Mobile Fix – Apple; Google; and Apps
In the latest Mobile Fix, Simon Andrews, founder of the full service mobile agency addictive!, discusses the potential for rich media advertising on mobile, says it is time for brands to start experimenting, and talks about the state of the app market…
Rich media on mobile
With the new T&Cs from Apple, the future of rich media advertising on mobile looks a little healthier. In an about turn from their last terms of service, they now make it possible for developers to choose anyone as their advertising provider (which was obviously welcomed by the Admob team).
These new terms of service also allow content to be developed in Flash, which has been welcomed by Adobe, the makers of the flash development tools and will also be welcomed by thousands of flash developers.
Along with new announcements from Google around their tools for building interstitals and from Greystripe talking about new formats for mobile websites as well as for apps, there are now few limitations on advertisers creativity in mobile. And as Greystripe point out – rich media works; Rich media ads get a 56% higher click-through rate than static ads.
Talking of rich mobile ad experiences, the head of Yahoo! has made it clear she doesn’t think Apple will succeed with iAds – like many people, she thinks the degree of control Apple insist on will preclude advertisers from investing.
But perhaps the new Glasnost demonstrated by Apple in these terms of service will lead them to step back and let brands and mobile specialists drive mobile advertising forward.
Time to experiment
Given all the data showing the size of the mobile opportunity and the healthy ecology of platforms and tools in mobile, we’ve been suggesting brands need to start experimenting. Learning what works and what doesn’t is a source of competitive advantage. So we were delighted to see our friend Matt Brittin (UK Head of Google) saying the same thing;
Given the “huge potential” for mobile… the mobile strategy of many marketing directors is “lagging behind”.
“We are encouraging individuals to experiment with mobile. The big thing with digital media is you can leap and learn at low cost, but you have to be out there, trying stuff out and seeing how consumers respond.”
For the last 5 years we have been quoting a seminal McKinsey report called Boosting Returns on Marketing Investment, which proposed that brands should spend 80% of their budget on bankers and 20% on well structured tests. No where does that make more sense than in mobile, where we can develop inexpensive campaigns that are relevant, measurable and scalable.
State of the app market
An excellent new report from Nielson looks at the apps market and produces some fascinating insights.
- 59% of smartphone owners and nearly 9% of feature phone owners report having downloaded a mobile app in the last 30 days.
- Searching application stores on their phones is the preferred way for discovering new apps for users of feature phones and smartphones alike (57% and 40%, respectively).
- 18% of all apps downloaders say ratings and reviews are “extremely important”, 36% say they are “very important”, and 34% say they are “somewhat important”.
Approximately one-in-five app users say they have used a search engine or looked elsewhere online for more information after viewing a mobile advertisement or told someone about the advertised product or service.
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