Mobile advertising budgets will buck downward trends in overall ad spend and exhibit strong growth over the next five years, reaching €3.9 billion by 2014, according to a Juniper Research forecast.
Juniper notes that in the wake of worldwide economic downturn, ad budgets are migrating from above-the-line to below-the-line channels, with the mobile platform emerging as an increasingly significant recipient of ad spend thanks to a growing emphasis on consumer engagement and quantifiable ROI.
Juniper nevertheless stresses that while mobile advertising's growth is encouraging, the medium is still far from established, and even by 2014 it will still account for just 1.5% of total global ad spend.
The reason: While a number of major brands have made large investments in mobile, they remain the exception, and most advertisers are not yet convinced the mobile channel offers sufficient reach to warrant substantive investment.