Part 1: Capabilities and Challenges | Part 2: Banners and 2D Codes | Part 3: Classifieds, Videos and Other Formats
Classified Ads and Social Media “Piggybacking”
Some optimistic analysts see classified ads on the mobile platform as an opportunity for newspapers to reclaim lost classified ad revenue.
They point to the way that developers are working on porting social media applications like MySpace, Facebook, Hi5 and others to cell phones as one of the key applications that may make it possible to once again marry local content to local advertising. The thought is that if newspapers make it easy for social network users to discover, share and respond to local content, that targeted local audience will also want to take advantage of the presence of their peers to buy, sell and trade things.
“We expect our ads to be contextual and relevant,” says Zollman of Classified Intelligence. “What could be more targeted than a video clip of a house for sale that plays on your phone as you’re driving around a neighborhood that you want to move to?
“Nothing is more valuable to the user than to get that kind of relevant information when and where they need it. And nothing will have a more valuable price point than this, when someone finally cracks how to make it work.”
The New York Times Co. and other newspaper companies are already experimenting with real estate classified mobile advertising through mobile ID codes in the print newspaper and mobile real estate search capabilities. The New York Times’ program allows computer users to send real estate listings to a mobile phone. It also allows mobile phone users to “click to call” the listing agent for a property. The company reported both realtors and home buyers are pleased with the program (see case study).
Since the element that the mobile Web adds to the Internet is geotargeting, the possibility at least exists that newspapers can start leveraging their local content to sell small local ads.
“The question is will there be enough early adopters willing to take mobile classifieds to market at a stage when it’s not immediately profitable?” Zollman asks. “If they are willing to do this and start working the kinks out, this could change things.”
Video and “Rich Media”
Many in the mobile ad industry consider video ads on cell phones to be a “holy grail” that will unlock untold riches to the practitioner who first figures out how to make it work.
The challenges are absolutely daunting. The restrictions on banner ads seem quaint when considering the demands of serving up video or animated content to a cell phone. A humble, low-resolution YouTube video can take up three to five megabytes of space, which means an iffy cell phone connection or a “dropped call” will mean that the content and ad never get seen. The phone has to have enough processor power to render the video, enough storage space and RAM buffer to hold the data until it’s ready to stream, and the carrier has to have a server backbone sufficient to deliver the files.
All this being said, advertisers are still panting at the thought of getting video ads on cell phones. Although conventional wisdom holds that nobody really wants to watch video on a 3-inch screen when they have a theater-like widescreen HD experience, that conventional wisdom does not apply to the “snack size” videos on YouTube or other sites.
“Mobile video is experienced at times and in places where the user partakes of what we call ‘cocooning media,’” says Ito. “In Japan, the youth curl up on a train or a bus, put headphones in their ears, and separate from their environment and into whatever it is that they have cued up on their mobile device.”
A recent pilot campaign for BMW ran in England, targeting upscale buyers in the 25- to 34-year-old segment. Combining video and banner ads led to a click-through rate (CTR) of nearly 8 percent, and a 67 percent increase in mobile traffic to the Web site. Also, users are not as resistant to video advertising, as 54 percent say they recognize that ads are a fair way to pay for free, professionally produced video.
Screen Digest believes worldwide mobile video advertising will hit $3 billion by 2012; the Kelsey Group pegs the local video ad market in at $1.5 billion by 2012 in the U.S. alone.
Meanwhile, the carriers are not so sure. Nokia describes its mobile TV efforts as “in turmoil,” and the only video applications in Europe and Asia gaining any traction on the mobile platform are – well – porn, according to Adult Video News.
Downloadable Applications and Immersive Environments
One of the fastest-growing areas in mobile advertising is also the most technically challenging. As advertisers have desperately chased after the attention of 14- to 24-year-old males, they hit upon putting up real-world billboards and ad messages in video games. Research shows that in-game advertising performs 28 percent better than comparable TV spots, because once again, the users are so focused on the screen.
Now that video games have migrated from arcades to living rooms to handheld devices, the advertisers are going the extra mile and creating games and applications that will take that trip with their intended audience.
Mature brands are latching onto the possibility of creating applications that provide an immersive “experience” for their customers. For example, Diageo, owners of a chain of brand name liquors, launched a mobile campaign built around Smirnoff vodka. The application loads onto the user’s phone and seeks to guide them through figuring out how to incorporate Smirnoff vodka into having a fun evening out. The users can enter the social situation they find themselves in – a business dinner, night out with the guys, or first date –and then receive suggestions as to what cocktail order would be most appropriate for the situation.
The application even takes advantage of cross-promotional opportunities, suggesting bars and restaurants that are strategic partners, located in cities around the world, so that a business traveler can find an appropriate place to go while in a strange city. And at the end of the night, the application will even call you a cab and give you directions back to your hotel.
The level of programming required to construct an immersive environment such as this may be quite high, however an application built to take advantage of a special local event – Mardi Gras, the World Series – would allow a newspaper to offer both readers and out-of-town visitors a constant “point of contact” to valuable local news and information.
Companies such as AOL and Sega have launched ad-integration efforts into their mobile games, and a start-up called Greystripe bills itself as a “mobile ad integration specialist.” Greystripe’s GameJump site offers more than 800 games for free to mobile customers. The catch is that Greystripe’s AdWRAP technology makes the players watch at least two ads before playing a game and two more after they are done.
Despite the very strong engagement that video, games and immersive environments on mobile devices offer, that kind of media consumption has some challenges that will limit its adoption.
“The rich media applications that require people to look at and interact with the mobile screen will always be very niche markets,” says Brightcove Vice President of Marketing & Strategy Adam Berrey. “I can’t watch a video while I’m working out at the gym – I’ll drop a barbell and hurt myself.”
“Consumer behavior will always dictate how widely this technology is adopted and how the information is consumed, and right now, audio is super-portable. This may change, but we’re really not seeing major traction in the market from rich media yet.”
Part 1: Capabilities and Challenges | Part 2: Banners and 2D Codes | Part 3: Classifieds, Videos and Other Formats
David LaFontaine is a freelance writer who has written multiple case studies for the Newspaper Association of America. More…