Among the numerous predictions experts of all kinds are making at the beginning of a new year, we are now used to read that “this year will be the year of Mobile Advertising”.

But still, it has not happened yet. Not in Belgium, not in Europe, not even clearly in the US or in China.

Of course, penetration of smart phones and tablets is exploding across the globe. In EU, already 39% of the mobile users have a smart phone (only 21% in Belgium) (source: Insites). And according to the high purchase intention within the next 6 months, we can expect an exponential increase in the coming months.

So… why is Mobile Advertising not yet a success then?

According to Jonathan MacDonald, respected thought-leader and entrepreneur in digital media and co-founder of “This fluid world” (http://thisfluidworld.com), Mobile Advertising success is not related to a problem of reach, of measurement or even of a lack of success stories… The real reason he sees is that we fail to develop relevant strategies for using this new channel properly and more importantly, he thinks that there is a lack of “why”, a lack of psychology from the advertisers.

The mobile is now basically considered as just another screen (smaller, of course) and the mobile internet is just about delivering Internet content to mobile devices. But mobile is much more than this, it is a new space with new rules, requiring a new approach.

Mobile is the first personal mass media, it is a device that is become essential to people: they carry it with them almost 24/7 and it is always on. Mobile is also innovative through its features such as a built-in payment mechanism or location-based services.

Mobile is actually the only medium enabling a first real 1-to-1 connection. It is the ultimate engagement media, made for communication, not for broadcasting.

Keeping this in mind, when it comes to advertising, we have to think differently. Mobile Advertising is obviously not Internet Advertising. But how should we tackle this?

Jonathan Mac Donald defends that a good mobile advertising strategy should simply adhere to his 3 “Ps” model:

1. Privacy– advertisers have to respect consumers and allow them to manage their privacy – consumers will decide where their data is and how it is used.
2. Permission– advertisers have to ask the permission of consumers they want to target. Consumers will decide what they want to see/receive/engage with.
3. Preferences– advertisers should inquire about their consumers ‘preference – consumers will decide what content they find relevant.

Those principles seem very basic and obvious. Isn’t it the base of every good strategy?

I think the main particularity of this model is that Jonathan suggests that advertisers have to ask people about what they are interested in, what are their preferences and habits,... They have to stop assuming, they have to know for sure to strengthen the relevance of their communication to them.

I totally agree with this model proposed by Jonathan Mac Donald. Advertising like we know it today will have to change and to adapt to new media like Mobile. Like it or not, we are entering a new era where communication between advertisers and consumers is now two-way.

But it is of course easier said than done… I can even think of some other elements that I would like to add to the equation.First of all, mobile users are very demanding consumers.It will not be easy for an advertiser to build a relationship based on trust and transparency with them. The challenge of the advertisers will be to find the right benefit(s) they can offer to consumers in exchange of their permission and their preferences. The most obvious counterpart is of course the coupon – that perfect matches with the features this device is offering – but it can’t be only about discounts. No matter which benefit the advertiser chooses to offer, the key success factor will be Personalization. It is to me the fourth “P” that perfectly completes and summarizes the 3 Ps model of Jonathan Mac Donald. For the moment, Mobile Advertising is mainly thought of as spam or as irrelevant communication. Personalization of the message, based on the specific preferences of each consumer and sent with his permission is how advertisers will reconcile mobile users with advertising.

Besides, I don’t believe that mobile advertising makes any sense at all if it is not integrated in a holistic campaign. Mobile will never be the right medium for a branding campaign. We will always need TV or Billboards campaigns that will have a much higher impact that you could ever have through Mobile devices. As already mentioned before, mobile devices do especially fit for loyalty campaigns.

Finally, I think that part of the responsibility for such a poor start of Mobile Advertising lies in the hands of mobile operators. They failed to collect the right metrics from the mobile users from the start. Can you imagine what Mobile Advertising could have been if mobile operators had directly asked their subscribers the kind of questions advertisers are interested in like what are their hobbies, their lifestyle interests, their preferences,…?

Mobile operators and even vendors should learn more about the marketing opportunities mobile devices are offering. It would help the whole industry and even consumers at the end.

To conclude, I would say that I don’t believe 2012 will be the year of Mobile Advertising yet.Of course I am convinced that Mobile Advertising is about to become an increasingly powerful medium over time. But the industry still has to learn so many things about how to build the most relevant Mobile Advertising strategy taking into account the specificities of the device, the complexity and the requirements of its users and the limitations of the medium.
 

–  Séverine Schaus  –