A Merry Mobile Christmas?

Dean Wilson, UK MD at Active International, says an end of year report card for mobile would read: ‘A’ for effort and enthusiasm but still a little unpredictable and inconsistent. Room to improve...

Like the resolution of the Eurozone financial crisis mobile advertising’s coming of age has had a series of false starts. Google’s recent purchase of AdMob and Motorola Mobility are signs of a market coming out of adolescence and into maturity. The single biggest reason for this tipping point is the rise of UK smartphone penetration. Originally introduced for the business market, UK consumers are rapidly embracing smartphones – totalling 50% of mobile consumers.

The smartphone for me is, to use a cliché, a gamechanger; 24/7 access to e-mails, twitter rants, angry birds and an app for anything and everything. I can store music, map my run, read, watch or listen to the news, schedule my Sky+ and shop.

In the last 12 months smartphones have overtaken PC sales for the first time ever with circa 20 million mobile internet users, outpacing online internet adoption. 38% of smartphone users access the mobile internet weekly and for half of these the mobile is the only device they use to access the internet. Fast forward four years and mobile advertising is forecast to account for 28% of total browsing, accelerated by the new kid on the block, the tablet.

With 98% of agencies now spending on mobile the question has changed from should we use mobile, to how should we use mobile. With 700 mobile formats; MMS, video, in-game advertising, plus the app attack (at last count 325,000 Apple apps, 90,000 ipad apps and another 250,000 for the Android market) there is danger of mobile mayhem. Mobile advertising is a personal medium, more pull than push, offering a rich and engaging consumer experience – a goldmine for brands. If the objective is reach – think browsing. If the objective is function – think apps.

One of the most interesting and exciting areas for mobile in the media mix is m-commerce. This is both personal (as a stereotypical man I shop twice a year, under duress, so the ability to shop on my mobile is like Blackpool winning the FA cup – unbelievable and very much wanted) and professional; the opportunities this opens up for advertisers and customer journeys are incredible. I am in good company, with 25% of UK consumer’s using their mobile browser while shopping for instant price comparisons and customer reviews. With a product sold via mobile every second, mobiles account for a fifth of all e-commerce traffic. By 2015 mobile spending will account for 9.5% of the total online ad market – a staggering 45% annual growth rate.

This anticipated growth is fuelled by the ability to be relevant and timely. Nearly two-thirds of UK consumers have experienced mobile marketing through offers, coupons and discount vouchers. Near Field Communication (NFC) is one of the most sophisticated advances in this area, geo-targeting of consumers within a few metres of stores. This is the holy grail of marketing – make it relevant, make it timely, make it personal. The next step is to make it easy, a strategy being adopted by Starbucks – who, from January, will see customers buy their grande extra shot decaf soy skinny latte using their iPhones.

M-commerce has the ability to make the customer journey easier, the experience richer and generate sales – not just a win-win situation but a triple win. This is a strategy retail marketers across the board are adopting; 8% of Top Shop and 10% of eBay’s purchases come from mobiles (globally eBay has seen 50 million downloads of its app!); Ocado has 12% of purchases made from mobiles; and the UK banking industry has one million active mobile users. As someone who is far too familiar with the in-flight dining of British Airways my “user friendly” mobile boarding pass is a living, breathing example of their mission “To Fly to Serve”.

The consumer appetite is clearly there, which begs the question – why have 70% of companies still not yet launched a mobile site? Some retailers are off the starting blocks but there are not enough in the race. Why?

It comes down to basics. Key in creating, filtering, executing and implementing a successful mobile advertising strategy is understanding – the biggest stumbling block, cited by 74% of respondents to a recent IAB survey. Once understood it takes time, effort and money to create and develop a user friendly and functional site for savvy consumers who have little tolerance for clunky or slow.

The end of year report card for mobile would read like the early stages of the internet – A for effort and enthusiasm but still a little unpredictable and inconsistent. Room to improve.

A Merry Mobile Christmas to you all.

Sources : Mobile Marketing magazine, MEF global Consumer Study, ComScore, IAB, Enders