This blog will reflect on how mobiles are not used in the same way they were used in the early 1990’s such as texting and calling others. They have become devices from which advertisers can target products, brands or services to consumers on the go. This leads onto an additional topic of privacy which ties in with advertising on mobile phones.
“The future of advertising is bright, the future is digital, but new ideas are constantly emerging”
Tibbs,2010
Mobile advertising expenditure in 2010 was worth £83million with an increase of spending by 116% from 2009 (iab, 2011) . Mobile² (2010) predicts an increase in mobile advertising spend in 2011. Nick Lane, the chief strategy analyst at Mobile², further investigated mobile advertising from March to April (2011). Over 46 companies took part including Mediavest, Mindshare and Ogilvy with results collected “independently from mobile” (Lane, 2011). One interesting result is highlighted in the pie chart.
As you can see from the pie chart, a large 30% of agencies suppose 32.6% of their clients’ campaigns will embrace mobile technology to enable communication of an advertising message to potential consumers.
Furthermore,it is “common for businesses to invest their traditional advertising in campaigns to promote online activity” (Tibbs, 2010 p.68). This highlights the attractiveness of online communications. A mintel report from 2010 said that an advantage for using mobile advertising is that it allows a brand to be in touch with young consumers which limits its audience appeal for advertising. The report also states that around 23% of internet users access the internet through their mobile phones which is appealing for mobile advertisers.
Lovestruck.com
Lovestruck.com is a leading dating website in London which uses mobile communications. They had a geographically targeted campaign focusing just on users in London which I found clever.
Lovestruck.com wanted to increase the number of people interested in their service in London so they introduced a free iPhone application:
B.Harding (2011), the managing director of Lovestruck.com, stated that at the beginning of the year, “mobile marketing wasn’t even on our radar” and is “now our most important route to market” this is because the return on investment is very rewarding. Due to the success of mobile advertising, Lovestruck.com’s advertising now accounts for 40% of its marketing budget showing how successful mobiles can be in creating awareness for brands.
Unilever and mobiles
Over the past three years Unilever have indulged in mobile marketing in order to communicate their messages to potential consumers and raise brand awareness. They have done this with brands such as Axe deodorant, Clear shampoo and Omo washing powder.
Jay Altschuler, the communications planning director at Unilever, talks about how Unilever, a traditional brand, has become more modern by taking on mobile communications. He says that there are three ways in which Unilever has tried to modernise itself;
1) People must live in the space and engage with this new technological advancement.
2) Reframe what they think about media
3) Instead of having it from a marketing perspective Unilever has it from a consumer perspective “putting consumers at the centre”.
This is all very exciting and emphasises how Unilever are determined to keep up with their consumers’ lifestyles. Cappo (2003) believes that media decision makers need to find the right frame of mind rather than burst out campaigns on media platforms where consumers pay little attention and mobile is one way to do so.
Privacy on your mobile?
Advertising through people’s mobile phones can be viewed as an invasion of their personal possessions. Mobile advertising would be in your pocket following you around wherever you go. Will such advertising be able to track more than your information you place online? Will companies have the ability to know where you are shopping or going out using GPS signals on your mobile to directly target consumers at point of sale? This is a scary thought, yet who knows what the future will bring. Technological advancements are of the essence, consumers want more and more when will we reach a peak?
To express such change, in 1987 “phones were a rarity and a luxury” (Cooper,1997,p.35). On the other hand, today, Altschuler (2011) talks about “Nomobphobia”, the new coined phrase relating to when people get anxious when they are not with their phone. He adds there is not any other media which has this sort of power and believe this can help Unilever follow its consumers. Altschuler sees using mobile phones as a way of “being passionate” to consumers as it takes their interests into consideration yet some people may find this invasive.
The future
“Consistency and tone of voice are vital components to all marketing communications” (Tibbs, 2010 p. 69) this needs to be taken into consideration when implementing mobile advertising into a campaign. This can be difficult to achieve through such devices due to this innovative nature of advertising. Companies need to embrace this exciting medium in today’s society to modernise themselves and keep up with consumer trends, especially as more people own mobiles due to the economy moving out of the recession (Mintel, 2010)
In conclusion, mobile advertising is original and personal; adding more meaning to the advertising message as if it is just for that individual like their text messages. In agreement, Altschuler (2011) believes that people are spending the majority of the time with their mobiles as its personal to them. I think mobile advertising will escalate and become a great advertising platform to reach young consumers. People have a relationship with their phone that they do not have with any other channel providing great opportunities for advertisers.
References
· Cappo, J., 2003. The future of advertsing. London: McGraw-Hill
· Cooper. A., 1997. How to plan advertising. 2nd ed, London: Cassell
· Harding. B., 2010. Dating site targets love-seekers by city location on mobile, London: Google. Available from: http://www.iabuk.net/media/images/Lovestruck_7859.pdf [Accessed 12 April 2011]
· Internet Advertising Bureau (iab)., 2011. Mobile advertising research, London: Addvantage Media. Available from: http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/mobileresearch.html [Accessed 16 April 2011]
· Lovestruck.com., 2011. Lovestruck.com where busy people click, London: Lovestruck.com. Available from: http://www.lovestruck.com/london/ [Accessed 15 April 2011]
· Mintel., September 2010. Digital trends Autumn. London: Mintel Group. Available from: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=479889/display/id=545914#hit1 [Accessed 14 April 2011]
· Murphy. D., 2011. Unilever Talks Mobile, London: Dot Media Ltd. Available from: http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/content/unilever-talks-mobile [Accessed 16 April 2011]
· Tibbs. A., 2010. Advertsing its business, culture and careers. London: Routledge
Pie Chart reference
· Lane. N., 2011. Key developments in mobile advertising. United Kingdom: Mobile². Available from: http://www.strikead.com/storage/Key%20Developments.pdf [Accessed 15 April 2011]
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