Mobile marketing has finally come of age, according to a new study, which claims the medium influences 48% of consumers – putting it on the same level as desktop advertising and only slightly behind TV ads.
With every year being hailed as the ‘year of the mobile’, it seems it may just have arrived in 2012, with the report’s authors branding claims that mobile ads are intrusive “archaic”.
According to InMobi, 60% of the so-called ‘Generation M’, aged 25 or under, are comfortable with mobile ads, while the figure for those aged between 45 and 64 – dubbed the ‘Mobile Boomers’ – comes in at 43%. In addition, one-fifth of respondents said mobile advertising influenced their subsequent in-store purchase, and 21% stated it influenced them to buy via their mobile.
It was also found that 63% of consumers have used m-commerce – a 9% increase from Q4 2011 – while 71% expect to use m-commerce in the next 12 months.
InMobi head of UK sales Lee Blyth said: “These results demonstrate that mobile advertising is finally, rightfully, taking its place alongside traditional content such as online and TV when it comes to directly influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions. Archaic perceptions of mobile advertising as being intrusive are long gone, and as such it’s fantastic news for brands and publishers alike.
“The onus is now on brands and content agencies to build on this by creating compelling, engaging media to capture consumers’ attention and ensure the mobile can truly become the personalised platform we have all been hoping it will become.”
The most recent research by the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers – released in March – valued the UK mobile advertising market at £203m in 2011, up from just £83m in 2010. The most dramatic increase in spend was on display advertising, which rose 186% year-on-year to £68.9m, up from just £28m in 2010, to account for about a third of total mobile ad spend.
Charlie says: “The year of the mobile here at last? To be fair, along with the ‘first e-Christmas’ marketing hacks have been predicting this for longer than I care to remember. However, there has definitely been a sea-change since mobile phones started to become most people’s ‘fifth limb’. As the report stresses, the challenge now is to devise engaging marketing, rather than classic one-size-fits-all ads – the mobile equivalent of shit that folds.”