Jul 1, 2009 (2 days ago) IAB Study Finds Mobile Ads Increase Brand Awareness

A research study from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and research company Brand Driver, in conjunction with Kit Kat, has found that mobile display advertising can increase brand awareness and recognition.

The UK’s first publicly available mobile brand study to cover effectiveness across a range of mobile properties used a sample of 600 mobile Internet users. Respondents were exposed to banner ads for FMCG brand Kit Kat across four major mobile sites – Orange World, O2 Active, Planet 3 and Heatworld - which promoted free downloads or the chance to win an ipod.
Respondents who clicked on the ads were sent to the relevant page within the Kit Kat mobile Internet site, where they could enter the competition or download free mobile games or wallpapers.

The results of the study have formed the basis for a new set of five IAB guidelines, designed to increase the effectiveness of mobile ad campaigns:

1. Use mobile to raise awareness
The mobile ad campaign had a positive impact on raising awareness of the brand, with a 36% increase in spontaneous awareness levels of Kit Kat and 267% increase in first mention - people spontaneously mentioning Kit Kat before any other brands. Furthermore, 76% of those who had clicked on any Kit Kat banner ads said they would be likely to buy the product.

2. Mobile advertising can be effective across all demographics, but especially 18-34s
The campaign resulted in uplifts across all age groups, and for both men and women. The results were most impressive though among 18-34 year olds. Spontaneous awareness increased by 50% compared to a 21% increase for 35-44 year olds.

3. Brands and mobile Internet sites should put the user experience first
The research found that the context of mobile advertising is extremely important. People that enjoyed the site they were surfing were 76% more likely to recognise the ad. Heavy mobile Internet users were also more receptive to the advertising, and were 80% more like to recall the ad..

4. Mobile display advertising needs a clear focus
The mobile campaign improved perceptions of Kit Kat across all statements asked, particularly “is a product perfect for a break” but the uplift amongst some of the other statements was minor. This means with just one banner creative, you are unlikely to change a vast array of brand metrics, therefore the creative needs to be focused and streamlined according to what you want to achieve.

5. Mobile is more effective when something of value offered
One in four people who saw the Kit Kat banner ad clicked through to the mobile site. Of those who clicked through, 43% had done so because of the competition to win a free iPod. 51% of respondents said they were more likely to interact with mobile advertising if something was offered to them. The results also highlighted the need for mobile creative to be eye-catching and engaging: 41% of respondents who clicked through were simply interested in the advertising.

The research also looked at general attitudes and mobile Internet behaviours. In terms of attitudes to mobile Internet advertising, 72% of respondents expect the amount of advertising on mobile sites to increase over the next couple of years, and 53% would be happy to receive advertising in return for free content.

According to the first IAB-PricewaterhouseCoopers study of mobile ad revenues, expenditure on mobile advertising in the UK exceeded market expectation in 2008 to reach a total of £28.6 million. The market doubled in size on a like for like basis in 2008, increasing by 99.2% year on year.

“Mobile advertising is still in its infancy and consumers are yet to be fully sold on it because marketers need to learn the emerging rules of engagement,” says IAB Head of Mobile, Jon Mew. “What the Kit Kat research tells us is that most effective mobile campaigns follow five simple steps, and we hope that publishing these basic guidelines will help accelerate investment in the medium.”

The last glimpse of Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson’s rehearsal with his dancers on 23rd June, just two days before he died. It would had been a great performance. Tribute to the King of Pop.

Free Mobile Marketing Supplement in The Times

Check out and enjoy this nice-shiny 16-page supplement on mobile marketing here. It’s been produced by Raconteur Media, and Mobile Marketing Mag Editor David Murphy who has been closely involved as an editorial consultant on the project, writing a couple of pieces, advising on content, and generally trying to make the thing as useful as possible to anyone picking it up who can’t quite get their head around what mobile marketing is.

iPhone takes 11 per cent of 1Q09 smartphone sales

Apple sold 3.9 million handsets during the quarter to more than double its market share, says Gartner. Smartphone sales hit 36.4 million units in 1Q09, representing a 12.7 per cent increase from 12 months earlier.

In fact, smartphone sales represented 13.5 per cent of all mobile device sales in 1Q09, compared with 11 per cent in 1Q08.

Gartner attributes the trend to good sales at Research In Motion and Apple, with the latter more than doubling its market share from 5.3 per cent to 10.8 per cent.

This means Apple is now the third-ranked smartphone manufacturer by volume.

Nokia continues to boss the market, however, with a 41.2 per cent share from nearly 14 million units sold.

This compares to 14.6 million units and a 45.1 per cent share in 1Q08.

Symbian accounted for 49.3 per cent of worldwide smartphone operating systems (OS) market share in 1Q09, down from 56.9 per cent a year earlier.

The full 1Q09 global smartphone rankings are as follows:

Company, Sales (units 000), Share (%)
Nokia, 14,991.2, 41.2
Research In Motion, 7,233.6, 19.9
Apple, 3,938.8, 10.8
HTC, 1,957.3, 5.4
Fujitsu, 1,387.0, 3.8
Others, 6,896.4, 18.8

Source: Gartner

Dell earns $3m from Twitter

Computing giant converts tweets into sales at a relatively modest level. The £3 million revenue has been accrued in the two years since Dell began using Twitter, with $1 million of that figure coming in the last six months.

Of course, Twitter is not charging businesses for use of its microblogging network as a sales channel yet, but is expected to do so at some point in the future.

As such, Dell has been tracking the leads it generates from its Twitter posts (six-10 a week to @DellOutlet, half containing exclusive deals) using its own software.

Data now 25 percent of mobile operator revenues

Close to 40 percent of all worldwide mobile operators saw their revenues fall in the first quarter of 2009, compared to just 16 percent in the same period of 2008, according to a new report released by market research firm Strategy Analytics. In addition, mobile service revenues increased just 3 percent in Q1 2009, compared to 8 percent a year earlier. Strategy Analytics notes that shrinking revenue growth is not a problem limited to mature, saturated markets--25 percent of operators in emerging markets also suffered declining revenue growth in Q1. In the U.S., service revenues grew 3 percent in the first quarter to $163 billion, but service revenues fell 1.3 percent in Western Europe, following a 0.5 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Mobile data revenues increased 17 percent in the first quarter and now represent 25.3 percent of total operator revenues, up 21.9 percent year-over-year and a 24 percent increase over Q4 2008. Data ARPU grew 3.6 percent on a global basis and increased 23 percent in North America but fell 7 percent in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the limited number of operators reporting detail, Strategy Analytics reports that messaging services declined to 53 percent of data ARPUs in Q1, down from 57 percent in 2008--based on the limited number of operators reporting detail, Strategy Analytics notes that messaging revenues declined to 53 percent of data ARPUs, down from 57 percent in 2008. Non-messaging data ARPUs increased by 11 percent annually.

98 percent of iPhone owners use mobile data

There are now 6.4 million active iPhone users in the U.S. according to media research firm Nielsen, and 98 percent of them have embraced the Apple smartphone's data features. Nielsen reports that iPhone users in the U.S. totaled 4.3 million in April 2008, and forecasts that the pending release of a $99 8 GB version should negate consumer cost concerns that have limited the overall size of the iPhone audience.

Existing iPhone users are nevertheless highly coveted by mobile marketers. Nielsen notes that 40 percent boast household incomes of $100,000 or more, compared to 19 percent of all U.S. wireless subscribers. In addition, iPhone users are age-diverse, with the 55-and-older segment roughly equal to the 13-to-24 category.

China Mobile targets residential voice with TD-SCDMA

China Mobile is using its new TD-SCDMA network to offer cut-price fixed-line voice services to residential customers.

The mobile giant, which does not have a wireline business, is undercutting China Telecom and Unicom with its new service in Beijing and Shanghai.

Shanghai Mobile charges a monthly base fee of 16 yuan ($2.34) that includes 50 minutes of local call time, TD fixed-wireless phones use 11-digit phone numbers like mobile numbers with a "188" prefix. For additional use, the carrier charges 0.22 yuan ($0.03) for the first three minutes and 0.11 yuan ($0.02) per minute for extra time. Incoming calls are free of charge.

The phone that looks like a normal wireline phone can be used to send text messages at the cost of 0.10 yuan ($0.01) per message.

Families that sign an 18-month contract and commit to spend at least 88 yuan ($12.88) per month on their wireless phone bills can have the TD fixed-wireless phone free of charge. The phone is not available for sale otherwise.

Beijing Mobile is also selling a TD fixed-wireless phone service, offering 50 minutes of local call time in a monthly base fee of 10 yuan ($1.46) and charges 0.12 yuan ($0.02) per minute for additional use. Subscribers need to pay 20 yuan ($2.93) for the SIM card and can have the first month's base fee waived.

The monthly base fees for both China Telecom's and China Unicom's wireless voice services are higher and do not include any free minutes.

China Telecom, the main fixed-line operator in Shanghai, charges a monthly base fee of 25 yuan while China Unicom charges 21.6 yuan in Beijing. Their standard rate for local calls is 0.22 yuan for the first three minutes and 0.11 yuan for each additional minute.

China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network, the country’s first 3G network, has struggled to find customers since formally launching early this year.