NEW YORK-To create an atmosphere of consumer trust about wirelessly delivered advertising, cellular carriers should go beyond opt out or opt in permission to double opt-in authorization, said Michele Pelino, director of Internet market strategies for The Yankee Group.
In this scenario, consumers who agree to allow certain types of ads to be delivered at specified times and intervals would get a follow-up query on their wireless device asking them to confirm their receptivity.
Wireless service providers also should make clear to their customers how they can opt out, even if they have previously authorized receipt of advertising over their devices.
“People don’t necessary know how to opt out if they want to, and they may have bad thoughts about the role carriers and advertisers play,” she said at The Yankee Group’s “Mobile Commerce” conference last month.
According to a recent survey the Boston-based research firm conducted, 64 percent of respondents are somewhat or extremely worried about carriers’ use of their personal profiles and 56 percent about use of their location information.
“The wireless world still is in the early part of the process of giving consumers peace of mind that their information won’t be used inappropriately,” she said.
“Security can be addressed with technology, but consumers have a perception about privacy and security and we need to educate them about the reality vs. their perception.”
Based on events in the online Internet world, there also is a fair bit of reality in consumers’ concerns. Doubleclick wanted to combine its extensive online database with Abacus’ comprehensive offline database to obtain “not just a profile of people like me but of me in particular,” Pelino said. And financially troubled Toysmart wanted to sell its customer database, something it had promised its customers it would not do.
Garnering public trust becomes particularly important if wireless carriers want to enable pushed ads, which are sent automatically to end users. Although these carry a negative connotation among consumers, they also have a higher response rate than pulled ads, which require people to browse to a Web-enabled site.
“The key is to position these as positives, as alerts. Customers should be able to select the type they want,” she said.
“Providing time-sensitive information is a capability unique to wireless devices. It’s very powerful, but it’s not getting enough attention.”
WindWire took advantage of this strength to create awareness of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team and its game schedule. GeePS is working with retailers in the Palisades Mall in New Jersey to allow them to alert shoppers of short-term sale opportunities.
“Coupons are very difficult to implement because each store and its cashiers have to know how to accept them. It’s easier for local retailers, as was done with the SkyGo wireless marketing study in Boulder, Colo.,” she said.
A significant number of Yankee Group survey respondents, 35 percent, said they would be somewhat or very willing to receive pushed ads in exchange for free wireless service.
“This is much easier said than done because the revenue model has to be figured out, as do the means to encourage people to feel they want to participate,” Pelino said.
Since 63 percent of all U.S. households with in-home Internet access also own at least one wireless device, advertisers need to develop a more cohesive strategy that recognizes their “customers are interacting with them in many ways,” she said.
In the U.S. market, where more than half of all households have wireline Internet access, “it is particularly challenging because people are comparing their wireless experience (unfavorably) to it,” she said.
To help bring quality criteria to this nascent sector, the Wireless Advertising Association is working on a set of creative standards for ads, different wireless devices and on measurement standards to accurately assess consumer response to ads delivered wirelessly.
