By Adam McIlwaine
EU Editor
Last year, approximately $421 million was spent on mobile phone advertising, according to a report by eMarketer, a market research company that tracks such things. This compares with roughly $48 billion spent in television advertising last year, says another reputable source.
In an article that appears in a recent New York Times*, experts are quoted as saying this is a bit disappointing and may signal that advertisers are not ready for small screen positioning. Hollywood types also say that it will be years before the enthusiasm for small screen productions catches up with mass-market consumption.
While some pundits may view this article and others like it as an indicator that mobile media is not growing if not be leaps and bounds then at least steadily, we believe that the industry is making strong gains and may even be ahead of plans in terms of audience and mobile advertising activities.
Sure, there are some roadblocks ahead, not the least of which is the installed based of mobile devices that are capable of adequately hosting short films, clips and mobile advertising. This same article goes on to quote market researcher The Yankee Group as stating that the number of mobile video viewers in the United States is "about 5 million, 10 times more than in 2004 but still a small fraction of the 195 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide."
The introduction of newer and more multimedia-capable wireless devices should help eliminate the hardware disparity - especially the availability next month of Apple's iPhone (although we caution Apple and wireless Carrier Cingular - the first to carry the device - not to price it too out of range of your average prime demographic user!).
Also, we believe there will be a host of other new devices coming whose form will meet their intended function, and may port a larger screen offering a more comfortable viewing platform. Mobile viewing devices are already available from Archos and Nokia, and these can easily be adapted by adding cellular chips and soon high-speed and high-bandwidth WiMAX technology (reportedly available from Sprint in early 2008).
The use of widespread use of mobile media and mobile media-capable devices is very dependent on the application of content and software and its relevance to each and every mobile user. This means that people who travel will make wide use of travel-related mobile video and services, and news junkies will subscribe to real-time news feeds. The trick is to relate this stuff to what a person is doing at the moment and where they are, and not suspend their lives to watch it. It is all about lifestyle and work style enhancement.
In terms of mobile advertising, nearly every major ad company has already launched or planned to launch a mobile and digital effort. Smaller mobile advertising companies are also popping up every day and have developed very successful 'buzz' and affinity marketing campaigns that go right to the heart of mobile users.
Financial instiututions have also caught onto the value of mobility, and are deploying mobile money applications, video training and other content that appeals to the penny-pincher in al of us.
So, to those that are quick to say that mobile media is not growing fast enough, we say the problem is not growth but how you are measuring it. What is needed is a new yardstick and not old and outdated measurement algorithms.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/business/media/07cell.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin
In an article that appears in a recent New York Times*, experts are quoted as saying this is a bit disappointing and may signal that advertisers are not ready for small screen positioning. Hollywood types also say that it will be years before the enthusiasm for small screen productions catches up with mass-market consumption.
While some pundits may view this article and others like it as an indicator that mobile media is not growing if not be leaps and bounds then at least steadily, we believe that the industry is making strong gains and may even be ahead of plans in terms of audience and mobile advertising activities.
Sure, there are some roadblocks ahead, not the least of which is the installed based of mobile devices that are capable of adequately hosting short films, clips and mobile advertising. This same article goes on to quote market researcher The Yankee Group as stating that the number of mobile video viewers in the United States is "about 5 million, 10 times more than in 2004 but still a small fraction of the 195 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide."
The introduction of newer and more multimedia-capable wireless devices should help eliminate the hardware disparity - especially the availability next month of Apple's iPhone (although we caution Apple and wireless Carrier Cingular - the first to carry the device - not to price it too out of range of your average prime demographic user!).
Also, we believe there will be a host of other new devices coming whose form will meet their intended function, and may port a larger screen offering a more comfortable viewing platform. Mobile viewing devices are already available from Archos and Nokia, and these can easily be adapted by adding cellular chips and soon high-speed and high-bandwidth WiMAX technology (reportedly available from Sprint in early 2008).
The use of widespread use of mobile media and mobile media-capable devices is very dependent on the application of content and software and its relevance to each and every mobile user. This means that people who travel will make wide use of travel-related mobile video and services, and news junkies will subscribe to real-time news feeds. The trick is to relate this stuff to what a person is doing at the moment and where they are, and not suspend their lives to watch it. It is all about lifestyle and work style enhancement.
In terms of mobile advertising, nearly every major ad company has already launched or planned to launch a mobile and digital effort. Smaller mobile advertising companies are also popping up every day and have developed very successful 'buzz' and affinity marketing campaigns that go right to the heart of mobile users.
Financial instiututions have also caught onto the value of mobility, and are deploying mobile money applications, video training and other content that appeals to the penny-pincher in al of us.
So, to those that are quick to say that mobile media is not growing fast enough, we say the problem is not growth but how you are measuring it. What is needed is a new yardstick and not old and outdated measurement algorithms.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/business/media/07cell.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin
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