The latest consumer research was presented at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Cannes. In particular, it was found that 62% of all adults across the major European countries now use a mobile phone. The proportion of people using mobile text messaging has increased from 28% in 2001 to 41% this year. By comparison, only 30% of the adult population currently use the internet.
According to GartnerG2, these figures show that SMS has the potential to be a powerful marketing tool. This backs up a recent study by the mobile communications firm Enpocket which deduced that permission-based mobile advertising is, on average, 50% more effective at building brand awareness than TV and 130% more effective than radio (see Mobile Advertising Is Better Brand Builder Than TV Or Radio, Says Study).
However, the success story “has been overshadowed in 2002 by the debts, doubts and delays surrounding third generation (3G) mobile phones.” Analysts stress that it is incumbent upon operators and marketers to develop and promote services using the existing technology as there is no guarantee that consumers will automatically upgrade to 3G phones as soon as they become available.
“The industry has been too obsessed with 3G technology to the detriment of the needs of consumers,” said Adam Daum, VP and Chief Analyst at GartnerG2. “The vast majority of consumers don’t know what their phones are capable of today, let alone what 3G is and why they should have it. It does not matter how good 3G is if nobody knows or understands what they can do with it.”
