Mobile Users Would Watch Ads to Get Free Content

Some 88% of mobile users in the UK are willing to receive pre-roll mobile ads in return for free video content, according to 4th Screen Advertising’s Adlndex for Mobile research, conducted by Dynamic Logic.

Mobile pre-roll ads, which ran on O2 Active, are “attention grabbing” and increase brand recognition and favorable opinions of advertisers, the six-week study found.

Some 59% of participants said the mobile ads made them more interested in the advertised brand, and 62% said the ads gave a good impression of the brands being advertised.

Other findings:

• Participants seem happy to view pre-rolls ads, provided the advertising is matched appropriately to the video content.
• Overall response to pre-roll ads on mobile phones is very positive, particularly among a young male audience, considered to be early adopters.
• Video content that accompanies the pre-roll ads is important in determining the effectiveness of the advertising, demonstrating that people who enjoyed the content are more likely to respond positively to the accompanying advertising.
• Respondents seem to be happy with the trade-off of watching a mobile pre-roll ad in exchange for free video content, especially males and the younger audience. Some 88% said they were happy to have video ads if it meant they could watch free video.

“It is essential for us as a business and an industry to understand the power of mobile advertising to deliver brand awareness in the UK marketplace, hence the commissioning of Dynamic Logic to research the effectiveness across a broad customer demographic on O2 Active,” said Mark Slade, managing director of 4th Screen Advertising.

About the survey: The survey of UK mobile users ran from March 31 to May 9, 2008 to evaluate the effectiveness of pre-roll mobile ads on O2 Active across a sample of 600 men and women age 16 and older. Brands such as Citroen and LG ran 15 second pre-roll ads using age and gender targeting.