BRAND WEEK -- Jan 8 -- Marketing through cell phones is on the scene and growing. Americans are upgrading to WAP phones and cellular providers are giving their assent to advertising. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint Nextel now permit banner ads. Diet Pepsi prompted fans watching National Football League games to vote for a "Rookie of the Week" using text messaging. Sheetz stores launched a four-month "Everydayrocks" campaign with a modest $750,000 budget with promo codes scattered across six states via radio deejay shout-outs, business cards at rock shows, graffiti on billboards and mentions during TV and cinema ads. Toyota is currently offering short commercials during "mobisodes" of Fox's Prison Break.
According to Mediamark Research 72.4% of adults in the U.S. have a cell phone. Three-quarters of cell phone users ages 10 to 18 said they do not think it's OK to be marketed to on a mobile device, according to a study of 2,000 users. A mere 3% of respondents said they trust text ads. The Mobile Marketing Assn. has drafted a set of guidelines. According to Ovum, Boston, mobile marketing in the U.S. alone is expected to explode from $46 million last year to $1.3 billion by 2010. ~95% of the devices consumers are buying today have text or SMS functionality. The CPM rate for mobile banner ad impressions is $30 to $50 CPM, but the click-through rates are 3% to 5% due to the "novelty factor."
The full article was originally published at Brand Week, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: The mobile internet dating conference is on the schedule for San Francisco 25th to 26th July this year. I'll be presenting at Mobile Persuasion on 2nd February.
