Usage and 4G to push mobile advertising

Consumer usage and new 4G networks will drive change in mobile advertising, according to an expert panel in a brief Q&A session at this morning’s IAB/PwC Mobile Adspend seminar.

The annual IAB and PwC mobile advertising spend study shows that advertising on mobile devices rocketed by 157% in 2011, to a new high of £203.2 million.

According to Oli Newton, head of emerging platforms at Starcom MediaVest Group, clients are becoming more interested in mobile ad formats as they see consumers wanting to access sites and purchase options through mobile.

Alex Newman, head of mobile at OMD, believes 4G will be the game-changer for mobile advertising, while George Dixon, mobile manager at Mediacom, said advertisers will spend more money on mobile as smartphone usage continues to rise. (58% – 28.6 million – of Britons access online content via apps or mobile internet each month, according to comScore, Jan 2012).

Manning Gottlieb OMD’s head of mobile Mark Halliday explained that agencies have learnt from online and are trying to integrate mobile specialists into digital teams to avoid silos. Although, he pointed out that the whole process needs to be easier with integrated solutions.

The panel claim that mobile budget is coming from “different pockets” – but they were keen to point out that specific mobile budget is being set aside now. Newton believes that clients are starting to understand mobile better and are “getting excited by what can be done”. He also said it is “nice to see more traditional brands getting involved”.

Tablet formats are set to experience growth too, especially for retail environments, according to the panel. Over the next 12 months rich media is expected to gain scale, particularly for tablets, Halliday said.

Newman said he’d also like to see increased personalisation – something which is talked about with mobile advertising but “hasn’t quite happened yet”.

However, the panel admitted there are challenges, particularly around back-end problems, tracking and data. “It would be good to see unique user numbers,” Newman added. “We need to be able to tell clients how many people are seeing the ads”.

But surely this is mobile’s year of reckoning? Advances in smartphones take-up; new technologies such as SIRI; m-commerce tools; HTML5 and Google’s growing presence all represent marketing opportunities around the device we are all more and more reliant on. And the Olympics can help to showcase many of these too.

Two in-depth panel sessions at MediaTel’s full morning mobile event this Friday will discuss mobile payments, consumers’ demands, mobile revenue, location-based targeting, NFC, advertising and promotional scope, operators and operating systems. Book your tickets here.