Mobile phones are referred to as the third screen, TV being the first, your computer the second, followed by the mobile. It’s the screen you constantly either have physically on you, i.e. in your pocket or purse or within arms reach; you never leave the house with out.
The mobile platform is growing at a rapid pace and as its dominance increases more dollars from the marketing budget will be funneled in this direction.
Now is the time to familiarize you with the emerging trends in an effort to position yourself to be able to capitalize on this intimate platform when it truly takes off over the next two to three years.
The Numbers: Nielsen Mobile reports that there are 254 million mobile subscribers in the US as of the 1st Quarter 08.
Of that figure, 95 million devices were capable of accessing the web, meaning they paid for a service that allowed them access; but only 40 million subscribers were active users of mobile internet service, using those services at least once on a monthly basis.
The activating and engaging of the 55 million dormant consumers is an enormous opportunity.
How will you capture them? By serving them a relevant experience.
Experience: The experience needs to be fun and take advantage of the way people live their life.
The mobile is a very intimate device. It provides personal mass media you don’t even share with your spouse. People view advertising as a nuisance until it’s something they are interested in, than it becomes relevant; they like to be organically connected to the brand and have a very low tolerance for things they don’t want to see.
The consumers are driving the demand for a mobile component. Don’t cram an old form into a new platform. As advertisers try trial and error, new methods of reaching them will arise, currently companies are trying to fit the old media in the new. It’s not the technology its how you use it. The mobile is merely a new point of distribution. How do you get people to engage in behavior? Find the right way to attract the viewer and extend the content to hold their attention.
Trent Razor the front man for the band Nine Inch Nails has been leading the way with providing innovative mobile campaigns. He has created an on going google earth treasure hunt, which engages fans to physically go to destinations around the city the band is going to be performing in; through clues and GPS locations, fans are able to hunt down free concert tickets.
Future trend: Everyone is carrying around a social networking tool, in the form of their address book and when used in combination with GPS (Global Positioning System), geo location can provide localized and relevant information.
People want to share their feelings and their experience. Typically you crowd source your friends and ask them. “Have you gone to this restaurant?” or “where is a good place to eat in this neighborhood? But a more timely method, is to interact with your environment through the use of geo location when you physically pass by a spot you can see other people’s tags including reviews, videos and photos.
But 20 -35 year olds don’t care about just anybodies review, they seek their friends opinion and care about their friends activities. Top down messaging has lost its potency, people are talking amongst themselves and that creates impact; they trust peer reviews and the opinion of people they know.
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1 Michael Tanenbaum // Sep 29, 2008 at 9:56 am
And in many foreign markets, particularly in Asia and parts of Europe, rabid cell phone information exchange has begun to replace other forms of online and instant communication such as email. The U.S. actually lags far behind in the mobile communications trend.
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