2. Abstract
Mobile advertising is a fast-growing part of marketing
communications. In this paper we will discuss how
mobile devices have become the medium of the
future and how it affects advertising. This paper will
explore the different approaches for mobile
advertising as well as the creation and design of
advertisements for mobile devices. Targeting your
audience, technical challenges, current trends, as
well as the future of mobile advertising will be
touched upon. We will also take a look at the other
types of advertising opportunities on mobile devices.
3. A New Medium
Mobile advertising has become a fast-growing part of
marketing communications today. It provides an exciting
and interactive way to promote a product or service to the
public. A 2007 studied showed that 255.4 million
Americans had a wireless subscription. These devices
serve as an important resource to those who want to stay
in touch and informed (Laszlo, p. 27). Mobile devices
allow for instant gratification for communication,
information, or entertainment whenever and wherever a
consumer is. This proves that mobile communication
devices have become the newest and greatest
advertising medium.
4. Device Types
There are many
device types that are
available which
provide a wide
spectrum of
capabilities that differ
from a PC. Devices
can be broken into
down into three
categories and one
exception: (Laszlo, p.
34)
5. Device Types
a) Basic mobile
phones – are cheap.
Their media
capabilities are limited
to text messaging and
a WAP-based
browser. These are
now the minority.
6. Device Types
b) Feature phones – the
most common mobile
devices. They include a
variety of functionalities and
features. These typically
include a large color screen,
a browser, ability to purchase
and download ringtones,
games, and other media,
and a camera. Some other
capabilities may include a
video camera, Bluetooth,
and the ability to store MP3
or other music files.
7. Device Types
c) Smartphones –
are user extensive
and usually offer a
full QWERTY
keyboard. They are
highly optimized for
email and browsing
the internet. An
example would be a
Blackberry or
Windows Mobile
device.
8. Device Types
d-) iPhones - have been a
game changer. “The
iPhone‟s multi-functional
touch screen has
transformed the nature of
high-end mobile phones,
which are now seen as
multi-purpose mobile
Internet devices that also
can be used for voice, text,
and multimedia purposes”
(Okazaki & Barwise, Has
the Time Finally Come for
the Medium of the Future,
2011, p. 60).
9. Mobile Interactivity Uses
Mobile interactivity helps to keep use in touch and
informed. It some ways it shares similarities with PC-
based internet which is beneficial to an advertiser
who can take advantage of this new medium.
Consumers today typically use mobile interactivity for
one of two reasons; to save time and to fill time
(Laszlo, p. 30). When creating a mobile
advertisement marketers need to determine if they
are looking to reach time saving versus time filling
mode consumers. Messages can differ between the
two.
10. Mobile Interactivity Uses
Users are able to save
time by finding
information quickly
and then returning to
their previous task.
These quick usages
can be for looking up
an address, check
travel or traffic
information, weather
information, and so
forth.
11. Mobile Interactivity Uses
Users fill time by
engaging in
entertaining or
informative mobile
apps. Users are
looking to fill a slow
moment in their day
and this can be
done by playing a
mobile game or
other type of media.
12. Mobile Device Displays
The mobile world presents marketers with numerous
opportunities to reach consumers. The multiple
mobile features available, such as text messaging,
ringtone and wall paper downloads, and mobile
video, provide opportunities for marketing and
advertisement. All of which are very important to
marketers. There are two forms of displays that are
used on mobile devices: display advertisements
delivered on the device itself or display
advertisements in other media that feature a mobile
call-to action (Laszlo, p. 30-31).
13. Mobile Device Displays
On-device display ads
include formats such
as text ads, graphical
banners, graphical
banners with text
links, video, and
traditional TV
commercials. These
types of ad formats
are typically clickable
or entail some other
form of interactivity.
14. Mobile Device Displays
Off-device mobile
displays refer to
traditional offline
advertising such as
live events,
television, and PC-
based ads that
have an interactive
measurable call-to-
action via SMS,
MMS, or WAP.
15. Mobile Campaigns
Since there is a vast amount of consumers who use their
mobile devices for information, entertainment, and
communication, there is a lot of room to deliver mobile
advertisements and promote their brand. These consumers
can be reached and targeted with the help of mobile
campaigns. “As with any other platform or medium, a
successful mobile campaign requires a solid media plan and
effective creative targeted to the right audience at the right
time” (Laszlo, 2009, p. 34). Joe Laszlo provides us with a list
of goals for direct response campaigns that have a high level
of engagement and click through rates. They are as follows:
Driving click-through to an informational page
Driving calls to a call center
Collecting phone numbers
Delivering coupons
Fielding product interest or information request surveys
Collecting email addresses
Offering a store locator
16. Mobile Creative
Given the numerous types of devices there is also a
variety of mobile display creative and different forms.
Graphical banners are images that suggest a marketing
message and can be animated, still, and interactive. Text
ads are the oldest type of mobile advertising and are text
based advertisements. Video is also another means of
creative but can be very tricky due to the different sizes of
consumers‟ screens. “The range of device categories in
the mobile world, and the array of different screen sizes
and resolutions within those broad categories, also
complicates matters” (Laszlo, 2009, p. 35). Due to this
complication advertisers must come up with designs in a
variety of sizes and formats if they would like to reach a
vast majority of the mobile population.
18. Mobile Device Browsers
When consumers are using
their mobile device‟s
browser marketers need to
consider the problems that
can arise if the creative was
designed for a PC. There
can be slow page loading
and poor formatting as a
device screen and a
computer monitor have
different resolutions, poor
navigation considering the
lack of a mouse, and the
presence of flash or other
rich media that handsets do
not support.
19. Opportunities Other Than Browsers
Besides browsers
there are other
opportunities to get a
marketers context
onto a mobile device.
This can be achieved
through games,
downloadable
applications, push
publishing
environments
(advertisements in a
background),
ticketing/couponing,
passive display (logo
in a screen saver),
and person-to-person
messaging.
20. Better Capabilities
Mobile devices provide marketers with better
capabilities than any other medium (Laszlo, p. 37).
These mobile portals can help with successful
targeting to achieve relevance, positive response,
and acceptance (Okazaki & Barwise, Has the Time
Finally Come for the Medium of the Future, p. 61).
Mobile devices enable marketers to personalize
content and the ability to track personal identities
and capture consumer data.
21. Advertising Opportunities
Consumers are making the most out of mobile
interactivity and the number of consumers will only
continue to increase, which leaves marketers with many
opportunities for advertising on mobile devices. “The IAB
characterizes the key opportunities around mobile
advertising into three broad categories: driving response
and brand relationships, delivering more personally and
locationally relevant messages, and timing efforts to gain
early experience in a dynamic and growing market”
(Laszlo, 2009, p. 39). Mobile advertising helps marketers
connect with more customers and deliver information
about what they want and with the use of links they can
direct people straight to a specific page on a website or
mobile site. Marketers are also able to build their brands
by targeting specific users by demographic, interest and
behavior, and other countless possibilities.
22. Technical Challenges
Marketers must also consider the technical
challenges they may face in order to ensure goal
achievement. Technical challenges in the mobile
world revolve around measurement. “…the sate of
mobile platforms makes it difficult to measure unique
users against lots of polluting traffic (bots, spyders,
etc.), track international traffic versus U.S. traffic, and
measure advertising impressions in intermittently
connected content like games or downloaded audio”
(Laszlo, 2009, p. 39). Developers are looking for
solutions to these challenges and hope to provide
the data that agencies require to determine
successful campaigns.
23. Mobile Advertising Trends
While mobile
advertising has
become increasingly
important there have
been some trends
that have surfaced.
There is a continued
importance of SMS
messaging and it
has become one of
the most popular
forms of
communication.
24. Mobile Advertising Trends
The experimentation
with rich media is
also an up and
coming trend. “…
Rich media ads offer
more in-app
interactivity via
video, sound,
gaming, and so on”
(Swallow, 2010).
These ads are more
attractive than SMS
based ads which
provide an
advantage.
25. Mobile Advertising Trends
Another trend marketers are
seeing is the choice between
mobile sites and mobile apps.
“One of the biggest decisions
for mobile marketers this year
is whether they should build a
mobile site or app – or both.
And for advertisers, the
question is whether to
advertise on mobile sites,
apps, or both” (Swallow,
2010). With the numerous
amounts of devices, multiple
operating systems, and
screen sizes, the decision is
not an easy one to make.
26. Mobile Advertising Trends
There has also been an interest in
geo-location. In 2010 article titled
“Google launches mobile banner ads
which know where you are” Cody
Barbierri wrote about Google‟s
announcement that it had launched
location-aware display advertisements
for mobile phones. “Through Google‟s
„location extension‟ feature,
advertisers can now include their
location and phone numbers to appear
in display ads on iPhone and Android
mobile websites” (Barbierri, 2010).
Marketers are definitely very excited to
be using this technology. Barbierri also
stated that local businesses may
benefit from this option since those
who already use the technology saw
an 8% increase in click through rates.
27. Mobile Advertising Trends
There has also been a growth
in mobile video. “While video
isn‟t a huge focus for
advertisers right now and
many cite broadband and
technology inadequacies as
barriers, many predictive stats
tell the story of video‟s
increasing importance”
(Swallow, 2010). With video
becoming widely accepted
and proving to be an asset in
marketing, advertisers should
definitely take advantages of
opportunities to try out this
form of mobile advertising.
28. The Future
The future for mobile advertising is bright being led by
technology innovators who continue to change the
landscape. In Joe Laszlo‟s article he expresses the steps
that marketers should expect to see within the near
future. These steps are: faster data connections,
improved devices, improved embedded software, more
content and more discoverability, advertising standards,
better targeting capabilities, discounted or advertising-
subsidized services, flat-rate data services, and better
location capabilities. There are many more possibilities
for future developments of mobile advertising and the
mobile landscape. Technology only keeps getting better
and mobile phones are becoming more efficient leaving
the opportunities to reach consumers endless.
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