510 CHAPTER 15 E-COMMUNICATIONWith the increase of smart-phone (and tablet) penetration, the audience for mobile adver-
tising has got bigger and become easier to segment and target. It is time for marketers who
want to include mobile in their advertising initiatives to do trials and take advantage of mass
consumer adoption of smart phones. Worldwide mobile advertising revenue was forecast to
reach $3.3 billion in 2011, which is more than double the spending of 2010, and according to
Gartner revenue is expected to reach $20.6 billion by 2015. In North America and Western
Europe mobile advertising budgets will grow most, representing 28% and 25% of the global
market by 2015.^107 Mobile SQUARED predicts that the fi ve main European markets (France,
Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) will reach a mobile advertising spend of $1 billion in 2014,
which is a year earlier than was previously expected and another strong indication that the
momentum for mobile marketing is there. At present, the UK has a share of 47% in these
spendings, followed by France and Italy, but is expected to fall back to 40% by 2016. Overall,
Germany’s mobile market is likely to grow fastest.^108 Not all types of mobile advertising will
generate the same opportunity. Search and maps will take the highest share, while video/audio
ads will see the fastest growth through 2015.^109
Wireless advertising can be broken into two categories: push and pull. Push advertising i s
categorised as messages that are proactively sent out to wireless users and devices like alerts,
SMS messages or even voice calls. It should be reserved for companies that have established
a relationship and obtained permission to push communications to wireless users. Due to
privacy issues and user backlash, pushed mobile advertising will seldom be used for new
customer acquisition. Pull advertisements are messages shown to users as they are navigating
WAP or wireless sites and properties. Both push and pull advertising should be carefully
targeted and of relevance to the viewer to improve customer response and acceptance. Users
should never feel that viewing the advertiser’s message is costing them airtime.
Oft en, mobile marketing is aimed at young consumers, because they have an intimate
relationship with their mobile phones. Mobile phones have become the focal point of technology
conversion. As their possibilities expand, their importance to young consumers will continue
to increase. It is likely that mobile phones will surpass the personal computer as the most
important single piece of technology in young consumers’ lives. Texting is as natural to youth
as picking up a phone. Texting is even overtaking speaking, particularly for girls. Teen females
are sending and receiving 3952 messages per month versus 2815 for males.^110 Marketing via
mobile to young consumers is understanding that their use of mobiles diff ers from the use by
adults. Texting has created a whole new language, with diff erent syntax and grammar. Young
people want to be entertained, e.g. gaming, contests, etc., and they want two-way interaction
on their mobiles because they welcome dialogue.
Simple push SMS does not take full advantage of the medium. Research and practical
experience have demonstrated that youngsters love to talk back. Th ey experience brands in a
new and more fundamental way. Th ey love to display commercial logos on their personal
devices as well as expecting brands to listen to them. Young consumers do not hate advertising,
but they dislike advertising that is irrelevant or even unwanted. Th erefore, permission is key in
connecting with millennials in an interactive way.^111 SMS has many advantages as a marketing
tool. SMS is instantaneous, but it has an even faster and wider reach than e-mail as the mobile
device usually accompanies the user and SMS can be received anywhere, at any time. It also
allows for more precise targeting as every mobile phone has one single user.
Over 90% of SMS campaigns are read by the receiver, generating average response rates of
15% to 30% or even as much as 45%, while marketing e-mails have a response rate of only
6%. Th ese rates are reached due to the ease and speed by which users can reply, with relatively
little eff ort. Another important element is that SMS messages are cheap. With a cost of $0.05
per message, there are few other methods that provide such a strong ROI.^112 As SMS actions
are quite intrusive, they should always be launched on an opt-in basis, which implies that theyM15_PELS3221_05_SE_C15.indd 510M15_PELS3221_05_SE_C15.indd 510 6/6/13 8:55 AM6/6/13 8:55 AM