you know the players and processes, you are well on your way
bile Marketing Association’s Consumer Best Practices. But it is impor- towards launching an SMS campaign. I
tant to be aware of additional carrier-specific guidelines to which you
must adhere. Ben Tannenbaum is business development associate at MX Telecom,
While these applications are usually simple, it really depends on New York. Reach him at benjamint@mxtelecom.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 22
M
Ho w to make a va lu ab le ad i mp ressi o n
By Steven Rosenblatt CPM each for a total of $60 for the
“advertising attention” on the page.
obile is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “capa- Thus, your one ad on the page gets
ble of moving or being moved.” By advertising on the mobile you 17 percent of that attention for
Web or in a mobile application, you are not only making your your $10 CPM.
brand message “capable of moving” with the consumer, but you are On the other hand, the average
also providing them the opportunity to “be moved” by the experience. mobile publisher sells one display
This opportunity is often measured by an advertising currency banner ad on a page. If that ad is
known as an “impression.” According to the Mobile Marketing Asso- also at a $10 CPM, you now have
ciation, an ad impression “transpires each time a consumer is exposed 100 percent of the “advertising at-
to an advertisement.” The Interactive Advertising Bureau notes that an tention” for one-sixth of what that
ad impression is “measured as a load in a Web user’s browser.” would cost you online.
What these definitions do not include is a method for determining This, of course, does not ac-
Steven Rosenblatt, SVP of ad
sales, Quattro Wireless
the value that each impression brings to the brand. count for the effect of the ad on the consumer. Research has demon-
Many advertisers are asking today strated that mobile ads actually drive
how they can determine where best to in- higher engagement.
vest their budget to make that impression
count the most, particularly across the Engagement
Internet and mobile. There are many ways to measure en-
In questioning, many advertisers are gagement, but the most common and
finding that a mobile impression universal one in digital media is the
“moves” consumers more than those in “click” on an ad unit.
other media, and also works as a great The unique properties of the mobile
activator for cross-media campaigns. experience drive more consumers to
So why is that the case? A mobile ad- click on ads than do on the wired Inter-
vertising impression appears in a differ- net. What does this mean in regards to
ent environment and engages the the value of the impression? Let us take
consumer in a different manner. a look at a little more media math:
Let us dive into these two key differ- For a $10,000 media buy at a $10
ences by comparing two digital media, CPM, you are buying 1 million impres-
mobile and the wired Internet. sions. Based on the average click-
through rate (CTR) for online ads (as
Environment reported by comScore), 0.01 percent of
The mobile Web page or application consumers will click on your ad for a
is, due to the nature of mobile screens – total of 1,000 engaged consumers.
whether a smartphone, basic mobile For the same 1 million impressions
phone, gaming device or netbook – a in mobile, accounting for a CTR of .05
Many advertisers are finding that a mobile impression
smaller piece of real estate than an percent – actually on the low end of what
“moves” consumers more than those in other media, and
One consequence of this is the limited room for advertisements. gaged 4,000 more consumers.
Most pages and applications have one or two ads on each screen. However, mobile engagement does not stop there. Not only do you
Compare this to the typical wired Web page, which has six ads, al- have more engagement with your brand, but the quality of engagement
though many have much more, particularly in the highly-coveted niche is also higher.
areas such as automotive and women’s interests. One illustration is the results seen in one client’s integrated cross-
This disparity in ad clutter affects not only engagement but also the media campaign, where sample requests from mobile consumers ex-
absolute dollar value of the impression. posed to an offer were double that of those exposed to print.
On the Internet, the true cost of an impression, when bought on a Smart marketers are including mobile advertising – on the mobile
cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis, is actually higher than what advertisers Web and in applications – in their media plans to make a “valuable im-
see on their bill due to the dilution of the value of that impression be- pression” and engage consumers. I
cause of the clutter on the page.
To illustrate this in a very simplified example, looking at the aver- Steven Rosenblatt is New York-based senior vice president of ad sales
age wired Web page, a publisher sells six display banner ads for a $10 at Quattro Wireless. Reach him at srosenblatt@quattrowireless.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 23
Mo b i le v i de o b e lo n g s in t h e
multi channel ma rketi ng mi x
T
By Frank Barbieri Mobile video advertising works
In our recent campaign effec-
here is no arguing the evidence: Audiences are changing the way tiveness studies, mobile video ads
they consume media. The proliferation of video-capable mobile beat online video ads in every
devices and the availability of Apple’s iPhone and other sophis- measure.
ticated smartphones mean consumers are doing more while on the go, We have seen as much as eight
including watching video. times higher increase in purchase
Nielsen’s recent A2/M2 Three Screen Report reports that mobile- intent than what is seen from typi-
video-viewing has grown a significant 52 percent in the first quarter of cal online video campaigns, three
2009 from the previous year, up to 13.4 million U.S. consumers who times higher increase in unaided
watch an average of 3 ½ hours of mobile video each month. awareness, and nineteen times
In the fourth quarter of 2008, the number of mobile video sub- higher increase in aided awareness, Frank Barbieri, CEO of Transpera
scribers grew overall as well to 18.6 million, a jump of 13 percent from compared to online video norms.
the previous quarter, according to Nielsen Mobile in February 2009. The audience for mobile video may be smaller than online right
Mobile users expect an experience similar to what they can do on- now, but the engagement and efficiency of the medium is hands-down
line, and are getting it. Those spoiled media-sponges. We love them. We the best of any digital media.
are them. That coupled with the fact that the mobile video viewer demo-
In answer to consumer-demand, mobile video ad inventory is grow- graphic is a highly attractive one for marketers makes it a must-have in
ing at unprecedented rates and offers brand advertisers new, innovative the digital toolkit today.
options beyond just the banner.
The addressable market is large enough to move the needle and the Switch
quality of the content now mobile is safe for Fortune 200 advertising. Campaigns combining mobile video and banners together outper-
The time to act and get involved is now. Here’s why. formed more traditional mobile display campaign norms as well.
We have seen mobile ad awareness increases.
For example, mobile video outperforms mobile dis-
play norms by almost 8 percentage points – that’s
46 percent higher than the mobile norm.
Further, mobile video viewers have the highest
recall rate of any mobile data users, at 55 percent.
Cisco Systems is forecasting mobile traffic will
grow 66 times during 2008-2013 to 2.5 million tera-
bytes per month.
The primary driver of that growth is video,
which it believes will account for 64 percent of mo-
bile traffic in 2013, more than triple data’s 19 percent share.
Cisco believes that most of the mobile video
consumed will be on demand, not streamed live.
Apple, to offer even more astounding figures,
has more than 45 million iPhone and iPod devices
in market worldwide and has recorded more than 1
billion downloads of the 65,000-plus applications
in a year since the Apple App Store opened.
There is no denying the sizeable addressable
market that is now capable of consuming elegantly
delivered, on-demand video content. And it is a
great place for marketers to be today and in the future. I
T
consumption patterns
By Alexandros Moukas lived without the Internet – see their mobile phones as devices for con-
suming all their media, the mobile phone will look to incorporate all
he idea of sitting down in the evening to watch an hour of sched- forms of their fragmented media consumption from music, TV and
uled television is quickly becoming archaic with consumers now video, right through to social media applications.
deciding how and when they want to consume media. The capabilities for media creation are also increasingly apparent,
Everything is on the consumer’s terms. With services such as TiVo as the wealth of user-generated content – from citizen journalism to
and Sky+ in Britain and Web sites including BBC iPlayer, Joost, Veoh mini documentaries – means the mobile device is being used as a plat-
and Hulu globally, audiences are now in control of their media con- form for self-expression through outlets such as Twitter and various
sumption schedules. applications to send video and images.
According to a recent report by The Future Laboratory, roughly half Many recognize the need for mobile companies to develop into a
of consumers ages 16-35 now watch TV online. social media network.
We now have so many time-saving devices that society goes Predicting that in five years
through tasks in 24 hours that would have taken 31 hours a decade ago, phone users will create 25 percent
according to U.S. think tank OTX. of the entertainment they consume
To address today’s always-connected consumer, content providers on their mobile devices, Nokia aims
are now offering short-form entertainment and lifestyle programming to provide a platform on which its
on mobile devices. Brand marketers need to take notice. users can create and share music,
Nokia recently announced the launch of its new mobile TV channel, photos and other media in much the
Capsule 96, where each program on the channel is 96 seconds long. same way MySpace does now.
Previously, brands Therefore, the ability to create
and marketers considered content that instantly appears on the
7 minutes to be an ideal Internet via users’ mobile devices
“content snack” in media means people increasingly see them- Alexandros Moukas, CEO 0f Velti
terms, but now 7 minutes selves as editors, directors and creators of media, rather than
is considered too long if it simply consumers.
is viewed online or on a Globally, citizen journalism sites such as OhmyNews (South
mobile device. Korea), Avisen (Denmark) and Spot.Us (United States) present news
There is an increased content from the public.
demand for shorter pro- In fact, five of the top 10 books sold in Japan in 2007 began as mo-
gramming to the point bile phone novels, or keitai shosetsu. These novels are incredibly pop-
where we see TV compa- ular, with Japan’s largest keitai shosetsu site, Maho i-Land, containing
nies asking, “Do pro- more than 1 million titles and achieving more than 3.5 billion hits
grams need to be per month.
half-an-hour long?” Today, the amount of time spent consuming media is not actually in-
To this end, broadcast creasing, but new technology means people are smarter about how
TV network CBS has they consume.
begun offering mini ver- Audiences are now able to watch TV or other video content when
sions of shows, including they want, on any device they want. With the growth of user-generated
“CSI” and “Survivor,” content, people will increasingly expect to provide input on the creation
The ability to create content that instantly
mobile devices to cater to Creating, editing and integrating advertising into shows tailored to
selves as editors, directors and creators of
this audience. consumers’ personal tastes means we will see the growth of more tar-
media, rather than simply consumers.
As more people use their mobile devices and other channels to geted micro-media production companies.
watch their favorite shows, we will see a shift from scheduled program- These niche companies and the highly personalized content that
ming to on-demand services that fit in with consumers’ consumers create will open opportunities for brands and marketers to
on-the-go lifestyles. align their offerings more closely with the media that consumers actu-
People want to be switched on and have everything in one place. ally want and to better reach them when they tune in. I
Creating, editing, consuming and sharing media will all happen simul-
taneously – and the demand is for devices that allow this. Alexandros Moukas is CEO of Velti, London. Reach him at
As the digital natives – generations of consumers who have never alex.moukas@velti.com
as valuable insights into their performance. (LBS). The actual device hardware
enables the interactive ca-
pability such as tapping
into the accelerometer
(shake) and 3D animation.
Also, you also need to
work with a partner which
provides sophisticated de-
velopment and ad serving
solutions to ensure proper
ad performance, optimiza-
tion and conversion tracking.
Eswar Priyadarshan, chief
technical officer, Quattro Wireless
more than 65,000 mobile applications, and that number is growing lar sports site SportingNews.com has provided trusted professional
every day. baseball content combined with a utility application to track fantasy
While some applications are more of a novelty, many others offer leagues, scores and
useful or entertaining features and provide iPhone and iPod touch users top news.
with genuine value-add interaction as part of everyday life. This new applica-
As a result, brands are recognizing the effect that mobile applica- tion presented con-
tions deliver. They are beginning to integrate them into their compre- sumer brand foot-
hensive marketing campaigns. wear and apparel
For example, several television shows, including “American Idol” brand adidas with a
and “The Today Show,” have developed their own applications to give unique opportunity to
their viewers both a more interactive show experience and highlight directly connect
the show’s brand messaging. with sports-
loving enthusiasts.
By becoming an
in-application adver-
tiser and partnering
with SportingNews,
adidas created an ad
featuring video con-
tent, a contest, and
other ways to engage
end-users, creating what brands have been seeking since the dawn of
advertising – a way to reach only the audience they want.
This co-branding opportunity is a perfect example of how in-appli-
cation advertising can go beyond the standard banner ad, fit into a
broader integrated marketing campaign, engage a targeted audience
and offer it an experience that is interesting to them.
As more feature-rich and interactive applications come to market,
brands will want to capitalize on the online communities that they are
developing through their mobile applications and generate new revenue
streams through consumer purchases, co-branding relationships and
sponsorships, and advertising and promotional activities.
To this end, mobile advertising and, more specifically, in-applica-
tion advertising, will be one of the biggest opportunities for generating
revenue as the mobile marketing industry continues to develop. I
The good news is that your target customers are probably already appropriate devices and make it easy to browse and purchase.
out there and reachable via mobile marketing. Develop new programs such as SMS campaigns and mobile ads
The bad news is that marketers may be tempted to make the mistake once you are further down the road.
of implementing the latest buzz tactic – such as creating an iPhone ap- The next step is to truly understand your digital marketing objec-
plication or simply porting over a Web application to fit a 3G device tives –Web or mobile – vis-à-vis your audience’s goals. Are you look-
browser – and calling it a day. But a ing to increase sales? Is your goal to
lack of strategy comes at a high price increase online traffic?
and can lead nowhere. Knowing your businesses’ digital
direction will help determine what
The three-year roadmap route to take and where and how to in-
Do not think of mobile marketing corporate mobile in your plan.
as a standalone world of marketing After figuring out your goals, put
and communications. yourself in your consumers’ shoes:
Mobile is effective when it is part What do they want, what are they
of your integrated marketing commu- looking for, what type of experience
nications and you must plan and take or relationship do they want to have
the time to ensure all parts work with you?
well together. If your research reveals that your
You also need to look ahead to consumers’ needs and goals differ
where evolving mobile technology is from your own, meet them in the mid-
heading and be ready for it. Three dle. Use the roadmap to help find
years is a good timeframe to accom- points of intersection where mobile
plish this. Any less time would not can facilitate the connection between
allow you to plan, implement, monitor, your current strategy and what your
measure, revise or make predictions customers want.
about the quick-changing technology Mobile makes it possible to make
to which mobile is subject. your brand truly on-demand and ac-
The first leg of the trip is to under- cessible at all times, but such an op-
stand everything you can about mem- portunity must be handled with care
Make sure you do not just hop on a bandwagon or
hitchhike your way to mobile space.
bers of your target audience. How old are they? Where are they from? and a clear sense of direction.
How do they purchase? Are they Web- and tech-savvy? Which social Make sure you do not just hop on a bandwagon or hitchhike your
networks do they belong to? What do they want from you? How do way to mobile space. It is easier to get lost than to make plans for travel,
they get to you? but the time you invest in the latter can make a big difference in im-
If you do not have access to reams of customer data, looking at Web proving the overall experience for you and those traveling with you. I
analytics information from your Web site is a great place to start. Web
analytics will reveal a great deal of about the people who visit your Jose Villa is CEO of Sensis, Los Angeles. Reach him at
site, what content they view and which browsers and devices they use. jrvilla@sensisagency.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 29
W
H ow t o buy m edi a on mobil e
AN INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU PRESENTATION
hile mobile appears to be a complex ecosystem with its own But for simplicity we will cover mobile Web and messaging in de-
vernacular, the buying process itself is very similar to other tail, spending less time on mobile activation and less common mobile
familiar platforms including the Internet. channels.
This article will guide you through the process in plain English, and In the beginning of the planning process, it is important to gather
get you started as a first time mobile advertiser. basic information that is vital to any successful advertising campaign.
The key to tackling your first mobile assignment is to remember Since mobile is a newer platform, this step can be overlooked due to the
that mobile advertising is much like advertising on any other medium. misconception that the basic rules of advertising do not apply. Ask
It is about finding the right places to connect your client with the right yourself the following questions before launching any campaign:
audience to deliver the right message. In fact, mobile is an execution
point on your current advertising strategy. Key questions
Simply put, mobile is another medium to add to your arsenal to tar-
get the right consumer. We will provide a few straightforward steps to
get you started.
Before you begin reaching for solutions, answer a few questions to
understand the marketer’s advertising goals to determine what role mo-
bile will play in their media mix.
The most important of these questions being, is the objective to in-
crease brand favorability, launch a new product, direct response or a
customer retention initiative?
Once your core media objectives have been answered, the route to This article will give you the background information to help an-
take with mobile becomes much clearer. swer these questions, as well as provide an overview of the market-
When creating a mobile campaign it is important to remember that place, definitions, and practical examples to gain a greater
there are multiple channels for reaching mobile eyeballs. They include understanding of mobile as an advertising platform. The best cam-
mobile Web sites, downloadable applications, mobile messaging and paigns keep the user experience in mind. For consumers, mobile offers
mobile video, all of which can be used individually or as a unified cam- convenient information, entertainment, and exclusivity.
paign across not just these mobile channels but across your more tra- Tailoring campaigns that deliver marketing messages that are also
ditional channels to create a complete 360-degree campaign. convenient, entertaining and offer exclusive content or discounts is the
key to success.
As a general rule of thumb, the less budget and less time you have • Mobile is not just youth-focused – texting behavior may skew a
the more you should focus on the mobile Web-display ads. As budgets bit younger, but the bulk of the mobile Internet usage comes from 25-
increase and your time allocation to put towards mobile grows you can 44-year-olds.
expand into messaging, traditional media integration and out-of-home Data from: InsightExpress Mobile Research (Waves 1 - 5, October 2007 - March 2009);
mobile campaigns.
1
Custom
This removes the need to type in WAP URLs, search for content by
keywords or send a message via short code. While this is still very new
technology, some U.S. carriers are now offering it to their subscribers
as a free download and handsets will be soon be pre-loaded with bar
party.
code readers around the world.
tions, and with the HTML/CSS-based WebOS there are a lot of Web de- However, advertisers are being
director, Forbes Media
velopers who have the applicable skills to develop for the Palm. cautious with spending overall, and so investments in emerging media
Mobile will bring a boost to news consumption as users will con- are not where they should be based on audience.
sume more news now that they can have access more frequently. There The other factor is that many advertisers do not yet have sites opti-
mized for mobile, so that advertising in the mobile space gives a bad
user experience.
Jeff Bauer is product and creative director at Forbes Media, New York.
Reach him at jbauer@forbes.com
Advertisers are being cautious with spending overall, and so investments
in emerging media are not where they should be based on audience.
advertisers to enter the mobile market without dedicating outsized re- publishers and highly visible to consumers, these networks can deliver
sources to developing contact lists, messaging and outreach tactics. as many as 200 million unique impressions per week.
The networks are vital in assisting publishers by placing their con-
tent inventory, from premium sales to remnant distribution, and can Channeling energies
provide a visible platform for smaller and newer content providers. Perhaps the most important reason mobile networks seem to be
The determined and continuing rise in mobile usage, combined with gaining prominence at such a rapid rate is the way in which they reduce
an increase in content developers and publishers, has pushed the rev- the barriers to entry into the mobile advertising market for companies
new to the channel.
Put simply, mo-
bile networks allow
advertisers without
direct contact lists to
take advantage of
SMS and other mo-
bile marketing initia-
tives without undue
pre-campaign
buildup.
Networks, partic-
ularly those with
comprehensive dis-
tribution models,
with their marketing
capabilities and
cross-channel part-
nerships, offer ad-
vertisers a one-stop
shop for mobile ad-
vertising solutions,
reducing or eliminat-
ing the need for
Ad networks link advertisers and publishers in ways that a market free of intermediaries could never achieve.
costly infrastructural
enue generation potential of mobile advertising through the roof. This investment on the part of the advertiser.
is undeniable. Why would a company invest scarce capital into an in-house mobile
The proliferation of smartphones has also expanded the emerging initiative when a mobile ad network can provide unique touches, pen-
channel’s prospects. etration and a sizable return at a fraction of the cost?
Where once mobile advertising networks had to be tailored specif- Conversely, mobile ad networks are also expanding to include mul-
ically to WAP and SMS, next-generation networks are employing Web- tiple channels, including broadcast channels, and can often be an
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 39
avenue for an advertiser with a strictly mobile strategy to take advan-
tage of a multichannel campaign.
Though there are few but an increasing number of advertisers that
SMS hit
Mobile advertising offers an unprecedented ability for brands to
build highly targeted, personal relationships with consumers. The sheer
number of devices, matched with the carriers’ control over their net-
works and knowledge of subscribers, is fertile ground for brand adver-
tisers and marketers.
The characteristics that make SMS a great tool for personal commu-
nication – pervasiveness, immediacy and relevance – make it an ideal
tool for advertisers and a great potential revenue source for carriers. I
Rolling with business models the next few years. Bundles rate plans, additional video-capable phones
Today, monetizing methods include micropayments for individual and exciting content will expand the audience from the early adopters
viewing, monthly subscriptions and broader monthly rate plans that of today to crowds of core consumers. Mobile advertising will be a
grant access to bundled programming. key enabler. I
Mobile video advertising allows consumers to access content with-
out incurring any of the aforementioned costs and, therefore, greater Thomas N. Ellsworth is CEO of GoTV Networks, Sherman Oaks, CA.
viewership. It remains the most attractive business model. Reach him at ellsworth@gotvnetworks.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 42
T
Reaching the f ragmented mobile audience
By Faraz A. Syed with a Web page completely different to that of a BlackBerry user.
However, both may be inclusive of your target market.
he extent of the world’s love affair with their mobile phones was As a result, developers are
recently revealed in a United Nations report which showed that forced to create a myriad of ver-
more than half of the global population now pays to use one. sions to ensure the optimal end-
The survey, by the International Telecommunications Union, an user experience, or risk minimal
agency of the U.N., also found that nearly one-quarter of the world’s 6.7 engagement – an expensive and
billion people now surf the Internet using their handsets. time-consuming process.
It is therefore no surprise that mobile marketers are keen to leverage This diversity is also found in
the mobile opportunity and engage with their target audiences via the the software running on these mo-
fourth screen. bile phones, with an abundance of
The explosive growth of smartphone handsets in the marketplace mobile operating system platforms
and the increased use of data services such as mobile search and content such as Java, Android, Symbian
downloads have both acted as catalysts for this new advertising opportunity. and BREW, all requiring consider-
However, despite the attractive offering of the current mobile cli- ation when developing campaigns.
Faraz A. Syed, CEO,
deliver a quality of experience that matches the technology available or Billions and billions served
risk minimal uptake. The issue of fragmentation is likely to become increasingly appar-
ent in the year ahead as mo-
bile advertisers look to take
advantage and monetize the
explosion in mobile
applications.
With Apple recently an-
nouncing more than 1 billion
application downloads and
rival stores from almost all
the leading carriers and
handset manufacturers being
announced, the opportunity
for reaching the mobile au-
dience is clearly apparent.
Some brands have al-
ready made the decision to
launch branded applications,
such as Carling with “Fill &
Drink.” However, this was
exclusively available on the
The issue of fragmentation is likely to become increasingly apparent in the year ahead as mobile
iPhone and given that reach
is almost always a key ob-
advertisers look to take advantage and monetize the explosion in mobile applications.
E pluribus and numb jective for marketing and advertising, this illustrates the challenge fac-
The aim for today’s marketer is therefore to move away from re- ing the industry.
liance on SMS and MMS campaigns and fully exploit the mobile op- With an abundance of application stores on the horizon and the dra-
portunity. Yet this is not as easy as it sounds. matic growth in the use of the mobile Internet, the opportunity for mo-
The diversity of the ecosystem, in terms of both the hardware and bile advertising is finally coming of age.
software currently in the mobile wilderness, represents a significant Marketers have an opportunity to reach audiences in new and ex-
stumbling block to any mobile marketing campaign for the mass mar- citing ways. But key to the success of such campaigns will be deliver-
ket, be it using the idle screen, social networking sites or even mobile ing a compelling end-user experience.
banner ads on a mobile-friendly Web site. This element will rely not just on the content created, but ensuring
From a hardware perspective, mobile marketers are faced with a that it delivers the same experience across a variety of handsets. I
plethora of screen sizes, resolutions and processing power for which
to take into consideration. Faraz A. Syed is CEO of DeviceAnywhere, San Mateo, CA. Reach him
For example, the owner of an Apple iPhone would view and interact at faraz@deviceanywhere.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 43
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7 w a ys to m ak e y ou r i d l e sc re en c a mp ai gn d e l i v er
By Jon Jackson one owns a mobile phone nation-
wide, so make sure that your mes-
obile Web. SMS. In-application. Mobile video. Mobile sage works whether your audience
search. Active idle. Marketers have more ways than ever be- is 17 or 70.
fore to reach consumers on the mobile device. Pithy, to-the-point copy keeps
Yet, with more options available come more questions from adver- your message large and legible on
tisers who want to avoid missteps and make their mobile advertising any device.
campaigns successful from the start: One more benefit: concise copy
“Where do I begin with mobile advertising?” makes your message that much
“What about my existing advertising plans?” easier to remember.
“How do I do this, exactly?” 3. Bring value. The mobile
Each marketing medium has its own set of rules – no two are alike. phone is a personal device, so per-
Marketers can improve their chances of success by taking the time to sonalize your offer and target, tar-
Jon Jackson, founder/CEO,
Mobile Posse
learn the best practice associated with each. get, target. Deliver one ad to women, another to men. Serve one offer
While there’s no substitute for first-hand experience, here are a few at noon on Tuesdays, and a second at 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Send one
tips and tricks to help make your next idle screen mobile advertising message to users in Los Angeles, and another to New Yorkers.
campaign really shine. Targeting keeps your offer relevant to the recipient, and helps to
1. Be creative. Creative for the small screen does not need to be optimize user response. The idle screen brings you an engaged audi-
boring. Give them something to remember with an eye-catching ad- ence. Make the most of it with an offer that is the perfect fit.
vertisement. Full-color, multi-screen creative helps to capture the user’s 4. Interact. Mobile is an interactive medium, so take that opportu-
attention and ensure a great response. nity to build a relationship with your customers. Ask a question, deliver
You have invested tremendous resources in your brand, so be sure a poll or promote a contest.
that your mobile creative showcases it in the best light. You will find that consumer response to interactive messages often
2. Make a point. Mobile phone displays are still pretty small, and exceeds that for traditional standalone ads.
half of the U.S. population has less-than-perfect vision. Virtually every- Consumers love to give their opinions, so get your message across
by giving them a reason to respond. You may even learn a few things
about your customers in the process.
5. Take action. Now that you have got their attention, do not miss
your chance to seal the deal.
The call to action is an essential element of any mobile idle screen
campaign. Encourage users to take immediate action on your advertis-
ing message with a phone call, mobile Web visit or SMS.
The easier that you make it for mobile consumers to take advantage
of your offer, the more likely they are to do so.
6. Keep it fresh. After a few weeks of great initial response, you do
not want to run the risk of compromising that great engagement.
The prominence of the mobile idle screen warrants keeping the ex-
perience fresh. Get your money’s worth by mixing it up with refreshed
creative, a new offer or revised messaging.
Small changes, released every few weeks, will keep your campaign
working for you.
7. Be complementary. Consumers still interact with television,
radio, Web and outdoor – do not be afraid to extend your traditional
advertising campaigns to the mobile device.
If you already have a mobile Web site or SMS promotion in the
works, that is great, too. Make the most of your current campaign by
adding a mobile idle screen component to your plans.
Mobile really is at its best when used as just one element of a com-
prehensive multimedia advertising strategy. I
to MMS advertising. Until now. An identifier or “cookie” can be encoded into a 2D MMS
It can either be inserted in people’s personal communication (P2P) bar code image which we can call a “mobile coupon.” This image can
or within their content messages A2P (for example, messaging from be requested from any advertisement through an SMS MO (message
their social networks). originated) and delivered by an MMS MT (message terminated). That
Inserting MMS ad content can be done rather easily without mod- mobile coupon remains in the recipient’s inbox or saved on her handset
ifying any of the original content within the existing message. In fact, wherever she goes and it can be scanned and redeemed at the point of sale.
manipulating the original content would be a mistake. With mobile bar code couponing, you can even offer a unique user
Also, inserting MMS advertising should be done simply by modi- identifier – similar to Web cookies – for each individual phone number.
fying the SMIL presentation file of the MMS during the delivery process. The same technology to insert a unique and relevant MMS adver-
SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) is a pres- tisement can be used to insert a unique and relevant 2D bar code image.
entation format similar to HTML and is used for MMS slideshow presentation. Suddenly the Web is no longer the only landscape with precise ROI
measurement capabilities.
The mobile device and multimedia objects
such as bar codes and eventually Near Field
Communication (NFC) will become the
“tracking cookie” of the offline world, telling
advertisers which real world ad influenced the
real-world purchase.
This type of metrics, once only available
through online analytics, will now be available
for print, radio, television and out-of-home
media. Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) advertising
models in the offline world would also
become possible.
MMS is the ideal way to deliver a mobile
2D bar code since it is delivered to a
consumer’s inbox in the same, familiar way
as SMS.
Importantly, MMS does not require any
software to be installed on the consumer’s mo-
bile phone. And it is immediately available
without having to access the Internet during the
redemption process. I
on Windows Mobile and other proprietary operating systems. and GetJar, and a Web-to-SMS portal from a microsite.
In the United There are also
States alone, there carrier application
are more than 75 stores, but many of
million smartphone these require partic-
users. The vast ma- ularly arduous ap-
jority are not Apple provals and testing.
iPhone users. Approval times
With the recent should be ac-
launch of Black- counted since many
Berry App World, app stores have
Windows Mobile non-transparent ap-
Skymarket, the An- proval processes –
droid Market and they can range from
countless other ap- days to months.
plication stores, an Marketing your
easy-to-use distri- application is also
bution channel now very important.
exists for these To be effective,
mobile phones. your mobile appli-
These app stores cation should be
represent the future part of a holistic
of mobile marketing strategy across mul-
and provide an ex- tiple channels – not
traordinary opportu- just an application.
nity for consumer You are launching a
brands to make an branded mobile
early mark in this service, and con-
emerging medium. sumers have to find
it to download it.
Appt advice Advertising on
Before you other mobile appli-
begin developing cations or Web sites
your killer market- can be effective, but
App stores represent the future of mobile marketing and provide an extraordinary
smartphones of the world, ask yourself who you are trying to reach. and social media is the most cost-effective way to market your
Your target demographic will determine your target handsets. mobile application. I
Also, if you are aiming at a wealthy, educated, professional demo-
graphic, then targeting BlackBerry and Windows Mobile smartphones Ken Singer is CEO of Ondeego, Berkeley, CA. Reach him at
make sense. ken.singer@ondeego.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 46
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Ho w to ens ur e t hat the b ra nd’s i Phone a pp is n’t de le te d
By Maya Mikhailov Without depth, there is only “Delete”
Nothing gets old faster than a one-trick application. Unless the point
uilding an iPhone application may be considered relatively easy of your application is one time use, such as a limited viral campaign,
when compared to the effort in acquiring and retaining the at- without depth of content a user heads straight for the delete button.
tention of the iPhone user. In fall 2008, several major retailers launched Gift Finder applica-
As the iPhone App Store grows – 65,000 applications and counting tions in time for the holiday season. Although the idea was certainly an
– iPhone users have become increasingly discerning. Larger brands inspired one, those applications lacked depth. Many contained a couple
may leverage consumer familiarity for initial downloads, but now all of dozen gifts grouped in very pre-defined categories. After a couple of
brands are finding that consumers are as fleeting as they were eager to shakes, the consumers moved on.
download the application to begin with. Simple features such as “Product Search” or “Store Finder” would
No doubt industry insiders are familiar with the Pinch Media report have increased the usefulness and shelf-life of these applications.
showing a steep drop in user application engagement after only 10 days.
So what is a brand marketer to do? They must decide if they are Stale content is tossed
building a one-off application or if they wish to establish a true The Gift Finder applications were
brand presence. not updated to reflect post-holiday pro-
The former is fine for some brands, but consumers demand more of motions or changes in merchandise. So
others. This is doubly true for retailers looking to establish a lasting di- what happens to the thousands of users
alogue with their shoppers, which will ultimately lead to increased loy- who downloaded those applications?
alty and in-store conversion. They were left with the equivalent of a
The guidelines below are aimed at brands that wish to remain on a Christmas tree in February.
consumer’s iPhone longer than a carton of milk remains drinkable in If a brand has decided to com-
the fridge. mit the time and resources to
iPhone application development,
planning content and application
maintenance is vital. What would
happen if a brand never updated its Web site? It would lose favor with
Maya Mikhailov, VP, Slifter
their consumers.
The same rule applies on the iPhone. Sections such as “Events”
(from in-store to sporting event sponsorships), “Weekly Offers” or
“What’s New” will offer consumers a reason to keep accessing your
application and keeping your brand on their iPhone.
t is not sexy, it is not the latest technology, it is far from the bleeding
edge (or even the edge), nor does it conjure up thoughts of unbri-
dled marketing success at its mere mention, but IVR – interactive
voice response – is still the reigning king of mobile marketing.
It is, to say the least, the longest running mobile marketing tech-
nology and can boast full market penetration. What other technology
can make that claim and not invoke eye rolls? It was mobile marketing
before mobile phones were around.
IVR’s bad rap has come from the customer service phone trees that
seem to be everywhere. Weaving your way through the labyrinth of
questions and choices, you finally end up talking to a live person, but
it has taken so long to get to them, it is after-hours and you get their
voice mail.
IVR, not Ivy League
In my five-plus years of implementing mobile marketing campaigns
for major brands and agencies, I have seen glorious successes and
tragic failures.
What needs to be realized is that the new technology and the old can
complement each other in ways that are still fun, informative, useful
and engaging.
What also needs to be remembered is that IVR has the ability to ex-
tend the reach of a campaign. It can offer things no other technology
can offer and it can act as a seamless bridge to other technologies.
IVR does have its new technol-
ogy pieces such as voice recogni-
tion. We are increasingly seeing
iPhone, Android and even Microsoft
applications using IVR and
voice recognition.
An IVR with voice recognition
makes it easier to get content with-
out having to use the short code and
keyword to initiate the program.
Once users get their first text
IVR is familiar. You do not have to change a person’s behavior to use it.
Not to make light of the importance of these phone tree forests. message reply through IVR, it be-
Everyone knows how to dial a number.
Charles Edwards is a mobile
They have their place, but at the same time, they have done nothing to comes easier for them to interact
marketing consultant
lend a “techno-sheikh” moniker to IVR’s reputation in marketing. with a campaign – they just need to reply to the message.
Don’t just think outside the box – there are too many important IVR is familiar. You do not have to change a person’s behavior to
things in that box that should not be ignored, things that work and have use it. Everyone knows how to dial a number. And by using the added
worked in the past. Expand the box. Think integration. attraction of a celebrity’s voice to convey the message, it becomes very
There are those brands and agencies that will want the wow factor, personal and exciting.
the splashy headlines that say they have done something no one else has. Your brand’s message now reaches people on a level that speaks
With new technology you can expect that people will read about directly to them. It has the ability to create such excitement that the
the campaign, but that opt-ins and ROI will be low. For the most part consumer will tell others about the program and even send it to some-
brands are going to be about users, opt-ins, ROI and the continued one- one via IVR.
on-one dialogue that they can have with their customers. Beyond that it acts to bridge the technology gap to reach those oth-
The use of a keyword and a common short code can produce some erwise not inclined to participate in a text campaign. I
good numbers when integrated correctly with other advertising and
when targeting the more savvy groups of users. But a greater adoption Charles Edwards is a mobile marketing consultant in San Francisco.
rate can be achieved by using IVR in conjunction with the short code. Reach him at cpe@pacbell.net
O
By Jeff Brown and Ron Vetter
particular business.
These customers automatically get sent one subscription coupon described earlier is that businesses cannot control the number of
per week based on one of the following three tiers: high value, medium coupons that are sent offering free items or prizes.
value or low value. Customers prefer this kind of system because their coupons vary
The highest value coupons are sent first to a specific number of reg- every week and they periodically receive better offers – for example,
istered users. After the high-value coupons have been sent, the high- and medium-value coupons.
medium- and low-value coupons are sent out to the remaining regis-
tered users based on percentages.
Example: Pat’s Pizza has 410 total subscribers to its keyword. The
following table shows how many of each types of coupons would be
sent for Pat’s. Each business can choose its coupon offers (column 2),
the number of high-value coupons and the percentages for medium-
and low-value coupons (column 3).
This example is to illustrate how the coupon system works:
Interactive – on demand with waiting period In our experience, we have found that consumers are more likely to
The interactive coupon is a way for customers to get an on-demand stay registered to receive weekly mobile coupons even if they do not
coupon from a business. plan to use every coupon because they are waiting to receive high-value
Once registered, customers simply text a company’s keyword to a mobile coupons.
short code and they receive a coupon in a reply. For example, a local hair salon might send weekly coupons even
A waiting period can be placed on interactive coupons. This is the though most people get their hair cut only once a month. By sending a
time period the customer must wait between requesting additional in- weekly text message, the hair salon can increase its branding opportu-
teractive or on-demand coupons. This period can be any length of time nities, thus ensuring eventual growth at a steady clip. I
desired, although most businesses will most likely use three, seven or
30 days as the waiting period. Jeff Brown and Ron Vetter are founders of Mobile Education LLC,
Many businesses are willing to give away a limited number of items Wilmington, NC. Reach Mr. Brown at jeffbrown@mymobed.com
or prizes each week. The flexibility in the mobile coupons system and Mr. Vetter at ronvetter@mymobed.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 49
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Web a naly t ics and mob ile ana lyt ic s a re not sim ilar
By Jose Villa However, these services do not cut it when it comes to mobile an-
alytics. Data resulting from Web analytics tracking methods is incom-
s you prepare to take your marketing campaign into the mobile plete or inaccurate on mobile
space you should know that the analytics you are familiar with devices because mobile search op-
to measure the effectiveness, reach and overall success and per- timizers do not pick up on key-
formance of your Web site cannot simply be reapplied to measure the words, search engines and
success of your mobile marketing strategy. conversions. Why?
Mobile analytics is a whole new ball game. Here are some of the Because JavaScript, HTTP
differences in the rules. cookies, HTTP referrer and IP ad-
dress information are either not
Web is to mobile as apples are to oranges supported by mobile browsers or
If Web analytics measure visits, impressions, page views, click- are misleading due to the location
through rate, conversion, referrals, bounce rates, browser type, time on of the wireless carrier’s
site, number of unique and first-time visitors and tracks users’ footsteps Internet gateway.
as they navigate in, through and out of your site, what more information
Jose Villa, CEO, Sensis
Web analytics methods do not work on mobile analytics order to glean the right insights that can lead to actionable results and
Traditional Web analytics use JavaScript page tagging, cookies or therefore more effective mobile marketing. I
log files to track users. Services such as Google Analytics aggregate
this data and provide snapshots that can help you see how well your Jose Villa is CEO of Sensis, Los Angeles. Reach him at
Web site content, design and marketing strategy resonates with users. jrvilla@sensisagency.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 50
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Local TV stations see mobile in the picture for advertisers
By Leon Spencer paign is the reach that TV has to go out and grab the consumer to tell
them that they can use their mobile device when ordering a pizza.
he world’s first television advertisement was broadcast on Another good example of how TV stations are using mobile is while
July 1, 1941. The watchmaker Bulova paid $4 for a placement consumers are checking out the weather forecast they see their local
on New York station WNBT before a baseball game between bank’s clickable logo. They can click on the logo, be taken to their
the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. bank’s mobile Web site and conduct a banking transaction.
The 10-second spot displayed a picture of a clock superimposed on Again, the advertiser, in this case a bank, has the power of TV be-
a map of the United States, accompanied by the voiceover “America hind its mobile marketing efforts.
runs on Bulova time.”
S i n c e TV will make news
then, TV sta- Although the marketplace has not yet arrived at mass mobile video
tions have usage, TV stations can offer an incredible amount of video to mobile users.
grown signif- As mobile TV and the acceptance of mobile video continue to grow,
icant revenue TV stations will be right there with a multitude of video files available
through ad for their site visitors.
sales and con- Advertisers, too, can take ad-
tinue to do so. vantage of the video with pre-roll
The question commercial spots that air in front of
now is, how video content.
to continue SMS has been working well for
the growth TV station advertisers as well as
while assist- banner campaigns. The reason,
ing our adver- once again, is the strength of
tisers in TV’s reach.
reaching con- Texting programs wherein TV
sumers. viewers are encouraged to text a
One most specific word to a specific common director, WVLT-TV/VolunteerTV.com
Leon Spencer, interactive sales
sports scores, will assist them in this process. TV stations can definitely help with
to grow, TV stations will be right there with a multitude of
dates and news headlines but in a more personal manner – from their If an advertiser does not have a mobile element in its advertising
mobile devices. mix, then the competition is probably going to take some of its
Branding with banner ads on a TV station’s mobile site is a popular market share.
way to keep a brand in the forefront of the consumers’ minds. It is a long way from that first TV commercial, but TV stations are
A good example is that while consumers are searching their favorite on the cutting edge of new media. TV stations are helping to design the
sports team’s scores they are confronted with a pizza chain logo. This future of interactive advertising and mobile fits right into that picture. I
logo is clickable to all of the chain’s local restaurant locations as well
as their telephone numbers. The consumer can then click-to-call the lo- Leon Spencer is interactive sales director at WVLT-
cation where they would like to order a pizza. TV/Volunteertv.com, Knoxville, TN. Reach him at
The advantage to the pizza chain of using TV for this type of cam- leon.spencer@wvlt-tv.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 51
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Va lu e b es t p ra ct ice i n m o bi le m a rk et in g
By Chris Brassington opt in to a brand’s mobile messaging program, relevancy is
absolutely critical.
ersonalized mobile interaction including text and picture mes- If they choose to receive messages about weather, be sure to send
sages has become one of the most popular ways on the planet for them local forecasts. If sports scores are what you are offering, make
people to communicate. Its growth is staggering. sure the consumer’s favorite teams are included in the message.
According to a report from Tomi Ahonen Consulting, the number This does not mean a marketer cannot add on sponsor messages
of global mobile messaging users has climbed to more than 3 billion. and other promotions, but relevant and timely content should always
Seventy-six percent of all mobile phone subscribers actively send and take the lead.
receive SMS text messages. The same thing goes for subscriber fatigue.
Three billion messaging consumers translates to twice the number Send too many messages, and your opt-in friend will soon be your
of television sets in homes, two-and-a-half times the number of people opt-out enemy. Breaking news 15 times a day can be overwhelming, so
using email and three times the number of computers on the Internet. consider one or two messages a day instead.
This phenomenal growth represents an amazing opportunity for Leverage tie-ins to other media channels. To further add value
marketers. But what are some of the most important practices to keep for the consumer and promote your other marketing channels, prompt
in mind when developing mobile messaging campaigns? the user to tune in to your television
Gaining access to a consumer’s mobile device is an intimate in- show or go online for more
vitation. Individuals store their contacts, check their email and visit information.
favorite mobile sites directly from their phones. 2ergo recently launched a pro-
Having a consumer opt in to receive updates or learn more about a gram with National Geographic
brand via mobile messaging is only the beginning of the marketer/con- Channel for its Dog Whisperer tel-
sumer relationship. Treat it like gold and understand that each opt in is evision series that sent mobile mes-
a privilege and not sages with a dog-training tip and
a right. reminder to watch the show two
Get to know the hours before each week’s episode.
Mobile Marketing The program received kudos from
Association’s Mo- its subscribers, and National Geo-
bile Advertising graphic continues to renew this
Chris Brassington, group
them to the letter or Learn from your subscriber base – immediately. O2, a leading
risk being banned. British wireless carrier with 18.4 million customers, implemented a
Mobile interac- wide-reaching mobile messaging strategy with 2ergo that enabled the
tion is the gateway company to send regular SMS, MMS and email updates on special of-
to your brand. Let fers, new products and other relevant campaigns to its subscriber base.
us face it: There is Thanks to the immediate responses typical with mobile and other
very little that a detailed tracking metrics, O2 now understands that certain demograph-
brand can communi- ics respond best to SMS and MMS between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., after fin-
cate in 160 charac- ishing their work day.
ters, so marketers By leveraging this deep insight into customer behavior, O2 has seen
should use mobile response rates between 30 percent and 65 percent. Executives with the
messaging as a gate- company believe that mobile messaging has led to lowered costs and
way that facilitates more informed customers, which ultimately is reducing churn.
access to the Mobile marketing offers great value. The current economic cli-
brand and to mate is driving smarter business, fueling the growth in mobile market-
more information. ing and mobile customer relationship marketing.
Include brief de- Business is responding to market conditions by spending less on
tail on the reason for TV, outdoor and print in favor of the mobile as it is a less expensive,
Send too many messages, and your opt-in friend
the message – great offer, sports scores or the latest weather – and then highly targeted and more measurable marketing channel.
will soon be your opt-out enemy
leave room for a direct link to your mobile site. Smart marketers will keep these best practices in mind with each
This is the best way to further engage on-the-go consumers with and every program they choose to deploy in this mobile world. I
your brand while providing instant analytics on response rates to plan
future campaigns. Chris Brassington is group managing director of 2ergo, Manchester,
Relevancy is key and fatigue is ever-present. When consumers England. Reach him at chris.brassington@2ergo.com
services at Yahoo, Sunnyvale, CA. “Porsche was trying to touch buyers Porsche used Yahoo behavioral targeting tools to serve ads to smart-
on the go.” phone users whose Web-surfing behaviors implied they were looking
When consumers clicked through, they arrived at campaign’s WAP for coupes, SUVs or luxury cars.
site at http://m.porscheusa.com . There they could view Porsche models The carmaker plans to relaunch the mobile campaign in the spring
and prices and click-to-call a dealer. to promote the March debut of the new Cayman and Boxster models.
Porsche found that consumers clicked most over the weekend, Porsche is not the only big brand that has seen good results running
while out shopping or test-driving vehicles. ads on Yahoo’s mobile properties.
The carmaker thought mobile would be a good fit because its buyers Visa wanted a multi-screen approach to promote its tie-in with the
can be classified as tech-savvy. Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The campaign was inspired by company research that shows that- Visa ran banner ads on Yahoo’s Mobile Olympic site. Ultimately,
majority of consumers believe that the car’s price tag and ownership the goal of the campaign was to drive traffic to Visa’s mobile site at
costs were higher than they really were. http://visa.mobi/goworld and engage users with a rich mobile experi-
The mobile initiative delivered 22 of the campaign’s overall digital ence through background stories on featured athletes.
traffic and the click-through rate was six times better than Porsche’s “What I liked about this campaign is that Porsche came in with a
online display advertising. clear objective and was really pushing affordability,” Mr. Katz said.
Cramer-Krasselt is Porsche’s ad agency. “We thought they had simple, yet relevant mobile experiences.
“We developed an engagement strategy from the perspective of the “Porsche really took advantage of mobile in good ways and they
active consumer, facilitating one-on-one dialogue through mobile,” said made use of our Yahoo behavioral targeting tools,” he said. I
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 53
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Bu i ld i ng a su c c e ss fu l m ob il e bu si ne ss mo de l
By Jay Neuman PCs, version 3 browsers and a dial-up connection.
But the iPhone is pointing the way to a more sophisticated browsing
e regularly hear from our clients and their media agencies experience and stronger branding through applications.
that the key missing link for mobile's growth is the absence There is a long long way to go, but giving consumers the ability to
of uniform metrics and barometers for success. have fun and engage with your brand directly through their phone is a
This lack of core business dynamics and modeling needs to be ad- pre-requisite for mobile’s growth as a key channel in the
dressed quickly across the industry in order for mobile’s share of adver- marketing mix.
tising revenues to grow and meet its future potential. The key metric of success is impressions.
Even without access to the subscriber data that carriers possess –
and rightly protect – the mobile channel offers a wealth of data which Customer relations
can act as a bedrock for developing ROI models, especially in facilitat- One word sums up this dimension to the mobile business
ing direct response campaigns. model – loyalty.
The good news is that these mobile business models are within easy Just as people now expect to interact with businesses directly
reach for marketers. through wired Internet usage, they are also beginning to expect the
The trick is in identifying metrics that best measure success in terms same service through their mobile phones.
of the client’s larger marketing goals. This can be done by identifying The key metrics of success are
which of the following dimensions are key to meeting the clients’ larger service usage and customer retention.
marketing goals.
Cost saving
Business development Customers can use automated
Mobile marketing is, at its services through their phone that
heart, a direct response medium. It would otherwise require a more
is addressable and contains a built- costly method of delivery.
in response capability. People In particular, the ability for mo-
could opt-in to mobile promotions bile to develop into a retailer’s
that lead to future follow-up sales. dream via text alerts and mobile
A mobile outreach could direct coupons will further augment the marketing & CRM, Telescope Inc.
Jay Neuman, director of database
people to a WAP page or Web site decline in paper and postage direct
where they fill in a survey. marketing and provide a killer app which champions mobile’s qualities
The business development di- above any other device.
mension is basically throwing out The key metric of success is cost reduction.
a mobile fishing net to catch per-
mission-based opt-ins for future Mobile commerce
sales promotions. This dimension is perhaps the most straightforward.
The key metrics of success are People are buying something through their mobile phone or mobile
responses and opt-ins. device. They could be downloading ringtones, wallpapers or music.
They could be performing stock trades on their smartphone.
The mobile channel offers a wealth
Lead generation
of data which can act as a bedrock
Whatever it is, the business objective is to sell more of it. However,
for developing ROI models,
Lead generation is one of the mobile commerce is still in its infancy. It is an important, but not the
especially in facilitating direct
the Internet. We all engage with it every time we click on a sponsored The key metrics of success are impressions and sales conversions.
search engine link. However, applying it to the mobile space is proving Especially in the current economy, advertisers are looking to per-
a challenge. A mobile alerts club could include an opt-in or click- formance-based media and this is an opportunity for mobile to take a
through to a sponsor or advertiser. step out of the shadows and show that it can live alongside other more
With its ability to personalize and localize, lead generation through established media.
mobile will emerge as a crucial way of engaging marketers. These six dimensions of mobile business models can be used to cre-
The key metrics of success are number of leads and ate a roadmap for your mobile campaigns and overall strategy. They
revenue generated. will help focus your mobile outreaches on those things most aligned
with your business objectives and provide a set of metrics to continually
Brand development improve as you achieve your goals. I
Brand development could be downright fun when it really goes mo-
bile. Of course, there are mobile media buys, but currently it is a bit Jay Neuman is director of database marketing and CRM at Telescope
like those far-off days when the Internet experience was based on 386 Inc., Los Angeles. Reach him at jay.neuman@telescope.tv
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 54
O
He a r t ha t? Voi c e is k il le r a pp on mo bil e
By Stéphane Attal carriers and advertisers to build on
voice as the key application. It rep-
ur mobile phones are audio devices first and foremost, but you resents the most ubiquitous, rich
will be hard-pressed to believe that these days. Advertising by and accessible communication
wireless carriers and handset manufacturers would have you channel and provides an unrivalled
believe that everyone is busy searching and surfing the Internet on our opportunity for companies to com-
mobile phones as we receive relevant advertisements on them. municate with users.
In fact, there is no need to talk anymore now that Twitter, Facebook,
email and text messaging have replaced the art of conversation. Voicing appreciation
The reality is a bit different. A voice-activated user interface
Not everyone owns fancy phones such as the iPhone, BlackBerry offers commonality across most
Storm, Palm Pre or Google Android G1, all of which only represent 15 handsets, delivering a consistent Stéphane Attal, CEO, AskKinjo
percent of the total mobile phone installed base. user experience, which results in the opportunity to deliver value-added
Furthermore, recent surveys show the complexity of many handsets services that can be easily adopted.
leaves many users frustrated and angry. This then begs the question as In addition, two social factors are also stimulating the need for easy-
to-use voice-activated services.
The first is the wider adoption
of legislation mandating the use of
hands-free wireless technology
while driving. The second is the
increasing use of hosted
personal contacts.
Since carriers have failed to
build new voice services to en-
hance average revenue per user,
third parties have jumped in.
One company offers a voice-
activated audio service using the
mobile phone to deliver free loca-
tion-based content, supported by
paid contextual ads. These audio
advertisements cannot be skipped
and can reach 100 percent of the
mobile subscribers market.
In a recent study, participants
initially predicted voice search
would be the most difficult to use.
But in final usability tests, it per-
formed better than expected, with
participants enjoying voice search
Only 20 percent of mobile phone users like to use their handsets as an all-in-one multimedia device,
leaving the 80 percent “minority” to concentrate on what they think really matters – voice.
to who is left surfing the Web? much more than searching via their handsets keypad.
From the research that has been done, only 20 percent of mobile This finding may well have a bearing on the future success or fail-
phone users like to use their handsets as an all-in-one multimedia de- ure of voice-in, display-out search applications released by some of the
vice, leaving the 80 percent “minority” to concentrate on what they best-known Internet search companies.
think really matters – voice. In the end, the majority of North American mobile users are still
When questioned about possible additional services, this huge “mi- reliant on traditional voice features, despite their perceived willingness
nority” states time and time again that they prefer voice as their main to adopt newer, advanced applications.
communication channel. Carriers, content providers and advertisers just need to recognize
With the current economic downturn, this is having a disruptive ef- that voice is still the killer application with mobile users. I
fect as data services usage falls and consumers limit their monthly
spending to traditional voice and text services. Stéphane Attal is CEO of AskKinjo, Toronto, Ontario. Reach him at
This reliance on traditional voice presents a golden opportunity for stephane.attal@askkinjo.com
This article describes es- 3. Non-premium inventory is sold automated over ad networks (low
sential challenges for mobile eCPMs of $1) and is mostly based on cost per click.
publishers and mobile devel- Premium inventory represents only a small amount of the overall in-
opers to monetize their ventory – best ad spaces on the site. Therefore, premium publishers
whole inventory. such as well-known, branded Web sites connect to a premium ad net-
work to monetize their secondary inventory.
Steep increase of unsold The inventory that is not filled by one of these channels is mone-
inventory tized by non-premium ad networks.
To monetize their whole
mobile inventory, most mo- Advent of ad network chains
bile publishers and develop- Different ad networks generally offer publishers a trade-off between
ers sell their unsold remnant a high eCPM and a good fill rate. Therefore, medium and large mobile
This trend towards lower eCPMs is even inventory via mobile ad net- publishers are usually connected to several mobile ad networks.
works. Mobile ad networks A combination of premium ad networks monetizing their best ad
worse when the supply of mobile inventory
are intermediaries which ag- spaces, specific regional-focused and horizontal ad networks connected
grows faster than the demand, as is the
side) and publishers (sell side) on a shared revenue basis (about 40 per- To manage this set of mobile ad networks, publishers configure
cent for buy side). their ad-server to send ad requests to different ad networks by guessing
Especially in these economic times with decreasing marketing their future eCPMs and fill rates.
budgets, mobile ad networks tend to optimize on behalf of their adver- So normally the first ad request goes out to a high eCPM network.
tisers goals (buy side), which results in decreasing eCPMs. When the ad network defaults, the next highest-paying network is asked
This trend towards lower eCPMs is even worse when the supply of for an advertisement and so forth until an ad is served.
mobile inventory grows faster than the demand, as is the case at This static sequence of ad request is called a daisy chain of ad net-
the moment. works. How good a daisy-chain actually performs can only be judged
The percentage of served ads versus requested ads is the fill rate of after the ad networks provide performance data – sometimes with a
an ad network. The fill rates are dependent on the targeting criteria and time delay of several days.
number of advertisers of an ad network. As a matter of fact, this static approach increases server latencies
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 56
Our next
and is not capable of reacting to the dynamic pricing of the market and
may finally cause significant revenue losses.
Classic
The management of ad networks gets even more complex for pub-
lishers with international traffic which needs to be connected to several
country-focused ad networks to monetize the whole inventory.
Guide...
These publishers need to create static daisy chains for different
countries and keep them updated, especially as ad networks perform
variably in different regions or on a country-by-country level.
Because of budgets restraints a lot of publishers cannot afford ad
ops specialists. As a result, they lose a significant amount of their po-
tential ad revenues.
Please inquire at
mobile publishers:
Higher advertising yields by monetizing every single impression
on the best price
Saving money and resources by dynamically reordering the chain
ads@mobilemarketer.com
based on performance data, inventory and user characteristics about sponsorship
opportunities.
Lower server latencies by allocating the ad impressions to the
right network in real-time
M
broad collaboration
By Guy Yaniv Preferring unity to division, key parties are pulling together to en-
sure wide-ranging mobile advertising success.
obile advertising presents intriguing opportunities for wire- Two examples come from Britain, a market well positioned to be-
less carriers and other players in the value chain. However, come a huge mobile advertising success story.
mobile advertising success requires cooperation from a wide British carriers decided to put head-to-head competition aside for
range of parties, including: now and are cooperating to increase the inventory, reach and appeal of
• Advertisers: Major brands and smaller enterprises realize the high mobile advertising.
potential return on investment of reaching users on the mobile
• Ad agencies and media buyers: Aware of demand from adver- GSMA mobile media metrics initiative
tisers, ad agencies and media buyers are investigating the mobile plat- On the forefront of creating standards for mobile advertising,
form for delivery of campaigns GSMA recently launched a mobile media metrics program.
• Aggregators and ad networks: Aggregators and ad networks en- The association for carriers assumes that measurements will drive
able mass audience, less targeted mobile advertising such as push SMS, the overall growth of mobile as an effective advertising platform by
and Web banners, playing an important role in testing the water in the enabling media and advertising
industry’s initial phases agencies, brands and publishers to
• Content providers: Increasing on-the-go content consumption is evaluate and deliver better mobile
a major driver for mobile advertising, both for display and content- advertising campaigns.
based campaigns All five top British carriers are
• Carriers: Carriers can reach end-users through multiple channels: engaged in this initiative and will
voice, SMS, MMS, Web banners and interstitials. Additional unique submit mobile browsing data for
assets such as presence, impulse response capabilities, vast amounts of auditing and development of stan-
end-user information that can be used for targeting, metrics and the dard measurements, which they in-
trusted billing relationship position carriers to deliver the right ad to tend to comply with in the future.
the right person at the right time Groups such as the Interactive
• Technology Advertising Bureau and the Mobile and mobile advertising, Comverse
Guy Yaniv, VP and GM of messaging
phone connection, it also results traffic, the rates are much cheaper
in high fixed-line telecommuni- compared to the United States.
cation costs, bad service and Furthermore, wireless carriers are making their money mostly up-
slow connection speeds. This af- front – one of the positive spinoffs of the cash-based business model.
fects business opportunities neg- Given the above scenario, it is not surprising to note that Africa is
atively. not only ready for mobile, but ideally positioned to benefit from the
Moreover, the growth in the mobile technology explosion.
number of computer Internet Mobile is simply the best available one-on-one communication tool
users is slow and ecommerce has not taken off as it did in other conti- to reach African audiences on the widest possible scale.
nents, especially in North America and Europe. This is true for companies who wish to enter the market to generate
Secondly, a large number of Africans are “unbankable” in terms of profits as well as the African population, which can improve its lifestyle
internationally accepted banking standards. This is coupled with wide by leapfrogging many developed countries with the use of mobile ap-
open spaces inhabited by rural communities who do not even have ac- plications for work and personal use.
cess to a bank because there are no branches or ATMs. The stage is set. It now remains up to the entrepreneurial spirit to
Consequently, business in Africa is done largely on a cash basis. create and offer the right services and applications. Forward-thinking
On the other hand, the mobile phone penetration among the African companies would be well advised to keep in mind Apple CEO Steve
populace is extremely high – in some countries more than 100 percent Jobs’ advice that “you cannot always wait for the customer to tell you
of the actual population. This also translates into real numbers. what he wants.”
For example, in South Africa more than 40 million people own a Interestingly, it is often smaller, agile service providers instead of
mobile phone. In Nigeria it is more than 60 million and even in Zim- the slow-moving, established advertising agencies, who can help com-
babwe, a country suffering from devastating socio-political and eco- panies to develop a sustainable, long-term mobile strategy that fits in
nomic conditions, every citizen owns at least one mobile phone. seamlessly with their existing marketing efforts. I
Countries with “below par” mobile phone penetration such as
Kenya – 40 percent – are catching up fast and report exponential Alexander Gregori is owner of Dawn Anna Investments (Pty) Ltd.’s my-
growth in mobile phone ownership. MobWorld, Rich Mobile, Mobile Marketing Winner$ and Thinking Mo-
What’s more, more than 90 percent of these mobile phones are bile in Gaborone, Botswana. Reach him at alex@mymobworld.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 59
D
A P M ob i le : t he ne w wi r e le s s s e r vi c e
By Jeffrey Litvack and Daniel Hodges transformed mobile from a device
to a consumer information hub.
o you see news consumption migrating to mobile like it is from AP today receives regular re-
print to online? This question, albeit substituting for the new ports from our mobile users on
technology of the day, has been asked for the last hundred breaking news in their localities via
years. History provides a clear answer. When radio became a mass our “Send to AP” feature on all of
medium in the 1930s, television in the 1950s, cable TV in the 1980s and our applications and on our mobile
the Internet in the 1990s, they all remained viable and increased the Web site. These firsthand accounts
overall consumption of media. have generated a number of stories
Each medium has taken initial share from the previous medium and that are then fed across the nation
each medium has responded to that shift with innovation. and worldwide via AP’s wire service.
Mobile is another consumer touch point. It fills that gap in the day Advertisers have already begun Jeffrey Litvack, GM of mobile and
where news consumption was not before viable – on the elevator, wait- to understand and monitor con-
emerging products, AP Mobile
ing for a meeting to start, at the end of the day on the subway. sumer behavior on mobile. As in
Generation Y, X and boomers have all embraced mobile and smart any new market, the innovators in-
phones. If you go on iTunes today [August 2009], there are more than novate and this is no different.
1,300 iPhone applications available in the news section of the Apple Sprint was the first U.S. wire-
App Store. less carrier to innovate with adver-
With this new technology, the mobile device is becoming the first tisers and, when the book on
source for news and information – ahead of TV, radio and online. mobile advertising is written,
Sprint will be in Chapter One.
Mobile for the wired Procter & Gamble Co., under the
The Associated Press’ ability to send push notifications of breaking leadership of A.G. Lafley, now
news to the iPhone – and soon other devices – is also changing people’s chairman, encouraged the pack-
consumption habits. aged-goods marketer to innovate, Daniel Hodges, head of global sales,
On the day of singer with mobile as an important part of
mobile and emerging products, AP
the elevator, waiting for a meeting to start, tos, the rise of the applica- Our success is measured in two ways – comprehensiveness and per-
consumption was not before viable – on
at the end of the day on the subway. tions, SMS and video have sonalization. Today, we have more than 1,000 newspapers and broad-
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 60
casters participating, creating the only hyper-local news application
in market.
Our national footprint to local news provides consumers with the
news they need and want, and advertisers with a highly targeted audience.
Equally important are the personalization features we continue to Are you onboard?
add. Mobile is a personal device, and our mission is to deliver tools “to
choose your news.” We have added customized front pages to all of
our applications and are building more customization and personaliza-
tion into the applications. Advertisers with Mobile
On a yearly basis, we are making a multimillion investment in mo-
bile and into becoming the news button for next-generation devices.
Marketer influence the
By the end of the year, we will have applications in market for every
major operating system and handset including Apple, Android, Black-
top purchase-empowered
Berry, Windows Mobile and Java-based phones such as LG, Nokia decision-makers at
Fortune 500 brands,
and Samsung.
To be successful, publishers need to get mobile right, both in terms
of audience and revenue. Many more of our AP member news publish-
ers are interested in having their own mobile news applications. agencies and marketing
AP is an early adopter of mobile, and we aim to create content for
each platform form factor. As one of the world’s largest content cre-
execs on the lookout for
ators, our content includes sports, entertainment, business, news, health,
travel and lifestyle. We launched a Spanish-language Latino mobile
market-leading products
portal in spring 2009. and services. Sponsoring
Mobile Marketer’s
newsletter and Web site
means smooth sailing for
your branding efforts.
ence you want in your win high-end consumer electronics prizes via SMS, using the keyword
target demographic, or “DUMMIES” to reinforce the brand.
they may not. All who entered received a rebate for $5 off any Wiley “For Dum-
mies” title. Consumers even had the opportunity to opt-in for future of-
MyPhone? fers and information. This was the point-of-entry for the campaign and
IPhone applications the best way to set a baseline.
are no doubt cool and • Mobile banner ads: Through optimization via our platform, we
memorable, but they delivered more than 1.3 million impressions with a call to action and
are only a single ele- branding familiar to consumers.
ment of mobile marketing. More importantly, click-through rates were four times as high as
Let us think of a those produced by the companion online campaign.
pyramid. The iPhone is • Mobile WAP site: The “richest” brand execution delivered the
at the apex – if we were “For Dummies” logo, look and feel and gave those interested an easy
thinking about Dick way to opt-in to receive offers and rebates.
Clark’s “$10,000 Pyra- The site even featured a store locator to find the closest store, as
mid,” the iPhone is the well as a list of the most popular “For Dummies” titles.
$300 answer. How did the campaign do?
But as mobile mar- It moved product as well as the loyalty scale. There was a 34 per-
As marketers, we are often most impressed
keters, we need to guide cent conversion rate for consumers joining the TXT4Dummies Club.
by the latest and greatest and, in this case, the
our clients through a The campaign received the prestigious Cross-Media Integration award
iPhone application is just that. Cool, buzz-
strategic process that covers the entire spectrum of mobile marketing from the Mobile Marketing Association.
worthy. But is it selling more widgets?
to make certain that their marketing reach hits all of their prospects, In this case, Wiley never made it to the top of the pyramid – and did
not just the ones with the coolest phones. not need to. The base provided more than enough reach to meet or ex-
SMS is at the base of the mobile marketing pyramid. It sits at the ceed each of Wiley’s goals while only getting part way up the mobile
bottom foundational layer – it gives brands and agencies the greatest marketing pyramid. I
reach and taps into the behavior and interests of hundreds of millions.
To extend the TV analogy, it would be a $100 answer. But without Jeff Hasen is chief marketing officer of HipCricket, Kirkland, WA.
the $100 answer, you could not move to a $200 or $300 question. Reach him at jhasen@hipcricket.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 66
Worl d w id e w here? Ge tting lo cati on- base d
T
mob ile marketi ng rig ht
By Chris Glodé Better targeting = bigger demand
Let us say you run a local pizza joint with three locations in a large
he new generation of mobile Web browsers provides the missing metro area.
ingredient for marketers: location. Ever heard this story? A cus- Current advertising through mobile and online channels has not
tomer walks past a Starbucks, receives a timely SMS alert with shown a good return for you. After all, without quality geo-targeting,
a coupon, and a full-on latté-sipping-fest ensues. This, we have been more than 90 percent of your ad impressions are wasted on customers
told, is the Promised Land of location-based mobile marketing. who are outside of your delivery area or live too far to drive to
Setting aside whether customers would embrace this type of expe- your shop.
rience, mobile technology limitations and platform fragmentation have With the innovation of geo-aware browsers, you will be able to tar-
currently constrained reach (read: how many customers are accessible). get your mobile and online advertisements based on ZIP code, neigh-
Historically, the promise of location-based mobile marketing has borhood or even street intersection.
far surpassed its true capabilities. As a result, such campaigns remain You can advertise with confidence that 100 percent of customers
fodder for futuristic movies –“Minority Report” – rather than practical who view your ad are within range
marketing solutions. to actually purchase a pizza at your
However, technology is catching up. The new wave of smartphone shop. That is the power of location-
browsers such as Safari on the iPhone 3.0 and Android on the G1 allows based mobile advertising.
marketers to obtain device-location data during a customer’s Web Further, geolocation signifi-
browsing session, providing a whole new set of tools to cantly enhances the ability of mar-
engage consumers. keters to extract more value from
Better yet, these geo-browsers are another example of the conver- performance-based campaigns,
gence of mobile and traditional Web browsing. particularly for brands with a
Firefox 3.5 includes geolocation support as well, further extending strong bricks-and-mortar presence.
the reach of this technology to an audience that will finally equate to the In other words, when physical
critical mass that advertisers crave. store locations are important for a
Now, Web content can now be served to Web-surfers with an aware- brand, the value of knowing a
Chris Glodé, senior director of
Imagine checking your favorite news site, blog or discussion board creases, as the customer can be directed to the store, and conversion is
and having hyper-local stories appear instantly – for example, hours easy to measure via coupon redemption.
ago, the police arrested a prowler one block from your home – or re- For example, a nationwide quick-serve restaurant could blend a tra-
ceiving local special offers from businesses that you walk by daily. ditional mobile brand awareness campaign with a performance-based
call-to-action campaign. Users located more than a few
blocks from the nearest restaurant could be served a
brand/product awareness ad.
Meanwhile, users within a small radius of a nearby
restaurant could be presented with a time-sensitive
coupon which is only valid locally, along with a map
showing the store location and contact details.
Campaign performance tracking is another disci-
pline which will benefit from geo-targeting.
Marketers can now track campaign engagement
and performance – for example, click-through-rate or
cost per acquisition – at a hyper-local level.
Using map visualization tools, a campaign man-
ager can analyze the success of a marketing campaign.
Think of a heat-map-style report which reveals that
a jet-ski campaign is over-performing in neighbor-
hoods within 3 miles of a body of water. The marketer
then makes the adjustment to increase spend in this
area or specify additional new targets with a similar
geographic profile.
With the wider support for browser geolocation offered with iPhone 3.0 and
Firefox 3.5, demand for location-based advertising is already heating up.
Read it
Indeed, it is their task to develop the tools and campaigns to lever-
age the underlying browser technology and allow marketers to under-
stand, embrace, create, manage and report on geo-targeted
and reap.
advertising campaigns.
What’s next?
With the wider support for browser geolocation offered with iPhone
3.0 and Firefox 3.5, demand for location-based advertising is already
heating up.
Several highly successful nationwide trials nationwide were re-
cently completed, and we will see many more this year.
With the converging trends of increasing smartphone penetration
and browser-based geolocation ubiquity, expect to see more engaging,
interactive and lucrative location-based advertising campaigns from
the forward-thinking brands and agencies savvy enough to capitalize on
Mobile Marketer
these emerging opportunities. I
reach their consumers. the attrition and market erosion occurring across other types of media,
Therefore, a customer- these are extremely compelling numbers for mobile.
centric approach would As evidence of the mobile’s increasing reach and influence, we can
indicate that key metric look to recent comparative data for newspapers.
definition must start According to March 2008 data from the Audit Bureau of Circula-
with reach. tions, approximately 27 million people read newspapers nationwide
The mobile advertis- every day.
ing industry needs to By comparison, 22.2 million people access news and current events
move beyond a simple ac- via their mobile phones, according to April 2009 data from
counting of ad impres- Nielsen Mobile.
sions and look to reach as An even more telling statistic—more people access news via the
the essential measure- mobile Web than the top 100 largest newspapers in the United
ment—a true indicator of States combined.
maturity and evolution— The message could not be any clearer. If you are buying traditional
More people access news via the mobile
for several reasons. Here media channels, you also need to look to mobile as a powerful way to
Web than the top 100 largest newspapers in
they are. reach a large audience base with accountability and efficiency.
the United States combined.
1. Reach is the established metric that advertising agencies 3. Reach determines how many consumers you can engage
and brands value and impact
Reach is the measurement that the media world understands. Media On a basic level, there is a direct correlation between the number of
buyers buy newspapers based on total circulation. They buy television people that you are able to reach and the number of people you can po-
based on viewership, and radio according to the number of listeners. tentially impact, influence and engage. There is simply no getting
So if reach is the metric that advertisers and media buyers know around this fact.
and value, then clearly we need to speak a common language and focus If your audience reach is 1 million, then 1 million consumers is the
on reach. most that you can possibly influence with your message.
For media buyers to spend millions of budget dollars in mobile as This is why maximizing reach is much more critical for mobile ad
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 69
networks than simply churning an existing user base for more impres-
sions with diminishing returns. While the value of a single impression
Monday
can vary greatly, the value of reaching a new consumer remains
a constant.
through
the mobile Web grows
More people are using the mobile device as their primary access to
digital information. Weather, food and dining, entertainment and other
Friday.
Internet categories are showing impressive mobile lift numbers.
According to Nielsen Mobile, the weather and real estate categories
are seeing a 38 percent mobile lift. Food/dining is showing a 35 percent
increase, and email and games are showing 20 percent and 19 percent
mobile lifts, respectively.
With more users migrating from online to the mobile Web, they are
generating more page views—and accordingly, more ad impressions.
So as the mobile medium becomes more mainstream, reach will
emerge as the defining indicator of value. Page views and impressions
become far less significant.
One effective way that advertisers can limit excess impressions
while maximizing reach is through the use of frequency capping.
By limiting the number of ad impressions for a placement over a set
Click HERE for your free
time-period, frequency capping enables the highest effect per user, and subscription to the
Mobile Marketer Daily
the maximum number of users per campaign.
As advertisers become more educated about buying mobile, the use
e-newsletter.
of tools such as frequency capping to drive campaign efficiency and
delivery will continue to increase.
It works like this: Each night your recorded campaign and site data say they are not worried about having their information in real time.
is turned into a wide range of fixed reports. Then the raw data is thrown Thing is, not having real-time results simply gives other people a win-
away to save storage space and expense. dow of opportunity to adapt and steal your market.
This approach is vastly different from the good old days when rudi- Having the facts as they happen allows you to react to market
mentary analytics solutions simply examined your Webserver logs and changes and stay a step ahead, before your entire budget has been spent.
told you which pages were being read. Let us be real – real-time data is a necessity when it comes to the
Although measuring those early Web campaigns was basic com- fast-paced mobile world. I
pared to today’s bounce rates and funnels, it provided real-time an-
swers. You could start a campaign, review the first few people to reach Andy Bovingdon is vice president of product marketing at Bango,
your landing page and adjust the campaign accordingly. Cambridge, England. Reach him at andy@bango.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 71
T
W h y c a r r i e r- b a s e d b i l l i n g m a k e s s e n s e
By Jay Emmet mobile invoices.
The growth of premium SMS
he growth of the Apple App Store is without a doubt one of the nationwide has shown the commer-
biggest bright spots in the mobile world with nearly $1 billion cial appetite for carrier billing. But
of revenue derived from more than 1 billion application down- premium SMS has limitations.
loads – an astounding feat. The need for an offline SMS
A combination of an innovative mobile device, a progressive busi- session to initiate the billing event
ness model and the brand cachet of Apple has produced one of the most obviously degrades the app store
successful mobile innovations in recent times. experience. No doubt there.
Following the Apple App Store success, Google, Research In Mo- In addition, if there is a cus-
tion and Nokia have launched a second wave of off-deck app stores tomer issue regarding a premium
that are fundamentally different from Apple’s store. purchase, the customer service
As these app stores are not associated commercially to a single costs are assumed by the carriers.
Jay Emmet, general manager,
OpenMarket
wireless carrier’s subscriber base and tend to be specific to a device This fact obliges the carriers to keep 30 percent to 40 percent of the
manufacturer or proprietary operating system, they have a very loyal retail price.
customer base. Lastly, the carriers often have divergent proprietary requirements
While these companies are very sophisticated in terms of marketing and commercial models which pose tactical issues for companies trying
their app stores, a fundamental issue remains problematic. That issue is to offer a consistent product experience.
enabling a billing mechanism to support the desired mobile
purchase experience. BOBO should click
True carrier-based billing, often referred to as BOBO (billing on
Billing me softly behalf of), eliminates many of these issues.
The absence of sim- BOBO allows the purchase to be made with one or two key clicks
ple payment alternatives entirely within the storefront. No SMS session is required.
poses a significant com- In addition, customer service inquiries can be directed right to the
mercial risk. Credit app store call center, as is done for the Apple App Store. The carrier no
cards are a possibility, longer has to bear the costs or own the customer care issue. Consumers
but market experience has suggested that consumers balk at the need to understand they bought an app from Apple, and that Apple is respon-
enter credit card information, especially for impulse buys. sible for resolving their issue.
Industry research from Deutsche Bank has revealed that credit cards Moreover, the purchase experience from a consumer perspective
are too insecure and time-consuming for consumers. Requiring a con- takes only a single click or two. This simplicity eliminates many of the
sumer to type in a billing address, credit card number and other per- inconsistencies that typically occur from the need to support
sonal information is simply not the type of experience a mobile multiple carriers.
purchase is trying to provide. Offering BOBO functionality also provides a tremendous untapped
Alternate payment schemes such as PayPal and Google CheckOut opportunity for carriers.
are also a possibility, but they require a payment account to be opened A fundamental competitive advantage for the carriers is having an
and funded with a credit card prior to a purchase being made. established billing relationship and high brand credibility with
This is the same model that Apple has used for its app store. A con- their subscribers.
sumer must have an iTunes account before any download or purchase Offering BOBO functionality to trusted partners allows wireless
can occur. carriers to leverage and monetize this unique advantage, to establish a
There is only one iTunes store, however, and most of its market strong position in the value chain, and to avoid the dreaded
penetration has been driven by Apple’s iPod product. Other third-party dumb-pipe syndrome.
mechanisms are generally unproven in mobile or limited by their sub- The BOBO model offers many advantages.
scriber base penetration. BOBO offers a simple payment methodology to off-deck app store
The reality is that to achieve a successful mobile purchase experi- companies, leverages the carrier’s competitive advantage and offers
ence, an app store must offer an easy, safe, ubiquitous payment methodology. subscribers a seamless and quick, purchase experience.
Mobile consumers are unwilling to make purchases unless the pay- As mobile devices continue to grow in functionality and occupy
ment scheme takes only a few seconds. Carrier billing for these app greater mindshare with the average consumer, BOBO billing is a fun-
stores is the only payment scheme that will support growth and scale damental step in the next wave of mobile success. I
to position them for commercial success.
Carrier billing allows consumers to make purchases on their mobile Jay Emmet is general manager of OpenMarket, Seattle. Reach him at
phones or a Web site and have the charges billed on their monthly jay.emmet@openmarket.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 72
I
H o w to t r ac k a n d m e as u re a m o b i l e a d ca m p ai g n
By Bruce Braun Retailers have made a science
of where merchandise is located
t is doubtful that you will find a mobile advertiser – make that any and how it is displayed. Your mo-
advertiser –who is not highly focused on the ROI for any of its bile site is no different than a
media spends. Not that accountability is anything new. It has been retail store.
with us for decades. Does your mobile site deliver
As John Wanamaker, one of the early department store magnates, the promise of your mobile ad?
is famous for saying, “I know half the money I spend on advertising is I would suggest to those new to
wasted, but I can never find out which half.” mobile advertising and wondering
Fortunately, Wanamaker’s problem is not one we have to worry how to use analytics to measure
about today. Unless, of course, the advertiser is ignoring campaign campaign success or effectiveness
performance analytics. The answers to Wanamaker’s lament are avail- begin by considering some excel- Bruce Braun, CEO, Agent M
able and, best of all, actionable. lent suggestions from Eric Peterson of Web Analytics Demystified in
But not so fast. his recent white paper, “The Truth About Mobile Analytics.”
We now have the 21st-century evolution of the Wanamaker lament Keeping in mind campaign effectiveness is heavily dependent upon
presenting itself in the form of a computer, dashboards, endless pages the consumer experience on the advertiser’s mobile site, Eric has com-
of Excel spreadsheets and pivot tables. Talk about data overkill. piled 10 questions to ask or to include in any mobile analytics RFP.
Consider, click-through rate, impressions, total visits, unique visits, Here are five:
page views, cost per click, cost per visitor, program CPM dollars, pro- 1. Make a list of metrics that are most important to you from an ac-
gram CTR dollars, cost per acquisition, total conversions, total versus curacy standpoint. Are you trying to drive adoption? If so, visitor counts
unique visits, cost per click versus total clicks, landing page entries, are important. Trying to drive application use? Visits and page views
total downloads. And this is just for starters. may be appropriate. Are you actively marketing your online site? Cam-
Add to these the latest forms of engagement and search metrics, all paign metrics will be critical.
presented in a dashboard or spreadsheet, and it becomes apparent we 2. Assess the technology you are using to deploy your mobile site.
have created a forest of data that is divisible into thousands of different Are you primarily focused on a particular platform or carrier? Or are
types of reports by virtue of database software capabilities. you trying to design an experience that transcends the device? Are you
And let us not forget things that are unique to mobile such as geo- using HTML or XHTML exclusively, or do you have a WML- or PML-
location, handset type and carrier. We also want to know things such as based site?
click paths to the advertiser and what actions take place by the con- 3. Be prepared to ask measurement vendors for specifics about
sumer on the advertiser’s site. their technology.
We are interested in the design and layout of a mobile site as it per- Ask how the solution counts visitors, visits and page views in the
tains to content and ad placements. Why? Because we want to make absence of images, cookies and JavaScript.
sure the mobile site is optimized for peak response levels. We call this 4. Make a list of “known issues” with whatever strategy you deploy
part site analytics, apart from campaign performance analytics. and socialize that list. Don’t hide behind a lack of knowledge regarding
Does your head hurt yet? Do not feel alone. We are legion. sources of inaccuracy. Make sure you fully understand what might be
Whatever you choose to call these measurements, be it metrics or causing the numbers to fluctuate so that you can incorporate those in-
analytics, they do not need to be off-putting. sights into your analysis.
The funny thing is, today’s John Wanamakers are still asking the 5. Remember: It is not the data, it is what you do with it. No matter
same question: What part of my advertising is working? More specif- how much time, money and effort you put into making the data you
ically, is every dollar of my media spend returning two, three or more collect accurate and precise, if you are not using that data to improve
dollars in return? Call it ROI or return on investment, in MBA parlance. the user experience you may as well make up the numbers as you go.
Webinars.
Engagement is, without a doubt, the most critical element in meas-
uring campaign success. How many people asked for a brochure,
bought that handbag, asked to be contacted for a test drive, or bought
or downloaded a product of some kind?
These sorts of actions by the consumer will tell you in detail if your
ad creatives and mobile Web site are producing finite results.
With that in mind, the ultimate success of your mobile ad campaign
will depend on how you set your primary campaign goals for maximum
ROI. To achieve your goals, analytics will be your tool for
accomplishing them.
For your mobile advertising campaigns to be truly effective, you
need to know exactly how well they are performing. Not just at the top
level, but with deeper insight. You need powerful metrics to follow
each publisher and creative for everything from the first click through
the final action.
Key to achieving your goals is campaign tracking that provides for Mobile Marketer’s latest
the following:
• A mobile campaign tracking tool that is not a bastardized version
lead-generating channel.
of someone’s online tool. Mobile is very different from online, as we
all know.
The premier forum for
• Ease of use that does not require attending three days of classroom brand case studies and
the executives behind
instruction with a four-inch thick user manual for mastery.
• Actionable analytical insights that can optimize campaign ROI by
allowing the comparison of any combination of key performance indi-
cators you select. successful campaigns.
• Intuitive campaign recommendations and optimization capability
based on your defined goals.
• Consolidation of all mobile campaign publisher and creative ac-
tivity into a user-centric and customizable dashboard. This functionality
is crucial to saving you time and money aggregating multiple publisher
reports into Excel spreadsheets and then into pivot tables.
• The ability to see all campaign data on a daily basis without hav-
ing to wait for monthly publisher reports. This is vital if you are to op-
timize performance. Analytical information is only as good as its
timeliness and accuracy. What good is after-the-fact data?
• Media-to-activity tracking on the campaign, publisher and creative
Interested sponsors,
unit levels. You will want to see how each one of your creatives are
performing across each publisher and placement.
please contact
• Client-customizable engagement metrics. As mentioned above, ads@mobilemarketer.com
for pricing and details.
you will want to see how people are responding to your calls to action.
Perhaps most importantly, there must be independent and objective
third-party verification of publisher and creative mobile advertising
campaign performance.
Why is this important? It all gets down to transparency and objec-
tivity. You owe it to yourself and your clients. Publisher performance
data that is not independently verified should be viewed skeptically.
Last February, Jamie Wells, then U.S. mobile director of media
planning and buying agency OMD and now at Microsoft, informed mo-
bile publishers of the following in a story that the Mobile Marketer
publication broke:
“Omnicom Media Group’s OMD media agency will no longer ac-
cept site-served publisher data for mobile delivery and click perform-
ance related to mobile display advertising.”
With all of the above considerations in place, you will be able to
move forward with confidence that the media spends you make in mo-
Mobile Marketer
bile will return the results you and your client want. I
N
By Josh Webb The technology uses image
recognition to superimpose 3D
ow is the time for purpose-built, rich mobile media. Until re- graphics onto special marker
cently, mobile has almost invariably played second fiddle to graphics, which are placed in real-
other media, commonly a third or fourth option in a wider world locations – magazines, sub-
cross-media campaign, and an idea that is dreamed up that will “mobi- way advertisements and buildings.
lize” the concept. If that is hard to imagine, con-
Consequently, a lot of mobile marketing has been designed for peo- sider pointing your phone at a
ple who are already sitting in front of the television, reading a magazine friend sitting next to you, and see-
or otherwise engaging in another form of media consumption. ing what they would look like with
But things are changing, and thanks to recent developments in de- a multi-tentacled, alien face-sucker
vices and networks, consumer uptake of progressively richer mobile for a head. Now you get the idea?
media is on a fast rise. You may have seen some exam-
Josh Webb is a New York-based
mobile strategy consultant
In other words, brands are changing tack to meet this new critical ples of this recently. The Nike T90 product launch in augmented out-
mass of demand. Mobile has become an ambitious upstart aiming to door ads around Hong Kong with 3D virtual football boots and hidden
usurp the rest of the media family. codes tied in with a competition.
The path now is paved for a new scenario: truly rich, standalone The Fanta virtual tennis game, allowed you to view a virtual ball
mobile media that is built from the ground-up to take advantage of the and court through your phone cam, which you and a friend could use
unique aspects of mobile. to play a game together – a shared augmented reality.
People might look back at 2009 as the time when mobile started to Even more interesting, though, is that future iterations of this tech-
flip the script on traditional advertising. nology will be able to do away with the marker image and start to do
Creatives are thinking about the mobile aspects of a campaign first, real-world environment recognition in tandem with GPS.
with other media playing support in some cases. We are not talking Think along the lines of “Virtual Earth” or “Photosynth,” but where
about mobile Web sites with pretty graphics in the likeness of the latest you can point your phone at anything you like, and it will give you in-
print campaign – that is getting old and stale in a social-network- formation about it.
obsessed 2009. Alternatively, we can forget the information and get creative. What
What we are talking about is ground-up mobile application experi- if I were to point my phone at the Empire State Building, and King
ences that can incorporate multiple sub-sets of mobile technology, such Kong appeared, climbing and swatting at airplanes flying past?
as image recognition, location-based services and augmented reality. What if the airplanes also happened to be pulling Taco Bell banners
By combining these kinds of technologies, and making some cre- or writing the Coca-Cola logo in smoke trails?
ative leaps, we are now able to take the inherent mobility of mobile This is where the fun really begins, and the marketing potential
and use it to its true potential. starts to explode.
In the mobile 2.0 generation, we are connected with other real peo-
ple around us, their collective intelligence using the medium as a tool Social beacons and location-based services
to discuss the world and filter through the options available. One of the definitive aspects of Web 2.0 is social-networking, and
This behavior is even more useful in the mobile context because it as this spreads onto mobile, there are two branches emerging: tradi-
can be employed in field rather than just theoretically from your desk. tional social networks such as Facebook and Twitter creating mobile
The social networks we access can inform us of our present sur- versions, and ground-up, mobile-only social networks.
roundings, helping us navigate, discover and filter the world we live in Despite a common misconception, the mobilized versions of social
to more closely suit our preferences. networks are not an alternative to mobile – they are just another thing
So, while cyberspace imitates real life in a virtual world, mobile to do on a mobile phone that may be accessed through a phone or a PC,
now brings us a new realm: hybrid-space, where real-life is made better, depending on location.
in geo-code and right in front of our eyes. While vastly popular, however, the mobile versions of the big-play-
Let's take a look at some of the possibilities that go beyond the basic ers, in most cases, offer little enhancement to their Web counterparts.
mobile media offerings. It is beside the point – they are made for a reason and that is to connect
with other people that you know, one way or another.
Image recognition and augmented reality But by thinking ground-up, several mobile-specific networks are
A recent and popular development in high-tech mobile marketing is pushing in different directions, particularly in the area of
augmented reality. people-locating.
Still very much in infancy stages but already having a huge impact, Users are now finding romantic interests, getting ratings and re-
this is a technique that can place virtual content over the top of real-life views on places in their vicinity, or tracking friends as beacons on real-
scenes that you view through your mobile phone cam. time maps, although the moral and practical implications of this are yet
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 75
to be fully tested and debated. In other words, people who own iPhones are really using them a
As a basketball player, my favorite mobile social application lately lot more, and for more data-intensive purposes – think more media of
is the Nike “Ballers Network” – also a Facebook tool, but with a mobile a richer nature and with more browsing and application usage.
version – allowing me to find or organize games in my neighborhood. However, this is far from a standard yet, and we cannot forget there
Anyone can join in and play, then navigate my way there if I choose are a lot of other devices out there.
to play. Research In Motion recently launched its own BlackBerry App
The “Nokia Vine” is another great example which allows users to World store, Nokia has a new offering called Ovi, and Microsoft’s Win-
track their movements on a GPS-generated map, and record their expe- dows Mobile has a mish-mash of third-party Java application stores
riences along the way using image, audio, video, text and bookmarks floating around the Internet, as well as a Windows marketplace in
on the map. They can then go back and re-live it at a later time. the making.
It is like a tiny personal blog that you create in the process of living Google’s Android Market is even taking shape, with many of the
your life. You can share it with others to show what you are doing, or usual suspects starting to appear on it. When more devices pop up it is
go back to it yourself when you forget the location of a great coffee going to be a serious contender indeed.
shop, piece of street-art or hidden clear- Also consider the markets you want
ing in the park. to hit.
Perhaps the best example of mobile There’s a classic BlackBerry bias
social networking recently is “Aka-Aki,” from corporations, a Windows Mobile
which tells me if a friend is in proximity bias in a lot of Asian countries, a Nokia
to me and helps us find each other. bias in Europe, and the true geek com-
It is a pure social-beacon tool, mean- munity already seems to be rallying be-
ing that one need never get lost in a hind Google’s Android for its cool
crowd again, or fail to bump into a friend openness factor.
who was in the same place as you, but Targeting multiple platforms will ob-
looking in the other direction at the time. viously cost more to do, but does offer
This stuff is very real, available right economies of scale because once a spec-
now, and ready to make consumers’ lives ification is created for one platform,
much better. porting it can dramatically reduce the effort and cost required to get a
second or third version to market on other platforms as well.
Mobile applications It also makes sense, in the same way that it makes sense to advertise
To achieve most of the next-level functionality I am talking about on more than one television channel – in fact more so, because mobile
here it is almost mandatory to build discrete mobile applications. It is users do not get to push a button whenever they want to own a
the only way to achieve the type of user-experience that people want on new handset.
their handset right now, period. The bottom line is to cover the most platforms that can be afforded,
In the PC world, downloading and running an application has and in the markets that make sense. The economy of scale, as well as
started to become an undesirable option, taking you away from the the extra novelty on some of the lesser-hyped platforms will make up
happy place of your browser environment. for the smaller possible audience.
There is also little point these days, since your browser houses a
powerful runtime environment of Java, Flash, Silverlight and Ajax. Pulling it together
Making most standalone applications redundant, these are effectively To engage increasingly savvy consumers in 2009 and beyond, we
little encapsulated applications that run in your browser. need to provide a great user interface and compelling applications that
Mobile, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. improve quality of living.
The mobile browsers are still unable to accommodate most third- We need to start to leverage the true advantages of mobile – people,
party runtime environments. And even if they could, the processors in legs and the real world – and find ways to add value in hybrid-space.
the devices are still too slow to compile code on-the-fly as PC can do If we are going to do mobile properly, we need to start to think
for Web applications. about mobile as a first point of contact, and about how to rally other
Therefore, on mobile it is still necessary to use native applications media behind it to take true advantage of the medium.
to achieve strong user-interfaces, fast execution and tap into handset- By all means we need to cover the basics, get a common short code
specific features that are often crucial to the applications functionality. and SMS campaign running, and create a mobile Web presence.
These will often exist in tandem with a good mobile Web or SMS But then we need to think creatively and take true steps to use the
campaign, but the user’s experience only becomes compelling and full range of mobile technology in a way that people can interact with
sticky with a native application as the interface. intuitively and easily.
Unfortunately, there is little standardization in mobile applications I would urge any brand, product manager, content producer or other
and developing for one handset is often very different from another. kind of marketer to build a good mobile strategy with a specialist mo-
So how does a marketer deal with the need to work across multiple bile consultant or agency with experience across the range of
platforms in this case? mobile offerings.
Well, at present it has been a matter of picking the platform – or Work to figure out how your goals, as well as your customers wants
multiple platforms, in some cases – which will appeal to and needs, will be met by using mobile. Then implement a compelling
the demographic. campaign that will truly make real-life better. I
The natural assumption of many marketers seems to be that the
iPhone is the only option. This is a fairly safe bet as a starting point, as Josh Webb was previously director of operations for The Hyperfactory,
that one device is now generating almost half of the mobile data traffic and is now an independent mobile strategy consultant in New York.
with what is still reported to be a single-figure market share. Reach him at joshwebb.nz@gmail.com
MOBILE MARKETERʼS CLASSIC GUIDE TO MOBILE ADVERTISING WWW.MOBILEMARKETER.COM PAGE 76
Ca lli ng fo r a tr us te d t hir d p ar ty to m an age
M
m ob ile co ns um er da ta
By Patrick Seymour have changed user agreements
around privacy. Google has re-
obility for millions in the United States and billions of indi- cently announced a behavioral
viduals globally means never leaving home without our targeting program.
mobile phones. Voluntary guidelines, behav-
Beyond making calls, the capabilities of our mobile devices help ioral targeting and opt-in/opt-out
us maintain connections with family, friends and colleagues. Smart- agreements are all evolving ele-
phones allow us to search for information, to educate and entertain our- ments in an effort to deliver respon-
selves, and give us the ability to make transactions – all elements that sible communications. But they
will continue and will compel increased usage. will not stop spam, nor do they de-
These sophisticated mobile capabilities and services, combined liver the full potential of mobile’s
with mobile subscriber behavior, will not be ignored by marketers. Ad- value to their own organizations or
vertisers and marketers are increasingly looking for ways to develop meaningful, relevant interactions
Patrick Seymour, president,
Seymour Consulting Services
Make us hip
within the mobile ecosystem.
I believe what is necessary to achieve this common ground is a
Mobile Marketer
This model is not only possible, it is imperative to provide the great-
est value for consumers, as well as every company within the
mobile ecosystem. I
W
A me dia a ge nc y blue pr int fo r m one ti zin g mo bil it y
By Jamie Wells lishers, networks, carriers and key
channels. All of these often neces-
hile there is widespread agreement that the rapid prominence sitate redundant or manual operat-
of the mobile device around the globe represents a tremen- ing procedures, ultimately adding
dous long-term revenue growth opportunity for digital ad- incremental labor stresses to the
vertising agencies, to date the vast potential of the channel has gone entire system.
relatively untapped. Limited effective reach or low
As excuses and marketplace misperceptions abound, the inability of perceived value
our industry to aptly monetize the mobile channel can be best traced to While varying significantly by
a fundamental failure of organizational philosophy. tactic and geographic region, over-
This is not to say that agency monetization of the mobile channel all there is a general marketplace
is not fraught with significant barriers to success –far from it. consensus that the reach potential
Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the channel can and creative options of mobile mar- marketing for mobile advertising
Jamie Wells, director of trade
point to any number of seemingly insurmountable challenges in the keting and advertising channels lag
solutions, Microsoft Advertising
mobile advertising and marketing sectors: marketplace fragmentation, considerably behind most forms of established offline and
lack of standardization, poor infrastructure and limited reach are among digital media.
the most prominent. Certainly many of the aforementioned issues are inherent in any
Yet it is these challenges that necessitate a vastly different approach emerging medium. However, one could make a compelling argument
to mobile than the flawed models employed by our competitors. that, with respect to mobile, the intensity of these challenges has esca-
This column provides just such an approach. It is a recommendation lated to a scale that dwarfs previous “like” emerging media scenarios.
set that isolates and circumvents the trappings of previous systems by Whether driven by the sheer technical complexity of the channel,
drawing upon the successes and learnings of industries faced with sim- global ubiquity or simply soaring investor interest, the frenzy surround-
ilar challenges, the sum of which form an agency model for the success- ing the emergence of mobile as a marketing medium has inflated these
ful monetization of the mobile channel that scales on a national, barriers by orders of magnitude beyond what has been previously ex-
regional and global level. perienced by most other forms of new media.
vertisers to increase spend on mobile as an effective advertising and tials, load time messages and even sponsored widgets across any
marketing medium. handset, advertising becomes more appealing. This, in turn, creates bet-
ter recall and or click-through rates.
Lackluster media Further, rich landing pages, click-to-call,
Many consumers are still waiting for a mobile coupons and secure transactions are
better mobile Web experience. If the media is possible, enabling more compelling direct re-
not satisfying consumers, why advertise on sponse tactics and tracking components.
that platform? Simple yet effective, the Zippo virtual
As an industry, would we use billboards lighter application has become a viral adver-
on abandoned roads or place ads in magazines tisement that people use at concerts to signify
with no readers? the appreciation of a performance.
When trying to access their favorite URL, More importantly, the immersive experi-
consumers often find the site can freeze a ence is highly nostalgic and personally relevant
phone browser or important features such as for a new generation of Zippo consumers.
login, completing a transaction or accessing
video content. Immature business model
A full, rich experience is now possible for The mobile advertising ecosystem is still
any Web site a consumer should choose. evolving. Wireless carriers’ models for mone-
Content transformation solutions being tizing both on- and especially off-portal are not
deployed by carrier networks automatically yet clear.
adapt content to the specific capabilities of Also, tracking and analytics expectations
the device. Hence, consumers enjoy a better and capabilities between site publishers, adver-
mobile experience and usage increases, which tisers and ad networks often vary. And every-
in turn means more eyeballs for much one is trying to capture their piece of the pie.
longer durations. Just as mobility has changed social para-
digms, mobile as a media channel must tap into
Ineffective targeting and tracking these new usage models while leveraging the
Targeting is typically limited to carrier best of existing advertising media channels.
network, phone type and perhaps basic site categorization such as Minutes for ads, viral word of mouth and always-on access to spon-
sports and finance. So much more valuable information is available in- sored information present interesting opportunities.
cluding user account profile data, location and mobile clickstream behavior. The industry will develop new campaign strategies that take advan-
Central tracking of consumer behavior and campaign metrics across tage of mobile Internet services being deployed today that enable qual-
mobile’s broad array of devices and networks is critically important ity service, effective targeting and tracking and rich media to realize
for success. the channel’s full potential.
For example, the popularity of social networking sites has created The mobile channel presents low production costs, higher-than-
a wealth of information around consumer behavior and media sharing. average click-through rates, targeted demographics and an always-on,
Contextual advertising created by mining this data enables personally always-with-you medium – a marketer’s dream. I
relevant ads to be delivered in the right place and time.
The result? Click-through rates that are typically five to 10 times Scott Cotter is senior director of marketing at Novarra, Itasca, IL.
higher than online. Reach him at scotter@novarra.com
F
t it les wit h m ob ile ad s
By Dan Butcher “Along these lines, we have a number of smartphone applications,
beginning with the iPhone ... that we believe will provide compelling
rench-owned magazine publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. solutions to both mobile users and advertisers looking to reach mobile
is using the mobile channel to monetize seven of its audiences,” he said.
magazine titles. There is an Elle Astrology mobile application currently available
HFM is selling ad space on the mobile versions of magazine to all Verizon, BlackBerry and iPhone users.
brands such as m.Elle.com, Car and Driver slideshows
m.CarAndDriver.com, and wallpapers are currently
m.Ellegirl.com, available to all Verizon,
m.Premiere.com, AT&T and Apple iPhone users.
m.RoadAndTrack.com, In addition, various HFM
m.WomansDay.com and titles offer SMS alerts, which
m.Ellegirl Latina. Quattro are powered by 4Info.
Wireless handles ad sales and Elle’s SMS alerts include
serving for the titles. fashion tips, beauty tips and
“On the premium side, we runway news.
have a few branded applica- Ellegirl’s text-message
tions we sell that are available alerts have celebrity gossip,
on a number of carriers and fashion tips and beauty tips.
handsets,” said Yaron Oren, Car and Driver’s SMS
director of mobile strategy alerts have automotive news
and operations for Hachette and reviews.
Filipacchi Media U.S., New Premiere’s text-message
York. “On the mobile adver- alerts have movie news
tising front, we have a net- and events.
work of seven mobile Web Finally, there are different
sites, reaching a total of ap- SMS-alert services from
proximately 2 million Woman’s Day: WD Now! –
monthly unique users, and six which offers home decorating
text alert services. and organization advice,
“Through these services, recipe ideas and health tips –
we offer our advertisers a and WD Eats, which provides
wide variety of mobile dis- recipe ideas.
play, SMS and integrated pro- “As far as our mobile au-
grams,” he said. “Going diences, we target both our ex-
forward, we will continue to isting readers and users on
Will mobile be a page-turner for Hachette?
build our mobile business through advertising and subscription/ other platforms, such as print and online, as well as new audiences al-
premium services. ready active in mobile that we believe will value our services.
“From a monetization standpoint, we are placing a heavier empha- “The target demographics by brand are similar to print and online
sis on mobile advertising as we believe there is ultimately more revenue with a tendency to skew a bit younger,” Mr. Oren said.
potential there.” “Hachette primarily views mobile as a profit center,” he said.
HFM tapped Quattro Wireless for its WAP sites and deployment of “However, our mobile efforts certainly provide the additional benefit of
mobile display ads. helping our brands reach new audiences and strengthen relationships
Brands that have advertised on one of HFM's mobile sites include with existing ones.”
Procter & Gamble’s CoverGirl, Toyota's Scion and Unilever's Knorr. The strategy is to maximize brand quality and consistency on all
All URLs for HFM’s wired Web sites redirect to the mobile sites platforms and to promote brand extensions, said Anne Janas, senior
when accessed from a mobile phone. vice president of corporate communications for Hachette Filipacchi
“From a product development standpoint, we are focused on creat- Media U.S.
ing new tools and utilities around our brands that specifically cater to- “This will support and accelerate the mobile development when it
wards a mobile user,” Mr. Oren said. fits into overall brand strategy,” she said. I
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ES P N : M o b i le l u c r at iv e c h a n ne l f o r p u b li s he r s
By Dan Butcher bert said. “Mobile is a connection hub for all of our media platforms,
and cross-platform is not a zero-sum game—mobile wraps in elements
ith the new ScoreCenter iPhone app to complement existing of all of our mediums together and connects all media.
mobile offerings including SMS polls and ad-supported “If you consume TV you’re going to read the magazine, and if
alerts, a much-trafficked mobile Web site, games, live video you’re visiting ESPN.com regularly you’ll visit ESPN Mobile regu-
and video on demand, ESPN is staying at the forefront of larly,” he said. “For guys being dragged to Bed, Bath and Beyond every
mobile publishing. weekend like me, this is the only way to stay connected with
According to the sports your teams.”
publishing giant, the iPhone ESPN has a dedicated
phenomenon has helped to staff working exclusively on
change clients’ perception of mobile, including a separate
mobile, and applications have mobile news team, and the
provided publishers and ad- company offers content cre-
vertisers a way to provide util- ated and optimized specifi-
ity and entertainment. The cally for the mobile platform.
publisher discussed these top- “Our mobile offerings are
ics and went into its mobile programmed by fan behav-
strategy in-depth at IAB ior,” Mr. Colbert said. “What
Marketplace-Mobile event in we do in mobile is informed
July 2009, in New York. by our fans and how they
“The tide is shifting, and want to consume the content.
mobile finally has a seat at the “Having multiple media
table—as overall usage of touchpoints helps us form a
mobile Web and mobile video deeper connection to fans,
are up and mobile publishers with TV to mobile with fan
reach scale, it has increased opinion voting, polling and
advertisers’ interest,” said video; digital to mobile with
Brian Colbert, director of mo- apps, SMS and mobile only
bile ad sales for ESPN, New editorial; print to mobile with
York. “Mobile is now part of interactive ads, SnapTell 2D
the discussion from a media bar codes and SMS short
standpoint, and mobile is def- code marketing; and radio to
initely something clients want mobile urging consumers to
to hear more about. call in or text in and
“Significant budgets being talent chats.”
dedicated to mobile and While the presentation fo-
clients are thinking more cused on ESPN’s various mo-
ESPN's Baseball Tonight is available via MobiTV and MediaFlo
strategically to make a big splash with their mobile initiatives, and it’s bile initiatives, the session was not without its controversial statements.
become a watershed product for us and all publishers,” he said. “Mobile Specifically, ESPN subscribes to the notion that mobile publishers
used to be a cool, bright, shiny, new toy, but there wasn’t enough scale are competing with ad networks and thus should sell their own mobile
for advertisers. ad inventory.
“However, we now have enough scale to make this a great adver- “Ad networks were an easy way to buy mobile, and ad networks
tising vehicle for brands, and brands are thinking about mobile in ways do work for some clients in some instances, they do have a place, be-
they weren’t thinking about the channel before.” cause they helped create more buzz about mobile and increased the ed-
ESPN ScoreCenter for iPhone and iPod touch is a free application ucation process, which has helped all of us, but we’ve heard from
available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese. clients that content does matter,” Mr. Colbert said.
The ScoreCenter application features real-time scores, live game “Ad networks only exist because we let them exist,” he said. “A lot
updates, game summaries and statistics for nine major sports. of other premium publishers we talk to agree. If you think about long-
The application includes real-time scores for 500 leagues, including term strategy, we’re not competing with other publishers necessarily –
MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, NCAA, NASCAR, PGA and tennis. our biggest competition is the ad networks.
“Mobile enables fans to be better fans and always stay connected, “Ask yourself, ‘Is letting the ad networks have your inventory the
and we’re giving fans the content they want on their phones,” Mr. Col- best way to move the industry – and your business – forward?’” I
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W h a t a r e th e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r a m o b i l e m a r k e ti n g e xe cu t i v e ?
By Heather Baker the power of copywriting.
Take consumer behavior strat-
obile advertising and marketing maybe on your company’s egy. Timing is everything as it re-
wish list but how do you qualify the talent, which department lates to delivery and acquisition of
takes on the responsibility and whether you have the budget the consumer. You need to under-
for it? stand how and when they want
Before answering these questions, let me first start out by saying products, which is something direct
this channel is still relatively new in the scheme of things. Thus, there marketers are all too familiar with.
has not been enough time to develop a significant pool of knowledge- Mobile is a direct marketer’s
able top talent. dream. They know how to use con-
Therefore, if you are not among the lucky few to find those hidden sumer behavior data and tie it back
experienced mobile marketers, you must consider some cross-function to their database to create relevant
skills that would apply well for mobile advertising and marketing. messages to their consumer.
Just like the dotcom startup era, the qualifications have not been Add to that a strong understand-
Heather Baker, managing partner,
set in place to determine what constitutes great talent because the ing of audience segmentation,
BennettBaker
medium is still evolving. measurement and analytics, as well as database marketing – one of the
major strengths of SMS programs – and how to build a permission-
Hire versus assign based database.
The first question as it relates to mobile advertising and marketing Privacy is another issue that requires special attention – again, a
is whether you need to hire someone for this task or instead assign mo- skill that a mobile marketer will have to share with a direct marketer.
bile to an existing department. I would argue the case that to be success- Knowledge of the double-opt-in and opt-out processes is required.
ful you will need a dedicated staff member. Mobile advertising typically involves mobile banner ads, SMS,
Indeed, I would recommend a dedicated employee for mobile and MMS, mobile video ads, in-game ads and rich-media on the mobile
you should be paying them the same you would an interactive marketer device that promote a product or service.
with comparable skills. Take SMS, the most commonly-used mobile tactic along with mo-
A well-compensated position with a respectable title also signals bile banner ads. Since SMS is much-used within mobile and there are
the respect with which the organization regards mobile advertising and a fair amount of similarities with online marketing, the candidate will
marketing in the multichannel mix. have to be knowledgeable about double-opt-in requirements, data-
That said, even if the mobile job is assigned to one individual, it base/CRM and privacy laws.
should be integrated with other advertising and marketing channels SMS is like search and Twitter, only with 160 characters to get
within the company. across your message. Twitter is 140 characters and a typical paid search
For mobile advertising to be taken more seriously within an organ- ad is about 100 characters or so. The pitch has to be perfect with SMS.
ization, the person in charge must ensure that the channel is not to be Indeed, SMS harkens back to the days of telegraph and the telegram
treated simply as a campaign or one-off program. – brief and to the point, but highlighting the sense of urgency. It is very
Now let us say if you did not have the budget, but did need to assign different from email. Yes, you do not want to confuse SMS for email
the mobile responsibility to someone – which department gets the task? because of the different protocols and laws involved.
An easy answer would be the interactive department already working Working on banner ads and rich media requires an understanding of
on online advertising and marketing efforts. branding, landing pages, calls to action and measurement of actions
However, marketers need to be careful that mobile should not be sought. The candidate should have marketing- and technology-savvy
treated as pure technology but a marketing strategy. with the Web, even if the initial experience is on the wired Web.
To be successful the marketer needs to direct the strategy, and not Another quality required in the candidate is flexibility. The mobile
simply the technology. Online companies fell into this trap and the mo- executive’s role in understanding and interpreting the technology,
bile executive may similarly be bedazzled. Witness the latest craze with ecosystem and attitude to behavioral and geo-location marketing should
mobile applications. grow with the industry’s evolution.
So, does your candidate understand the marketing first and then the It is best to either nurture talent from internal resources, network
technology to back up the marketing premise? I see this as a problem within the industry or tap outside help to find the right candidate for
in the online marketing world as well. It is rare to find both skills in the handling mobile advertising and marketing responsibilities within your
same person, but still possible. However, be clear about what you are organization. Your company’s mobile advertising will be only as good
looking for. as the person running it. I
In most cases, though, laws do not specify exactly what constitutes the background.
“clear and conspicuous.” While the zone system is pending, advertisers would be well-ad-
vised to review the Florida attorney general’s settlements with other
P’s and cues companies to see what has gotten them in trouble and check with their
The Federal Trade Commission encourages advertisers to consider legal counsel to ensure their ads comply with the law.
the Four Ps: (1) proximity; (2) placement; (3) prominence; and
(4) presentation. Yes to consent
Many companies have also gotten
in trouble for failing to get consent
from consumers.
You need to get specific consent
before you can send SMS messages
to a consumer, even if the consumer
has agreed to receive messages in an-
other medium such as email.
Again, the costs of getting this
wrong can be high.
For example, footwear maker
Timberland last year agreed to pay $7
million to settle a case involving un-
solicited text messages.
Please review the Mobile Market-
ing Association guidelines for re-
quirements for getting consent.
Many mobile advertising cam-
paigns involve the efforts of multiple
parties. It is tempting to focus on your
company’s part and just hope that
your partners comply with the law.
Unfortunately, in some cases, you
It is tempting to focus on your company’s part and just hope that your partners comply
Although the absence of a specific standard provides advertisers may be held liable for your partner’s faults.
with the law. Unfortunately, in some cases, you may be held liable for your partner’s faults.
with some flexibility, it also creates some uncertainty over whether a Make sure your agreements with partners contain representations,
disclosure will comply with relevant laws. warranties and adequate indemnifications to protect you in case things
In recent years, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has chal- go wrong.
lenged a number of companies for failing to make disclosures suffi- Even then, it pays to monitor partners so that you can identify any
ciently clear and conspicuous. problems and address them before regulators do. I
For example, the attorney general has challenged companies that
advertised “free” services, but buried costs in the fine print. Gonzalo E. Mon is an attorney in Kelley Drye & Warren’s advertising
Disclosing costs in the fine print is unlikely to satisfy laws in any and marketing law practice in Washington. Reach him at
state. Instead, costs have to be presented in the main body of the offer. gmon@kelleydrye.com
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A u di enc e e ng ag em en t m or e i mp or t a nt t h an cl ic ks
By Paran Johar planning mobile media as they are
hyper-intensified on the mobile
o you convinced your client about the power of 4 billion mobile phone due to the lack of clutter and
phones around the world – almost three for every five people on the personal nature of the medium.
the planet. You even showed them all the case studies from the Below I have listed some things
Mobile Marketing Association about brand recall and how the average to remember when evaluating
mobile click-through rates are ten-fold than those on the wired Internet. media opportunities.
Even though your client spends most of its ad budget on branding, First, quality content is king.
after all these years of advertising on the wired Web, your client really There is a reason that advertising
wants to see those people click. within quality content commands a
Like a true media star, you develop your RFP which includes all premium. Advertisers pay a pre-
the target audience information such as demographics, psychographics, mium for the right to associate their Paran Johar, chief marketing
even a hint of the creative strategy. brand and message within the con-
officer, Jumptap
Now all you have to do is wait for the proposals from the publishers text of premium content.
and ad networks and then present your recommendation to your client Second, relevancy is even better. Ideally all messaging will be a
as the newest mobile expert at the agency. value exchange between brands and consumers.
Everything seems to be going well until something odd happens. In an ideal world, users only see ads that they are actually interested
To get on the media plan, one of the ad networks comes up with an in. Since the advertising is actually relevant to the user, the message
idea to guarantee a click-through rate. Guarantee a CTR? Sounds great, actually holds value to them and their time engagement is a trade for
you think to yourself. providing valuable messaging.
If your client’s ad does not achieve an agreed-upon click-through Third, post-click is the true test of engagement. Anyone can drive
rate, the ad network will deliver bonus impressions until a certain av- clicks. The wired Internet proved that all it takes is a simple “free” offer
erage has been achieved for the campaign. and your click-through rate will spike. The issue is what percentage of
Before you sign that insertion order, you might want to think twice those users actually has an effect on your client’s business.
and remember a click is not always a click. Measuring how many pages your consumer engages with post-click
At first glance you may think that you have hit the jackpot, but I am is a good start at evaluating ROI and comparing performance of ad net-
here to tell you not all clicks are created equal and you should be wary works and optimizing your client’s WAP site experience.
Finally, transparency will make everything
clear. The first thing I would ask your ad networks
is whether your mobile ad buy will be transparent.
Transparency is critical in knowing not only
which category of media your ads will appear in, but
also the actual sites and placements. That is why
when evaluating media opportunities, one must un-
derstand where the clicks are coming from and how
they got there.
As part of guaranteeing a click-through rate,
some ad networks will run impressions in places you
would rather not see your brand, thus lowering the
value of those clicks.
This is not to say that cost-per-click advertising
is flawed. It is quite the opposite in fact. If done with
the proper levels of targeting technology and param-
eters, it can work quite effectively.
The key is to ensure relevancy as part of the buy,
Not all clicks are created equal and you should be wary of ad networks
of ad networks or publishers that try and seduce you with this. thousand impressions. By focusing on content and context, you ensure
If there is one thing we should remember – though the almighty your client’s brand the true test of ROI: user engagement.
click is important – audience engagement is even more critical. Remember, it is not the number of impressions or the clicks you
Buying audience to focus on user engagement is certainly not new buy, but the impression you make. I
fodder for the wired Internet. Agencies have been doing relevant target-
ing and optimizing post-click for years. Paran Johar is New York-based chief marketing officer of Jumptap.
One must remember these principles of user engagement when Reach him at paran.johar@jumptap.com
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