Mobile Advertising Set To Soar ? Yes, But What Is The Engine For Growth

First published via Gerson Lehrman Group 17.Nov.2009
Mobile advertising is set to soar but only if all mobile channels are used and the combination of enabling technology, analytics and advertiser mindset is focused on identifying the exact context of the consumer before ads are served.

Even with all of the hype surrounding mobile advertising, it is starting from a relatively low base. The IAB reports 2008 UK spend on mobile advertising at just ₤28.6M, which itself represented a growth of 90% on the previous year. A 100% year-on-year growth is not too difficult to predict when 2009 figures are reported. Google’s recent acquisition of AdMob will certainly add to this rate of growth during 2010 as brands, advertisers and agencies leverage what is a huge endorsement of the mobile advertising industry.

That the project to determine an accurate method to measure mobile web traffic might somehow have a major impact on the industry is questionable. Whilst the GSMA working in collaboration with the UK’s big five operators to achieve this was the right way to go, the results are late. The GSMA are behind the curve on this after all, the lack of metrics has not stopped AdMob from serving billions of mobile ad impressions. Further more other specialist companies such as Bango for example, are already providing such tools.

But what about the rest of the advertising industry and their involvement in the mobile web? For the brands, advertisers and agencies involved, focusing on the mobile web as the growth engine for mobile advertising is wrong. The tendency is still to treat the mobile web as a scaled down version of the internet. Mobile’s smaller screen and personal nature mean that it needs to be treated much more preciously that that. Ads served on the basis of what a consumer is browsing or what they are searching for will be hit-and-miss without tools that can accurately determine the context of the mobile consumers. Serving incorrectly targeted ads, even to consumers that have ‘opted-in’, will do much to damage brand values. The location, time of day and personal preferences of the consumer are key elements of that context and once it is available, there might be other more appropriate channels over which to advertise. SMS, MMS, mobile video and mobile apps all support advertising.

Ultimately growth in mobile advertising will be rapid but it will come from being able to address consumers across any one of, or combination of all, the mobile channels available and will be driven by a deep understanding of the mobile consumer's context not just by the mobile web.

Also posted on mobile-flow.blogspot.com