mobile advertising

Mobile ad network to relaunch with pan-European inventory

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:39:41 -0400

The mobile content firm, Buongiorno, has revamped its marketing strategy to enable advertisers to reach into multiple markets. The Italian-based firm, which reported revenues of €132.2m for the first half of 2009 via partnerships with more than 100 mobile operators worldwide, said it would build on its relationship with advertisers, including Adidas, Nokia and O2, by now selling inventory from publishers including Dennis Publishing, SFR and Vodafone.

"We're bringing together all the publishers, inventory and clients we have. When we talk to media agencies, the only option they have to buy in multiple markets from one place is via AdMob. We feel this gives an alternative," said Adhish Kulkarni, MD of marketing services for Buongiorno.

Campaigns will be managed via a central ad server with local ad teams in each market selling and managing clients, while the centralised buying point will be in London.

Meanwhile, the rival mobile ad firm, Admob, has released data that illustrates how iPhone and iPod Touch users discovered the 1.5 billion apps they downloaded before July 14.

The company claims that, according to a survey of nearly 200 users, browsing and searching were the key sources of information, but the surprise was that 20 per cent of respondents said they learned about new apps from ads in other apps.

For more on this story:
NMA and Business Insider

Blyk subscribers passed over to Orange, signs Vodafone in Netherlands

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:42:17 -0400

The ad-funded MVNO Blyk has finally admitted its business model has failed to succeed and will look to pass its 200,000 UK users over to Orange. Blyk said it will give users of its MVNO service four weeks' notice that the service is terminating and urge them to sign up to an as yet undecided contract with Orange directly.

So far Blyk claims to have run over 500 advertising campaigns, with an average response rate of 29 per cent--a figure significantly higher than average for any kind of mobile advertising, which is typically around six per cent. But Blyk has now accepted that 200,000 customers are not enough to support the costs associated with running an MVNO--given that it has been unable to push the number of users above 200,000.

Ornage UK, which hosted Blyk's MVNO service, is understood to be keen to include an ad-funded mobile proposition as it pushes to become a media business rather than just a mobile operator. It believes offering ad-funded calls and SMS to advertisers can be a valuable element of a cross-platform inventory, which also includes its re-emerging online ad network and portal

Further evidence that Blyk's MVNO model was struggling comes with the announcement that Vodafone in the Netherlands has agreed to offer the ad-funded service, but with Vodafone providing all the mobile infrastructure, and Blyk providing ad serving and ad sales under Vodafone's brand.

For more on this story:
Unthinkable and Telegeography

Orange to become Blyk's first partner

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:00:04 -0400

Blyk has announced it is about to sign Orange UK as its first partner, the opening step in the company's hastily revised strategy from a direct-to-consumer MVNO model to that of partnering with mainline operators.

The deal will likely see Orange offering a very similar package to that marketed by Blyk whereby subscribers aged 16-24 will be tempted with €20 worth of voice and SMS credit in exchange for receiving brand advertising on their handsets. The two firms already have a strong relationship as Blyk rents its network capacity from Orange.

An interesting twist to this potential partnership is that Blyk's nine-strong sales team will be merging with Orange's sales business. A small Blyk team would remain in the UK to work on signing up further operator partnerships internationally.

Blyk says its MVNO business, which it now claims was little more than a proof of concept, attracted around 200,000 subscribers but failed to gain sufficient interest from advertisers to allow it to continue expanding. The company has also shelved ambitious plans to expand its MVNO model into Belgium and Holland.

The company said talks were ongoing with a variety of partners globally. "We're in negotiations with potential operator partners in the UK and abroad."

For more on this story:
New Media Age

EPlus picks Alcatel-Lucent for ad platform

Sue Marek — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:10:00 -0400

German operator EPlus group, through its subsidiary Gettings, is the first carrier to use Alcatel-Lucent's new advertising selection server for its mobile ad platform. The carrier, which has 15 million subscribers, launched the platform last week.

In an interview with FierceWireless:Europe, Rudy Bross, Alcatel-Lucent's director of strategy and marketing for the company's digital media and advertising business, said the advertising selection server will let carriers target mobile ad messages at certain audiences via different methods. For example, a carrier could direct a message via MMS Push, WAP or video, and have it directed at a certain demographic group. "We are helping service providers turn their subscribers into audiences," Bross said. "Media buyers are interested in audiences."

The advertising platform is implemented as a hosted solution and the service allows consumers to opt-in to receive the advertisements. For example, EPlus is using a tool that gives consumers an option to opt-in for the advertising when they check their prepaid balances.

Consumers can choose between three packages--S, M and L--where they receive between 10 to 25 mobile ads per week. The service lets them input their preferences so they receive only mobile ads that are of value to them.

Related articles:
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Mobile advertising recall and response rising

Mobile ads 30x more effective than Internet banners, claims T-Mobile

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:19:06 -0400

A pilot programme conducted in the Czech Republic by T-Mobile maintains the average success rate of SMS/MMS adverts were nearly 30 times higher than Internet banner campaigns.

The company, which used 22 advertisers including Coca-Cola, Nestle, L'Oreal and Ford, recorded an average response rate of 2.72 per cent. In the case of the most successful campaign the response rate was approaching 12 per cent. Even the least successful campaign with a response rate of 0.29 per cent was said to be well above the Internet average.

The main reasons behind this success, said Michal Nemec, VP of mobile portal and content services, T-Mobile Czech Republic, was the ability of the mobile phone to precisely address the target group. "This gave us the chance to provide a relevant message together with the opportunity for the recipients to respond immediately. These are the main reasons why our pilot project confirmed the success of mobile phone advertising."

The company confirmed that it had targeted two groups for the mobile advertising pilot. This included nearly 1,400 women aged between 26-50 living in urban areas, with the second group being over 1,700 people aged under 26.

The claimed success of this trial, helped by the positive reaction from the advertisers, has prompted T-Mobile Czech Republic to consider launching a full-scale SMS/MMS mobile advertising programme in Q4 of 2009.

For more on this story:
Cellular News

Blyk juggles with future strategy

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:07:06 -0400

Ad-funded MVNO, Blyk, has raised confusion in the European market following reports, since denied, that it would no longer operate as an MVNO and planned to build its future by partnering with other operators. The company, which managed to generate a high profile with its free cell phone service for 16-24 year-olds willing to receive targeted ads, has already moved away from this model by introducing a monthly credit of £15 which can be used for either text messaging or voice calls.

However, the company has now confirmed it will not open MVNOs in the Netherlands or Belgium--where it has offices--or any other country, and that the UK MVNO was little more than a proof of concept. A spokesman for Blyk stressed the current operation in the UK would continue and there were no plans to close it, but confirmed the company's focus had shifted towards seeking stronger partnerships with mainline operators rather than operating an own-brand service.

Given that analysts claim Blyk has struggled to achieve mass-market appeal, having only attracted around 200,000 users, its move towards operator partnership would appear inevitable following the sharp downturn in advertising. Also, by linking with Orange, Vodafone, etc., the service would become more appealing to advertisers given the potential subscriber base either of these operators could provide. However, Blyk has failed to detail why these operators would want to partner with a service they'd also compete with.

For more on this story:
Telegeography and PrePaid News

Mobile ad business to be boosted by economic downturn

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:27:43 -0500

Prospects for mobile advertising in 2009 are promising despite the economic downturn, but realism is called for, says Analysys Mason, a telecoms research firm. Consumers will be spending more time at home, and looking for free and inexpensive entertainment and information. As such, advertisers require high-impact media that are highly engaging and highly personal in order to deliver the best value for money. Mobile advertising has the potential to address both of these needs effectively. "For mobile, the downturn creates a conflicting set of pressures. On the positive side, mobile advertising will benefit indirectly from the accelerating shift of advertising spend from traditional to digital media, particularly as consumer take-up of mobile entertainment services grows in line with greater take-up of 3G," says Alexandra Rehak, an analyst at Analysys Mason. Article

Vodafone Greece outsources entire mobile ad operation

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:35:39 -0500

Vodafone Greece has surprised the media by announcing a deal that will see Out There Media (OTM) become the exclusive mobile advertising partner for Vodafone Live! in Greece. OTM is now solely responsible for dealing with advertising agencies and clients, together with overseeing campaign creation and management. MADS (a European-wide mobile ad company) will remain responsible for the technical implementation and support of the campaigns.

While Vodafone Greece gave no indication to the reasons behind this move, local advertising agencies welcomed the partnership. The media director of Unilever Hellas, George Zalokostas, said the new arrangement for Vodafone Live! would bring about a fresh era for mobile advertising. "It presents us with new, targeted and effective ways to reach the right customer at anytime. Based on what I have seen, we will undoubtedly be commissioning our first mobile advertising campaign with OTM and Vodafone very soon."

Separately, AdMob, which boasts it's the world's leading mobile advertising company, has teamed up with MADS in a strategic alliance to create a global behemoth. The move is seen as significant because it extends AdMob's reach in an area where it is relatively weak, namely serving ads for high-end publishers across a multitude of mobile channels such as SMS, MMS and the mobile web.

For more on this story:
GoMo News and Venture Beat

TV broadcaster to sell mobile advertising

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:29:00 -0500

Satellite TV broadcaster, Sky, has made the unusual decision to sell mobile advertising based around its content across the T-Mobile and Vodafone portals as part of its strategy to offer advertisers cross-platform advertising opportunities.

This move, thought to be one of the first times a content owner has sold advertising around its on-portal material, will start this week with adverts from Adidas and Fiat.

Sky, one of the largest mobile sports content providers, is said to be also looking to expand its mobile inventory to include Sky Sports TV and its 24/7 Football VoD service, and is thought to be negotiating terms with three other MNOs.

Tim Hussain, Sky's recently appointed head of mobile advertising, said, "The reason we've done this deal with the operators is to give advertisers a single buying point on Sky. They can come to us to buy a Sky customer wherever that customer is."

By contrast, British broadcaster Channel 4 is closing its mobile advertising sales operations in an attempt to cut costs. The division is being axed following a steep decline in the demand for mobile advertising in the past year, although the broadcaster said it may revisit mobile advertising when the economic climate improves.

For more on this story go to:
New Media Age

Related articles:
Mobile advertising is massively over hyped, says analyst firm
UK operators cooperate over mobile advertising metrics

Mobile advertising is massively overhyped, says analyst firm

Paul Rasmussen — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:45:30 -0500

The market potential for mobile advertising is becoming a confusing arena. New research data from CCS Insight claims many of the forecasts made about mobile advertising in Europe are hugely inflated, and that advertisers will spend only small amounts over the next few years attempting to communicate with cellphone users.

Just prior to the release of this market data, another study from comScore claimed SMS advertising for consumer goods, such as food and fashion, rose significantly in Europe. comScore stated food was the fastest-growing category of SMS advertising since August 2007, at a rate of 53 per cent, followed by fashion at 38 per cent and restaurants at 37 per cent.

To confuse the matter further, a US-based study maintained mobile advertising awareness grew 33 per cent in the first nine months of this year. The study, commissioned by Limbo, a large mobile social network in the US, claimed four out of 10 Americans with a handset recalled seeing advertising on the device between July and September 2008--making it the first time that the number of US residents being aware of mobile advertising had exceeded 100 million in a 3-month period.

But, according to CCS Insight, by 2010 mobile advertising revenues in Europe will be less than €430 million, a fraction of the billions devoted to advertising budgets annually. "The reality is that no-one's making huge sums from mobile advertising in Europe, and this won't change in the near future," said Paolo Pescatore, a director with CCS Insight.

This perspective was confirmed by Jeremy Miles, chairman of advertising agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy, who said mobile advertising holds enormous potential for brands. "But like the Internet revolution before it, mobile needs to emerge from the technology foothills and develop media experiences and advertising solutions that delight and satisfy real consumers' needs and wants. And deliver the numbers."

For more on this story go to:
Telecom.TV and Moco.news

Related articles:
Mixed results for Vodafone/Visa mobile advertising trials. Vodafone story
UK operators cooperate over mobile advertising metrics. Ad metrics story