The Slow but Steady Rise of Mobile Advertising

Wireless Services - U.S.

Consumer Services

COMPLIMENTARY ADVISORY REPORTS

The Slow but Steady Rise
of Mobile Advertising

As carriers and content providers reel under recent developments such as open networks and handset-based application storefronts which threaten to create a severe dent on subscription-based revenues, mobile advertising is increasingly being viewed as a savior that can help make good on these losses. They realize that the cost burden can now be shifted from the consumer’s shoulders to that of the marketer’s, in return for hosting advertisements on their application/decks and also create additional revenue streams via profit sharing deals in the event of successful mobile transactions.

In a series of Advisory Reports, Current Analysis Senior Analyst for Wireless Services, Deepa Karthikeyan, looks at the slow and steady growth of mobile advertising, outlines the key aggregators, elaborates upon the critical ingredients they offer, and ranks the players on a competitive positioning matrix according to four critical parameters.

The Slow but Steady Rise of Mobile Advertising
Mobile advertising received a boost in late 2007 with the launch of mobile advertising networks and Internet corporations joining the fray. The industry should, however, standardize the blueprint to enable this prototype to reach its zenith.
Click here to download report (260KB PDF)

A Look at the Key Players in the Mobile Advertising Space
As with any new medium, the mobile advertising space is very fluid which has led to the rise of several marketing aggregators to help publishers and advertisers create a successful campaign. This report analyzes the services of these middlemen. Click here to read report summary.

Assessing the Key Players in the Mobile Advertising Space
As mobile advertising aggregators crowd the ecosystem with promises to enhance marketing strategies, it is critical to assess their capabilities to match requirements. This report simplifies the process by ranking them on predefined parameters. Click here to read report summary.

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A Look at the Key Players in the Mobile Advertising Space
Summary

As the recession compels advertisers to tighten their purse strings and look for media that will grant them a higher ROI, an increasing number of them are beginning to mull over the benefits of adding a wireless component to their promotional campaigns. As discussed in the previous mobile marketing report (see "The Slow but Steady Rise of Mobile Advertising"), this medium promises a high level of targeting and offers the ability to reach the consumer at the right place and right time - a crucial factor for relevancy. For wireless carriers, mobile advertising is an excellent means to leverage their resources and earn additional revenue via profit sharing deals with marketers. Mobile advertising further allows publishers and content providers to transfer the cost burden of their services to the advertiser which should help with traction and recent Current Analysis research indicates that wireless consumers are willing to view advertisements on their cell phones provided they are tailored to their tastes and they are rewarded for their time in the form of free downloadable content or coupons.

So if mobile marketing appears to be a good solution for all related parties, why has it not exploded onto the wireless space?

The main challenge experienced by mobile advertisers today is the lack of a proper system, as presently too many companies are involved in the process of creating a campaign, making the medium appear very cumbersome. As with any new platform, best practices and standards are still being established forcing wary marketers to wait this option out. It is at this junction where mobile marketing aggregators can help hasten the adoption process. These third-party companies exist primarily to act as a liaison between publishers, advertisers and carriers and have the requisite experience and technology that promises to help fill the holes. However, it's crucial for marketers to partner with an aggregator that fits the goals and requirements of their campaign well, which can be quite stringent due to the personal nature of this medium. This report helps break through the clutter by highlighting select mobile marketing aggregators that show promise and describes their business model and services offered. In the next installment of this series, we will analyze and rank these companies based on a few predetermined criteria.


Assessing the Key Players in the Mobile Advertising Space
Summary

In a previous report (see "A Look at the Key Players in the Mobile Advertising Space"), we outlined key aggregators and elaborated upon the critical ingredients offered by them for success in the upcoming mobile marketing space. As discussed in that report, these entities exist to ease the process for marketers and content providers by providing them with solutions that range from creating mobile Web pages to offering targeting and tracking tools to help them increase their reach. However, with the ever–increasing number of middlemen in the market today and with the channel far from being mature, it is imperative for advertisers to assess their goals and form a clear strategy regarding the role of mobile advertising in their overall marketing plan – whether it is to add an element of interaction to static medium like print or to go ahead and create a full fledged mobile marketing component for their products/services. Based on this assessment, the involved parties should take time to analyze the benefits offered by each aggregator and pick the one that best suits their requirements.

So how do the various marketing aggregators discussed in the last report, namely AdMob, Google Mobile, Third Screen Media, Yahoo! Mobile and Amobee stack up as they attempt to position themselves as partners for helping marketers and contents providers with their mobile marketing ambitions? To answer this question, we‘ve created a competitive positioning matrix that ranks these players on four critical parameters: 1) targeting - which takes advantage of the personal and mobile nature of the device; 2) tracking capabilities - critical for granular user profile development which in turn enables fine-tuning the marketing message; 3) flexibility to marketers and publishers - allowing liberties like the ability to set budget limits or support multiple formats; and lastly 4) carrier/handset partnerships - which provides a snapshot of the reach and traction gained by the aggregators.

The matrix operationalizes the positioning statements, claims and product portfolios of each aggregator to create a base-level comparison to rank the overall influence and impact of each company on the mobile advertising domain.