New insights into mobile ads
Given the uniquely personal nature of the consumers' relationships with their mobile devices, mobile advertising, at least in theory, would seem to be the ideal medium for uniquely personal targeting. In practice, mobile advertising has lacked one fundamental catalyst compared to its online counterpart: the ability to collect and aggregate relevant anonymous behavioral data in a scalable way. But that's changing.
The holy grail for online and mobile advertising is the abilty to collect and aggregate relevant anonymous behavioural data in a meaningful and scaleable way.
The key to mobile targeting is cookie handling and most mobile browsers aren't turned on.
Mediacells device capability metrics on over 1800 global, in-use devices shows that although 37% of all devices in use, globally, have cookie capabilities, there is less than 1% of them, which have cookies turned on at the factory. This is, of course, the kiss of death to cookie enabling. If the advertiser has to rely on consumers to turn cookies on, he may as well go back to the interactive drawing board.
The alternative has long been the coveted customer information possessed by carriers and which is not shared with third parties, easily, or indeed, legally. Mediacells research into mobile advertising innovation shows that in lieu of any comprehensive, scaleable info advertising platform companies are attempting develop cookies on the server side.
This works by identifing users by device and identifing their device as they enter a site on our publisher network. From there advertising admin staf can aggregate information and create a behavioral profile based on a variety of criteria.
This proactive approach to behavioural tracking favourably brings the three main online advertising measurement components to the mobile sphere
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telling them who users are
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what they do in real time
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what ads they like most
Another key component to an effective advertising campaign is the ability to track the multiplicity of devices out there. This is related to the whole area of mobile creative and which potential ad units to deploy.
Mediacells has identified a potential maximum of 27 different kinds of creative treatment which would optimise the customer experience and at the same time take an automated, timesaving batch process to produce, per campaign.
The Mediacells metrics tell us that the future of mobile advertising is in the quality of relevant, targetable information, which mobile web behaviour can foster through intelligent agents and Web 2.0. These are effectively the new enablers which not only return links about a web-search subject, but are more keenly designed to find answers based on an evolving understanding of what mobile user interests are. The agent actually learns the decision-making process of its user.
Yahoo! announces behaviour-based SmartAds
Yahoo! claims to have invented an advertising technology which epitomises the blending of brand and direct response advertising.
The technology allows advertisers to target their message and creative on-the-fly and triggered by online user behaviour.
Agencies can now design a set of individual rich-media creative assets and a database of campaign messages, which can then let the technology assemble on-the-fly combinations. The implications and applications for the mobile space are imminent.
Behaviour is defined by cookie-based data and info aggregated from Yahoo members' sign-in logs.
Third Screen Media and Nielsen all agree mobile web is the way forward
Third Screen announce 37.7 million monthly wap unique users on its network.
Nielsen Wireless, meanwhile, estimates that by the first quarter of 2007 more than 33 million users over 12 years old used mobile Web, and more than 8 million over 12-year-olds have viewed some Internet video on their mobile phone.
Nielsen goes on to say that 55% of primary users of video-enabled mobile phones lived in households with total incomes of $75,000 or above.
Week beginning June 18, 2007
McDonald's resolves SMS promo outcry
After McDonalds were slammed by MMA et al for not offering an unsubscribe service on mobile for its new daily SMS menu service, upselling its Toasted Deli range - the fast food chain has now added a mobile unsubscribe mechanic to the sms promotion.
Three ramp up paid content play
Three announce 6M streams of video content to 600k users and its commercial team is using its relationship with sale house and agency Rhythm Media to proactively sell ad inventory to fund content.
T-Mobile move into ad-funded music vids
T-Mobile announce plans to introduce ad-funded music videos to the operator's inventory, paving the way to all forms of rich media content being available for advertisers to fund on the network.
Marvelous Mobile acquistion
Marvelous Mobile were acquired by Aegis in a deal worth an estimated £10m. Marvelous launched the infamous FCUK mobile campaign with the first ever branded shortcode 8FCUK
BBC commercial arm to expand reach
BBC Worldwide announce plans to broaden mobile rights and distribution partnerships but no mention of the politically BBC-sensitive word 'advertising' as yet
Sky announce pre-roll plans
Sky announces 15 second pre-rolls for September across Sky News online with pre roll timings being finalised for mobile within a similar timeframes for the new FAPL season
Vodafone announce GBP16 million ad spend
Vodafone announced and activate their GBP16m 'Make the Most of Now' advertising campaign to promote their mobile internet service provider proposition with a flat rate data tariff.
Week beginning June 11, 2007
Vodafone repositions itself as mobile internet provider
Vodafone repositions itself as 'mobile internet provider' (07/06/2007) The new and distinct commercial message will be underpinned by an integrated multi-million-EURO marketing campaign, starting in the UK and Germany. BBH, OMD and Dare will be orchestrating the campaign.
UK ad networks set to move into mobile
Unanimis, Adiva, MediaRun, Ad-2-One are all set to move into mobile to varying degrees of sophistication and completion.
Cannons health clubs announce mobile marketing initiative
Incentivated, the mobile marketing agency, to create a mobile and email marketing campaign, in a bid to recruit new members and win back former members. Membership promotions, added value services and operational information, such as appointment reminders, will be sent to potential customers via SMS and email channels.
Week beginning June 4, 2007
We own the mobile content, we own the mobile inventory, says C4
Channel 4 attempts to control selling around its mobile video content to selected operators excluding 3. Ford, Heat and film studios are among the advertisers being secured. Pot Noodle and Domino's also expected to fund the content.
T-Mobile's mobile TV service launches with channel partners
T-Mobile will launch its new mobile TV service with Channel 4, ITN, MTV, Eurosport, Nickelodeon All existing consumers are able to access the TV service on a 24-hour basis for �1 until 1 July, after which daily and monthly subscription packages will come into effect. No ads at launch. BBC and Sky are reportedly in discussions to add their content to the service. A 24 hour Big Brother channel is helping to launch the service along with additional services from Paramount
Sony BMG hires Ad2One for mobile advertising account
Ad2One will sell across dedicated mobile sites including those for the label's artists Justin Timberlake, Pink and Westlife. Sony BMG also represents Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera and Judas Priest.
Bertozzi appointed to head of digital role at ZenithOptimedia
Marco Bertozzi, marketing and new-business director at ZenithOptimedia, has been promoted to the role of head of digital in the UK.
Top brands to use Nokia mobile gizzmo
BBC, Ebay, Wikipedia all look likely to reach 1m users by setting up a download that mobilizes content for selected bigbrand websites - it must be a worrying sign for Mobizine companies, who base their business model on proprietary downloadable applications for publishers www.widsets.com.
Week beginning May 28, 2007
Mobile advertising committee zones in on standards
The GSM Association (GMSA) has launched a Mobile Advertising programme to create its first set of mobile ad standards - could be worth Turner getting in there at an early stage to represent the interests of the media owner and is the best qualified to do so, given the proactivity so far in mobile advertising.
ITV announce 20k hours of made for mobile TV
ITV is making all its channels available to view live via mobile phone to bolster its falling TV advertising revenue. It is understood the mobile offering will also allow viewers to access any ITV show broadcast within the previous 30 days, as well as an archive comprising 20,000 hours of programming.
Microsoft and Orange have Screentonic in common
Microsoft's purchase of Screentonic is made all the more intriguing because Screentonic is an ad support partner with Orange Group.
Mobile internet disconnect between Telephia and M:Metrics
Telephia and ComScore say only 5.7 million people in UK surfed mobile web in January 2007 this flies in face of M:Metrics study which reckons 44.8% of active users access news info at least once a week from the 89.9% of the population that have a phone with mobile internet.
Week beginning May 21, 2007
BBC World put on 10 million viewers in latest BBC global audit
The BBC announce combined audience figures* for its international news outlets rose to a record 233 million in 2006 BBC World 76m up 10 m on 2005
Pizza to go on Sky Mobile TV
Goodfella's has signed up as the first brand advertiser on Sky Mobile TV as part of a �3m partnership with the broadcaster to promote Goodfella's Solos, its pizza brand for 'single snackers'.
GMTV sacks Opera
GMTV sack Opera Interactive after discovering �irregularities� in the premium rate phone service company
Orange signs up TV Guide
Orange's new online ad network Orange Ad Network signs two year deal to sell space on TVGuide.co.uk, the UK's second largest TV listings website