Mobile advertising recently got a boost from two announcements: the launch of advertising-subsidized mobile access to MySpace.com, and the advent of a U.K. mobile virtual network operator offering free wireless calls in exchange for viewing ads.
Both developments offer new avenues for brands seeking to use mobile as an advertising channel. According to Maria Mandel, executive director of digital innovation for OgilvyInteractive, one of the current barriers to wider use of mobile marketing is the high demand for and limited supply of advertising opportunities.
Fox Interactive Media said that several of its mobile sites will have ad-supported access, including IGM, FoxSports.com, AskMen and movie review site RottenTomatoes. com. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp., which purchased MySpace last year for $580 million-and the popular social networking site was at the center of the announcement, with a beta service that Fox said marks “the first time that FIM has delivered an advertising solution to marketers looking to reach Internet users on mobile devices.”
The MySpace content, tools and services that will now be available free with ad support were previously only available to paid subscribers. Fox called the ad-supported model a complement to services such as those offered by Helio L.L.C., AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA Inc., which is in the process of a multi-week rollout of MySpace Mobile for its Sidekick iD and Sidekick 3 users.
“An ad-supported MySpace offering is a major component of our mobile monetization strategy, and we look forward to broadly offering this industry-leading rollout to advertisers,” said Amit Kapur, VP of business development for MySpace.
Hitting the target
With traditional advertising venues becoming increasingly fragmented, recent research from M:Metrics and AdMob concluded that “mobile advertising effectively reaches the most desirable, most elusive media consumers-18-to 34-year-olds.
The study, based on data from more than 2,000 mobile sites in the third quarter of this year, found that sites are attracting their target demographics successfully, with numerous sites that target African Americans having more than 50% of their audience in that demographic, when they make up only about 6.3% of the mobile population. Similar results were found for sites that target woman and Hispanics.
The research found that the majority of AdMob’s channel audience composition, or more than 65%, fell into the highly sought-after 18-to-34-years-old demographic.
Despite evidence that mobile can effectively target desirable demographics, Mandel said that the bottleneck of advertising opportunities has led to a relatively high cost-per-potential-customer for mobile marketing compared to other channels-and the perception among advertisers that mobile is a less efficient channel. However, Mandel said, when coupled with the high response and high breakthrough factor of mobile, the channel actually is quite efficient.
She cited the example of a recent OgilvyInteractive campaign for DHL, which consisted of offering a Tetris-like, box-stacking game for download via a shortcode that was promoted in places like bus stops and taxi cabs. The game was so popular that DHL saw a 10% pass-along rate as people shared the game with friends, Mandel said, and the fact that the application resided on users’ phones provided ongoing engagement with the branded game.
Spreading the word
Andy Miller, CEO of mobile advertising start-up Quattro Wireless, said that moves by large companies such as Fox Interactive in providing new advertising opportunities reflects the phenomenal interest in mobile advertising and improves education about the importance of the mobile channel in marketing.
“I think the more choices, the better,” Miller said. “Now an agency can really dedicate some resources to mobile, period-not just to throw in, but . part of the 360 [degree] buying package-carrier decks, mobile search, and off-deck sites. There’s enough reach now to make sense.”
As consumer behavior catches up with technology, marketing will be able to spread further beyond text messaging, which is the main channel now for mass marketing since it is more widely used than mobile Internet browsing.
According to a study released earlier this year by the Online Publishers Association, 71% of U.S. wireless users have the ability to access the mobile Web-but only about 41% of them actually do. Mandel pegged usage at closer to 15%.
Mobile ads = free calling
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom-which had wireless penetration of 77% and usage of 31%, according to the OPA-mobile virtual network operator Blyk recently launched operations. The invitation-only MVNO targets youth between the ages of 16 to 24 years old and said it had more than 40 brands signed up at launch. The company offers 217 free SMS and 43 free voice minutes each month.
Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. offers a similar service, Sugar Mama, that lets users earn credits toward free calls by opting in to watch ads, receive text messages or fill out surveys.
Mandel said that in focus groups she had observed, youths seemed to be interested in the possibility of ad-supported wireless service and that combining mobile’s targeting capabilities and an audience that has identified itself as interested in receiving ads was potentially powerful.
“You would think they’re just going it to get the free texts or the free downloads, but it’s interesting because teens are really open. If you can really use the targeting capabilities to get the right message in front of the right teen, it can be an effective media channel,” Mandel said.
