@CTIA: Mobile marketing remains inexact science

LAS VEGAS – Few topics get advertisers worked up than the potential of the mobile space. Countless reports have been generated touting the billions of dollars just waiting to be made through mobile marketing and advertising, an amount that remains locked up in these reports.
During a pre-show session at the CTIA 2010 event hosted by Compete Inc., panelists touched on a number of topics that are seen as delaying the adoption of mobile marketing and advertising campaigns as well as stifling consumer adoption.
One topic that was initially brought up by the session’s moderator and VP at Compete Adam Guy, was the current complexity in the mobile marketing ecosystem. Guy noted that there were currently so many “bubbles” of companies between the advertiser and end-user that a delay in consumer acceptance of mobile marketing is inevitable.
This complexity was also expressed in the overload of applications currently available that were cited as confusing consumers and thus delaying the market for broader mobile marketing and advertising campaigns.
When asked of the importance of mobile to an advertising or marketing campaign, panel members not surprisingly thought it was of great importance, noting that while mobile campaigns could stand alone, they should really be part of a larger overall package.
“Mobile campaigns can exist on their own, but ought to be part of a bigger play,” said Bruce Stewart, CEO of Kgb. “There is so much advertising out there and there is nothing for consumers to do.”
Stewart cited basic advertising like billboards that just stare out at consumers with a basic message that are missing the potential for interactivity or in attracting a response from consumers.
This interactivity was also touched on as a report cited during the panel suggested that more than 60% of mobile phone owners have their device at hand when watching television. This was seen by those on the panel as a great opportunity to reach out to those consumers and have them interact with the show or advertisement that they are watching.
Saj Cherian, principal at Valhalla Partners, added that in time advertisers will begin comparing how much of a percentage mobile advertising is in their campaigns.
“It will soon become ‘How big is your mobile line item?’,” Cherian said.
But, for consumers to really start accepting such initiatives there is an expectation that larger companies will need to lead the way in educating consumers.
“There are a lot of experiments out there,” said Ingrid Kelly, VP at Motorola Inc. “But, there is still concern about pushing coupons as being too ‘big-brotherish.’ I think it will take a big company like McDonald’s or Starbucks to really drive this.”
When it comes to extracting revenues from mobile marketing, few in attendance seemed to have any sympathy for wireless carriers. Despite the fact that they have paid for and maintain the networks that make such opportunities possible, the feeling was that carriers were being well compensated for any growth in mobile marketing opportunities.
“I think the carriers are doing quite well,” said Cherian, who previously was an executive at Virgin Mobile USA. “They are selling data packages and also selling smartphones that are attracting new customers, customers from other carriers and reducing churn.”
Despite the current domination of mobile applications, Cherian said he felt that the model for that success has a finite lifespan.
“I think we will eventually stop talking about apps,” Cherian said. “We will soon be able to do everything we want to from our phone and its embedded connections. … Apps are like a short cut for the current issues of a lack of processing power and bandwidth.”
That lifespan for the app model? Cherian said he expects the model to fade away over the next five to 10 years.
Google power
One company that has innovated and acquired its way to a leadership position in the mobile marketing space is Google Inc. Between the numerous applications the company have developed designed to drive eyes and money to the space and the dollars it has used to acquire expertise it the arena, it seems that when Google talks, people listen.
As such, a keynote address by Diana Pouliot, director of mobile advertising at Google, provided some insight into how the firm views continued growth in the space.
Pouliot began with a blunt message.
“People are looking for content. If your information is not there and is not easy to use, the will go somewhere else,” Pouliot said.
Once that was established, Pouliot noted that a number of innovations have driven increased consumer adoption of mobile search and a potential course for mobile advertising. Those innovations included the dramatic growth of smartphone adoption that has provided consumers with more powerful tools in which to access information, and the growing acceptance of the mobile cloud that has empowered devices to become more than a sum of their parts.
Pouliot noted that a device’s camera can act like eyes, its speaker and microphone its ears and mouth, and its touchscreen as a sense of touch. A little creepy, but a good description of how mobile devices are becoming more than just voice and data devices and truly allowing consumers to interact with content.
Another feature Pouliot cited was location that she said has “supercharged” search capabilities. Location has increasingly become a core component of Google’s search functionality and has allowed the company to further focus its marketing and advertising package to advertisers.
Pouliot cited a number of case studies where location has allowed companies to refine their applications and lower their cost of customer acquisitions or contacts.