Mobile Brand Advertising Readies for Takeoff, Direct Already on Its Way

October 19, 2007

This article is included in these additional categories:

Brand Metrics | Creative & Formats | Data-driven | Personalization | Retail & E-Commerce | Telecom

Many of the pieces are in place for mobile brand advertising to start scaling up, according to eMarketer’s “Mobile Brand Advertising” report, which projects that worldwide mobile brand advertising will increase to $3.6 billion in 2011 – nearly 30 times more than the mere $124 million in 2006.

Shortcuts to charts/tables referenced in this article:

Also according to eMarketer’s forecast:

During the forecast period, mobile direct marketing is projected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2006 to $16 billion.
In 2007, mobile brand marketing spend – $277 million – is expected to constitute just 10% of total mobile ad spending, which is projected to reach nearly $2.8 billion.
By the end of the forecast period, mobile brand ad spend – nearly $3.6 billion – is expected to make up 22% of total mobile ad spend.
Total mobile ad spending is projected to grow from nearly $2.8 billion in 2007 to nearly $5.0 billion in 2008 (79% year-over-year [YOY] growth) and $7.5 billion in 2009 (51% YOY growth).

Among the factors driving the growth is that mobile text messaging has become more or less a mass-market service worldwide; mobile music is also climbing the rungs of the mass-market ladder; and, most important, there are mobile-centric tribes of users in both advanced and developing economies, where the mobile screen is the first place where marketers can reach them, according to eMarketer.

However, mobile marketing campaigns need to be relevant and hiccup-free so that they don’t turn off consumers sensitive to ad exposure, according to John du Pre Gauntt, senior analyst at eMarketer.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a Maritz Research survey of Gen Y consumers said they were unlikely or definitely unlikely to subscribe to text retail offers sent to their handsets.Â Moreover, a fullÂ 84% of mobile users in an Ingenio survey conducted by Harris Interactive said text messages sent by companies would be unacceptable: