Connected devices are more than “gimmicky shiny objects”, says new report

A new report from Forrester Research has revealed what 2013 will mean for the mobile business and connected TV.

‘2013 Mobile Trends for Marketers’ predicts that this year there will be a 52% increase in the mobile ad revenue, taking it up to $4.6 billion with retail revenues of $12 billion, up 62%.

As smartphone and tablet use increases, so does the viewing of videos via mobile. There are currently 1 billion smartphones and 150 million tablets in use across the globe.

However, the report’s authors, Thomas Husson and Julie Ask, have said that despite the expectation that some retailers and media companies will easily obtain a positive mobile ROI in 2013, most businesses will face a “mobile monetisation gap”, concluding that companies that advertise on mobile still aren’t quite “all in”.

The Forrester report has also predicted the future for connected TV, saying that marketers need to prepare themselves for the consumerism of connected devices, which the report forecasts will happen in the near future.

“While connected devices will remain outside the mainstream in 2013, marketers need to prepare for new scenarios for engagement by capturing and putting to work information about consumers’ bodies and the physical environment they inhabit.

“As a consequence, there will be a further blurring of the lines between digital marketing and digital product development. Marketers should stop considering these new connected devices as just gimmicky shiny objects. Time spent in cars and in front of a TV is too huge to ignore the early opportunity to start experimenting with apps and services that can engage perpetually-connected consumers.”