Mobile Advertising

Hold The Phone! - Third Screen Media
October 2007

Mobile Advertising Technology Providers

In the first four installments of Third Screen Media’s byline series for The Messenger, we reviewed the mobile advertising ecosystem and three of the four working parts that are crucial to the market’s efficiency and success. First, we spoke with Matt Jones, director of mobile strategy and operations for Gannett Digital, to discuss the opportunities and challenges that face publishers in the mobile world. Then, we learned about the carriers and their unique position in the ecosystem through a Q&A with Richard Williams, the executive director of digital media operations for Verizon. And in the latest byline, we provided our perspective on technology providers and their essential function as the enabler of this ecosystem. In this final installment of the series, we’ll shift our focus over to the agencies—those making the decisions to bring advertising campaigns to the mobile platform.

The Need for Mobile Measurement
By Laura Marriott | May 31, 2007

To View the Direct Article, Please Click HERE.

Consumer acceptance will be paramount to increasing mobile marketing and advertising spend. And bringing additional marketing dollars into the mobile category is critical for growth for all industry players.

Today, the dollars for mobile marketing spend controlled by brand marketers might be characterized as "test and learn." Before allocating a more significant budget to mobile, brands require a deep understanding of:

• The role the medium plays in the overall mix
• Consumer acceptance of brand messaging
• Consistent guidelines and best practices to ensure rapid deployment across brands and geographies
• Evidence of effectiveness and value

As with the Internet, measurement will become a crucial element to quantify the mobile opportunity to drive brand involvement. But mobile works differently.

The mobile value chain presents a complex model for effective measurement, given the number of players involved and the necessary access to information that has historically been available in operator networks only. So what must we, as an industry, do to drive the brand spend and marketing effectiveness measures?

Define ad currencies. It's pretty simple when you think about it, but defining what we're measuring is the perfect place to start. In mobile, we have mobile Web, downloadables, mobile search, mobile video and television, and so forth, all of which must have a set of currencies on which to base measurement.

Define the currencies and sync with existing guidelines. Equally important is to define the ecosystem and each player's role.

Quantify elements for success. Once you have the currencies, define the success elements for mobile, allowing brand marketers to understand what works.

Measure the medium. Once you have all the tools in place, measure mobile's effectiveness in cross-media marketing communications initiatives (similar to the XMOS and ROMO studies conducted by Marketing Evolution). Determining what and how much to allocate to mobile is critically important to driving ongoing spend to the channel.

According to Tom Daly of Coca-Cola, measurement will be the next element to help a brand determine the right mobile spend and prioritize mobile against other media. What's important is gaining the input and leadership from the critical players in the ecosystem. And it will take the cooperation of all key constituents -- including professional organizations, leading brand marketers, content providers, and wireless operators -- to develop a measurement initiative that achieves the level of information brands require to move ahead with their mobile investments. Are you ready?

Hold The Phone! - Third Screen Media
May 2007

Mobile Advertising Technology Providers

In this edition of Third Screen Media’s ongoing byline series for The Messenger, we’ve opted to turn the attention to those folks behind the scenes that are delivering the necessary solutions and services to make mobile advertising a reality: the technology and its essential providers.

In our overview of the mobile advertising ecosystem, we’re looking across the value chain and highlighting each player’s offering and their relationship to each other.  We’ve already discussed the content providers — companies like <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />USA TODAY, MSNBC and The Weather Channel—who’ve come to mobile en masse to engage a swiftly growing wireless content audience and provide an extension of online and television programs and services. Next we spoke about the carriers, companies who play a unique role—one unseen in the world of traditional advertising, such as print, broadcast, and even the wired Web.

Ask any individual involved in mobile advertising and they’ll tell you that the next big growth surge in the industry hinges on the adoption of innovative technologies on the mobile platform, so it behooves us now to look at these integral players.  Technology providers and enablers are flocking to the mobile channel, whether new startups or companies that have made their mark on the wired Web. Even cell phone manufacturers—including Sweden’s cellphone giant Nokia—are getting in on the action, capitalizing on a market that is projected to reach $19 billion in just four years.

In order to understand technology’s vital role in the provision of advertising on cellphones, it’s important to note that the planning and buying process, whether online, television, radio or print, exists largely as a non-integrated effort, requiring separate solutions and agency arms to grapple with the complexities of each particular media type. And in the instance of the Internet, they’ve had years to tinker with the delivery of advertising with the introduction of each new technology.  Advertising buyers and sellers initially came together in a simple ecosystem with basic banner ads: no animation, no video, just a banner or text link with rudimentary measurability. Over time, the medium evolved into animated gifs, and eventually additional providers brought in an exciting new—and difficult—form of advertising: rich media, which grew to encompass in-page and streaming video.

The wireless ecosystem comes with added complexity, as it consists of more than just advertising buyers and sellers. An additional entity—the carrier—brings in an entirely new player into the advertising mix. Carriers are unique players on the platform, as they have moved beyond simply providing bandwidth. Carriers play a very active role and rightly so, as they have spent many hundreds of millions of dollars building extensive networks. Their customers, also numbering in the many millions, represent a very valuable consumer base—the recipients of targeted advertising.

And now, with the introduction of mobile advertising, there is a compelling opportunity to eliminate the separate media silos in mobile, integrate the planning and buying process, and reach consumers with interactive, innovative and creative advertising across the four mobile media types: video, WAP, downloadable applications and MMS. Enter the technology providers.

The wireless advertising ecosystem is faced with addressing multiple media format complexities while still in its infancy. Not only are four media types developing simultaneously, but tech savvy publishers, advertisers and agencies also expect immediate measurement and immediate integration. In short, they expect the ecosystem to learn in a short timeframe—a mere 12 months or so—what traditional and online advertising across multiple media formats had years to learn. With multiple screen sizes, resolution options and numerous device types, the mobile handset presents a world of management and delivery intricacies that call for a consolidated platform that simplifies the complexity of effective and efficient advertising across multiple mobile media types.

With each media type, the technology necessary for delivery is complex and unique. Solutions that consider the dynamics of each advertising campaign—and specific media type requirements—are now in place to address these complexities.

For now, WAP has become the de facto landing spot for many of the initial and most current mobile ad campaigns. While similar to the wired Web, WAP banner advertising is in many ways much more complex. With more than 1,600 cellphones to consider, each with its own coding and requirements, the role of the technology provider becomes paramount.

Mobile downloadable applications are one of the hottest, latest developments.  And for good reason.  The arrival of dynamic ad insertion—where the ad changes over time and as appropriate to the user within an application—has led brands to explore this delivery method with great zeal.  Downloadable applications offer a richer experience than WAP and continue to grow in popularity as more content comes to the third screen.

Comparable to HTML e-mail, MMS (Multi-Media Services) offers another avenue to reach consumers on mobile, complete with banner, video or scrolling text.  With challenges of its own—including a lack of cross-carrier standards—MMS provides a one-to-one relationship between consumers and their respected brands, but the idea of spim (mobile spam) exists. Currently, it’s the least developed and utilized media type in mobile advertising.

Video promises to be the next new delivery model for mobile advertising, as brands are seeking ways to capitalize on the popularity of online video content.  Numerous mobile devices are now capable of receiving and displaying video files or streams received over the mobile network. To date, most of the videos received and viewed in the mobile space have been limited to a file sent to the mobile device for playback, but Verizon’s V-cast, MobiTV and now Qualcomm’s MediaFLO are popularizing streaming and broadcast video offerings. To date, we’ve seen that video’s slow growth in mobile advertising is in part due to the still-forming value chain of technology providers needed for dynamic ad insertion.

Regardless of the media type, the delivery of advertising requires players that understand the complexities of mobile advertising and know that in order to capitalize on the market’s growth, it’s essential that it’s all made simple for the buyer.  To this end, integrating the four mobile media types into one central dashboard for both buyers and sellers will certainly help to facilitate and accelerate the success of the emerging mobile advertising industry.

Our final issue in this series will look at the buyer—the advertising agencies—to see how their role is shaping the industry and leading more brands to join this exciting, growing marketplace.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

What’s Working in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mobile Advertising?
By Mike Baker, CEO of Enpocket

2006 marked some major milestones for mobile advertising.  Many of the carriers have figured out their mobile ad strategy and have either launched a media network or set the wheels in motion. The availability of “carrier grade media” has quelled advertiser grumbles that mobile lacks reach and adequate reporting on unique impressions.  In 2007 we’re seeing many of the big brand advertisers beginning to test mobile to build the business case for their 2008 media spend.  With a number of diverse campaigns under our belts, we are now beginning to see just what is moving the needle with mobile.

As with other forms of interactive advertising, mobile advertising is all about measuring and optimizing ROI.  And like online advertising, one of the key metrics is the display advertisement click-through rate (CTR). It is no secret that mobile has been delivering CTRs that are orders of magnitude higher than the Web, averaging around 4%.  But we are seeing some campaigns that yield much higher results – as high as 7, 10, and 12%.  There are a number of ways to optimize CTRs in mobile advertising, including demographic targeting, behavioral targeting, predictive analytics, creative optimization, and creating an overall  compelling “ad experience”

Let’s break down one high-performing campaign that is getting click-throughs in the 7 to 8% range.  The advertiser, a large import auto manufacturer, is running a mobile program that successfully leverages multiple mobile mechanics to engage and entertain consumers. To drive traffic to its mobile web site, the brand is simultaneously running mobile banners ads on the Sprint Mobile Media Network and displaying in-venue a short code messaging promotion tied to a music sponsorship.  Once at the automaker’s Web site, the consumer can browse features of certain car models, download thematically integrated ringtones and wallpapers, send them to a friend, and find the nearest dealership.

Why is this advertiser achieving such great response rates?  It’s simple: the user experience is compelling; indeed some would say the production values and quality of entertainment offered are better than the often times tepid mobile content consumers are offered for purchase.  Consumers are cruising through messaging, content downloads, viral mechanics, and Wap surfing in a rich, immersive mobile experience.  Perhaps as important as the results is the ability to measure them.  The program is anchored with a carrier grade media buy on Sprint.  Because the advertising is running with a carrier, the performance can be tracked down to the unique user.  And, the tracking and reporting of engagement and conversion activities, spanning across mechanics, becomes a dashboard for measuring the ROI of the entire program.

To realize mobile advertising’s unique potential, brands need to think “beyond the click” to the overall advertising experience.  Why would a consumer choose to spend time with the brand and its marketing message?   This isn’t your father’s internet – it’s the world of the personal media device and we’re learning that reflexive “web think” often times misses the mark and squanders the opportunity. 

Most importantly, successful mobile advertising requires tracking and reporting that effectively measures the ROI of the entire program: not just the unique reach and click-throughs, but key conversion and engagement mechanics that occur after the click, such as downloads, video viewing, opt-ins, and call center activity.

If a brand isn’t receiving great reporting from its mobile program, it’s not gathering the learning required to understand what is truly moving the needle and how to invest in future mobile programs. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Mobile to beat all advertising odds
Russell Buckley, Managing Director, AdMob

Despite the popular belief that mobile advertising is a new kid on the block, it’s actually been around for almost ten years in one form or another. However, it’s only recently been delivering on its promises and the consistent ROI desired by marketers.

The first forays into mobile advertising were via Push SMS alerts. Marketers figured that if you could send the right message to the right person at the right time, this would be an effective call to action.

But there have been issues with this approach. Firstly, outbound SMS is expensive in relation to the response rates often generated. Secondly, even with opt-in permission, messages received at the wrong time are frequently regarded as little more than spam.

In addition, there was the whole creative issue of restricting the experience to SMS. While a text message can connect emotionally, the opportunities for marketers are somewhat limited. It suits an offer-led approach, while pure brand messages are hard to paint in text only.

The next phase of mobile advertising was more successful with SMS helping consumers ‘pull’ information from other channels. Consumers would enter a competition or vote in response to a TV programme, download a ringtone or request more information from a poster. This approach has proved more successful and is still growing very quickly. Now it’s only a matter of time before SMS short codes become as important an element of advertising as including the website address.

The mobile internet

However, it’s the growth of the mobile internet that will mark the next big step in mobile advertising.  The mobile internet has really taken off in the last 12 months, with 29 per cent of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />UK mobile owners using it, according to analyst firm, M:Metrics.  But with connection speeds getting faster slicker handsets making for better usability and the promise of fixed price data packages starting to be introduced, this figure could easily be dwarfed very quickly. To millions of people it’s also more readily accessible than a PC and, therefore, actually their preferred method of browsing.

For advertisers, this presents an opportunity to deliver highly efficient and measurable advertising similar to that conducted online. If we look at the kind of advertising that consumers could browse on their mobiles, the problems of first generation mobile advertising disappear. There is no high cost of messaging and it can’t be confused with spam as we’re asking consumers to click if they’re interested.

Today we can use text links and banners, with richer graphics, images and eventually audio and video round the corner, once fixed rate browsing is more widespread.   

Like the PC-web, the mobile web is also a global opportunity. When you put up a mobile web site, it’s accessible from all over the world and will be found and used by people everywhere.

So what kind of advertisers are already taking advantage of the mobile web as a marketing channel?

Firstly, as you might expect, it’s companies that are trying to sell content and products related to the mobile itself. This might range from operators and handset manufacturers to ringtone and games retailers, as examples. For these advertisers, it’s a no-brainer to advertise in this new channel and stories abound of ROI’s in excess of 4 times that they enjoy online.

But the other much more mainstream group is major blue chip brands themselves. Just as we saw a rush to build websites back in 1995/6, so we’re seeing marketers realise that if nearly a third of their potential audience are already using the mobile web, they need a presence there too. And once they’ve built a site, they need to find a cost-effective way to promote it.

The future

The future of mobile advertising lies in a company’s ability to take advantage of high traffic mobile web sites through Pay-Per-Click business models.  For most mobile web sites this offers new revenue streams and a profitable business model.   The most cost effective method of doing so is to reach out to mobile web sites through mobile advertising marketplaces that deliver content from the advertiser straight onto targeted mobile sites.  Here, everyone is a winner.

As such, mobile is bound to outperform, in the same way that the PC web would be the best way to promote a normal web site, over and above any other medium. It’s time to get on the bandwagon or you will miss out. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Hold The Phone! - Third Screen Media
March 2007

The Game Changer: A Carrier’s View on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mobile Advertising

In Third Screen Media’s ongoing byline series for The Messenger, we’ve looked at the growing mobile advertising ecosystem, its opportunities, pitfalls and success stories.  In an effort to paint the entire landscape, we’ve taken the opportunity to provide a closer look at each of the integral players in mobile advertising to give you a better idea of the unique role each plays in making it all happen.

First we discussed the content provider—or publisher—in our January interview with Matt Jones, director of mobile strategy and operations for Gannett Digital—which includes Gannett’s 113 domestic local print and broadcast properties and USA TODAY.  As Matt noted, publishers are now in droves seeking to establish and expand their presence on the mobile platform, and advertising has become an enabler in their efforts.

From the issue of on and off-deck advertising to standards and new delivery technologies, we’ve gained the unique perspective of one key component of the ecosystem. And now, another player in mobile advertising whose efforts have placed the phones in our pockets and have ushered in the era of mobile devices: the carrier.

This month we chatted with Richard Williams, executive director, digital media operations for Verizon, to hear the carrier side of the story and to understand what the future holds for those players partnering with carriers to realize their mobile advertising goals.

Q. 2006 was the year of mobile advertising’s awakening for brands and publishers. The carriers, as a whole, were cautious in their approach. What can we expect of Verizon in 2007 as companies look to partner with you in mobile advertising?

A. As the operator of an extensive network and responsible for the mobile experience of millions of consumers each day, Verizon takes its role very seriously. We must be cognizant of each individual’s privacy, experience and overall satisfaction with their mobile phone service.  For this reason, Verizon chose to partake in smaller, exploratory advertising trials with brands off of our main deck, or entry portal.

With that said, we recognize the enormous potential mobile advertising provides and seek to expand our partnerships and business relationships with technology providers, brands and publishers to ensure that. Verizon plans to increase its mobile advertising initiatives in 2007.

Q.  What are your thoughts on the mobile subscriber’s perception of mobile advertising?

A. Our customers value their experience on the third screen, as the mobile phone is their most personal device. It goes everywhere. While advertising stands to delivery relevant content to the consumer, we want to be sure its done in a way that does not impede the delivery of content.

Early on in our mobile advertising trials, we conducted surveys and focus groups with our valued subscriber participants. The trial campaigns garnered high click-through rates and we received positive responses from the individuals, including no calls to our customer response center.

Not unlike the Internet, the consumer expects to see advertising on the third screen, so a great majority of the mobile audience is expecting and accepting of mobile advertising.  As an opt-in experience, mobile advertising is an experience where the consumer has control of the messages he or she wishes to receive. At the end of the day, they don’t have to click on the advertisements, but should they wish to, it’s all within their control and discretion.

Q. What plans does Verizon have to implement advertising?

A. At Verizon, we’re always seeking to provide the best possible experience for our subscribers.  Over the course of the past year, we’ve conducted mobile advertising trials to better understand how the consumer would act and receive advertising.

We have plans to implement advertising throughout the Verizon mobile Internet offering, including the portal’s homepage, sections and article pages.

Q. What challenges do you face in providing advertising on your mobile properties?

A.  We always are aware of our subscriber experience and want to ensure this experience is non-intrusive.  In addition, the advertising should add value and the ads should be properly targeted. Our goal is not to provide diaper ads to the 18-24 year old male demographic. Rather, the advertisements should reflect the needs and interests of our unique subscribers and should never disrupt Verizon’s reliable network.

Q. What is your definition of best practices for mobile advertising?

A. On the third screen, there is only a small amount of space with which to work, so an ad needs to be small and shouldn’t encroach upon the content the subscriber is seeking. While video, SMS and downloadable applications all provide opportunities for advertising to the mobile subscriber, our initial focus will be on display advertising in VZW - our mobile Internet offering. 

Verizon already works closely with the MMA—Mobile Marketing Association—to ensure that campaigns on its mobile properties adhere to its standards.  The frequency of a campaign and its appropriate targeting are just two important factors that must play into the planning of each mobile advertising campaign. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

MOBILE ADVERTISING: From the trenches

Our industry owes a lot to the executives at companies like Third Screen Media, AdMob, Sprint Nextel, Millennium Media, JumpTap, Enpocket and others whose entrepreneurial efforts have pushed mobile advertising to the front of today's headlines.  While each of these companies is trailblazing into the market with a slightly different approach and strategy, one thing that I suspect they’ve all learned, as have we, is that building an ad sponsored mobile service and selling advertising on mobile phones is not as easy as everyone thinks. 

Before trying to figure out how we can all work together to move the needle in 2007, it’s important to first appreciate the clear schism in the advertiser landscape between the two distinct groups of companies that are looking to advertise on mobile phones.

1.  Advertisers Offering <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Mobile Content

Firstly, we have the companies that want to advertise on our properties to bring customers one click away from their point of sale.  This includes mobile game publishers, mobile music vendors, and other mobile application creators.  For these companies, mobile advertising is all about speeding up the process of customer acquisition and their ad spending is driven in a measured fashion whereby the cost to acquire the customer (CPM Rate / Average CTR) must over time be less than the lifetime value of the same customer (net monthly customer EBITDA x Average Lifespan).

For these lifetime economics to really start making sense, CPM rates need to move below the $5 range (compared to the current rack rate of $50).  In 2007, the companies that will enable this category of advertiser are the ones that can facilitate reverse auctions, blind auctions, and the ability to bid on search words and targeted pieces of inventory in a large scale through an on-deck presence.

But are these the type of advertisers that the industry really wants and needs?  Isn't this type of advertising going to create a merry-go-round race-to-the-bottom where I sell you my unused inventory and you in-turn sell me your unused inventory and we collectively put downward pricing pressure on the industry's ad rates as a whole?  And from a macro-economic perspective, how big can this type of advertising really get?  Will it not be functionally capped by the marketing budgets of the companies that excel in the mobile space?

And beyond the economic issues, how do mobile operators feel about dodgy off-deck content providers buying premium placement on their portals to ensnare customers into a recurring $10/month subscription through a free (oops I mean 'zero cost') ringtone offering?  Will each ad need to be vetted and approved prior to publication to avoid an increase in customer care calls?  How do portal managers feel about competing portals advertising on their prime real estate with the goal of permanently diverting customers away?  And in this vein, aren't all mobile application providers essentially competing with each other for the same time-slice and value added service spend from the end-user? 

It should be interesting to see how these issues work themselves out over the upcoming year.  But as you can see above, at first glance there are several strategic and economic issues related to courting this group of advertisers.

2.  Everyone Else

The second group of mobile advertisers are companies from outside the mobile industry looking to increase the awareness of their products and services in a highly intimate and personal setting. These companies have begun to understand that a mobile phone placed 8 inches from your face is a better platform to inculcate a message and brand into your thought patterns than a 42-inch plasma TV situated 8 feet away in your living room.

But selling these companies on the concept of mobile advertising and getting them to spend more than just their 'trial budgets', which admittedly can be in the $10s of millions per annum, is a long and challenging sales cycle.  Budgets are crafted on a quarterly and sometimes annual basis, with countless intermediaries, media buyers and agencies soaking up the ad spend along the way.  Selling to these advertisers is more of an art and less of a science, and the sales process depends heavily on pre-existing relationships and coming up with creative custom ad-units for each separate campaign.  This custom creative services approach holds far more weight than the technical details of an ad serving platform, the financial implications of CPM rates, or access to mobile advertising inventory through an online user interface.

On this front, look to those companies that have pre-existing Madison Avenue relationships to be the big benefactors of these advertisers.  But it should also be noted that the highly customized nature of selling to these advertisers poses a challenge to the revenue scalability of the mobile advertising industry.  Consider this: if Google had to customize a pitch and concoct a new ad unit for each campaign, would its revenues have scaled as quickly?

It should be interesting to see how the interactive agencies reposition themselves for mobile in the next year, if we can work together as an industry to solve the scalability issues, and if mobile advertising can move out of the 'trial' budgets and into the 'essential' budgets for these traditional advertisers.

But back to my initial conjecture - even with all the attention and excitement in the mobile advertising space, it is still quite difficult to sell a mobile ad in the scale needed to build an ad-sponsored mobile service, and to do it in a fashion that doesn’t cannibalize the traffic or customer retention of your core mobile business.

I certainly don't want to go on record as the industry's stick in the mud – especially given the latest analyst reports suggesting mobile advertising will be a $4 billion industry in 2011.  Quite the contrary, I am extremely bullish about mobile advertising and the potential financial implications for all of us in the value chain.  

But I believe that there are still several key economic and strategic issues that need to be ironed out before the industry can scale.  And for these issues to be resolved expeditiously, it is important that we work together as an industry and avoid falling into the trap of being irrationally exuberant about mobile advertising.  After all, it wasn’t too long ago that analysts were saying mobile advertising would be a $6 billion dollar industry in 2005 (source: eMarketer).

Frederick Ghahramani
Founder
AirG
[email protected]<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Hold The Phone! - Third Screen Media
February 2007, Written for the MMA Mobile Messenger

In A Publisher’s World Mobile Advertising Reigns Supreme

In November, Third Screen Media’s “Hold The Phone!” column introduced the mobile advertising ecosystem by highlighting the evolution of the industry.  In the coming months, we will take a closer look at each of the major players involved—including carriers, agencies and advertisers, technology providers, publishers and the mobile subscribers—to show how each entity affects the industry and what part each will play in the overall growth of the ecosystem.

For our first ecosystem profile, we’ll look at the integral role of the publisher. As we mentioned back in November, in every ecosystem there are costs associated with delivering value and for mobile content providers the good news is that advertising revenue can offset these costs.  In addition to WAP sites, publishers are now exploring the viability of video and downloadable applications as advertising vehicles. With all the attractive possibilities, publishers are looking forward to a variety of off-deck and on-deck advertising revenue opportunities, along with the need for scalability, ad standards and creative executions that will delight and entertain the consumers in the ecosystem.

This month, we sat down with <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Matt Jones, director of mobile strategy and operations for Gannett Digital—which includes Gannett’s 113 domestic local print and broadcast properties and USA TODAY—to get the publisher’s perspective on the mobile advertising industry.

Q: How would you describe the mobile market as we move into 2007?
A: Right now, an ever increasing number of traditional publishers are eager to extend their properties and content into the mobile environment.  This willingness to explore the mobile advertising ecosystem has resulted in a marked increase in mobile-ready content of all types.  The market continues to expand, and that’s in advance of even more, soon-to-be more widely distributed capabilities that show tremendous promise…like search, local and video applications, to name a few.

USA TODAY has contributed considerably to the growth of mobile advertising by making steady gains in enlisting new advertisers to this new medium. We have consistently maintained above industry average click-through rates for our inventory.  So not only are we seeing an increase in size and popularity, we’re seeing first-hand that the medium is really working and consumers are truly warming to navigating the mobile Web.

Q: What has helped you be so successful thus far?
A: USA TODAY is one of the most well-known and well-trafficked sources of news and information in every medium we enter: first print, then online, and now mobile.  Part of it is the overall strength of our brand.  Another part of it is building and partnering to produce innovative products that meet and exceed the demands of our users. 

Q:  Are you subscription based?
A:  While our print version is based on subscription and newsstand pricing models, our mobile Web site is entirely ad-supported.   Likewise for our text offering where we partner with 4INFO.  We do sell USA TODAY Mobile Sudoku—an extremely popular game title—under a subscription plan.

Q:  Have you considered a subscription model for news content?
A:  We considered this option several years ago and determined that the audience would be limited by a subscription.  Mobile phone users already pay several subscriptions for ring tones and other content on top of their data plan fees.  There is a limit to the number of subscriptions that a consumer is willing to pay.  We believe that in the long run, we are attracting more users to our content with an ad model.

Q:  What is the benefit of the advertising model?
A:  The biggest benefit around mobile advertising is it allows us to produce, maintain and continually enhance products, like our mobile Web site, without charging a subscription to our users.

Q:  Have you seen an increase in traffic on your mobile site over the past year?
A:  All our mobile efforts (mobile Web, text messaging and games) showed significant traffic gains in 2006. All our usage metrics, such as pageviews, sessions and unique users, showed year-over-year gains up several hundred percent.

Q:  On-Deck or Off-Deck?  Which has seen the most growth?
A:  USA TODAY is lucky to posses a widely recognized brand, which is often viewed as an essential read for a mobile or traveling audience.  Customers know they are going to get a consistently great user experience on all our platforms (print, Web and mobile) and that has paved the way for our off-deck gains.

Q:  How do you build the on-deck carrier relationships?  Do you have dedicated staff to manage the carrier relationships?
A:  All the major carriers are partners with USA TODAY.  We don’t have dedicated resources for that area of our business, but nonetheless we spend a good deal of time working to maximize the relationship for both sides.

Q:  What tactics are you implementing to promote your mobile content beyond the on-deck carrier links?
A:  We have dabbled in a few other promotional tactics, including sponsoring trade events like CTIA, print advertising and applications like “wap push” via a short code (Text USA to 59523)  Our main objective here is customer awareness of our mobile offerings.

Q: Where is the mobile advertising industry headed?
A: Mobile is a powerful medium, but it’s still young.  Like any young medium, it’s going through growing pains and needs more widely implemented and understood ad standards, more inventory, more advertisers and a greater diversity and creativity of ad units.  It took the online world years to develop these standards, but people want and expect the same for mobile…right now.

I also see an increase in demand for direct-to-consumer advertising to promote off-deck content.  More brands in a variety of industries (automotive, travel and consumer packaged goods) will build persistent mobile sites. Moving forward, you’re also going to see for a demand for advertising rights agreements with wireless carriers.  The medium is growing fast and it’s going to have to grow up fast, too.

Look for the “Hold The Phone!” feature again in March as we highlight another major player involved in the mobile advertising ecosystem, the advertising agency.  As more brands realize the reach and reward of a well-developed campaign, the role of the agency becomes ever more important for those companies seeking a larger mobile presence.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Mobile Advertising Ecosystem-Part I
November 2006
Submitted by Third Screen Media
Written by Tom Burgess, CEO

This article will be the first of a five part series.

One of the disadvantages of being first in a market is that there is plenty of disorder and chaos.  When Third Screen started in mobile advertising, we knew who all the players should be, we knew that a platform was necessary to connect them and we knew it was going to be big.  So not so surprisingly, the players are in, we have a platform and the industry numbers are growing every quarter.  What we didn’t realize until this past year is the way the business would evolve.  Essentially a mobile advertising ecosystem has formed with a lot of interaction by a community not only of companies, but of consumers.

Our ecosystem is comprised of these entities:



As in every ecosystem there is a lifecycle, but instead of a food chain, mobile advertising really is more of a value chain.  At any point in time, each member of this community brings something to the process to enable it to move forward.  What drives value to these parts of the ecosystem?  And how will it sustain and grow?  For now, let’s look at the individual components of our ecosystem.

First there are the advertisers.  What started as testing and trials in mobile campaigns has turned into a groundswell as budgets for mobile advertising have increased over 300 percent in one year.  With research and measurement being critical to advertisers, studies have validated the mobile channel for some very specific objectives such as engagement and branding.  And what will keep advertisers healthy in the ecosystem?  Ad standardization will be key and the MMA has played a big role in working on this topic.  In addition, the maturing market will be able to offer advertisers lower production costs and easy replication and scalability. With consumers showing a clear interest in mobile ads, advertisers are looking up the value chain to the enablers and aggregators for more premium content and to publishers to leverage cross-media relationships.

The next piece of our value chain is the ad enablers.  Connecting the advertisers to the publishers has resulted in significant off-deck penetration with average $30-$50 CPMs for WAP and average 3-5 percent click-through rates.  But for the mobile marketing ecosystem to grow and thrive, the enablers know that the market needs the same kind of technology and service solutions that work well in online and traditional print and broadcast advertising. Enablers are essentially the diplomats of the ecosystem, facilitating and enabling advertising management and delivery, working with third party research firms and the analyst community to help define the market, participating in the dialogue about how the ad rights between carriers and content providers will be monitored and looking at the advantages to the ecosystem of carriers making targeting data accessible to advertisers and publishers.

Then there are the publishers.  In every ecosystem there are costs associated with delivering value - in biology-based ecosystem the costs are food, water and air.  For publishers the costs are in the development required to extend their properties into the mobile channel and the good news is that advertising revenue can offset these costs. Publishers are also exploring the growing interest in and viability of video and downloadable applications as advertising vehicles. With all the attractive possibilities, publishers are looking forward to a variety of off-deck and on-deck advertising revenue opportunities, along with the need for scalability, ad standards and creative executions that will delight and entertain the consumers in the ecosystem.

Carriers serve a dual role in our ecosystem as both content publisher and distribution network.   As a distribution network, the carriers’ role in the mobile market is an important one; they have a lot of valuable data.  Although the data is not personally identifiable to an individual subscriber, in aggregate this data means they can provide better targeting of messages for advertisers, appropriate ads for consumers and still allow the carriers to maintain a guardian role.  Because carriers consider themselves the subscribers’ advocate, they, while enthusiastic and optimistic, are proceeding cautiously with advertising roll-outs on their networks.  With initial (and carefully managed) on-deck trials achieving good results and consumer feedback positive, carriers are now looking at business and revenue models to make mobile advertising viable.  With advertisers creating demand in the value chain and publishers with plenty of supply, it’s clear that there is a market that will be financially attractive to the entire ecosystem in the very near future.

In the end, this young ecosystem looks energetic with much enthusiasm from the whole community.  As it grows, changes and adapts, we will be able to say we were there in the beginning.  In the coming months, we will be talking more about each of our ecosystem members and how we anticipate they will and can influence the growth and impact of mobile advertising.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Advertisements on Phones-Admob CEO Talk with mytreo.net
October 15, 2006, mytreo.net
Submitted to the MMA by AdMob

To View Direct Article, please click HERE.

AdMob is poised to change the mobile internet, slightly and drastically, by enabling text advertising. It's a slight change since there will likely be just a line of text added to mobile sites. It could be a drastic change when more and more sites see the potential of advertising with mobile users in mind and create mobile sites we all love. With its recent financial backing, AdMob looks like they’re here to stay.

Omar Hamoui, AdMob’s Founder and CEO, spoke with mytreo.net and explained how AdMob works.

mytreo.net: Can you tell me a little about your service?

AdMob: AdMob is a mobile ad network, advertisements across mobile websites. We allow mobile web publishers, companies who are operating mobile sites to run ads on their sites and advertisers to reach that.

mytreo.net: How does this work? How does this advertising happen?

AdMob: From a site’s perspective or from an advertiser’s perspective or both?

mytreo.net: Both please.

AdMob: We can start from a partner’s perspective. They would come by AdMob, register, and then they would get some code they could drop onto their site. And essentially ads would start running. And from the advertiser’s perspective, they have a text ad and they select what channels they’d like to run their ad on. They can select the News channel or the Portals channel or the Entertainment channel. And they select what they’d like to pay per click because it is a per click model. Then ads start running across the channels that they’ve bid on.

mytreo.net: Will there be a limit on sites as to how many ads they’ll run?

AdMob: Sites are running one ad per page. We don’t set limits on the sites, but I don’t know of any running more than one ad. I just think from a usability perspective and also with it in mind that these are per click ads that owners want to encourage usability and not have people feel like they’re being bogged down with advertising.

mytreo.net: As a mobile user I think it would be nice not to have a whole bunch of them on there.

AdMob: Exactly. And out of one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty I don’t know of any that have more than one ad per page.

mytreo.net: Can you tell me who a few of your partners are?

AdMob: Yes. In the Community section we have sites like Ebay and Mocospace. In Entertainment there’s Mobile MTV. We have couple in Portals like Click4WAP and Techxcell. We have a Contextual Search channel, Google is one of the sites running there. (http://www.AdMob.com/network.php)

mytreo.net: How does one create this kind of an ad?

AdMob: You come to AdMob and you type the text of your ad. You type the location your ad should go to. You can also create a mini-landing page if you don’t have a WAP site. Then you bid. It’s like a 5 minute process to create an ad.

mytreo.net: Was there anything else you wanted to add at this point?

AdMob: I think just generally say since you come from a Treo site that we’re really cognizant of the fact that the Treo is well suited for mobile web browsing. Part of what we’re doing is trying to make the availability of content on the mobile web more compelling. I think Treo owners and users will probably be excited about that.

mytreo.net: So you think that there are sites that haven’t had mobile sites before that will create a mobile site now that this is available?

AdMob: That’s what we’re hoping. Part of the idea behind the company is to act as a catalyst for mobile Internet and mobile content in general. Part of that hope and part of what we’re shooting for is to attract big content providers who don’t have mobile sites yet and to have them move on to a mobile platform.

mytreo.net: For me, I think it’s about time some of them do.

AdMob: I agree.

AdMob is being hailed as the “Google of Mobile”. Anyone who has used Google’s pay per click advertising will be immediately familiar with AdMob’s design. The company announced it’s extending the $20 free advertising promotion.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />