Starcom Mobile Study Reveals a New Daypart and Consumer Demand for Customized Messaging

Full service media agency Starcom USA, has completed a research study that dispels common myths surrounding mobile advertising media, and consumer response to mobile ad messages. The study was designed to show how mobile is being utilized; how it works in tandem with other media; the potential barriers to increased usage; and the attitudes toward advertising executions on mobile media. The Starcom research identifies 10 main insights about mobile media and mobile consumers, which will help the agency and its clients better understand attitudes toward mobile messaging – then how to better leverage mobile platforms for brand communications.

“Mobile’s capabilities are changing consumer expectations and therefore will have broader implications on how marketers approach all forms of communication moving forward,” said Angela Steele, Starcom vice president/activation director and leader of the study. “These insights blow the doors wide open for new meaningful content, formats and opportunities for ad placement in campaigns.”

The study encompassed light users and heavy users of mobile data in Chicago, Houston, New York and San Francisco, and revealed in-depth insights on how to reach both types of mobile users. These insights point to significant shifts in how marketers must approach broader communications moving forward:

• Mass messaging no longer acceptable – Consumers are not averse to advertising on mobile devices, but they are averse to the lack of relevant advertising there. Because mobile devices are perceived as more personal, consumers expect personalized content in mobile ads and are willing to give up personal information about themselves in exchange for relevance. Marketers, agencies and mobile partners must quickly develop an infrastructure that allows them to manage more tailored, real-time advertising communications while ensuring consumer privacy. This insight lends explanation and context to syndicated Telephia data indicating that a majority of consumers (56%) said the reason they didn’t interact with a mobile ad was because they were not interested in the product advertised.

• Consumers demand mobile commerce – Past common sense has dictated that consumers prefer not to shop via mobile because of privacy concerns, but Starcom’s study reveals that when participants are shown a user-friendly mobile retail site, they get frustrated when they can’t buy immediately using their phone. For marketers, knowing consumers want to purchase via their phone, the entire world has now become a potential storefront. In fact, prior to even being shown a shopping site, respondents were asked to list content they would like to access on their mobile device; 5% of respondents listed shopping and 10% listed banking as content areas they wanted access to. Desire for commerce grew considerably when respondents were exposed to shopping sites they could easily use.

• ”On The Move” becomes a daypart – The accessibility and portability of the mobile internet make the stationery computer seem dated, slow and inconvenient, and mobile is often the preferred form of nonverbal communication. In fact, 90% of study respondents were pleased with their mobile service and a majority described their phone as “indispensable.” And consumers in the study ranked mobile internet as the number one mobile feature they would miss (18%), above voice communication (17%), text (16%) and email (13%). The study showed that their affinity for mobile versions of the activities was generating new media behaviors, and cutting into old ones. As a result, downtime is no longer media downtime (i.e. sneaking content at work, walking the dog). Mobile has essentially created a new 24/7 daypart allowing marketers to reach them where and when it was once impossible to do so.

About Starcom USA
Starcom USA is a full-service media division of Starcom MediaVest Group (www.smvgroup.com), which is ranked one of the largest media communications agencies in the world and encompasses an integrated network of highly specialized consumer contact companies. Starcom's organization includes strategic marketing communication architects who are highly specialized in media management, response media, internet and digital communications, as well as multicultural, entertainment, sports sponsorship and event marketing and media. With over 900 employees in the U.S., Starcom delivers brand-building results for many of the world's leading companies.