Mobile Advertising Ideal Way To Reach Young Men
New research from M:Metrics has found that mobile advertising is an ideal method for reaching young men, as among mobile phone users, 36% of 18 to 34-year-old men accessed mobile media in February.
A quarter of all male mobile phone users in Western Europe accessed mobile media, compared to just under 19% of women. This audience is also quite young: 28% of 13 to 17-year-olds consume mobile media, only 12% of those 55 and older do.
“Reaching the 18 to 34-year-old age demographic is a real challenge to advertisers, as this group is spending less time consuming print and broadcast media,” said Paul Goode, senior analyst.
“According to TGI M:Metrics data, in Great Britain, young consumers are redirecting that attention to mobile, as 18 to 34 year olds comprise 56 percent of mobile media users, compared to only 29 percent of TV viewers.”
| Percent Reach of Mobile Media usage, by Gender, EU5: February, 2008 | Percent Reach of Mobile Messaging usage, by Gender, EU5: February, 2008 | ||||||
| Age | Male | Female | Total | Age | Male | Female | Total |
| 3-17 | 32.6% | 24.3% | 28.4% | 3-17 | 85.6% | 92.7% | 89.2% |
| 18-24 | 38.5% | 27.2% | 32.9% | 18-24 | 90.5% | 94.6% | 92.5% |
| 25-34 | 34.5% | 23.7% | 29.2% | 25-34 | 89.9% | 92.7% | 91.3% |
| 35-44 | 26.4% | 19.3% | 22.9% | 35-44 | 83.6% | 88.4% | 86.0% |
| 45-54 | 19.3% | 13.3% | 16.5% | 45-54 | 74.9% | 84.0% | 79.3% |
| 55+ | 12.3% | 11.1% | 11.7% | 55+ | 64.6% | 73.8% | 69.3% |
| Source: M:Metrics 2008. Survey of mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31 February 2008, mobile subscribers in EU, France, n = 15,128; Italy, n = 13,599; Spain, n = 12,446; United Kingdom, n = 16,459. | |||||||
| Mobile Messaging Audience: defined as subscribers who sent one or more text messages in month | |||||||
| Mobile Media Audience: defined as subscribers who browsed or downloaded in any form in month | |||||||
Among Europeans, the UK has the highest percentage of mobile media users, at 26.8%, while Germany and France lag, at 18.4% and 18.5%, respectively.
“In Great Britain, mobile media is attracting a highly desirable audience that is 44 percent more likely to be defined as ‘cash rich, time poor’ than the market average,” said Goode. “In fact, data from TGI M:Metrics confirms that one third of all UK mobile media users agree they are tempted to buy products they’ve seen advertised.”
“Since the early days of mobile advertising, SMS advertising has been an effective way to reach the masses, but advertises are now actively looking at the mobile web to access new audiences,” said Goode. “According to TGI M:Metrics, adding mobile to a media plan increases the efficiency of reaching key target groups, a metric that will continue to improve with the growth of 3G and smartphone ownership.”
| Mobile Subscriber Monthly Consumption of Content and Applications, M:Metrics Benchmark Survey: February 2008 | |||||||
| US | EU | FR | DE | IT | ES | UK | |
| Total mobile subscribers (13+) | 226 m | 224 m | 46.5 m | 49 m | 47 m | 34 m | 47 m |
| Watched video | 5.90% | 9.30% | 7.50% | 6.30% | 11.70% | 12.50% | 9.50% |
| Listened to music | 7.00% | 17.30% | 15.40% | 16.80% | 14.20% | 21.10% | 19.80% |
| Accessed news/info via browser | 13.50% | 9.50% | 9.70% | 5.90% | 8.00% | 6.90% | 16.10% |
| Received SMS ads | 19.10% | 49.50% | 63.70% | 29.80% | 54.10% | 73.00% | 34.60% |
| Played downloaded game | 21.40% | 23.30% | 13.40% | 23.10% | 26.50% | 26.50% | 27.70% |
| Accessed downloaded application | 4.80% | 2.70% | 1.50% | 2.50% | 4.00% | 2.30% | 3.20% |
| Sent/received photos or videos | 22.20% | 28.20% | 25.50% | 22.10% | 33.10% | 30.70% | 30.50% |
| Purchased ringtones | 9.20% | 4.00% | 4.30% | 3.80% | 4.70% | 3.90% | 3.40% |
| Used email | 12.20% | 8.50% | 6.30% | 7.10% | 10.80% | 9.10% | 9.20% |
| Accessed social networking sites | 4.30% | 2.60% | 2.40% | 1.10% | 2.50% | 2.30% | 4.70% |
| Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2008. Survey of mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31st February 2008, mobile subscribers in France, n = 12,973 Germany, n = 15,128; Italy, n = 13,599; Spain, n = 12,446; United Kingdom, n = 16,459; United States, n = 31,348; | |||||||
A recent report from Juniper Research forecast that total annual adspend on mobile will exceed $1 billion for the first time in 2008, reaching $1.3 billion by the end of the year and rising to nearly $7.6 billion by 2013 (see Annual Mobile Adspend To Pass $1 Billion In 2008).
At the start of April, a report from the Nielsen Company revealed that 23% (58 million) of all US mobile subscribers say they’ve been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days.
Half (51% or 28 million) of all data users who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days said they responded to a mobile ad in some way (see 28 Million US Mobile Subscribers Responded To At Least One Mobile Ad).