Mobile Advertising Attitudes

MoMac, the leading mobile media publisher, has announced the results of its first Mobile Advertising Attitudes report, supporting the launch of its GoSell mobile ad campaign management tool.

MoMac’s research, conducted by independent research agency Tickbox, clearly emphasises the need for mobile advertising to match specific audience requirements. Results from different demographics indicate that responsiveness to different kinds of advertising changes according to age and gender, giving brands and marketers valuable guidelines around which to design their mobile advertising campaigns.

The Mobile Advertising Attitudes Report surveyed a cross section of 1,400 UK mobile phone users during May 2007.

Advertising Formats

Despite the fact that mobile advertising is in its infancy, the report reveals that as many as 13% of 16-24s have already responded to or clicked-on a mobile advert. Given the limited inventory currently available for mobile advertising, and the relative rarity of mobile users being served mobile ads, the figures show the potential for a significant future take-up – if the communication is delivered in the right way.

When it comes to mobile advertising formats, MoMac’s research shows clear differences in the preferences of men and women and the different demographic groups. When on mobile sites, text based advertising links are the most popular (56%) with a clear female bias of 60% compared to just 47% of men. Picture or banner-based advertising was the second most popular option, favoured by 29% overall and just under one in three 25-34 year olds. Interestingly, video based advertising has a strong male bias with 22% of men compared to just 12% of women stating they would be most likely to respond to a video advert. Video formats were also more popular with younger mobile users selected by 23% of 16-24s but only 12% of the over 55s.

Payment Models

The research results also indicate that content providers will need to consider a number of payment models to appeal to the diverse groups of mobile users in the UK looking for content. The ad-funded model could become dominant with younger mobile users, with 47% of 16 to 24s preferring to access content for free in exchange for viewing advertising. Only 32% of this group opted for a pay-as-you-download (PAYD) model and only 3.9% stated they would want to pay for content via a subscription. In contrast the PAYD method is more popular with older mobile users, with 55% of those aged 45 and older opting to pay for content on demand, and also appeals more to women, with 54% choosing PAYD compared to 41% of men who are more open to advertising.

Sham Careem, MD of MoMac UK, comments: “The research shows that brands and media companies must think carefully about who their primary targets are before they decide how to deliver both their content and advertising campaigns. Different demographics will respond better to different methods of advertising and the key to a successful campaign will be ensuring that the format matches the target audience.”

GoSellMomac’s research was conducted as part of the preparation for the launch of its new GoSell mobile advertising platform. A number of recent acquisitions (including AOL’s purchase of Third Screen Media and Microsoft’s purchase of Screen Tonic) have added impetus to mobile advertising’s move to the mainstream, with research house Strategy Analytics predicting mobile ad revenues to be as high as $14.4billion by 2011.